Hey mersquad coven!
It’s been a long time since I’ve done any discussion posts, fun posts, or just anything not review related in a while so I’m really glad to be here writing again. I miss it! I know you probably got to see some of my creative posts for the Forest of Souls Book Tour that I hosted through Hear Our Voices and I hope you had fun seeing those. I had fun making them.
If you didn’t happen to see it on your feed, L.L. McKinney and Saraciea J. Fennell debuted and launched the absolutely amazing Juneteenth Book Fest that took place this Friday. Now, when we talk about Black excellence in the world, the Juneteenth Book Fest exuded that and so much more. I remember Saraciea’s announcement post about it and was immediately excited! I had the day off after advocating for this holiday to be observed at my work, and I knew that I wanted to spend my day seeing the celebration of Black authors and Black stories in the publishing industry through this fest. And let me tell you, IT. WAS. MAGICAL.
Buckle your seat belts because this may be a long post! I plan on doing my best to give my full thoughts on the panels from that day and on the fest in general. I hope you enjoy it! And I hope that you will take some time to go through the panels that either call to you or watch all of them since they were all amazing. You know? Just spend the whole day enjoying this showcase of Black excellence of spread it out for a while week. Either way is fun and I plan on rewatching the panels throughout the week and longer.
EDIT: Seeing that my thoughts for even one panel went on FOREVER, I’m only going to give my thoughts on three panels to save space and time for you. However! I still recommend watching the entire playlist on YouTube so if you need a link, let me know! It should also show up when you click on any of the videos that I included in the recap so look there as well.
Sometimes Leelynn Reads 