Contemplating November

I first need to apologize for not posting anything last week. My first major holiday as a blogger and it all fell apart. Hopefully this blogger will do better for the next major holiday.

November was a very quiet month. This is due in part to a new venture in my life that is not book related. I’ve decided to take on a small business and because I love jewelry, I’ve started selling Origami Owl necklaces and bracelets. So this has taken some of my attention. However, I do foresee myself creating book related lockets so keep an eye out. Afterall there is a charm that says, “I love reading”. There a few other, book related things to highlight for this past month.

First, Holly Robinson, author of The Wishing Hill was my guest poster for “The Writer’s Connection” this month. She did a wonderful job and if you haven’t read, Reading As Conversation, yet, please do. It made me think about my own conversations with authors.

 

I also discovered a few new features on other’s blogs which you might be interested in. The first is “Love at First Book’s Spread the Love Linky Party.  There is a new page to share any links that this blog contributes.  The Spread the Love weekly feature is an opportunity for bloggers to share their best post from the last week or earlier.  Rebecca then has a page with all the links. It’s a wonderful idea and it gives bloggers another opportunity to share a favorite post.  It’s also a gret change for blog readers to find some wonderful posts all in one place.   Please check it out.

Secondly, please take a gander at a new meme that I hope to participate in time to time.  Feminist Sundays is hosted by Books and Reviews.  As described by Elena, the blogger at Books and Reviews,

Feminist Sundays is a weekly meme created at Books and Reviews. The aim is simply to have a place and a time to talk about feminism and women’s issues. This is a place of tolerance, creativity, discussion, criticism and praise. Remember to keep in mind that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, although healthy discussion is encouraged.

For those who celebrate the Thanksgiving tradition, I hope you had an opportunity to spend it with the people you love.  Best to you.

Karen

 

Contemplating October

Blog Upgrades

They may be small things, but I learned a few new tricks and hope they make my posts more visually appealing.  It’s rather embarrassing to admit that I was missing some basic functions because I didn’t know what the button “kitchen sink” did. But now I can change text color and underline and other basic editing tasks. I also learned some code to increase text size.

I’ve also been using more images in the posts, including one post in which I embedded a YouTube video.  I have to say it’s also one of my favorite posts because it was a topic close to my heart.  This post was part of my Sunday series which is now known as “Reveries and Musings.”

The blog also debuted a new monthly feature, “The Writer’s Connection. ”  Stephanie Carroll, author of A White Room, was the first contributor.  This feature asks writers to write a guest post on the theme of this blog, how books foster connection.  Stephanie’s post, Baring the Soul Through Fiction set the bar for upcoming authors.

Reviews

None, not one.

Events

I had the good fortune of attending a talk by Ruth Ozecki, author of the man-booker short listed book, The Tale for the Time Being.  The University of Wisconsin Madison chose this book for their big read this year.  The audience swelled to 1,000 people, I think.  She was a wonderful speaker; funny, smart and a feminist!  I’ll be posting on my experience down the road along with another giveaway of an autographed copy of her book.

Books I Finished

I discovered Neil Gaiman. How is it possible that I have not read anything by this wonderful author until this past month?  I also finished the second book in the Georgia Davis mystery series.

    

Coming Up

To Be Read this Month:

This book is the November pic for my IRL book club, Wishfully Reading.

 

 

 

To Listen to on Audio:

I’ve had this one downloaded for about a month but for some reason I can’t get it to play on my smart audio app on my phone.  This is my challenge for this month, get it to work.  I’m really excited to listen to this one.

 

 

This will be the third Gaiman audiobook but the first not narrated by the author himself.  I bought the audible 10th anniversary edition with a full cast of actors.

 

 

 

Blog Features

The Writer’s Connection will feature a guest post by Holly Robinson author of The Wishing Hill.

Author Events:

The last author event of this year is David Sedaris.  I’ll be seeing him this coming Monday.  Some of you may remember I have a bit of a crush on David.  I’ll try not to make much of a idiot of myself but I can make no promises.

Although not a book related event, I cannot close this edition without mentioning that I had to put my dog Brandy to sleep this past Monday.  Brandy was a dog that I bought for my mother for her birthday in 2010.  She was surrendered to a Humane Society at the age of 15.  Brandy came to live with me last year when my parents could no longer take care of her.  Brandy brought much love and joy to my parents and then to me over the last three years.  She is bounding happily at the Rainbow Bridge.

