Obviously there are a lot of perks to reviewing books. First of all the delicious books that arrive on your doorstep and you get the pleasure to read and chat about. And of course there is the conversation itself that generates around the book, and of course, the relationships we book bloggers build together as people who love to read and love to chat books.
Occasionally, we can be asked to review something other than books just due to something we mentioned we enjoy and I think that is kind of fun too. In the past I have been given the occasional movie to review, at one time reader glasses, and a couple of years back… a bookshelf. 😛
In my mail yesterday, this arrived:
Telestrations is a “telephone like game” Sketch, Pass, and Guess! It is no secret that I love board games, and this would not be the first board game I have been sent to review. I think when we are at the cabin in a couple of weeks with friends I will try it then. 😀
I also had a few books trickle in this week:
Yesterday we car shopped – we think we found something, Hubby is processing (its how he shops, looks… and thinks….) So we will know more on Monday but I am excited to hopefully have that over with. 😀 This morning I am going to church and then packing for my week at Camp Benedict that starts tomorrow afternoon. I will talk more about that on Tuesday morning.
If you are a book reviewer, have there been any cool things that you have been asked to review other than books? Have there been any not so cool things you have been asked to review? (I remember once they asked me to talk about Ug Boots…. I told them they had no connection to books or to my life whatsoever… I couldn’t do it.) 😛
Yesterday I spent my whole day volunteering for our Friends Of The Library Book Sale. I was really excited to do it having for years been a part of the other side of it… waiting outside for the doors to open, rushing in and working my way through all the people to find just the right books for 50 cents a piece, supporting my local library and supporting my reading habit. 😀
I eagerly started my shift at 8 am, my job at that time was to go through all the books on the tables, add books from the boxes underneath the tables if there was room, and make sure there are no trip hazards. When the doors opened at 9:00 am and the people started coming in I was surprised to see it was a slow trickle. My morning started out by offering to take people’s books from them to the front and bag them if they had a huge handful and filling in book gaps to keep all the books standing upright and pretty. As it became late morning the traffic at the sale became more steady and I found myself having a lot of fun looking for books for people, or subjects, and answering bookish questions. Here are some of the things that I was asked:
Do you have any books on WWII? (we did)
Where are your books on the Renaissance era? (nowhere that I knew of)
Do you have Jodi Picoult? (we did)
Do you have Stephen King’s The Dome? (we did not)
Where do all the books come from? (people donate them to friends of the library for the sale)
Do you have to read the Sue Grafton Books in order? IE. A Is For Alibi, B is For Burglar, C Is For Corpse… (I had never read Grafton but was familiar with the series and told the lady that I did not believe you would have to read them in order as Sue Grafton was now on “W” and I think that would deter new readers if they thought they had to start at “A” and work their way to “W”. However, I told the woman I would “phone a friend” (I don’t think she got my humor) and ask the ladies at the check out table. They informed me that while the series has to do with the same Private Investigator Kinsey Milhone, you did not have to read the books in order.
There were a few other fun tidbits of information I picked up by walking the books of the sale for 11 hours…
Author who had the most books there: Danielle Steele (there were boxes and boxes of paperbacks and hardcovers)
The book we had the most copies of for sale: Dan Brown’s The Davinchi Code in hard cover. There were 10 of them. I strategically placed them throughout the books hoping to entice someone, I think when I left last night they were still all there.
Author asked for the most? Stephen King
There were 12,000+ books at this sale.
For Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot this week, if you seen my post yesterday morning, I did purchase books at the sale on Thursday:
and yes, you guessed right, there was no way I worked a book sale for 11 hours and walked out with nothing… here are my finds from Friday:
The Ella Minnow Pea book was a book mentioned to me by my roommate from BEA this year, Gail from Ticket To Anywhere. I was fascinated about the book and THRILLED when I found not one, but two copies of it at the sale – both pictured above. I plan to use this book in a way during my beloved Banned Book Week that will take place September 30 – Oct 6.
