Armchair BEA: Fictional Worlds

Here's the prompt for today's Armchair BEA post: We all know that sometimes, the worlds we love in fiction can be dangerous. Which fictional worlds would you want to live in? Which worlds do you never want to dive into? Which worlds are you content to stay behind the glass, so to speak, rather than wishing to dive through the page? And once you get there, what would you do?

Whenever I'm asked this question I realize that there's hardly any worlds I'd really like to go to. In fact, they are all pretty scary, are they not?

Dune

I would not want to go to:

Narnia (the witch)

Most of Middle Earth (the ring wraiths)

the world of the Lunar Chronicles (that plague is going around! But wait, I'd love to meet Kai.)

Mars

Dune

pretty much any dystopian world

The Fifth Wave world (no no and no)

Rivendale

I could handle maybe visiting:

The Shire

Rivendale

Hogwarts

the spaceship Icarus BEFORE it goes down (curious to know if space flying makes me motion sick)

The Raven Boys 

Hmmm... I guess that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there's so many I will wish I'd remembered as soon as I push publish!

Do you agree with me on these worlds? What worlds would you want or not want to visit?

Armchair BEA: Beyond Books and the Blog

Today's Armchair BEA is thinking beyond books and blogs. Here are my thoughts;

Beyond Books:

I'm still pretty traditional when it comes to what I'm reading. I have branched out a bit into graphic novels, but not a whole lot. I don't enjoy audiobooks (I can't focus on them and whenever a person would normally listen to audiobooks, you'll find me listening to music) and webcomics... yeah, I haven't even tried those at all! 

But I do believe that all these forms are great reading experiences and if you love them, embrace them! And, this is a question that as come up lately... count them as reading! For sure! 

As you know, I enjoy the art of story telling in many forms OTHER than books. Namely movies and TV. And music, which is story telling too, don't you think? Now these I don't count as reading of course, but definitely consuming stories. I love it in all its forms.

Beyond Blogging:

Ah, talking about books NOT on the blog. Yes, that would be book club for sure... going on 12 years which is awesome! Woot! And all the author signings and book launches we go to. That's awesome too. And writing... I'd say that's something. Oh my.. talking about getting consumed with a story.... write one and then you'll know! It's so very intense! Let's see, what else do I do beyond blogging? It seems like a lot... like it's pretty much my life so..... oh working at a library and having bookish people all around me all the time. Yeah, that's awesome. (Even if I don't get to work with the books and talk about them a whole lot.) Always promoting the local authors.... that's fun too. 

Yeah, bookish stuff beyond blogging is a constant and a given. Everything, everywhere. all the time.

ArmchairBEA: Aesthetics

Today's ArmchairBEA topic is all about aesthetics. How do I look? I don't know about you, but I look GREAT!! 

The Books:

You know, I'm not picky when it comes to the look of my books. (You did read about what my bookshelf looks like in yesterday's post, right?) I mean, it would be nice if the covers matched in a series, if they were all hardback (or paperback as the case may be) or just... you know... matched. But, if they don't then... eh. Whatever. It's annoying, but not overly. For me. Anyway. But I'm not a perfectionist type and so things like that don't bug me too much. 

As for the cover matching the content. Yeah, that's always nice. But I usually don't pay enough attention to the cover to really think about it that much. Gosh, I'm such a shallow cover person type! 

The Blog:

Now, when it comes to my blog, yeah, I want it to look nice. I really love the clean look and I like blue because everyone tends to like blue, so that's why it's white, with a little bit of blue and splash of red. When I first went white, I thought it was too much, but I've gotten used it and really enjoy it now. Awhile back I went from three to two columns and that's been good. And I got rid of a ton of stuff in my side bar. The top menu is still a bit crazy though. So far, not crazy enough for me to get rid of it.  

I don't think a whole lot about branding I guess... but I do want to have a distinctive conversational very informal style. And I think that comes across pretty well for the most part. 

I don't know. What do you think? And do you concentrate on branding? And the look of your blog?

ArmchairBEA: Intro

It's time yet again for another Armchair BEA! How do the years fly by so fast? Sheesh. I kinda wish that some year I'll be reporting from the actual event, but by the time I can actually go I wonder if I'll even care anymore! I guess we'll see!

