#BBAW – How to Avoid Burning Out on Blogging

Today is the last day of all the previous days of our lives. And also of Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Brought to you by the lovely ladies of The Estella Society.

Anyway, today's topic is how to avoid blogger burnout. I don't often get blogger burnout, I think because I'm so casual about this blog. I take on minimal commitments and only do things I'm excited about and interested in. Blogging is a hobby, and there's a thin line between being super passionate about a hobby–which is the best–and not having fun with it anymore but feeling like you HAVE to do it, which is the worst.

That said, there was a period about four years ago where I wasn't getting burned out exactly, but I was bored and frustrated with my blogging. I wasn't enjoying it anymore or getting everything out of it that I wanted. So... and this sounds crazy...

I started two new blogs!

Starting a new blog to combat blogger burnout may seem counterintuitive, but for me it worked. It provided me with new challenges, new stuff to read and learn about, and injected some much-needed excitement into my blogging.

While I don't think starting a new blog is the answer for everyone, there are some general lessons to extrapolate from my experience:

• Dig deep and look at what are the causes of your burnout. Are you bored or overcommitted? Why isn't it fun anymore?
• What do you want out of blogging in general? Why did you start blogging and, if the reasons you're blogging have changed, in what specific ways?
• Finally, look for ways to get more of what you want out of blogging while decreasing stressors. Maybe you just need to take a break, maybe you need to stop accepting ARCs or reformat how you write posts. Maybe you need to move on to something bigger and better. It's up to you.

So, that's my advice, for what it's worth. I hope you all enjoyed BBAW 2016 and don't get burned out any time soon!






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#BBAW–Bestest and Most Memorable Book Recommendations of All Blogging Time

Day three of Book Bloggers Appreciation Week, brought to you by the Estella Society, brings us back to books and the ones we've read because of other bloggers. This is a pretty long list of books for me, personally, so I've decided to narrow it down to the most memorable recommendations I've received. Let the backlinking begin!

Book 1: The Princess and the Penis by RJ Silver
Recommended by: Penny from Penny Romance
Penny's given me a lot of good recommendations over the years, but this is by far my favorite. I mean, why else would you buy a book with this title unless someone insisted you should? It's a lot better and more charming than you think it will be.

Book 2: The Chocolate Touch by Laura Florand
Recommended by: Kelly from Reading with Analysis
I loooooooooooooooooooooove this book. Love! Like, if I could imagine the perfect book for me, it would have everything that's in this book.

Book 3: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Recommended by: Candace from Beth Fish Reads
Continues to be my favorite audiobook of all time. The narrator, Alyssa Bresnahan, is ahmaaaaaaaayyyzing.

Book 4: Mind Fuck by Manna Francis
Recommended by: Kris from Kris 'n' Good Books (blog is no longer with us)
This is a perfect example of a book that would have never, ever, crossed my radar if it hadn't been for blogger recommendations.

Book 5: The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Recommended by: Melody from Redeeming Qualities (great name for a book blog, by the way)
This was the second book I read for The Project Gutenberg Project, and I LOVED it. It was the ideal way to kick off a new blog.

Book 6: The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
Recommended by: Anachronist from Portable Pieces of Thought
I think you'd have to have a heart of stone not to find Charles' books charming and fun. I love her characters and her settings, even when the plot drags a bit.





That's just a small selection of the fabulous recommendations I've received, of course. Thank you to everyone who recommended a book to me that I enjoyed!





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BBAW Day 2–Interview with Amanda from Fig and Thistle

This week is Book Bloggers' Appreciation Week, and today we get to interview a fellow participating blogger. My interviewee is Amanda from Fig and Thistle. Amanda is a librarian who not only loves to blog about books, but crafts, baking, and thrifting. Read our interview to find out more!

Tasha: I can tell from your favorite books that you’re an Anglophile. What do you find most appealing about British culture and who is your FBP (favorite British person)?

Amanda: It is hard to say what I find most appealing about British culture. I think I was first hooked when I was a child and obsessed with Sir Francis Drake. I read every children's non-fiction book I could find about Drake and that led me to reading about Queen Elizabeth. When I exhausted the non-fiction books at the library I turned to fiction and my love grew from there.

T: You collect NYRB Classics and Virago Modern Classics. What are some of your favorite books in your collection? Any that you really really want and have never been able to find?

A: I don't think there is a particular NYRB or Virago that I haven't been able to find. I think I started collecting those as more of a challenge for myself. I work in a library, so books are always easily accessible, but I adore going to thrift stores and used book stores and hunting for Viragos and NYRB. Their titles are not as plentiful on library shelves and in large bookstores. I'm currently working on a project to read the first 100 Viragos on the LibraryThing Virago group list.

