The library’s summer reading program is going great. They’ve got a program for the adults now too, and this is my second year participating. I am shamefully motivated by simple prizes, so all the library has to do is dangle a cute bookmark in front of me and I’ll suddenly be extremely consistent in my reading. And honestly, reading for a little bit every day is probably better than reading for five hours in one afternoon, finally emerging with a finished book to discover that the sun has set and the cats are demanding dinner.

But what I particularly like about the program is that it has challenges that push me outside of my usual reading habits. So far I’ve been reading the same kind of books I normally do, but I’ve hit the point of the program where I’m branching out. I just finished a short story collection called If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi by Neel Patel. Currently I’m reading The Elusive Body by Alexandra Sifferlin and next up will be I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming. Shout-out to everyone who suggested a romance pick over on Instagram. I curated the list a tiny bit, but otherwise it was the random number generator that decided on what I was reading.

There’s raffle tickets you can earn as part of the program and you can put them in for different gift boxes. Last year my dad won the self-care box and shared it with my mom and I. It was spectacular. This year he’s trying for it again. Mom is after the coffee box and I’m putting all my tickets into the book box, because I think it’d be super fun to get a surprise box of books picked out by other people.

When I was a kid, the library had some raffle prizes for their summer reading program. One of the prizes was a hermit crab. I wanted this crab so bad. I put all my tickets in for it and visited it every time we went to the library. It was destined to be my new best friend.

I didn’t win.

Probably for the best, honestly.

My brother did win something that year, though neither of us remember what it was, which means it wasn’t nearly as amazing as a hermit crab would have been.

Also it’s time I start reminding folks to pre-order my next book! The Ancient Things is coming out in September and I've got a lot of events around the release. And hopefully nothing crazy happens with my health this time. There’s links to all my books at the bottom of the newsletter, so you can grab whichever one is best for where you live.

Otherwise, I’m spending my time working hard on revisions to The Beast. This is the last book of How to Survive Camping and it’s got some of my favorite monsters in it. If you haven’t done so already, take a look at the cover art. I love Kate diving out of the way.

SO MUCH HAPPENING.

I’ve got one more event that’s not listed yet, so I’ll get it added as soon as I have something to link to!

September 8th - Book launch event with Prologue Bookshop - Columbus, OH

September 23rd - Author talk at Way Public Library with Gathering Volumes - Perrysburg, OH

September 26th - Book signing at Dublin Sun Center Barnes & Noble - Columbus, OH