Introducing: #COLLABOREADS
I'm the girl who could get lost in a bookstore for hours, skimming my hands along the spines on the shelf, inhaling the sweet smell of new and old paper, soaking up the words on the page, wanting to take them all home and wrap up in their stories.
I'm the girl who sends friends books for their birthdays, because I want to share the words that have struck me as beautiful.
I'm the girl who adds to her Amazon wish list after every blog post of book reviews or Pinterest pins of "must-reads".
Because I'm this girl, I had this idea: create a place where people can read books, share their thoughts, and connect with other readers as well as what others are reading. I knew as soon as this idea took seed in my brain that I needed Amber on board.
If you don't know Amber, she shares incredibly rich goodness with the world on her blog Mr. Thomas and Me, and she has a heart of gold. She's brilliant and beautiful and this idea would still be just that if it wasn't for her. She took my idea and built a fantastic structure around it, and I'm so excited to introduce it to you today!
Meet #Collaboreads: a book lover's link-up.
Here's how it's going to look:
- We will pick a random criteria for your book. (It'll look something like: published the year you were born or mentions a city in your state or historical fiction about an era you really don't know.)
- You find your book. (at your local used bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, the library, whatever works for you)
- Read. (You'll have a month.)
- At the end of the month we'll review(ish) our books. (Amber and I will both have places for you to share your links in our posts.)
- Repeat steps 1 - 4 every month.
That's all. Short and sweet and wonderful.
Also-- the hashtag for this is #collaboreads! Use it anywhere and everywhere. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, anywhere else... it's the way we can all see each other's posts and connect and build a community around our love for words!
Because we'll be reading different books, we decided to make the review process a little more stream-lined. So, we made a little mnemonic for the suggested (completely suggested, you're allowed to do it differently) way to do your review:
Riveting.
What part of the book could you NOT get enough of?
Elements.
How did you relate to/care for the characters?
What's your thought on the plot line and twists and turns?
Associate.
What other books are like this one?
If none, did it remind you of a particular TV or movie with it's themes and characters? Does it serendipitous-ly line-up with things going on in your life or the news right now?
Design.
You know you judged this book by the cover.
What did you think of it? How did it relate to the contents of the novel? And the font and layout of the pages?
Stars. How many out of five do you give this book?
Would you recommend this book to a friend?
We cannot wait to see what books you find and hear what you think about them. We can't wait to get to know you. We can't wait to click on the #collaboreads hashtag on Twitter and Instagram and see all of your posts fill up the feeds.