Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for blogging] 

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.

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

This week, Ruth's question to Weekly Geeks concerned how we stay organized and inspired in our reading and blogging:

Book blogging, as a concept, is essentially pretty simple: If you have Internet access and an opinion about a book, you can be a book blogger. However, actually maintaining a book blog is much more complicated -- our blogs are labors of love that require a lot of time, energy and devotion. For this edition of Weekly Geeks, I want to focus on the little things that make your blogging and/or reading life a bit easier. Do you use sites like GoodReads, LibraryThing or Shelfari to organize your books? Do you swear by Book Darts? Couldn't live without your Book Buddy? Love connecting with other bloggers on sites such as Twitter? Tell us about what makes your blog tick. Is there something specific that keeps you organized or inspired?

There was one very popular response about a source of inspiration: other book bloggers! Getting ideas about what to read next, exchanging comments about what we've read and written - it seems like it always comes back to community.

Geeks shared some of the practical things that keep their blogging and reading going, too. I'm always impressed to see how many book bloggers track their reading activity on spreadsheets. I'm an accountant in my non-blogging professional life, and I work with spreadsheets all the time - and yet it never crossed my mind to use them in connection with my reading! (There's the "inspiration from other bloggers" kicking in.)

In addition to spreadsheets, the online-library websites are very helpful too. Suey of It's All About Books and Sarah from Puss Reboots are both active GoodReads users, while Trisha of eclectic/eccentric and Jennie at Biblio File organize their books with LibraryThing.

On the blogging side of things, Kerrie of Mysteries in Paradise is a fan of XnView image software for online editing of pictures for her posts. Erotic Horizon composes posts using Windows Live Writer and then pastes them into her blogging software, and finds a lot of inspiration and advice in the Book Blogs Ning group.

Thanks to everyone who shared "tools of the trade" this week! There will NOT be a new Weekly Geeks theme posted this weekend because the 24-Hour Read-a-thon is going on all day tomorrow. But please don't forget to check back for a new WG next Saturday, October 31...will it be something Halloween-themed? You'll have to come by and find out!

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!

I need to take a little hiatus from blogging. Probably just until the weekend. I've had a lot going on in my life lately and I don't really need to be thinking about posting reviews. I also got off my regular posting schedule after I got back from my trip to Europe and I feel like I've been playing catch-up ever since. I'm hoping that if I take a few days off from blogging I'll be able to write some future posts and just get a little space to push me through until summer.

I'm not feeling a disconnect with the blogosphere or thinking about quitting blogging--I promise. I really can't imagine my life without the book blogging world. Some of you don't realize how much of an impact you have on me, but your comments and encouragement constantly put a smile on my face. If I've had a bad day and I come home to a new comment on a review it reminds me that I actually am doing something, I actually am connecting with people. I'm so grateful for all of you. And of course I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at BEA in just over a month! For those of you who won't be there I hope we meet someday.

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.

My Friend Amy is asking bloggers to answer two questions about blogging, in honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week. I've answered them below.

What is one thing you wish you knew about blogging when you started or what advice would you give a newbie blogger? What is your best blogging tip?

How addictive it can be! Not just posting on my blog, but reading other blogs! Seriously, though the book blogging community is great! I've made tons of new friends, done a lot of networking, and have come in contact with a number of great publicists. I've been introduced to some pretty amazing books as well. So for all you new bloggers--visit other blogs, post comments. Don't fret too much about the design of your blog (ok, I'm being a total hypocrite...how many times have I changed my layout!). In time, your blog will get a pretty static chain of followers.

So, my fellow book bloggers! How would you answer the questions above. Post your answer in comment and you will be entered into a contest to win an autographed Tess Gerritsen The Keepsake bookmark!

I'm writing this post today to say hello, and to give a little bit of an update. I've always been so confused by the way that some bloggers or internet types just seem to DISAPPEAR. It's like, one day they are here, and active and all over the twitter and the blogs and the internets and then... Nothing. It's always been really weird to me, like, seriously, how hard is it to just pop onto the blog and say, Peace out.

