CHRISTINE RICCIO

So thankful for my bright new office setup during these stressful times ❤️ I'm loving my new standing desk and chair gifted from @fully_us !! If you haven't seen it yet, my new apartment tour is up on the YouTube channel (polandbananasbooks)! 🎉 Check it out to see all the bits and bobs in my workspace and the rest of the new place. 🤗 It was nice to get all dressed up today. I feel like a person with fancy PLANS XD For those of you who don't usually work from home, have you carved out a nice area of the house to use? Hows it going? #livingfully #standingdesk #activeworkspace #fullypartner https://www.instagram.com/p/B-LGYG3lMzK/?igshid=ovg4imirnq69

Happy Birthday to this amazing beautiful wonder woman, @tashapolis ! 🎉❤️🎉 love you! I hope you have a day filled with love and generosity! I'm so excited to celebrate with you soon! 🎂*bear hug* Here we are as 6 different characters and then finally as ourselves XD #cosplay #queen (Natasha is a cosplay queen) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9m7kQ4lWse/?igshid=v8fajhtlxkgv

One hour into what typically turns into a 5 hour shoot rambling about everything Chain of Gold! Currently on a quick green tea latte break. 😊 Have you finished the book?! If you've seen my shadowhunter booktalks, do u have a favorite one that sticks out in your brain? 🖤 They're def my favorite videos to watch back, but by far the most time consuming to film and edit. #chainofgold #shadowhunters #thelasthours https://www.instagram.com/p/B9ctU4fF_TR/?igshid=1kl71v1docdmi

Channeling Gracie Lou Freebush at NDSU yesterday 💗 I've had this suit in my closet for two years, but never had an event somewhere cold enough to wear it... till now. 😃 I had a great time chatting with y'all about college and writing and ABB, thanks for having me @ndsu_ca ! #misscongenialitycosplay #ndsu #books #writing https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Zvs9MlStI/?igshid=1wfci3m4m4jas

Recent reads! 📖 I've had such a wonderful reading month! Wayward Son was 😍😍😍. I just finished The Gravity of Us audio book which I loved! A contemporary love story with the backdrop of NASA? YES. And of course my everything, Chain of Gold.💗💗💗 I am having the most spectacular time reading this book. IT'S OUT TODAY if you haven't grabbed it yet! And we're reading it as oru @booksplosion book of the month! The liveshow is the 28th 😊#chainofgold #thegravityofus #waywardson https://www.instagram.com/p/B9SDzEjFHwM/?igshid=9l8523shwdqi

THE TIME. IT DRAWS NEAR ⌚📖🗡️👁️ - - #chainofgold is coming. I have a shadowhunter related video coming on Tuesday 😃 https://www.instagram.com/p/B87KpyoFdmS/?igshid=13gnu5c3arlg3

LOOK 1 or LOOK 2? 🦔🦔🦔 I'M FILMNG a video with my normal tone of voice today! 🙏 *knocks on wood* if you haven't heard, REVERIE is our January book of the month! It's inception meets the Magicians! 👏👏 It's so mysterious and I'm loving watching the story unravel! 🖤 Our @booksplosion LIVESHOW discussion is coming up this Saturday at 7pm ET. Have you picked it up yet?! #ravenclaw #reverie #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B76pK7IlnKQ/?igshid=i242uyp6x0e7

Congratulations to the 1st and 2nd place winners of the Again, But Better bookstagram contest, @sam.trainfeld & @katdoan17 ! ✨🎊 Thank you so much to everyone who entered, I loved all your bookstagrams, they were beautiful! I sent my top ten to a batch of six different humans and they got to vote on who would get 1st and 2nd (thank the heavens because this was so hard I could never choose myself). I've also shared some runners up 🖤 I'm sorry I can't share them all!! Just know I appreciate you entering. Your photos brought me so much joy. Thank you so much for reading Again, But Better ❤️🍉 - - All the apologies for this being so delayed. Ive been struggling to keep my head above water with deadlines and apartmenting -- I found a place and I'm moving very soon now so things are cray! Random sidebar if anyone out there is a freelance video editor, please feel free to hit me up via email with your rates because #thevideoeditingstruggleisreal right now . XD Hope you're all having a lovely 2020 so far!!!! ✨❤️✨ https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Cewtcl3oX/?igshid=h5x3acq7tq74

2019 | my top 9 are ABB and Juan themed this year 🥰 I'm not gonna write a whole essay here since I spent the last 72 hours editing a video all about my 2019 😃 the link is in my instastory right now. 🖤 it's been a journey doing this decade recap. Are y'all doing anything special for New Year's Eve? This is my first year bring on the west coast for New Year's! I've been by myself in Jerz working for the last four years. Juan and I are seeing little women! Whatever you're doing I hope you have a nice night, and Happy New Year! 🎊🎊🎊 Thanks for being here💙💛💙💛 #2020herewecome #topnine #topnine2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/B6wszp6Fys1/?igshid=iv91v637r2lb

