Books on the Nightstand Bingo

Well...I'm a sucker. I'm sure that's already been well established, but I'm going to go ahead and confirm it for everyone again.

There have been more than a couple of book bloggers out there showing off their bingo cards for different events (yes...there is more than one book bingo event out there). Julianne over at Outlandish Lit tipped the scales for me. Sooo...add on yet another bookish thing. Gah. Sucker.

I am now officially taking on the Books on the Nightstand Bingo.

This here is my randomly generated card:

There are a nice handful of categories that seem manageable. With any luck, I'll be able to line some of them up into a successful bingo.

Apparently, this particular bingo event started Memorial Day and runs through Labor Day, so I'm getting a bit of a late start. You can make a bingo in any way you see fit. I love the freedom that affords. Heaven knows I need some fudge room.

Want to play along? Head over and grab your own randomly generated bingo card here.

Thanks a lot Julianne...

48 Hour Book Challenge Wrap Up

My weekend wound up being busier than I had planned for. Even though I knew I wouldn't get much reading in, I still expected more than I accomplished. I blame the nice weather. That seems reasonable, right?

I'm also slightly ashamed to admit that I did no social media interaction over the weekend. I hoarded the minutes I had for reading instead. Antisocial reader, party of one.

The good news is that I finished a book. I'm pretty happy about that. I also accomplished more reading than I would have if there had not been a read-a-thon going on. That's a plus.

In the end, here's what I wound up with :

Minutes Read: 222 minutes (3 hours, 42 minutes)

Pages Read: 279

Books Finished: 1

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman

How was your weekend? Did you get some good reading in?

It's Time to Do a Little Reading. What's on Your TBR?

This weekend is going to be a busy one. We have plans for a round of golf, dinner with best friends, and of course celebrations for Father's Day on Sunday. But in any moments of down time, my attention will be occupied by a book. It's a big reading weekend!

Tonight I'm starting the 48 Hour Book Challenge. The challenge is hosted by Mother Reader and is a nice social event with lots of reading. I'm starting mine at midnight and rolling on through 11:59pm Sunday evening.

At the same time, this weekend it's time for a #FlashReadathon. There's no host for this, it's just a free-for-all. Everyone reads and socializes about in on the social media platform(s) of their choice. They've already taken pretty heavily to Twitter this evening. I'm getting antsy to join in.

It's always fun to read with a bunch of my bloggy friends.

While I do love reading and socializing, sometimes I find it hard to find a good book. This is more often because there are too many to choose from than too few. Like most serious readers, I have a TBR. A TBR is a "to be read" list. In my case, the TBR contains about 2,000 books -- including both those housed in my home library that haven't been read and the books I've shelved on my "to read" shelf on Goodreads.

Becauese I'm also a bit of a mood reader, I tend to be pretty indecisive. I like to have a plan and very frequently keep a stack of books in my nightstand. But if the mood doesn't strike right, I'll often find myself frustrated and not feeling into a particular kind of book. That can spell disaster and send me into a book drought where nothing sounds good. It's a bad, bad thing.

To help me combat this problem (and to help keep books from getting buried deep within the TBR and forgotten) I decided to make myself a TBR jar.

I created a spreadsheet with the names of all of the books on my TBR and their authors. I then printed it out. Each strip was then cut and folded.

Originally, the plan was to use a large mason jar since I have several prettily decorated ones leftover from our wedding. But after folding only a small portion of the strips, I soon realized that there was never going to be enough room. I considered only placing in a handful of selected books and replenishing as the supply grew low, but decided that just wasn't what I wanted.

After a search of the house, I found a large container that used to house indoor tulips. It's a 7" diameter cylinder that stands about 15" high. Basically, it's ridiculously large for something like this.

After folding, and folding...and folding. It's now around 3/4 of the way full. And I'm not done. I have a handful of strips left to cut and fold. Man, that's a lot of books!

It's been a pretty long undertaking, but I'm excited for what it will allow me to do. I'm pretty giddy for the moment I reach into it and pull out the first strip. The plan isn't to lock myself into something. The plan is to give me a random idea of what to read. I've made the decision that (at most) I will allow myself to pull out three strips when I'm stuck and don't know what to read next or when I'm just not feeling the book I'm reading. From those three strips will come the choice for my next read. If any of the strips happen to be a book I've already read somewhere along the way, they will be tossed and replaced by another fish in the jar. I'm hoping that will allow me more diversity in my reading, as well as prevent me from getting in reading slumps.

