Showing posts with label websites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label websites. Show all posts

Thursday, April 29, 2010

How To Indulge Your Naughty Book Love

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These are my bookshelves. They are fairly unimpressive, but also overflowing.

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Ideally, 'overflowing' would be a welcome arrangement, but my 90 sq. ft. bedroom is not ideal (and despite me calling them unimpressive, I think they are pretty amazing—much better than the huge bookcase I had in before that took up too much floor space). Books keep coming and I have no place to put them. What you see here, this is literally the ONLY SPACE I HAVE if I want to keep my room from looking like it belongs on Hoarders! As a result, my office desk is becoming a bookshelf in itself. The stack has grown so much that co-workers have begun to comment, and I'm thinking about operating a small lending library from my cubicle.


When I see rooms (or photos of rooms) with plentiful, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, I get envious. I dream of the day I have more than 90 sq. ft. of living space and a library (and I mean a room, not just a collection) of my very own.

Actually, 'dream' is the wrong word. I fantasize. I have wicked fantasies about a room that contains beautiful built-ins around which the rest of the room flows, colorful spines aligned neatly in a row, enormous windows, and a big comfy chair. Bookshelf space goes right on my list of house 'must-haves,' along with a front porch and a record collection.

Since you're reading book blogs, there's a good chance we share the same fantasy. How would you feel about a room like this? Or this? Or this? And don't you just love libraries like this and bookstores like this? I'm assuming you shouted, "Oh, yes!" out loud right there, and there's a new site I discovered created for people like us. And it's called...

Are you ready for this?

Head on over and indulge in some...Bookshelf Porn. Which one is your favorite?

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Awards Time

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The past two weeks have been Crazy with a capital 'C'. I had a birthday, enjoyed a visit from my parents, and took a business trip to South Dakota (!). Needless to say, I've been a bit behind [my Google Reader has backed up to 450+ unread posts. No bueno]. I'm afraid these things almost got lost in the madness, but they made it out alive.

J.T. @ Bibliofreak honored us with the Humane Award. 

She states:
"This award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn’t for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendship through the blog world."
J.T. is participating in our Back to School Reading Challenge, and I hope you are too!


I also got an email the other morning informing me we have been listed in the 101 Book Blogs You Need to Read. We appreciate the mention, and be sure to explore the list; there are some great blogs on there!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A Note on Sarcasm and Wit

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I've been going through all the shortlists for the BBAW awards, and I've discovered so many blogs. I mean, I know there are a lot out there, but there are a lot out there. It got me thinking that one of the main draws of book blogs (and blogs in general), besides getting so many good recommendations for my 'to read' list, is getting to know and enjoy the personalities of the blogs' authors. 

Sadly, I think I have been focusing so much on writing a good and coherent review in my posts (coherent because I tend to inarticulately ramble when talking out loud) that I have put my stunning personality, sarcasm, and wit on the back burner. And that's not the point—my goal is to always be fairly blunt and give an honest opinion and reaction to a book. My own mother even praised my blog-writing wit when I hopped the pond last year, and I'm fairly certain before that she wouldn't have been able to define the word "blog."

So I hope to amend this. And because I enjoy sites like The Superficial, Passive Aggressive Notes, Overheard in New York, People of Walmart, Texts From Last Night, STFU Marrieds, and Cats That Look Like Hitler, I was very excited to discover these equally entertaining blogs in the past couple of days:

In memory of a masterpiece of public television, I leave you with this. Just how I remember it, lying in front of the TV on my grandparents' carpet drinking milkshakes.


Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Books on NPR

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As part of my own personal project to stay attune to NPR podcasts, I've been spending a good portion of the day at work catching up on last week's programs. And lo and behold, they talk about books an awful lot! Here are a few programs I thought would be of interest to the booking world. The Julia Child interview is particularly enjoyable!

Have you seen Julie & Julia? I'm curious about how the characters are each portrayed on screen in contrast to the book, based on the reviewer's comments.

It's also refreshing to hear positive criticism of chick-lit!

And do you have anything to add to the 'Must-Read' children's classics?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Marc Fitten's Indie 100

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Marc Fitten is an author with a mission. He's on tour for his new book, Valeria's Last Stand, but has decided to "spice things up" (his own words) while on the road. Thus was born Marc Fitten's Indie 100, a look at 100 independent bookstores throughout the country.

Along with the basic facts (address, description, pictures), Marc gives his blog readers some interesting tidbits about the featured bookstore. Like how one hosts school fieldtrips; one started a nonprofit to provide free books and bikes to at-risk youth; one is the oldest bookstore in the state of Virginia. He does a great job of getting to the heart of a particular bookstore and providing a brief image of all it has to offer.

And now I'm curious about the author. Nice marketing style, Marc.



Are there any indie bookstores you recommend in your area?

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A History Lesson (and Contest!) for Booknerds

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The National Book Foundation has impressed me with a very cool concept! To celebrate the 60th year of the National Book Awards, the NBF has started a book-a-day blog that will chronicle the previous 59 Fiction winners. The blog will run until September 21st, at which point you'll have the opportunity to vote for the BEST of past years and win two tickets to the 2009 National Book Awards.  

What a great way to learn about some of history's best books!



I just started Walker Percy's The Moviegoer this morning! Have you read any National Book Award winners?