Well, now I understand it much better. Because... Looks like I just did that. It's hard to get on and write any kind of goodbye post, at least for me, because I haven't actually decided if I DO want to stop blogging... I just renewed my domain name, because I'm just not ready to make that choice yet. There is a part of me that REALLY wants to get back into blogging, and another part of me that's just done. I haven't decided which of those two parts of me get to win yet, but I do know that it will quite probably be a little while longer before I officially decide.

There's lots of reasons for that, not the least of which being that I've actually read less than 20 books this whole year, and 80% of those were in January and February. I started a new job earlier this year that's really time and energy consuming and I'm so emotionally exhausted by the time I get home that I'm just not in the mood to read. Add to the new job stress some family drama and other... stuffs and I'm far too overwhelmed to also add any sort of blogging into the mix.

But now, I'm remembering how relaxing and FUN it was to blog, and be part of that community. And I've been really missing books lately and missing the blog and the blogging people. And I make absolutely no promises, but I've been thinking lately that reading (and maybe blogging too) might be exactly that release and relaxation that I NEED in order to reduce that overwhelmed feeling.

So we shall see. I have no idea what the future of my internet-ness is going to be... But at least I'm not one of those mysteriously missing any longer.

Oh, and also — Merry Christmas!!

Two events are happening at the moment: Bloggiesta and Book Blogger Appreciation Week Registration. Both provide an opportunity to reassess your blog and your blogging goals.

If you are participating in either one, great but even if you are not you can still take part in this week's Weekly Geeks.

During Bloggiesta participants are asked to take a look at blogging goals. What are your blogging goals? Maybe you did this for the last Bloggiesta, find that post and reevaluate those goals. Have you reached them? Do they no longer apply?

And/Or

If you are a book blogger*, register for BBAW. It's a great way to find new readers. To register you must find your best 5 posts from the last year. Find yours even if you don't register for BBAW. In your Weekly Geeks post, link to your registration post or put the 5 links in your Weekly Geek's post.

Then tell us why are these your best posts of the last year? By looking at these posts, you can figure out your blogging goals: be more funny, personal, concise, topical, etc.

*If you're not a book blogger, find your 5 best posts of the last year anyway.

So, it's a bit of work but a chance to see where you are and where you want to go. Good luck!

** I've been bit by Mr Linky too many times. Please leave your links in the comments.

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!?

Whoa, guess what today is. My six month blogaversary! Yeah, that's right, it's English Major's Junk Food's half birthday. I was really excited about this day, but when I told my friends and family they all said they couldn't believe it had only been six months. I guess I kind of feel that way too, sometimes it's hard for me to remember a time when I wasn't blogging. I've always been big on celebrating halves because I figure it's an extra incentive to get you to a whole. In my six months of blogging I've met some veteran bloggers and helped some new bloggers get a start. I've been interviewed on the radio and for a newspaper. I've reached 100 followers and surpassed 100 followers. I've read twice as many books as I did before I was blogging. I've read books for review and joined in on a blog tour. I've bloggiestad and I've changed my layout a lot. In short, I've done a lot in six months!

Unfortunately I did not bake this cake, but if I could bake a cake I would and I'd want everyone who has helped me these past six months to have a little cake too. I couldn't run this blog without all of my great blogging friends and followers- like you!

So this week I posted a review of the The Lightning Thief and I revisited a teen favorite, Fifteen. These are both YA books and I'll just warn you I've read a lot of YA recently so several of my upcoming reviews will be YA. Not all of them though. If you're ever curious to see what books are coming up for review you can check out my 2010 reads page. I usually review the books in order. (PS, If you love YA I'm probably going to have a Hunger Games week next month as I just finished The Hunger Games and I'm reading Catching Fire right now. So good.) I revisited Where the Wild Things Are in my children's book vlog. On Friday I posted an awesome music video that makes literary references. Check out the Filligar video and enter to win a free t-shirt from them!

