Bad Ass Book Babes: @nycbookgirl

Here’s another addition to the #BadAssBookBabes interview series! In this series, I sit down with different book bloggers and bookstagrammers who are just bad ass book readers. Some of them are fighting for a cause. Others are just trying to escape the dole drums of the world.

Recently, I emailed Morgan from @nycbookgirl and asked if she would like to be featured. Of course she agreed! It was so great to read her responses and get to know her a little bit more than on the internet. I hope you get a chance to know her too!

Introduce yourself and what’s you mission with your Instagram?

Hi! I’m Morgan, creator of the Instagram @nycbookgirl and blog www.nycbookgirl.com.  I started this account as a way to commemorate two things I love: the books I’m reading and the city I’m living in.  My blog posts are really a tribute to where I am in my life at that moment and how I saw the book as a result: part review, part journal entry.  When I’m not reading, I work in the theater industry in NYC as the assistant to a Broadway producer.

What is your biggest inspiration to read?

I read because I love the chance to escape into another world.  I read because it’s one of the greatest opportunities I get to learn: about other places, cultures, and people.  Reading is a chance to experience something else, something other than your point of view.

What is your big motivation to start your bookstagram?

I actually didn’t really know anything about the bookstagram world until my dad sent me some photos from the wonderful @bookwormstatus, another NYC based bookstagrammer.  After following her for a few months, I realized we were reading all of the same books and visiting all of the same places.  We met up for coffee and Ashley asked me if I had ever considered blogging.  I had kept a travel blog while studying abroad in college but hadn’t had any content since.  Meeting Ashley got me thinking and a few days later, I had a handle and a concept and I just began!  And I’m so happy I did.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee! I love a good mug of earl grey but I’m a total coffee addict!

What is the one thing you want to get out of reading?

I love reading because I love getting the chance to experience why someone else thinks the way they think and why they act the way they act.  Reading is often times an exercise in empathy.

Was there any time where you couldn’t read?

I was an English and Theater double major in college so I read a lot (thousands and thousands of pages) over four years, but rarely had any time for reading for pleasure.  There was always more that I could be reading for school, so I rarely was able to relax into anything that wasn’t assigned.  When I graduated and started clueing into the dozens of new books released every Tuesday, I was overwhelmed!  There’s so much I must have missed!

What would be the one piece of advice you’d give new bookstagrammers just starting out?

Connect with the people – send messages, watch stories, comment and reply.  The people behind bookstagram are the best part of this community!  And the more friends you make, the more you’ll enjoy it.

If you’d like to be featured in this series, use the hashtag #badassbookbabes for a chance to be considered! I’ll be keeping an eye out for you all 🙂