Bookish Resolutions: August Progress

1. Read 200 books in 2015:
I'm up to 169 and the page counts on this month's books were a little higher. I'm still about 20,000 pages lower than my 2014 total, so I'll just have to make sure I read some longer books :)

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015 (1 a month preferably):
I read Karl Barth's The Word of God and the Word of Man, which I found quite interesting. This was my first encounter with Barth, but I have a feeling it won't be my last.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:
I DID IT! I finally got through the last pending book that was sitting here, reading The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross. Which I loved. I can't wait to read the next one in the series. I still have 2 non-fiction books on this shelf (in addition to the active currently reading ones), but they are both ones I'm just going to pick at as I feel like it, so they are actually currently reading as opposed to all of the books I had started and then stopped that were just sitting there forever. I feel really good about this.

4. Read at least 2 print books I already own each month (with an eye to weeding):
I did well on this goal this month. I read James Dashner's The Kill Order, the prequel to the Maze Runner trilogy, and while I enjoyed it, I won't reread it, so I am weeding that one. I also read The Girl in the Steel Corset as I noted above as well as a couple of ARCs that I picked up at BEA including Will Walton's Anything Could Happen and Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit both of which were good, but are on my potential weeding pile.

5. Read at least 2 eBooks I already own each month:
Knocked this one out of the park again. I finished the Grace S. Richmond collection, which gave me Red Pepper's Patients, The Second Violin, Strawberry Acres, and Under the Country Sky. I also read Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (I swear if I had had to read 1 more description of fish I would have found a real copy to throw out the window) and Lorena Angell's A Diamond in My Pocket. I also made it through Asylum by Madeleine Roux, Goddess Girls: Athena the Brain by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, and Awaken by Rachel M. Humphrey-D'aigle. Some of them I enjoyed, some of them I wanted to enjoy but just didn't do it for me. But I'm working my way through the A's and I think I'm pretty close to hitting the B's!

Forcing myself into a structure has certainly kept me on task with my reading and made me read things I might not have gotten to. I'm enjoying this journey!

Bookish Resolutions: July Progress

1. Read 200 books in 2015:
I'm up to 148 already. I can hardly believe it! But 73 of those have been under 200 pages (and half of those under 100 pages), so page-wise I'm further behind last year. Still pretty happy with my progress here, though. My book count will be higher because I've been reading so many that are fewer pages.

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015 (1 a month preferably):
I finished Ann Thwaite's A.A. Milne: His Life which was absolutely and completely fascinating. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes biographies.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:
Still have one left sitting here, so no additional progress this month.

4. Read at least 2 print books I already own each month (with an eye to weeding):
Other than the Milne biography, I read The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure by James Dashner. I had read them before, but have been wanting to do a re-read ever since The Maze Runner movie came out. So, not planning on getting rid of them right now, but I technically completed this goal :/

5. Read at least 2 eBooks I already own each month:
Did much better on this goal than on the print goal. I read Jus Accardo's A Darker Past, The Adventures of Zelda: Pug and Peach by Kristen Otte, and Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places (which just ripped me up in the best way). I also read most of the novels/novellas/short stories in the collection of Grace S. Richmond's works that I downloaded ages and ages ago. They were interesting and definitely not something I would have read if it hadn't been sitting in my queue for this reading resolution quest.

Overall pretty pleased :)

Bookish Resolutions: June Progress

1. Read 200 books in 2015:
I'm up to 129, so doing well on this front. Slowed down this month a little bit as I hit some slightly longer/more involved books.

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015 (1 a month preferably):
Made my one this month, finishing A.A. Milne's Not That It Matters. However, I've made significant progress on the thick and densely printed Milne biography, so I'm more than content with that.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:
Cleared out one more, finishing Willa Cather's My Antonia finally. I've got one more to go before I consider this goal complete and considering that I have 6 months left, I'm confident I'll make it!

4. Read at last 2 print books I already own each month (with an eye to weeding):
Did well on this one, reading three books, all of which I am passing on, giving away, or donating. I read Rowan Coleman's The Accidental Mother, which I really enjoyed, but know I won't read again. I also read 2 of by new BEA books. I finished The Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels, which isn't out until November. I already gave that one to my sister. And I just finished Gregory Maguire's upcoming book After Alice, which I think I may run an Instagram giveaway for on our Booksellers Without Borders NY account.

5. Read at least 2 eBooks I already own each month:
Just barely squeaked this one out. I read Darker Days by Jus Accardo and My Antonia was an ebook, so it counts. I've been watching X-Files on my breaks at work, which is usually when I read ebooks, so that accounts for less reading done this month. I'm back to reading on my breaks though, so it might tick upward next month.

I know no one probably cares about this but me, but posting here at the beginning of each month inspires me to actually read with more purpose and I've read quite a few books I probably wouldn't have read if I wasn't doing this, so yay for me :)

Bookish Resolutions: May Progress

This is really helping me focus my reading! So here's how I've done this month.

1. Read 200 books in 2015:
Well, number-wise I'm up to 120, which is crazy, but page-wise I'm less than half way to what I read last year. I've read quite a few picture books and early reader graphic novels, which I count as books, but which don't bump the page number that much. So, while the book count is good, I'm hoping to bump the page count a bit in the next month.