When my shift was over at the book sale I was sad to go, I really had a lot of fun talking books with people, answering questions and just being in an environment surrounded by books and bookish people. 😀
Be sure to stop by At Home With Books and see other participants in the Saturday Snapshot meme.
Have a super day, my hubby and I are looking for a vehicle today, hoping we can do this quickly and painlessly…. and then my Saturday is open and I am glad. I am a little tired out today and could use a day with a little book time. 😀
Good morning everyone! Happy Friday! Yesterday I mentioned I was on my way to the library sale in the wee hours of the morning because I just think it is fun to get their early and start the line… well guess what? At 6:30 am (sale opens at 9 am), I was not first. Nope. 😛 Epic fail on my part, I stopped for coffee on my way in and a lady beat me by 5 minutes…. LOL
It was still a great time… I love that the regulars know me by name and I enjoy talking books with the people who are around me. Our sale is 50 cents a book – paperback or hardcover, 50 cents for a movie or audio book (my heart…. be still!) and they have a few newer titles they ask a little more for – between 1 and 3 dollars.
So…. I left with this:
I spent $23.00’s. I am thrilled with my haul!
I meant to put up a review yesterday afternoon of our Bookies review (and food!) to go with the book The Crying Tree but time once again got away from me. Instead, I spent my time setting up a Meal Train for a friend of ours who has been going through some tough health issues. If you have not checked out this site, please do so. I just learned about it myself and Meal train is super cool and easy to set up meals deliveries for a new parents, someone going through an illness, new home, or death in the family. AND – it is free. 😀
Today I work at the Library Sale – all day. They were short on help this year so I had told them they could have me all day. I start at 8. I may be there until 8 pm tonight. That’s ok… I am kind of excited (in a dorkish bookish way) to help people with their books. 😀 Laptop is going with me in the event there is an afternoon lull and I can sit and write up the review. I hope this weekend to actually get around to seeing some blogs… I miss checking out what everyone has going on… life has just been…. FULL.
Good morning all! Just a brief check in… it is 6:30 am here in Central Minnesota and I am on my way to the Fall Library sale. Pics and books will be posted tomorrow morning. I am SO EXCITED!!!!!!
If you are my Facebook Friend (Sheila DeChantal) pics will be up yet this morning.
Good morning! Its Wednesday! Wednesday means many things to me… it is the middle of the work week for one… it is also the day before our fall book sale. Yes, you got that, there is another Brainerd book sale and I will be there bright and early hours before it opens doing what I do… socializing with fellow bookish people about books…. BLISS!
As a Friend Of The Library, they asked me this year to help work the sale, which I will do on Friday, however explained to them I could not work the day before because for set up because I am loving the waiting in line too much. 😛
Last night was the Bookies meeting at my house and our 11 year Anniversary. We started in August of 2001. I am still shocked. I never knew I would be still reviewing and chatting books with this AWESOME group, but I am…. and I love it. Our book was The Crying Tree by Naseem Rahka, a book I finished on Monday evening and it left my mouth hanging open in parts that made me love the book even more. Because? It shocked me. It surprised the heck out of me and some in my book club seen it coming, but others like me… did not.
Our discussion was wonderful. We had twenty questions… I had to narrow them down because we talked each question out 5 to 10 minutes. It was a wonderful and deep discussion about family dynamics, kids in the 80’s compared to kids today, forgiveness, or more accurately – the willingness – or even the ability to forgive.
Any hoo…. I will put that review up tomorrow (Thursday). Later I am hoping to put up the review of Saving Sammy, Curing The Boy Who Caught OCD. It really was a fascinating true story that I can not wait to share with you.
Ok… off to work so they do not hang me by my toes….. “Sheila, why are you late today?” Well….
I was blogging again.: 😉
Have a super day everyone!!!! Have you read anything lately that made your mouth drop open? I want to know about these books!
Good Morning! Anyone else starting to feel the signs of fall outside? Our mornings here in central Minnesota have certainly been cooler. Current temp in 50 degrees. On one hand, I am not ready… I have been loving summer big time and out and enjoying as much as I can of it. On the other hand… I do miss books and reading.
