Meet the Blogger

What and Who is Becca In a Book for? 

I’m Rebecca Hawkins Lee and I am a bookaholic in Southern California. I have loved books my whole life and my imagination is full of the characters I met and the worlds I’ve been to because of books. Reading is a powerful tool to stop hate, spread love, learn more, imagine better, and grow friends. My hope with starting this blog is not only to shout and rant about my love of books, but to also help someone find a book they love. Reading is such a big part of my life that I just want to share it with the world. I believe that there is a book for everyone and I am determined to share as many books to love as I can. 

My blog is ultimately for me. I started this blog because I wanted a place where I could share the books and authors I love. I also feel like a lot of books that I have read and have are not recognized as much as others. I also want to promote all types of books whether it be hardcovers, paperbacks, audiobooks, e-books. In addition, I created this blog as a happy place for book nerds like myself. I want this blog to be a place where interested readers come and find books they like, learn more about the book world, chat with other book lovers and more. I want to share the tricks and tips I have learned about things such as buying cheap books, supporting our libraries, navigating indie authors, or promoting independent booksellers.

I have read A LOT of books whether it be romance, young adult fiction, fantasy, science, history, politics, or true crime. I read everything (except self-help books, I can’t get into them for some reason.) I just need a place to put all my bookish thoughts and this is what this blog is truly for. This blog will be full of book recommendations, amazing authors I have encountered, tips and tricks to get reading, book rants, book reviews, places to get books, and so much more. I think my experience as a lifetime reader and an English major help me to help others love and grow with books too. Although I am not a professional book reviewer, I will always tell the truth and always give my honest opinion. 

My Reading Journey

I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember. My mom was such a positive impact on my reading life because she always read to me. I have a terrible memory, but one of my favorite childhood memories is when my mom was reading to me right before bed. I remember she read me The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and I was just captivated by the fact that books could take you to such a magical place without having to leave your bed. This love of books continued throughout my entire childhood.

When I was in high school, Twilight came out and that changed my life forever. Young Adult fiction was finally something I wanted to read and I was hooked! Instead of going out and hanging out with friends, I would want to stay at home and read. I used every chance I could to read and sometimes it was not a good thing. My junior year of high school was a tough year and my course load was stupidly massive. So, in order to escape the stress, I read. (This is still my choice of stress reliever.) Sometimes I read too much that there was a point in my junior year where my parents took all my books away so that I focused on school. 

During my senior year, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher and decided to get my degree in English. I mean it was a no brainer for me! Most of my teachers were amazing and gave me a love of learning and reading books helped expand that. I want my students to have the educational experience that I had. I had worked with children all my life and wanted to continue because children are the foundation of our future and it is so important that we instill in them the lessons of curiosity and ingenuity.  My goal as a teacher is to help students discover who they are and what they want out of life. I went to Cal State Fullerton for my bachelors in English and learned so much and read so many amazing books! I also found people that loved to read as much as me and it was amazing. 

After I graduated I started to tutor AVID at my old high school and then got a full time job as an ESL teacher at a private school in Brea. I met my husband through my cousin and discovered he didn’t like to read, but loved that I did. He encourages me to read even though he is not happy about the fact that I like to hoard books. Nobody’s perfect haha! We have been together for five years and married for three and he is my best friend and my biggest fan. When quarantine happened, my job asked me to go part time and I had so much time on my hands for the first time in 5 years. I didn’t know what to do. So, he told me I should start a bookstagram and so in April I did. Then, for my birthday in May, he bought me this blog and here we are.