T: I never got into journaling, but I’m impressed by the journaling I saw on your blog! What’s your favorite type of journal and do you have any tips for someone trying to get organized with journaling? Do you keep track of your reading with a journal, or with a website like Goodreads?

A: My favorite type of journaling is Bullet Journaling. prior to that I had a planner, a notepad for random lists, a reading notebook, a three-ring binder with blog plans and a diary-type journal. Way too much stuff to keep up with. Now everything is condensed down to on Leuchtturm1917 book. I do have a Jane Austen-themed five year diary. I write down what I read that day in the dairy and then I get a five year snapshot on what my reading looks like on a particular day. I don't do this for any practical purpose, really it is just because I like to be dorky about my reading. I also keep up with my reading on GoodReads.

T: Do have any favorite bookish items, like a t-shirt or mug?

A: My favorite book accessory has to be my collection of owl and literary coffee mugs. I drink gobs of coffee (and sometimes tea) and I usually always have a mug of something when I read. I really like owls, but I'm also gaining a decent literary mug collection. Other than that I would say that my cat is a great reading accessory!

T: What’s your favorite book you’ve read this year so far?

A: My favorite book so far this year is the one I'm currently reading, Kate Atkinson's Life After Life. I love magical realism and this book is set during one of my most favorite time periods (WWI - the end of WW2).


Thanks for joining me today, Amanda! Be sure to check out my turn at being interviewed over at Amanda's blog.





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BBAW–Introductions

Today kicks off Book Bloggers' Appreciation Week over at The Estella Society, a celebration of all things book blogger. For today's activity funtime extravaganza, we're being asked to select five books to represent ourselves, interests, or lifestyle.

I was going to pick five books that meant something to me personally, but then I changed my mind and decided to select books based purely on their covers. Behold, the glamorous lifestyle of a book blogger!

I wake up like this.

Fashion choices and mid-day exercise.

At work.

With my faithful and completely unobedient sidekicks.

Time to chillax!




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BBAW: You Were There

Today is the last day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week. *sadface* I honestly wasn't expecting a lot from BBAW year, since it was pretty laid back and all, but I had fun! And I managed to post every day, so take a picture of that for your scrapbook.

As part of BBAW's "closing ceremony," we're supposed to talk about a highlight for us during the past week. My highlight of the week was the dream I had where I met all my blogging friends. I OD'd on reading blogs during the BBAW interview swap, and that night I dreamt we all went on a crazy road trip in an olde-timey car. Yes, you were there, and you were there, and you and you and you... Memory made a killing at the roulette table (wheel?), and we celebrated by staying in a kick-ass hotel. Other than that dream I had about the kittens playing, it was the best dream ever!

But it wasn't just a dream, it was a place--a place called the interwebz. (I could carry this metaphor further, but I won't--you're welcome.) The point is, BBAW is about how we're a community, and this year it did a great job of reaffirming that, at least for me. Amy--who is to BBAW what Jerry Lewis was to the Easter Seals telethon--wrote a few weeks ago that she thought the purpose of BBAW had been mostly taken over by Armchair BEA, but I vehemently disagree. I've participated in both events over the years, and feel like BBAW is about appreciation and acknowledgement of book bloggers, and that it does serve to renew us as a community--whether it's done on a large- or small-scale--in a way that other events don't, no matter how fabulous or rife with giveaways they are. The first book blogging event I participated in was BBAW, and I remember that as the moment I realized what a great group of people I'd become involved with. I love the fact that we're part of community that will take a week to visit one another's blogs like crazy people and learn about each other simply because we love talking about books!

So thank you to Amy for hosting BBAW once again, and vive la book blogging! See you all next week and (barring the end of the world) at 2013's BBAW.

BBAW: The Best Books You've (Probably) Never Read

Today for Book Blogger Appreciation Week, we're pimping out books we read this year that need more buzz. As some of you might know, I also have a classics blog called The Project Gutenberg Project, where I've reviewed a lot of terrible books. But also some really great ones! One of my favorite books of the entire year is The Man In Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Basically, someone is murdered on a train, and a lawyer named Lawrence Blakely is accused of the crime. Since he's innocent, he has to find out who really did it and clear his own name.

