Hello and welcome!

I know Literature Approved has been around for what, four years now (*gasp* surely not already?!)? But it occured to me recently that we’ve never really introduced ourselves here! As far as you know, we could just be robots posting perfect–ha–book reviews like clockwork…but we are real people we promise!

Andddd…Valerie and I (Rayleigh), recently went on a book adventure together. So naturally, I’m going to tell you all about it here on our book blog! (I’m sure AnnaScott would have joined us but she was off on her own adventure at the time 😉 )

Living several states away from each other, our visits are quite infrequent and a rare treasure for sure. But, due to a spur of the moment trip on my part, from Texas to North Carolina, Valerie and I were able to meet up and spend an ENTIRE DAY book shopping!

Chick-fil-a was our first stop (obviously right?) but….this was no ordinary Chick-fil-a. This was a two-story Chick-fil-a. With a conveyor belt to bring food up to the second floor. A balcony to sit on, under cute umbrellas (which is where we sat, obviously). And of course, amazing chicken sandwiches.

This may be normal in some other states, but this TX girl is surrounded by only ordinary Chick-fil-as and some that are even considered “half restaurants” because they are only open for like, four hours. So, lunch was a definite win.

We went to two different bookstores for two different reasons. Bookstore #1 was for the atmosphere. And let me tell you, it. was. darling. I can’t believe that I didn’t take any pictures, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. From book themed clothes, to stationary, to reading nooks, to an upstairs paradise, to sooo many books…it was a wonderful stop. Valerie and I spent quite a while simply enjoying the mesmerizing feeling of being surrounded by so many fanciful and epic tales. I could’ve easily bought out the entire store.

Bookstore #2 was invaded by two book nerds with a long TBR list each and an entire day to spend. For a $1 a book, no matter the size, it is quite obvious that we came here to do some serious damage to those lists. And boy, did we make it out of there like thieves!

I don’t remember exactly how many books we each had, but I do know that we both found a lot of the books that we’d been trying to mark off our lists for reviews! Mine mainly consisted of missing classics from my library, such as: Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio and others, also some long desired titles *ahem* Ted Dekker *ahem*, and some hidden treasures!

For instance, did you know that Hilary Duff writes books? Yes, the same Hilary Duff that played Lizzie McGuire, A Cinderella Story, and so many other movies that others of my generation grew up binge watching over and over. Nope, we didn’t know that either, but now I have her book Elixir and I will definitely be letting you know how it is soon!

By the time we were finished at the bookstores, we were hungry again, so with one last stop to an Asian buffet, we said our goodbyes and made notes for what to do on our next visit!

So, be prepared this summer, Valerie and I hope to have lots of new reviews coming your way!

Now that you know a little bit about us, we’d love to meet some of you too! Introduce yourself in the comments and tell us about your wonderful selves! Whether it has anything to do with something mentioned in this post, or totally off topic, we’d love to get to know you better!

Do you have long-distance book friends? What is your most memorable book adventure? Name your favorite classic! Is there a movie that was hands-down better than the book for a change? DID YOU KNOW THAT HILARY DUFF WROTE BOOKS?

Until next time…

~Rayleigh <3