Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for birthday] 

Pregnant Jessica Alba was seen in Mexico having her birthday party just in bikini with few of her friends and daughter Honor Marie Warren. 

Pregnant Jessica Alba having birthday party fun on Mexico Beach with her daughter Honor Marie Warren

Jessica Alba turned 30 on April 28 but the star planned to enjoy a cherished birthday vacation in Mexico in place of big home party. Cash Warren, husband of Jessica Alba, was not present in this “girls only” party.

Pregnant Jessica Alba having birthday party fun on Mexico Beach without husband Cash Warren

Pregnant Jessica Alba having fun on Mexico Beach in 'Girls only Party'

Pregnant Jessica Alba having birthday party fun on Mexico Beach with her daughter and close friends

VIA Pregnant Jessica Alba spotted having birthday party fun on Mexico Beach with her daughter and close friends

Hey everyone! It's Ashley's blog! And today is my blog-i-birthday! Isn't that exciting! I mean, really. You only get to have your first birthday once in your lifetime, and I fully plan to have a blast today! I hope you guys want to play with me today too! I might eat cake! (I've never had cake, but I hear that you are supposed to eat it on birthdays, so I think I might try some. Recommendations?)

Anyway, if you are reading this, then you are my friend!! Right?! Right?! Friends make me happy. I keep telling this Ashley that we need to talk to people more, but she sometimes has to do this thing called work. I don't really like to talk about that though. It makes me sad, because that's when she leaves me. It's like little kids who scream when they see the babysitter at the story. Babysitter=Mommy leaves me, which translates to that lady=BAD!

So, my friends — Hi!! Welcome to my birthday! Birthdays are special days! Did you know that?! I just learned that, and I'm really excited!:)

Well, I'm going to go now! Ashley says that if I stop talking now, and settle down, she'll have some nice things to say about me later in the day!:) And, that she might give someone else a present! Because you have presents on birthdays! So, I guess I better behave so we can have presents and cake!!:)

♪ ♫ Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. ♪ ♫

Today is my birthday! And I LOVE it!

I am firmly of the opinion that birthdays should be special. So for today — I am allowing myself to be the coolest person alive. (Nice of myself, isn't it;) )

I was thinking about the way I feel about birthdays this year, and I think part of it is because of how close my birthday is to Christmas. Growing up, my parents were always really good about making sure it was a special day, just for me, and that it never got lost inside the Christmas celebrations. So my birthday has always been all about me.

And so — Today — I celebrate:)

Oh, and you know what would make my birthday extra special awesome? Comments. Go comment on a random book review and that shall be my Happy Birthday;)

In case you haven’t realised by now, yes, it’s my first blogversary. It seems insane to think I started this unusual blog on this day a whole year ago. Alas, 286 posts later, here I am still ranting and raving about anything semi-movie related. Over the past few weeks, when my brain has gone for a wander mid-conversation, I’ve pondered about what to write/do on my blogversary. I tend to get uncomfortable when it comes to celebrating my own birthday so I figure there is no harm in celebrating this one properly. That is, I have caught and trained 13 marsupials and shaved this web address into their fur. I intend to release them at the entrance to the nearest shopping centre and let their frenzied rampage be its own kind of celebration/marketing ploy. My plan does not go into effect until 2100 hours. In the meantime, I thought I would share some personal reflections about this blog.

• Surprisingly, I’ve kept to my original mission statement and avoided any posts about the exploits of my personal life. Except for the post about my friend who broke her vagina because, well, that was simply too good NOT to share.
• Originally I was inspired to start this by the brilliance of good friend Rickis’ much wittier and substantial blog. That has not changed, however, the pool of writers who now inspire and entertain me has grown to include the likes of Siamese Saffron, King Of New York Hacks, Fuck You Penguin and Little Bohemian.
• A fitting tagline for this site finally occurred to me a few weeks ago in a dream which may or may not have featured Mark Wahlberg.
• Within a year some friends have gone and others nearly been lost which makes me appreciate having this outlet to write about things I love, however trivial that may seem to some.
• I have maintained this site for a year, which is approximately 11 months and 15 days longer than any relationship I’ve maintained with a member from the opposite sex.
• A newspaper journalist by trade, I founded art & architecture as a way to improve my writing and vent all the film thoughts I had going on in my head. After the first few months I began to realise how much I loved writing about movies and started treating this blog as a portfolio of movie related stories. Without revealing too much, a year on this site has helped me take those few important steps closer to my dream career.
• Damnit! I did not want to get soppy and here I am preaching about dreams coming true if you work hard enough and blah blah blah.
• Thanks to this blog I have met an awesome bunch of like-minded people on the 20 something bloggers network. They were even helpful enough to suggest some ways to celebrate my first blogversary. These included strippers, a vlog (which it turns out is not a vampire-hog like I originally presumed), commemorative post, getting hammered, strippers, give-away’s and strippers. Er, thanks guys.
• I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing up and coming filmmakers, actors, producers, special-effects experts and bring their work to you. With an exciting trip on the horizon, I hope to give you some more juicy juice in the next month.
• 365 days does not change the fact that despite being of indigenous France heritage, I do not appreciate being called `cuz’ or `Maori-a’. Unless it is amongst the select group of friends with whom racist and parental jokes are allowed.
• I have broadened my readership from two faithful subscribers to a bunch of peeps from all around the globe. I hope you continue to find something mildly interesting on this site so you keep coming back and sharing your opinions with me.

