When I created book·cation, I had an inkling that this experience- that I so deeply craved- was something everyone else wanted, too. What I didn’t expect? For people to keep coming back! These two amazing ladies are repeat attendees and the friendship I’ve been able to cultivate with them is what book·cation is all about!
Nikki attended our first retreat in April 2025 and came back to Colorado a year later in April 2026. Maryann has attended 3 of our 4 retreats- she just missed the first one! Both of these ladies are hilarious, warm, and make everyone feel welcome. I’m so grateful they both decided that even though book·cation looked ‘too good to be true’, it was worth checking out!
What is your favorite genre?
NIKKI: Thriller. Like I always say, if the book doesn’t have a murder or crime to solve, I don’t see the point. But I have been going out of my standard genre because I get so many good recommendations now!
MARYANN: It’s a hard question for me, but I’d say fiction. I love everything, but I don’t read a lot of autobiographical/non-fiction. The world’s a messy place so I’m like, ‘take me away Calgon!’ I’m very into books I can learn from- specifically history or stories of resilient women.
What is your favorite book of 2026 so far?
NIKKI: That’s a hard one, but I’m going with ‘My Husband’s Wife’ by Alice Feeney. She’s new to me, but definitely one of my new favorite authors.
MARYANN: I truly don’t know, but I have one I really really like- ‘The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife’ by Anna Johnson. It’s uplifting and about acceptance of what’s going to happen in life and being honest. It’s funny and poignant and I really enjoyed it.
Why did you come to book·cation the first time?
NIKKI: A few summers ago I was in a reading rut and then I discovered Elin Hildebrand who’s my favorite author now (even though she isn’t thriller). But Elin comes with this huge community of people and she also started a podcast that I listen to. I thought reading was a solitary thing, but it didn’t occur to me that other people wanted to talk about books, too! That was a huge eye opener for me. Then I came across you on Instagram and you were saying everything I didn’t know I needed to hear. Please come travel to a posh resort and we’ll spend the weekend getting together to eat some dinners. We’ll get together for book club. And then you are going to have huge spans of reading time, uninterrupted however that looks for you. So immediately I thought this was to be a trap! Turned out it wasn’t and it’s no going back- best decision ever!
MARYANN: I was at a weird crossroads in my life– I love to read and I was just exhausted. I saw you on Instagram and thought, ‘this is too good to be true…this can’t be.’ So I looked you up and saw that it’s a thing and I was very excited. I loved it- I just love it! You’ve taken a passion you have and created a business, but it’s really a joyful experience for other people. You’re giving them time which is something as woman we don’t do. I needed to recharge, I love to read, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Why did you come to book·cation again?
NIKKI: It was probably the first 10 minutes into the first dinner where I’m sitting at a table with all new people, but 10 mins in we know we’re each other’s people. We’re just deep into it already and I just knew I’d be back. In the movie Pretty Woman, before Richard Gere and Julia Roberts go to the opera she says, “If I forget to tell you later, I had a really great time’ and I knew we were just starting, but that was the vibe. Everyone knew it would be great and it was!
MARYANN: It’s self care. I enjoy hearing other people’s stories about books. And what I really like is that no one is saying, “what do you do?” and “what does your husband do?” There’s no hollowness. It’s just kind of about books and people take you at face value; people are just themselves. No one is trying to pretend to be someone they’re not and I find it so refreshing.
What is your favorite book·cation memory?
NIKKI: It’s the conversations. At dinners or individually with other attendees. At the first retreat, the thriller dinner was just so amazing- we were so loud and laughing the whole time! Something to know about thriller people- we’re hilarious, so it makes for great conversation. And then in Colorado, it was a different vibe and that was fantastic too. I have so many notes about life, not just books. You start with these people who are new friends, but then you get to skip to the good part where you already have so much in common. They’re new friends who feel like old friends!
MARYANN: I liked at my first retreat (Lake Geneva, October 2025) when people just lunged for the blind book exchange. I was not expecting it; I just thought we’d go up and check things out slowly, but people were running! I loved that and thought it was so funny. Also, I love all the props and the photobooth area. I love the touches you bring to it.
Describe book·cation in 5 words:
NIKKI: Great time had by all!
MARYANN: Self-care. Camaraderie. Abundant reading time. Informative. Uninterrupted. I’ve never learned so much about books- my mouth was just hanging open! I’m not on the reading apps so I tend to look at the kindle app for recs, but the app recommends the same things so to have multiple people who could say, ‘oh this is great you should try it’ and I’ve never heard of it and then i read it and love it is so great!
What’s your unpopular book opinion?
NIKKI: I have two biggies. The first is that audiobooks are reading! The second is I’m a big rereader, especially with audiobooks! I’ve been known to totally listen to an audiobook and immediately re-listen. I could listen to ‘The Wedding Witch’ on repeat nonstop. I also like to do it with holiday novellas, too, like Elin Hildebrand’s ‘Winter Street‘.
MARYANN: I will not finish a book if I don’t like it. I’m 64, my life is too short. If I don’t like it, I’m not reading it. I won’t finish it and I won’t care. I try very hard, but if I just can’t get into it, I’m out!
Have you also been thinking that this is too good to be true?! You’re obviously not alone, LOL! But take some advice from these ladies- book·cation is everything you want it to be and more. If you’re curious about what actually goes down at our reading retreats, read this post. And if you’d like to join us, check out our future retreats; we’d love to read with you!
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