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015 (1 a month preferably):
WOW! I read 5 non-fiction books this month (and 1 of those I enjoyed, but am weeding from my collection to make room, so double win!). I read Sun Tzu's The Art of War, G. Neri's graphic novel biography Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty, Max Lucado's 3:16 The Numbers of Hope, If I May a collection of essays by A.A. Milne, and The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived by Allan Lazar, Jeremy Salter, and Dan Karlan.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:
I finished Wendy Delsol's The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls bringing it down to 2 1/2 books left lingering (that I'm not actively reading). So nice to start seeing this actually represent what I'm actually currently reading. (And that 1/2 is a book I was reading for research for a novel that I've temporarily shelved, so I am going to read it sometime, but if it's not read this year, I'll be okay with that.)

4. Read at least 2 print books I already own each month (with an eye to weeding):
I started reading through alphabetically by title, so I've actually made progress on this one! I read Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived (mentioned above in #2), The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls (mentioned in #3), Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers, 3:16 (one of my non-fiction reads), and The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale. Out of those 6, I weeded 3. It's nice to finally see a win in this resolution! I may be taking a break from the alphabetically to work through the books I just picked up at BEA, though, so I can review close to release dates, rather than sitting on them for five years as has happened in the past. We'll see what happens.

5. Read at least 2 eBooks I already own each month (I upped this from 1 to 2, because I've been blowing it out of the water each month):
Another alphabetical win! I read a total of 9, though 2 of those were superhero weeklies and a couple were more novellas. But still! Books read that I own. I read After the End by Amy Plum, Apocalypse Weird: The Red King by Nick Cole, Aquaman 1: The Trench by Geoff Johns, The Arena Wars and War of Hearts by Samantha Hoffman, 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass, Arrow #1 by Marc Guggenheim, A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont, and The Art of War (one of my non-fiction titles).

How about you? What have you read that you've loved? Have you made any bookish resolutions? How's it going?

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way Through My Books

After moving to my new place and sifting through all my print books twice (once while packing them, once while unpacking them) and getting rid of probably 2-3 boxes of them and getting them all cataloged in LibraryThing (which is a magical site that allows me to stop buying duplicates of books ALL THE TIME) I decided that I really needed to catalog my eBooks too.

This took a long time and a lot of patience and several restarts as I changed the way I wanted to organize them.

Then I decided I really should mark every book that I haven't read.

All of these things combined to open my eyes to the plethora of books I own but haven't read, or am dying to reread, or will probably never read in a million years.

So a few more books went out the door. A handful of eBooks got deleted from my Nook account.

And I decided there had to be a better way of systematically reading all of those free eBooks and ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies or Galleys) that I had picked up over the years. So I did the logical thing and started with A. Well, actually I started with the books that have numbers for titles, because those get put before the As. And when I finish one I take of the "Unread" label and, if it's an eBook, I archive it so it doesn't show up on my Nook anymore, but I can download it again should I ever want to, or, if it's a print book, decide whether to put it back on the shelf or plop it in the to sell or donate box.

I started this toward the end of last year with my eBooks, and last month for print books. And so far I've read 30 eBooks and 4 print books I probably wouldn't have read (or wouldn't have read yet). Some of them I would have gotten to before others, since they were by favorite authors. But honestly, many of them would have probably languished on my Nook or bookshelf forever.

Some of them have been wonderful books. Some of them have been good. A couple have been awful. Many have been just okay. But they are all now read.

But I noticed something in the last week.

See, I get daily e-mails from three wonderful sites: BookBub, The Fussy Librarian, and Bookperk. You sign up for free, in some cases you select the genres, formats, content that you like and then they magically deliver a list of books that are cheap or free. Every. Day. It's magical. I've discovered sales on some of my favorite authors this way. I highly recommend them.

And it used to be that every day I would be downloading at least one free book. Every. Day.

That adds up to a lot of books. A lot of eBooks that were languishing on my Nook.

I noticed, now that I'm actively reading through many of these free books that I've downloaded in the past, I am much pickier about the ones I buy or download. Even if they're free. Because I have, according to my LibraryThing shelf, over 1,200 books I haven't read yet. TWELVE HUNDRED.

So instead of saying, like I used to, HEY IT'S FREE. DOWNLOAD ALL THE BOOKS, I say, Do I really want to add this to my list?

Sometimes the answer is YES.
Sometimes the answer is perhaps.
But more often now it's... probably not.

So by reading the books I already own I'm not only weeding out my personal collection, but I'm also keeping myself from adding to it!

A side benefit I never expected.

How are you at reading books you've already bought? Do you keep a tight rein on yourself or are you like me and own almost as many books you haven't read as those you have? Do you have a system that keeps you from buying or downloading more books than you could possibly read in one lifetime or did you give up on that long ago?

Bookish Resolutions: April Progress

1. Read 200 books in 2015:
I hit the library for picture books again. So I'm up to 87 of the 200 ... really good considering it's only April! I have read other books, though, not just picture books and graphic novels. This month I've read 15 books over 200 pages and 7 of those were over 300 (1 over 400). So they balance out the 11 that were under 100 pages.

