Hey, guys! I’m BEYOND excited to FINALLY be introducing my new feature to you! I’ve been teasing this “super secret new feature” since November – and I meant to introduce it at the beginning of January. But things got hectic, so here we are!

Essentially, Once Upon a Time is a backlist feature. But more than that, it’s a way for me to discuss the ways in which I first started reading certain authors and books and to introduce those authors/books to new readers. For example, Meg Cabot is well known for her Princess Diaries series. But I first discovered her books when I was roughly 15, when I found Shadowland (The Mediator series, book one) in a used bookstore I frequented – But more on that another day (in the not-so-distant future, actually… *Cryptic comment is cryptic*).

Through this feature, I’ll not only be able to bring light to lesser-known books by well-known authors – as well as lesser-known books and lesser-known authors in general – but I’ll also be able to chat with you guys about what I like to read and how my reading has evolved over the years (hint: it actually hasn’t changed that much…). There were certain books/authors that I read when I was younger that still resonate with me. They’re still, to this day, some of my favorites. If I had more time to re-read, they’re the books that I would be re-reading. They’re comforting and familiar. Reading them is like going home after being away for a very long time.

So, every month, I’ll be featuring a new author. Sometimes, I’ll be focusing on the author in general and sometimes I’ll be focusing on a particular book or series they wrote. I’ll discuss with you, to the best of my memory, how I first discovered that author and why I love their book(s) – why that author or those books effected me and became so near and dear to me. My hope is that I can introduce readers to what I consider beloved books by amazing authors who deserve more attention and more love.

In between featuring epic authors and book, I’ll also be throwing in some other fun things, like a Then and Now feature (more on that later!), a bookshelf tour, a listing of all the current 2016 Backlist Challenges and Features (because there are a LOT of awesome bloggers hosting Backlist things this year!) and giveaways!

To be clear, this isn’t a reading challenge (unless you want to make it one). I’d love to be able to re-read all the books I feature, but time constraints make that impossible. Where I’m able to re-read, I will. And I encourage you to read or re-read with me, but it’s not required.

I also encourage you to post your own “Once Upon a Time” stories! Feel free to use the image posted above (please just credit me and link back to my blog). This is a great way for us to get to know each other and the stories behind our beloved authors and books – basically, why we love books and why we chose to become dedicated readers, bloggers, book pushers, etc.

So.. There you have it! I’m not the best at “introductions,” so I hope this all made sense! I’ll be posting the first featured author very soon and, hopefully, seeing this feature in action will make things more clear! I hope you guys enjoy “Once Upon a Time” – and I hope your TBR’s enjoy it, too!