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Top Ten Tuesday -- New to Me Authors 2013 Class

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

I love finding new-to-me authors each year.  Of course, their back catalogs always make my TBR list even longer, but it's worth it to discover great talent.  I only found six authors to highlight, but they are good ones...

  1. Neil Gaiman -- Okay, okay, not really new to me in 2013.  But this past year, I really came to appreciate his writing.  I can't wait to read everything else he has ever written.
  2. Sarah Addison Allen -- I love her magical realism...  Need to read the rest of her books.
  3. Justin Cronin -- The Passage was amazingly terrifying.  I really need to read The Twelve.
  4. Colleen Gleason -- I really really enjoyed the Victoria Gardella series.  I finally downloaded the first in the next related series.  Can't wait to read it!
  5. Laurie R. King -- A book club friend recommended her mystery series and I really liked it.  We also saw the author speak at the local library (she's based in the Bay Area).
  6. George R.R. Martin -- I finally jumped on the band wagon and made it through the first three books.  I plan on reading the fourth in the Song of Fire and Ice in January.
tags: authors, Top Ten Tuesday
categories: Books
Tuesday 12.17.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Top Ten Tuesday -- Winter TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

Only a few days left in 2013. A whole new reading adventure awaits just around the new year.  I have just a few reads I want to finish before January 1st.  I've spent some time thinking about the rest of winter and I have a great list to get me through the season.

2013 Finishers

  1. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  2. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (in progress)
  3. Tanglefoot by Cherie Priest
  4. Sandition by Jane Austen
  5. Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir

2014 Reads

  1. A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
  2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  3. Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein
  4. In the Company of Secrets by Judith Miller
  5. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Fall TBR Recap (7/10): Decent total for this list.  Looking forward to getting my 2014 reading started right.

  1. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
  2. Children of Men by P.D. James
  3. 1984 by George Orwell
  4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
  5. Billionaire Wins the Game by Melody Anne
  6. Her Ladyship's Companion by Evangeline Collins
  7. The Sandman Vol. 11 and 12
  8. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
  9. Locke and Key Vol. 6 -- The trade won't be published until February 2014, so I've move this to my 2014 TBR list.
  10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
tags: Top Ten Tuesday, Winter TBR
categories: Books
Tuesday 12.10.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Quote Wednesday -- Lamott

"For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die." - Anne Lamott

Wow!  Check out the power in this quote.  This is too beautiful...  I'm sure all book lovers can relate to this one.

categories: Books, Quote Wednesday
Wednesday 11.06.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Top Ten Tuesday -- Scary Book Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

In celebration of Halloween, this week's topic is scary book covers.  I must preface this list with the fact that any book cover that includes clowns would be number one.  However, I hate clowns so much that I can't even put pics of those covers on my blog.  Instead, I'll be highlighting some other scary book covers.

1. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz -- The classic series that scared the crap out of me as a child.  And yet I continuously reread these books...

2. The Passage by Justin Cronin -- I found this alternative cover for the book.  There's something about little children on covers that creeps me out.

3. The House of Dead Maids by Claire Dunkle -- Something about the no eyes that is extra creepy.

4. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff -- Maybe it's becuase I just had a baby.  Babies are creepy.

5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs -- Another creepy little kid.

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tags: Halloween, Top Ten Tuesday
categories: Books
Tuesday 10.29.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Top Ten Tuesday -- Mandatory Reading

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

This week is all about mandatory reading.  Remember back when we were all in school and had reading lists, except we didn't populate those lists ourselves.  Did you not read some of those books because they just looked bad?  I know I did.  But there were many that I gave a try and loved. Or do you have a friend, relative, even an frenemy who forces you to read certain books?  I certainly have one of those (love you J!).  Here's my top ten books I was forced to read and ended up loving:

  1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin -- My 10th grade English teacher picked my book for my hour-long.  She told me I would love it.  And it ended up being my favorite book to this day.  Speaking of, I really need to make some time to reread this one.
  2. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein-- The next five choices were all hoist upon me by J.  He keeps trying to get me to read science fiction.  And surprisingly, more of his selections I really enjoy.  There have been a few that I didn't absolutely love, but they were definitely different.  He's always giving me more and more choices.
  3. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
  4. Have Spacesuit - Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
  5. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
  6. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  7. At the Scent of Water by Linda Nichols-- Required by my friend a few years ago.  She picked this one up at the coffeehouse bookshelf.  I read it and fell in love with the characters.  Such beauty!
  8. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot -- Book club selection that I never would have picked up on my own.  This was surprisingly entertaining and heartbreaking.
  9. Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer -- Yeah, yeah I know.  But back in 2008, my high school students told me I had to read the series.  I ended up finishing the entire thing in about a week.  Really entertaining at the time.  I don't the movies have lived up to the books at all, but that's normal.
  10. The Boys series by Garth Ennis -- Another J recommendation, but in comic book form this time.  This series is not for everyone, it's super violent.  But I love Ennis' discussion of human nature, society, and politics.  Overall, the series seems very timely given the climate in America today.
tags: Top Ten Tuesday
categories: Books
Tuesday 10.15.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

A note of change...

After reading many articles about the changes in GoodReads' policy, I have decided to close my account.  For a well-crafted blog post about the changes and their implications, please read this post from Pictures in the Words.  Thalia lays the issues out much more eloquently than I ever could. Now the problem is finding a substitute.  I ruled out LibraryThings and Shelfari, but am currently playing with BookLikes.  I'll let you know when I make my final decision.  Until then, adios GoodReads.  You were handy until you started attempting to screw over reviewers.

Addendum: Here's another great post about the issues with GR with GR's original post and response from inquiries on Sept. 23rd.  This one is from Pretty Deadly Reviews.

tags: blog name
categories: Books, Life
Sunday 09.22.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Bloggiesta Day #3

Completed today:

  • Make review templates for books in TBR piles -- I added all the books that I plan on reading through the rest of 2013.  Not a huge amount of book review templates, but a few to get ready to read and review.

Look back at my large goals list:

  1. Clean up various pages (About; Quotes; Blogs; Review Policy; Thankfuls; RCs)
  2. Check any broken links
  3. Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts
  4. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
  5. Prep templates/posts through December
  6. Update Day Zero Project (page and actual website)
  7. Clean out Bloglovin'
  8. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
  9. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
  10. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
  11. Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews
  12. Update Movies spreadsheet
  13. List/organize 2014 TBR
  14. Update TBR spreadsheets
  15. Fix formats on selected old blog posts
  16. Digital Decluttering Challenge from Books A True Story (added)
  17. Add book summaries to older posts(added)

Obviously I didn't finish all my tasks, but I made some serious progress.  I plan on keeping with my goals list throughout this next week.

tags: bloggiesta
categories: Books, Life
Sunday 09.22.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Bloggiesta Day #2

What I Did Today:

  • Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts -- Many many images later, I am finished with this task.
  • Fix formats on selected old blog posts -- With the transition last December and the transition to a new hosting site this past month, some of my posts are formatting strangely.  I thought I would clean these up.  They were mostly old posts, but I still want to get them clean looking.
  • Digital Decluttering Challenge
  • Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews -- Mainly I had just a few series to update
  • Add book summaries to older posts -- I didn't start consistently adding book summaries to my reviews before 2012.  So, I thought while I was fixing formats, pictures, and series, I should add some of those missing summaries.

Challenges:

  • Digital Decluttering from Books A True Story: Goal #2 Declutter by deleting at least 10 files you no longer need. -- Taking a look at my downloads folder, I have 143 items listed.  Most of those were book and movie covers that I downloaded to upload to my blog.  Obviously they are aren't needed.  Once I sorted through the mess, I got down to deleting...  and found myself with 22 remaining files.  I deleted 121 files from my downloads folder.  Woohoo!  I love cleaning (at least digitally cleaning).