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015 (1 a month preferably):
I have 7 read so far! And 2 read this month. I listened to The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, which was fascinating. I also read Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures by John Granger, which was an interesting look at the literary influences in Harry Potter.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:
I didn't get through any of these this month, but I only have 4 left and still have 8 months, so I'm not too concerned.

4. Read at least 2 print books I already own each month (with an eye to weeding):
I read 3 books (all of which had been sitting on my shelves for a while) so this one was finally a win. I read Janet Gurtler's #16 Things I Thought Were True (though to be fair, I knew that one wouldn't get weeded), 5 Cheesy Stories by Patsy Clairmont (I will be holding onto this one to read with my nieces and nephew), and 29 by Adena Halpern (which I enjoyed but will be weeding because I probably won't read it again). I did better this month because I adopted the strategy I've been applying to eBooks and just started alphabetically on my unread shelf in Library Thing. So rather than dithering about what to read or heading toward more recent acquisitions that I would most likely not be getting rid of, I'm forced to just read what's next on the list.

5. Read at least 1 eBook I already own each month:
Did well on this one again. I read 4 eBooks this month. These included A Dangerous Inheritanceby Alison Weir, Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, Angels Watching Over Me by Michael Phillips, and Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact. I'm almost done with the As! Maybe I can finish them off in May!

Yay for books!

Bookish Resolutions: March Progress

1. Read 200 books in 2015:
Still moving happily along. 56 books putting me at 28%. Still ahead for the year and with a few books right on the edge of being finished.

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015:
I squeaked in on this one, listening to Tina Fey's Bossypants during a long car ride since I realized I hadn't even started reading one this month. That puts me at 5 so far, so still ahead of the game, but my goal is really to read at least 1 non-fiction book a month, so I'm still on target for that.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:
I cleared one more out - Hope Leslie, an old school read I'd never finished. That leaves me with 3.5 (one of them is sort of actually currently reading, sort of just hanging out there). Still, nice progress with plenty of time left in the year.

4. Read at least 2 print books I already own each month, with an eye toward weeding:
This resolution continues to be my downfall. I did read Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day George, but I also knew I was not going to be getting rid of it. I squeaked in Dangerous by Shannon Hale (another keeper) with six minutes left in the month. But both of those titles were on my to read list and I do own them. I'm going to try some sort of alphabetical thing like with my e-books because that is helping me rock the goal.

5. Read at least 1 eBook I already own each month:
I honestly think by just working through alphabetically by title, I'm not worried about which book I should read next or figuring out what I'm in the mood for. I just click on the next title. I've enjoyed some of them a lot. Others have made me roll my eyes. But there are less books I own that I haven't read, so that's a good thing. This month I read Hope Leslie by Catharine Maria Sedgwick, 1/2986by Annelie Wendeberg, Also Known As by Robin Benway, Altdorf: A Novel of the Forest Knights by J. K. Swift,  Anathema by Megg Jensen, A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist, Andy McBean and the War of the Worlds by Dale Kutzera, and Angel in the Shadows by Lisa Grace so 8 books. Pretty impressive. And it also makes me feel better about the print goal, because this is where a lot of time went.

And there you have it. Any resolutions you've kept up with or are struggling with?

Bookish Resolutions: February Progress

1. Read 200 books in 2015:

Still doing quite well on this front. I've read a total of 41 putting me at 21% of my goal. Pretty good, considering we're only 2 months into the year.

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015:

I knocked this out of the park this month. I finished A Life and Its Mirrors: A Feminist Reading of L.M. Montgomery's Fiction by Gabriella Ahmansson as well as The Alpine Path: The Story of My Career by L. M. Montgomery, AND I finished Poetics of Reverie: Childhood, Language, and Cosmos by Gaston Bachelard. So, feeling pretty good about this.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:

I finished another book for this one, bringing my total down to 6, with only 2 of those being actual currently reading books. That means I only have 5 more to finish this year. Totally doable.

4. Read at least 2 print books I already own each month, with an eye toward weeding:

Didn't do as well with this one, though. Technically I "completed" this, finishing off Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz from my currently reading list and then reading My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins. I am getting rid of Splendors and Glooms but I don't feel that the other one really counts as it's a fairly new purchase and I knew I wouldn't be getting rid of it. But I was deep in the two ILL non-fiction books I had to get back, so I give myself a little bit of a pass this month.

5. Read at least 1 eBook I already own each month:

Did quite well on this goal as well. I finished off The Adventures of Gerard by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset by Sarah Ashwood, The Adventures of Zelda: A Pug Tale by Kristen Otte, Alessandra by Lizzy Ford (though this was a short story), Alice in Zombielandby Nickolas Cook and Lewis Carroll, A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist, and The Alpine Path: The Story of My Career by L. M. Montgomery (one of my non-fiction reads). Rousing success on the e-book front. I think working my way through (roughly) alphabetically is keeping me from dithering over what I should or want to read on my Nook and I just move to the next one.