There is a good mixture in there. There are children's books, memoirs, humor, YA fiction, historical fiction, and much more. Most genres are represented. It's a fun new toy, but a daunting reminder of all the books I want to read...a daunting reminder that will no doubt grow as I find more books to add to my TBR, to my Excel sheet, and to my jar. It's amazing how many wonderful works of literary art there are out there for me to get my hot little hands on.

If only I could read them all...

How many books are on your TBR? Do you keep a separate TBR for immediate planned reads or do you lump it all together like I do? Do you have a TBR jar?

I'm ready for my crazy weekend, especially all of this reading. I'm ready to break out the books and to maybe have the moment arrive where a dip in the jar is taken. Hooray for reading! Off I go!

Top Ten Books on My TBR for Summer 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, created due to a fondness for lists. Each week they post a new Top Ten topic. After that, it's bloggers UNITE! Participate with your own Top Ten post, have fun, and get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is the Summer TBR. For you non-bibliophiles, TBR stands for "To Be Read". It's the list of books a reader plans to take on. For me, it's the insurmountable mountain that I continue to grow by the day.

I'm a bit of a mood reader, so there is no real plan when it comes to the order that I read things in. Or rather, I attempt to make a plan of what I want to read, but inevitably my plan gets interrupted by spur of the moment choices based on what is feeling right at the moment. I kind of play it fast and loose. (We'll talk a little more about this on Friday.)

I do, however, have a pile of books that top my list -- including a few choices that are currently being housed in my nightstand, on deck for their turn. So, to make my Top Ten list this week, I mixed books I'm planning to read and have easily accessible with those I have high hopes and dreams for obtaining and reading before the summer ends.

In no particular order...

 

1. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
2. Paperweight by Meg Haston
3. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
4. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
5. The Opposite of Maybe by Maddie Dawson
6. At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
7. Nothing Like Looking by Chris Van Hakes
8. Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid
9. Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
10. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

What great books are on your summer TBR?

Bloggiesta Day 2: Official Wrap Up and Unofficial Continuation

The mini-Bloggiesta is rolling to a close. It may officially be ending here in a couple of hours, but I haven't finished everything I want to yet, so I'm planning to continue for the next couple of evenings until I have my projects all finished. I have a good flow going--no sense leaving things half done.

The Twitter chat was great today, but it wound up giving me more things to do. We had quite a lively discussion on Pinterest, and I wound up heading over there and reorganizing my board covers to make them more attractive. That took a bit of time. I also found myself perusing the blogging boards of a few other Bloggiesta participants. It will be helpful, but it took a pretty decent chunk out of my afternoon.

1. Update reading challenge pages.

2. Update bucket list challenge pages.

3. Participate in Sunday's Twitter Chat at 3pm EST.

4. Redesign blog planner.

5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR.

6. Create TBR jar. (in progress)

7. Create project jar. (in progress)

8. Create blog post idea jar. (in progress)

9. Write Top Ten Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).

10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!!

**  Reorganize Pinterest board covers.

I hope everyone else's Bloggiesta was as productive!

Bloggiesta Day 1: In the Thick of It

The first day of Bloggiesta is halfway over and I'm trucking along with the goals I've set for myself. I've been a little slower this afternoon as I managed to get a little distracted by things like my iPad, YouTube, and Facebook. Oops. The good news is, success is still being had - just in smaller quantities.

I made a really dumb mistake earlier today that totally worked out in my favor. I was just sitting here tooling along on a few items when I realized that it was 1:45pm...3:45pm EST. In a quick panic, I pulled up TweetDeck, certain that I was missing the Twitter chat. But...it turns out I just don't know how to read. The chat is tomorrow, not today. I'll get a second attempt at showing up on time. Phew.

The good news is that I have managed to finish one more item on my list and I'm in the midst of four (yes...four) others. Okay, really I guess it's five if you count reading other Bloggiesta posts and commenting, because I've been doing a little of that too.

Here's where I'm at right now...

1. Update reading challenge pages.

2. Update bucket list challenge pages.

3. Participate in Sunday's Twitter Chat at 3pm EST.

4. Redesign blog planner.

5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR. (in progress)

6. Create TBR jar. (in progress)

7. Create project jar. (in progress)

8. Create blog post idea jar. (in progress)

9. Write Top Ten Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).

10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!! (TOTALLY happening!)

I'm quite thrilled that I completed #4. I really did love my blog planner when I put it together a little over a year ago, but it was too big and too bulky and wound up just sitting in a drawer instead of getting properly used. Then I started writing things down in other notebooks and on scraps of paper and it all just turned into a chaotic mess. It was time for a streamlined change.

Here's what I started with:

Excuse the horribly grainy picture. The iPad can't be trusted...

The large original planner binder, the smaller green planner, miscellaneous printer papers, a legal pad, the blue project design notebook, and a steno notebook. Meanwhile, the binder was stuffed with all kinds of weird, loose papers.