Remaining goals list:

  1. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
  2. Prep templates/posts through December
  3. Clean out Bloglovin'
  4. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
  5. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
  6. List/organize 2014 TBR
  7. Update TBR spreadsheets
tags: bloggiesta
categories: Books, Life
Saturday 09.21.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Bloggiesta Day #1

What I Did Today:

  • Update Movies spreadsheet -- I finished listing all the movies I've reviewed on my blog plus the date.  I want to make sure that I don't start duplicating movies in the future.
  • Update Music Monday spreadsheet -- Completely up to date with artist, song, and date. I really need to update this weekly, but I find it's more like quarterly.  As long as I don't repeat too many songs, I'm okay with it.
  • Check any broken links -- Done.  I only had 4 since the last time I checked.  I'll have to replace a few pictures, but I'll get to that later during Bloggiesta.
  • Clean up various pages -- 101 Songs (updated as of today); 101 Quotes (updated and finished); About Me (updated to be more current, added favorite books); Blogs I Love (deleted a few and those with broken links); Current Book Wish List (deleted some I've read this past year); Thankfuls (deleted as it felt really tired and boring, possible replacement coming in 2014)
  • Update Day Zero Project (page and actual website) -- I've officially finished 33 of my 100 tasks.  I don't think I'll completely finish my list, but I've made a huge dent.  Plus, I updated all the progress bars and pages.
  • Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts -- I'm not completely done with this task, but I've started and got a chunk under my belt.

Remaining goals list:

  1. Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts
  2. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
  3. Prep templates/posts through December
  4. Clean out Bloglovin'
  5. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
  6. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
  7. Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews
  8. List/organize 2014 TBR
  9. Update TBR spreadsheets
  10. Fix formats on selected old blog posts
tags: bloggiesta
categories: Books, Life
Friday 09.20.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Bloggiesta -- Round 2

My second Bloggiesta.  I have a huge list of tasks to get my blog ready for the inevitable interruptions that a baby brings.  So, mainly back-end changes, but they are things I've been meaning to do for the last few months.

Goals list:

  1. Clean up various pages (About; Quotes; Blogs; Review Policy; Thankfuls; RCs)
  2. Check any broken links
  3. Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts
  4. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
  5. Prep templates/posts through December
  6. Update Day Zero Project (page and actual website)
  7. Clean out Bloglovin'
  8. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
  9. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
  10. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
  11. Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews
  12. Update Movies spreadsheet
  13. List/organize 2014 TBR
  14. Update TBR spreadsheets
  15. Fix formats on selected old blog posts
tags: bloggiesta
categories: Books, Life
Thursday 09.19.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Top Ten Tuesday -- Fall TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

The year is coming to an end!!!!  And I have so many books yet to read!  I decided to focus this list on some of the challenges I can complete. Here are my top 10:

  1. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon -- I keep putting this book off.  Don't know why because I absolutely loved The Shadow of the Wind. (Completes Sub-Genre Challenge, Dusty Bookshelf Challenge)
  2. Children of Men by P.D. James -- Another book that's been sitting around forever. (Helps complete Dystopia Challenge and Book to Movie Challenge, Dusty Bookshelf Challenge)
  3. 1984 by George Orwell -- A classic that I haven't read in many many years. (Helps complete Dystopia Challenge, Dusty Bookshelf Challenge)
  4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy -- I've heard mixed reviews about this book.  Hope I like it!  (Helps complete Dystopia Challenge, Monthly Key Word Challenge, Book to Movie Challenge)
  5. Billionaire Wins the Game -- Some fluffy romance to even out the heavy reads. (Helps complete Romance Challenge, Monthly Key Word Challenge, Ebook Challenge)
  6. Her Ladyship's Companion by Evangeline Collins -- Another fluffy romance.  This one's been hanging out for awhile now. (Helps complete Romance Challenge, Dusty Bookshelf Challenge))
  7. The Sandman Vol. 11 and 12 -- Really love this series.  I want to finish the main series this year. (Helps complete Neil Gaiman Challenge, Seriously Seres Challenge)
  8. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman -- Been loving the Gaiman lately.  Hope to finish out the challenge strong. (Helps complete Neil Gaiman Challenge, Blogger Recommendations Challenge)
  9. Locke and Key Vol. 6 -- Waiting and waiting for this volume to make it to the library.  I may have to wait until I go back to Indiana and get it from that library on my mom's card. Must read the conclusion! (Completes Graphic Novel Challenge)
  10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- Carry over from my Summer TBR.  Still really want to read this one, it just keeps getting overlooked... (Helps complete Classics Challenge, Blogger Recommendations Challenge, Book to Movie Challenge)