2018 | was like a second ago. I feel like I'm not far enough away from it to have any perspective on it in comparison to the rest of the decade XD - * It was a year full of again but better prepub excitement, doing edits with my editor, getting a cover, doing copy edits! All the author things I'd never gotten to do before 😊 - *That January I had the best time moderating for Sasha and Lindsay during their Zenith tour 🖤 - *My mom came to visit and take care of my when I got my wisdom teeth out in April - *I cosplayed as Young Dumbledore at our @booskplosion cosplay event. Favorite cosplay ever. - *I brought a date (Juan) to a wedding for the first time. 🥰 MY COUSIN LINDSAY GOT MARRIED ❤️❤️❤️❤️ - *I drove to Las Vegas for the first time to see my cousin Angela get married! 💙 - * I did the cover reveal for @cassieclare1's Chain of Gold and recorded an interview with her right before her event at the Grove 💛 - *Natasha and I went to Forks again! I was recovering from a cold but we still had a grand time - *Literally had my dream interview with Stephenie Meyer on the best day ever (video of experience is on my channel 🖤) - *I got my arcs in the mail and proceeded to d this elated photoshoot with all of them - *For once in my life had a thing to do on New Year's Eve, my cousin Roy got married! 💜 - *2018 was fabulous and so many things happened, I was dealing with a bunch of weird injuries for a lot of year, but when a look back it's a blur of happiness https://www.instagram.com/p/B6wasVnFN2l/?igshid=1loner7ftjwse

2017 | WAS MAGICAL. It's my 2nd favorite year of the decade 🥰 I was thriving in yoga. I was writing & editing ABB drafts 3, 4, 5, and 6. Traveling almost every month. I was spending so much time with the humans I love. - So many amazing things happened that I couldn't fit half the pictures I wanted to into this instaslideshow. - * The year kicked off with a trip to Boston for Nerdcon! Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the vlog brothers! Kat and I went together and had such a fun meetup. It was such a nostalgic, wonderful time. It's one my fav cons I've ever attended. - *FOX brought me out to Venice to ride the very fancy Venice Simplon Orient Express in celebration of the upcoming release of the new Murder on the Orient Express adaptation 😃🖤 - *My best friend got married! I had the honor of maid of honoring for Katie💙🖤💙 Julia and I threw her a Parks and Rec themed bachelorette party in Lala in March. Then in June we flew out to MA for the wedding. - *This year BEA and BOOKCON were amazing!! We met the Chad. We had so much fun at the Booksplosion panel - * Our cosplay event pre Vidcon was SJMaas character themed 😃 at vidcon we did the Lalaland Vidcon edition music video 💛 the last booktube panel at vidcon was epic (fingers crossed it returns some day) - *because you love to hate me came out and Jesse, Sasha, and were invited to be on a panel at San Diego Comic on which was so cool - *We did WESTWORLD cosplay. I've never felt more badass. - *My family came to visit and we went to the wizarding word together! - * I flew out to Orlando for the first booknetfest and was able to be in the Wizarding world on the day of the Epilouge along side my all the book humans 💜 - * I hopped on Tinder for four days in October and ended up meeting this Hufflepuff dude that I'm in love with ❤️ we took our first pics together in the Laland Wizarding world in December. - *In November i got to announce that Again But Better was going to be published in 2019 by Wednesday Books 🎊🎊🎊 https://www.instagram.com/p/B6uhRIzlybd/?igshid=h2fao5mxbunw

2016 | was fabulous 🥰 I had just moved into a fresh apartment. everything was shiny. I had a clean slate spread out before me. - *I spent 2016 writing the first 2.5 drafts of Again, But Better, which was all the fun - *Katie came to visit and we had a spectacular time as always (we spent alot of that time dancing around to Hamilton) - *WB brought me out to the wizarding celebration in Orlando and I got to see Diagon Alley for the first time and meet these wonderful Ravenclaws 💙🖤💙 - * The first 3 months of 2016 I was hooping every day, and having the time of my life learning all sorts of tricks. By the end of March it murdered my knees and I had to stop. But those 3 months were a glorious, bruise filled time - *2016 was a year full of Shadowhunters madness! I got the opportunity to interview Cassandra Clare for the first time before the release of Lady Midnight. WHAT A TIME 🖤🖤 - *YALLWEST was wonderful! - * We were in Chicago for BEA/BOOKCON. I got real ill and couldn't speak for the 1st half of it, but I still had the best time 🤗 We had our first @booksplosion panel there and I remember just being blown away when we walked out to the stage area. After BOOKCON we went to @sashaalsberg 's house and filmed the Shadowhunters parody 🖤 - *We had so much fun at Vidcon this year! We hosted our first Booksplosion cosplay event at Barnes! - * I spent 500 years planning out the Booktubers Sisters parody video. I have all the regret that sang on the track cuz I burn my ears, but I worked super hard getting this video together and I'm real proud of how all the camera work panned out - * We were Hogwarts House princesses at San Diego Comic Con 💙💛❤️💚 - * My Mom got me Hamilton tickets for my birthday!!! 🎊 We saw Lin's 2nd to last performance 😃 - * Again best of times hanging with all the book peeps at Yallfest 🖤 - *Natasha and I went to forks and we're lucky enough to be there with @ohmycarlisle 💜 who knew the lay of the land and brought us to all the Twilight hot spots! - *We had the best time at the Shadowhunters panel at NYC comic con - *I spent so much time with my friends this year. We made so many wonderful mems that I shall treasure 5ever 😊 https://www.instagram.com/p/B6timO_FugA/?igshid=1ct6jza64ckju

