It is not often that I get books in the mail that I didn’t order myself, so when I received a box full of awesome from my Secret Santa, Kristen of Bookworming in the 21st Century, I happy danced around my house like a loon. Not only is Kristen super generous, and not only does she run a super fun blog, but she also has her own Weekend Blogger Spotlight series in which she interviews new bloggers. How freaking cool is that?!

But this time the spotlight is on her as we take a look at what she is up to when she is not reading.

First off, I have to say a huge thanks to Missie for inviting me on her awesome feature.

So, when I’m not reading, you can find me doing a variety of things!

I’m often found promoting reading at my job! Most of you probably know that I’m a Library Media Specialist at an elementary school in the suburbs of Chicago.

I also run a reading club, where kids can join to read after school for an hour and take their reading tests. I even dress up as famous book characters for Halloween.

At home I spend a lot of time with this guy, aka my husband Chris (look, he reads too!).

We’re sort of nerdy, so we watch our sci-fi shows (and one semi-normal show):

Alas, he will not watch The Vampire Diaries with me, so that one is all on my own. We’re also fans of Family Guy and Jon Stewart.

I also spend a lot of time with my older sister Sarah and her two kiddos – Lily (turning 5 in February) and Will (4 months old).

We play a fun board game called Carrcassone, which is really addicting and whenever her husband goes out, I get a call and my hubby and I spend hours playing Carcassone. My favorite Lily moment is her discovering a zombie book that I was reading (Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie) so I had to tell her what zombies were and she says I’m the best aunt because I have zombie books. Of course Uncle Chris trumps me because he lets her jump all over him and twirls her around until both of them are dizzy.

Most of our weekends are spent with family as none of them live more than an hour away and we keep at home most nights, working out, watching tv and just being ourselves.

But, I am fortunate to live near Chicago and we have authors abound! I’ve met a ton of authors in the past two years including Maggie Stiefvater, Melissa Marr, Kiersten White, Claudia Gray, Alyx Harvey, Carrie Jones, Tamora Pierce and a bazillion more! Mostly thanks to Andersons Bookshop, our local indie store.

I’m looking forward to meeting Lauren Oliver, Kathryn Lasky, Veronica Roth, Rachel Hawkins, and Lois Lowry coming up and I’m sure a ton more authors will be coming to town soon as well. I’ve also met some great bloggers along with authors and I have to share my favorite signing ever – I actually drove to Michigan to meet Maria V. Snyder and that’s where I became good friends with Sara from The Hiding Spot and Misty from The Book Rat. Here’s a pic of all of us:

Being a blogger and librarian is a ton of fun and I just love how many authors I’ve gotten to meet in the past few years because of it!

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Kristen! Your job sounds so fun. Love it when work doesn’t feel like work. And, I wish you lived closer so we could meet up. I get just as excited to meet book bloggers as I do authors. I’m a total Gleek so I know we would get along great. Thanks for sharing.

When I’m Not Reading is my meme turned feature used to spotlight various book bloggers I follow. To find out more, click here. Would you like to be featured on When I’m not Reading? Well, I’d love to have you. Please, feel free to contact me. Or share with a post on your website/blog. Make sure to add your link below in the comments and I will go check it out.