In the meantime, I'll play along from the armchair! Here are my intro questions for the day!

Required:

1. What is the name you prefer to use?

SUEY! Yeah. I know. It's weird. But so am I. And so it works.

2. How long have you been a book blogger?

In March I crossed over to the nine year point, meaning I'm now working on my tenth year. Freaky.

3. Have you participated in ABEA before?

Yeah, since the beginning!


Optional:

1. Do you have a favorite book? If you cannot choose a favorite book of all time, pick your favorite book today - just this second. Remember that favorites are allowed to change if something affects you deeply enough.

I always say The Book Thief when faced with this ever impossible question. Because... you kno... The Book Thief.


2. What is your favorite genre and why?

Ah guys. I don't have a favorite! They are all my favorites! I'm especially fond of fantasy, science fiction, YA contemporary, and historical fiction, though I never seem to get to that one these days. Oh wait... why? Why...because... they are awesome! I love to escape, to read about new worlds, to see the amazing imagination of authors... and to learn about history. Oh, and all the angst and stuff of YA contemporary makes me happy for some strange crazy reason.


5. If you could create a playlist that reflects your bookshelf, what would be the first song you choose? (You can include more than one if you want :D)

This one for the space/science fiction stuff I've been loving lately: Louder Than Words

This one for the romance stories that are my most favorite: Neverland

This one for all the local authors on my shelf: Warriors

(P.S. Did you notice? I included no kpop. Just in case you didn't notice.)

6. How do you arrange your bookshelves? Is there a rhyme or reason? Or not at all? (#ABEAShelfie)

No rhyme. Or reason. The downstairs shelves attempted it once, but have been since messed up. Mostly it's classics in a spot, regular fiction in a spot, and lots of hardback signed books in spot. Picture books and MG have a spot too. I have award winners sort of on a shelf of their own too. Sort of. Mostly it's a mess.


9. If you could choose three characters to have lunch with, who would they be and why? 

I think I'd love to hangout with the couples from the Starbound Trilogy: Tarver and Lilac, Flynn and Jubilee, and Gideon and Sofia. Yeah. That would be fun. (P.S. I cheated, yes? I always do!)

Have a great Armchair BEA everyone! I'll see you out there!

Armchair BEA: Character Chatter

Today's topic for Armchair BEA is one of my favorites: Characters! (You'll notice on the tabs of my blog I even have my one special place for them!) But what is it love so much about characters? Why are they my favorite?

The adjectives that come to mind when I think of my favorite characters are: vulnerable, mysterious, brooding, intriguing, flawed, real, loyal, interesting, charming, feisty, unique, funny, smart, quirky, dark, and plain old cool.

Who fits these descriptions? (If you clicked on that tab above you'll get your answer!) But how about another collage of characters that have been immortalized by film? Or drawn by someone? Or as imagined by me or someone else? Good plan?

Top: Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Robin Hood from various, Kvothe from The Name of the Wind, Froi from Froi of the Exiles, June and Day from Legend

Second: Han from The Demon King, Hermione from Harry Potter, Cricket Bell from Lola and the Boy Next Door, Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice, Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities

Third: Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables, Tristan from various, Shallan from The Way of Kings, Mr. Thornton from North and South, Perrin from The Wheel of Time

Fourth: Gale from The Hunger Games, Jo from Little Women, Roar from Under the Never Sky, Leisel from The Book Thief, Kaladin from The Way of Kings

Bottom: Katniss from The Hunger Games, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, Ed Kennedy from I Am the Messenger, Samwise from Lord of the Rings, Aria from Under the Never Sky

Yeah. There's some pretty awesome characters that fit many if not most of those descriptions I've listed. Do you know them? Have you read them? If no, what are you waiting for?

And now, if  I could only figure out how to WRITE my own characters that fit this criteria!

Armchair BEA 2015: Visual Expressions and Social Media

More fun with ArmchairBEA today! Check out the main headquarters here to find out all about it.


