Category: Let’s Discuss

So, I just reread Three Dark Crowns in preparation for reading One Dark Throne (and I’m SO glad I did—I had no idea how much I’d forgotten!). And I underlined things. Yep, you read that right—I underlined things. Okay, you might not be all that surprised to hear that someone underlined passages in a book, but both my husband and my daughter saw me doing it and they were shocked. Possibly appalled (at least on my behalf). You see, I don’t write in books. I don’t crease their spines. I don’t dog-ear or let my books get wet near the pool. Books are treasured items that must be kept pristine. Perfect. So what made me change? (Well, at least take a little baby step toward change.) I think it started because I did a traveling ARC review for After the Woods way back in February of 2016 where we were… Read more »

At the end of July and for the first few weeks of August, I was in a true blogging slump. I barely posted at all—when I did, it was only to post a review for a blog tour (and I usually managed to read the book right before my tour date). And then I went on vacation for two weeks and took a complete blogging break (something I haven’t done before). To top it all off, I barely made it around the blogosphere to comment on other people’s posts and I fell way behind on reading the discussion challenge posts and replying to comments on my blog. (I’m still not quite caught up.) Since I got back from my vacation on August 14th, I’ve been back at it, and I’ve been slowly catching up. I’ve posted regularly again and I’ve managed to find my way to most of my blogger friends. But I still… Read more »

So, I was driving to pick my kids up from swimming recently at the high school and I drove past some boys’ high school team or other working out—shirtless. And I noticed something. These boys had abs and like seriously muscular physiques. Now before you start to think I was being weirdly creepy or something, I just drove by (with a slight stop at a stop sign—it’s not like I stopped to goggle at them), but it was sort of hard to miss when a whole mob of shirtless boys was standing right next to my car. But it got me thinking: How many times have I sort of chuckled at the YA trope of the high school boy with the perfect body? I mean, these aren’t the boys I remember from when I was in high school. Now, I wasn’t really hanging out with any of the athletes when I was… Read more »

So, I thought I’d whip up a quick post because I’m headed to ALA tomorrow and I’m not going to post this weekend at all. I should be back on Tuesday. Probably. Or I might still be recovering, we shall see. I haven’t posted much this week because I’ve been busily preparing for the conference. Or procrastinating—more procrastinating really (I read a whole book today and just figured out five minutes ago what time I need to leave tomorrow morning. Hint: It’s early.) My preparation has been spotty at best. Still I thought you all might want my expert advice on how to prepare for a big book conference like ALA. Well, here goes. The Disorganized Blogger’s Preparation for a Book Conference: Wait to order your tickets until right before the deadline. Actually, you might as well almost completely forget about this step, since your mom will remind you anyway. She’s good… Read more »

Wendy over at Falconer’s Library came up with this bookish “This or That” post back when she did the Slice of Life month of blogging and commenting. She invited us to join in on the fun, so I’m doing just that! Feel free to create your own Bookish This or That post or tell me some of your answers in the comments! And make sure to visit Wendy’s post too! Buy new or buy used? I used to say that it didn’t matter to me, but I’ll confess that the longer I’ve been blogging, the more I prefer shiny new books. I buy from The Book Outlet sometimes and even that little line on the bottom of the book makes me a teensy bit twitchy. Eat while you read or read while you eat? I sometimes snack a bit when I read, but I don’t do a lot of it, and… Read more »