Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for blog] 

Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW) is just a little over a month away! Have you nominated your favorite blogs yet? The deadline is August 15th, so nominate now!

I created my blog in March of 2008, and unfortunately I didn't learn about BBAW until it was over. This year, a little meme was created to spread the excitement about BBAW.

1) What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you?

Without a doubt, I'd say the community. I've met a number of amazing people since creating my blog. This includes other bloggers, but also authors and publicists as well. It was wonderful to know that there were other people out there who appreciated reading as much as I do.

2) What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you?

Where do I begin? Well, the first blogger I followed was Becky from No More Grumpy Bookseller. She and I both reviewed for Bookbitch and she was definitely an inspiration to me. She gives the best book recommendations and has introduced me to a bunch of "new to me" authors. My book collection has grown tremendously since I started following her blog.

In addition to Becky, there are dozens upon dozens of other bloggers who have helped me improve my blog and my blogging experience. Here are just a few:

• Kathy from Bermudaonion's Weblog-Kathy was one of the first to comment on my blog. She's the commenting queen!
  

• Beth from Beth Fish Reads-We both swear we are long-lost twins, separated by time and space.
  

• Julie from Booking Mama-Her blog has introduced me to a wealth of great books for my boys.
  

• Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?-Trish offers the best suggestions when it comes to improving and enhancing a blog. In addition, she was my roomie at BEA, and I truly enjoyed the time we spent together and the conversations we had.
  

• Amy from My Friend Amy-Another blogger that offers great advice when it comes to books and blogging. She alleviated my nervousness about attending BEA for the first time always has the best responses/solutions when drama pops up in the blogging world. She and I don't always have the same opinion, but hers is one I definitely value.
  

• Swapna from S. Krishna's Books-Swapna is one fast reader! She inspires me to read more!
  

• Dawn from She is Too Fond of Books-Dawn is an amazing monther and woman. I love when she features receipes on her blog. I always try them out. They aren't always a hit, but the experience is unforgettable. Dawn also inspired me to join the Game On Challenge, an experience that forever changed me and my eating lifestyle.
  

• Stephanie from Stephanie's Written Word-Stephanie is a brave and strong woman, an inspiration to us all!
  

• Michelle, aka Galleysmith- Michelle gave me the great idea to create my Virginia is for Lovers feature. She also supported my Supernatural addiction by lending me two seasons-worth of DVDs :). Michelle is a true bibliophile--her book shopping extravaganzas relieve the guilt I have after buying a few books.

3) What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer?

Short, easy answer: How on earth do you only select one blog to nominate from each category!?

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.

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!»

Two conversations inspired this Weekly Geeks. First, during Book Bloggers Appreciation Week, Amy asked us to write about our blogging goals. I noticed many people's goal was to acquire a larger readership*. Then during a Twitter conversation Natasha from Maw Books said she was told by a non-book blogger that book blogs were confusing. Which brings me to our topic.

Take a look at your blog as if you were someone who has never seen a blog before. Imagine they are looking for something specific. Could they find it? Could they find YOU again? Be able to contact you? Would they understand your jargon?

With these questions in mind, start making your blog more reader friendly. You can do as much as upload a new template to adding a subscription button. Here are some ideas:

*Add meta tags to help people find your blog.
*Add a RSS feed button.
*Add a contact page.
*Make sure as many people as possible can comment on your posts.
*Make your blog searchable.
*Check your links.
*Explain your rating system, if you have one.
*Create a glossary if you use a lot of blogger acronyms ie- BBAW, BTT, ARC.

These are just suggestions. There are probably a million more. Check out Blogging Tips on the Book Blogger's Ning for more ideas and advice.

After you've accomplished all you can, write a post telling us what you did or even what you plan to do down the road on your blog to help your readers.

Now if you haven't thought about your goals, it's a good time to do so. Maybe you haven't thought about readership, maybe you could care less! Then where do you see your blog in a year. How do you plan to accomplish that? Write a post about it.

*Adding Google Analytics to your blog will help you figure out who your current readers are and how they found your blog.

Good luck and have fun!

I have recently received two awards, which is very exciting!!! First off the Super Scribbler Award from Jenny Loves to Read. Here are the rules:

■ Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

■ Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

■ Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.

■ Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor! (I think it might be maxed out, I couldn't get it done. I just left a comment on the original post).

■ Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

I'm passing this on to:
Sasha & the Silverfish
Muse in the Fog
Bookmarked!
Coffeespoons
Desperado Penguin

I also received the One Lovely Blog award from Books on a Rainy Day (hers is really lovely, mine is okay). Here are the rules:

Accept the award, and post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link. Pass the award to 5 other blogs that you've newly discovered.

Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know that they have been chosen for this award.

This means I have to pass the award on to five more blogs! Okay I pass this one on to:
Kat's Books
Regular Rumination
Smokin' Hot Books
Cheeky Reads
From the Desk of a Writer

I'm very sorry to all ten of you if you have gotten either of these awards before. I tried to find people who at least hadn't gotten it recently.

One last thing. I just wanted to say thanks to all of my great followers!!! I recently just surpassed fifty. When I started this blog I was just trying out book blogging because I thought it would help me read more. In the process I've met so many great people and found so many great blogs. My followers are really what keep me going with blogging. I love you guys!

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!

I am in 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.

For the second day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week I was paired with Melody of Melody's Reading Corner to do an interview swap. Melody's blog is new to me but I'm excited to start reading it more regularly! Here are Melody's answers to my questions.

Ash: Do you like to eat or drink anything while you read?
Melody: While I’d love to munch on snacks (my favourite snack is chips!) and drink green tea while reading, I try not to do so whenever I can as there is the risk of dirtying my books.

Ash: We've read a few of the same books this year and I noticed some of them were YA titles. Why do you think adults are attracted to reading young adult books? What attracts you to them?
Melody: There was once a bookstore assistant who asked me why I read YA books when I should be reading adult theme books. Her question had sparked some thoughts in me then and I remember telling her this: “I enjoy reading books. Books, to me are a great escapism and also another channel where I can broaden my horizons. I believe we have things to learn and think about from any books, no matter if it is a literary fiction or a children’s book. Also, I find some YA books cover important topics and contain some wonderful messages and I like it that they create awareness and make young adults think.”
I am not sure about other readers, but I do think my above reply are just some of the few reasons why adults would pick up YA books and read them.

Ash: I noticed in your review guidelines you said you do not read nonfiction or memoir. What turns you away from those genres?
Melody: I used to read non-fiction and memoirs some years back, but they have all taken a back seat since the day I started my blog and reading so many wonderful reviews on fictions. I have a huge TBR pile due to that and thus my current main focus is on them. I will still read a non-fiction or memoir from time to time, but that will have to depend if the topic interests me or not.

Ash: You've been blogging for a long time! About four years it looks like. How has the blogging world changed since you started and how have you changed as a blogger? What do you recommend other bloggers do to create such great longevity?
Melody: I started blogging in July 2006, and at that time I was not aware of the book blogging community. I started my blog because I think it is an excellent place where I can record the books I read and how I felt about them without misplacing it like a journal. At that time, I didn’t even care if anyone read it until I received my very first comment from a fellow blogger. It then made me realise that there are people who read my blog and from there onwards, I strive to work hard on my writing. And as for the rest, as they say, is history.