Storytelling

I love the art of storytelling. And I feel it comes in many forms. Books of course. And other visual forms like graphic novels and picture books and such. Poems yes. And actually storytelling too, you know, like when people get up and TELL a story. But I also think that almost all other forms of media tell stories. What are movies if not stories? And TV shows. If said it many times here that I think book lovers and avid readers are usually also pretty fond of TV and movies. Why? Because of the stories and the characters. It's the same, just experiencing it in a different way. Also, music. Do you think music tells a story? Either music with lyrics or music without? I think so. I think it totally does.  What about art? The Mona Lisa? How many stories have people told about her over the years? And photography? Oh my word. For sure!

I think I could go on and on with all the different visuals and mediums of media that tell a story. But the above are my favorite ones. And here's a visual to visualize the visual (and I guess I should say audio too!) mediums of stories!

Social Media

Now... switching topics! Social media! I love it. It's just way too much fun. I do tend give the new thing time and tend not to jump on board until something has been proven. It took me years to start blogging after I first thought about doing it. I watched the formation of Twitter and Facebook for a long time before jumping on board. Instagram I was a little more quick to join. Pinterest took me awhile too. Anyway, I use them all for different things:

Facebook is mostly for IRL people, friends in the neighborhood and family. Though several book bloggers have managed to be added to my friends list! I tend to keep my blogging and bookish life completely separate from Facebook. Anyway, Facebook makes me crazy most of the time these days and I find it more a place were people like and share random things and clutter up your feed with lots and lots of junk.

Twitter is mostly for following bookish and writing type people. And celebrities of course! I love Twitter, though it took me awhile to get the hang of it. Now, I'm not sure how we lived without it. Twitter is definitely my place to get news and see what's happening in the world.

Instagram seems to be a bit of a crossover. Some family, some friends and lots of bloggers and authors and a smattering of celebrities. I tend to enjoy sharing pictures here over Facebook, though I always cross post to Twitter. Sometimes I'll stick one on Facebook too, but not often. I love using Instagram and have been begging people to join lately.

Pinterest is a strange little thing. I have the weirdest random people following me there, How do they find me!? But this one seems to be more for an individual thing and not a connection thing. Rarely does someone comment or suggest or talk about something. We are just pinning away and maybe sometimes we'll repin each others stuff, but mostly not. Am I right? Pinterest is a place for ideas and looking at pretty pictures!

YouTube is fun too, but I don't connect with anyone there, even though I have a channel and post movies now and then. I don't feel the urge to joint the BookTube community, which looks like a fun place. But YouTube seems to be more a place to just watch stuff others do and have fun. It's like another TV channel now which is really quite amazing.

Goodreads is another fun place, and there's a little more connection going on there for me than some of the others. But still not a whole lot. Some likes now and then, some comments. I wish we commented more there. But oh, well. It's great for keeping track of books!

Google+ has been a little fun in recent months too, with communities and things. I like it there, but it does seem to be doing pretty much the same thing as Facebook and such. So I'm not sure what's happening there.

I've never understood Tumblr and haven't ever created one. I don't get SnapChat. Or Vine. But wonder about them sometimes.

What else is there?  Anyway, that's about all the things I know about! And that's about all I can handle dealing with for now!

Armchair BEA 2015: Intro Questions and a Little Library Love

It's time for Armchair BEA again! I can't believe a whole year has flown by! Today it's Introduction Day. So I've picked five questions (oops maybe more) to answer. But, it's also Highlight Your Library Day. I did this awhile back, but I'll post a thought or two again. See below.

But first, here's a bit about me:

What is your theme song?

Right now? How about My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark by Fall Out Boy. I have no idea what this song actually has to do with me except that I love it and think it's one the best rock song, head banging things out there right now. Which just makes me happy.

What is one book everyone should read?

Guys!!! How many times do I have to say this!?? THE BOOK THIEF! 

Sorry. I got a little excited there. :)

Share your favorite blog post on your blog. (aka written by you!)

I've always been partial to that one time that I talked about going to author signings.

What book are you most looking forward to reading this summer?

There's a book I downloaded on my Kindle called The Bronze Horseman that I heard is quite the epic love story. I'm so much in the mood for this, so I hope to get to it sometime this summer and see if I agree.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what author would you want to bring with you? Why?

GUYS! Sigh. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. . .

