Happy April!

And just like that Q1 of the year is already over!

This is also your reminder that if you are behind on your reading challenge for the year it's time to step it up buddy 😂 

(Jk, In all seriousness read what you love, at the pace that you love, and discuss the books you love)

Here's a link to our recent conversation with Ehigbor Okosun author of "Forged by Blood" with special guest host Zai Rambles. Enjoy!

Chapters:

• 📚 Improved Book Blogging

•  📺 Bookish Meet Ups

• 📖 New Book: Abby Jimenez

Let’s Get Going!

This Week On Bookum:

As you know, Bookum is "Where bookish conversations happen" and this week we worked on updating our book blogging experience.

Bookum should be a place where book bloggers feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, articles and ideas without them being shorten or formatted weirdly (cough cough Instagram).

This week we updated formatting and added spacing to our news feed!

Gone are the days of cluttered, no space, jumboed text!

Read peacefully on our news feed and write the way your 4th grade English teacher would be proud of on Bookum 😊

Share crosspost your articles and blog with us! Post your first blog today at:

This Week in The Book World:

I said we weren't going to put back on our detective hat and glasses but curiosity has once again gotten the best of us!

One thing we have been extremely excited to see has been the in real life meet ups and collaborations of bookish content creators.

This week instead of going full detective, just wanted to give a few shoutouts of bookish content creators meet ups we have enjoyed and hopefully encourage you to meet your peers!

1 - Bookmark'd Podcast (Sara Carrolli x Destiny Sidwell)

Launched last May (after some really cool youtube collaboration vlogs with each other + booktuber Haley Pham might I add) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6_mdf7CZfE

Sara and Destiny have been taking the book podcast world by storm!

Every Thursday they release their podcast across all platforms including Youtube, discussing everything from books, life, MAAS-Iverse (Sarah J Maas) and Swift and Kelce.

Based on Chartable, the podcast is ranked in the top 100 (No. 72 this week) in the book category (Does not include Youtube views - 1.4Million since May)

Destiny with 229K youtube subs and Sara with 315K subs is a great example of what can happen when book creators collaborate!

Here’s a link to the podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@bookmarkdpod

2 - LIBRARY AFRO REVOLUTION DAY with Mychal and Blair Imani Ali

Some people are so big time, they only need to go by one name and Mychal is one of them in the book space.

He is a charismatic librarian that brings stories to life on the power of early reading.

When you combine Mychal, with the sensational Blair Imani Ali, creator of the phenomenal #SmarterinSeconds, you get a massively successful event like Library Afro Revolution Day!

I'll share the link here:

but for the NI/CW (No Instagram/Can’t Watch):

$9,000 dollars in gifted books and brought 1000 people to the library!

3 - Khalilah D & Shawnaci Schroeder

Everything doesn't have to be business/work. Sometimes the best creator meetups are just that, meetups. Finding likeminded people and building a great friendship.

Booktubers Khalilah D & Shawnaci Schroeder have been putting out some exceptional book vlogs of just birthday gatherings, mountain trips and visiting bookstores.

As Booktubers that have great vlogs as is, to see them pop up in each others has been a great viewing experience!

Although reading is a single player game, book clubs, content creation and community is not!

Send that DM, leave that comment and shoot that email to your favorite book content creator and tell them you want to grab coffee, who knows where it might lead!

This Week in Publishing:

Like all great deep dives, you don't leave much space before hitting the bottom 🥁 

So we will make this quick.

New York Times bestselling author of 'Yours Truly' Abby Jimenez is back with another beach read for you "Just for the Summer"

Summary:

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it's now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They'll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.  

Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

Add "Just for the Summer" to your TBR on Bookum!

As always, if you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please share it with others. Every share helps and keeps us growing!

Definitely share to a book content creator friend that might enjoy our newsletter!

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Happy Reading!

Download Bookum on Apple or Android Here!

See you next week!

Footnotes (Aka other articles we are reading and Bookum content):

Author BJ Thompson Launches “Awaken A Better You” Author Club on Bookum - https://app.bookumapp.com/clubs/6602e5eef66a533b4452cb5b

Creators Talk Podcast with Zaji-Kali on What it Takes to Be A Book Creator Turned Author - https://youtu.be/y0OIgLvN7Kw?si=ml37Fxj4fxlhx_rG

Founder’s Club selects “Walk Through Fire” as April/May Book - https://link.bookumapp.com/WOltDu3btIb