What were the highlights of October for you?

Contemplating September

Fall is my favorite time of year. The changing of colors, the scent of apples, and the crisp and cool days. There is a similar feeling as letting your hair down; a casualness that lets me feel calm and relaxed. It’s also a time of new beginnings. The new school year starts in September. Now its been more years than I care to remember since I’ve started a new school year. Yet this year, starting a blog, it’s felt very much like I’m back in school.

This past month has seen me focused on learning more about the art of blogging and social media. There are a lot of dos and don’ts to the art of blogging and I’ve just scratched the surface. I hope by learning the art and making the changes needed to this blog that I don’t frustrate my followers. My goal is to make the experience as pleasurable as possible and in that vein I’ll be adding and tweaking content to ensure the best possible experience.

Blog Upgrades

Added Policy & Affliation Page
Added a Review Links by title Page
Added the blog to twitter and Pinterest.

Reviews

All this focus on the blog has given me less time to read and write reviews. I’ve only added two new reviews: The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

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Events
I have also attended two author events. Jojo Moyes came to the opening of the new Madison Central Library and gave a talk and a book signing. Read about all my excitement about this event in my Author, Author post. You’ll also find a give-away of two autographed books by Jojo here as well. Stop by and sign up!

Just this past Saturday I attended the Edgerton Book Festival and met Kathleen Kent. It was a fun event and I enjoyed meeting her. I’ll be writing more about this in October where there will also be a give-away of a signed copy of The Heretic’s Daughter.

Books I Finished

Even with writing less reviews I have finished a few books most of them on audio.

Coming Up

I fallen behind on my reading so I have a lot of reading goals.

To have to finish:

To Be Read this Month:

To Listen to on Audio:

Tall goals. Which means I will need to throttle back a little on researching blogging. Let’s just say this blog is a work in progress.

One goal I’d like to achieve in this next month is to come up with a title for my Sunday ramblings. The only consistent theme to these posts is I write what ever is on my mind. So here’s a challenge for my readers. Can you think of a name for my Sunday posts that will fit in my theme? All suggestions welcome.

Contemplating August

My first month as a book blogger and it’s time to look back. When I first considered blogging, well let me revise that, when I first started blogging I had no thought beyond reviewing books. As I started putting together the blog I realized that I wanted something more than that. Sharing what I love about books isn’t half as much fun as learning what others love or hate about them. The process of sharing or connecting over books is an opportunity to take a closer look at the book. But it also is a chance to get to know myself and others better too; and in the process may find myself changing thoughts or even the rating of a book. So I forsee these monthly updates as a opportunity for contemplation of my reviews and considering other’s opinions that may have swayed me to deepen my thoughts about books.

Since none of that is possible without others coming to read and comment, let me say thank you to those who have stopped by and those who have commented. I hope that you find a reason to return. It’s also important to recognize the folks in my IRL book club, Wishfully Reading, who already readily share their thoughts and ideas about the book of the month.

Learning the technical aspects of creating a blog, even when using a template, has been a challenge. I would not have gotten this far without a lot of help from fellow bloggers and friends in the Sisterhood. The facebook page was also created with a lot of help. So please pardon the lack of reviews for the books read in August. I will catch up.

AUGUST READING:

Read but net yet reviewed
(All links go to book description on Goodreads):

The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler

Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook

Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1) by Louise Penny, Ralph Cosham narrator

Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman

In The Woods by Tana French

August Reads with Reviews
(all links to go reviews on this site)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Julia Whelan (Reading), Kirby Heyborne (Reading)

COMING UP
I have become an Amazon Affliate and so learning to link to them is the next challenge. Please note that any revenue that comes from being an affliate, if any, will be used toward purchasing books for giveaways or other promotions. My blog is not designed to be a money making venture.

In the Process

Fin & Lady: A Novel by Cathleen Schine

The Wishing Thread by Lisa Van Allen

In the Queue

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris

Easy Innocence (Georgia Davis Mysteries #1) by Libby Fischer Hellmann

I also have 4 books from Netgalley to review. I’m going to let you choose which one I shoud read next (and also learn how to add a poll)

Companionably Yours,

Karen