I am, however, in a bit of a reading dry spell at the moment, so I'm hoping I can get back into the swing of things and stay on top of my goals for March.

Any reading successes you'd like to share?

Bookish Resolutions: January Progress

I think that updating on my blog every month how I'm doing on my resolutions will help me stay on track! So here goes:

1. Read 200 books in 2015:
I've been marking picture books To Read as I go through Publisher's Weekly for my job - kind of a side perk - so a couple weeks ago I took the list to my local library and checked out a stack of picture books and middle grade graphic novels and devoured them, which helped my total quite a bit.
So as of right now, I've read 26 books - which is 9 ahead of schedule and putting me at 13% of my goal. * of those were picture books and 8 of them were MG graphic novels. Being ahead now will help me as I get slowed down on some of the longer books I know I want to read this year.

2. Read 12 non-fiction books in 2015:
I squeaked this one out by finishing Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night. This was a really good read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm also about half way through another non-fiction book, so February is looking quite promising already.

3. Clear out my Currently Reading GoodReads shelf:
I am doing all right here. I deleted 2 that I knew I wasn't going to be getting to any time soon, so there was no need to have them sitting there. I also finished The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, so I am now down to 10 on this list, 4 of which are ones I'm actually currently reading. That's only 6 more I need to attack and clear off.

4. Read at least 2 print books I already own each month, with an eye toward weeding:
I didn't really do as well with this resolution. The Boyfriend App did double duty here, being both on my Currently Reading shelf and a print book I own that I hadn't read yet. The other book I read was a purchase at the end of last year, and is one I knew I wouldn't be getting rid of - Stephanie Perkins' Isla and the Happily Ever After. It had been sitting in my TBR pile, but I really want to try to read books I own that have been sitting there for a long time for this resolution - in addition to the books I "want" to read right now. I did a lot of library-ing this month too, so I had books I had to read so I could return them. I think I need to cool it on the library until I get through some of the books I own (but libraries are awesome-sauce!)

5. Read at least 1 eBook I already own each month:
I'm pretty happy with my progress here. I did a mini purge of my eBook collection, deleting a handful of books. Then I just started with the A's (well, actually with the numbered books, since the Nook forefronts numerals in front of A) and began working my way forward. This month I finished 44 by Jools Sinclair - well, I finished the books I own. It's a YA serial and I had a set with the first 5 books, so I finished the 4th and 5th. Then I also read Kim Foster's A Beautiful Heist and Adam Bede by George Eliot, and I'm almost done with The Adventures of Gerard by Arthur Conan Doyle. So I call this one a roaring success (especially since Adam Bede was over 400 pages long :)

So that's where I stand with my bookish resolutions. Did you make any book-related resolutions for the year? I'd love to hear about it!

2015 Book Resolutions

I'm not one to really make resolutions, but this is the 2nd year in a row I decided to make some book-ish ones.

Last year I challenged myself to read 200 books in the GoodReads challenge and made it with flying colors.

I also wanted to read one non-fiction book a month, which I pulled off, scraping by the skin of my teeth with finishing the 12th one yesterday.

And finally I wanted to read at least one book off my shelves a month. That one I didn't do so well on.

So here are my resolutions for 2015:

1. Once again I've set my GoodReads goal for 200 - it's a good number for the mix of books I read including a smattering of picture books and graphic novels.
2. Once again I would like to read 12 non-fiction books. I kind of want to up this number, but knowing myself, it's just not going to happen. I want to challenge myself but not make it undoable.
3. I want to clear out my "Currently Reading" shelf on GoodReads. Either I need to take the books off or I need to actually finish the book. By next December I want it to be down to only the books I'm actually actively reading.
4. I want to read at least 2 print books I own a month - with the goal of getting rid of any that I've just been holding onto.
5. And finally, I want to read at least 1 eBook I already own a month.

And that should do it! Any resolutions for you this year? Bookish or otherwise?

No Colored Text: An Open Plea to Publishers

I am very disappointed right now.

I recently finished Marie Lu's book Legend. I really enjoyed it. I'm dying to know what happens next. I found the second and third books at my local library and sat down this afternoon to lose myself in her story.

Except I can't.

Once I hit the second chapter I had to put the book down. They're being returned to the library unread and since my library doesn't have them on audio, I don't know when I'll end up getting a chance to finish the series.

What made such a dramatic turn around? The sections from Day's perspective are printed in a bright aqua with rather bold squarish letters.

After reading only a paragraph my eyes were straining and my head had started throbbing.

And that's honestly not an exaggeration.

The square text would have been enough to differentiate the voices, The blue really isn't necessary. The third book has Day's perspective in vivid red. My vision was spotting just opening to book to see.

And I'm not one to normally be very bothered by this. I managed to get through Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver trilogy (though the third one was a struggle). And I barely even noticed that the text in Kiersten White and Jim Di Bartolo's In the Shadows was colored.

However, I have a sister who has difficulty with colored text. She still hasn't finished the Shiver trilogy and had some problems finishing In the Shadows. I know for a fact she will never be able to read these books.

I read Legend on my Nook, so perhaps these would be safe there, but I wouldn't want to risk it.