Summer TBR Recap (4/10): Didn't do a very good job with my summer TBR.  Oh well!  I did read a ton this summer and knocked out a ton of reading challenge spots.

  1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
  2. Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin -- Decided I didn't like the author that much. Sold at HPB
  3. Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir -- Moved to 2014
  4. Collapse by Jared Diamond -- Moved to 2014
  5. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray -- Still hope for read for 2013
  6. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
  7. Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason
  8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- Carried over to Fall TBR
  9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  10. Wicked by Gregory Maguire -- Still hope to read for 2013
tags: Fall TBR List, Top Ten Tuesday
categories: Books
Tuesday 09.17.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Top Ten Tuesday -- Movies Wanted

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

I struggle with this topic.  There are many books I would love to see come to life, but there's always that little bit of me that fears for the results.  I've seen too many great books become bad bad movies (looking at you The Golden Compass).  In a perfect world, I think these books would make great movies:

  1. Locke and Key comic series -- A very dark and demented horror story.  I love the characters in this series.  It could be very spooky!
  2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn -- An awesome psychological thriller.  My only concern would be how they set up the main characters.  Both are twisted, but the audience shouldn't figure that out until halfway through the movie.
  3. Sarah Addison Allen's books -- Not picky on this one.  Choose any of her books, they would make great romantic movies.  I'm thinking in the vein of Practical Magic or Hope Floats.
  4. The Magicians by Lev Grossman -- Would never get made because it would have to be rated R and people would complain that it was a ripoff of Narnia.  But I would watch it in a heartbeat.
  5. Sunshine by Robin McKinley -- To break the reliance on the cuddly sparkly vampires.  Con is none of those things and yet this story is just beautiful.
  6. Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddol -- Love, love, love this retelling of Alice in Wonderland.  I think it would make a fun, yet dark adventure tale.
  7. Blades of the Rose series by Zoe Archer -- These would make some great adventure movies.  Pretty generic, but the locations would be gorgeous.
  8. Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger -- How awesome would this movie be?  I absolutely love the characters in this series.
  9. Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz -- Maybe not a movie, but a CW series a la The Vampire Diaries.
  10. The Affinity Bride by George Mann -- Great steampunk detective adventure.  Would love to see the world created on screen.
tags: movies, Top Ten Tuesday
categories: Books
Tuesday 09.10.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

The Fantasy Project Challenge

From Michelle: How does everyone feel about doing a Wheel of Fortune spin for September/October? The premise is to choose 15 books from your list (see more in depth details in the sign-up post HERE) and then on September 1st, I will randomly choose a number between 1-15. Whichever number that comes up will be the book you read in September/October.

Here are my choices for the spin...  Can't wait to dive in and start reading.