VIA «Happy blog birthday to me, happy blog birthday to me!»

I'm hosting a contest as part of
Enna Isilee's Birthday Bash 2011
Presented by Squeaky Books
From August 22nd until September 22nd Enna Isilee at Squeaky Books is having a HUGE bash to celebrate her birthday! There’s a giveaway nearly EVERY DAY, tons of author interviews, and guest posts from a bunch different YA book bloggers. And I get to host a contest!

Dude — You guys, I love Enna! She's one of my favorite bloggers, so when she started asking around for people to host contests as part of her birthday celebration? I was definitely excited. And then, when I found out that Zoe Marriott was one of the authors participating, (who you should definitely know that I adore) and that I could get to have her contest be mine?! Sigh. It's like it was meant to be!

So my giveaway? I get to give away a copy of ANY of Zoe Marriott’s books! Entering is simple, just fill out the form (with optional bonus entries). THIS GIVEAWAY IS INTERNATIONAL! See that right there?! International folks! ANY one can enter my giveaway! Most of the contests this month will be US only, but mine is open anywhere! You have until September 21st at 11:59 MST to enter. All winners will be announced on Enna Isilee's birthday (September 22nd) on Enna Isilee's blog (Squeaky Books) . And today, Ennalee interviewed Zoe at Squeaky Books. You should totally go check it out.

Want to know more about Zoe’s Books ? in my blog!

Without further ado, enter to win! Click below.

in my blog to enter

First of all I'd like to clear up some confusion. I think some people thought my birthday was last Sunday, but it is not. It is today! Yes my friends, today I turn twenty. Thanks to everyone who has wished me a happy birthday already! As promised I went to The Lion King on Friday for my birthday which was AMAZING. For my actual birthday I am going to my Grandma's birthday party. Yepp, we were born on the same day! And she's the person who taught me how to read, how cool is that?

Well if you can't tell I have been participating in Maw Books Blog's Bloggiesta this weekend. Today is the last day, so I'll save my wrap-up post for tomorrow morning. I have another wrap-up post coming up this week. Yesterday I finished my 19 Going on 20 Challenge so I will be posting a wrap-up this week for that. My final review for this challenge was Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot. I had so much fun with this self-challenge that I'm considering doing another self-challenge in the near future. I have never been interested in all of the vampire hype right now, but then I started to see Blue Bloods everywhere and it sounds more interesting to me than Twilight. I am thinking about doing a Vampire Self-Challenge in February and reading Blue Bloods and a few other vampire books. I will talk about this more in the future.

I also posted a review of The Swan Thieves (which comes out on Monday) this week. I got the Honest Scrap award this week from Sasha and the Silverfish. This is my first award so I was super excited! I also joined the Jane Austen Challenge this week.

So this week might end up as a wrap-up week which means I won't be posting any reviews. I'd like to have a few reviews to post under my belt before school starts and I get behind on everything again. I have some longer books coming up as well, so if I take this week off from reviews I will be in a good place.

This is my last week as a teenager! I'm going to be 20 on Sunday. In case you are interested I am going to The Lion King for my birthday at the Des Moines Civic Center. I have never been to The Lion King before so I am very excited. I'm also going to celebrate my birthday by participating in Maw Books Blog's Bloggiesta, which runs from January 8-10. A Bloggiesta is basically just a chance to improve your blog. I worked a lot on my layout this past week, but I'm going to be using the bloggiesta time to make some post templates and work on a few other things for my blog. I'm going to try and work on my blog for a total of 24 hours over the weekend. My challenge to myself is to work on my blog for ten hours straight from Saturday to Sunday. You obviously won't see a lot of the work that I do on my blog, but I'll make a post at the end of the weekend to share what I've done.