I'm only calling these out because these are the books I've encountered with colored text.

So Penguin, Scholastic, and any other publisher considering printing books with colored text, please don't. It might seem like a nice feature, but I guarantee that you are losing readers over it.

Perhaps print a special edition with the colored text, but most of them with black ink. That way people who don't mind/like the colors could have them, but people like me and my sister and many others with sensitivity to colored fonts can enjoy the authors we want to read.

Moving Right Along

It's happened. I'm actually in my new apartment. Woot! I still find it weird to look around and think, this is where I live now...
I had a bunch of wonderful people help me move and they only razzed me a little bit about all the books I own. (Since I used almost all B&N boxes to pack they seemed to believe I had bought out the entire store before I left :)
So we moved all the stuff in on Saturday and then I returned "home" to stay one more night so I could spend Father's Day with my Dad and then Sunday night I came "home" for the first time. (finding both places are now considered home which adds to weirdness)
I am so glad I planned on doing this because after people who helped had left and it was just family, Mom and Dad and sis asked what they could do to help, but I was just totally overwhelmed and couldn't even think, so Mom and I went shopping for things I realized I really really needed (like a kitchen trash can and a shower curtain) and I just left everything to start on Monday.
Monday morning I was up bright and early because my internet installation appointment was between 8 and 10 am. The Comcast guy came right around 8:30 and set everything up within about half an hour. He was super nice and I was relieved I didn't have to go more than half a day without internet (I may have a problem).
The kitchen was my first project and I kept a running list of things I discovered I still needed (like a step stool and sponge caddy). The biggest strain of unpacking the kitchen was washing all of the wonderful new things I go like all of my canisters, my new dishes and silverware. I did things in batches. Unpacked a couple of boxes until the counter was piled high, washed them, let them dry while I unpacked more boxes or ran to the store or ate breakfast or lunch. But I got most of the kitchen done. I have a few more boxes to tackle today and then I can move on to my bedroom.
Here are the "before" pictures of my apartment. As I finish or after I finish unpacking I'll post the after ones.

Kitchen 1
We did move the boxes
around the stove before we left

Kitchen 2
Love all my cabinets

Living Room 1
I don't have a couch yet

Living Room 2
So this is where a lot of boxes
ended up temporarily

Bedroom 1
Yay for closet space!

Bedroom 2
So grateful Mom made up the bed
Made Sunday night less stressful

Office/Spare Room 1
This is such a nice extra space for me

Office/Spare Room 2
Everyone was jealous of my
rolltop desk - my favorite
piece of furniture

These are pretty much all book boxes...

My first apartment!...now what?

1 week from tomorrow is my move in day. Into my first apartment. For the first time I will be living out from under my parent's roof. I am super excited about this, not because I dislike my parents, but because it means I get to pick the stuff that goes into the house and where to put it!

But as I contemplated this move, I began doing many interweb searches on what I would need when moving into my first place. Because there is a lot guys. So many things. And I found some really helpful lists and suggestions that helped me figure things out. For your edification, here is a list of the things I found to be most important or that I hadn't thought about at first that sort of compiles some of the other lists I found along with things I added.

Furniture - this seems obvious, but it warrants a little thinking:

• tv cabinet
• bookshelves
• couches/chairs
• side tables
• dining furniture
• bed
• dresser
• desk
• inflatable mattress (I got one for easy company sleeping)

Lamps and lights - there is, fortunately, good lighting in my apartment, but I will still need more of these than I had in one bedroom.

Kitchen appliances - If there is one thing I'm excited about, it's that I'll have my own kitchen. I like to cook and my apartment has lots of counter and cabinet space. But I'm going to fill that up with

• toaster oven (or toaster if you prefer, but toaster ovens are the bees knees and I can't imagine living without one)
• microwave (if you want those evil rays infiltrating your brain. Or to warm up food fast)
• blender
• bread maker
• crockpot
• mixer (whether stand or hand or both)
• you might also need things like a coffee maker
• rice cooker
• juicer depending on what kinds of things you like to cook

Other Kitchen Stuff

• pots and pans
• baking sheets and pans (loaf, 13x9, cupcake)
• spatulas, spoons, scrapers, etc.
• glass or plastic storage containers to hold all the delicious food you cook
• cooling rack
• measuring cups (liquid and dry) and measuring spoons
• paper towel holder
• dish towels
• dish cloths
• hot pads and/or oven mitts
• mixing bowls
• rolling pin
• whisk
• pizza cutter
• ice cream scoop
• cutting board(s)
• knives
• can opener
• ladle
• tongs
• peeler
• aluminum foil/plastic wrap/wax paper/zipper bags
• toothpicks/matches

Dining Stuff

• plates and bowls
• silverware
• serving bowls
• napkins
• placemats
• tablecloths
• salt & pepper shakers
• cups and glasses

Bathroom Supplies

• bath mat
• shower curtain
• towels
• washcloths
• hand towels
• toilet paper

Cleaning Supplies

• sponges
• toilet brush and plunger
• broom and dustpan
• vacuum
• toilet/glass/bathroom/all purpose cleaner
• trash cans and wastebaskets/garbage bags
• paper towels
• dish detergent
• laundry detergent/dryer sheets/softener/stain removers