And why? Because then I could have my own personal "how to be an amazing writer " lesson. And we could sit there on the beach and write and learn and write and learn. Doesn't that sound awesome? Oh, and also, this:

Take a picture of your bookshelf and share it with us! :) (#ABEAShelfie)

You do realize I have over twenty bookshelves in my house, right? Which one would you like? Well, here's the one by my bed with books that I hope to read soon.

Library Love!

As for my library, well, I don't even know where to start. I work there, you see, which I means I pretty much love it and think it's awesome and all the librarians are awesome and the whole collection is amazing and... yeah. It's a pretty cool library. I posted this video awhile back, but just in case you missed it, here it is again:

Armchair BEA: Thoughts on YA

Do you see all the discussion all the time on Twitter and elsewhere between authors and the stuffy know-it-alls in publishing? It's happening all the time! It seems like we have to defend our love of YA over and over and over again. And I'm happy to do it here as well!

Here are the questions of the day from Armchair BEA:

 Our final genre of discussion is one that we know is a popular one these days: books for the younger crowd, from middle grade to young adult. If you do not normally talk about this genre on your site, maybe you want to feature books that you remember impacting you during this stage in your life. If this is where you tend to gravitate, maybe you want to list your favorites, make recommendations based on genres, or feature some titles that you are excited to read coming later this year.

So, it goes without saying that I love YA books. Middle grade books too, though I tend to not read as many of them. Last week, there was a Twitter campaign about YA (#IReadYA) that I found fun and I wanted to respond to it all day long, except I didn't. So I'll pretend I did and write my list here:

I Read YA... because I will always be 17 in my head.
I Read YA... because these books tend to be faster and easier to read.
I Read YA... because there are so many awesome characters!
I Read YA... because I love to experiences all the firsts all over again.
I Read YA... because the coolest authors write this stuff!
I Read YA... because the stories are intense and exciting.
I Read YA... because sometimes the stories are simply fluffy and fun!
I Read YA... because we can all (no matter our age) learn something from all sorts of books and stories no matter the intended audience.

Yeah, I always laugh when I see someone say.. "I'm GASP, like 25 (or 27 or 30 or even 35) and even I read YA!" Well, gasp, even nearly 50 year olds read YA! And can totally relate to it all. (Like I said, still 17 in my head, always and forever.)

Some of my favorite YA books:

• the Legend series by Marie Lu
• the Under the Never Sky series by Veronica Rossi
• the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
• the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvatter
• the Partials series by Dan Wells
• the Finnikin of the Rock series by Melina Marchetta
• The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
• anything and everything by Markus Zusak! (even his first books about the Wolfe brothers!)

Okay. I'm stopping now. I pretty much love them all. So, if you're "scared" of YA... it's time to suck it up and read 'em!

Armchair BEA: Beyond the Borders

Day Four of Armchair BEA! What a week, eh? So fun. Today we are talking about Beyond the Borders. Some questions to get us thinking:

It’s time to step outside your comfort zone, outside your borders, or outside of your own country or culture. Tell us about the books that transported you to a different world, taught you about a different culture, and/or helped you step into the shoes of someone different from you. What impacted you the most about this book? What books would you recommend to others who are ready or not ready to step over the line? In essence, let’s start the conversation about diversity and keep it going!

One of my favorite things about reading is experiencing other cultures. In fact many of my all time favorite books would fall into this category. So I thought I'd just highlight a few of them.

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye: The first book that I remember reading that takes place in India. I was fascinated. The book is huge and I was so so sad when it ended. Man, I really need to re-read this one sometime to see if it holds up to that initial coolness!

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry: Later, I read this one also taking place in India. This one is even more real than the first one. (That one you see how the royalty lives, this one, not so much!) Again, I was blown away.

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende: This one shows the cultures of both South America (I forget which exact country now) and Chinese, and how those two cultures come together in San Francisco during the gold rush. Awesome story.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck: An intense look into Chinese culture. It haunts me, the decisions made in this book!

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park: A YA (maybe even middle grade?) book about a Korean boy. I loved it. So very moving.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Taking place in Afghanistan, and I learned so much about this country that we hear so much about but have a hard time relating to.

Fiesta of Smoke by Suzan Still: A book I read last year about the Mexican revolution.. and so many more things. Mostly an amazing love story.