  1. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
  2. Neil Gaiman – American Gods
  3. Neil Gaiman – Anansi Boys
  4. Gail Carson Levine – Ella Enchanted (Enchanted #1)
  5. Gregory Maguire – Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
  6. George RR Martin — A Feast for Crows (Song of Fire and Ice #4)
  7. Cormac McCarthy – The Road
  8. Karen Marie Moning — Darkfever (MacKayla Lane #1)
  9. Karen Marie Moning — Bloodfever (MacKayla Lane #2)
  10. Karen Marie Moning — Faefever (MacKayla Lane #3)
  11. Maria Snyder — Poison Study (Study #1)
  12. Maria Snyder — Magic Study (Study #2)
  13. Maria Snyder — Fire Study (Study #3)
  14. Jonathan Swift  – Gulliver’s Travels
  15. Gregory Maguire — Wicked
tags: Fantasy Project, perpetual
categories: Books, Reading Challenges
Friday 08.30.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Top Ten Tuesday -- Make My Life Easier

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

This week's topic is things that make my blogging and reading life easier.  I decided to split my list into things that made blogging easier and things that make reading easier.

Reading:

  1. Comfy chair -- I love my chair!  It's the perfect old library style chair to relax and read in.  Add in an ottoman and maybe a fuzzy blanket (on the off chance that it's actually chilly around here) and I have the perfect place to settle in and read.
  2. Good cup of tea -- I always have to have something to drink when I read.  A hot spicy cup of tea is just the thing.  I prefer a chai or an herbal blend, but most kinds of tea would work in a pinch.
  3. Background music -- I can't read in silence but I also can't read with the television on in the background.  I like some very familiar music to be quietly playing in the background.  I've found that The Civil Wars or Mumford and Sons is just about perfect.
  4. Yummy snacks -- How can I have a good cup of tea with some yummy snacks?  It's just not possible.  I'm trying not to snack a huge amount, but some crackers or cookies every once in awhile is just the right amount.
  5. Tylenol -- This pregnancy has given me so many headaches.  Some days I just need a little bit of help to sit and focus.

Blogging:

  1. Goodreads -- My first stop for TBR suggestions and a general book count.  Plus, it's a great way for my book club ladies and I to see what each one of us is reading.  We also use it to choose possible selections.
  2. Amazon -- My stop for buying books (mostly in the past, but I do love the occasional free ebook) and getting general book information for blog posts.  It's an easy way to get summaries, page totals, and publishing information.
  3. The Library -- Even though I have too many unread book sitting in the office, I still love hitting up the library for the occasion blind find.  There's something about browsing through the stacks that calms me.
  4. Evernote -- This little application is a godsend for helping to plan out and keep track of all my blog posts.  I have an easy system of laying out the recurring blog topics and making sure to notate when I've finished the post.  This way I rarely miss scheduled posts or duplicate topics.
  5. J -- I am not super technical.  So I always turn to my own personal geek to help with the day to day of managing a blog.  We just went through a hosting change, so you may notice a few slight differences.  Without him, I wouldn't have a blog.
tags: Top Ten Tuesday
categories: Books
Tuesday 08.20.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 12

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge | Good Books And Good Wine

Continuing the meme, here's Day 12...

Day 12: How do you fight blogger fatigue?

I tend to blog in spurts, so sometimes I get a bit of blogger fatigue.  It happens to us all.  But, I always try and make myself relax and take a bit of a break if I need to.  I would think that anyone who actually reads my blog would understand if I need to take a small break.  And sometimes I keep blogging, but scale back on memes and weekly routine posts.  I try and focus on personal posts and book reviews.  All of this helps me get my blogging energy back.

tags: 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge, book love, lists
categories: Books
Friday 07.19.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 10

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge | Good Books And Good Wine

Continuing the meme, here's Day 10...

Day 10: How do you choose what book to read next?

Every December I start to lay out my next year's reads.  I find reading challenges that look interesting, or just pull from previous challenges.  I make lists of potential books for those challenges out of my overflowing TBR stacks.  I might also throw in a few new releases I know I want to read.  Once I have my master list fairly complete, it goes into the new year's reading challenge page on my blog.  I also keep a paper spreadsheet in my reading folder.  This is my master list of books to read during the year.

Then, I try to break my master list down into monthly lists.  I usually try and space out my genres throughout the year.  Sometimes I have reading challenges that are month specific (like this year's Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge).  Usually I just try and divide my reads across the month.  Once I get these monthly lists set, I then grab January's stack and put it into my ottoman in the living room.  These are my go to reads.  The upcoming months are taken from the boxes and put into my short bookcase.

