Book News…


I am excited to announce that Dreaming Anastasia now has a book trailer!  I read this book last fall and really enjoyed it.

Dreaming Anastasia


Anastasia Romanov knows she should be dead; she watched her family fall in a hail of gunfire. Instead, something, or someone, saved her. Trapped and scared in a magical hut with a witch who may be friend or foe, she begins to come to grips with the truth about her situation: that some fates are WORSE than death.

In her dreams, sixteen year old Anne Michaelson is somewhere else. She is someone else. The dreams feel as real as her waking life and they terrify her. This is not good for her social life! Aside from that, Anne thinks her life is pretty ordinary – until she runs into handsome, mysterious, and (okay) annoying Ethan on her way to chemistry class. Now Anne has powers she doesn’t understand, a history-altering mission she doesn’t want, and a growing attraction to a blue-eyed stranger that seems to be stalking her! And when Ethan realizes that Anne is the girl he’s been searching for, things start to get a little surreal! Despite her skepticism and reluctance, Anne quickly realizes that you don’t need to be imprisoned to be trapped! Stir in the doomed Duchess Anastasia, who is not quite as dead as the history books say, and the Baba Yaga, a legendary witch from Russian folklore, and you’ve got Dreaming Anastasia by debut novelist Joy Preble.

My review of Dreaming Anastasia

Its Monday, What are you reading?

Thanks to J Kayes wonderful weekly meme here, I take Coffee Cup into the reading room every Monday morning (usually pajama clad) and choose what I would like to read for the week.  And yes, if you look at the amount of books I choose on some (many) weeks you will see I am usually quite optimistic – or perhaps I live in an alternate universe where time stands still and I can read forever….

Ahhhhh…. utopia….

Ok – back to earth.  Here is what went down here last week which was pretty cool – so I have linked them here if you have missed anything exciting:


What To Do When The Roof Caves In by Merilyn Meberg My Amazon Review Here


Live Longer by Johnny Bowden My Amazon Review Here


Bookies Book Club Picks for 2009


The Male Factor by Shaunti Feldhahn My Amazon Review


I updated my giveaway page with many new giveaways


Author Chat with Michelle Moran – author of Cleopatra’s Daughter (with a signed copy giveaway of her new book, Nerfetiti


The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent My Amazon Review Here


In My Mailbox


Dear John by Nicholas Sparks My Amazon Review


Long overdue Awards


Ok – moving on.  This weeks reading:


Not as lofty as it looks- several of these I am partly through like The Cost of Dreams, Penguin Luck, and Fruit of My Lipstick.  Still and Rene has Two Last Names are complete and waiting for reviews, War Child I am starting today and American Rust is for a review this coming weekend.

What are you reading this week?

🙂

AWARDS!!!

This is a long over due post.  I received a couple of these awards quite a while ago and I had made a decision that at the end of each month I would post any award I received during the month and then I would pass them on.  Well…. the end of December came and went and …. uh….. yeah.  SO now I am posting the awards that came my way with apologies for this delay.

I think awards are so sweet they really make you feel wonderful.  I want to pass them on to everyone of you that stop in and chat with me!  However – I will restrain myself and remember that next month we will do this again.  🙂

This particular award I have horded for an embarrassingly long time.  I received this from J Kaye.  Receiving this award means:

A Prolific Blogger is one who is intellectually productive… keeping up an active blog that is filled with enjoyable content.

1. Every winner of the Prolific Blogger Award has to pass on this award to at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. Spread some love!

2. Each Prolific Blogger must link to the blog from which he/she has received the award.

3. Every Prolific Blogger must link back to This Post, which explains the origins and motivation for the award.

4. Every Prolific Blogger must visit this post and add his/her name in the Mr. Linky, so that we all can get to know the other winners. (Click here for the Mr. Linky page.)

So here are my seven bloggers:

1.  Ryan from Wordsmithonia

2. Helen’s Book Blog

3.  Angie from By Book Or By Crook

4.  The True Book Addict

5. Rhapsody In Books

6. Sharon from Sharon’s Garden Of Books

7. Reagan at Miss Remmer’s Reviews


I received this award from: La Femme Readers , J Kaye’s Blog and Reading With Tequila. This award means:

It signifies all the bloggers out there who constantly work hard to keep an updated and insightful website. They aren’t afraid to take a bite with their honest reviews and enjoyable content. You amaze me, you inspire me so I call you a blog monster.

