Just like Harry Potter who is celebrating a birthday and graces our front cover this issue, next month Good Reading will turn 21 years old. The pandemic put aside any planned celebrations for our 20th birthday so we’re looking forward to kicking up our heels and celebrating this milestone. For me, all that time has just whizzed by and I know I am the luckiest person to have been able to indulge this passion of mine every day for 21 years. And for all of you who have read this magazine from 2001 until now, for the last 10, or five years, or even for just the last month, I feel like you are my tribe and I really do thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing the journey with me.
So, it’s almost time to kick off the party and with it the launch of a raft of new features and events that we have planned to celebrate with you.
Good Reading’s core aim has always been to help you to find a good book to read whether you borrow or buy, to encourage you to try something different, to give you confidence that the book you choose to read will be a goodie. It’s what we love to do and share with you.
In line with our unending desire to share great books, in July we are launching ‘Book Post’, a book subscription service. Each month the Good Reading team will pick one book that we all love, and we are confident that you’ll love too. It won’t be the biggest blockbuster out for the month but it will be something that we believe deserves to be widely enjoyed.
You can try our Book Post for just one month, or you can try it for three months running, or even every month if you wish. My favourite bit is that you won’t know what the book is until it arrives at your door. I love a surprise.
There will be some extra content included to make the experience of reading the book more enjoyable, with exclusive online events for you to join in where you can connect with other readers. We’ll be there too!
I really hope you will join me and the Good Reading team and try our Book Post out. I’d love to meet you and hear your thoughts about the books we’ve chosen for you. You can find out more on our website where you can sign up to receive information about when the first book will be off the rank. Orders can be placed in late June.
Also during July we are launching our brand spanking new website. It will be all shiny and super fresh, much easier to navigate and discover the huge array of articles and reviews about books from the last 21 years. To celebrate our birthday during July the website will be open and free for all, including all our digital magazines, from Good Reading to our two magazines for younger readers. We have listened to what you like and want to see so I am very excited to have it on the verge of release.
Our birthday month sees the return of our popular daily book giveaway. Every day of July there will be exciting new books to win. Don’t forget to keep an eye on our website or social channels to find out what’s up for grabs.
This is just the beginning. With writers’ festivals and book events now taking off again we’re joining in. From July we will be including you in more activities, from offering you early pre-published books to welcoming you to online events.
It feels so good to celebrate something with you that is so close to my heart. I’d love to hear from you about your experience with Good Reading during your time reading the magaizne. I have so many memories. One of my favourites is the librarian who posed naked for a calendar, with just an open copy of Good Reading hiding all the necessary bits. She was a most beautiful woman, inside and out, and very brave! From the fun chats I’ve had on the phone with so many of you, to the photos of you reading in the most odd places, from the chicken coops to up a crane, I have loved every bit of it.
Rowena,
And Baxter, who’s hoping the 21st birthday celebration means sausages!