Finally this past weekend I was able to pick up a book and finish it. Then last night, I finished The Crying Tree by Naseem Rahka and wow oh wow oh wow oh wow. Our book club review tonight should be something awesome… and I still dont know what I am cooking for it…. 😯
This coming Thursday is out fall Library sale and I am so excited about that, but was hoping my shelves would be up in the book room so I would have an idea of what I would like to add… just found out yesterday it may not be until next week that they get on to the shelves, possible the week after. BUMMER.
SO how about you, does your reading change with the seasons? What is your big reading season?
Good morning! I am currently in Wisconsin getting ready for the Muckruckus which we will do at 11:30 this morning. Funny enough, where we went to eat last night had a poster on the wall advertising a book sale in Hammond Wisconsin so……. we are going to stop by there before we go to the Muckruckus…. yup, that is how we roll. 😀
Ok… the above paragraph is no longer true. I STARTED to write this post YESTERDAY morning in Wisconsin and it was taking SO long to upload pictures I could walk away from my computer, have some coffee and come back and still wait. 😯 With two other girls waiting for me so we could get moving… I had to give up… however, since I did have something I wanted to say for Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots, I still am posting…. as well as ending with a little Sunday Salon.
For this mornings Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce from AT Home With Books, I wanted to post some pics from last weekends (August 4 and 5) Camp Benedict Bike ride…. I biked 104 miles day one (My first 100 (Century) in a day)… and I biked 75 the next day. It was wonderful weather and wonderful people to hang out with!
The Riders!Left: Sheila, Me, Belinda
LUNCH TIME – day one!After day one… riding 104 miles (the most miles I have EVER rode in one day)… we thought this would be a funny picture 😉The shirt I wore day two….At the end of day two, Me, Connie, Belinda, and Sheila
Two gorgeous riding days, 173 miles combined…. I wish this ride was more than once a year! LOVE this ride. LOVE the people who ride it.
Ok, now for the Sunday Salon… Yesterday, as I mentioned above, I was in Wisconsin for the Mudruckus (which,I am pretty sore from but that is a different story….) We drove there on Friday and went out to dinner Friday evening. AT the restaurant we ate at they advertised a book sale in Hammond Wisconsin on Saturday… about 24 miles away from where we were staying… AND in the opposite direction from where we needed to go.
Did I mention the two girls I was with are both from my book club?
SO yup, we traveled the 24 miles in the wrong direction for our event early Saturday morning so we could check out there book sale. While not an overly impressive one (mainly older titles), they were still 50 cents a book and I walked out with these treasures:
Turns out they were 12 for $3.00 (top two are movies, and the right side one is audio. ) I paid $4.00 for the stack.
Later this week, I am getting new books shelves in the book room. It will be a huge project to empty that room out, but I think the ending results will be wonderful and give me a home for all my books as well as help me get organized. When all is said and done I am pretty sure I will have a nice pile to donate to the library. I will be documenting the “before, during, and after as well.
Today, I will be laying low. After a slide into mud yesterday during the Mudruckus I landed so hard on a rock it took my breath away and I am still hurting. I think I am just bruised with a capital “B”. At least I am able to sit a little more comfortably today. 😛
Friday! Don’t you just love weekends? 😀 I am sitting here this morning with the back door to the deck open feeling that lovely warm breeze come in and brush across my shoulder. If I could bottle today and repeat it 365 days a year I would. This is a day that holds adventures and promises and I can not wait!
Last night, after a lovely dinner with a group of friends, I then went to the movie Hope Springs with Wendy, Heidi, and Susan. I had two free tickets from hosting the House Party for Hope Springs last week. It was a cute movie about a couple Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones who have been married for 31 years and Meryl’s character, Kay, wants to put some sort of the spark back into their marriage….. Tommy Lee Jones character, Arnold, feels that their marriage is fine even though he has barely touched her in 5 years and they sleep in separate bedrooms. Enter Steve Carell as Dr Felt, book writer and marriage therapist, and you have a bitter sweet comedy that at times is honestly sad how far they have drifted apart.
