Books | Book Chatter

The clouds are rolling in and I’ve got Cacciatore cooking for dinner. The house smells wonderful. It’s been a busy morning but I’ve finally got a moment to sit down and catch-up with you all.

Yesterday, I got to meet-up with one of my favorite bloggers for a bit of book shopping and lunch.I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally meet her in person! I’ve been talking to her for so long.

Yes!! That’s Wallace from Unputdownables! She’s also the founder of the Indie Lit Awards which is in its second year! We met-up for a little book shopping. Well, she tried to shop but I talked too much.

I spent most of my time in this section.

I swear. To the bookstore staff, we must have looked like life-long friends because we could not stop talking. After I forced myself to stop talking, I found the bookstore cat, who would not let me take a picture AND a white chihuahua who scared the hell out of me in the children’s section. BUT, it was so much fun to be in a bookstore with another blogger.

After browsing, we ate lunch and talked some more. We also saw a celebrity. Yep, Mark Ruffalo. I didn’t drool over him or anything. I played it cool, as did Wallace when she pointed him out to me.

We had a great time. This is what I bought.

Even after consulting Goodreads mobile on my phone, I still managed to purchase a book I already have. The funny thing is that I mentioned how I didn’t want to do that and that’s exactly what I did. I had totally forgotten that I had A Reliable Wife on my Kindle.

I’m so glad Wallace could visit with me for the afternoon. It was so much fun and she’s exactly how I pictured her.

Right now, I am going to remove the Otter Pup from my cozy spot on the couch and try to finish The Gin and Chowder Club. Don’t worry. She prefers my lap anyway.

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday! It’s about to rain here and I sort of hope it does. Except, my car is clean which sort of stinks but it makes for great reading weather.

Bloggers are always asking me how to get books. Well, there are a lot of ways but wouldn’t it be wonderful if bloggers could sign-up to receive books? Well, this year’s Indie Lit Awards is going to help you with that. If you are a book blogger, interested in reviewing what could potentially be the best book of 2011, then head on over to the Indie Lit Awards site, select a genre, and sign-up to receive books.

Additionally, Wallace and I have decided to open the awards up to ALL readers. Meaning, that you don’t need to be a blogger to nominate a book. When nominations open in September, you…as a reader can nominate your fave books published in 2011. I’ll post more about the process as we get closer.

On a personal note, The Boy’s school year ends in two weeks! I can’t believe it. The short year is due to mandatory furlough days for the teachers, but I will be so glad when he is done. It’s been rough keeping him on track during his first year of middle school. He’s brilliant in so many ways, charismatic, and his teachers enjoy having him around but he’s so unorganized! His backpack is a walking disaster and I am tired of getting on him about it. I can’t wait to take all of his notebooks and just toss ’em. They have to glue their assignments into a spiral binder and they always fall out, everywhere. Can’t wait to ditch ’em.

Summer basketball is about the start-up for The Boy, yet no swimming lessons this year. I miss them. I use to spend so much time at the pool, reading and listening to the splashes in the background. It just screamed summer to me but they are both swimmers now so they aren’t needed. Somehow, sitting in a hot gym doesn’t have the same appeal.

Okay, that last part wasn’t too exciting but it’s exciting to me. I love when my kids are involved with stuff. I go crazy nuts keeping track of it all, but I love for them to make new friends and have fun. The Girl will be playing volleyball in the fall so her summer will be easy (just summer day camp).

What are you doing for the weekend? I am going to the dentist. I know… sooooo fun.

Chatting with friends about books and life…