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.) 😛
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. 😛
Good morning! I am literally heading out the door here, up at 4:30 am, in full bike gear and off to ST Joseph MN for The Tour Of Saints ride. My friend Amy and I are doing this one and I am super pumped, it looks like the weather will be close to perfect 😀
Here are the books that arrived in my home this past week:
I am super excited about all of them!
I will be back early afternoon yo put up a review. See you all then! 😀What has arrived in your house this week bookish wise?
Good morning and happy Sunday! We have had a full week of sunny days so needless to say, I am happy! 😀 Sunny days usually equals good reading time for me, and this weekend with no heavy plans I have had a wonderful time enjoying books and audio.
I am on day 6 of my cleanse which is no bread, dairy, no beverage other than water, basically fruits, vegies, a little brown rice, olive oil, protein shakes. Actually I have become pretty creative in my cooking and have made a few things that I suspect I will continue to make and eat after the cleanse is complete. After day 10 (FRIDAY!) I can add in chicken and fish.
Here is what arrived at my house for review this week:
All great looking books, the top one, Mirror Mirror is a DVD.
On Monday our library had its June Brown Bag Author event and I picked up this:
Shawn Lawrence Otto was interesting to listen to… his book about the topics our presidential candidates are not discussing like global warming and water shortages. Not necessarily a book I would have normally picked up, but after listening to him talk and chatting with him afterwards I am curious what else he has to say.
I am very excited about Yes Chef! I see this one on Shelf Awareness this past week and ordered it right away! Yes Chef is a genre and type of book I love – Food Memoirs!!!
And finally, I did a little garage saling with a friend on Friday morning and I found three audio books to bring home. 😀
That’s what books have entered my house this week. About 20 left the house in giveaway packages so I think I am ahead of the game 😀 Tomorrow at the Library will be Margi Preus, with her book Heart Of The Samurai, A 2011 Newbery Honor Book. I am interested in hearing her talk and plan on having a Minnesota Authors segment coming up soon.
Hope your day is SUPER FAB! This is my last quiet weekend for a while so I am soaking it up 😀
The sun is out (*fingers crossed) and hopefully we can stay dry and start soaking up this rain! My yard is good, but I went on two bike rides in the past few days with my friend Kate, and then Amy, and we seen flooded yards and streams about to spill over. It is eerie…. but not as crazy as Duluth.
My weekend has been fairly low-key, I have read a bit both Friday and Saturday. I listened to audio while weeding my garden, cleaning out a spare room, boxing up books I am shipping out tomorrow afternoon, and mowing. Today I will have a little more of the same while I complete laundry, the lawn… and perhaps this afternoon sit in my swing for a while with a book 😀
I really love weekends like this.
This past week I received a video in my email that just this morning I finally watched. It’s a recap of world book night, something many of us book lovers were involved in (I handed out Hunger Games) and I have a feeling next year it will be even bigger. Watch this short 90 second video and then know at the end, I call dibs on making those cupcakes… I have an idea for that 😀
Have a SUPER Sunday everyone! My blog hop giveaway is still going on for a book of choice valued up to $20 at Amazon or Book Depository.
Oh and I am a super goob (yes I said goob!) I totally forgot that my guest post was going up at Ryan’s(Wordsmithonia) yesterday, while he is on vacation, I am taking all of you to Maine! Stop by and read all about it! 😀
Good morning. I am sitting at my kitchen table looking out on another gloomy rainy windy day. GAH. SO much for our weekend plans. We were going to head to our cabin later this morning with some friends on motorcycles and stay over night and come back later tomorrow since we all have tomorrow off….
however in light of today… and apparently tomorrows forecast… that doesn’t look like it is going to happen. The only two nice days we had this past week I was too busy to enjoy them… now that I am sitting on oodles of time… the weather is not cooperating. 😯
Our local movie theater is currently under construction while it is being made from Movies 10, to Lakes 12… word on the street is better seating and concession stand. I think it opens next weekend but I will not have time then as I am lifting off for BEA. (SQQUUEEE!!!!)
So enough about the gloom…
here’s something that makes me happy – BOOKS!
Quite the assortment of goodies that came in the mailbox this week… I don’t think I requested The Meryl Streep Movie Club but now that it is in-house it looks interesting…. but I SSQQQUUUEEEDDDD when I seen A Night To Remember in audio. Thank you Audio Jukebox. You are my Jukebox Hero (and yes, later there will be a song!)
BUT… that is not all! You may recall I went to some garage sales on Friday….
YAY right? I think these will all go to my book shelf to the cabin, which this last weekend when I was there felt it could use some more books. 😀 The top one “Haunted Lakes” is just the type of fun books I like to keep there anyway – I like a good mix of books that anyone can pick up – quite a few about Minnesota, I picked up a couple about birds this week too and forgot to add them here….
Last weekend Justin looked at the three books I brought with me to read. “Do you have anything less chickie?” he said. I pointed to the shelf and he found himself a good mystery that he sunk into. I love that. 😀
So that’s the books in-house this week… I need to go get ready for church and then come home and write-up a couple of reviews while we decide what we will do with our day. I hope your weekend plans and the weather is cooperating for you… I can always dig into a book this afternoon. A few, as usual, are calling my name… and I really need to finish Jane Eyre. 😀
It is a lovely day here today in Central Minnesota. I have a few commitments this morning, think hubby and I are joining some friends later for a motorcycle ride, and later yet… a road trip to hopefully pick up the chair I posted earlier this week as my hopeful Mothers Day gift (*fingers crossed!)