I pass this award on to:

1.  Alyce from At Home With Books

2. Lisa from Lit and Life

3.    Melissa from My World

4.  Vivienne from Serendipity

5. Zia from My Life In Not So Many Words

6. Jody from With A Good Book

7. Sue with Book By Book

8. Up Close and Personal with Lady Tink



I received this award from: Wordsmithonia and Helen’s Book Blog

This award is for the blogs out there that are the icing on the cake.  And this one came with rules!  The rules are pretty simple. Answer the following questions with Single Word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers.

  • Your Cell Phone? close
  • Your Hair? everywhere
  • Your Mother? missed
  • Your Father? missed
  • Your Favorite Food? seafood
  • Your Dream Last Night? forgotten
  • Your Favorite Drink? coffee
  • Your Dream/Goal? author
  • What Room Are You In? family
  • Your Hobby? Reading
  • Your Fear? losing
  • Where Do You Want To Be In Six Years? achieved
  • Where Were You Last Night? home
  • Something That You Aren’t? dull
  • Muffins? blueberry
  • Wish List Item? energy
  • Where Did You Grow Up? here
  • Last Thing You Did? laundry
  • What Are You Wearing? jammies
  • Your TV? yup
  • Your Pets? shih tzus
  • Friends? best
  • Your Life? good
  • Your Mood? mellow
  • Missing Someone? always
  • Vehicle? Durango
  • Something You Aren’t Wearing? tiara
  • Your Favorite Store? B&N
  • Your Favorite Color? sage
  • When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Earlier
  • Last Time You Cried? Movie
  • Your Best Friend? funny
  • One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? books
  • Facebook? yes
  • Favorite Place To Eat? Chinese

I’m going to pass this on to the following blogs:

1.  Jeannie from Pine Cottage Books

2.  Vicki from Reading At The Beach

3. Stephanie from Laughing Stars

4. Shweta from Book Journal

5. J Kayes Book Blog


And finally I received this cute little award today from J Kaye’s Blog.  This one goes out to those wonderful top commenters.  How I appreciate you!

1. Lydia from The Lost Entwife

2.  Laura at The Calico Critic

3.  Alexias Books and Such

4.  Natalie from The Book Inn

5.  Esme at Chocolate and Croissants

6.  Laurel from Laurel Rain Snow Creations

7. Julie from My Own Little Corner Of The World

8. Staci from Life In The Thumb

9. Library Pat

10. Jennifer from Mrs. Q Book Addict

Thank you to each and every one of you who stop by and comment or even just silently read my blog… I so appreciate each of you!!!

Sheila


In My Mailbox

Here is what came my way this past week by mailbox, by Library, by purchases… if it is book related and came into my home – its on the is list.  Thanks you to Kristi at Story Siren for this fun weekly meme!

So here is what came by mail:

Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake, sister to the faerie knight who would come to be known as Lancelot, and student of Merlin, finds her destiny in the court of the legendary Arthur. The author of A Woman’s Place (1980) undertakes a lyrical retelling of the Arthurian cycle from the point of view of the faerie folk. Crompton’s flowing prose creates an atmosphere in which the familiar tale becomes fresh again. An excellent addition to most fantasy and general fiction collections.

So do you seriously see this cover?  It is amazing and the story line sounds wonderful!


Something strange is happening in Ellerton High. Phoenix is the fourth teenager to die within a year. His street fight stabbing follows the deaths of Jonas, Summer and Arizona in equally strange and sudden circumstances. Rumours of ghosts and strange happenings rip through the small community as it comes to terms with shock and loss. Darina, Phoenix’s grief-stricken girlfriend, is on the verge. She can’t escape her intense heartache, or the impossible apparitions of those that are meant to be dead. And all the while the sound of beating wings echo inside her head…And then one day Phoenix appears to Darina. Ecstatic to be reunited, he tells her about the Beautiful Dead. Souls in limbo, they have been chosen to return to the world to set right a wrong linked to their deaths and bring about justice. Beautiful, superhuman and powerful, they are marked by a ‘death mark’ — a small tattoo of angel’s wings. Phoenix tells her that the sound of invisible wings beating are the millions of souls in limbo, desperate to return to earth. Darina’s mission is clear: she must help Jonas, Summer, Arizona, and impossibly, her beloved Phoenix, right the wrong linked to their deaths to set them free from limbo so that they can finally rest in peace. Will love conquer death? And if it does, can Darina set it free?

