Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who showed interest in and supported Adventure Reading this time around!
Being absent on here wasn't great timing on my part for holding a contest, but at the same time it kept me super excited to come back and read about what other people are reading. The participants did a wonderful job sharing their feelings about the book in their hands, and I felt drawn into each location - I felt like I was right there reading alongside each of you!
The Winners
Photo Winner: 
@akaem
"City" on a Half-Empty Bus with Good Company
Akaem and her roommate Miguel did a great job capturing the feeling of reading on a bus. Their photographs show how the passing scenery and commuters all fade away as you sink into the pages. I also enjoyed the photoshoot at the end, featuring what is clearly a well-loved book by Alessandro Baricco.
Storytelling Winner: 
@tin-tin
"The Cat Who Saw the Stars" and Milk Tea
So I admittedly have an addition to milk tea, but that's not the (only) reason I'm picking this one! When I volunteered at the library, I used to wonder what this "Cat Who" series was about, and
@tin-tin's humorous and detailed description totally sold me on it, while also giving a lovely overview of her experience at the cafe.
Community Winner: 
@awhsarada
"The Dead Student": Funny Translations and a Cold Morning
Once again,
@awhsarada has proven herself a valuable community addition to this contest. She was ready to go with a new entry at the beginning, and she commented on and upvoted all the other participants. I was impressed by the level of involvement from everybody who participated - I love seeing your names pop up as I browse between entries! 
@rindaman1234 also gets a mention here, and I will be rewarding some of my out-of-pocket prize as a bonus to him.
The Payouts
8.5 SBD from me + 1.061 SBD from first post + 3.119 SBD from update post = 12.68 SBD
Split equally three ways = 4.23 SBD
Plus 1.5 SBD from me distributed as a bonus
As promised, I also 100% upvoted every participating post.
In case you were curious what's been keeping me away so long, my free time was spent editing and launching a new storytelling musical podcast (available for FREE on Apple Podcasts).
I will be sharing more about what that is on Steemit, but I'm also powering through catch-up work on my programming projects so I don't know when exactly that will be.
ALSO, I love this contest so much that I will be holding it again! I hope to launch it next Sunday, so those in-the-know will have even more time to prepare.
- Katie, 