Happy Monday, Epic folks! And happy Halloween week to those celebrating — I’ve got tissue paper-and-pipe cleaner spiders up in my window and a stack of gourds on the stoop, and am ready to eat All The Candy since we can never tell how many trick-or-treaters we’ll get. (One of these years I’ll make good on my grand ambitions to dress up and go somewhere, but this year is not the year.)
No announcements, just book chat!
-Jenn
What Are You Reading?
Happy Monday, Insiders! I’m back from the Book Riot staff retreat in Los Angeles, and it was such a wonderful time meeting everyone in person!
We did plenty of company visioning, talking about goals and strategies, and just connecting with each other face-to-face, but it didn’t leave much room for reading.
Although it was not my first time to L.A., it had been quite awhile since the last time I was there. Just before the Book Riot retreat portion of the trip, I was visiting with some of my friends who live there. They took me on a hike to view the Hollywood sign, and it was fun to be in a place that was so important to one of the books I read earlier this year: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo.
I think it was in a past episode of the What Should I Read Next? podcast that a travel agent said she likes to encourage her clients to read books and learn about the new places that they’re visiting leading up to the trip, but to be sure to also read a fictional book that’s about or set in that place. I love this idea, and while I didn’t have this in mind when I read Siren Queen earlier this year, it kept jumping into my mind throughout the trip looking toward the Hollywood hills — I half expected to see the flicker of ritual bonfires of the stars who hold their nighttime courts.
Next month I have a trip to New Orleans, and although I’ve been there before, this makes me think I should find a fictional New Orleans book to read in anticipation — any ideas?
What are you reading this week? Share in the comments!
— Caitlin