2015 | was another rough year for a multitude of different reasons, one being I still dealing with vocal issues. It was a year where a lot of things had to change and I had to dig to find the courage to make said changes happen. The BEST memories I have from 2015 were with my family and friends at all the cons. What a golden year of cons! They were all absolutely spectacular! I was having the time of my life at all of them. - *We were absolutely thrilled to be hosting our first Booksplosion meetup at the first YallWest! - * I went to San Diego Comic Con for the first time ever with Natasha and we had the best time!!!! - *We were on the first ever Booktubers Panel at BOOKCON! - *I was invited as a guest to Vidcon which was a surreal experience? I was on two panels that year and that's the year we did BAD BLOOD booktubers edition! - *Stephenie dropped life or death and I made a video and she saw it and I got to interview her and it meant everything to me. Like I can't. - *My family came out to visit me in a time where I really really needed them and we had so much fun - *I went to Summer in The City in London and was on the booktubers panel there and I went and did the Harry Potter studio tour. My heart sang the entire time. - *Booksplosion moderated the Atlanta stop of Ransoms Library of Souls tour. It was amazing and we had this epic photoshoot - * @tashapolis came up to LA and saved me a zillion times toward the end of the year ❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤 when I was finally settled and moved into a my new apartment it was Christmas and we celebrated with cookies and matching PJs. - - Rachel Platten's Fight Song kept me going through so many hard moments that year. What a jam. Thanks @rachelplatten 🤗 https://www.instagram.com/p/B6r3k0blJQv/?igshid=1mvyh288ogn1b

2014 | was my least favorite of the decade. - But the first half of 2014 was everything. It was amazing! - * @booksplosion hosted our first book of the month Control, in February - * I flew out to CA to visit Natasha whom I had only met once and had lunch with, on the chance we might get to cover the Vampire Academy red carpet. I stayed with her for four days and we had the BEST time and filmed some of my favorite collabs of all time.🖤🖤🖤 - *Kat and I flew out to Chicago to cover the Divergent premiere there. It went awry and we didn't get to cover the carpet but we had so much fun and filmed AnOTHER one of my fav colllabs of all time - *BEA and BOOKCON were AMAZING. I met Cassandra Clare for the first time and she knew who I was *cries*. And we filmed our first Booksplosion collabs 🤗🤗🤗 - *VIDCON was amazing!! We campaigned for a booktuber panel and it happened!!! - * Kat and I flew out to CA early to look for an apartment, we found one , and our apps were accepted which was so exciting - * Back in Jerz I packed to move out during my fav booktubeathon. Those videos murdered me but I will forever be so proud of them - * My dad's girlfriend Jeannie made me the most epic going away cake iv ever seen - *And then I moved out of my mom's and across the country into the polandytastic apartment and Kat and I were having so much fun!! But I kept getting sick. My throat was ravanged and I didn't understand why it wasn't getting better. Months passed and I went to see all different kinds of doctors & no one could tell me what was wrong or how to make it better. All the while I couldn't speak without pain. The more I spoke the worse it got. I would stay silent for day long stretches. - * I really looked forward to going home to jersey because that's when I would start to feel a little better. - -*At the end of the year I felt hopeless. - *My job was speaking and I couldn't speak. I felt like my personality had been ripped away. I took my voice for granted and I'll never do that again. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6q8dahlXbF/?igshid=1wnsgbkztuj8q