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

Hello fellow readers! I can't believe it but I only have four more days until Thanksgiving Break and I register for classes this week. I'm extremely ready for this semester to be over with. I don't know what's up but this semester has gotten me in such a funk as far as reading, blogging, and general attitude goes. I've gotten more in touch with other things I love though, like art and music. I'm so looking forward to a week off so I can get a rest and some good reading and blogging in before winter break.

I've actually been spending quite a bit of time on blogging lately, but it's been the behind the scenes stuff you don't know about. I'm trying to figure out how to improve the sound on my vlogs using Audacity, which is why there haven't been any vlogs recently. I hate that buzzing sound the built-in camera makes on my laptop. I also recently got Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, and I've been trying to figure out design stuff and how to edit some comics I want to post on here. And I've been considering moving to Wordpress.org-- which is a nightmare to even think about but I feel I would be happier there. If anyone knows about any good guides I could use for any of the above topics please let me know!

This week was all about writing as I (still) try to catch up on National Novel Writing Month. I did a video update and shared some of what I have. I also talked about the essay Walking With an Essayist and wrote a review of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

How was your week?

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.

This week's Weekly Geek suggestion was to make your blog more reader friendly. I love when people take the Weekly Geek topic and make it their own. It just goes to show how creative you all are.

*Care welcomed new people to her blog with a letter, including a tour of her blog.

*Gautami offered her own blogging tips with an important reminder to back up our blogs.

*Suey loved Care's idea and wrote a letter to readers. She also made a glossary with many book blogging terms.

*Pussreboots, an old pro at this blogging thing, made a Weekly Geeks checklist.

Thanks once again for participating in Weekly Geeks. If you'd like to offer suggestions for weekly themes, please Contact Us with your ideas.

Also, another project started by Dewey The 24 Hour Read-a-thon will be held on October 24th. Please sign up for this fun event. There are almost 200 participants already!

After blogging for over a year now, I figure it was about time I created an "About Me" page!

I'm a full-time working mom with an amazingly supportive husband, John, and two boys John-John (9) and Justin (3). We live in the DC metro area. I work at a non-profit and provide chapter support (leadership training, conference planning, etc.).

I've been reviewing books for around 10 years now, but decided to take the plunge and create a blog in March of 2008. Reading has always been a big part of my life. Since I can remember, I've always had a book nearby or a book in hand. I began blogging about books because I love to discuss and recommend books.

My oldest son was/is an reluctant reader, so blogging has actually improved our relationship because I've been able to discover books that interest him. He begs to read each night, so that brings such joy to my life!

My husband, boys & I also have two cats ,Sylvester (tuxedo cat), Jadzea (tortoise shell) and a dog, Jack (Doxie/Chihuahu Mix).

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about me! If you have any questions about my reviews, the books I blog about, or about me in general, please stop by my Contact Me page or email me at jennsbookshelf@gmail.com.

I am actually writing this post on Friday because I am on a technology cut off this weekend. Yep, I'm camping! Hopefully I'll do this a few times over the next few months. I love to be outside and I'm planning on taking several books with me and getting lots of reading done. And lots of hiking done as well. I love technology as much as the next person, but sometimes I feel like I spend too much time trying to stay connected with everything and it can be overwhelming.

This week I posted reviews of Dead End Gene Pool and American Born Chinese. I also started what I hope will turn into a weekly post this summer, Figure it Out: Internship Week One. After a few things Aths at Reading on a Rainy Day has said to me, I've also been thinking about doing some sort of creative nonfiction post every week. Creative nonfiction is really my favorite genre and it's something I feel is really underrepresented in the blogging community. I haven't quite figured out what this means yet, so if anyone has some ideas I'd love to hear them! I am hoping this will help encourage me to read more creative nonfiction as well. Since I've started blogging I've read so many great reviews for fiction books that I've gotten really wrapped up in them. But I didn't start blogging just to review the books everyone else is reviewing, so I think my focus might change a little bit.

