What happens when you gather 14 readers in Colorado for a spring reading retreat? Lots of laughter, all the book recs, and maybe some altitude sickness 😂 Even though my body wasn’t a fan of the elevation, we still had such a great time connecting and reading togther! If you’re curious about how book·cation works, keep reading. I’d love to share all about our weekend and the amazing people who made it happen!
Friday Night
We kicked off our weekend together with a gorgeous view and some snow! Everyone came in, found their seat, and got to open their swag bag which included lots of bookish goodies and 3 ARCs (advanced reader copies) from publishers! There were also some raffle tickets for them to enter our local author giveaway. If you’re interested in seeing what books we featured this weekend, you can see the list here.
Friday night is all about getting to know each other so there are discussion questions to help prompt some bookish conversations, as well as a photobooth for selfies! We had an intimate group this time so we really got a chance to get to know everyone.
Saturday Morning
Because apparently you can experience all 4 seasons in one day in Colorado (as I was told by multiple locals, lol), we moved our morning bookstore pop-up to the afternoon. We didn’t need anyone setting up a mobile bookstore or trying to shop in 30 degree weather 😉 And it was worth the wait!
Roadrunner Bookshop is a mobile bookstore based in the Colorado Springs area and Tally, the owner, is the best! She’s been traveling around Colorado bringing books to so many people for just over a year now. We loved chatting with her and exploring her shelves- she had such a diverse group of books that were fun to browse!
Saturday Afternoon
In the afternoon we had an optional book club with local author Thea Weiss as we discussed her debut novel, ‘The Second Chance Cinema.’ Thea has a background in screenwriting and we loved learning how that compares to writing a book in terms of the process and execution. We also had great discussions about grief, how relationships grow, and the inspiration behind some of our favorite parts.
Throughout the discussion Thea and I found we had lots in common and though she’s local to Colorado currently, she’s actually from a western suburb of Chicago where my mom and one of our other attendees grew up. I love small world connections! 🥰
After we wrapped up, Thea took time to sign all our books and get a picture with everyone. Facilitating these conversations and giving readers an opportunity to connect with an author is a fun, new experience for me and I so enjoy the way our conversations flow and the memories we get to create. Thea has such a warm and inviting personality and I couldn’t recommend her book enough- you definitely need to add it to your TBR!
Saturday Night
As everyone entered our dinner, they dropped off a wrapped book- no title visible, no hints- with a little insert inside explaining why they chose it. It’s an optional activity, but honestly? It might be my favorite part of the whole weekend! There’s something about being handed a book someone else genuinely loves; it feels like such a gift.
We decided to do the blind book exchange before dinner this time and I don’t think anyone was complaining! Watching people unwrap their books, read the inserts, and swap stories about what they ended up with always makes me smile. It’s so cozy and a little chaotic and exactly right!
For dinner we sat by favorite genre and each table had genre-themed discussion questions to kick things off. But the highlight was the must-read lists. Every table put together their Top 5 recommendations for someone brand new to their genre. I’ve linked them here because they are too good not to share.
Sunday morning we had an optional, informal breakfast. I had to leave for the airport around 9am so it had to be a bit early 😂 which meant there were only a few of us who came, but it was so nice to have a bit more time to connect before we all parted ways.
If you’ve been reading this thinking “I need to be in that room…” Good news! We have more retreats in store for 2026 and we can’t wait to have you join us- you deserve this type of weekend!
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