Ok – here is another bit of cover love but for entirely different reasons than the first book… this one holds mystery.    I want to know her story.  I will know her story.

Am I dead? I watch from above as my abused body lay motionless on the shoddy bed below me. My mind does not want to face the truth . . . As a result of a drug overdose the author experienced an epiphany on how people can beat addiction, which he describes in chapter Two.


Each chapter is filled with visceral accounts of modern day challenges, both personal and professional, and how you can overcome them. From the slums of Georgia to the castles of Europe, be entertained and inspired at the same time.

Is someone you love struggling with the challenges of our modern times: addiction, weight control, a troubled child, or an overwhelming business challenge? Do you need to change something in your life but don t know how to start or how to finish? Have you wondered if people can really change? If they can, are there steps or methods that can propel the change? If so, The Imposter will inspire you.

I am curious about Kip’s story here.  He contacted me to read his book and that is what I plan to do.

FBI special agent Brad Raines is facing his most complex case yet. A Denver serial killer has murdered a string of beautiful young women, leaving a bridal veil at each scene, and he’s picking up his pace.  Unable to crack the case, Raines appeals for help from a most unusual source: residents of the Center for Wellbeing and Intelligence, a private psychiatric institution for mentally ill people who are extraordinarily gifted.

It’s there that he meets Paradise, a young woman who witnessed her father murder her family and barely escaped his hand.  Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Paradise may also have an extrasensory gift: the ability to experience the final moments of a person’s life when she touches the dead body.

In a desperate attempt to find the killer, Raines enlists Paradise’s help. Gradually he starts to question whether sanity resides outside the hospital walls…or inside.

As the Bride Collector picks up the pace – and volume – of his gruesome killings, the case becomes even more personal to Raines when his friend and colleague, a beautiful young forensic psychologist, becomes the Bride Collector’s fourth target.  And she isn’t the last – by far.

Ted Decker writes incredible books… I haven’t passed on one of his yet and am looking forward to this one as well.


“Did anyone ask where you were this afternoon?” Sol asked her. “No,” Carrie answered, still smiling. “Dad and Eli were so excited about purchasing the orchards that it was all anyone was talking about.” “Surprised me to see Andy with you. Think that was wise?” “Aw, it was a birthday present for him. He won’t tell.” Carrie was quiet for a moment. “I won’t be here for his actual birthday.” Her heart caught for a moment. Sol didn’t seem to notice the quiver in her voice. “So we’ll tell our folks Sunday afternoon, just like we talked about. On Monday, I’ll be on the team bus to Long Island, but you can follow on a Greyhound as soon as you can. I thought we could get married in New York, the day you arrive. How does that sound?” Carrie didn’t answer right away. She glanced back at the big white farmhouse. The moonlight shone behind it, casting a bluish hue over it. The night was so quiet and peaceful, the barn and the house filled with sleeping people and animals. An owl hooted once, then twice. Then her eyes caught on a shadowy figure and she gasped. Daniel Miller was sitting on the fence across from the phone shanty, watching her.

A little mix in my genres as usual…. I have heard good things about this book.

Sales clerk, barista, telemarketer, sign waver … At twenty-five, free-spirited Becca Daniels is still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. What Becca doesn’t want to be is bored. She craves the rush of a new experience, whether it’s an extreme sport, a shocking hair color, or a new guy. That’s why she quit her bookstore job, used her last bit of credit to go skydiving, and broke her leg. And that’s why, grounded and grumpy, Becca bristles when teased by friends for being commitment-phobic. In response, Becca issues an outrageous wager—that she can sustain a three-month or twenty-five date relationship with the next guy who asks her out. When the guy turns out to be “churchy” Ben—definitely not Becca’s type—she gamely embarks on a hilarious series of dates that plunge her purple-haired, free-speaking, commitment-phobic self into the alien world of church potlucks and prayer meetings. This irrepressible Getaway Girl will have you cheering her on as she “suffers” through her dates, gains perspective on her life’s purpose, and ultimately begins her greatest adventure of all.

Doesn’t this one sound fun?  I look forward to getting into this book and finding out more about Becca… and hey, she works at a book store.  What’s not to love right?