A few snippets of reviews:

Reading this has made me remember what a good story-teller [Mary Roberts Rinehart] was. In spite of a lot of dated elements, the story has such a contemporary feel that I kept forgetting it was written over a hundred years ago. Definitely a fun read. --A Little Reading

As in The Circular Staircase, you’re given a lot of clues, but in The Man in Lower Ten, they mostly come at the beginning. and instead of the chaos spawning more chaos, it’s slowly put into order. Also, it’s a train murder story — and there’s something about those that always gets me — but not just a train murder story. Actually, it might be the first train murder story.... --Melody at Edwardian Promenade

I especially recommend The Man in Lower Ten (1909), with its Hitchcockian plot of a bored, staid lawyer who becomes immeshed [sic] in murder on a train and a particularly hilarious take on the amateur sleuth. --The Bunburyist

I agree with all of these statements. The Man In Lower Ten is a great, entertaining mystery that reminded me of a Hitchcock movie and feels surprisingly modern. Rinehart has a tendency to overdo it with the plot, but with The Man In Lower Ten that's less bothersome because the mystery is pretty much established at the beginning and the rest of the novel is about Lawrence and his best friend, Richie, getting into some hilarious scrapes. For more details, you can see my review at PGP.



I'm also just a tiny bit obsessed with Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini right now. I think I'm getting it under control, though--I only mention this book two or three times a day. Scaramouche is a coming-of-age revenge tale set during the French Revolution. How can you possibly dislike that? If someone (for whatever reason--work with me here) came along and was like, "There's an opportunity to live in this book called Scaramouche; interested?" I'd be like, "FUCKYEAHSCARAMOUCHE!"

Anyway. A few snippets from other bloggers:

From the wonderful opening line of this 1921 novel by Rafael Sabatini (“He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad”) I could tell I was going to love Scaramouche! And I did – it’s one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. --She Reads Novels

At their best, Sabatini’s books are full of snarky gentleman heroes, beautiful, boyish, ridiculously gullible girls, and lots of swashbuckling. And Scaramouche is definitely one of his best. --Redeeming Qualities

[Sabatini]'s an author that deserves to be re-discovered. --Alex at Project Gutenberg Project

There aren't a lot of reviews of Scaramouche around, and I think that's because it's a very difficult book to review--I know I struggled with it, at least. The novel feels very straightforward while you're reading it, but once you finish you realize how complex it is and how little you can write about without spoiling the story. Suffice it to say, Scaramouche has everything you could ever possibly want in a novel. EVER. Including a kick-ass opening sentence that sets up the rest of the story perfectly. For more details, check out my review at PGP.

And hey, did you know you can get both of these books for free? Even the audiobooks? That's because they're SO OLD no one wants to read them anymore. But they should be read, because they're awesome.

BBAW: Day in the Life of a Book Blogger

Today's topic for Book Blogger Appreciation Week is, "What does book blogging mean to you?" Well, obviously there's the money and fame, but really I do it for the little people. KIDDING.

To me book blogging means:

• Spend hours torturing myself writing posts trying to explain how I feel about a book.
• Search Google for a fluff topic to write about in order to put off writing said reviews.
• Agonize over which LOLcat to put in the fluff post.
• Yell at Blogger for various reasons:
• Their WYSIWYG editor, which only works properly about half the time.
• Captcha on comments.
• Pages that don't load correctly. Or at all.
  
• Once that's finished, try to think of an opinion post to write in order to avoid writing reviews.
• Give up, get a drink and go watch TV.
• Visit other blogs. Also to avoid writing reviews.
• Read about some great books on other blogs.
  
• Order books from library.
• Bite the bullet and write the review.
• Edit review.
• Reread review, edit it some more.
• Realize more editing isn't going to help. Also: tired.
• Publish review.
• Try not to stare broodingly at e-mail waiting for comments.
  
• Finally, GO READ MOAR BOOKS!

What a fun and relaxing hobby, eh? Okay, honestly I enjoy writing reviews (most of the time), and love reading about books on other blogs. I would do that even if I wasn't trying to avoid doing something else. In a word sentence, book blogging means sharing books and ideas about books with other people!

The stuff about Blogger is all true, though.

BBAW: Interview with YA Book Nerd

One of the favorite features of Book Blogger Appreciation Week is the interview swap! My interview partner this year is Jennifer from YA Book Nerd. Jennifer is a YA librarian and reads a ton of different books. Check out her blog and my interview here.



Question 1: You write Austen fanfic. If Jane Austen lived today, what subject do you think she'd major in at university?

Jen: Probably English/writing, but I think she might minor in theater as she loved putting on plays with her family.

Question 2: What's your favorite bookmark? (Plus a picture if possible!)

Jen: I adore bookmarks. As a librarian, I purchase some, I make them, and authors send them to me. I love how unique each of them are. There are times when I use a princess bookmark if I'm reading a princess story or a food bookmark (maybe scratch and sniff) if I'm reading a book about food. This one, featuring the adult series of Sarah MacLean is gorgeous to the eye. Plus the texture is amazing. It's simply perfect. [Tasha: Sarah MacLean does have really nice bookmarks.]