Besides the above, I have to say being a blogger has definitely widen my reading horizons as there are so many wonderful bookbloggers and recommendations out there, waiting for my exploration! It is through reading these blogs that made me read out of my comfort zone, and I cannot imagine how many books I have missed during my pre-blogging days! That said, it is always better to be late than never, right?

As for ways for creating longevity for blogs, I don’t have any good recommendations except that to blog whatever you like and also to take some time in visiting and commenting on other blogs. After all what other ways to start a friendship other than saying hello and reading a new book blog you have visited? That said, I need to remind myself to comment as much as possible but sometimes, it sure is hard when you have about 250+ blogs to read and you can only read and comment so much in a day, but I will try to remedy that!

Ash: Is there any specific message you want your readers to take away from your blog?
Melody: Have fun and be yourself.


Ash: What are your three favorite books you've read in the past year?
Melody: Just three? That’s a hard one since I had read a few good books in the past year. Anyway, here are just a few which I loved (not in any order):

1) Ritual by Mo Hayder
2) Skin by Mo Hayder (Now can you tell I’m a huge fan of her?)
3) Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
4) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
5) The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
6) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
7) Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
8) The Lost Hours by Karen White
9) Stolen by Lucy Christopher
>10) The Ghost Writer by John Harwood

I could go on and on, but I think listing 10 books will suffice (after all I have added 7 books instead of listing only three to the list, haven’t I?).


Ash: Are you from a family of readers, or is reading something that sets you apart from other people in your family?
Melody: This is sad but true that I am the only reader in my family. My parents read the papers but rarely books, and as for my husband he mostly read books which are related to his work. My younger sister doesn’t have the interest of reading books, so that left only me. Though they are not as much as a voracious reader as I, they are supportive of my reading habits (read: buying books and occupying much of our room space) and I am thankful for that.


Ash: If you were to start a blog about anything besides books, what would it be?
Melody: I absolutely have no idea! Frankly speaking, I cannot think of anything else besides blogging about books and my reading. I don’t think anyone would want to read about my personal life anyway, haha.

You can read my answers to Melody's questions at her blog, Melody's Reading Corner!

The following people have participated in Weekly Geeks, either here or at Dewey's blog. Thanks for joining the community!

*Note: We are no longer regularly updating this list (as it is ginormous and time-consuming), but if you would like to be added, just send us an email with a link to one of your Weekly Geek posts. Thanks!

3M at 1morechapter

Aaron at That’s the Book!

Adrienne at Bookmark My Heart

Aerin at In Search of Giants

Adventures in Reading

Alessandra at Out of the Blue

Ali at Worducopia

Alisonwonderland at So Many Books, So Little Time

Alix at Not enough bookshelves

Alli at Books Fall Open

Alyssa at The Shady Glade

Amy at My Friend Amy

Andi at Tripping Toward Lucidity

Andrea at So Many Books

Angela at Acerebral

Anna at Diary of an Eccentric

Annie at reading is my superpower

Ariel Dalloway

Bart’s Bookshelf

beastmomma

Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews

Bernadette at Reactions to Reading

Betsy at Cream of Soup

Between the Covers

Bibliolatrist at Bibliolatry

Bonnie at Redlady's Reading Room

Bookfool at Bookfoolery and Babble

Booking It

Bookish Ruth

Bookwormans at Complete & Unabridged

Bride of the Book God

Bybee at Naked Without Books!

Calissa at Dancing among the stars

Callisa at SMS Book Reviews

Cam at The Cookie Crumbles

Cara at The Curvature

Care at Care’s Online Book Club

Cesia at At It Again

Chainletters

Chayenne at The Ax For the Frozen Sea

Chris at book-a-rama

Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made On

Christina at Jackets & Covers

Christina at Reading Through the Night

Christine at She Reads Books

Ciaralira at Ciara Stewart

CJHill at My Years of Reading Seriously

Claire at kiss a cloud

Darla D. at Books and other thoughts

Dave, The Cubicle Reverand

Debbie at Friday Friends Book Blog

Debi at Nothing of Importance

Debra at Reading Animals

DeSeRt RoSe

Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf

Dizzy at gravity, avoirdupois

Dorte at DJS Krimiblog

Dreamybee at Subliminal Intervention

E.B. at The Reader’s Quill

Edgy at Books Are King

Erika Lynn at Kiss My Book

Erin at A Book Every Day

Erin at crazy comma momma

Erotic Horizon

Eva at A Striped Armchair

Fern at Booktrash

Florinda at The 3 R’s

Frances at Nonsuch Book

Gautami Tripathy at Everything Distils Into Reading

Gavin at Page 247

Gnoe at Graasland

Happyichigo at Ichigo Fields Forever

Harmony at Call Me Harmony

Harry~DD at Writing Chaos That Is Me

Heather at Belle of the Books

Heather at Book Addiction

Heather J. at Age 30+…A Lifetime of Books

Hope at Hope’s Bookshelf

Holly at Book Pilgrim

Icedream at Reading in Appalachia

Iliana at bookgirl’s nightstand

Imani at The Books of My Numberless Dreams

Infant Bibliophile

J at Thinking About…

Jackie at Farm Lane Books

Jackie at Literary Escapism

Jacqui at Words ‘n Wags

Jaimie at Bell Literary Reflections

Janicu at Janicu’s Book Blog

J.C. Montgomery at The Biblio Brat

J. Kingston Pierce at The Rap Sheet

Jeannie at I Like To Be Here When I Can

Jennie at Biblio File

Jenny at Read. Imagine. Talk.

Jessi at casual dread

Jessica at Wanderings

Jessica at The Bluestocking Society

JLSHall at Joy’s Blog

Jo at Ink and Paper

Jo at Peachybooks

Joanne at The Book Zombie

Jocelyn at Teen Book Review

Jodie at Book Gazing

John at The Book Mine Set

John at Notes of a book dreamer

Jordyn at Page Numbered

Joy Renee at Joystory

Jules at Jules’ Book Reviews

Juliann at Unwritten Reads

Julie P. at Booking Mama

Jupiter at crazy dumbsaint of the mind

Karin at Karin's Book Nook

Katherine at A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore

Katrina at Katrina’s Reads

Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise

Kerry at Saving my Sanity

Kim at Bold. Blue. Adventure.