Other random things

• first aid supplies
• extension cords
• picture hanging supplies
• hammer/screwdriver/allen wrench
• duct tape/super glue
• step stool
• q-tips
• clothes pins
• batteries
• light bulbs
• recipes

And I also gathered some food stuffs so I wouldn't be tempted to eat out every day during my first couple of weeks:

• spices
• flour
• sugar (powdered, white, and brown)
• salt
• baking soda/baking powder/cornstarch/yeast
• vanilla extract
• yeast
• non-stick cooking spray
• pasta/rice/couscous/potatoes/whatever starchy thing you like
• oatmeal/cereal
• bread/wraps/bagels
• canned and/or frozen veggies
• salad dressing(s)/soy sauce/worcestshire sauce/bbq sauce/ketchup/mayo/mustard
• butter/margarine/Smart Balance
• milk/cheese/eggs
• chicken/tuna/ground meat (turkey, beef, venison, or whatever)
• meals in a box like Hamburger Helper, mac&cheese, or other meal starters just so I have easy things to fix or throw in the crockpot while I'm unpacking and tired from the move stuff
• ice cream (because, let's face it, when you've spent all day at the DMV and come home to an apartment full of boxes you're going to want a little treat)

This is a list I've compiled over the last 6 months or so, but by no means is it exhaustive. Some of the stuff I've listed you might not need and you might absolutely have to have something I never considered. If you think of anything important I've forgotten please feel free to leave it in the comments! And I'll come back and add stuff if I remember anything (or move and wish I'd had it).

Dusting off ye olde blog

I put this blog into stasis mode for a while, trying to deal with a LOT of things going on in my life. BUT exciting things have happened and I had a couple of post ideas I wanted to write with nowhere to post them. And I have some people in my life who want to keep up with things that happen to me once I leave them so I figured, hey, I've got this blog - why not use it again.

Here are a few of the super exciting things that have happened in the last six month that I will be writing about or that have led to things that I will want to write about:

1. I finished my second Master's degree in December. Let's just say I had the most insane 3 1/2 years of my life before that. I was getting my Master's in English and working as a TA teaching college English and after a year I decided I didn't want to go for my PhD in English - instead I wanted to go for Library Science. Because libraries rock. And because I wanted to work with students, but not necessarily teach regular classes. So I started applying and got into an amazing online program which I jumped into the fall after I graduated with my MA. And because I'm insane I took 3 classes a quarter (while teaching 2-3 freshman English classes as and adjunct) so I could finish my degree in 5 quarters. The time flew by and the classes were amazing and I felt for the first time in a really long time that I was in the right field on the right path for me.
2. I got a job. So I had the two degrees - now I needed a job. I went through the process of preparing my resume and cv and writing cover letters and finding all of the random information about previous jobs that I never could have imagined I would need to know. I sent out dozens of applications. And I got what is essentially my dream job. I am so blessed and I praise God for His guidance in this every day because I never in a million years could have believed I would get this job as my first library job.
3. I am going to move. EEP. I've been living at home because my parents are amazing and let me live rent free while I'm in school. And I actually like my family. But the job is in the next state over. And I can finally afford my own place with the new job. And I'm ready to move out. (really ready). And I found a great little apartment and everything is amazingly falling into place.

So those are the crazy things that have been going on in my life since December. And I will be, at some point, writing about the things I learned about applying and job hunting and interviews. And I am narcissistic enough to want to post things about my new apartment and the crazy things I am sure will happen as I move out on my own away from everyone I know. So here they will be.

Ciao!

Stasis Mode

I just want to thank all of you who still poke your heads in here occasionally. I have decided to put this blog into stasis mode for now. I may resurrect it again.

For now, I'm moving Retail Wednesdays completely to the Tumblr. I know many of you find it easier here, but I am finding it too hard to keep up both, so neither is happening. So you are more than welcome to find it over there :) Booksellersarepeopletoo

I also post over at Booksellers Without Borders NY.

And I just started the new blog The Amateur Medialogist to vent and discuss movies, TV, and books (and music on occasion)

Thanks for all of your support in my random ramblings here and maybe I'll see you here again someday :)

My Reading Year in Review

Yesterday I was reading Sarah Enni's review of her read books from 2013, and I thought that it would be interesting to do something like that for myself. I put together some different categories based on what I was personally interested in knowing about the books that I read, threw all the data into Excel and started playing with pie charts (so much fun)(yes I am a nerd).

And since I spent more time doing this than I would probably want to admit, I thought I would share my findings with all of you.