According to Sherwood, two questions are central to this book. What does it really take to survive a catastrophic event and what kind of survivor are you? You might be surprised at the answers. While there are tactics and strategies to surviving life tragedies, unforeseen accidents, and other catastrophes, many of these are instinctive (some, like exhibiting transitory superhuman strength, are manifested physiologically, without conscious planning). Some of us, Sherwood explains, are better survivors than others—in prisoner-of-war camps, for example, the people most likely to collapse are the eternal optimists who believe rescue is imminent and fail to come to terms with the possibility of long-term imprisonment. The book is a useful, insightful exploration of the nature of survival, the resilience of the human mind and body, and the ways in which we can all use our natural gifts to maximize our chances of coming through catastrophic situations.

I read a book called Survivor’s Club a long time ago.  Not this one.  A different one by Lisa Gardner.  I want to read that one again now that I am thinking about it and I may read it back to back with this one as they do have the same title…  I wonder if there are more with this title….

And from the Library….

As a young kid barely able to carry a gun, Jal, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, witnessed and perpetrated unspeakable brutality in his country’s civil war, but he has not only found refuge in the U.S. but also become an international rap star for peace. His violent memories are graphically relayed in this powerful autobiography. At age 9, he smashed faces with machetes as his friend plunged a bayonet into an enemy’s stomach. What is amazing in this story is how Jal has been able to let go of his rage. His family gone, he was adopted by a British aid worker, who took him to Kenya, where he struggled in school. But eventually, inspired by Gandhi, King, and Mandela, he turned to music and the idea of rapping for peace (“no tribalism, nepotism, and racism in my motherland”). And his songs climbed the charts.

This one I picked up from a mention on Maw Books Blog.  This will be the book she will be discussing this upcoming Tuesday on Blog Talk Radio.  I am hoping to get a chance to read through this a bit and participate in the discussion on Tuesday.  Not sure I will get it done in time but it looks like an interesting read.

And that is my mailbox.  What was in yours this week?  Anything exciting?  I would love to hear about it!

Reading Glasses Giveaway!

 

Reading Glasses Shopper was so generous as to offer me a pair of their readers for review on One Persons Journey Through A World Of Books.  I was excited to accept this offer as I do use readers when I am sitting and reading for any length of time and finds that they really save my eyes from getting tired too quickly.

They gave me several choices to choose from and liking to be a little original – I chose the London in black and lime green with a power of 1.75.  I used them for two weeks prior to this review and have really enjoyed them.  I found them to lightweight, which is a big plus for me because glasses tend to irritate me after a while due to the weight and I have to take them off.  Not so with these.


Reading Glasses Shopper has generously extended the offer for me to give away two pairs of these glasses!  How exciting!  here is what you need to do for a chance to win your own readers from Reading Glasses Shopper:

1.  You need to visit the Reading Glasses Shopper website and comment here with which glasses you would choose if you were one of the winners.

Bonus Entry?  Yes!  Always!

2.  If you have already completed #1, you can earn a bonus entry by becoming a follower of Reading Group Glasses on Facebook, and leaving a separate comment here letting me know that you have.

3.  Blog or tweet about this giveaway and on a separate comment here let me know that you have and I will add another entry for you!

That’s it!  Giveaway is open to USA only and will end on January 27th

Have fun!

If you get a chance, check out the new links to  reading glasses glossary and eye health glossary

Author Chat: Michelle Moran (and a chance for a signed copy of her new book!)

I am so excited to bring to you today a conversation I had with a wonderful author.   She is the author of Cleopatra’s Daughter, The Heretic’s Queen, and Nefertiti.  Please welcome Michelle Moran!


Michelle, thank you so much for offering to chat with me today about what is going on in your life and about your newest book, Nefertiti!  I adore historical fiction reads and know that you have traveled to many wonderful areas of the world that helped lay out the ground work for these books.  Would you share a little of how these travels turned into the wonderful books you have published today?