Kim at page after page

Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness

Kimifiction at CityLightLove

Kris at not enough books

Krisma at Bookworm’s Sweets

Kristen at Bookworm Kristen

Kristi at Passion for the Page

Kristina at Kristina’s Favorites

Kylee at Kylee’s 2009 Blog

LadyTink at Up Close and Personal with LadyTink

Lahni at Nose in a Book

Laura at State of Denmark

Lauren at Reading Comes From Writing

Library Mermaid

Lightheaded at everyday reads

Lilly at Reading Extravaganza

Linda at Silly Little Mischief

Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Lizzie at Suzy Q Homemaker

Lynda at Lynda's Book Blog

Louise (bogsider) at Lou’s Pages

Lu at Regular Rumination

Lynda at Lynda’s Book Blog

Maree at Just Add Books

Marg at ReadingAdventures

Margot at Joyfully Retired

Marie at Boston Bibliophile

Mariel at where troubles melt like lemon drops

Marina at Momma Writes About Books

Marineko at Dreaming Out Loud

Mary at This Book Is For You

Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook

Meg at Literary Menagerie

Megan at Leafing Through Life

Melange’s Book Reviews

Melanie at Cynical Optimism

Melanie at The Indextrious Reader

Melissa at Book Nut

Melisssa at Melissa's Bookshelf

Melissa at Page Turning Momma

Melissa at The Blog of Melissa Pilakowski

Melody at Melody’s Reading Corner

Melydia at It Never Stops

MFS at Mental multivitamin

Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies

Michelle at inthelouvre

Michelle at Master Musings by Michelle

Misa at This Redhead Reads

MizB at Should Be Reading

Mog at Mog’s Blog and More…

Molly at My Cozy Book Nook

Molly at Restless Reader

Mommy’s Fun Books at Coz I’m a Book-aholic

Monica at Buy Books for the Holidays

Monica at Monniblog

Moo at Moo’s Place

Mrs S at Blue Archipelago

Myrthe at The Armenian Odar Reads

Naida at thebookworm

Nan at anokaberry

Nari at The Novel World

Natasha at Maw Books

Nicola O at Alpha Heroes

Nicole at Linus’s Blanket

Nymeth at things mean a lot

Patti at Here Happiness Resides

Paxton at Cavalcade of Awesome

Penny at Penny's Pages

Phamie at Paula Marie: Switch Witch

Presenting Lenore

Rachel at American Bibliophile

Rae L. at A Writer’s Dream

Raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading

Reader Rabbit

Rebachin at Librain-ism-ish

Rebecca at Just One More Page

Rebecca at Rebecca Reads

Rebecca at The Book Lady's Blog

Renay at the deus ex machina complex and other theories

Retinna at Tales of the Looking Glass

Rhinoa at Rhinoa’s Ramblings

Rikki at The Bookkeeper

Robin at A Fondness for Reading

Robin at My Two Blessings

Sam at Wrong Decade

Samantha at Bookworms and tea lovers

Sandra at Fresh Ink Books

Sarah at Behold, the thing that reads a lot

Sarah at Books and Other Miscellany

Sarah at GreenBeanTeenQueen

Sarah at Puss Reboots

Sarah at Small World Reads

Sari at The View from Sari's World

Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit

Shana at Literarily

Shannon at Confuzzled Books

Shannon at Just Another Musing

Sharonanne at Sharon Loves Books and Cats

Shelley at Chain Reader

Sher at A Novel Menagerie

Sherrie at Just Books

Sherry at Nite Swimming

Skooter at Pink Blue Whale

SmallWorld Reads

Softdrink (Jill) at Fizzy Thoughts

Somer at SomeReads

Staci at Life in the Thumb

Stefania at Books of gold

Stephanie at Confessions of a Book-a-holic

Stephanie at The Written Word

Steven at Book Dads

Strumpet

Suey at It’s All About Books

Sunnymama

Susan at Black-Eyed Susan

Tammy at Tammy’s Book Nook

Tanabata at In Spring it is the Dawn

Tasses at Random Wonder

Tea at Living Life and Reading books

Ted at Bookeywookey

Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Terri (teelgee) at Reading, Writing and Retirement

Terri B. at Tip of the Iceberg

Terry at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub

Tez Miller at Tez Says

That's the Book

The Abbot of Unreason

The Chic Geek

The Dark in the Dark

Thom G at Surface Tension

Tiny Librarian at Tiny Little Reading Room

Tracee at The Review from Here

Tracy (Gentle Reader) at Shelf Life

Trisha at Eclectic/Eccentric

Trish at Hey Lady!

Trublu at Starry Night

Twiga at Books and Life

Un:bound

Uncertain Principles at another cookie crumbles

Unfinishedperson at Just a (Reading) Fool

Valentina at Valentina’s Room

Vasilly at 1330V

Violette at The Mystery Bookshelf

Wendy at Caribousmom

Word Lily

Yati at Fiddle-de-dee’s not English

When I reached 100 followers in time for my six month anniversary I made a new goal to reach 200 by the end of my first year. My one year anniversary is in October, about a month and a half away. But if you take a look, I've already reached 200 followers. This is a ginormous accomplishment and I have all of you to thank for it because my readers are the best advertisers of this blog. You guys put me on your blog roll, retweet my posts, and tell your friends about my blog. This is awesome! When I started this blog I had to know sense of what I was doing or where it would go, but in less than a year I've find an amazing community of people who love books as much as I do and are willing to spread the word about what I do here. I'm so grateful for that.

The question I get asked most frequently about my blog is how I make time for all of this reading. The answer is simple: I make time for it. I make time for reading just like I make time to go hiking on Sundays, go for walks, ride my bike, cook healthy meals. I spend a lot of time trying to live a healthy lifestyle and to me reading is a part of that. Reading feeds my mind. Sometimes when I'm done with all of my homework I look at my TBR pile and think, "Ugh, I don't have time for this. I just want to dink around on the Internet." But when I come to the Internet I see hundreds of tweets and blog posts all about reading. That is one of the greatest encouragements. When you see that there are other people out there reading books that look good and talking about them, it gives you a reason to leave the laptop and pick up a book for awhile.

Another encouragement is making someone decide to read a book based on your review of it. This is my favorite part about blogging. I love, love, love when someone leaves a comment on a review that says "I think I'm going to have to read this!" Even better than that, I love when someone comes back to my blog a few weeks later and says, " I read that book because of your review and I loved it." To be a part of helping people decide what to read is a beautiful thing. And all of you have given me some great recommendations too! You always come to the rescue when I say, "Gee, I don't know if I should read this book or this book." You give me reasons why, all of you.

So basically what I'm trying to say is thanks. For being cheerleaders, mentors, recommendationists, and friends.

Tif Talks Books has an amazingly beautiful layout and header. It looks like she recently got an award for her blog's presentation and I am not surprised.

In Spring It Is the Dawn obviously has a great blog title. She is in Japan (although she is Canadian) right now and a lot of her blog is Japanese inspired. I have never seen so much of Japan on one blog, it's definitely a good one to check out!

BiblioAddict's blog has snow! It just started snowing here in Iowa so that definitely got me in the cozy reading spirit.

25 Hour Books has an awesome post every Tuesday about literary tattoos. What a cool idea!

Sasha and the Silverfish has an adorable layout and I just love her blog. She has a good assortment of books. Be sure to take a look at her feed button, it has an octopus!

Thanks to I Heart Monster for hosting this meme.

