In honor of Read-A-Romance Month and Romance Awareness Month, this August we’ll be sharing insights from members of the romance bookish community! For this month’s issue, we took a look at this community and what makes it so special in this article, and interviewed internationally best-selling romance author TL Swan to learn more about her writing approach and widespread impact in this article. Here, you can read the full interview with romance novel reader Evelyn. For her social media, see below!
How long have you been interested in reading as a hobby/academic interest/etc.? In other words, how would you describe your history with reading?
Books have been my life since I was a baby. When I was a few months old, I would pick up the books in my little library and just look through them, miming reading like it was second nature. My parents raised my brothers and I through books and always made sure to have us read literature by diverse and inclusive authors with stories that taught us about compassion, human rights, and history. Thanks to them, I’ve seen the entire world through books and my morals have been shaped by the stories I’ve read. I’ve explored all different types of genres and read across cultures, taking the time to learn and read stories that don’t reflect my own life. I was taught that reading is the greatest privilege and joy and now that I’m older and can think for myself, I can see that my parents were definitely right.
One of my favorite books as a kid was Grace Runs for President, where a girl runs for US President in her class’ mock election. In another book with the same character, Grace sees the play “Peter Pan” and wants to play Peter Pan too. She gets made fun of because she’s a girl, but the book teaches young readers that Peter Pan was originally played by a woman on stage! Furthermore, the character Grace was a young black girl, who didn’t look anything like my brothers and I, but reading books with characters that didn’t look like us reminded us that we are not (and should not be) the center of every story and that we must go out of our way to relate to stories where we might not immediately see ourselves. And oftentimes those are the stories that matter the most. Also, those stories more truly reflect the real, diverse world we live in and because of that we must make sure they aren’t silenced.
On average, how many books do you read a week? A month?
I try to read 2-3 books a month, but I technically work a full time job over the summer and take a full course load over the school year so my reading ebbs and flows. That’s something I’m often self conscious about but I’ve learned that you are a reader no matter how often or how much you consume.
What is your preferred reading method (i.e., paperback/hardcover, Kindle/iPad, audiobooks, a combination of these, etc.)?
I love a good paperback, but oftentimes it is easier and more affordable to get books from my local library or rent them on my Kindle! I’m currently saving up for a Kobo eReader where you can purchase ebooks from independent bookstores instead of Amazon.
How did you first get into the book community on social media? What social media platforms do you use to explore book-related content?
I love Instagram and Tumblr in particular, where people both share what they’re reading and writing. I’ve always been involved in online book communities in some way, whether that be through Wattpad or Pinterest when I was younger, or even TikTok now (which I’m less of a fan of).
Do you have a bookish account on social media to post about the books you’re reading/interested in? If so, what inspired you to make a bookish account to post on?
My book account is @calicoscovers on Instagram! I was inspired to make this account because I thought it was time to try and curate something with all of my book knowledge and passion that would connect me with others who have similar interests. I love designing posts and writing detailed reviews, and having a book account was never something I was confident in having until now! During COVID, I made a collaborative story on Snapchat where anyone who wanted to join could share what they were reading. All kinds of people joined and we all exchanged recs while we were stuck at home. I look back on it now with love and I’m so glad I could make a tiny community during a time like that.
What is your approach to sharing about, promoting, and/or recommending different authors and books?
Overall, I want to start a discussion. I want to meet people who love the books I read, or even hate the books I read, and talk about why we feel the way we do. How can what we read bring us together and help us learn new things? I love collecting recommendations from literally anyone who will share them.
Are you in any book groups for any authors on social media? To what extent do you network with authors? Have any authors sought you out to be a part of their beta team/ARC team/etc.? Have you opted into these opportunities? What are your thoughts on the book community, both at large and in your specific niche, considering your own experiences and interests within it? How do you find the broader book industry has changed over time?
I think over time, reading has gotten so much more popular, which (as I mention later) has made me feel bittersweet. I feel bad for younger me, with my buck teeth and (at the time) uncool Mary Janes who got poked fun at for always carrying a book. Now, the book community has exploded, and it’s honestly taken me some time to realize that I’m just happy people are experiencing the joy of reading. That’s what matters most in the end.
As for the book industry, I think it’s become an amazing place for political discussion. I think it always has been, but because of social media, people have really gathered to make books a place for progress, healthy discourse, and inclusion.
Describe the book community through a social lens. Has this community granted particular social/friendship opportunities you might not have experienced otherwise?