Before you look, I do want to make a couple of qualifiers:

1. This is very subjective. I assigned the genres, etc. as I saw that they fit, so a book I listed as a fantasy someone else might stick in another genre. And with many of the graphic novels I decided whether they were 1st or 3rd person based on my perception if it wasn't really obvious.
2. The "special format" chart is just based on my curiosity of some of the different formats. Graphic Novels are all different genres and geared toward different ages, so I was curious to see how many I read, but didn't want to take away from listing them as fantasy or contemporary or whatever.
3. For the Focus Age chart I broke it down into Kids (picture books or board books), MG (middle grade, chapter books, kind of 6ish-12ish years old), YA (teen), NA (New Adult (college or early 20s - the book either self-identified as such or that I perceived as belonging in this category), and Adult (anything else). Again this is based on my personal perspectives. I listed the Buffy graphic novels as Adult, though they could be considered either YA or NA, etc.
4. If there were multiple authors all of the same gender (such as CLAMP) I just listed them as that gender. Same with main characters. If there was more than one author of different genders I listed it as multiple (same with MCs) and with some of the graphic novels if there were multiple authors but it was clear that one was the major creator sometimes I just listed it under that one. Like I said in 1 - very subjective.

So this year I read 190 books, so there was a lot of data to compile. I've decided to keep a chart like this going over the next year so I can do this again without it taking as long.

If you're still curious after all this rigmarole here come the pie charts!

I did learn some interesting things about my reading and confirmed other things that I already knew. Like I read mostly fiction - I am now determining to try to read a little bit more non-fiction this year to broaden my tastes a bit. For genres Fantasy definitely took 1st place, which wasn't a surprise. But I read a lot more contemporary fiction than I thought and not as much historical fiction as I thought. I would like to balance these out just a bit, but I love me some fantasy and dystopian so this probably won't change a whole lot this year, and I'm perfectly fine with that. The genders of authors and main characters was about what I expected. I thought I had a bit of a nice balance in both, though I think I'd like to read more books from male perspectives since I always struggle writing the male voice and another goal I have is to work on revising my WIP, which alternates between a male and a female.

Overall I found this an interesting exercise just to see what my reading habits are. I keep track of books on GoodReads (which is amazing and you should totally be on it if you aren't), but to see them broken down this way is quite intriguing.

7 Reasons You Should be Watching Cult

1. It's a TV show about a ... TV show. Yeah. Every time I try to explain it to someone it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it's not. I tend to get sucked into TV shows I love ... just a little bit *cough cough* and I love that they took this idea and spun a whole mystery around it.

2. Matthew Davis. Okay, so I admit that he is the only reason I started watching this show. I loved him as Alaric on The Vampire Diaries and I was so sad when that character had run his course. So as soon as I heard he was going to be in a new show I was all over it. I practically had my DVR set before they even announced the premier date. Not only is he easy on the eyes, but I love the character he plays in Cult as well. It's actually a fairly similar part, but his tortured past, missing brother, and bulldog tenacity makes him someone you can really root for.

3. The show is smart, clever, and interesting with a mythology that keeps getting more and more intricate - but stays away from the paranormal or the supernatural which is a nice change of pace.

4. It doesn't take itself too seriously. The show pokes fun at itself, at fans, at other genres of shows - it's serious, but just light enough that it actually makes it more believable.

5. It's actually fairly believable. With what little I know about TV fandoms online, I can absolutely see a cult developing out of a TV show with fans willing to kill (literally) to be considered "true believers." My Dad and I started watching The Following, but after a few episodes it had crossed over into such unbelievable territory that we couldn't take it. It was also a lot more gory. Cult has a lot of similar elements, but the premise is something I'm much more willing to swallow. And it's a little lighter on the "horror" side.

6. The relationship between Jeff and Skye. From the minute these two meet there is a great chemistry. And I love that they have developed a friendship, but that the show creators don't seem to be dragging out the romantic side of it. Only 5 episodes in and there is already a definite movement toward something more in their relationship. Not that I like things to move quickly just to move quickly, but it can be crazy-making when you know the two main characters are going to get together eventually, but it takes like 4 seasons for no reason whatsoever.

7. The "other" TV show - also called Cult of course, and also put out by the CW (ha). I love the way we get snippets of this other show. Alona Tal and Robert Knepper play the girl who escaped and the cult leader SO well. Plus, getting to see them as actors and actresses "behind the scenes" is just such a fascinating construct for a show!

So there you have it. Here's one fan who is holding her breath and crossing her fingers that we get another season (at least)!

Stagnant and Terrified

How's that for a post title for the first time I'm blogging in oh nigh unto forever.

Yes, I've been busy. Super busy. But then again who isn't?

Yes, I'm juggling multiple chainsaws. But then again who isn't?*

The truth is, I've let my voice get stolen by all the "things" going on. The old paying the bills, trying to get the training to move to a career I will love, spending time with the important people in my life, make sure I stay current on all my favorite tv shows thing. And all of those things are important. And all of them need to get done (okay, so the tv thing doesn't need to get done.... but that's another post altogether).

And little by little in the last two years or so I've just let all these things eat away at this part of me that I didn't even think I would really miss. This little thing called writing. I've been writing papers and essay prompts and exams and e-mails and even managed to post over at our Booksellers Without Borders NY blog.

But it really isn't enough and I had NO idea it wouldn't be enough until this past week.

Last year I wrote a NaNoWriMo rough draft. And I was obsessed with the story. I fell in love with the story and the premise and the characters and I had absolutely no idea where on earth it was going. So I shelved it.