Michelle: My travels to archaeological sites around the world have been enormously influential in my writing career. In fact, my inspiration to write on the Egyptian queen Nefertiti happened while I was on an archaeological dig in Israel. During my sophomore year in college, I found myself sitting in Anthropology 101, and when the professor mentioned that she was looking for volunteers who would like to join a dig in Israel, I was one of the first students to sign up. When I got to Israel, however, all of my archaeological dreams were dashed (probably because they centered around Indiana Jones). There were no fedora wearing men, no cities carved into rock, and certainly no Ark of the Covenant. I was very disappointed. Not only would a fedora have seemed out of place, but I couldn’t even use the tiny brushes I had packed. Apparently, archaeology is more about digging big ditches with pickaxes rather than dusting off artifacts. And it had never occurred to me until then that in order to get to those artifacts, one had to dig deep into the earth. Volunteering on an archaeological dig was hot, it was sweaty, it was incredibly dirty, and when I look back on the experience through the rose-tinged glasses of time, I think, Wow, was it fantastic! Especially when our team discovered an Egyptian scarab that proved the ancient Israelites had once traded with the Egyptians. Looking at that scarab in the dirt, I began to wonder who had owned it, and what had possessed them to undertake the long journey from their homeland to the fledgling country of Israel.

On my flight back to America I stopped in Berlin, and with a newfound appreciation for Egyptology, I visited the museum where Nefertiti’s limestone bust was being housed. The graceful curve of Nefertiti’s neck, her arched brows, and the faintest hint of a smile were captivating to me. Who was this woman with her self-possessed gaze and stunning features? I wanted to know more about Nefertiti’s story, but when I began the research into her life, it proved incredibly difficult. She’d been a woman who’d inspired powerful emotions when she lived over three thousand years ago, and those who had despised her had attempted to erase her name from history. Yet even in the face of such ancient vengeance, some clues remained.

As a young girl Nefertiti had married a Pharaoh who was determined to erase the gods of Egypt and replace them with a sun-god he called Aten. It seemed that Nefertiti’s family allowed her to marry this impetuous king in the hopes that she would tame his wild ambitions. What happened instead, however, was that Nefertiti joined him in building his own capital of Amarna where they ruled together as god and goddess. But the alluring Nefertiti had a sister who seemed to keep her grounded, and in an image of her found in Amarna, the sister is standing off to one side, her arms down while everyone else is enthusiastically praising the royal couple. From this image, and a wealth of other evidence, I tried to recreate the epic life of an Egyptian queen whose husband was to become known as the Heretic King.


Michelle, your travels just fascinate me!  I would love to explore archeological sites!
I am curious, of your three books Michelle, was there one that was harder to write than the others?


Michelle: Actually, I think all three came with their own challenges. As a historical fiction author, it’s extremely important to me that the facts in the novel are correct. The research takes many, many months and a great deal of travel. That’s probably the most challenging part of each book.


The big news is about Target announcing Nefertiti as its book club pick. I love that!  Share a little what finding out about that was like. Don’t leave anything out… I want details!


Michelle: HA! Well, the day I found out we were waiting news from the NYT (they fax their List every Wednesday). Cleopatra’s Daughter had just been released and the numbers looked extremely good. So good, in fact, that we were hoping for a shot at the NYT List. It turns out that even though my third novel outsold some of the books on the List, it still didn’t make it (they don’t go strictly by which books have sold the most each week – it’s a secret formula). So I was moping around, feeling ten kinds of sorry for myself, when my editor called and said she had the president of Three Rivers Press on the phone. It turns out that of the thousands upon thousands of books they might have selected, Target had chosen NEFERTITI to be their next Book Club Pick. Well, that certainly made up for the NYT disappointment! It was one of the worst and best days of my career – all in one!


Oh wow!  I would be totally flipping out!  That is so exciting!  Michelle, I am just loving your books.  I am always so excited to see a new one come out and I am so excited to read Nefertiti for myself.  What is next for you?

Michelle: My next book will be about Madame Tussaud, who joined the gilded but troubled court of Marie Antoinette, and survived the French Revolution only by creating death masks of the beheaded aristocracy. I’m very excited about this novel, since Marie (the first name of Madame Tussaud) met absolutely everyone, from Jefferson to the Empress Josephine.

I always like to ask each author I interview to tell me something that is a little known fact about yourself.


Michelle: I play the harp. Not well – but I try!!


Michelle that you so much for stopping by and sharing a little bit of your life with us.  I am excited to read Nefertiti and looking forward to the next book as well!


Did I mention that Michelle has graciously offered one of my readers a signed copy of Nefertiti?  (Seriously, I even swooned a little!)  Here’s how you can you can enter for a chance at this great book:

Go to Michelle’s Travel Gallery and look at all the places she has traveled.  Then come back here and let me know in a comment which of these places you would love to see.  Blog or tweet about this giveaway and let me know on a separate comment for a bonus entry.  🙂  That’s it!