Question 3: If you could live in any era, which one would it be?

Jen: It's a toss up between Regency England and Renaissance Italy

Question 4: What's your favorite book of the year so far?

Jen: Tough question. The two that have stuck out most in my mind and I'm telling everyone to read are Grave Mercy and Throne of Glass.

Question 5: What is something that you would never, ever consider reading?

Jen: 50 Shades of Grey - it's just not my thing.

Question 6: If you could redesign the cover of your favorite book of all time using just one symbol, what would it be? (Question inspired by Picky Girl's post here.)

Jen: Hard to say, but I would choose a letter/note for the cover of Pride and Prejudice.

Question 7: You like to put fun facts at the end of some of your reviews. What's a fun fact about you that your regular readers might not know?

Jen: In the movie Sabrina, she quotes Gertrude Stein "America is my country and Paris is my hometown." I feel that way about Bath, England. I spent a semester in college there. It's been a little more than 10 years since I've been back but I'm hoping to go early next year.

BBAW: Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

Today is the first day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, where we traditionally give shout-outs to our favorite blogs. In the past I made my own awards (I should really dust that Best Objectification of the Opposite Sex one off the shelf and use it again), mentioned blogs I discovered because of BBAW, and gave cyber hugs to my blogging buddies, Becky from One Literature Nut and Colette from A Buckeye Girl Reads. You should check out all of these blogs, because they're definitely worth following.

Beginning in November, Truth Beauty Freedom and Books will have been around four years. As my blog gets older, it becomes more difficult for me to "discover" new blogs--mostly because I'm lazy. Finding new blogs takes time, and my Google Reader is already full of more blog posts than I'll ever get around to reading. Lately, however, I've started making an effort to find new blogs (new to me, anyway), and today I want to mention some I've come across in the past year that have landed on my favorite list:

New-to-me blogs:

Books as portable pieces of thought--Bridget is open to reading anything (or nearly anything), and her posts are very critical--in a good way--and smart. Definitely one of the best blogs I've come across this year!

Redeeming Qualities--I might have started following Melody's blog more than a year ago, I can't remember. But let's go with a year. Melody reads a wide variety of novels from the early 20th and 19th centuries, some of which are simply bizarre-sounding, but I don't think I've ever disliked a book Melody recommended. If you have any interest in classic lit, you should definitely follow this blog.

Public Domain Review--This isn't necessarily a book blog, but there are a lot of bookish things on it that I love, including video of an interview with Arthur Conan-Doyle (he speaks!) and links to rare books that are accessible online (a 16th-century edition of The Faerie Queene? Aztec Codexes? Yes please).

Readingwithanalysis--Kelly mainly discusses romance novels, and her posts are always insightful and fun. I love how she approaches romance novels from an entertainment and women's issues standpoint.

Reflections of a Book Addict--Kim also reviews a lot of romance novels, including Austen adaptions (you know hows I loves em), along with many other types of books. She's always willing to try new novels in the name of book blogging.


Favorites who started out with me: These are blogs I haven't mentioned before during BBAW, but that I've been following faithfully for the last four years because they always have great new content as well as fabulous people behind them.

Wordsmithonia--Ryan reads a ton of mysteries (yay Mary Roberts Rinehart!), and has fun features on his blog such as Favorite Fictional Character.

Booktalk & More--Ruth not only talks about books, but also some of my favorite TV shows, like Grimm, Sherlock, Doctor Who, and Downton Abbey. Her posts are always delightful.

Narrative Causality--Caspette reads a lot of UF and fantasy novels, and writes really creative reviews. For a small fee she will teach you Aussie-isms. ;)

1330v--Natasha and I bonded because we have the same name, but I keep reading her blog because her posts are insightful and heartfelt. I love the variety of books Natasha reads as well!


Special Mention: Finally, I want to thank the bloggers who helped me get the Project Gutenberg Project up and running in the past few months. Thank you for your enthusiasm and all your support; I honestly couldn't keep it going without you.

Chris from Book-a-Rama
Aarti from BookLust
Alexandra from The Sleepless Reader
Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot
Iris from Iris On Books
Lu from Regular Rumination
Meghan from Medieval Bookworm

BBAW: Blagging

Gratuitous LOLcat pic.