Wow, it's weird writing 2010 in my Weekly Geeks post title, but here it is a new year. With a new year beginning, I like to think this is the year I'm going to get organized. At least I'm starting out that way. So it's time to put a plan into action, clean out the closets and whatnot. Why shouldn't we do that for our blogs as well?

For some of us, this will not be so difficult as many bloggers are joining Bloggeista hosted by Maw Books this weekend, but if you are not up for 24 hours of blog cleaning you can still do something.

This week take a look at your blogs and do a little generally cleaning. Fix those broken links, straighten out those blogrolls, make some labels. Stuff like that.

Your blog is perfect, you say? How about your email? Time to delete some of those old messages. Have a look at your blog subscriptions in your blog readers. Maybe it needs a good going over. Are you a member of LibraryThing? Add those Christmas gifts to your virtual bookshelves. Upload your audiobooks to your ipod. Download some ebooks.

Nothing to do online? How about looking at your bookshelves at home? Organize them anyway you see fit. (Take some pictures.) Take unwanted books to the used book store or give them to charity. Get a library card.


After you've done your cleaning, write a post about it or vlog or haiku. Just let us know what you did. Come back see what others have done.

If none of this appeals to you, write a blog resolution post. Or a blog to-do list. Or tell us about your upcoming projects (a challenge you're hosting, newsletter, new blog).

Remember this is just a prompt. Take the idea and do whatever you choose with it. There are no hard and fast rules.

Have fun!

This week at the Broke and Bookish we're talking about our top ten favorite book blogs. Since I was listed on their top ten I will definitely have to share the love! These are in no particular order.

1. The Broke and Bookish. I love the idea for this blog! It's great that they have multiple bloggers because each one has a different way of reviewing and reads different books. Lots of variety here!
2. Reading on a Rainy Day. Quite a few reviews of books dealing with India, which is different from other blogs out there. She really has eclectic taste and has reviewed some great books this year, including The Bell Jar which I love. I always come away with something I want to read.
3. 1330V. You can always count on this blog for really thoughtful posts about reading and great reviews on an assortment of books. Quite a few graphic novel reviews and lots of books I've never heard of before!
4. Sophisticated Dorkiness. A journalist and book lover blogs about mostly nonfiction. This is the only book review blog I can think of that focuses on nonfiction and that is part of the reason I love it. Since I found Sophisticated Dorkiness I have started to review more nonfiction myself because it's my favorite genre as well!
5. Sasha & the Silverfish. Sasha was one of the first blogs I read when I started blogging. Her posts are long but wonderful. It's like discussion in an English class, except you don't have to worry about getting a grade! Lots of great books here.
6. A Literary Odyssey. This blog attempts to read 250 classics and does multiple posts on quite a few of them. I like that about this blog because you get to hear so much more about her thoughts on a book than you would with just one post. With classics I think that works really well.
7. Drunk Literature. On a bit of a hiatus right now but still one of my favorite book blogs. Rebecca blogs about more than books, that includes art, music, and just what's she into at the moment. She has great taste!
8. A Guy's Moleskine Notebook. He reviews quite a few classics but also a lot of newer books so there is a lot of variety. The reviews are very thoughtful and specific, and he is great at starting discussions.
9. The Displaced English Major. Similarly to A Literary Odyssey this blog is trying to read a list of 100 books. I've been amazed at how patient she can be with books she doesn't really care for. She's read some fairly obscure titles so be sure to check out her thoughts!
10. Iris on Books. I didn't find Iris until this summer but it's quickly become one of my favorite book blogs. She reviews mostly literature and classics, but I really enjoy her posts about reading. She's funny too!

There are a lot more I'd like to list. Basically, check out any blog in my blogroll and know that I love what they do!

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.
-W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) -
Weekly Geeks started in April 2008. Its brainchild was an effervescent and energetic blogger named Dewey who envisioned a weekly event which would unite the book blogging community. She posted a weekly assignment - a question, a task, a theme - to be completed and posted on the Geeks' individual blogs and linked at the main assignment post. It turned out to be wildly successful.

And then a heartbreaking notification appeared on Dewey's blog on Tuesday, November 25, 2008. The person who seemed to be everywhere in the blogging community, the quintessential community cheerleader who everyone seemed to know and love, had died - leaving a huge hole in our ranks. In the spirit of keeping Dewey's community efforts alive, several bloggers got together and decided to give Weekly Geeks its own space and carry on what Dewey had started.

Over the last nearly three years, the team keeping this blog running has ebbed and flowed. Mostly we've tried to be consistent in posting each Saturday and doing a wrap up each Friday. But, over the last several months not only has our focus as a team struggled, but participation in the weekly assignments has slowed to a trickle. There are those bloggers who come back week in and week out, and sometimes we see some new faces in the links, but overall attendance has sharply declined.

So after some discussion, the Weekly Geeks team has decided that it is time to end this event. We believe that Dewey would approve - she was never someone who hung onto things that were not working. She was willing to look critically at her own inventions and change them up or simply let them go if the community did not seem as excited about them as she was...and so we are taking our direction from the spirit of the person who started this event.

A great deal of thanks are due those individuals who have in some way stepped up over the last three years to help out here, or give us ideas, or participate by posting to their blog one of the assignments. Without the book blogging community behind us, this event would have closed down a long, long time ago.

This is probably also a good time to announce that Weekly Geeks was nominated for the BBAW Best Meme award for this year. The Weekly Geeks team is incredibly honored to be recognized in this way - thank you to those who submitted a nomination!

This blog will remain up, at least for awhile, so that those who wish to may browse the links or read the assignments - perhaps find inspiration for their blog.

This will be the final Weekly Geeks "assignment"...share one of the following on your blog:

• If you knew Dewey - a favorite memory of her, or one of your favorite "events" which was Dewey-inspired.
• Browse the topics here and re-post one of your favorites

Today is the last day of November, which means it is the last day of Just Contemporary Month. This has been an amazing experience for me and I have loved everything about this event. The participation and response has been truly awesome and to wrap up this event, I want to say a few thank you's-

First, I need to thank Shanyn for agreeing to be my co-host for this event with me and being so awesome.

Next, I want to thank all of the authors who contributed. Thank you for the time, the energy, the words and the generous giveaways. To all the authors who participated, on mine and Shanyn's blog — Thank you. You are amazing.

And finally, a thank you to all the bloggers and readers out there who participated on your own blogs. Whether it was writing a guest post for me or for the post swap, writing a review of a Contemporary YA novel on your own blog or even just reading/commenting on the JC posts, thank you. Without readers, an event wouldn't be much success, so thank you! You have all been wonderful! I love you all, but I want to send a special shout-out to Candace from Candace's Book Blog who spent almost as much time on Contemporary YA as I did. She was amazing and had so much Contemporary YA goodness on her site!

Just Contemporary was also a great choice for me — a step in the right direction, if you will. Contemporary is my favorite genre, and it is what I read the most of. (So far this year, I have read 215 books, and 214 of those have been Contemporary) but I haven't really felt that my blog reflects that love of Contemporary. And although I do read a lot of different genres and have favorites in every single one of them, I want my blog to better reflect my actual reading tastes and Just Contemporary has been the first stage of taking my blog in that direction. I still plan to review from every genre that I read in, and I'll definitely still talk your ear off about books I love, but I'm planning to have many more Contemporary events.

