At our most recent retreat, we had THREE mother/daughter duos join us and it seriously made my heart burst. 馃グ I think that a reading retreat is a great place to recharge and relax for anyone (and everyone 馃槈), but to want to experience it with your mom or daughter is just SO special! I felt so honored that these women saw this retreat as an opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones
When I saw that two people from Georgia had signed up for our retreat I was floored! Even now as I type this, it’s still so incredible to me that people want to fly across the country for my event and trust me, I don’t take that responsibility lightly. I sat Diane and Lauren at my table Friday night because I couldn’t wait to get to know them and they are truly just rays of Georgia sunshine 馃 They’re the sweetest women who brought genuine smiles to everyone they interacted with. Getting a chance to jump on Zoom with them a few weeks later to ask them these questions felt like I was right back at book路cation.
What is your favorite genre?
DIANE: Well, even though I sat at the romance table (I did that because I wanted to be with Lauren and we were worried about being separated), but really I like thriller, mysteries, and historical fiction. I have read Abby Jimenez and I do mix things up, but thrillers and historical fiction are my favorite.
LAUREN: I’m the romance girl! Romance is definitely my top genre, but I also love cozy mysteries. I recently read some Paige Shelton ones set in Scotland and they’re just warm, cozy and they’re right up my alley!
What is your favorite book you’ve read so far in 2025?
DIANE: ‘The Frozen River‘ by Ariel Lawhon. It was just so good and I didn’t realize it was based on a real person and I thought that was so cool!
LAUREN: Definitely the Dream Harbor Series by Laurie Gilmore – I read the entire series this year! I thought for sure I’d started it last year, but I read it all this year. And I’m not one to pick top favorites, but I also loved ‘People We Meet On Vacation‘ by Emily Henry because I love a ‘friends to lovers’ trope. But on a serious note, I read the ‘Nightingale‘ by Kristin Hannah because Mom is trying to get me to read more historical fiction and I think I can only read one of them a year because they’re so heartbreaking!
Why did you come to book路cation?
DIANE: Lauren was celebrating her 40th birthday in August and I wanted to do something special, something for the two of us. We didn’t want sightseeing because we didn’t want to run around all day long; I wanted something to help us relax. I thought about what she loves to do, which is reading, and I started googling and jumped on IG trying to find something and then book路cation popped up! I thought it sounded perfect- it looked low-key for two of us who aren’t really ‘in your face’ kind of people. It was something we could do with a bunch of people we don’t know, plus we’d never been to Wisconsin before. So I asked her and she agreed that it looked like a great time for us to relax and we booked it! And we then couldn’t stop talking about how excited we were to go.
LAUREN: Mom pretty much took care of it by researching it and bringing it up. I thought it sounded great and we’ve been looking forward to it for months talking about our TBRs and what we’re going to read. We were looking forward to meeting new bookish people who are like-minded. That’s why we came and that’s why we’re coming again!*
*Lauren and Diane signed up for our next retreat in North Carolina in February and are looking forward to being able to drive since they won’t have to fly with all the new books they’ll be getting 馃ぃ
What is your favorite book路cation memory?
DIANE: I loved Friday night because it was so much fun. We had such a great table, we laughed so much. It was so comfortable, everyone was so easy to talk to. We chatted about where we’re from, how we found out about it, how many books we brought – everyone was so friendly and excited to be there. We loved the conversation cards you had on the table, but even without them we just seemed to have such great conversation that put us at ease and made us feel comfortable. I also loved Saturday when we all wore our matching t-shirts because when you saw someone you’d ask, ‘where are you reading?’ and share cozy spots you found! And we met other women who weren’t with us who wanted to know about our shirts!
LAUREN: I really enjoyed Friday night- the conversation flowed so organically and we just had a great group of women. Overall, everyone was so kind and no one was judgy which I wasn’t sure about! Everyone was truly so judgement free and I loved getting to know all the different women. My other favorite memory was right after we took our group photo. We found a bench in the courtyard we were in and we just sat there and read and it was just perfect! It was relaxing and fun and we were outside and I just thought, ‘this is what we were looking for!’
Describe book路cation in 5 words:
DIANE: Fun, engaging, relaxing, sharing (because we just shared so much about ourselves, what we liked, etc), and reading!
LAUREN: Serene, engaging, enriching (I felt like I learned so much about other people, but also about different genres, authors, and I have a whole list of authors I need to read), rejuvenating, and soulful because I felt like this weekend fed my soul.
What’s your unpopular book opinion?
DIANE: I have a lot! 1. I don’t reread; I don’t understand why people do that. The joy of reading is the curiosity and anticipation to the characters so why would I reread when I already know what’s going to happen? 2. TBR lists – to me, a TBR list is a physical book I have in my home ready to read. I don’t understand people having a list or people who buy books and then not read it right away. Why do people buy books just to have them? 3. I can’t get into audiobooks. I get why people do it, especially when they have long commutes, but I love a physical book and don’t understand how listening to a book at warp speed counts as reading!
LAUREN: I’m basically the exact opposite of Mom on all of those! Also, Mom doesn’t DNF books, but I am more than happy to DNF if I’m not enjoying it because life is too short. I also don’t rate books. I know people love doing it, but I think it’s too taxing to me to figure out what the rating should be. Lastly, I think it’s okay to not read books in a romance series in the way they’re intended. If the 3rd book in the series sounds super great to me, but the first two sounds terrible, why should I read 2 books I don’t care for to get to the one I want to?
If you and someone you love to spend time with both enjoy reading, book路cation is probably for you! 馃槈 Even if you wanted to come solo, this reading retreat is filled with tons of uninterrupted reading time as well as opportunities to connect with fellow book lovers. It’s the perfect mix of relaxation and connection!
Lauren and Diane were very avid readers and very nice. I will be coming from California to the retreat in North Carolina and my good friend Sue has signed up and is coming from Massachusetts. Can鈥檛 wait. Will be a lovely retreat after the holidays.