Happy Reading!

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.

Thanks to Amy from My Friend Amy's Blog, I'm excited to announce the dates of the 2009 Book Blogger Appreciation Week. For those of you that don't know, Amy has devoted a ton of her personal time to recognize the value book bloggers have, and to celebrate the book blogging world!

Last year over 400 blogs came together to celebrate the art of book blogging during the first ever Book Blogger Appreciation Week! The second annual Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be taking place September 14-18.

WHO Anyone who blogs about books is invited to participate. In fact, we want everyone who blogs about books and reading to be a part of this week!

WHAT A week where we come together, celebrate the contribution and hard work of book bloggers in promoting a culture of literacy, connecting readers to books and authors, and recogonizing the best among us with the Second Annual BBAW Awards. There will be special guest posts, daily blogging themes, and giveaways.

WHEN September 14-18, 2009

WHERE The new Book Blogger Appreciation Week Blog! (Please note that this year there are three separate blogs and feeds—one for the main event, one for giveaways, and one for awards.)

WHY Because books matter. In a world full of options, the people talking about books pour hard work, time, energy, and money into creating a community around the written word.

WANT TO PARTICIPATE? Please help us spread the word about Book Blogger Appreciation Week by posting about it on your blog, twittering about it, and telling everyone you know that it’s time to have a party and celebrate book bloggers!

Please register by filling out the registration form! Registering ensures your inclusion in the BBAW 09 Database of Book Bloggers and enters you into the drawing for the BBAW 09 Grand Prize!

Award Nominations opened July 15 on the BBAW Awards Blog.

Happy 2012 everyone! Hopefully, this year will be awesome for everyone!

I've never actually made New Year's Resolutions before, but I decided that, this year, I wanted to give them a try. I really like the idea of starting a resolution at the beginning of something (1st of the month, 1st of the week, whatevs) so 1st of the year should be extra awesome, yes?

I'm probably making too many, but I've got quite a few this year. Some of them are personal/life goals, that I'm not going to share specifics of, but some of them are blogging goals. So, here are my 2012 blogging goals:

*Keep my Review Archive & Goodreads Reviews up to date. (Possibly include Amazon reviews also)
*Be better at general blog upkeep — updating pages, procrastinating less, etc...
*Be better about commenting — both commenting on reviews I read and visiting those who comment on my blog.
*Have at least some reviews written before they are supposed to be posted. (An awful lot of my reviews are written either before I go to bed the night before they post, or right before I post them. It'd be nice to have a few written ahead of time)
*Get (and stay) ahead of/on top of review books.
*Memory Monday
*Stay up to date on both reading challenges I'm hosting.
*Remember that this is something I do for fun, because I enjoy it. And stop letting it stress me out.

That last goal has more to do with personal pressure than any outside pressure. Because I've felt, off and on, throughout the whole time I've blogged that I have to be reading, and sometimes, that I have to be reading those books. And every time I feel like that, I get bogged down and overwhelmed and I get so focused about WhatIneedtobereadingrightthisverysecond and it gets to be too much and so I read nothing at all. I do that about a lot of things (this is another of my life goals: P) When I feel overwhelmed because there is too much to do, I generally end up doing nothing. It's my way of coping. With reading, I've never thought about reading slumps and stuff before. If I felt like reading a ton, I would. If I didn't, I wouldn't. And it wasn't any big thing. It just was. But since I started blogging, I'm hyper aware of my reading moods and it stresses me out now when I don't feel like reading.

Long explanation there, to basically say — This year, I'm going to read if I want and what I want, and it's not going to be a thing anymore. It's just going to be me, enjoying my books and telling the whole freaking world about how awesome this reading thing really is.:)

This weekend I'm joining over one hundred blogs in the Got Books? event where we are all giving away some books to our lovely readers, new and old. This is really my first book giveaway and I put a lot of thought into the books I wanted to give away. One of them is a book I continuously talk about even though I've never reviewed it here and the other is a book I read when I first started blogging and it's one of my favorite books I've read since I started blogging. So what books am I talking about?