I have the Just Contemporary Reading Challenge (sign ups are open! :) ) and next year, Just Contemporary will be back in November and there will be a special Contemp Event in May (details coming soon) not to mention a whole bunch of other amazing things coming to you in 2012 (including my first ever read-a-thon!).

So thank you all for being a part of this event. It has meant a lot to me and the amount of participation I've seen has blown my mind. Thank you and I hope to see you again next November and the months leading up to it!

This is a 'post in progress' I wanted a chance to spotlight and talk about what other bloggers are doing to celebrate the awesome that is Contemporary YA. This is never going to be a comprehensive list. I am only one person and I just can't do it. BUT I will update it, hoping to get as much talk about the other Contemp happenings as possible!!

Awesome Reading Challenge!

Kat @ I Write, I Read, I Review is hosting the Keeping it Real Reading Challenge! The goal is to read Contemporary YA during the month of November and there are PRIZES! Seriously guys — Check it out!

REVIEWS:

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez, Shut Out by Kody Keplinger, Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, and Looking for Alaska by John Green.

April @ Good Books and Good Wine — Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen, Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala, Lovestruck Summer by Melissa C. Walker, and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (which is... mostly Contemporary:) )

Shannon @ Books Devoured — Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert (one of my favorite books) and Subway Girl by P.J. Converse

Anna @ Anna Reads — The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder (another favorite!!)

Sarah @ Storybound Girl — Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Tara @ Hobbitsies — Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Allison @ The Allure of Books — Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

Liz @ Consumed by Books — Looking For Alaska by John Green

Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books — Kiss, Crush, Collide by Christina Meredith

Jennifer @ Novel Thoughts — Without Tess by Marcella Pixley

Jenny @ The Mimosa Stimulous — Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott

Robin @ Nice Girls Read Books — Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Page @ One Book at a time — Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (again, mostly Contemporary:) )

Angela @ Reading Angel — How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Lindsi @ Books, Sweets and Other Treats — If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

Jordyn @ Ten Cent Notes — Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell

AUTHORS:

Carla @ The Crooked Shelf interviewed Melina Marchetta (AHH!!! LOVE Melina! My interview with her will go up soon:) )

GIVEAWAYS:

Mary @ Anxirium is giving away some Contemporary YA books!!!

DISCUSSION/THOUGHT POSTS:
Note — Many of these are guest posts, so rather than write both the blog hosted and the blogger writing, I've just identified the writer of the post, not the host blog:

Topic: Why I Love Contemporary:

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog
Jacinda @ Reading Housewives
Candace @ Candace's Book Blog
Sarah @ Storybound Girl
Kathy @ I Write, I Read, I Review
Cara @ Chasing Words
Jordyn @ Ten Cent Notes
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Alissa @ The Grammarian's Reviews
Ariel @ The Librarian's Bookshelf
Kailia @ Reading the Best of the Best

Callie @ Read, Write, Blog compiled her list of favorite Dark Contemporary YA books.

I'm going to keep searching for more to add to this list. If YOU or someone you know has posted anything this week (from November first through Saturday, November 5) please either leave me a comment or send me a message on Twitter with the link so that I can stop by and add it to my list!

Once again, here is a link up of all the Contemporary happenings I've stumbled across in the past week on blogs other than Shanyn's and my own! There are some seriously awesome things happening around the blogosphere, so click through the list and check it out!

And since it is absolutely impossible for me to really be aware of all that is happening everywhere, if you have seen or posted anything Contemporary related, Let me know! I will either add it to this list, or include it in next week's post!

Awesome Reading Challenge: The Keeping It Real Contemporary YA Reading Challenge hosted by Kat @ I Write, I Read, I Review. And, there will be prizes!:)

REVIEWS:

Sarah @ The Storybound Girl — Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Amplified by Tara Kelly, Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl, North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headly

L.L. @ The Story Girl — I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog — The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner and My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Melina @ Reading Vacation — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales and The Daughters Join the Party by Joanna Philbin (this is the third book in the series.)

Author Jessi Kirby — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books — We the Animals by Justin Torres

Samual @ Books for All Seasons — The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Danya @ A Tapestry of Words — Dear Bully by Various

Shannon @ Books Devoured — Looking for Alaska John Green and The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart

The Busy Bibliophile — Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Anna @ Anna Reads — Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Raquel @ The Book Barbies — Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Page @ One Book at a Time — Lie by Caroline Bock

Emily @ Red House Books — Reasons to be Happy by Katrina Kittle

Giselle @ Xpresso Reads — dancergirl by Carol M. Tanzman, and Room by Emma Donoghue (probably more Adult than YA, but it is definitely a crossover book).

Somer @ A Bird's Eye View — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Liz @ Consumed by Books — The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Nicci @ Paper Dreams — Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez (she also wrote a fun — Five Reasons to Read Virtuosity post!)

Julie @ A Tale of Many Reviews — The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Chris @ Between the Covers — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Ginger @ Greads! — Amplified by Tara Kelly

Carrie @ Stalking the Bookshelves — Saving June by Hannah Harrington and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

Rowena @ The Book Scoop — My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Mindi @ Books Complete Me — Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

Sarah @ YA Love — How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Jennifer @ Novel Thoughts — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Aubrey @ holes in my brain — How to Save a Life — Sara Zarr

Mary @ Anxirium — Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Lori @ Pure Imagination — Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Lisa @ The Garden of Books — Where She Went by Gayle Forman and Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

John @ Dreaming in Books — Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Kelli @ I'd So Rather Be Reading — Going Too Far — Jennifer Echols

Princess Bookie — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales and Pure Red by Danielle Joseph

For the Love of Contemporary — His Eyes by Renee Carter

Tiffany @ Tiffany Reads — The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder and Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous — Raw Blue by Kirsty Egar

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures — If I Tell by Janet Gurtler, Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson and Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott.

Bailey @ IB Book Blogging — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales

The Book Faerie — The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder (WARNING — This review DOES contain spoilers)

Jenny @ The Mimosa Stimulus — Amplified by Tara Kelly and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Sophia @ The Book Basement — If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen and The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Natalie @ Quirky Vintage — Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (not completely Contemporary, but mostly & amazing, so...)

Karen @ For What It's Worth — Where You Are by Tammara Webber

Lisa @ The Garden of Books — Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (this is actually a short — What on Earth could I possibly say about this level of intensity — post)

AUTHORS:

The Nerd Girls @ Books to the Sky Interviewed Janet Gurtler! (And there is a giveaway!)

For the Love of Contemporary spotlighted Sarah Ockler!!!

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog interviewed Anne Pfeffer (and there is an international giveaway!) and she also interviewed Stasia Kehoe!

The Contemps blog spotlighted new author Josie Bloss and her novel Faking Faith.

Sam @ Books for all Seasons interviewed Melissa Kantor!

Liz @ Consumed by Books has a fun This or That Interview with Hannah Harrington!

