All Booked | Reader Spotlight: Brit

The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, April 9.
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Hello, book lovelies!

I’m going to be honest with you all, I am still not reading much. I am in a serious reading rut that I’m slowly climbing my way out of it. (If you have recs send them my way ASAP!) I hope to have some new reads under my belt for the next installment of All Booked. For today’s newsletter we have another reader spotlight. I’ve been receiving great feedback on this series and I know this next one won’t disappoint!

A bit of housekeeping: If you would like to be featured in an upcoming reader spotlight, please fill out this form. Also please note that there is a question where I ask if you work with books, if you don’t that is totally fine! And in fact I encourage those who don’t work with books to fill out the form — that is the whole point of this: to get to know our community of readers a bit better!

Now on to our guest: Brit McClelland

Brit is one of those people who can read multiple books at once — an ability that I wish I had! She often has 3 or 4 books going at a time and bounces around depending on what she feels like reading in that moment. Something that caught my eye when reading her submission is that Brit rarely DNFs (does not finish) books. That, my friends, is a commendable feat, especially considering how many books she reads a year (more on that below)! Brit is currently deep in her romance era, but also enjoys thrillers, true crime, police procedurals, and action/adventure. She runs the cutest Etsy shop, where she sells bookish enamel pins and stickers as well as some non-bookish things. Brit lives here in Santa Barbara and I’m so happy to feature her in this space.

Brit answers my Q&A below:

Q: Hi Brit! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what got you into reading.

A: Some of my earliest memories revolve around books and reading. I was born with a hip issue that led to a lot of physical pain in my early years. I spent most of my time with my mom before I started school, and she would always plan activities that were more mentally stimulating than physically so that it wouldn’t tax my body too much. Visits to the library, and specifically the book mobile, were something that I most looked forward to. She would pretty much read to me as much as I asked her to, but of course she couldn’t spend all her time doing it and taking care of her kids. It wasn’t long before I longed to learn how to read for myself, and once I did, I started inhaling books as fast as I could borrow them. I found that as I got older and my physical issues held me back from keeping up with my peers, reading became an escape for me. Not to mention, I’m a naturally inquisitive person who’s formative years took place before the age of Google — books were the fastest way for me to obtain information!

Q: What are you currently reading?
A: I like to switch between a couple books at a time, usually between genres. Currently, I’m going back and forth between two books. The first, Dark Dive by Andrew Mayne, is book five in an interesting thriller series. The other is a non-fiction book called The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris, which chronicles Victorian surgical practices.

Q: Are you currently in any book clubs?
A: I’m not in any official book clubs currently, but I have joined a couple of those monthly Amazon Kindle “clubs” and try to read the choices if they sound interesting.

Q: What is your preferred way to read a book? Physical, audio, or digital?
A: I’d say my top choice for reading is by listening to audiobooks as I get a headache if I try to visually read for too long. I read a fair amount of digital books per month, and I’d say I’m a collector of physical books because I like how they look in my bookshelf, lol.

Q: Who is your favorite author?
A: I think it’s cruel to ask me to pick just one favorite author! I can give you my auto-buy authors — Andrew Mayne and Douglas Preston / Lincoln Child for thrillers, Meghan Quinn and Mariana Zapata for Rom-Coms, Catherine Cowles for Romantic Suspense, Scott Sigler for horror / sci-fi, and Philippa Gregory for historical fiction.

Q: What is your most read genre? And what is your favorite genre to read?
A: I tend to be a mood reader who has phases I get stuck in. I’ve been getting more ARCs this year through the bookstagram community which seems to be big on romance, so I have been reading more contemporary romance than any other genre since the end of the year, but police procedurals / detective novels have been making a good showing as well. It really just depends on what catches my eye sometimes.

Q: Do you have any reading-focused goals for this year?
A: One of the things I always do on January 1st is set the number of books I’d like to read on Goodreads for the year, this year it’s 300. I’d also like to be approved for more advanced reader / listener copies of books.

Q: Where is your favorite place to get books?
A: I subscribe to several monthly services which allows me to cut down on spending full price for the amount of books I go through. I have subscriptions with Audible, Kindle Unlimited, and Everand. I also get books through the Libby app.

Q: Describe your ideal reading environment.
A: My ideal reading environment is sitting or lounging somewhere comfortable, with few distractions, preferably with the sound of moving water nearby. In bed on a rainy day also works.

Q: How do you decide what to read next?
A: There are usually at least a few books in the upcoming month that I’m looking forward to being released that I plan to read. I also pay attention to reviews or what people are sharing about on bookstagram.

Q: Do you consume any bookish content? Podcasts? Blogs? Bookstagram? Booktok?
A: Bookstagram and a couple of the account’s accompanying blogs are pretty much my extent of bookish content. Here are a few of my favorite bookstagram accounts, big and small: @kindlecrack, @pieladybooks, @rwhite_reads, @_brownbooknerd_, @savvyyreads

Q: Share 3 recommendations with us. One that you think makes a great book club pick. One that’s a recent favorite of yours. And finally, an all time favorite.

A great book club pick:
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

It’s a novel by a BIPOC author with an interesting spin on unrequited love. Best part, there are actually questions in the back of it meant for book club discussion.

A recent favorite of mine:
Keepsake by Amy Oliveira

This was a slow burn dealing with weighty topics like grief and infertility. I’ve honestly tried to use my words to tell friends about it, but all I can come up with is that “It was SO good”! It was a book I became so absorbed in, that I lost hours at a time to it and forgot to eat.

An all-time favorite:
From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata

Lastly, my all time favorite book is hard to pin down because I’ve read so many books. I can’t extract just one all-time winner. The book I have read over and over for the past 5 years though is From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata. This book is like a favorite comfort meal. It follows a pair of male and female ice skaters who can’t stand each other, yet hope to combine forces to win an Olympic gold. The main characters are snarky but deep down good people, and the supporting characters are people I wish were my friends. It just never fails to make me happy.

If you are interested in being featured in All Booked, please fill out this form.

Your smitten bookworm, Emily

Upcoming Book Events

Below, you will find a few bookish events coming up in Santa Barbara. If you are hosting a bookish event in Santa Barbara, be sure to submit the event to our online events calendar.

Lauren Groff in Conversation with Pico Iyer
Tuesday, April 9, 7:30pm | Campbell Hall

Local Kid’s Author/Illustrator Emma Steinkellner
Wednesday, April 10, 6pm | Chaucer’s Books

Lecture and Book Signing: George Rose
Friday, April 12, 4:30pm | California Nature Art Museum

Literary Trivia Night
Friday, April 12, 6pm | S.B. Central Library

Peake Ranch Winery presents Punk Ikebana
Sunday, April 14, 12pm | Peake Ranch Winery

Photo Book-Isla Vista Seasons: Ocean, Land & Light
Thursday, April 18, 6pm | Chaucer’s Books

Book Talk – Wild Life: Finding my Purpose in an Untamed World
Tuesday, April 23, 4pm | UCSB Library

Local Book Spotlight

We at the Independent get many books sent to us by local authors, sometimes too many! It’s practically impossible for us to read and review them all, but just because we are busy bees does not mean that they aren’t worth the attention. In an attempt to not completely drop the ball, we have compiled a list of books here that have a local spin. They are all either written by a local author, feature someone in our community, or have another tie to Santa Barbara. I urge you to look through this list. Perhaps you will find your new favorite read!

The following are the most recent titles that have been sent to us. Click here for a more comprehensive list.

Raver Girl, Coming of Age in the 90s by Samantha Durbin

If you are a local author and would like us to feature your book in this section, please email allbooked@independent.com with the subject line “Local Author Spotlight.”