Tuesday, July 28, 2015

#7in7Readathon challenge


Hey there!

So let's just jump into this and talk about the #7in7Readathon challenge. It began 7/27/15 and ends 8/2/15. The 7in7 challenge is a BookTube challenge that several ladies put together. The premise is that you are to read 7 books from your TBR bookshelf in 7 days. I'm not 100% in the know about all of the details of the challenge so unfortunately I can't tell you who began the challenge and why. What I can tell you is that it is a great opportunity for me to read some of my TBRs that I have on the shelf.

Let me back up folks. Some of you have come "a visiting" from my Make It Up As You Go blog. You may not know all of the bookie jargon (I don't know either, so fake it 'till you make it). A TBR is a book that is "To Be Read". I have attended so many book conferences and I've gotten so many free books from Amazon and BookBub, I don't know what to do with myself! This is a good opportunity to at least get 7 of those bad boys knocked down.

A friend of mine asked how in the world I was going to read 7 books. Well, I'm not picking Gone With The Wind or Roots as my books for the challenge. No, I picked smaller books that I felt comfortable with. The challenge was to read 7 "somethings". They could be novellas or anime or whatever. I picked a mix of books. I might not get 7 but I'll certainly finish 5.

And I got off to a funny start. I had picked 7 books, took one to read on my train ride to work and realized I had already read that book! That could have been a disaster. That was 30 minutes of precious time lost! I didn't fret though. I'm a true book nerd! I had about 5 unread books at my desk! #BookNerdProblems

So, what am I reading for this challenge? Well my list consists of the following...

1. Rules of Entanglement by Gina L. Maxwell
2. Georgia Sweethearts by Missy Tippens
3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
4. Cereus: The Building by Sean Michael, Julia Talbot and Ba Tortuga
5. Stop Dragon My Heart Around by Michelle M. Pillows and Many M. Roth
6. Embattled Hearts by J.M. Madden
7. Love By The Letter by Melissa Jagears

4 of the books came from book conferences that I attended (Rules of Entanglement, Georgia Sweethearts, Cereus: The Building and Stop Dragon My Heart Around). Side note, if you go to a book conference, be prepared to ship books home. I stuffed 17 books in my carry on and shipped 44 books home. I only paid for about 5 of them! Score!

2 of them are kindle books (the X2! sticker at the boom of the book pile). I got them for free from Amazon. If you aren't subscribed to BookBub or All Romance or any number of free book lists, you are missing out. You don't have to have an e-book reader. You can use your laptop or desktop. That's a post for another day.

The final book is one or two that my brother lent me (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). No, I haven't read this book. No, I haven't seen any of the movies. Yes, this is the British version because in my head, I am British (really I'm just an anglophile with issues). I MUST finish this one.

I am going to give it a good try. I think I can do it. These books are thinner reads or "quick reads" as I like to call them. I take the train to work so that's an hour a day. I'll cut back on my YouTube videos (arggggg) so that's several hours (what, 3?). And, I plan on two leisurely afternoons of reading this weekend. I feel very confident that this can happen.

What do you think?


Think about some of the books that you have that you need to read. What's on your shelf that just needs to come off? Plan your own readathon and get it done!

Sunday, July 26, 2015

It Was Bound To Happen!


Hey there!

As the name says, it was bound to happen. You can't be my age, enjoy reading and writing and NOT decide to do this. Yes, with my love of reading, it was only a matter of time before I began a blog dedicated to my love of most books and dislike of others.

I am so excited about starting this blog. I loooove reading. I don't remember when I started reading but I remember my mother telling me to stop trying to read in the dark and go to sleep. I remember the middle school librarian saving the new books for me and my eating in the library (she gave me special permission) while reading the new books.

I've always had a library card. Currently, I have a library card for 3 different counties in Georgia. One of them is a county that I have never lived in before! Yep, I illegally obtained a library card in another county because their book selection is phenomenal. My love of books runs just that deep!

Barnes and Noble is an extension of the library. It's where I go to read magazines and purchase fresh, pretty copies of books that must go on my book shelves and yes, I mean book shelves. A lot of book lovers know what I mean. I don't mean the book cases that can house books and picture frames and exotic bowls and knicky knacks. I mean book cases with shelves so slender that only a book can fit on them, not knick knacks.

Books transport me into a different place, sometimes a different time and every now and then, they transport me into a different galaxy! I love the fact that a good book can change your whole mood. If I want to fall in love, I pick up a romance novel about two people that unexpectedly fall madly, deeply in love. If I want to fight vampires or aliens or dragons, I pick up some Sci-Fi book and become a slayer of some sort. If I want to go back to my true heritage, I pick up a good read about princes and princesses and all sorts of royalty (well!). I keep plenty of books on hand and I always have two or three being read at the same time. 

And what does that have to do with this blog? Well, I'm going to tell you ALL about what I'm reading, what I'm planning on reading, what I've read and everything bookish that I can find. If I take a fantastic trip to the independent bookstore (the last few that we can find!), I'll tell you about it. If my local library has some fantastic author in town, I'll invite you with me. And heaven help me, when I go to the book club and author conventions, you will be my ride or die companion. It's going to be a fun ride.

I don't know how often I'll post -- maybe 3, 4 or 5 times a week. I'm not very sure what writing style I'll use. What I do know is that if you love books as much as I do, then you are in for a treat!


Come back in a day or so and join me. Let's see what we can get into!