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures has a guest post from Megan Bostic about the songs that inspired her book!

Melina @ Reading Vacation has a guest post from Joanna Philbin.

Kristi @ The Story Siren has a guest post from Catherine Ryan Hyde (with a giveaway)

DISCUSSION TOPICS

Allison @ The Allure of Books vlogged about her favorite YA Contemporary Books
Mandie Baxter: Why I Love Contemporary
Rowena @ The Book Scoop: Why I Love Contemporary
Author Carol Tanzman: Why I Write Contemporary YA
Bee @ Dreamcatcher's Lair: Her favorite Dark YA books. (Not all are Contemporary, but most of them are!)
Author Abbi Glines: Her 11 favorite Indie Contemporary YA Romances

Tough Stuff in Contemporary YA: (again, many of these were written as guest posts and I am only identifying the author of the post, not the host blog)

Rie @ Mission to Read
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Candace @ Candace's Book Blog
Jacinda @ Reading Housewives
Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog
Cara @ Chasing Words
Mandie Baxter
Nicci @ Paper Dreams
Shannon @ Books Devoured
Ginger @ GReads!

Again — If you have seen or written a post talking about Contemporary YA or reviewing a book, LET ME KNOW!! I'd LOVE to include you in the link up AND I personally read and comment on all of them. (It takes a while, but I'm LOVING It!) So leave me a comment, shoot me an email or send me a tweet and I'll add you to my list!:)

There have been so many awesome blog posts about Contemporary YA this week! I have loved reading the ones I've discovered, but just know that I had to have missed a bunch. So, if your blog post isn't listed here, please let me know!

Announcement of Contemporary Win!- A whole bunch of bloggers have gotten together to put on a John Green week this January! How awesome is that?! John Green pretty much oozes Contemporary awesomness so a week to spotlight him sounds awesome! Here is a link to one of the blogs hosting sign ups!:) Click me for John Green Week info!!!

Also, I cannot believe that I have so far forgotten to mention this — BUT — November is also Aussie Month over at Carla's blog, The Crooked Shelf. Since it's Aussie authors in general, not everything is Contemporary but there is definitely some Contemp love and seriously, who doesn't love Aussie authors?! There must be something in the water over there because they Rock!
Some of the Contemporary Australian Awesome — An interview with Melina Marchetta! (Whom I absolutely adore!) Reviews of Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley; Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell; A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon; Good Oil by Laura Buzo;

REVIEW:

Alissa @ The Grammarian — Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (not entirely Contemp, but mostly)

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols (and a giveaway!), The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz, Dreamland Social Club by Tara Atebrando, Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin and Shattered Soul by Jennifer Snyder (also has an author interview and a giveaway!).

Somer @ A Bird's Eye View — Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Mandie Baxter — Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Allison @ The Allure of Books — Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Mary @ Anxirium — Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives — Sea by Heidi R. Kling and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

The Busy Bibliophile — You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Jennifer @ The Book Barbies — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Racquel @ The Book Barbies — If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Where She Went by Gayle Forman, Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez.

Magan @ Rather Be Reading — Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboksy

Krazy Book Lady — Joint Mother/Daughter review of Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennet

Estelle @ Rather Be Reading — Fringe Girl by Valerie Frankel

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Amanda @ Book Love 101 — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Rachel @ Rachel Reads — The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Ginger @ Greads! — Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Farrah @ I Eat Words — Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Amanda @ On a Book Bender — Cut by Patricia McCormick (guest review by Amanda)

Karen @ For What It's Worth — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

A Beautiful Madness — Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman, Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter (second in a series) and Saving June by Hannah Harrington.

Ashley @ Book Labyrinth — I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler

Laura @ The Reading Nook — Lie by Caroline Bock

Jamie @ Writers write, right? — The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols

Rachel @ Fiktshun — Where You Are by Tammara Webber (second book in series)

Melissa @ I Swim for Oceans — The Shattering by Karen Healy

April @ Good Books & Good Wine — Playground by 50 Cent and Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner — Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Anna @ Anna Reads — Kiss It by Erin Downing and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Jayme @ The Secret Life of an Avid Reader — Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

Yani @ The Secret Life of an Avid Reader — Double Clutch by Elizabeth Reinhardt

Chey @ The Hollow Cupboards — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf — North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley, Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman and Where You Are by Tammara Webber (second book in series)

Farah @ Maji Bookshelf — The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler and Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Chelsey @ Starry Sky Books — Rhymes with Cupid by Anna Humphrey

Melissa @ This is Your Brain on Books — The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Mari @ Escape in a Good Book — All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

Nina @ Escape in a Good Book — Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman

Sarah @ Whispering Words — Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning

Cass @ Words on Paper — Audition by Stasia Kehoe

Samual @ Books for All Seasons — Moving Day by Meg Cabot

Lena @ Addicted to Novels — Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay and Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Steph @ Steph Su Reads — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Giselle @ Xpresso Reads — Fury by Shirley Marr

The Book Faery — Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Tee @ Dreaming Dreams — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, and Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday.

Lizz @ Dreaming Dreams — Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman

Annette's Book Spot — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

AUTHOR:

Mary @ Anxirium — Guest post w/ author Jennifer Castle about Being a Contemporary YA Writer

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog interviewed Tara Altebrando.

Krazy Book Lady interviewed Cindy C. Bennett

Avid Reader Yani has a guest post from Elizabeth Reinhardt about dating

Kody Keplinger interviewed Hannah Harrington

Kirsten Hubbard is giving away Wanderlove bookmarks

Hannah Harrington lists her Top Ten Road Trip Songs.

DISCUSSION:

Misty @ The Book Rat talks about her most anticipated Contemporary YA (and it's a linky! You can too!!)

Molly Jo @ Surrounded by Words — Contemporary YA: A Love/Hate Relationship
Danielle @ Alpha Reader talks about her favorite Aussie YA novels.
Samual @ Books for All Seasons talks about favorite YA/MG Contemps about friendship

Romance:
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Danya @ A Tapestry of Words

More of the Tough Stuff posts that I missed last week:

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Sarah @ The Storybound Girl
Amanda @ The Fiction Fairy

Once again — If I've missed anything, Let me know!!:) I'd love to add your stuff to my link up!

DEWEY began blogging at The Hidden Side of a Leaf in April 2007. While her main topic was books - book reviews, book discussions, reading challenges, book giveaways - her focus was always on building community, as she said herself:

My main focus in blogging is community. I want to share my love for books with other bloggers, hear what they think of what they’re reading, and have lots of bookish fun. My non-review blog activities...are all meant to build community.

In just over a year and a half as a book blogger, Dewey quickly became a leader in the community she sought to foster. Her book reviews were well-thought-out, insightful, and thorough; her style of reviewing and the books she wrote about influenced the reading and blogging choices of many other book bloggers - and while she was a prolific reviewer, her reading outpaced her reviewing, and she often remarked about being behind on her reviews. In addition to her own reading and reviewing, Dewey organized and managed several reading challenges, and founded three events which spread across the book-blogging community: the semi-annual 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, the monthly Bookworms Carnivals, and Weekly Geeks.