I will choose a winner on February 15th and your book will come directly from Michelle!


Michelle’s blog is here: http://www.michellemoran.blogspot.com/
She has a second website here: cleopatrasdaughter.com

Victorious Living For Women

Victorious Living for Women is filled with the inspiration, wisdom and pathways to victory of 40 incredible women who share stories of their life experiences, from their heart to yours. They have endured personal pain and have come through empowered, encouraged and victorious. As they take you on their personal journeys you will find inspiration, encouragement and blueprints for victory embedded in each chapter. You will discover principles for transforming your life. You can learn how to overcome fear, find you purpose, define your destiny, recover from divorce, heal your heart, physical healing, dealing with the loss of loved ones and so much more. This stellar assembly of women with inspiring true-life stories will captivate you throughout each page as you read how their lives were transformed from anger to joy, disappointment to destiny and trial to victory. Their candor, wisdom and inspiration can help you to pursue your path of becoming a victorious woman.

Monday, January 11

All the Buzz Reviews
http://www.allthebuzzreviews.com

Debra Owsley
http://simplysaidreadingaccessories.blogspot.com

Shelia DeChantal
https://bookjourney.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, January 12

RAWSistaz Literary Group
http://www.rawsistaz.com

Kristinia Clos
http://www.lovingheartmommy.com

Stephanie McKenny
http://wordforwomen.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, January 13

SORMAG
http://sormag.blogspot.com/

LaTara Ham-Ying
http://www.momunplugged.com

Vanessa Richardson
http://thecertainones.blogspot.com

Black Authors Network
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Black-Author-Network
8:00 pm EST

Abundant Solutions
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/asemotivation
9:00 pm EST

Thursday, January 14

Black Pearls Magazine
http://www.edcmagazine.blogspot.com

Joey Reviews
http://www.joeypinkney.com/

LaCricia A’ngelle
http://authorlacricia.wordpress.com/

REAL TALK WITH TANYA WHITE Radio Show
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/realtalkwithtanyawhite
7:00 pm EST

WordThirst Literary Online Radio Show
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ashea-goldson
8:00 pm EST

Friday, January 15

APOOO Book Club
http://www.apooobooks.com

Sharon Ball
http://www.sharonball.com

Written Voices Blog
http://www.writtenvoicesblog.com

Chocolate Pages Show
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/chocolatepages
4:00 pm EST

Its Monday, What Are You Reading?

Its my favorite time of the week when I get to go and look through the books and chose who’s playing this week.  Thanks to the weekend Bloggiesta I completed some reviews that will be up throughout this week. Thank you to J Kaye’s Blog for hosting this weekly meme.

Here are some great things that went on here the past seven days:

I reviewed the book Mass Casualties

I got a Library Card!

I am hosting The Gilmore Girls Mini Challenge

Review of Monique And The Mango Rains

I posted the giveaway for The One Day Way (three copies)

I posted the giveaway for three copies of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

I had an Author Chat with the wonderful author of hush hush, Becca Fitzpatrick


I have reviews to post from last weeks reading and looking at last weeks post, I finished all but the Harry Potter book….(which I never even had time to open!) and Heretic’s Daughter which I need to have finished for tomorrow nights book club!

This week I am hoping to read:

The Mother Daughter Book Club... doesn’t this one look great?

The Gospel According To Lost ... I am excited about this one!

How To Train A Rock Short insights and fictitious fights from this authors newspaper column!

Penguin Luck Looks interesting!

The Male Factor Finishing up for this weeks book tour!  This author Shaunti Feldhahn is so good!

So there is my reading plan for the week.  How about you?  What read is waiting for you?

Morning Meanderings…

What a really good weekend.  I put my best time management forward and was able to not only accomplish household opportunities (laundry, dishes, dusting, sweeping…. ) and a housewarming party Saturday evening, but I was able to put in a lot of effort into the Bloggiesta.  The result is a cleaner and updated blog that stands before you today.

A moment of silence please….

Ok!  One of my favorite things to do during the Bloggiesta is to visit all the participants.  This is not a requirement or even a suggestion… this is just my own personal thing.  Like an unofficial cheerleader who donned the outfit from someone’s unattended locker and off I went!  I just love to see the blog layouts and what every one else is working on for the challenge.  Granted it added to my own list… but that’s ok.