I am so thankful for the book community. As a kid, I self-identified through the books I read and when I was in elementary and middle school, I found an amazing group of friends who did the same. We lived through our favorite books and movies and I cherish the times when I could feel so confident because I had an army of book lovers by my side. One of my favorite things to do when I meet new people is ask them their favorite children’s book as a kid. Every time, the table lights up as everyone connects over their favorite classics or introduces one another to under appreciated stories.
What are some of your favorite genres and tropes to read? Do you often follow the trends in terms of genres and tropes that become popular, or do you stick with a particular set of favorites? Do you follow an author regardless of what sort of stories they write?
I love romance. For a while, I was convinced that it wasn’t intellectual or worthy enough to read seriously, but I’ve come to find that romance has a very social and political history of feminist resistance that helps us explore women’s wants and needs as active members of their own relationships and their place within society. I love literary fiction as well, which I think is the most inclusive of all different kinds of tropes, making it possible to read an amalgam of different genres at once!
Who are your favorite authors and how did you discover them? Do you read a lot of indie authors, mainstream authors, or a mixture?
My favorite authors tend to change over time, and I tend to focus more on the book itself versus the author as a whole. Sometimes I find an author I adore and want to read their entire oeuvre while others I just pick and choose what to read by them. Currently, I love Ali Hazelwood, Emily Henry, and Lily Chu. As a kid, my favorite authors were Gail Carson Levine who wrote Ella Enchanted, Shannon Hale of Book of a Thousand Days, and Meg Cabot who wrote Princess Diaries. I’ve read most of each of their books and have really enjoyed feeling connected to specific authors. I’m thankful to learn about books and authors through my work at Titcomb’s Bookshop, but I also stay up to date on social media, following readers, writers, and publishers alike. I try to explore all different kinds of authors instead of just following a select few, so I tend
to just pick up books that interest me!
When do you write reviews for what you’ve read and what platform do you share these reviews on? What is your approach to or thought process behind writing a book review?
I share my reviews on my Instagram @calicoscovers ! I used to share all my reviews on Goodreads, but now I’m trying to move over to StoryGraph and Fable which are two more inclusive and accessible platforms for readers. I try not to rate my books out of 5 stars because I don’t want a star review to dissuade others from reading a work or pigeonhole me into an opinion. (Credit where credit is due, I saw another book creator write about that and decided to take up the same habit!) I think having a broad discussion about a book instead, exploring all pros and cons, leads to a more rounded reading experience.
Do you feel a certain obligation or pressure to give authors glowing reviews if you get a beta/ARC or you’re a fan of the author, whether you’re connected to them somehow or not?
Yes, sometimes I do. I don’t like to give criticism and I often feel like I can find good in all books and that can blind me to reading a book critically. I think being able to make intelligent criticism is a skill and I’m still learning how to do so without feeling like I’m doing something wrong. But if a book goes against my moral code or is harmful to readers, I have no trouble making critiques.
Do you attend author/book events? What sort of impact do these have on your perspective of the book community?
I do! I work at my local bookstore in Sandwich, MA called Titcomb’s Bookshop. There, I help run author events with local and non-local writers to promote their work. I’ve had the privilege of working with Jeff Kinney of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Eric Jay Dolen of Left for Dead and Rebels at Sea, and Nathanial Philbrick of Heart of the Sea. Working with these authors has proved to me how intelligent book communities are and how books can bring people together. Watching authors build connections with readers is heartwarming and I love how supportive all authors are of the independent bookstore community. I have yet to encounter an unpleasant author and I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to meet them and learn their stories.
Recently I worked with an amazing author, Rachel Rueckert, who released her debut novel If the Tide Turns, which explores the history of Cape Cod’s very real pirate Samuel Bellamy. She researched for a year while writing it, excavating other marginalized characters in his story such as the local Cape Wampanoag tribe and his lover Maria who was accused of and murdered for witchcraft. Rachel is such a joy, an amazing author, and I cherished our time together promoting her book at the Yarmouth Cape Cod Pirate Festival.
In an age so flooded with technological influences, what keeps you inspired and motivated to continue reading?
Honestly, I love watching videos on Instagram or TikTok recommending or discussing books. Sometimes, posts or accounts can be superficial, limiting reading into an aesthetic or a trend, but others truly start intelligent and timely conversations on how to interact with the world around you THROUGH books and using them as a lens through which we understand humanity. Sometimes, I’m sad that reading has become so much more popular only through social media, because when I was younger, there were limited spaces to talk about reading and it wasn’t necessarily trendy or cool. After getting over my initial frustration though, I realized I was just happy to see more people connect with books and feel the joy I’ve been lucky to feel my whole life.
Instagram: instagram.com/calicoscovers