When I need a new read, I dig into the ottoman and find something that strikes my fancy.  On the crazy off chance that none of those books sounds good, I go to the short bookcase and grab something off there.

This sounds like a very methodical process to approach my next read.  And in most cases, I follow it.  Of course, there is always the chance that I stop by the library for some unexpected read, or grab one at a book sale, or snag one from an Amazon free deal.  But for the most part, I go into the year knowing what I want to read in the coming year.  To help keep me on track, I have also started doing a Monthly TBR post.

Looking at changes in my life this year (work and baby), I am thinking about scrapping this entire process for 2014 and just reading whatever I feel like.  No challenges, no monthly TBR pile, no big plans.  But there's a little part of me that loves the structure of my big plans.  We'll see how I feel come December.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that has a huge reading choice process...

tags: 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge, book love, lists
categories: Books
Wednesday 07.17.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 9

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge | Good Books And Good Wine

Continuing the meme, here's Day 9...

Day 9: Why do you blog about books?

I started this blog as a way to keep track of my reading.  I read a ton of books, but often can't recall the titles or if I liked some of them.  I wanted a good place to track all of that.  Once I began, I started branching out to personal posts, other media, and bookish events (readathons, challenges).  I'd still say that this blog is primarily a journal for my record, but it's always nice to have visitors.

tags: 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge, book love, lists
categories: Books
Tuesday 07.16.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 8

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge | Good Books And Good Wine

Continuing the meme, here's Day 8...

Day 8: Quick!  Write 15 bullet points of things that appeal to you on blogs!

  1. A witty voice (or sarcastic, or just unusual)
  2. Fun graphics
  3. Good blog design -- not too cluttered or cutsy
  4. Posts other than WOW, In My Mailbox, or Book Tours
  5. Personal posts -- they don't have to be about your personal life, but I tire of reading something that sounds like a publishing house put it together
  6. Interesting memes -- Top Ten Tuesday participants, for example
  7. Fun challenges (personal or web wide reading challenges)
  8. Good grammar
  9. Fun gifs (I'm a sucker for animal ones)
  10. At least some books in common with me -- they don't have to agree with my thoughts, but I like some overlap with reading interests

I can't think of any other good ones, so 10 will have to suffice.

tags: 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge, book love, lists
categories: Books
Monday 07.15.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
Comments: 3
 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 7

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge | Good Books And Good Wine

Continuing the meme, here's Day 7...

Day 7: Talk about your blogging quirks.

Blogging quirks?  I have to think about this one...  I guess I tend to blog in spurts, but my readers won't really know it.  I tend to go through cycles of blogging ahead 2-3 months for my weekly meme posts (Music Monday, Quote Wednesday, Top Ten Tuesday).  And then I let them publish when scheduled.  If let up to a weekly basis, I would probably let those memes fall behind.  This way I guarantee myself to finish them.  That's really the only quirk I can think of.

tags: 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge, book love, lists
categories: Books
Sunday 07.14.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 6

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge | Good Books And Good Wine

Continuing the meme, here's Day 6...

Day 6: Describe how you shop for books.

Well, I'm currently on a book buying ban because of my closet of towering unread book boxes.  But usually I do have a routine.  I don't normally buy books full price.  Clearance racks are my weakness.  If I'm actually trying, I bring my list of books I'm looking for.  It's old school; a handwritten list of books to finish series I've started buying and a few stand alones.  The list is 10 pages.  I try to remember to bring my list so I can avoid rebuying books (done that a few times, oops!).  Other than the list, I sometimes grab things that look interesting.  But like I said, I'm not buying books right now.  Surprisingly it's going well.  I've stuck to my ban and read a ton of books in my owned stacks.  Feels good to weed out the stacks.

tags: 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge, book love, lists
categories: Books
Saturday 07.13.13
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 
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