This week I posted the books I got for Christmas and my plans for this blog in the coming year. I also posted reviews of The Clumsiest People in Europe, The Time Traveler's Wife, and A Great and Terrible Beauty. I also joined one more challenge: The Essay Reading Challenge.

I'm working on where I'm going to live next year and I will probably be signing a lease for my first apartment soon. Yesterday was a busy day for me because it was a day of making plans. I'm planning a couple of trips, applying for a couple of internships, and I'm looking into the first apartment situation. I'm most likely going to be living by myself, which won't be very different from how things are now. All of this apartment talk has got me thinking about decorating though! Decorating is probably my second passion after books. I spent this entire past summer thinking about how I was going to decorate my dorm room for this year, and anyone who has seen my dorm room will tell you that it is pretty sweet. I thought I would share a few things I found about decorating with books, a challenge for any avid reader. I found a link on Better Homes and Gardens about Decorating With Books. Some of the ideas aren't that practical, but they are pretty. I might use some of these ideas next year. I'm also lusting after At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries. It's a little expensive but I think it's something I would use for many, many years. Perhaps a birthday present to myself?

Happy reading!

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So Thursday marked my last month as a teenager. Yes, I am turning twenty. Most people aren't that excited about their 20th birthday, and I guess I'm not really either. To make things a little more exciting I've decided to do a self challenge. I've never read a lot of YA books, even when I was a teenager. I mentioned during National Novel Writing Month that this was the reason I decided to write a YA novel. When I was in high school it was the cool thing to not read YA books, but to read literature books. Sometimes I regret not reading more YA, but the truth is that I really had trouble finding YA books that interested me.

So yesterday I did some shopping, virtually and physically, and found four YA books that I would like to give a shot. The first I've already started. It's The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner. I also ordered the first three books in the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen, Sorcery and Cecelia, or the Enchanted Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, and A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Most of these are historical fiction, which to be honest I wasn't very interested in when I was in my early to mid teens. I was really interested in Kurt Vonnegut and Jack Kerouac at the time. The turning point in my reading habits was actually when I read Jane Eyre, although it wasn't an immediate change. It's taken me awhile to really become a historical fiction reader, although I've always enjoyed books set in the past.

So basically this is just a way for me to relax, read some books that I probably wouldn't read otherwise, and enjoy my last few days as a teenager. I'll be posting the reviews to these books as well as something adolescent every Saturday until January 9, which is the day before my birthday.

Hello blogging world! I am officially back in my own house in Iowa City. I'm still not freshened up from my trip, there is laundry and unpacking to do, but I couldn't wait another day to write a blog post. I had every intention of posting more while I was absent, but if I'm being totally honest I loved the break from blogging. I think I really needed it. And now I'm back to bombard with you with pictures from my trip. Jason and I hit up four countries and five cities in seventeen days. It was crazy.

We landed in Amsterdam first, and that was the only place I blogged from. It was also my favorite place we visited. I loved biking around the city and how Amsterdam is a city yet really feels more like a small town.

Favorite Amsterdam moment: Absolutely everything was closed on New Year's Day, so we ended up renting bikes and just riding around all day. It was frustrating at the time because none of our plans worked out, but now that I know we got to do everything we wanted (pretty much) I look back on that day with a great fondness.

From Amsterdam we took a short day trip to Brussels where there is a comic strip museum. Count me excited! Brussels also has a ton of amazing food and was probably the best food we had over the course of our trip.

Favorite Brussels moment: My mouth is still watering over the mulled wine and scalloped potatoes with ham and cheese. What a delicious snack. The comic strip museum was a lot of fun as well, although their gift shop was a huge letdown. Their English selection was one shelf. So yeah, the food wins.

Our next stop was Berlin, which is must say is one of the strangest cities I have ever visited. There is so much street art and punk culture there, which I really loved, but I found that the people were very abrupt. Not rude, just a little harsh. The way Berlin exists today is also about as old as I am, which was weird. You can really see the history of WWII and Communism there, which only makes the city feel harsher.

Favorite Berlin moment: I really loved this particular section of the Berlin Wall, but it's not my favorite moment. I'd have to say the best thing we did in Berlin was visit this bar called Kaufbar. You could buy the vintage furniture in there and they played awesome music. It was a very relaxing environment and felt more like a normal coffeeshop in the United States than a bar.

We took a day trip to Prague from Berlin. All we really had time for was a tour of the city and then some time at bars that evening. This is where we met one thousand Australians because they are all on summer holiday right now. I've met one Australian my whole life and I go to Europe and meet all of them. Crazy.