And here's what I ended up with:

Ahh. One nice and tidy, portable-sized green planner.

I compiled everything into this cute little planner that I got at Staples. I use one of these for my regular daily planner as well (it's the ARC system in case you're curious...and no, this isn't a sponsored post - I just like my planners). 

I have things divided by tabs to keep track of my "to do" list, the upcoming topics for Top Ten Tuesday, my read-a-thon schedule, plans for the year's pumpkin display, plans for holiday gift projects, and the plan for next year's A to Z Challenge (among other things). I'd show you the individual pages but...blog secrets and all of that. I can't be just showing you everything! (You do have a bit of a sneak peek of a wall collage I have planned. Does that help?)

I'm sooooo much happier. This cutesy little planner measures about 9" high and 6" wide. It's about 1 1/2" thick and has to be held closed by a band since I stuffed it with pages (the system does have the option of larger rings, but I didn't have enough of them left). Still...it's about 1000 times better than the gigantic 3" 3-ring binder (and other assorted accouterments) I was using before. This is much more portable and accessible. It also helps that Bloggiesta projects 6-8 are allowing me to remove some items from the planner that were previously taking up a lot of real estate.

What do you think? Do you use a blog planner? What are the essential pieces of your planner that you can't live without?

Bloggiesta Day 1: The Beginning.

It's Bloggiesta time! I'm hard at work attacking the blog and cleaning up things behind the scenes. I'm working on a lot of organization this time, trying to make it easier for me to write posts and finish projects to share on the blog.

Since this is a mini-Bloggiesta, I'll be doing a few midway posts to keep things updated and share what I'm working on. Right now, we're technically about 3 hours in on Bloggiesta. I've already tackled a couple of items on the list.

1. Update reading challenge pages.

2. Update bucket list challenge pages.

3. Participate in Saturday's Sunday's Twitter Chat. (I really need to read more carefully.)

4. Redesign blog planner.

5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR.

6. Create TBR jar.

7. Create project jar.

8. Create blog post idea jar.

9. Write Top Ten Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).

10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!!

Yup...steps 1 and 2 are complete! The Twitter Chat is at 1pm my time tomorrow, so I'm planning on having at least one more step completed by early afternoon. I'm hoping to share the blog planner redesign tomorrow evening and then the jars for steps 6-8 on Sunday night. Fingers crossed that I can keep on completing tasks successfully!!

How's your Bloggiesta going?

June 2015 Mini Bloggiesta Plan

Bloggiesta is a blog event that focuses on improving your blog and completing items on your bloggy to-do list while being social with other amazing bloggers hard at work with similar tasks. It's a time to clean up the cobwebs, get caught up on planned posts, and find new ways to make your blog the best it can be.

I participated in my first Bloggiesta this March during the week long event and got a lot of work done on the bones of the operations, cleaning up the look and feel of the blog for readers. This time, it's a mini-session, lasting only for the weekend. The plan for me is to work on some of the behind the scenes things including planning, organizing, and maybe some post scheduling.

I've given myself ten tasks for this Bloggiesta. We'll see how many I get done. In no particular order...

1. Update reading challenge pages.
2. Update bucket list challenge pages.
3. Participate in Saturday's Twitter Chat.
4. Redesign blog planner.
5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR.
6. Create TBR jar.
7. Create project jar.
8. Create blog post idea jar.
9. Write Top Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).
10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!!

I'll probably get started on things a little early since I have tomorrow off. I'm finding myself drawn to organization so I might as well take advantage while I'm on the kick!

Top Ten Most Anticipated New Releases for the Rest of 2015

Holy cow...I disappeared from the blog for ten whole days. I feel like a completely neglectful blogger. I've been in a total funk the last little bit and I didn't feel like I had much to contribute, so I just lurked on other blogs instead. But you haven't gotten rid of me yet!

I'm still contemplating what to do with myself over the summer, but I have a feeling that I'll be doing a bit of book blogging for the next few months. It's what feels good right now. Besides...I need to take advantage while I can. Around here, fall is always taken over by Halloween and pumpkins, winter is project work, spring is read-a-thons and A to Z Challenge. If summer isn't for books, well then I don't know when a good time is. Okay...so read-a-thons are a bunch of book stuff and January is pretty good since I usually do my Book of the Year then, but let's just let books take summer as well, okay? How about if I promise to mix it up with some actual craft projects here and there. Deal? Great. I knew you'd come around.

