discussion

An Experiment For Myself Starting This Coming Monday

May 18, 2013 by Jamie · 28 Comments

One of my favorite yet most difficult things about blogging is social media — specifically Twitter. I love Twitter. I love the conversations I always get to have. How it really helps me to get to know other bloggers and them to get to know me. I love how it continues the conversations off our blogs. I just LOVE always having a place to go when I want to talk or ask a question. I’ve gotten closer with some of my now bffs BECAUSE of Twitter. Blog-wise, it’s a source of a good amount of traffic.

However, I have a hard time balancing the social media aspect of my blog sometimes. I want to be present. I want to talk and get to know people. I want to be a part of the community. At this point, though, I’m addicted to Twitter. I’m always refreshing it on my phone and always have Tweetdeck open on my computer. The result has been a plummeting level of productivity. Like, really really badly. I’m reading way less and being less efficient as I write my blog posts. It’s become a problem that I’ve been trying to tackle. I’ve started not really going on Twitter during the weekends and shutting down later at night as well as close Tweetdeck when I work on my blog posts. But I need to do more.

What is it that I am going to do to try and help myself get back to a good balance regarding social media?

I’m going on a social media diet for a week — so I guess sort of like a crash diet really?

For 1 week I will be limiting myself to 1 hour per day on Twitter — split however I choose. I’ll be keeping very close track of every single minute because they add up — I KNOW they do when I’m jumping on Twitter to refresh every 15-20 minutes and spend 5 minutes on there.

Why am I doing this/what do I hope to accomplish?

- Become more aware of the mindless Twitter refreshing and just how much time I’m really wasting (not talking about good conversation – just the refreshing and not talking or following drama that I don’t participate in.)

- To combat my Twitter refreshing tick on my phone

- To see how productive I can really be and hope that I’ll want that to be the norm.

- Remember that the world will probably not implode if I don’t answer right away or participate in every conversation.

- Get some “quiet” time — sometimes honestly having SO many opinions or seeing a lot of negativity really effects me and I need to step away.

- Ultimately I want to help myself to regain a good balance and realize how much time I waste and rather focus on quality conversation while I’m on Twitter.

Fears I have about doing this:

- That I will be so disconnected
- That I’ll miss out on good, fun conversations
- People will forget I exist
- That I’ll fail in the first day and forever be addicted to Twitter and my life will fall apart (I’m being REALLY dramatic here hah)

What do I plan to do during this week?

- get blog posts written for when I’ll be in BEA and maybe get further ahead
- do all the annoying behind the scenes things I hate doing (review archive updating, putting reviews on Goodreads, formatting old posts I still haven’t fixed from when I moved to WordPress in March 2012). That was one of my bookish resolutions for this year so I need to get crackin’ on that!
- clean the house
- indulge in some of my other hobbies
- get ready for BEA!!
- comment on blog posts!!
- Work on my super secret project that I referenced here.
- READ READ READ (that’s what always gets the short end of the stick because of my Twitter addiction…which is ironic because the only reason I’m on Twitter is because of my BOOK BLOG)

So what happens after the week?

Every day I plan on writing just a paragraph each day of what I got done for the day, how I feel and what not and then I’ll take that and really evaluate and see how much more I got done and how my general mood is after the week. I’m hoping that it will help me to realize I don’t need to be on as much and help strike a better balance in my social media usage for the blog. I know I’ll still probably be on a lot because I truly enjoy it but hopefully not as much! I’ll probably end up sharing the results of my little experiment. I also will probably be evaluating the other areas where I mindlessly waste time on Twitter.

What about you guys? Do you find yourself addicted to social media? How do you strike a balance? All tips will be welcome! Also, feel free to join me!!

Filed Under: discussion, Uncategorized Tagged With: challenge, discussion, personal, random, social media diet

Sometimes I Do Things That Would Probably Make Some of You Cringe

May 17, 2013 by Jamie · 74 Comments

I already told you that I don’t care about having pristine books or matching covers and it makes me feel like a freaking unicorn in this community (but learned that there are others of you who don’t care either!!) so you know I’m not terribly particular. I don’t mind a used book and I love that sometimes my books are worn and look well-loved. That’s pretty much how ALL MY books when I was younger looked — tattered and loved.

However, I realize that I do some things that would make most book lovers cringe. I’m kind of not so nice to my books.

(Note: These things do NOT apply to borrowed books — so if you lend me a book I swear I take good care of it!)

I dog ear pages.