Favorite Prague moment: We stayed a night in Prague and after having a crazy day where we tried to see everything it was really nice to wake up the next morning and just wander around. Prague is a really beautiful place and the train ride there was even more beautiful.

Our final stop was Munich. We were getting fairly tired at this point but we still did quite a bit. We visited Hofbrauhaus, Dachau, Neuschwanstein, and did some shopping. They love their beer in Munich, so it was a pretty fun place to turn 21 for an American.

Favorite Munich moment: Even though it's not in Munich, the best day we had was my birthday (at least I think it was the best day). I was super hungover but visiting Neuschwanstein was so much fun. Pictures really don't do justice to the beauty of the snow covered forest on the walk up to the castle. It was a fairy tale birthday.

So that's my trip in a tiny nutshell. I had an amazing time and got just the break I needed. Jason and I are already talking about where we want to visit next!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Yesterday I came back to Iowa City (finally!) and I must admit I'm actually excited about starting classes again. I'm not really looking forward to the homework but I am looking forward to learning and having stuff to do. I came back to ten packages last night! All of which were books. Pretty sure the full time desk clerk was wondering what the heck I was doing ordering all of that stuff. I also attempted to put together the new bookshelf I bought over break for my birthday. Unsuccessful. Thankfully my boyfriend came to the rescue. This is what it looks like:

I also thought I would brag a little bit about my awesome new bookends! I also bought these for my birthday even though they were hella expensive. But trees and birds are my favorite things and they match the bookshelves my boyfriend and I made over the summer.

Pretty right?
So this week I didn't post any reviews (I know I was bad) because I wanted to save some up. I'm not going to get to read three books a week anymore because I'm going to be at school. I might be able to do two on a good week though. Instead I wrapped up my 19 Going on 20 Challenge and alerted everyone of my awards. Finally I shared my thoughts on textbooks with my other college blogging friends. This week I'm going to start actually following my fancy schedule that I have in the right hand column. Books that I'm going to review in the upcoming weeks are Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, The Virgin Queen's Daughter by Ella March Chase, and Rumors by Anna Godbersen. I really enjoyed all of these books and hope you all enjoy my review of them!

I slept in until noon today and I definitely wasn't planning on that. Actually, I got up at eight to finish my cookies and then I went back to sleep at ten, planning on only sleeping for about thirty minutes. Silly me for not setting an alarm. It wouldn't be a big deal but I'm going to a Christmas/Birthday party at two o'clock so I have zero time.

I am not in Iowa City anymore, I'm at my parents house very far away from Iowa City. Actually not really, only about in a hour and a half. So far my mom has pushed a hydrating nasal rinse on me because I have a small nose and asked me if I'm eating enough fruit in Iowa City. Gotta love moms! My boyfriend brought his presents for my parents over yesterday but my dog has started to open them. Woops!

Last week was a good reading week for me because I had nothing else to do. I didn't finish quite all the books I wanted to, but I never expect that I will. I finished The Eyre Affair, The Moment Between, and The Red Necklace. I also posted a review of In A Gilded Cage, which I finished two weeks ago. I did some deep thinking this week about how people look at you when you read certain types of books, and how it doesn't really matter. Today I plan on finishing The White Garden by Stephanie Barron and The Clumsiest People on Earth edited by Todd Pruzan. I am also reading The Luxe by Anna Godbersen right now and I must admit that I am hooked! This week I also plan on reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and Sex Lives of the Roman Emperors by Nigel Cawthorne. I was only planning on reading four YA books for my self challenge, but I ended up purchasing the first three of The Luxe series and I might end up reading all three before I turn 20. We shall see!

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

I always read the books my parents gave me for Christmas and my birthday. Some of it was because I was genuinely interested in the book and really wanted to read it. Other times it was because I didn't want to hurt their feelings. And still other times it was because I was so bored and so without books to read that I was willing to read whatever was sitting on my shelf.

I used to watch the Winnie-the-Pooh TV show when I was up and it was on, partly because I liked it, but also because it was on. Tigger was my absolute, hands down favorite. I liked some of the other characters, and really didn't like others, but Tigger was my favorite. Because I really liked Tigger, my parents decided that this meant I love all things Tigger...

Because I enjoyed the show, my parents decided to get me The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh. I was thrilled! (A book! A big book!) And then, I saw the illustrations. I was so confused! I told my mom they had done it wrong. So I had my first conversation about changes being made to an original work to draw in new audiences and attract new reader (or watcher) ship. I was disappointed. As you can see from the cover, each of the animals in the story look different from what most of us (at least those around my age are used to). While disappointed at first, I did get used to it and now I love them just as much.

