Uncategorized | Book Chatter

As part of the celebration, book bloggers everywhere are being asked to participate in this reading meme. In an attempt to keep this short, I selected a few of the questions to answer.

Do you tend to mark your books while you read? Or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

I cannot deal with scribbles in a book. When I see it, I get a little bit weird.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter or are you able to put the book down at any point?

I read until the end, unless the said book is Netherland where there are no chapters. Took me awhile to figure that out.

What are you currently reading?

I am reading The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl for an upcoming TLC book tour. I am liking it a lot more than Drood. I am also reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

What is the last book you bought?

I just bought a copy of Northanger Abbey at the university’s used book sale.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one at a time?

I really strive to read one book at a time but it never works out for me. My moods change and when they do, I need to move on to another book so I often have 3-4 going at once.

Do you have a favorite time of the day and/or place to read?

My favorite time to read is during lunch at work. I camp-out in the corner of my private office and have a little carpet picnic. It feels totally wrong to have a carpet picnic at work, and that is probably why I love it so.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week has begun!! This is a week of bookish merriment. There are all sorts of giveaways, interviews and the like floating around the blogland. It’s PURE fun and I am totally excited to kick it all off with the topic of the day:

What book blogs mean something to you? Who are your most trusted sources for recommendations, your greatest help, the blogger you turn to for a laugh or to vent? Whose writing do you admire or who introduced you to a whole new genre you didn’t know about? We want to hear all about them…because we want to know them too! Please share about the blogs we haven’t had a chance to meet via BBAW and let the party begin!

Several of the book blogs that I frequent were shortlisted for a BBAW award, but so many others were not. So I’ll use this opportunity to talk about some of the ones that I read daily and why they are special to me.

At Home With Books

If I’m not mistaken, I do believe that Alyce and I stumbled upon the blogging scene on or about the same time. When you are new-ish, it helps to have friendly folks out there that you can visit regularly and spend some time with. Even in a virtual sense, when I visit her blog I feel as if we are sitting in a bookstore chatting about books. I love that. Her reviews are great and I love that she shares her vacation pics with us too. It really gives me a sense of who she is.

The Book Lady’s Blog

Rebecca’s blog is rock-solid. Solid reviews that are well written, concise and to the point. Her blog design is completely devoid of clutter which really allows me to focus on what she has to say. Additionally, and she is going to laugh, her Sunday Salon posts are quite entertaining. She often spends her sundays lounging in her PJ’s and I find myself living vicariously through her.

Books Lists Life

If Lisa and I lived close to one another, our families would be in big trouble. Lisa is a very creative gal. In addition to reviewing books, she sews. Sewing is something that I would like to learn one day, but right now I am content with just enjoying her projects. Her blog is a mix of books, family and a lot of creativity peppered throughout. She’s a busy mom and I love her stories about The Bug and The Pirate. I also enjoy her camping adventures and someday, she is going to have a girls-only camp out. Oh come on. It was a great idea Lisa!

Books on the Brain

What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Lisa’s blog (yes another Lisa) is one of the first book blogs that I ever visited. I never even knew there were book blogs!! I know, I must have been living under a rock. What’s special about Lisa? She writes great reviews and really injects her voice into each of them. Even before I met her this year, I could ‘hear’ her voice coming through and that is exactly how she sounds in real life. Additionally, she really does try to reach out to new bloggers and I really appreciated that when I was brand new and shiny (and naive and clueless).

Kiss a Cloud

Claire’s site is simple and clean. She includes beautiful photos along with her posts and she reads books that fall just outside of the trends. Her posts are ‘dreamy’ to me. That is the word that comes to mind when I visit her site. I click, the page loads and I am instantly transported to a calmer place. Seriously.

The Literate Housewife Review

I’ve gotten to know Jennifer this past year and what I’ve really noticed about her, is that she is really in tune with what is going on around the blogisphere (blogosphere?). She sees an opportunity, and she grabs it. She hosts her Historical Fiction Book Club via Facebook and she also puts her creativity to good use with her Bookmark It! Club. On a personal note, she is just a pleasure to know and she writes fab reviews. Need I say more?

Peeking Between the Pages

Dar amazes me. Her reviews include a wide variety of genres. There’s always something that catches my eye and she too, seems to be one of those folks that likes to reach out and help when she can. She helped me convert my 2-column blog to a 3-column format. She hosts numerous giveaways and I enjoy her posts about Buddy.

There are several other blogs in my reader that I read daily that are not listed here, but they are all in my reader for a reason, whether it’s because of their reviews or the personal comments that they share with me, they are all special to me and if they weren’t, they simply would not be in my reader!

Here’s to a wonderful week and thanks for letting me share it with you.