So as I leave you this morning while Coffee Cup and I head off to the gym (groan!) I ask how your weekend went.  Anything fun?  Were you part of the Bloggiesta?

Bloggiesta – I can see the finish line!

First of all thank you so much to Natasha at Maw Books for hosting this incredible event!

So it is now time to recap this weekends Bloggiesta.  I had a BLAST!  I love this event and I always learn so much and have so much fun visiting the blogs of others.  On Friday when I started the Bloggiesta I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish.  As I traveled to other participants blogs and seen their goals… my list grew.  So here is my recap:


  • Catch up on writing all the reviews for the books I have completed (Yes!  I have 5 posts written and hope to do a couple more tonight after floor hockey!)
  • Have back up posts ready to go (Yes!  Created 4 conversation/idea posts ready to go when needed)
  • Send out invites for authors chats with a few authors  (3 invites out and one positive response back at this time!)
  • Clean up my Wish List link  (Yes!  Now I just need to add more to it…LOL)
  • Organize all my pages (Yes!  I went through and cleaned up outdated info…)
  • Create a new Blog Badge (Yes and I love it – upper right sidebar)
  • Love a bit on my blog roll…. it needs a face lift! (I cleaned it out and need to enter some new ones)
  • Love a little bit on my blog (Yes!  I actually loved a lot on my blog and the new color is the result of that)
  • Clean up my book related emails (I went through and categorized those I needed to save and eliminated the ones I no longer needed.  I went from 98 to 33)
  • Get out and visit other blogs!  Life has been so busy lately I have not had a lot of time to do this part of blogging which I love! (Yes – I visited all blog participants as well as many others.  I still have some regulars I hope to stop in and sat hi to tonight)
  • Post the awards that I was planning to do at the end of December  (That is my Sunday night task… I hope to do this monthly after this)
  • Revisit last Bloggiesta’s mini challenges to see if there is anything I may have missed (I did and it was fun to do some of them again or to be reminded of where I had learned a particular task to begin with!)

  • Take a look at My Review Policy (written during the last Bloggiesta) is it still current? (Yes – looked at and tweaked)
  • Catch up on the giveaways that I still need to post  (I have two more to go but I have posted three over the weekend so I am getting here.  Trying not to crowd them)
  • Stop in and see and comment on every participants blog (Yes done with the exception of one bad link and two that wouldn’t take a comment)
  • My Blog Buddy is now Esme from Chocolates and Croissants!  Thanks Esme!!!

As for the new Mini Challenges:

Over at Rebecca from The Book Lady’s Blog I made some blog resolutions.

At Pam from Mother Reader’s Blog I set a goal to visit at least 5 book blogs a day and leave a comment.  I am going to make this goal be that I visit 5 new blogs to me and leave comments.

At There’s A Book blog I discovered a great idea to make a cheat sheet for all the links we use again and again in our posts to save time.  I saved mine to Google Reader and have already put it to use!

At Pam’s Bookalicio.us blog I was reminded the importance of putting a copyright on our blogs.  This is the one challenge I was unable to finish because I couldn’t figure out how to do it.

At Beth Fish Reads there was a great reminder about labels and for the most part I had this one down but it was agood reminder and I did make a couple corrections.

Thanks to Farm Lane Book Blog I backed my blog up for the first time ever.  🙂

Karin at Karins Book Nook linked me up to a couple places that would check my blog for dead links.

Chelle from Tempting Persephone was probably my favorite challenge because it was such a  great idea!  I chose three of my posts that had a lot of traffic and comments and put them on my sidebar.  I love this!

At Bookworming in the 21st Century I signed up for the Mentor program.  This idea is brilliant!

At Jenn’s Bookshelves I brainstormed a list of future blog ideas…. some of which I have already prepped posts for.

I am ending this Bloggiesta tired and happy.  I invested 23 hours and I think it was time put to good use.  I commented on probably close to 200 blogs over the weekend, all of the participants, all of the mini challenges (old and new) and about 50 others in there.  Because of this event I can relax a bit knowing I have back up posts.  For upcoming reads I have put the initial pieces already into posts for them so I can update them with my thoughts when it is time to post.  My blog once again has a whole new look.

Pedro says , “Good night!”

Next Bloggiesta:  June 2010

YAY BLOGGIESTA!