Today is Tuesday though, and Tuesday means books. It's Top Ten Tuesday!!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, created due to a fondness for lists. Each week they post a new Top Ten topic. After that, it's bloggers UNITE! Participate with your own Top Ten post, have fun, and get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is anticipated reads. More specifically, we're focusing on the top ten anticipated reads that have yet to be released for 2015. I honestly didn't think I was going to have enough picks for this one since I'm not always on the cusp of all things literary, but thanks to last month's BEA (Book Expo America) and all the great book bloggers and booktubers out there, I've been exposed to some amazing books on the horizon and I actually had to whittle my list down to squeeze it into ten measly spots.

There are some amazingly beautiful covers in this pile and I will very much admit to some sway held by cover love. There also seems to be a heavy preference for September release dates, with September 22nd holding three of my top ten spots, including my number one most anticipated read this year (which is also the only book on this list that I have preordered). Are you curious yet?

Here's what I'm looking forward to picking up between now and December 31st...


10.

Never Always Something by Adi Alsaid
Release Date: August 4th

One of several Young Adult fiction novels on this list, Never Always Something focuses on the relationship between best friends Dave and Julia as they tackle a reverse bucket list, attempting to do all those things they said that they shouldn't ever do. It seems like a cute premise.

9.

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Release Date: June 16th

This one is also YA fiction. It's one of a handful of novels that I've chosen for this list that has a plot based on a mental disorders in some capacity. (I must be starting some kind of new trend in mood reading.) Every Last Word centers on Sam and her challenges with Purely-Obsessional OCD.

8.

Paperweight by Meg Haston
Release Date: July 7th

Young adult mental disorder novel #2. Paperweight is an emotional read about a young girl with an eating disorder who has been checked into a rehab facility and is dealing with not only her medical condition, but the emotional scarring that has resulted from the death of her brother -- "a death she caused" (from the Goodreads blurb).

7.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Release Date: September 1st

(White book cover on white blog background looks ridiculous, but what are you going to do...) 

The narrator of this YA novel is a teenage girl who has an immune system disorder that leaves her allergic to practically everything. Think The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, but updated and with a female protagonist. This one could go either way, but I have optimistic hopes.

6.

Dreamland by Robert L. Anderson
Release Date: September 22nd

Odea has the ability to walk through the dreams of others. How cool does that premise sound? There are so many possibilities with this book. I'm totally getting antsy. It's one of my three September 22nd release picks and it's got a wicked cool cover. I'm expecting this one to be amazing.

5.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
Release Date: September 22nd

I heard about The Scorpion Rules from just about everyone who went to BEA. It sounds like it could be pretty amazing. The premise centers on some kind of worldwide agreement that the child of the ruling couple for any country that goes to war will be killed as punishment for engagement in that war. It sounds like it has a kind of post-apocalyptic Hunger Games feel to it. I'm intrigued.

4.

Tonight the Streets are Ours by Leila Sales
Release Date: September 15th

Pretty cover, September release date, author that I've totally loved before: that's a trifecta for a good book if I've ever heard one. From the author who wrote The Song Will Save Your Life, this one is about Arden, who becomes infatuated with a blog written by Peter. It's a road trip novel, with Arden travelling to meet Peter after he is dumped by his girlfriend. Road trip novels can be great. Fingers crossed!

3.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Release Date: October 6th

So much excitement building for this one! Rainbow Rowell is releasing a novel based on Baz and Simon, the characters from the book within her book Fangirl. Oh my goodness. This could just be plain fantastic. I love everything I've read of hers, so I'm definitely feeling the buzz on this one. There were so many fan fiction options given in Fangirl for Baz and Simon that she could just take this plot anywhere. I'm excited to see what she did with it.

2.

After Alice by Gregory Maguire
Release Date: October 27th

My love for all things Alice collides with the dark humor of Gregory Maguire. This book just might be magic. It's a re-imagining of the fairy tale from the perspective of Alice's friend Ada, who goes looking for Alice after she has fallen down the rabbit hole. I'm very much read to get my Alice on.

1.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson 
Release date: September 22nd.

Yes, yes, YES!!! I absolutely cannot wait for this one. If you're not familiar with Jenny Lawson, you need to be. Jenny is better known as The Bloggess. This is her second memoir and the only nonfiction book on my list. Her first memoir, Let's Pretend this Never Happened, took the number one slot for my 2012 Book of the Year.

I have had this one preordered for about a month now and I am just giddy over the fact that it comes out this year. I'm also planning a trip to Seattle in the fall to go and actually meet Jenny at one of her book signings. So much good about this. I can hardly contain myself. You might say that I'm furiously happy about Furiously Happy. Of course I went there. You had to see that one coming.

What about you? What books are on your 2015 Have to Have list? Which ones are you counting down the days for?