Bookshelves!

Hey there!

I bought new bookshelves! You have to understand what an undertaking this has been. I have researched and tested and watched videos and I've really taken this way too seriously. But, can a reader really take their bookshelves too seriously? I mean bookshelves are homes for your babies! I can't imagine that a true book reader wouldn't take their time in getting new bookshelves.

So I ended up with these.

First, let's back up a little bit. I moved a few months ago and ended up with a large bedroom. My bedroom is large enough that I created a reading space near the window. When I was creating this space, I had to think of what type of bookshelves would work for me. I decided that these work for me.

I know, I know. I could fit more books on a tall bookshelf. I thought about that but decided that I wanted to keep my room lighter and airier and therefore cut the bookshelves in half and leave the top of my walls open.

I'm also 5'4 1/2" and I don't want my bookshelves to tower over me. It's a thing.

I chose white shelves because of the crisp, clean look of white furniture. Most of the furniture in my home is white so this keeps with the theme.

You see three bookshelves here. These are the new ones that I purchased. There are two more older ones on the other side of the room. I also have a smaller shelf near my bed and that holds my spiritual books.

I am super happy with my new bookshelves. No, I haven't put my books on the shelves yet because my plan is to catalogue the books as I put them on the shelf.

Sighhh. I am too much.

I plan on doing this little by little so that I get it right.

And in a year I'll probably reorganize.

That's okay too.

BOOK REVIEW - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Hey there!

Several folks have been reviewing this book on booktube and have been recommending it on Goodreads. I thought about purchasing it but there are so many books that I want to purchase and my paycheck only goes so far. I just decided to check it out from my local library instead.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is a Beauty and the Beast fantasy type novel. Because her family falls on hard times, Feyre (a 19 year old human) hunts to help support her family. During one of her hunts she kills a huge wolf. But, the wolf isn't just any old wolf. In true B&TB fashion, because of what she does, the beast (Tamlin, an immortal faerie) takes her from her family and makes her live with him at his estate.

Feyre isn't truly a prisoner and of course, as she gets to know Tamlin (and the rest of the faeries on his estate) she falls in love with him. And, Tamlin, because he has to deal with Feyre every day, falls in love with her. Tamlin shows her that many of the ideas that she had about Faeries aren't true and shows her the beauties (and dangers) of the Faerie world. Of course, just as Feyre realizes that she loves Tamlin, danger ensues.

I enjoyed the characters. Feyre is a strong young woman. She's had to take care of her family for so long, that she is much older than her 19 years. Tamlin is a strong as well but I wish we had seen a bit more into his thoughts. We had to guess how he felt about Feyre.

The other characters in this book are well thought out and fit along nicely with the story. They are used to tell Tamlin's story as well as the history of the faeries and other mythical creatures that are in danger.

The pace of the book is nice. I don't like books that go from slow to super fast. This one kept a great a good pace except for maybe 2 places where it goes a bit fast.

I started reading the book on the train to work, so I read about an hour's worth for 2 days. Then, I began reading Chapter 4 and flew through the rest of the book in about 5 hours. I couldn't put this book down. A lot was going on so I had to make sure I read (almost) every word.

I really enjoyed this book. I was hoping that I would. I haven't read much Young Adult because I have problems with teens that have very adult adventures. This one is considered to be New Adult. That made me feel a bit better about love scenes -- not a lot better, just a bit better.

I give this book 4 1/2 stars. It was that good. I have to wait until 2016 for the next book. I'll make sure when I pick it up, I have a free Saturday and Sunday to read this.

What I Bought - July 2015

Hey there!

I bought quite a few books in July. I've been getting back into the swing of the reading thing. I spent a few months packing and moving so I didn't get to read like I wanted to. Now, I'm all moved and ready to get back in action. 

In the month of July, all of my book purchases came from the thrift store. Yep! I picked up all of them from Goodwill and Value Village and other thrift stores. I don't like paying full price for anything so it makes since that I'd go cheap on books too.

Let's begin with my girlie girl/chick lit books. I picked up Hope In a Jar by Beth Harbison, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin and The Debutante Divorcée by Plum Sykes. I don't know anything about Beth Harbison but the cover looked good and the topic of going to your high school reunion seemed interesting. I had no desire to go to mine, but you know! I just finished another book by Emily Giffin so it was just reflex that made me pick up Something Borrowed. And, The Debutante Divorcée looked good because I've read the Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes and enjoyed it.

I always have to look at one or two non-fiction books. Gotta expand the mind, you know. I settled on Three Black Skirts by Anna Johnson, Incense, The Complete Book of Oils & Brews by Scott Cunningham, The One Year Book of Inspiration for Girlfriends by Ellen Miller and I Dare You by Joyce Meyer. Three Black Skirts is one that I will read straight through and of course The One Year Book of Inspiration for Girlfriends and I Dare You are books that I will read during my morning inspirational reading time. So, those books may take several months to finish. The Complete Book of Oils & Brews will be a reference book, so I don't have to read it in one sitting.

A lady in the Goodwill store told me I just had to read Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. I don't really know what it's about but I thought I'd pick it up and try it out. She looked nice and like she read a lot. What better reason to pick up a book, huh?

But Mama Always Put Vodka In The Sangria by Julia Reed looked fun. It's one of those story plus cookbooks. I love cookbooks so one that adds a nice story is a plus.

The fact that I picked up Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig doesn't surprise anyone that knows me. I loooooove Gone With The Wind -- yes the book. I own the movie and watch it at least twice a year but I have also read the book and love it very much. More than I enjoy the GWTW book itself, I enjoy the parodies. I enjoy parodies and the books that spin off of the original book in general. I like that they try to tell us what happened before, after and alongside the original book (authorized books are fine but unauthorized books are great!). That's why you see Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan. It's a book about what happens after the wedding. It will either be really good or really bad. Wither by Lauren DeStefano just looked interesting. The cover looked good and the description make it sound like something I'd enjoy reading.

Yep! Twelve books purchased in the month of July. Yeah, that's a lot. No, I won't read them all within the next month or two but I will make a very concerted effort to read them soon. Do I plan on reading any of them in August? Two of them look like they will make the cut (and of course three of them aren't for reading all at one time).

What did you buy last month and how many of those books are you planning on reading soon?

#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!

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!