And I loved the book! I read the whole thing and would use it to read stories to my little brothers at night. Because of this, my parents decided that Tigger should be a theme. And for the next several years, every Christmas and most birthdays had some sort of Tigger themed... something. Sometimes it wasn't too bad, or weird — I got stuffed animals and The Tigger Movie . But other gifts were strange. Like the hook rug kit with Tigger's face on it. Nothing about me has ever suggested that I would enjoy making a hook and eye — latch/hoop square, even if it had Tigger's face on it. Or the completely impractical backpack with an interior about the size of my fist (but it's TIGGER!!)

It lasted for a long time too, long after I had outgrown Winnie the Pooh.

But even with that, I still love Tigger, and I still loved reading stories to my little brothers from the complete tales. It makes me want to go dig out my copy of the book from storage so that I can start reading it to my nephews too.

I know this Memory Monday ended up being more about the aftermath than about the book itself, and I'm being a little silly with it, but that doesn't change how much I really, genuinely, did love this story. Winnie the Pooh is one of those timeless, classic stories that never gets old, that should never be forgotten, and should always be loved. (Although, I am fully willing to forget the existence of some of those terrible new TV versions. *shudder*)

The Wheelwright's are an affluent Boston family. They meet up every summer at the family's Nantucket summer home, also the permanent residence of the family matriarch, Nona, and Charlotte, Nona's 30 year old granddaughter.

This summer the family really has something to celebrate: Nona's 90th birthday! Soon the quiet Nantucket house will be overflowing with family members, and with them comes extra family drama.

Summer House

is told from the viewpoint of three generations of Wheelwright women: Nona Wheelwright, Helen Wheelwright, and Charlotte Wheelwright.

Nona Wheelwright is the oldest surviving member of the Wheelwright family. Her husband, Herb, passed away several years ago. Her days are spent reliving her youth. Through flashbacks, the reader catches a glimpse of her introduction to the Wheelwright family. Although her midwestern family was wealthy as well, Nona (known as Anne in her youth) had to work hard to be accepted into the family. Secrets she's kept for decades may change the family forever...for the good and and the bad.

Helen Wheelwright is married to Nona's oldest son, Worth. She's recently discovered he was having an affair, and spends the summer weeding through her thoughts as to what her future will hold.

Charlotte Wheelwright has finally found her passion: running an organic gardening business on her Grandma Nona's land. She's the free-spirit of the family. After attempting to join the family banking business without success, the Wheelwights agreed to allow Charlotte to take upon this endeavor. It also helped that she'd be caring for Grandma Nona, a task Nona's children hadn't been able to take upon themselves.

Three years later she's still at it and with a profit! When the older generation of Wheelwrights learn that Charlotte's "pet project" as bloomed into a profitable endeavor they want to put an end to it immediately. Although Charlotte pays her grandmother rent for the land she uses, her family thinks she is taking advantage of Nona's generosity.

Summer House

contains everything you would want a summer book to have: love, deceit, drama, mystery. I loved that the story is relayed through the eyes of three different generations of family members. Each gives a different perspective on a situation. The Wheelwright family is a large one, and at first I got a little confused with all the differerent names. After long, it wasn't too difficult to distinguish between them as each has their own very distinctive personality.

This book was the perfect quick summer read for me; I read it in one afternoon alone. I appreciated Thayer's descriptive writing and in-depth characterization. You fall in love with each of the family members, despite their many flaws. I held great reverance for Nona--she was an incredibly selfless, inspiring woman.

So, be sure to pick up a copy of Summer House

before you head out on your summer beach (or backyard!) getaway. You won't regret it.

Thank you to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for allowing me to join in on this tour. Thank you to the publisher for providing my review copy.

Click here to read an excerpt of Summer House

by Nancy Thayer.

Today I have an interview with up and coming author Alexandra Bracken. Her novel, Brightly Woven, debuts March 23. The short description of the novel from her website is, "Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him." I haven't read her novel yet, though I plan to, so many of you might be wondering why I chose to interview her. Bracken is unique in that she was working on publishing her novel while she was still in college. She signed with an agent on her 21st birthday and after spending her senior year revising the novel her dream is finally coming true next week. How did she do it you might ask, and I think the work diligence pretty much sums up Bracken's story. I won't just leave it at that though, as follows you can read her answers to my questions about how she balanced school and writing and what path (or paths) she took to get there.