In April 2008, Dewey proposed a new sort of "challenge" at her blog; not a reading challenge, but a blogging challenge, to be called "Weekly Geeks" - her initial post to gauge interest in the idea prompted 150 people to sign up! The challenge would involve a weekly assignment - a question, a task, a theme - to be completed and posted on the Geeks' individual blogs and linked at the main assignment post. Not every Geek participated every week, some assignments were more popular than others, and new Geeks joined in as the word spread. Visiting other Geeks' posts for that week was part of the assignment as well, which is where Dewey's community-building focus kicked in.

The book-blogging community was stunned and saddened by the news that Dewey passed away on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - but it never doubted that Dewey's contributions to it would live on, and there was a drive to continue the events she founded. It will take committees of bloggers and several blogs to keep them going, though. Welcome to the new home of Weekly Geeks, part of Dewey's legacy to the community she was so important to.

Written by Florinda

The following table contains links to the many posts that have been written in memory of Dewey:

Blog Name
Tribute Post
Weekly Geek Post
1 More Chapter Dewey You'll Be Missed -- 1330V Dewey Thinking Of Dewey 3 Rs Reading, ‘Riting Randomness Book Bloggers Say Goodbye Blogging For Dewey A Garden Carried In The Pocket Requiem -- A Girl Walks Into A Bookstore Dewey -- A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook Goodbye Dewey -- A Reader’s Respite Rest In Peace Dewey -- A Striped Armchair Rest In Peace Dewey -- APOOO Books RIP Dewey -- Armenian Odar Dewey, Thank You For Everything -- At Home With Books In Honor Of Dewey -- B&B ex libris Dewey -- Back To Books A Sad Loss To The World -- Bart’s Bookshelf :( -- Beastmomma Losing A Blogging Pal -- Becky’s Book Reviews Sad News Indeed In Her Own Words Belle Of The Books Dewey Will Be Missed -- Bibliolatry A Great Loss -- BlogHer Remembering Dewey -- Bloody Hell It’s A Book Barrage Farewell, Beautiful Dewey -- Bluestocking Guide Loss In Our Community -- Bluestocking Society Goodbye To Dewey -- Bold. Blue. Adventure We’ll Miss You Dewey -- Book-A-Rama Unbelievably Sad News For Dewey Book Addiction -- Remembering Dewey Book And Cranny Shock and Sadness -- The Book Mine Set Rest In Peace Dewey -- Book Dads The Butterfly Award -- Book Nut -- Geeky Tribute Book Zombie Remembering Dewey This One's For You Bookfoolery And Babble This One's For Dewey -- Bookgirls Nightstand For Dewey -- Bookish Ruth Farewell Dewey -- Booklorn Sad Day -- Bookopolis Bookworms Carnival -- Bookroom Reviews God Bless You Dew -- Books And Border Collies In Memoriam -- Books And Movies A Huge Loss -- Books And Other Thoughts Remembering Dewey -- Books I Done Read Sad News -- Books Of Mee Bye Dewey -- Books On The Brain A Sad Goodbye -- Bookstack Loss Of A Builder -- Bookworm In Memory Tribute Post brideofthebookgod -- Dewey Care’s Online Book Club -- Weekly Geeks Caribousmom Remembering Dewey -- A Loss In Memory Of Dewey Casual Dread -- Dewey ChainReading -- Remembering Dewey Deus ex machina complex Oh Fuck In The Land Of Denial Everyday Reads Prayerful Weekly Geeks Fizzy Thoughts In Memory Of Dewey For Dewey Fyrefly Books In Memoriam -- Galley Cat Book Blogger Dewey -- Giving Reading A Chance Dewey, You Will Be Missed -- Hey Lady! Whatcha Reading? We Love You Dewey -- In Search Of Giants In Memory Of Dewey -- In Spring It Is The Dawn Farewell Dewey -- Incurable Logophilia Bookshelf Peeping -- It’s All About Books Dewey We’ll Miss You Dewey Tribute Just Add Books Huge Loss Making It Count The Kea <3 -- For Dewey -- Kids Book Buzz Farewell To Dewey -- Kittling Books Dewey's Community -- Kristina’s Favorites For Dewey -- Leafing Through Life Missing You -- Life Happens While Books Wait Dewey -- Literary Escapism Sadness In The Book Blogosphere -- Literate Housewife In Remembrance -- Lit*chick Two Things -- Madeleine’s Book Blog In Memory Of Dewey -- Maggie Reads My Eyes Are Dewey -- Maw Books Blog In Which We Say Goodbye -- Melody’s Reading Corner Dewey ... You’ll Be Missed Honouring Dewey Musings Remembering Dewey -- Musings Of A Bookish Kitty In Memory Of Dewey -- My Friend Amy Farewell Dewey For Dewey My Own Little Reading Room My Prayers For Dewey Remembering Dewey My Years Of Reading Seriously Life... -- Naked Without Books Dewey -- Fortress Is Their Library -- Nothing Of Importance This Is Real Life Tribute To Dewey Out Of The Blue Dewey Remembering Dewey Page After Page Life Is So Fleeting Dewey Edition Pages Turned Remembering Dewey -- Passion For The Page -- RIP Dewey The Printed Page Thoughts And Prayers -- Random Wonder In Remembrance -- Reading Adventures Sad News Indeed -- Reading Derby Dewey You Are Missed -- Reading In Appalachia For Dewey -- Reading Is My SuperPower Oh Dewey -- Reading, Writing and Retirement Candle For Dewey For Dewey Ready When You Are C.B. In Memory Of Dewey -- Rebecca Reads A Farewell -- Savvy Verse & Wit My Dearest Dewey Dewey Tribute She Reads Books In Memoria -- Shelf Life Sad News -- Should Be Reading In Memory Of Dewey -- Sleepy Reader For Dewey -- So Many Books, So Little Time Hole In Our World -- So Many Precious Books Today Is A Sad Day In Memory Of Dewey Some Reads So Sad -- Sophisticated Dorkiness Sad News Remembering Dewey Sprite Writes Dewey -- Stephanies Confessions A Terrible Loss... -- Stephanie’s Written Word The Hidden Side Of A Leaf -- Stuff As Dreams Are Made On Oh No... Weekly Geeks Subliminal Intervention -- Dewey Tales From The Reading Room Saying Goodbye -- Tammy’s Book Nook For Dewey, With Love -- Things Mean A Lot Dewey For Dewey Thoughts Of Joy Extremely Sad News -- Tiny Little Reading Room Rest In Peace Dewey -- Tripping Toward Lucidity Loss -- Trish’s Reading Nook In Memory Of Dewey -- True Confessions Of A Book Lover Dewey -- Valentina’s Room -- For Dewey West Of Mars Public Service Announcement -- Word Lily For Dewey Remembering Dewey Worducopia Goodbye -- In Memory Of Dewey Dear Dewey The Written World In Memory Of Dewey -- You Can Never Have Too Many Books Dewey --

Lisa Roe, an online publicist wrote a three part guest post in memory of Dewey. The posts can be found on these blogs:
1. Part 1 Dewey, Our Blog Friend Remembered @ AndiLit.com
2. Part 2 Lisa Roe’s Memorial Post For Dewey @ BookingMama
3. Part 2 Lisa Roe Remembers Dewey @ Reading Is My SuperPower

Today's Fairy Tale Fortnight interview totally makes my day. Because it is with the author of my number one most anticipated release of 2012 and will be followed by a review of the book! I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am that Alethea, author of the soon to be released Enchanted agreed to be part of Fairy Tale Fortnight! So check out her awesome interview and then enter the giveaway of WIN that she is donating!