.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright: A book I just finished and mentioned in a post already this week. A great insight into the lives of extremely poor Cambodians.... in our current day. Based on real people that the author and his son met and befriended

Ah... there's so much more! I need to put these sorts of books on my list more often because I truly do love them. And they make me want to travel and see the world. But even if I don't get the chance, I can through the books. Which is the best thing ever.

Armchair BEA: Expanding and Growing

Today's Armchair BEA topic is about expanding our blogging horizons, something I'm always interested in, doing the next cool thing, right?

Here are the specific questions:

What do you think about when you think about going beyond blogging or expanding your horizons? Is it a redesign of your blog? Have you branched out into freelance writing or even published a novel of your very own? Or, have you moved into a different venue like podcasts or vlogging? This is the day to tell us about how you have expanded on blogging in your own unique way.

I think for me, expanding just simply means staying involved. That's why I'm trying to keep Bloggiesta going, and why I've been helping Armchair BEA this year and why I sometimes (depending on timing and such) cheer-lead for different things, and why I'm figuring out Google+ lately and such. I think it just means that it's good to try (I know it's hard and overwhelming) to stay current and keep up!

I've always found the idea of podcast fascinating, but haven't figured out how to make that happen. Besides, I'm not a good talker, so why would I even think about a podcast? Kinda funny I'd say. But still, it seems like it would be really fun especially if you were talking to a buddy and could just ham it up or something.

As for vlogging, I'm also intrigued, but watching me talking sounds even worse than listening to me talk! So, why would I even think about it? Because it's a challenge and something different and it's fun! I don't know. I think if I were to do something like this, I'd have to think of a whole new spin on what everyone else is doing because I wouldn't want to be boring or anything! :)

Of course you all know (if you've been reading here lately) that I've been bitten by the writing bug. Well, I was bitten a long time ago, but have only recently acknowledged it. I think that sometimes morphing from a crazy reader to a wanna be writer is inevitable. And not a very unusual thing, but still, it's fun to try and to see what writing a book is like. I'm having fun, and I think that's all that matters right now!

Anyway, for me, and I've said this a gazillion times, this blogging thing will always be a hobby and if it seems to be moving from that category, I'll know I've crossed a line I didn't want. So as long as expanding keeps it in the hobby realm, I'm all for it!

How about you all? What are you doing to make sure you blog is growing?

Armchair BEA: Author Interaction

One of my favorite things about book blogging is the author interaction that has come with it. Back in the day we had a blogger party and invited authors. Newbie author James Dashner showed up! And look at him now! Also back in the day, sort of newbie author Ally Condie came to the library and then  joined my book club as we discussed her book in a back room. And look at her now! Yes, this author interaction thing is so fun!

But before I go on, here are the Armchair BEA questions of the day on this subject:

Let’s talk interacting with authors IRL (in real life) or online. This is your opportunity to talk about your favorite author readings that you have attended. Or, you can feature your favorite author fan moment (i.e., an author sent you a tweet or commented on your blog). Maybe you even want to share how your interactions have changed since becoming a blogger or share your own tips that you have learned along the way when interacting with authors as a blogger.

Before I started blogging I'd rarely gone to an author signing. Now, seven years later, the amount I've gone to is too many to count. The signed books and connections made and money spent on brand new books are endless! This author stalking I've done has been so much fun!

As for my favorite author fan moment? Hmmm... really? Are you sure you want to ask this question? I'm sure my regular readers are SICK to death of my recounting these fan moments, but assuming there are some new readers this Armchair BEA week who haven't heard about my fangirling, here goes...

Remember that one time I wrote a letter to Markus Zusak? He tweeted me back:

@SueySays Suey - I got your letter! Thanks. I'll reply when I've done some decent work on the new book. It's killing me. THANKS AGAIN- mz
— Markus Zusak (@Markus_Zusak) March 7, 2012

And while I never have received a letter from him, I did get this postcard:

And I've had several other tweets from him too. When I first fell in love with this author, he was no where to be found. No online anything! And now he tweets back to everyone, he does Ted talks, he Facebooks and Tumblrs pictures of his dogs and his scribbled notes, and not only that, he's had a movie made! It's so awesome! But the best thing ever was when  he came to my city and made fun of me for having so many of his books that I wanted him to sign.

