Mini Blogging Confessional... and a mini review of The Offering

So, today I have a different kind of post for you.  A mini blogging confessional.

Sometimes I read books so quickly in such a short period of time that if I do not immediately blog about them I can completely forget what I would have said about them.  For instance, I finished the last book in Kimberly Derting's The Pledge trilogy on April 13th.  I marked a note to myself that I wanted to give it a gold star review.  I remember loving the way the series ended.  Can I remember anything else now that I want to go back and blog about it? No. *facepalm*

I still want to highlight the book anyway and I don't have time to go back and reread it to review it...SOOOO... here's the description:

The Offering
by Kimberly Derting
The Pledge, book three

Charlie, otherwise known as Queen Charlaina of Ludania, has become comfortable as a leader and a ruler. She’s done admirable work to restore Ludania’s broken communications systems with other Queendoms, and she’s mastered the art of ignoring Sabara, the evil former queen whose Essence is alive within Charlie. Or so she thinks.

When the negotiation of a peace agreement with the Queendom of Astonia goes awry, Charlie receives a brutal message that threatens Ludania, and it seems her only option is to sacrifice herself in exchange for Ludanian freedom.

But things aren’t always as they seem. Charlie is walking into a trap—one set by Sabara, who is determined to reclaim the Queendoms at any cost. (Description from Goodreads.com) 

Know that I did LOVE it when I read it. Unfortunately, I just can't tell you why!  I do remember little bits...I still thought that Charlie was a great character and that Sabara and her lover were some creepy-@ss baddies.  I really though that Charlie was smart when she finally manages to escape Sabara's evil plans... and that's about it.  I hope that's enough for you! 

What does this teach me?  The few times this happens, I remind myself to blog about books in a shorter timeframe after I've read them.  I also need to start making some more distinct notes for myself, especially if I want to give a book a gold star review so that I can REMEMBER every little thing I wanted to say.  

And now, I'm off to go make some notes before posting my next review... hangs head in embarrassment. 

As Life Speeds Up...So the Blogging Slows Down...

So, if you follow this blog, you know that in the past few years, I've been a pretty regular blogger.  I posted reviews or some kind of fun, mostly bookish related post at least four times a week...and that didn't use to seem hard.

Right now, though, my life has gotten quite a bit busier!  My posts have slowed WAY down and honestly, I'm trying to make myself okay with that for a while.

A few months ago, I let you all know that I got a promotion at work. I'm the Adult Services Supervisor which means that I'm on the management team at my Library and what you may not know is that we're getting a new Library building.  YAY, right?

There's always a but, LOL.

Anyway, in order to get our new building, we have to move to a temporary location so that they can tear down the majority of our building to build a brand-new one on the same spot.  (We are keeping our historic wing, but that's it.)

So...we're moving in about a month and the process to get out of our current building and into the temporary one is well, a little insane! My life has turned into a series of meetings, question and answer sessions with staff and patrons, press releases, and the endless self-doubt routine of knowing that I've forgotton SOMETHING.

By the time I get home at night, I'm exhausted.  Can't even process some nights. No conversation, no reading...just bad television and hoping the dinner I fed my husband was fully cooked.

So, my reading has slowed down, my ability to form coherent sentences has disappeared, and any possible remaining energy has gone towards something mindless. (Or pie, LOL, which apparently my stomach has lied to my brain about, convincing the gray matter that it's a mindless activity in the interest of deliciousness...) In case you all care, my house is also a little...less clean...than usual, owing to my general exhaustion. Fun, right?

I'm hoping that once we've moved into our temporary location and have settled into a new routine by mid-March that I'll get back to life as usual.  Until then, my blogging may continue to be a little sporadic and less intellectual sounding due to general brain mush.

I hope you can all forgive me!

Why So Silent?? A NEW JOB...That's why!

SO...you may have noticed that I haven't posted for more than two weeks. 

TWO WEEKS!

That's one of the longest quiet periods on my blog, well...ever.

I'm so sorry, I left you all hanging, BUT...I had a really excellent reason for my "radio silence."

As of November 12th, I officially became the Adult Services Supervisor at my Library.  A huge promotion with lots of new responsibilities and exciting duties...and well, some adjustment has definitely been in order. 

So, I took a little break to just sort of get some things under my belt at work.  Not that I haven't still been reading a ton at home, but I just had too many things rolling around in my brain to sit down long enough to blog.  

I also finished up my state award nomination reading committee last week, so now (aside from the review books I get from SLJ, VOYA, and AudioFile), I'll be able to READ WHATEVER I WANT!!!!!!

I missed that anticipatory feeling of being able to lazily wander bookshelves until something just screamed out "read me!" I have so many books I want to get to...but the best part is... I can just get to them whenever I feel like it. Amazeballs.

So, you should be hearing a lot more from me now...I'm hoping to revitalize the blog a little bit. Spruce it up. Ramp up the fun.  It's gonna be a whole new year soon!  Gotta make the blog match what I'd like to think I look like professionally now:

Well, maybe not quite that chic...but, hey, it gives me something to aim for right?  

Lots of love to you all for sticking with me through thick and thin... and here's to the beginning of new, great things!!