Where did you go to school, when did you graduate, and what did you go?
I went to the College of William and Mary, graduated last Spring, and majored in History and English

Did you start as an English major? What made you decide to become an English major?
When I was applying for schools, I focused on the Virginia area, mostly because I knew I wanted to study Early American History and I would freeze my butt off if I went to school in New England. I had always loved English, but my dad had convinced me to major in History and Government because he wanted me to be a lawyer. BIG mistake. I took one Government class and realized how stupid it was for me NOT to major in English--AKA the subject I really loved.

What were your plans for after graduation? How have those plans been fulfilled or how have they been different than you expected?
Originally, I was going the pre-law route (I'm sure you've all noticed that when you say you're an English major, most people assume that you want to be A) a lawyer or B) a teacher)... but I realized, in the middle of taking the LSAT unfortunately, that being a lawyer would make me MISERABLE, and spent all of the summer between Junior and Senior year moping around without a life plan. My next idea was to work in PR/Communications (which I definitely recommend), but I ended up getting a scholarship to attend the Columbia Publishing Institute and decided to take it. I now work as an editorial assistant in children's publishing. Looking back, it seems like a natural choice since being an author had given me a lot of insight into the business.I'm not sure if it's what I want to be doing forever, but I'm happy to be employed and doing something I enjoy!


What made you decide to take on writing a novel while in college?
I first tried my hand at writing a novel my freshman year--I always say that NaNoWriMo made me very brave, and it's true. I thought I would just give it a go, and ended up getting hooked on the process.

Were you planning to publish this all along?
No... I tried to be very realistic about it and not get my hopes up, but secretly I was hoping I'd be able to sell something before I graduated.


How did you balance school and writing?
I get asked this all the time, and I'm still not sure what the right answer is. I was very disciplined and made a lot of social sacrifices on the weekends. You really do have to find a schedule that works, though. The first three years of college were incredibly reading and writing intensive (I was once assigned 2000 pages of reading a week in my Sophomore year. Not. Fun.), but that helped me write. Knowing that I only had an hour here or two hours there meant that I used that little time for writing and writing alone. When i was working on revisions with my agent, I gave myself a deadline to finish the first round before finals that May. Starting in March, I woke up at 6 AM every day and wrote until I had class at 1 PM, and when I was done with homework at night, I'd be back to revising. I tried getting up at 5 AM and squeezing in an hour of work out time, but... uh... I quickly decided an extra hour of sleep was more important than getting my fitness on.


What advice would you give college students who want to write seriously in college? What advice would you give those who want to publish? What steps should they take?
The advice that I always give to high schoolers and college students that ask me this question is this: While you're in school, focus on being a writer before you focus on being a published author. I really miss the days I had before I was published, when I could write whatever I wanted regardless of how crappy it was and I didn't have to worry about another person's judgment. I can't reinforce this enough, being published in college is like having a full-time job, and one that isn't always fun. It's an incredible amount of stress and pressure to put on yourself, when you're already anxious about exams/papers/what-have-you. Not everyone will have a negative experience, but I would also add that a good portion of my friends thought that I had graduated a semester early because I was so deep in my revision hole that I only surfaced for food and class. School is such a unique and wonderful time, but you don't get to experience it when you're by yourself writing. There are a zillion and a half elements in Brightly Woven that I picked up from the classes I was taking at the time. Be a sponge and absorb as much as possible from your classes and friends. Make sure you're taking advantage of all that college life has to offer, and if you happen to write something that you feel is ready to be seen by the world, go for it! Revise it seriously, submit it to agents, and learn from the feedback you get. Make sure that when you're writing you are happy and excited, because the minute you start feeling stressed out or depressed, it often means that your life has become unbalanced, and you need to step away and refocus.


What advice would you give to English majors about how to make the English major work for them after school?
Okay guys, here's a secret: what matters in the job world isn't necessarily what you majored in, but the internships and work experiences that you have. My current boss didn't hire me because I was an English major (though I'm sure that helped)--she claimed it was because I talked about coordinating our Student Assembly's Thanksgiving airport shuttle rides. So don't discount any work experience you have, regardless of how small or insignificant you think it is. I would also recommend networking with alums in the career field of your choice, and seeking out speciality programs like the Columbia Publishing Course, which often feed you directly into jobs. Besides the fact that companies are always looking for good writers (seriously--critical writing does not tend to be a strength of most business majors), so be sure to always play that up. Plus, you've spent how many years analyzing and forming your own arguments, right? That's another skill you have in the bag.

Alexandra's novel, Brightly Woven, comes out March 23. You can read a longer synopsis if you follow the Brightly Woven link.