The coolest thing about author interaction these days is Twitter. So  many authors use it to connect to fans and it's awesome when they respond. Or even if they just pay attention to you when you tweet about them. And then you go to a signing and say, "Hi, I'm Suey." And they say, "Oh, Suey from Twitter?" Yeah. I love it when that happens. (This is where having a weird nickname comes in really handy. People remember it!)

That being said, sometimes I feel there's an exclusive author club that only the cool bloggers can infiltrate. Or the bloggers turned authors. I get frustrated with this sometimes as I'll never be one of the cool ones, and as for turning an author, I can't imagine that day either. Or sometimes authors are all nice and cozy when they are newbies and just starting out, but when they get published a few times, they have joined the exclusive club and forget about the little people. Sigh. Am I taking a sudden negative turn here? I just have felt this a bit lately and thought I'd throw it out there for you to chew on and see what you think.

But mostly, it's all good and fun and games and I love the connection!

My most recent author interaction, Dan Wells signing Ruins.

I don't have many, but the few tips I came up with for author interaction are as follows:

* be yourself and hopefully they will be themselves back
* don't expect interaction.
* don't be overly fan girly, that's just scary!
* do be brave and not shy
* do make time to go to signings
* do put your money where your mouth is and buy their books and support them

Seriously. It's one of the best things about book blogging and I'm jealous of all the bloggers at BEA this week who are doing this very thing! Give 'em hugs for us all!

Armchair BEA: Introductions

Hello everyone! It's time to start the festivities we like to call Armchair BEA! That's where those of us left behind and unable to attend the "real" BEA book celebrations in New York come together to have our own celebration. Find out all you want to know over at the main Armchair BEA site.

All week I'll be posting on the topics suggested by the Armchair BEA peeps and here's hoping a few of you my readers will want to discuss and play along!

But first, today we start out with introducing ourselves. I've introduced myself so many times on this blog over the years that I feel I'm repeating myself a bit! Okay, a lot. But in the hopes that some new readers find me, here's the five questions (see the whole list here) I've chosen to answer today.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from? 

Hi! I'm Suey from Utah and I've been blogging about books for a little over seven years. I got into it because I was participating in online book groups and suddenly everyone started talking about their blogs. I was doing lots of reading challenges and I thought I better start one so I could have a place to keep track of my lists and progress and see what others were doing. But more than that, I started one because I needed, NEEDED I tell you, a place to talk freely about books and let all the fanaticism out!

I'm also a mom of four kids... two of which just got married this year, and two more teenagers still at home. I also love TV and movies and music and will be often found blogging about that stuff too. Lately, I've also been having my own adventure in writing and it's been a blast so far!

What genre do you read the most? I love to read because ___________________ . 

When I do my number crunching at the end of the year half of the books I read are YA and while that's not technically a genre, I will say that I really truly enjoy YA contemporary. Also, I love all things fantasy! And I love to read because: I love stories... stories in any and every form! 

What is your favorite blogging resource? 

Can I plug Bloggiesta here? Take a look at these links from our past mini challenges... now is that not a great resource or what???? (By the way, the next Bloggiesta will be in July. But I'm not thinking about it yet, in case you wondered.)

Share your favorite book or reading related quote. 

Gah! I have so many! But one that I have always loved: "She is too fond of books and it has addled her brain."

(P.S. Is it turned or addled? I've always thought addled, but I sure see turned a lot. Hmmm.)

What book would you love to see as a movie?

The Through the Ever Night series, if they can do it well, you know? I already have a Roar picked out.


One more thing about me! Please be sure to check out my guest post today over at the main Armchair BEA site! I've written up my thoughts on literature and I'd love to know your thoughts too! I'll be checking comments over there to see if you're talking!

Happy Armchair BEA everyone. I hope to meet you all! :)

Signing Up for Stuff!

