Hello there! I am Xander, the blogger/reviewer behind Forever Bookish. In case you couldn’t tell, I love books. My TBR is endless and I have bookshelves overflowing with books that I can’t seem to read fast enough! I am currently 17 years old and a senior in high school, but have been blogging since I was 11. You can find me at book festivals all over Texas, volunteering at the library, and at my favorite local bookstore, BookPeople. I am a HUGE Potterhead who collects Harry Potter translations, and you can check out my collection on Instagram at @foreverpotterish. I like chocolate and organizing my bookshelf, but not together because I don’t want to get chocolate on my books. I gravitate more towards contemporary YA but am open to reading books from every corner of the young-adult universe. Some of my favorite authors are Jason Reynolds, David Arnold, Brian Selznick, John Corey Whaley, and Rick Riordan. My logo might slightly confuse you if you meet me in person because I rarely wear glasses now. I am a pretty slow reader, which is unfortunate, but it doesn’t stop me from trying to read as much as I can. Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to take a journey through my years of reviews and other content!

ABOUT FOREVER BOOKISH

Books have always played a central role in my life. Ever since I was little, I went to the library often and read all the time. A few months before I created my blog, an ARC (advanced reader copy) made its way into my hands and piqued my curiosity about the behind-the-scenes workings of the book industry.  In 2013, I decided to turn this overwhelming love of books into a passion project and creative outlet; my own book blog, then called “Xander’s YA Book Reviews.” I didn’t realize that middle-grade was a genre for a few months, which was what I focused on back then: so I called my blog “Xander’s MG and YA Book Reviews.” At first, I just wrote reviews of books and partnered with BookPeople bookstore to spread my reviews. As I spent more time blogging, I incorporated more variety in my content; I conducted interviews with authors, covered book festivals and began working with publishers. 

I rebranded my blog as “Forever Bookish,” joined BookPeople’s Teen Press Corps, and established myself as a presence in the young-adult literature and publishing world. In 2014 I successfully crowdfunded a trip to BookExpo America in New York, and the following year I did the same but partnered with publishers to donate over 250 books to kids at a local Title 1 school in a project I called “Hooked by Books.” This attracted media coverage, and I was awarded the Texas School Board of Education’s Student Hero Award. Throughout the years, I have conducted a great number of interviews and written many middle-grade and young-adult reviews, and therefore have an extensive backlog of content to browse. I continue to share my love of books with readers of all ages by creating content, and my blog has become a centerpiece of my identity.