So, this post is going to be going up quite a bit later than I had originally planned... Sorry about that...

I've been wanting to write a "Why I Blog" post for a while now. It's been a pretty popular topic among the blogging world lately, and I wanted to mention how I feel about blogging, especially because what I have to say seems different than what other people say. I figured my first blogging birthday would be the perfect time to say what I have to say. So, even though the day is getting close to being over, I wanted to share my views on blogging, and why it is that I blog.

In almost every single "Why I Blog" post I've read, the blogger in question mentions never believing they would have any following, let alone the number that currently follows their blog, and that they would continue blogging even if there wasn't a single person reading their posts, so every new follower/reader/commenter means something extra special. And, honestly, I don't believe them. Sounds harsh I know. But think about it — blogging is a huge time commitment and it isn't easy. There are days when it's really hard to find the motivation or desire to post anything and times when words or reviews just won't come.

I personally would not keep blogging if no one read my reviews. If I never had a single reader, I would stop blogging. I got more feedback than that posting my reviews only on Goodreads. I do need to say this is not about numbers to me. I rarely check my blogging stats. I don't even know where to find a lot of the information bloggers talk about for their blogs. Why? Because I don't care. Stats, views, unique hits and all that other stuff has never been important to me.

Confusing, right? I wouldn't keep blogging if I had zero people reading my reviews, but I don't actually care about numbers and statistics. So, how does this work?

Because I would blog if I had one reader. That's all I need to feel like my blog is worth my time. One person who thinks what I have to say is worth reading.

I started blogging because I love books. I love to talk about books. I could talk about my favorite books for hours on end, going over my favorite parts, what I liked, what I didn't over and over and over. And I do. My best friend has heard about my favorite books so many times now that I'm pretty sure she can quote what I think about them verbatim with all the same inflections that I would use. My sister and my mom can probably make the same claim.

I started this blog because there were aspects to the reading community on Goodreads that I loved, and I wanted more of that. I wanted more people online, who also loved books as much as I do to sit and chat with. I wanted to meet more people who I could go to if I needed more recommendations, and I wanted to find people I could push my favorites on. I can't tell you what an amazingly gratifying feeling it is to recommend an absolute favorite book to someone and have them come back glowing and gushing to tell you how amazing the book was and how thankful they are that you recommended it. But, I bet that most of you have felt that before. I imagine that a lot of you bloggers out there have had a similar experience, so you know.

I started blogging because I wanted to be there for the conversation. I wanted to be there hearing about all these great new books coming out, and I wanted to meet people like me. I've always been around people who enjoy reading, but don't know anyone in real life who feels about reading the same way I do. My mom reads a lot, and we do share books (although she's not as 'nice' to books as I am, so I'm always a little leery lending her my copies.: P) but she doesn't really do the 'book talk' thing. She will tell me if she liked it, and maybe a little bit of why, but there isn't a ton of discussion there. My sister also loves reading, and we have a lot more discussion than my mom. But, she has three little kids, 5 and under, so she (understandably) doesn't have a ton of time to read. My best friend listens to me rave, or rant about particular books, and it's always part of our conversations, but although she enjoys reading, it isn't something she does a lot of. And on and on.

So, I wanted to find a place where I could go to talk about books when and how I wanted, and to meet other people that felt the same. My whole motivation behind blogging. If I didn't have any blogger friends to talk to, why would I do it?

And, since this is a post about why I blog, and I'm being honest here, I also have to say that it's pretty awesome to have someone, especially someone you don't know and have never met stop by and tell you that they think what you have to say is pretty great. Who doesn't like to hear that what they had to say touched someone, changed their opinion of a book, or influenced them to buy a copy? Come on. If you say you don't like hearing people think you are great/smart/well-spoken/awesome/insightful and etc, then I'm going to say I think you lie.

So this, dear readers and friends, is why I blog. I blog to spread the word about books that I love, and get other people to read and fall in love with them too, to make new friends, find new favorite books and to talk about books.

Wendy from Caribousmom celebrated her 50th birthday last week and that got her wondering about books published in our birth decades. She asked Weekly Geeks to discuss a book that came out the decade we were born, one that we either loved or hated.

This week our Weekly Geek participants spanned several different decades, which makes the responses all the more interesting. This is what some of you had to say:

Meaghan from Book Geek talks about a book published the year she was born that had a significant impact on her life: The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963, published in 1995.

Jordyn of Ten Cent Notes covers the 1980's (up through 2000) with mention of the popular Baby-Sitters Club series.

Annabel from Gaskella, born in 1960, points out several books that were published the decade of her birth, including The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Ballad of Peckham Rye.