My blogging friends, Jenni and Kami, are doing this read along and though I'm not totally sure I'm ready for a re-read of this book, I thought I might try, or at least skim around and join in on discussions or whatever. Anyway, here's the schedule:

Fellowship of the Ring (Book 1): May 1 to May 15
Fellowship of the Ring (Book 2): May 16 to May 31
The Two Towers (Book 3): June 1 to June 15
The Two Towers (Book 4): June 16 to June 30
The Return of the King (Book 5): July 1 to July 15
The Return of the King (Book 6): July 16 to July 31

I will be doing much catching up as I need to read a couple of other things first and get the Wedding#2 done, but then we'll see how this goes!

If you want to participate, click on one of their blog links up above!

_____________________________________________________

And once Wedding#2 is done, I can READ READ READ! So might as well participate in Bout of Books, right? I hope this week after the wedding will be calm and peaceful! And I can get all squared away on what needs reading!

Here are the details for the this amazing week long readathon. For more info, check out the official website at Bout of Books.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

So... what stuff are you signing up to do this month? Don't forget Armchair BEA is happening too! 

Armchair BEA Coming Soon!

Hey everyone! Can you believe it's almost time for another Armchair BEA week? Yes, this will take place the end of May specifically May 26 through 31. If you are new to the book blogging scene, this is the week many bookish people gather in New York for BEA but some (many!) of us can't make it to that event, so some awesome bloggers (Danielle, Florinda and Tif) years ago created our very own online event so we can enjoy some fun too!

The agenda for the week has already been posted, so you can go check that out and start planning your posts. There'll be Twitter parties and prizes and all sorts of things going on, so be sure to join up and plan to have some bookish fun that week!

Armchair BEA: Wrap Up

I had a great time participating in Armchair BEA this year... for the first couple of days. And then I had to
participate in life instead and dropped the Armchair BEA thing. I had a feeling this would happen. I hoped maybe I could do both life AND Armchair, but life won out and Armchair fell to the side. But at least I got in about a half a week of blogging fun!

Anyway, here's my wrap up.

On Tuesday
I listed, or at least tried to list, my favorite classics.
Also, you can learn more about me here, only if you want to.
I did a great job with commenting duties.

On Wednesday
If pressed, I'd have to say that fantasy is my favorite genre of fiction, but only if pressed.
As for development, my blog sort of did its own thing.
I did an okay job with my commenting duties.
I caught the Twitter chat pretty much just as it was ending, since I totally forgot about it. (Or was this Thursday morning. I have no idea.)
I posted an instagram picture of my chair.

On Thursday
I really do love literary fiction!
I did a lousy job with my commenting duties.

On Friday
I should really read more  non fiction books!
A bit of my philosophy on ethics which turned out to be basically, be nice and link to people!
Also, on Friday, I went to my son's high school graduation in the afternoon, entertained and feed the grandparents that came for the event, and then we all went to my daughter's three hour dance recital!
I did NOT do my commenting duties.
I did not participate in the chat because I was entertaining grandparents as mentioned above.

On Saturday
I slept in while my husband got up to run a race and my son got up to work.
Then I got up and took my daughter to a bake sale/car wash fundraising event.
Then I got my car washed, and bought brownies.
Then we went to a violin recital,.
And then we came home and went back to sleep at noon.
And I did not write a "keeping it real post" because to keep it real you just, you know, have fun. And try some different things now and then.
And I did not write a children's lit post because I wouldn't even know where to start.
But mostly I didn't write a post because I was too tired and was just not feeling it.
And, I did not do my commenting duties... again.
BUT, I did Twitter chat, sort of.

Hopefully I'll still have a chance to go back and comment on few of the posts!

Anyway, it's been a fun and crazy week!

Armchair BEA: Non Fiction

Here's the thing with non-fiction and me. I usually push it to the side and favor fiction over that "learning" stuff! BUT, when I do finally pick up the book, I almost always love it. I don't know why I don't make more time for it. Probably, simply... there's not enough time to read it all and I get frustrated!

Anyway, some of my favorite non-fiction books, ones that I absolutely loved:

Coop by Michael Perry
The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Seabiscuit by Laura Hildebrand
John Adams by David McCullough
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
84, Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Wonderful wonderful books all!

What are some of your favorites? Which non-fiction books am I missing that I NEED to read NOW?

Come and play over at Armchair BEA!