2013 | was a year where I pushed myself in lots of new directions. It was a year makes in so many ways by this car. And - The end of 2012 left me feeling stifled in regards to a social life & of course da fUtUre. I graduated whAt now?! Going from living in LA, being in college around so many youths to a parent's house in your suburban hometown brings on a new existential brand of culture shock. XD - * In January I signed up for UCB improv 101 which had me going into NYC twice a week for class. I loved it and I proceeded to take 201 and 301 as the year went on 😊 - * I was going hard with my YouTubes on both channels - * I auditioned to be a Ford Fiesta agent, and I got it. Which meant I got a car for 9 months, with gas covered, and in exchange fulfilled a video prompt once a month that would include my car. It came in that giant truck! That's why we learned to unicyle! - *I went by myself to Playlist live in Orlando & met more YouTube humans. - *I went back to Boston to do my graduation walk since I missed it the previous year. Katie was there graduating in 2013 - * I went to BEA by myself. An associate from Disney recognized me from my Darkest Minds video & asked if I'd want to do an interview w/ Alex Bracken 🖤🤗 - *met my 1st author Veronica Roth - *I got my 1st arc, NEVER FADE!!!!! - * Somehow got PIT tickets to the RED TOUR - *I auditioned to be okay panel at vidcon, & got it - *Other booktubers came to vidcon & it changed everything 🖤 - * Jesseth, Kitten, Ariel, Elizziebooks and I, would go on to birth @booksplosion at the end of the year - *The day Alex came to my house to shoot my 1st author interview ever, was the day after I hit 50,000 subscribers on Pbbooks. It was surreal. - *I opened the polandbananas shop 🤗 - *By the end of the year I was itching super hard to live on my own, get out of my parents house. Madre took me to LA to apartment hunt. I didn't find one. I'm thankful. In retrospect, I wasn't quite there yet. But I'm so glad she took me, because I got the lay of the land, and that made all the difference. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6pQmkgl6Fv/?igshid=1kzaezwk40e03

2012 | was what I think of as the golden age of my pride and joy, Polandbananas20 😊🖤 - * I had just gotten my Canon 60D and had the best time using it to make videos that I will treasure for the rest of time with Katie and Allison.🤗 - - * It was the 2nd half of my senior year at BU and I was taking classes that I absolutely loved. I was writing a 2nd movie script. I was making an effort to try and speak to humans in my classes. - *Instagram finally came to Droid users & my first post was of a celebratory end of finals meal I was having with Katie at Longhorn XD - * In May I skipped out on my graduation walk to go to CA for the BU "abroad" internship program in LA. - * I hiked to the Hollywood sign 🎊 I lived out in West Hollywood for 3 months interning at a production company. - * The internship was 3 days a week & I didn't do much other than direct calls so in every spare moment I was reading. With all my spare time I was feeding my channels. This is when Polandbananasbooks really started to grow. I had so much more bookish content flowing out of me. - - *While I was in LA, Polandbananas20 hit 10,000 subscribers which was a hugeEE at the time 😊. As we had agreed to on camera, a month prior, Katie and I pied ourselves in the face to celebrate. - *I went to Vidcon again! - * Olivia & I had a joint grad party - * Madre sold our childhood home. I lived there with the fam for 2 weeks after the internship before we moved out - * The 4 of us packed into my grandparent's house for 2 months while we waited for the new house to be ready to move into. It made YouTube a bit of a challenge. - *I went to @xtinaGm s house to film once, I filmed at my dad's apartment, I drove down the shore to film until Hurricane Sandy roared through with all her destruction. - * I binged all the Percy Jackson books 🖤 - *Mid November we finally moved into my Mom's new house & I turned my new room and closet into a film studio. 😊🖤😊 I had a bookshelf for the first time. life changing. - *It was a year of dozens of photoshoots! I finally had room for a college photo elective 2nd semester of senior year & I captured this dope night pic with Katie for an assignment https://www.instagram.com/p/B6oSZxpFO08/?igshid=yaroaf7iz0iz

2011 | is, and shall forever be, one of my favorite years 🤗 - * I spent the first four months of it studying abroad and traveling Europe - *I started making videos weekly because I would vlog all my travel adventures, so I always had new content - *back home and on a family trip to Florida for a wedding, me and the sibs got to go to the wizarding world of Harry Potter for the first time!! It was packed and it was hot, but it was amazing!! - * I spent the summer working on a huge music video project called Britney Spears the Evolution that took so much coordination of so many humans and I will forever be proud of past Christine for going for it - *I made a video for National Dance day with @xtinagm and they played a clip of it on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE XD we waz on TV! - *I bought a ticket to vidcon, flew across the country by myself and made my first internet friends 🖤 - *I attended the Speak Now Tour stop at Gillette Stadium! We were way up in the nose bleeds and could barley hear Tay Tay but we were there!!!!! - *I discovered the only alcohol I vaguely enjoyed right in time to turn 21 😊 - *I met and had the honor of living with the best roommates in the whole world @kaitmcch @juliafriley & @allisonmarie28 .💛💛💛💛 We had what has gone down in history as the best semester ever ever ever of all time in The Flat Apartment. - *And at the end of the year, after steadily Youtubing for 11 months I got a check in the mail from Google AdSense and proceeded to cry ❤️ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6mkOgsFACD/?igshid=ferjzjh1f9ht