Kerrie's (of Mysteries of Paradise) love for reading got much encouragement from the books of Enid Blyton, published in the 1940's. Also among her favorites include Daphne du Maurier and Agatha Christie.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Weekly Geeks this week, and remember to check back tomorrow for our new topic!

Awhile ago I announced that I planned on reading all of my humongous Montaigne essay collection in 2011. The year tends to start more in February for me than January, because January is my birthday month so I'm never on a "normal" schedule. I'm planning on updating the Montaigne reading list later today so you can follow along with what I'm reading if you so choose. I'll post my thoughts about the essays I read every Monday along with some questions about them. EDIT: The new schedule is now available online.

I bought a few books recently that I'm really excited about. The first is Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books

, which is about Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her career as a book editor. I heard about this book in December on Books On the Nightstand and wanted it immediately because I love biographies and I think biography in books sounds like the best kind of biography. I also got House of Leaves

due to a superb recommendation from my friend Marleen. The book looks super bizarre but I can't wait to read it, which is unfortunate because I don't think I'll get to it until Spring Break. I bought Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

on a whim while perusing the newly arranged Young Adult section at the Barnes and Noble in my mall. It's a story collection including stories and art from M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, David Levithan, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Westerfeld, and several others.

Today I'm catching up on some reading and doing a little homework. Jason and I are also recording a new podcast for Green Reads. I'm talking about a book I'm super enthusiastic about, Farmer Jane: Women Changing The Way We Eat

and Jason is talking about The 1,000-Year Flood: Destruction, Loss, Rescue, and Redemption along the Mississippi River

. Keep your eyes peeled for that so you can hear about these great books!

Is anyone else going to Book Expo America this year? I'm going and I'm still looking for a roommate if anyone is interested-- let me know!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It was created by J.Kaye's Book Blog, so stop by and join in!

Last week was a rough week for me as far as reading goes. I started the Game On Diet and I feel most of my free time last week was spent preparing meals. Then the 4th of July rolled around, and my son's 4th birthday, and all my free time was zapped! So, while I only completed one book, I'm close to completing a few more.

Completed Last Week

Darling Jim: A Novel by Christian Moerk (audiobook)

Currently Reading

The Poet by Michael Connelly (about 20 pages from the end. GREAT book)

Books to Read this Week

A Short History of Women: A Novel

by Kate Walbert
How Perfect Is That

by Sarah Bird
The Castaways

by Erin Hilderbrand
The Crying Tree

by Naseem Rakha
Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single

by Heather McElhatton

So, what will you be reading this week?

If you haven't heard about Buy Books for the Holidays yet you should check it out. The whole purpose is encouraging people to buy books as gifts for the holidays. This is something I usually do anyway, last year I bought my boyfriend Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings

by Christopher Moore for Christmas and for his birthday I got him V for Vendetta

and Watchmen

. He is really into current pop culture so he really enjoyed all three of these.

Ever since I was a little kid I've always asked for at least one book for Christmas, I'm sure this year will be no different. If I don't receive a book I'll usually end up buying one right after Christmas (Barnes and Noble has great after holidays sales!). I'll probably buy books for the usual people this year, but I might add a couple new people to my book buying list, like my Grandma who is really interested in history but only ever reads romance novels. She might enjoy some Tasha Alexander.

Happy Holidays!

Happy mother's day to all of the moms out there! My grandmother was a huge influence on my love of reading and I get to see her today. We have a special bond because she taught me how to read and we have the same birthday (which, if you buy into zodiac, explains some of the similarities in our personalities). My mother supports my book buying habit and has been for fifteen years. Basically moms are great, and if you are a mom I hope you have a special day.

As I've mentioned the past couple of weeks it's getting close to the end of the semester so I don't have as much time for reading as a normally do. That being said, I am reading two awesome books right now. Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick and Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age by David Levy. Also, this week I'm planning on reviewing The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, so be sure to check back for my thoughts on those!

This week I reviewed Chicken With Plums and I'm Sorry You Feel That Way. I also posted about my experience as a children's reading tutor in A Tutor's Diary. In case you did check out that post I'll give you a little update. Friday was my last day as a tutor and Friday night was the Year End Celebration for the program. I tutored two children this semester and only one came, but it was so awesome to hear from his mom about how much he has improved! He read a book he wrote to the other parents and kids from the school and I could tell he was nervous, but I'm still proud of him for getting up and doing it. I also got him a book and some bookmarks which he seemed to like. I'm really sad that tutoring is over with now, but I'm glad I had the experience.