And then I decided that I couldn't write it until I had worked out the plot so I read Save the Cat which blew my mind and I sketched out a beat sheet and I did all this great worldbuilding in my head and I didn't write a single word.

I kept making excuses and it kept haunting me.

And this year I had this "great idea" for NaNoWriMo and I couldn't write anything. I think I bashed out about 2,000 words which was actually just rewriting the first scene about six times.

So I threw in the towel and said I'm just too busy with grad school. I'll get around to writing more one of these days.

Then last week I happened to be online when Miss Snark's First Victim put up the submission details for the Talkin' Heads critique. I was in the middle of a homework assignment and I felt absolutely compelled to drop everything and enter something.

I opened my WIP document and almost almost closed it up and went back to doing what I was "supposed" to be doing. But I couldn't. I couldn't do it. So I dug around and I found a passage and I tweaked and trimmed and revised to get it to fit the word limit and I entered it and I got in.

And then I went back to my homework.

And then Monday I almost forgot about it, until I got the e-mail and I started doing some critiquing - the whole give-and-take if you entered you needed to comment and it was fun and I skipped around and read a lot and commented some and I was absolutely terrified to see what people had said about mine.

But you know what? People liked it. The phrases and dialogue that I loved they loved too. And the turn of phrase that gave me chills gave someone else chills too.

And they offered constructive criticism that made me roll my eyes at my own ridiculousness because of course they were right about this thing I always forget to do.

And I opened up the document and I wrote the first scene and for the first time in over a year I felt completely alive.

And the next night I wrote the next scene.

And the next night I wrote the first scene from the other character's perspective.

Yes because I felt validated that this is something I can do, that this is something I am good at.
But mostly because I HAD to write. I HAVE to get Evva's and Devvon's story on paper (metaphorically speaking of course).

I have always been one of those people that liked to write, but wasn't really driven. If I didn't write for a month or so it didn't bother me. But I don't think I can ignore it anymore. Maybe I'll only write 100 words a day. Maybe it will take me 5 years to finish this flooding** book. But it doesn't matter. What matters is I have to write it.

And somehow, I managed to get all those other things in too. And turn my homework in on time. So there.

*Actually, if you are really juggling actual chainsaws I think I'd like to see that. Or not.
**btw this is Devvon invading my brain

I'm Still Alive!

Oh my good gracious but the dust that has piled up on this blog.

I miss blogging, I really do. But it's just not in the cards for me right now. But I am always happy when I think about the blogs and people that I met here.

Here are some things I have been doing instead of blogging:

1. Reading like 300 pages of articles a week for my library classes. Werd. And I thought that being an English major was bad.

2. Teaching and grading and molding freshmen minds mwa hahahahaha

3. Learning how to live on about 4 hours of sleep a night without dying.

4. Eating brownies. Occasionally.

5. Working at a bookstore helping crazy people find books.

6. Having a mental break down over writing a grant proposal, but then figuring it all out and doing well on the assignment.

7. Watching a little too much tv.

8. Reading some stuff that I want to read. Even if it's just a page at a time.

9. Listening to as many audiobooks as I can during my commute.

10. Being a crazy geek with other crazy geeks and loving it.

So what have you been up to?

Teaching Joys

So I have commenced my career as an adjunct professor. Having two years under my belt from the amazing TA experience during my Master's program, I feel so much more confident and relaxed as I approach the classroom this semester.

I'm teaching 1 section of English 1201 and 2 sections of English 1202 and I am loving it. There are definitely days when I want to pull my hair out, but I've had a couple of days that went so well I felt like I was walking on air.

In one 1201 class I split the students into two groups and assigned each group a side to take on whether a liberal arts education was beneficial or not. The debate got so heated a couple of times that I had to literally stand between them and shout a little to get them to calm down. The discussion of ideas and the nuance of arguments that began thrilled my soul!

And then this past week I taught one of my favorite visual texts - the alphabet from the New England Primer. After we analyzed and annotated the image I had groups of students come up with their own primer.  They got really into it, even developing rhyming couplets to explain each word and got in a little one-upmanship as they tried to outdo each other with cleverness. So much fun.

Meanwhile in 1202 I had one of the best in-class discussions ever in a class when we started digging into gender roles and stereotypes in connection to The Glass Menagerie. In both classes the students (almost all of them) had so much to say, so many opinions and they debated back and forth with a minimum of guidance from me. Referencing specific moments in the play and referring back to the non-fiction framing texts I used to set up the drama unit. It was amazing.

And on Thursday I asked groups to summarize a scene from Twelfth Night, the Shakespeare play for the class, but I put a spin on it and told them they only had 140 characters: like a Tweet. Some of them struggled with it more than others, but they all managed to get an entire scene, and then the entirety of Act 2, boiled down to such a short phrase. Some of them even got into the Twitter aspect and had @s and hashtags that made me laugh out loud.

The camaraderie in all three classes has been fantastic and, while a lot of it is the luck of the draw and I have great students, I think a lot of it also comes from the fact that I'm more comfortable in my own skin.

But the one thing this has definitely shown me is how much I love teaching these classes and how blessed I am to be doing something so fulfilling.