Top Ten Tuesday: The Top Ten Things That Make My Life as a Blogger Easier/Better

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created and hosted by The Broke and The Bookish 

Today's Topic: The Top Ten Things That Make My Life as a Blogger Easier/Better: 

1. My Library!! Without my library, I would go broke trying to read everything that I blog about. The Library not only keeps a roof over my head...but it also keeps me in new reading material! LOVE the Library.  

2. Shelfari - This is how I keep track of everything that I read.  It helps me remember which titles I haven't posted reviews for yet, and which titles I can't wait to read.

3. Rafflecopter -  This is what I use now to have contests on my blog. It makes things WAY easier, posts the final winner, and can be customized every time... for free!

4. Bloglovin - I changed over to this site when Google Reader was discontinued.  This allows me to read all the posts for the blogs that I follow in one spot. It makes it easy to see what other people are blogging about and to stay connected to the community!

5. Amazon/Goodreads - I use either one of these to easily grab the official synopsis for books that I blog about.  I don't take the time to write my own descriptions (though I admire that my friend Jen at YABooknerd does!) honestly, just because I'd rather focus on what my reaction to the book was when I'm posting. I'm trying to remember to switch over to Goodreads totally, but most of the time I forget.

6. Vine - If I want to post a video of a book display at work, I use vine to make it.  It's super easy on my iphone and then I can link it to FB or twitter or wherever to spread the video! Easy peasy.

7. Blogger - I'm basically lazy and don't want to have to learn how to code to make my blog awesome and unique, so...for now, blogger's easy template interface makes my life exactly how I want it. Stress-free in the posting zone.

8. Living in CT - There are times that living in the Northeast makes things very, very convenient.  For example, I have been able to go to Book Expo America for the last few years because it's been held in NYC and I'm close enough to go in for the day.  I also live about an hour away from a great indie bookstore called RJ Julia's that gets to host a lot of really great authors that come in to NYC for events and such...

9. My slight tendency towards OCD... (this is sort of tongue-in-cheek, but not really...) No, really. If it weren't for the crazy way that my brain makes me organize certain things, I don't think I'd be able to keep up with blogging. I still have trouble sometimes, especially if I agree to review an ecopy of something and can't *see* it all of the time, BUT with different stacks of books put in a certain order the same way every time I know which books I have to read and when... plus I now have a massive google calendar that I can use on my phone that helps me track all the commitments I make. 

10. My blogging friends in the larger YA community online.  Those times when I forget why I started my blog, or feel like maybe I don't want to keep it up...it's great to have people to chat with, commiserate with, and compare notes. There are times when the online world feels incredibly huge and then there are times when it feels nice and cozy, like everyone knows everyone else.  I like that. 

So, that's that for this week!  

Success!!

So, I haven't been blogging as much lately, and even if no one noticed but me, I wanted to explain why. You might remember (or not...who knows) that I am somewhat of an amateur writer. I have participated in NaNoWriMo and I'm in a Writers' Group (with two awesome chicas!! Becca from Alice:Journey of a Fake Writer and Jen from Yabooknerd).

Well, I decided that I have to get serious. I want to publish a book someday and that means I need to buckle down and "Get 'R Dun," as they say...but with better grammar! So, while I will absolutely not give up my reading time, because not only do I consider it important research, but it is the highlight of my day, every day...I have decided to cut back on blogging. Not just actually posting on my blog, but I have also cut back on how often I read my blog feed.

It's been tough! I think I was going through a little bit of blogger withdrawl, BUT in the time that I was using for that I wrote a killer short story! Not only did I write it, but I revised it, and...submitted it for the National Writer's Digest annual contest. *fingers crossed* Realistically, I have no intention of holding my breath anticipating a win. I'm sure a bajillion people enter every year. Having the goal and a deadline, though, really got me to pump it out and make sure all my word choices were sharp, my sentences were concise, and that the characters and plot were developed just so...

Did I mention how *HARD* it is to write a short story?! So hard, but totally worth it. I have a real finished piece that I am eminently proud of and would love to share with the world at some point. For now, I await the decisions of others...and turn back to an older project. :)

All right, off to go read!

Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars

Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars
Starring Jennifer Stone

Young spy, Harriet Welsch, crosses paths with popular student Marion Hawthorne as the two girls vie to become the official blogger of their high school class. (description taken from imdb.com)

Okay, I was officially obsessed with Harriet the Spy when I was a kid. I even carried around my own observation notebook for awhile and went to see the professional play with my Grandmother!!

Thus, I loved the fact that they made an updated movie. It's still Harriet, but she wants to be class blogger!! How awesome. There were lots of nods to the original...can we say red shoes, anyone?... but a whole new generation can also enjoy. :)

My only qualm was that the boy she spends the whole movie stalking, I mean spying on, of course, has a meltdown then just suddenly forgives her at the end. It made for a cute ending, but was totally unrealistic. Oh well. Overall, I really enjoyed it!

One Year Anniversary!

I just realized that my first post was on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009, so as of Wednesday, I have been officially blogging for a full year! :)

Thanks to everyone in the blogging community for making it fun and interesting and worth keeping up with...and here's to another year!