Meet Anna Pence of Northland, Kansas City, MO

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Pence

Hi Anna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I grew up in Chugiak, Alaska to parents that understood the value of reading to children starting at a young age. My mother was a school librarian which kept us very active in the book/reading community, so reading was always part of our lives. I loved reading as a child but found myself starting to drift away from this love in my high school years. During my 20’s I would read here and there but nothing consistently. Then in 2022 my husband, Bob, and I welcomed our son, Charles, into our family and two months after he was born we made a spur of the moment decision to move from Bakersfield, California to Kansas City, Missouri. We packed up everything and moved to KC within a matter of days. Once we were settled into our new home in JC, I found myself feeling extremely lost. I didn’t know how to be a mom, I didn’t know anyone in our new city, and I felt like I couldn’t find a hobby that brought me joy. After a year of struggles and lots stress, I made a New Year’s resolution to read 24 books in 2024 and decided I would document my reading progress on Instagram as a form of accountability. This was the moment my Booksta, Positivity and Pages was born! I started documenting my reading progress and posting book reviews and to my surprise I reached my goal only five months into the year. At this point I was happier than I had been in years and was loving the book community I had found through my Booksta, which is an Instagram account focused on book related content. With my newly rediscovered love of reading, I set a new goal to read 100 books in 2024 and to continue being active in the Booksta community. Fast forward to present day, and I have had the pleasure to read and review hundreds of books. My platform has provided me the opportunity to connect with so many other book lovers, authors, editors, and narrators. It has also allowed me to become an extremely active ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and ALC (Advanced Listener Copy) reviewer which means I am provided with copies of books or audiobooks before they are released to the public to review and provide my honest feedback to the publisher. Although I love reading and posting my book reviews my absolute favorite thing that has come from creating Positivity and Pages has been becoming an advocate for the library. Kansas City has some of the most fantastic libraries in the nation and I feel so blessed that I have a platform where I am able to share information about our library’s programs, the importance of reading to children, and the many free ways books are accessible to everyone!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would say my road has not been super smooth or that I even knew where I was headed when I started my Booksta because truthfully, I was in the midst of some very difficult postpartum depression, and I felt like I had lost sight of my life path. I was learning how to be a first-time mom, and I was struggling to navigate around a brand-new city. Rediscovered my love of reading and creating my online platform, Positivity and Pages, was the thing that pulled me out of my postpartum depression and brought joy back into my life. There is a saying that reading can change lives, and it has proved to be true, as reading has changed mine for the better.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My creative form is a mix of written word and digital media. Once I have finished reading a book, I spend time reflecting on the book and carefully write a review that contains my honest opinion. I use Canva to design an aesthetically pleasing image to be the face of my book reviews and then combine this content to create a post that is shared on my Instagram account. For books that captured my heart and for the books that I ended up absolutely loving I will create my standard review post but also spend time creating an Instagram Reel containing multiple images that pinpoint key moments, characters, or the mood of the book. I pair that with music, and it creates a book trailer similar to a movie trailer that can be viewed as a preview to the book.

I am known for being a mood reader and a nostalgic reader. I find myself reading books on a whim which is a very nice balance to my overly type A personality. I started my reading journey by revisiting beloved books from my childhood and have evolved into reading whatever feels right in the moment. I primarily read fantasy, horror, mystery, and thrillers but also have a soft spot for a good romance book. I try to read only books that are available at my local library or that were written by newer or indie authors. I do this to constantly promote the available resources at public libraries and to show other readers that you can access amazing books for free and also to promote the authors that are trying to get their big break! Everyone knows about the famous people but not everyone knows what is waiting for them in the stacks of a library or from an author they have never read, and I love that I can be a bridge to help readers explore something new.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The world of reading and books has evolved so much in the last few years and as reading continues to grow in popularity and with so many new authors becoming popular. I believe that over the next few years I will continue to grow my Booksta which will allow me to be able to connect with many new people no matter what stage of their reading adventure they are in. I believe that the library will continue to be an amazing resource for anyone who chooses to use them and that libraries will continue to expand their collection of books and media and that there will be more promotion of how much the library has to offer its patrons.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/positivityandpages
• Other: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/174437154