I did have some books enter the house this past week:
Some great reading here! AND on top are a couple of audio and I have already dug into Come Home.
Then this past Friday I went to garage sales which I have not done in probably over a year – mainly because I used to always look for books and I have no need of doing that anymore between the review books, books i purchase, and Library sales… HOWEVER, I have a friend who RAVES (” a brand new crock pot, still in the box $5! One of those buffet things I have always wanted! A set of dishes that int he store would go for hundreds of dollars, I got it for $15!) about her finds and so…. I caved… and then this happened:
This is why I can’t go to garage sales. It was a large church sale. I was minding my own business, wandering through nick nacks, shoes, blankets…. alas over to the books just to see if they had any treasures….
I love Claire Cook, had to grad that one. I read Pamela Morsi a long time ago and found her hilarious, better grab that one, I have The Help in hard cover, but what if I want one to loan out so grabbed that one, I have a copy of Mrs. Kimble, but I think it will be good when I review it so I can do a giveaway now too, Small Island – new to me, Thirteenth tale I have in hard cover, and Bel Canto I have always wanted to read – I already have, but again… what if it would make a good giveaway.
See my problem? 😯
This week should be a nice one for me, not too heavily overloaded. Now that the weather is getting nice I am getting selfish about evening meetings and commitments, I want to garden, I want to ride bike, I want to read on the deck in the new (ahem) chair, I want to be outside!!! 😀 Next weekend I will get to go to the cabin with College son. I can not wait!
How about you? Any plans for today? For this week?
Wow. Sunday again. Already! My past week was a crazy busy one…
And now here I am on Sunday already. I was supposed to go on a bike ride today around Mile Lacs lake with one of my bike teams and I am bowing out. 😦 Mainly because there was something I was hoping to get done last night and not have to do today but that did not happen.
The ride today would bring me home late afternoon and I just have too much to do to escape for the day. I am bummed… but there will be other rides.
I did get a few books in the mail:
With the first week of May sneaking up on us here I will have some reading to do this upcoming week for a book tour and for my book club!
It is back to dreary rainy weather here which… is getting old and I hope it clears up this week as I have a pretty much “no commitment week”
I know right???
That never happens for me. I usually have a study group on Mondays, and we are not meeting this week. Tuesdays are usually something I have to do, but not this time, Wednesdays I work with students and they are going to a Rally this week and my services will not be needed, Thursday free, Friday free, Saturday is the Dewey Read a Thon..
Whoa… what?
Yes. The 24 hour Dewey Read A Thon is Saturday April 21st and I plan to participate and it is not to late for you to sign up as well. Seriously… get on that. 😀 I love this read-a-thon, it’s about the only one I do, and I read for charity, which I will share more about later this week. Oh and there are always fun mini challenges where you can win books or bookish items like gift certificates. I will be hosting one here you will not want to miss out on – it is going to be on so fun! 😛
At some point this next week I also need to road trip to go pick up my books for World Book Night. Are you participating in World Book Night? If so what books are you handing out on April 23rd? I will have 20 copies of The Hunger Games at my finger tips! AND at some point soon I have an idea to go along with this that I must also get posted this week. 😀
Hmmmm…. what else? I received one book this week in the mail:
The second book to Wolf Hall. Which admittedly, I have yet to read. NOW I really need to get on it as this one sounds good!
And finally, today marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, a topic that always touches me. I have some artifacts in my home surrounding the Titanic that I am pulling our for a post later. And today I will spend some time reading Titanic related reads, in memory of the day.
Have a great day, I am off to church and then back home here to write-up a couple posts and get some reading done this afternoon. I may go to the Titanic movie today if I find someone to go with. Pretty sure my hubby will not sit through that 3 hour movie again. 😀 Oh, and one more thing – I added a giveaway to my post that went up yesterday for 2108 Eyes Open.
I hope this Sunday morning finds you well… and happy and well you know… GOOD.
I had a pretty sweet week and even got the road bike out on the trail this week 3 times for a total of 68 miles (that makes me SO happy!) I am hoping that maybe I will get out there again yet today and Monday and make it to 100 by Tuesday night (that would be one week since I started riding this year). That will be a hard sell though as I have Monday night and Tuesday night commitments that will leave me only a little window of time to bike.
One thing I did not get a lot of time to do this past week is read and that annoys me. I almost put up a tweet that said “Really Sheila, how about you try to actually read a book?”
Seems like with the additional bike riding this week the reading fell to the way side, and the fresh air, knocked me out in the evenings. Seriously – that’s embarrassing. Friday night I came home around 6 pm after riding 36 miles, ate dinner, sat in the recliner to read and promptly passed out. I woke at ten, and went to bed. What am I? Five??? 😯
I did get a few goodies in the mail this week:
Some pretty exciting reads and a movie to review, We Bought A Zoo.
Today we will go to church this morning, and then out to Easter brunch. It’s just Al and I today without Justin being able to come home as he works and Brad in the Navy. For us it will be a low key day and that is alright. I have over 200 pages to go in our book club read, The Nineteenth Wife for our review on Tuesday.
As for other exciting news – it looks like I have a roommate for BEA! WOO HOO!!!!! More on that soon, waiting on a confirmation but a hotel was found… and it looks good and just looking at it today made me all giddy inside knowing that BEA is coming and finally (FINALLY) it feels like it is coming together. 😀
Book Journey 