On this, the final--and therefore saddest--day of BBAW, we're asked to share three blogging tips and three cutting edge things we want to adapt to our blahgs. So here's we go:

TIPS

• One--Blog for Yourself First. Look, I love comments and free crap as much as the next person, but if I blogged for those things, this blog would have shut down a long time ago.
• Two--Bring Your A Game. Everyone loves seeing people doing something new and different and creative, so be that person! Let me know if you figure out a way to do this on a consistent basis.
• Three--Be Chill. Honestly, I'm drawing a blank on a third piece of advice, but chilling out sounds good to me.

IN THE FUTURE

• I'd like to do more videos and art original to this blog.
• I want my own URL shortener. I want one SO BAD!
• I'd like to have more author interviews.

There you have it! What are some of your tips?

BBAW: Community Part Deux

Today for Book Bloggers Appreciation Week, we are asked to write about how we find a place in the community. This can be tough, especially if your blog doesn't focus on one genre (like mine). There isn't really a group out there for self-professed eclectic book blogs, yanno? If there was, it would be called Cannot Make Up My Mind, or Rage of the Bibliophiles Who Are Very Easily Bored, and I definitely would have found that by now.

That being said, I definitely do feel like I'm part of the community of book bloggers, and it's due mainly to one thing: Twitter. I remember telling someone once that everything happens on Twitter, and it's totally true, especially if you're a blogger. It's not just general news things like finding out Osama Bin Laden was dead, or that there was an earthquake on the East Coast; people organize challenges and events in real time on Twitter that you only eventually see manifested on da blags. Just hearing about some cool event everyone's already signed up for? You probably weren't on Twitter when it was being put together (this has happened to me). Not to mention things like Armchair BEA, Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon, and Bloggiesta, all of which have twitter hashtags.

Twitter is great because you can hop on when you're feeling sociable and ignore it when you're not. And it's much easier to have an open discussion with people on twitter than on something like FaceBook. You can chat using IMs or the like, but that will be only with a select group--there's no chance of someone dropping in on your conversation and you making a new buddy (twubby?) like there is on twitter.



Within the very open world of twitter there are of course smaller, more nuclear groups. Example: book bloggers. Then there are various "events" where you find like-minded people you want to follow. For example, Jane from Dear Author (@jane_l) used to do #romfail on twitter every Friday where she'd make fun of romance novels. That was highly entertaining. And for about the last six months, I've watched Hitchcock movies with other bloggers under the #hitchfest hashtag every week. There are some weeks when #hitchfest (and the corresponding #alcoholfest) is the only thing I look forward to all week. It's really fun and has introduced me to a bunch of bloggers I didn't know much about before now.*

It started out with me writing a paper on Hitchcock and tweeting that I had a stack o'his movies to watch. A first it included @lithousewife, @biblioeva, @picky_girl, @unfnshdprsn, and @justaddbooks; and over time has involved @ChrisBookarama, @JoLynnF, @braincandybr, @Col_Reads, @elabkwrm, @buckeyegirl31, @lifeand100books and her hubby @ttotheodd, @pussreboots, @webereading, and @evangelineh (I'm sure I missed someone in there, so just let me know if I did). It's nice to know I have my crew on twitter to discuss olde timey movies with, or books or the stupidity of reality TV shows.

So if there's one takaway from this it's: get onto twitter. And if there's another takeaway point, it's that community doesn't just happen; you get out what you put into it. Things like #hitchfest (or BBAW, or anything of the other book blogging events you run across), happen because people--more than one--are willing to put time and energy into it and make it a priority. So if you're struggling to feel like part of a community, get involved in something! Put the effort into it to make it important to you. And it will be.

*Actually, #hitchfest is on hiatus right now. Timeliness, I'm all over it!

BBAW: Interview with Ariel from The Librarian's Bookshelf!

heidenkind: You're in school to eventually become a librarian. Do you think blogging and social media will play an important role in libraries in the future?

Ariel: I think it really depends on the library. I think book bloggers play a huge role in supporting smaller libraries, but I don't think larger ones really notice us or care.

heidenkind: Which do you prefer, eBooks or paper books?

Ariel: While I do own a Nook and read eBooks, I prefer paperbacks.

heidenkind: What's your least-favorite read of the year so far?

Ariel: I would have to say Glimmerglass honestly. I liked most of the books I've read so far, but with all the hype Glimmerglass got, I was disappointed by it.

heidenkind: Tell us about a favorite piece of book paraphernalia that you own or dream of owning--can be a t-shirt, bookshelf, lock of your favorite author's hair, anything!

Ariel: This isn't really one item, but I want my own library! Someday in my house I will have one room completely full of books and bookshelves and reading nooks.

heidenkind: How far outside your comfort zone have you read based on the recommendation of a book blogger?

Ariel: I've read a lot more paranormal than I would have without the recommendations from book bloggers. Before I usually just stayed with very specific fantasy or Christian fiction.