Armchair BEA: Ethics

It's quite the heavy topic today at Armchair BEA! Ethics! I' not sure what I have to add to this discussion but we'll see what I come up with here.

First of all, I've been really lucky and have manged to stay out of the drama and far away from the center of unethical action! At least as far as I know. If plagiarism has touched me, I've remained blissfully unaware. I do remember one website that just took everyone's post and re-posted them, but I think we were credited... sort of. Not sure that makes it better, but I think they were busted.

Anyway, I get sad when all the hoopla happens with some sort of blogging drama, but I guess we end up all learning something from it. Hopefully. I think some people thrive on it though, so it will always be there and will always keep happening.

As far as giving credit, it's pretty simple. If you get an idea from someone else, say... "Hey,  I saw this on so and so's blog and this it what they said, and this what I think." Link to them. And then they will be, hopefully, pleased with the shout out and the follow up discussion.

If you are participating in an event or a meme or a weekly feature of some sort, link back to whoever is hosting that event. Makes sense, yes?

A recent (well sort of recent) thing I've been doing is grabbing blurbs from other reviews and adding them to my "other reviews" section of my own reviews. And I will copy and paste a sentence or two that stands out from the other reviewer, and then link to them. I love doing this, and now and then I wonder if they will be bugged, but truly, I think that they would just be happy to be featured/highlighted on my blog. So hopefully I'm covering my bases by the link and the shout out and hopefully sending other readers their way.

Some guidelines I suggest:

-- never copy and paste someone's whole blog post and post it as your own. I mean, why would you even do this?
-- never copy and paste someone s whole blog post and then just change the details and post it as your own. Same difference.
-- if you get an idea or a blurb (as I mentioned I do above) link to them! Link a lot. Link all the time. Link link link!!!
-- I'm not really that familiar with the FTC guidelines regarding ARCs, but I'm figuring it's safe just to say where you got the book from and disclose if it's an ARC.
-- bottom line, be yourself and try not to copy anyone else in any way really, because I mean, why else are you blogging if you don't want to do your own thing? Know what I mean? I just don't get it.
-- I also think we just simply should be nice.... nice in our comments to each other even if we disagree, nice in our reviews, even if we didn't like the book (and remember it's the book not the author you are reviewing) and nice in all our dealings with each other, on Twitter, and etc.

Hmmm... did I simplify too much? Is this issue more complicated? Don't copy, link a lot and be nice! Oh, and stay out of the drama! I think that about sums it up!

Armchair BEA: Literary Fiction

I sort of think of literary fiction as a catch all category, but I'm sure it doesn't think of itself like that. This category of books thinks very highly of itself! It's a phrase that has sort of acquired a snooty reputation. But like any category, it has its good books and its bad. Just because a book is considered literary fiction doesn't mean it's going to be all perfect and wonderful.

I also think of these books as pretty deep thinking. They are usually on the serious side with a bit of a subject to tackle. For this reason, many of my favorite books are literary fiction...because I tend to like the serious stuff. You have to use your brain to read them (usually) and they truly get you invested and involved.

Some of my favorites are:

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
The Angel's Game by Carols Ruiz Saffron
The Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allande

Well, there's a start anyway!

What would you put on your list?

Armchair BEA: Genre Fiction

I really love genre fiction. Like a lot. Fantasy? It is the best! And all that popular dystopian and paranormal? So much fun! Even romances (the tame sort) and westerns (the romantic sort) I love. Science fiction too, of course! And even horror!

I feel like genre fiction is where we go to escape the real world, and for many of us, this is the whole purpose for reading. Or at least a big purpose.

This is the genre where we fall in love with awesome characters and cool settings. Where we read and read and read because we can't get enough of it. Where we get lost in other worlds and times.

These books truly are the best.

Some of my favorite books that fall under the "genre" book category:

The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfus
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Lumetere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta
The Passage and The Twelve by Justin Cronin
The Hollow City by Dan Wells, also his serial killer series
Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
The Raven Boys and the upcoming series by Maggie Steifvater
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel and sequel Children of God
The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner

.... and I guess I'll stop there since I truly could go on forever.

What's your favorite genre? (I can never pick one you know.)
What are some of your favorite books in that genre?
Link up over at Armchair BEA!