Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating today.  In keeping with tradition here at Stacks,  we are going to share what literary things we have been grateful for this year.  I’m going to go first.

I am thankful for my Nook Tablet.  Now this is something that I have never thought I would say.  I bought it because I got a heavy employee discount on it when it first came out but I haven’t used it all that much until this year.  Since leaving B&N, I’ve had to buy more books than I have ever had before.  I much prefer the real deal when it comes to reading but I have to admit the convenience of my Nook has its benefits.  The books themselves are cheaper.  I don’t have to get dressed to the bookstore.  I don’t have to wait for them to be delivered and they take up space in my apartment.  My place is already overrun with books as is.  Plus, my nook is a little easier to read on the train to work because it doesn’t take up as much space.  So thank you, Nook.  You will never fully replace books for me but you have come in handy.

I am thankful for #Weneedmorediversebooks movement.  It has made me aware of my own privilege which I never really thought about.  I’m sure if you look through the books that I read you will noticed that they are mostly all women but you also will noticed that they are also mostly all white.  And their characters are also mostly white as well.  I’ve been trying to be find more authors of color, who are from different backgrounds from me but also look for books with protagonists who are from different cultures.  I’ll admit that I still have work to do but I am trying.  Thank you for Sabaa Tahir, Marie Lu, Julie Kagawa and Nnedi Okorafor just to name a few.  I hope that 2016 will bring new authors and new voices.

I am thankful for book clubs because it forced me to read books that I probably would never have read on my own.  Also, it’s also fun to talk books with friends.

I’m thankful for J.K. Rowling’s twitter.  I’m thankful for her in general but following her on twitter just reaffirms everything I have ever thought about her and that I really want to be her friend.   She’s smart, quick, funny and does not suffer trolls.  She truly is a bright spot on the internet.

And finally I’m thankful for all you reading.  Kate and I started this blog for fun.  A way to keep connected and talk books but I think it’s fair to say it has passed our own expectations.  I thought that maybe a few of our real life friends would read it and comment but to have complete strangers from all over the world, like our blog and leave comments has been so much fun for us.  If it wasn’t for you, I’m not sure that Kate and I would have been as motivated to keep updating the blog.  So with complete sincerity, thank you.