Check out Ariel's blog and my interview with her over at The Librarian's Bookshelf!

BBAW: Blogging Buddies

When I think of the book blogging community, the first people I think of are my blogging buddies. I have a lot of friends in the blogging community, those whom I admire, whose blogs I love to read, who always have great book recommendations, and whom I love to chat with on twitter--too many to list in a single post. But blogging buddies are special (so very special :). I know whenever I need a sounding board for post ideas, critical feedback, or (more often than not) someone to listen when the RW or even blogging starts getting to me, I can turn to them. I first heard about the concept of a blogging buddy during Bloggiesta, soon after I started this blog, and I've had the same blogging buddies since. They deserve a shout-out and cyber hugs, and RL chocolate and flowers as well, because they really do support me and help to make this blog what it is today (the good parts, anyway--the bad parts are all on me).



Colette from A Buckeye Girl Reads

Colette and I started our blogs around the same time, but we "knew" one another before from our personal blogs on Xanga.  I remember I was super-intimidated by her at first because her posts were so smart. Colette's very considerate and she's someone I know I can turn to for support or feedback, or just to bitch about something, and she's always helping me in my never-ending quest to find another job.



Becky from One Literature Nut

I'm not sure how exactly I started following Becky's blog, but it was right around the time I started book blogging. She reads everything and I love how her posts are a mix of literary analysis and pure enjoyment. Becky is the one who got me into Austen adaptations--how did that happen? She's pretty tricksy. Anyway, Becky's been more than patient with me over the past year listening to me whine talk about school, and has helped me edit some of my posts (including a few I submitted to BBAW for judging this year).

Although we've never met IRL, I think of both these women as friends and would like to take a moment to say thank you and hearts to them for being there for me this past year. ♥♥♥

Don't have a blogging buddy? Ask someone! It's worth it and it's part of what makes book blogging so great.

BBAW: Giveaway!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week starts September 12th, and to celebrate I thought I'd do a giveaway for something fun I'm always happy to get more of: bookmarks!



The bookmarks for this giveaway are a random assortment purchased from ibdibd's etsy store, which specializes in vintage French and Italian designs. To get a general idea of what the bookmarks will look like, feel free to visit the storefront (keep in mind that I'm not taking requests for specific bookmarks, however).

You don't have to be a follower of my blog to enter the contest, but I do ask that you be a BBAW participant! Simply fill out the form below or click here to enter.




Thank you to everyone in the book blogging community and the readers of my blog for a great year of reading and discussing all things bookish!

BBAW--Future Treasures

It's the last day of BBAW!  It's been a great (if busy) week.  Before it's all over, I want to say congratulations to the fabulous Devourer of Books for winning Best Eclectic Book Blog.  Her blog is great and definitely worth subscribing to if you haven't already.  I was honestly surprised and honored to be shortlisted in this category with such fabulous company, so thank you to everyone who voted for this blog!

When BBAW drew to a close last year, this was a new book blog with a different name (Heidenkind's Hideaway).  I wrote a post stating, "In the future, I'd like to have more author interviews, review weirder books, and improve my writing skillz.  Also host another challenge, possibly, and change the design of my blog so that it's more better."

I believe I accomplished all of those things in the past year.  My reading habits have definitely changed; in 2008, probably eighty percent of the books I read were romances.  Now it's more between ten and twenty.  Does book blogging have anything to do with that?  Definitely.  Although I've always been very eclectic in my reading habits, reading book blogs has amplified that and inspired me to try books I never would have even heard of, let alone picked up in the bookstore.

I have to confess, I'm still conflicted over this change in my reading habits.  I often ask myself if I would be happier switching back to romances.  Even though the tropes of romances aren't really working for me right now, people falling in love is still the major thing in stories that I respond to.  Without it, I tend to just not care.  I only read two five-star books in the past year... but then, both were recommended by book bloggers and were novels I never would have picked up without their recommendation, so sticking to romances might not have improved my year in reading at all.  In any case, the past twelve months have been an adventure in reading--interesting, fun, occasionally frustrating, but certainly an adventure!

What does the future of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books hold?  I want to keep reviewing a wide variety of books.  I plan on reading what I want, when I want to, and writing whatever I think about it, whether snarky or fangrl-ish.  One of the things I figured out during BBAW this week is that what I love to see most in reviews--or in anything, really--is creative thinking.  I've been striving to bring more creativity to all my posts, and will continue to do so in the coming year.

Above all, I want this blog to be fun and to remain my happy space for the coming year.  Thank you to all of my readers for helping to make it that way!

