Dear friend,

Kudos to you for taking on The Reading Rush readathon! I can’t imagine a more cathartic and fun way to spend a summer’s week, especially during this time of social distancing and sheltering. So treat yourself to a stay-cation — snuggle up with a cozy blanket, a mug of tea and some favorite snacks. Ask your family for some quiet time, turn off the phone and get off the internet — and just have fun!

I’m excited to take on and savor just a few books, since I’m also working on the companion novel for Loveboat, Taipei. Books are like friends — they’ve always been that way for me. I would vanish for hours inside the worlds of Laura Ingalls, Narnia, anything Robin McKinley or David Eddings. Books were the ways I learned about the world and people. When I met my husband and we were both young professionals newly in the grown up world with shifting relationships, he told me that whenever he was alone, he found his companions in the books that he read. It was one of the things that connected us.

There’s already so much great advice out there about readathons, so I would just add my voice to this one: Mix it up! Every genre has its own special genius. Picture books, graphic novels, middle grade, young adult, adult, cookbooks, biographies, audio books — try them all if you can! For those looking for writing craft books, I have a list of favorites on my website: www.abigailhingwen.com.

One last thought. Reading is for you. So enjoy it and when it's not enjoyable, give yourself permission to try another book or even go out and spend a few hours in the sun.

Happy reading and much love,
Abigail Hing Wen

New York Times bestselling author of Loveboat, Taipei

www.instagram.com/abigailhingwen

www.twitter.com/abigailhingwen

Optioned for film by the producers of Jenny Han’s TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE.

Most anticipated novel of 2020: Boston Globe,Book Riot, Bustle, Nerd Daily, Seventeen, She Reads.

Praised as “an intense rush of rebellion and romance” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Garber, this romantic and layered Own Voices debut from Abigail Hing Wen is “a roller-coaster ride of romance and self-discovery.”(Kirkus)

Abigail Hing Wen holds a BA from Harvard, a JD from Columbia Law School, and an MFA from the Vermont School of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing stories or listening to her favorite scores, she is busy working in venture capital and artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley, where she lives with her husband and two sons. Loveboat, Taipei is her first novel. www.abigailhingwen.com

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