The first book is Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss. This is the book I haven't reviewed on here since I read it over a year ago before I even had a blog. I have talked about one of Eula Biss's essays though, The Pain Scale. This is a fantastic book of essays that I think a lot of you would enjoy. It deals with race, gender, human differences, and America. I mean, I read it over a year ago and I'm still talking about it, so that has to tell you it's pretty good right?

The second book I'm giving away is another work of nonfiction, The Moon, Come to Earth by Philip Graham. This is a book that came out of Graham's McSweeney's dispatches from Lisbon, Portugal. It's a travel narrative, but different from a lot of travel narratives I've read because it's about Graham's experience traveling with his family. The story actually really comes away from being a simple travel narrative and becomes more about the experience of being a parent. I posted a review back in November when I was still trying to figure out this whole blogging business. It was the tenth review I ever wrote on here! How crazy is that. Anyway, I also posted about a reading of his, which I attended.

If you'd like to enter (and I really hope you do!) just fill out the form below. You can enter for one book or both. The contest is open until Sunday, July 25 at MIDNIGHT Central Time. You can earn extra entries by being a follower or by tweeting, but you don't need to be a follower to enter the contest. This is only open to U.S./Canada.

This giveaway is closed! Thanks for entering!

This giveaway is closed! Thanks for entering!

I haven't gotten a lot of reading done this month because I've been so busy packing and unpacking. I just moved into my first place, my first townhouse actually, two weeks ago and I've been busy making everything look the way I want it to. There are still a few things I want to change but I'm happy with the way things look for now. I tried to make a comfortable reading place in every room of the house and I wanted to share where I'm doing my reading and blogging with all of you!

The picture is pretty dark but I've been using this spot a lot lately. No, this is not my bed, it's a day bed in my office. This is a really nice place to read because it's right by a window so I get a lot of natural sunlight and usually don't even have to turn the ceiling light on to read, unless it's night of course. Also, since this is my designated reading bed it seems like it's easier for me to stay awake in it than it is in the bed I sleep in every night.

This is the living room with, as you can see, all of my books. I haven't done a whole of reading in here and I think that's partially because there is no ceiling light so at night it's rather difficult to read and I haven't been able to use it a lot during the day. It's a great spot for watching movies though!

This is probably my favorite place to read "in the house." My porch. The chairs are actually pretty comfy and there is a nice table for me to put my tea while I'm reading. The porch looks out to a street, but there are a few trees around and I like watching the squirrels do their acrobatic flips.

This is the bed, where I naturally do quite a bit of reading. I made sure to have lamps by the bed so I can read by lamplight and then just turn them off when I get too tired to keep reading.

Not a lot of reading gets done here, but I do quite a bit of blogging here as you can tell. It's where I'm at right now!

This is the dining room where I do a lot of eating, but I also do the majority of my blogging here. At least that has been the case the past couple of weeks. I blog a lot in the morning before I go to work and I like to sit here and have my breakfast and blog.

So this is where all the magic happens! Where do you like to read or blog?

This week, I thought we could share blogging-inspired playlists. The idea of this one is to choose song titles that sound like they have something to do with reading or blogging. Songs that reflect how you feel about blogging in general. This has more to do with the titles themselves than the actual genres or styles of the songs. So you might include on your blogger playlist songs that you'd never actually put together on a playlist.

For example,

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction ~ Rolling Stones
Out of Time ~ Rolling Stones
A Hard Days Night ~ The Beatles
Please Mister Postman ~ The Beatles
Help ~ The Beatles
Borrowed Time ~ John Lennon
Bad ~ Michael Jackson
Thriller ~ Michael Jackson
Under Pressure ~ David Bowie & Queen
Changes ~ David Bowie