What do you make of the resurgence in popularity for fairy tales? (Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsmen, all within a very short time)? Do you see it as a trend that will sort of peter out, or is it just getting started?

J. R. R. Tolkien once said (and fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes agrees) that fairy tales were 100% guaranteed moneymakers. In these times of extreme economic crisis, doesn't it make sense to bet on a Sure Thing? Even Mama wouldn't disagree with that.

I believe this is a trend that started once upon a time in sixteenth-century Italy. We're definitely on the crest of a fairy tale tidal wave right now. I hope that wave continues for a very, very long time... or until we all live happily ever after. Whichever comes first.

What impact do you think fairy tales have on society (especially with the same tales popping up in various forms in every society)?

Over the years, fairy tales as a whole have been both teaching tools and "urban" legends at the same time. They are typically pro-cleverness, anti-laziness, and sometimes even end more realistically than happily. I think the more unadulterated fairy tales that children are read as part of their growing-up process, the more traditional values they will have, and the better off our society would be.

But we live in a world now where children are protected from such terribly, bloody things. Fairy tales are neutered and spoon-fed by Disney, and our children are reading Facebook news links before bedtime. Because THAT seems like the best way to mold our future society. *rolls eyes*

Book in a Tweet: Your fairy tale in 140 characters or less?

Every beloved fairy tale originated with the Woodcutter family. Enchanted is Sunday Woodcutter's story.

Favorite fairy tales: "The Goose Girl" and "Snow White & Rose Red."

Most underrated fairy tale? Every one that hasn't been made into a Disney film: "The Foundling," "Master Maid," "The Seven Swans," "The Little Match Girl," "Tom Thumb"...

Most overrated fairy tale? "Snow White." Every retelling of this tale concentrates so much on the evilness of the queen and not really Snow White herself. (The jury's still out on OUaT, but it's decidedly Regina-centric.) At the end of the Grimm tale, Snow White invites the queen to her wedding and makes her dance in red-hot iron shoes. Doesn't exactly fit the Lily White Mary Sue Princess she's always portrayed as, does it?

Last year we asked everyone’s fairy tale hero/heroine name; this year, we want to know your fairy tale villain name:

According to the online Fairy Tale Name Generator, I am EVIL STEPMOTHER. Ha! Is that even possible?

Using that name, give us a line from your villainous fairy tale:

"Once Upon a Time, a fairy godmother married a widowed prince with two lovely daughters. While the sun shone she was loving and kind, but when the sun set, she locked herself in the tower room and became THE EVIL STEPMOTHER."

If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?
1. That the Enchanted series continue on long enough for me to tell the stories of all seven Woodcutter sisters
2. That we all be doomed to a happy life
3. The genie's freedom (I am no fairy tale dummy!)

Best way to read fairy tales?

In bed, to a child. Fairy tales are all the more magical when told.

If one of your books was being turned into a movie and you could cast 1 character, which character would you cast and who would play them?

It's funny you should ask! I am a huge movie buff and a fan of many actors, not the least of which is Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. I was writing the last half of Enchanted right about the same time they killed the character of Mr. Eko on the TV show Lost. I was furious! So furious, in fact, that I immediately resurrected him in my book... and thus, Jolicoeur was born. I would be tickled pink if someday a production company 1.) turned Enchanted into a film and 2.) cast Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Jolicoeur.
P.S.- — I kind of come off like I hate Disney in this, but I really don't. Well, okay..I sort of don't.
PPS — I didn't really get to mention THE WONDERLAND ALPHABET — it would be cool if perhaps you could find a way to sneak it in somehow. Stories like Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan are very much fairy tales to today's generation, I think.
What a fabulous interview! Seriously! LOVE! And would that I were a genie that I could grant your first wish! I would love to read more of the Woodcutter sister's stories! I absolutely loved the allusions to the various fairy tales! ____________________________________________

Alright! GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Because Alethea is MADE OF WIN she has donated an awesome gift basket full of Enchanted goodness and Fairy Tale win.

She has donated a finished, signed copy of Enchanted to one lucky winner along with other fun swag and surprise gifts.

TO ENTER: Use the Rafflecopter form below. There are extra entries available for commenting on Enchanted related posts on Ashley's blog — Basically Amazing Books, Misty's blog — The Book Rat and Bonnie's blog — A Backward's Story. The Rafflecopter widget is the same on all three blogs. You can enter through any of our blogs, but you must visit and comment on each individual post for the extra entries.

Giveaway is US only. Ends May 7th.

Visit:
Ashley's Blog Misty's Blog Bonnie's Blog

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click the button to be taken to the
Fairy Tale Fortnight Main Page & Schedule
(button image via)

Hopefully I'll be back to normal blogging this week. I have plenty of reviews and things to post. I've been spending a lot more time thinking about my life and what I want to do than I have reading recently. I'm reading my first self help book right now, which probably has something to do with it. I'm not really a big "self help" person necessarily, but when I saw Jillian Michaels' book Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life

I was really drawn to it. I'm a big fan of her work-out videos and I loved her show Losing It With Jillian. A lot of people think she is mean and scary, but I find her commitment to honesty and helping others inspiring. She's no joke and her book has really pushed me to analyze my habits and attitude. I've really been searching for myself over the past year and I think this book came at a great time. It's Spring, a time of renewal, and I'm taking some of my first steps towards life after graduation even though I have a year left of school.

When I started this blog I wanted to read more and read like I did when I was a kid. I wanted reading to be fun again. I think I've accomplished that goal, but I don't ever want to make reading stressful or not fun. Lately with the amount of school and work I've had it's been hard for me to balance the blog with my life outside it. I was also struggling with friendships when I started this blog, but now I think I have a good solid group of friends and I've become a lot more social--hence less time for reading. I'll be done with school in three weeks, but until then I'm going to allow my blogging to be a little irregular. Once summer comes I should get back in the swing of things.

I've thought a lot about priorities recently. My blog is a big priority to me because it brings so much joy into my life. While I'm glad I've had the opportunity to go to college school has never been my number one priority. I'm an A-B student, but I could probably get better grades than I do. It's always seemed to me that when I work really hard to get straight A's other things in my life start to fall apart. My parents never stressed good grades to me and for that reason I've let things slide a bit more this semester. I also decided I didn't want to go to graduate school right after college, which has lightened my stress. I guess sometimes I wonder what that means, to be in college and have school not be my number one priority. I know I'm rambling, I've probably rambled a lot lately.

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