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BBAW--Forgotten Treasures

Today's meme for BBAW involves books we don't think have been given enough face time on book blogs:  recently published books that have flown under the radar or forgotten classics. 

My favorite book that I've read this year so far has been To the Hilt by Dick Francis, which was suggested to me by the lovely Orannia from Walkabout. 

Dick Francis isn't exactly hip.  I know this.  But this novel was SO GOOD. 

Do you like Sir Walter Scott?  Novels of knights errant going to battle for their honor and the honor of their patrons?  Distant ladies who are both noble and brave?  Then you'll love this book, because that's basically what it is--a Camelot romance set in contemporary Britain.  It's smart and detailed and compulsively readable, and I can't recommend it enough.

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BBAW--Unexpected Treasure

It's day three of BBAW and I'm already exhausted!  (Not necessarily because of BBAW though.)  ANYway, today we're asked to share a book or genre we tried because of the influence of another blogger.

I picked manga, mainly because I haven't talked about how I was introduced to it before.  My brother has read manga forever, so it was on my radar, but I have to admit I wrote it off as something that wasn't for me.  Mind, this was my brother, so the manga he read was all about fighting Pokemons.  I didn't have any exposure to any other form of manga, or even graphic novels.

Before I started book blogging, I used to read Smart Bitches Trashy Books.  Not religiously, but off and on.  One day they had a short post on a manga you could read online for free called Midnight Secretary.  They warned me my entire day would be sucked away reading it--oh, they warned me!  But I couldn't resist just giving it an itty bitty peek, especially as it was called "Harlequin: Presents crossed with manga and vampires."

Midnight Secretary is about a shy girl named Kaya who is very desirous of being the best secretary she can possibly be.  Anal retentive secretaries, unite!  She starts working at Touma corporation, only to be set up babysitting Director Kyouhei Touma, the playboy son of the company's founder.  He doesn't seem to do any work, just ferries women in and out of his office all night.  Hmmmmm.  Let's try that again:  hmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Eventually, the secretary finds out her boss isn't just a selfish playboy--he's a selfish playboy vampire!!! *gasp*

This manga is totally dumb and weird and enjoyable and I could not. stop. reading it!  After nineteen hours straight I finished and had to find other vampire romance mangas to read like right away!  Which is how I started on Vampire Knight (fabulous) and Rosario + Vampire (very fun).

So there you have it.  The Smart Bitches convinced me try manga and opened up a whole new format of reading to me, and it was definitely an unexpected treasure.

What books have you unexpectedly enjoyed that were recommended by another blogger?

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BBAW Interview Swap

Today for BBAW, we get to interview a blogger we're not familiar with.  Hooray!  I have the pleasure of interviewing Cass from Bonjour, Cass!  To check out the other half of our interview swap, go to Cass' blog.

Bonjour, Cass! :) First off, are you or is anything you read French (i.e., where'd your blog name come from)?

Actually, I'm mostly Italian--there's a bit of French-Canadian blood on my mother's side, but not enough to be able to claim any kind of Frenchness. I can't speak or read or write in French, despite the best efforts of five years of French classes. I like the French well enough, but I can't even claim to be a true francophile. Such a poseur. I just like the way Bonjour, Cass! sounds. It was either that or FanCASStic, which I thought might seem a bit egoCASStical. Ahem.

Now that we've got that out of the way, you read a lot of GLBT literature.  What's the best GLBT book you've read recently?

I mostly read GLBT non-fiction, theory, and the like, and the best I've read recently is The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Victor Russo. Published in 1981, it's a seminal work of the history of gay and lesbian characters in film. It's a bit out of date (it says that Rocky Horror Picture Show is the gayest movie to date, for example) but it's a very readable, in-depth history of film.

You say in your profile that your first favorite book featured Grover. Grover is my favorite Muppet, too!  What's your favorite Grover skit?

I really love this one of Grover trying to explain what a library is while trying to speak very, very, softly (which is very, very hard for Grover to do).

Have you ever tried to read a book in a genre you don't like?

Oh yes, especially if it's recommended by someone I trust. I'm always willing to go outside my comfort zone when it comes to reading. Sometimes I end up loving it, sometimes I end up throwing it across the room, it's really a toss up... (Pun intended. Har har.)

If you had to describe reading metaphorically, what would you say it was like?

Depending on the genre, reading is a curled up cat napping in the most blissful patch of sun, or the five intense hours spent solving a Rubix cube.

Do you always finish books, or are you of the mindset that life is too short to read bad books?

Before I started writing my blog, I always had to finish books, especially books in a series--even if I didn't like the first one! Now I seem to have fine-tuned my tastes and/or instincts, and I sometimes even put books down after four or five pages. It keeps me from getting too cranky.