People watching at the theater was a bonus to the movie, we were pretty close to the youngest ones there and it was fun to watch these older couples reactions to different parts of the movie. Laughing and jabbing each other in the ribs. There was also a woman up front who had a boisterous laugh and when something struck her funny – well, we all had to laugh too.
A fun movie to see with friends, only one scene a little “risky” when Meryl and Tommy are in a move theater, but nothing over the top – the movie is rated PG13.
It was my first time in our new theater, and I LOVE the changes…. we have finally entered the world of stadium seating and nice comfy chairs that rock. A real improvement from what we had before where you did not dare sit your purse on the floor next to your chair for fear you would never be able to release it from the gooey substance that would hold it as tight as super glue… subsequently, it was amazing you could walk out of the theater with your shoes intact as they suction cupped to the gooey floor and you “plungered” your way to the safety of the outside.
Today, I leave for Wisconsin at 2:00 Pm with my friend Amy and Wendy. We are doing the Muckruckus tomorrow morning for MS. We are all first time “Muckruckusers” and I am both excited and apprehensive. From those who have done this before me that I know, they say it is a LOT OF MUD. This is not like the Warrior Dash where we get a little mud at the end. Nope – this is solid mud and if I recall, it is a 10K (holy cats…..) and a lot of obstacles. So….. another adventure for this small town Brainerd girl.
I think I will bring Laptop with me today – then I can post in the morning and I have reviews (believe it or not!) for both today and tomorrow! Slowly I am finding my way back to the mix of books and activity combined.
As for now… I need to plan what I am going to wear tomorrow. They suggest pants because the rocks in the mud hurt your knees. I may get a bandana but I suspect it will be sucked off my head in the mud, tennis shoes that will never be the same again, and a tank top. I think… I don’t know. 😀
Morning all! Thursday already? Why oh why is my summer flying by? The days are full and fast…. before I know it, Friday will be here and I leave for Wisconsin for the Mudruckus with two awesome daring friends. BUT – more on that tomorrow.
I slept well last night and while that may not seem like a big deal, it is. Mater (new dog) is like that having a baby in the house – sometimes at night he cries, and like a new mom – even if he does not cry from his space in the entryway… I listen for it. This morning I woke up surprised to see it was 6:30 am and I had woke up on my own – without noise or distraction. Usually I have been getting up between 5 and 5:30 am.
Now with coffee cup – I am eager to share that I just read on Shelf Awareness that Childrens/Middle Grade YA reads have continues to grow in sales all year…. some months in triple digits. That excites me so much. The future of books and reading will be in the next generations hands and I am always excited to see kids with books. YAY to our authors who are writing the books that are keeping these kids engaged and wanting to read. 😀
This morning I have work- I am biking in for the third day this week. Later I have dinner with friends and then a group of us are going to the movie Hope Springs! I am excited about a full day and a fun evening. 😀
My reading is still slow since July… so much going on in life and in my weekends but it is good stuff and I know once life slows down again my nose will again be in a book daily.
I hope your Thursday is wonderful! Any fun plans for the weekend?
Good morning everyone! Once again, I have not been around the blogesphere much due to a busy summer schedule. This past weekend I was for the 4th year in a row a part of the Camp Benedict Cyclists riding for a camp that is for people, children, and families with AIDS. This is one of my favorite rides of the year because everyone that does this ride is amazing.
This year the weather was perfect and myself, along with the two girls I ride much of the ride with Sheila and Belinda, decided we would do the Century route which is 100 miles in one day. I am so glad I did. This is something I have been wanting to do for the past two years and it was the plan for last years MS ride, the one I was hurt on.
I don’t want to post too many pics because I am pretty sure this will be my topic for the Saturday snapshots as well.. but here is a sample:
The whole gang – Camp Benedict Riders 2012L: Sheila, me, and BelindaThe shirt I wore day two of the ride
Over the two day ride I biked 173 miles and feel… yeah, a little like a rock star…LOL.
Thats it for now… I still have to get ready for work and yes, my reading is still suffering…. GAH! 😛
Book Journey 