Do you write bad reviews?

I do hope my reviews themselves aren't bad but I believe the question is about whether or not I'm ever critical in my reviews -- in which case, the answer is a definite yes! Offering a thorough, fair, rigorous critique is what I enjoy most about reviewing.

It's the zombie apocalypse.  How long do you think you'd survive?

I consulted my local expert in zombie takeovers and she says about ten minutes. I am completely unprepared for the zombies. I am also a slow runner.

What do you like to do first, read the book or see the movie?  Or does it matter?

I've decided to start seeing the movie first, when possible, because I've been known to ruin the whole movie for others by whining about how the book was either completely different, so much better, or both!

If you could meet one literary character, who would it be?

What a tricky question! I think I'll go with Thursday Next, from Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair. We could make bad book jokes together and she could probably protect me in case any zombies show up.


Thank you, Cass! Hmmm, I think someone should challenge Cass to read a book from her least-favorite genre, romance.  Anyone want to take a stab at recommending one?

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BBAW--First Treasure

Welcome to BBAW!  I'm so excited for Book Blogger Appreciation Week this year.

One of the nicest things about BBAW is giving a shout-out to your favorite blogs.  Today, we're being asked to share a great new blog we've discovered since BBAW last year.  But how can I pick only one?

Blogs I Discovered Because of BBAW 2009:

If you've participated in BBAW before, you know that it can seriously add to your reader.  Stella Matutina is a blog Meghan from Medieval Bookworm posted about, and focuses mainly on speculative fiction, though there is a lot of other genres mixed in.  Memory's posts are always lively and interesting.  My favorite is the "random thoughts" section of her reviews.

Love Romance Passion is another blog Meghan recommended that focuses on (as you can probably guess by the title) romance.  This blog has tons of content and great guest posts.

I'm not sure who recommend The Zen Leaf to me (it was probably Meghan), but this very smart blog is worth subscribing to just for the detailed analysis and comparison of Harry Potter books.  Amanda also reviews a wide variety of books like classics, general fiction, YA, mysteries--take your pick.

Bookphilia is written by a bookseller and English scholar, and the reviews can really blow your mind.  My favorite features, though, are the fun ones: I Interview Dead People (which I borrowed for my own blog), The Sarazens Head without New-gate, where Colleen tells us about her adventures in book selling; and Curious/Creepy, where we get to learn about books that have been spotted being read in public.

I also interviewed Melody from Melody's Reading Corner last year.  Her blog is great fun and she's a wonderful bloggy friend to have!

Other Blogs I've Found Since Then:

I've been wanting to gush about Hannah Stoneham's Book Blog for a long time--she reads mainly nonfiction books, and her reviews are always entertaining and intelligent. 

Slush Pile Hell is a totally lol-worthy (and very popular because of it) peek into horrible query letters. 

I found Forgotten Bookmarks through Monica at The Bibliophilic Book Blog during her Bookmark Week, and it's quickly become one of my favorite book blogs evar!  I've even dreamed about it.  If you enjoy finding things in old books, you definitely have to follow this blog.

Promantica is a new, very thoughtful blog by a long-time romance writer/reader.  Magdalen doesn't necessarily write reviews, but she does have a lot to say about books and romance, and her posts are wonderful to read.


There are so many great book blogs out there that it's impossible to find and follow them all!  What's your favorite new discovery?

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BBAW 2010 is Coming!

Have you heard?  Book Blogger Appreciation Week is scheduled for September 13-17, and is accepting registrations right now through July 7th. 

BBAW is a celebration of the book blogging community.  It has awards, interviews, prizes, and other fun activities that bring book bloggers together.  I participated last year and it was really, really fun.  If you're involved at all in book blogging, I highly recommend signing up.

As part of this year's BBAW, we're being asked to pick five posts that we believe best represent our blog in the nomination categories.  This year I'm entering in the best eclectic blog niche category; and for best feature, author interviews and best written blog (why the heck not, I thought to myself).  Picking posts for these is of course one of the hardest things to do!  But I managed.  Here are the posts that I feel give a snapshot of what my blog is all about:

Best Written Blog:

• Novels & Gender
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The New Biographical Dictionary of Film by David Thomson
• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
• My Favorite Reads:  Archangel
  

Best Author Interviews:

• Leanna Renee Hieber
• Chloe Neill
• Simone Elkeles
• Joseph Mallord William Turner (wrote poetry, so technically an author)
• Edouard Manet

Best Eclectic Book Blog:

• Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? by Linda Nochlin
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Children's Books That Freaked Me the Hell Out
• The More You Wish You Didn't Know:  Ancient Goddess Cults
  

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