Shamelessly. I dog ear pages when I don’t have a bookmark or even a random scrap of paper (or am too lazy to grab something) so that I can find my page later. The majority of my dogearing happens when I read an AMAZING book with amazing quotes I want to copy in my quote notebook or passages I know I’ll want to remember so I can read over and over again (lots of swoony scenes). So the more dog ears = AHMAZING BOOK.

I read in the bathtub/pools/other bodies of water.

Reading in water (ESPECIALLY THE TUB) is one of my favorite places to read however I realize it probably gives most of your heart palpitations to get your book close to water for fear of water damage. Not going to lie, when I read in the tub my book does sometimes get little drops of water on it. I’ve never DROPPED a book in the tub but I’ve certainly got a little water damage on my books from wet hands or a splash. Nothing extreme but I know some of you would grimace as you look at the damage to the pages.

I eat & drink while I read.

I know others do this too but I’m BAD because I’m not careful. I have this tendency to drop things and forget to make sure my hands are 100% food free before I turn the next page because I’m just so INTO THE BOOK. I let my dear friend Jen of the now defunct Makeshift Bookmark borrow Mara Dyer a long while ago and I remember warning her that I spilled food because I was too into the book. I’m working on this one, I swear! Ain’t nobody got time to find a napkin when you are ending a really good page and need to get to the next one!

I have the tendency to throw my books around.

I throw my books (not very carefully) in my bags all the time — not really concerned if they get bent or what not. I throw them on the bed when I’m getting my pjs on to read in bed. I throw it in my car. I just THROW MY BOOKS around. I’m not gentle with them at all. As I was typing this I happened to look over and see the state of my current read that I had left on the couch and I had clearly thrown my bag on it. I kid you not, I did not pose this. I’m just not very gentle — probably why I don’t buy really fragile or expensive things often. Go ahead, call out my book manhandling.

I open my books WIDE.

I know some people don’t enjoy cracking the spines on their books but I totally don’t care. I bend them sometimes so the front cover is actually touching when I’m reading a paperback because it fits better in my hand.

So are you appalled with my manhandling of my books?? On a scale of 1 to 5 how much did you cringe while reading my bad habits? Do you do any of these things also or are some of these things like really bad reader behavior??

Filed Under: discussion Tagged With: bookish habits, discussion, reading habits, the bookish life

Before & After #11: Where Books Come From

May 15, 2013 by Jamie · 19 Comments

So you guys. Since early 2012 I’ve been working on this post I wanted to do about the differences between myself as a reader before I was a blogger and after I became a blogger because my habits have changed SO MUCH. I kept putting it off because of wedding plans. I wanted to make this cute graphic that was a list but, when I finally started to work on it this year, it was just looking TOO crowded with about 30 different things and overwhelming and not AT ALL what I had in mind. Then I decided…why not make it a series? The more I thought about it — it would lend to a better discussion if I just give you one at a time. I’m kind of glad my original idea didn’t work out because I’m liking this better. Check the end of the post for previous Before & After’s.

I had the vaguest notion of how books were published. People wrote them and then there were publishers who printed them? I really didn’t know much about the various publishers — I would see HarperCollins or Random House on a back of a book and not really pay attention to it. I just really knew NOTHING about the world of publishing. Books just magically appeared on shelves and I read them.

It’s insane how much I know of the industry now as a blogger (especially because I’m not also a writer). I could name tons of publishers, their imprints and a list of the some of their bigger titles and could definitely tell you the publisher of any recent book I’ve read in the past 3 years. I could even name agents and editors for some of my favorite books or ones that I’ve taken notice of. I understand more the process of how a book goes from author to the shelves of your bookstore. I’m aware of sales going on and I pay attention to industry trends. It’s honestly AMAZING how much I’ve learned about the publishing industry not even setting out to learn about it — definitely makes me appreciate each and every beloved book even more. I do think in some ways that I wish I didn’t know SOME of the things I do because sometimes being a reader without knowledge of the industry is bliss but I wouldn’t trade everything I’ve learned. Not at all. It’s an industry I care about and definitely am glad to be a part of it.

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — As a blogger do you feel like you know a lot more about the industry than you did before or have you stayed unaware of a lot things? Did you know a lot about the industry prior to blogging? What are some things you have learned that may have surprised you? Anything you wish you didn’t know? If you aren’t a blogger — Do you feel like you know a lot about the industry? Do you prefer not to know or just never had an interest in it?

Previous Before & After’s:

The Time In Between Two Books – 2/27
Being Up On New Releases — 3/6
Book Real Estate — 3/15
Re-reading — 3/20
Meeting Authors + Myths About Them — 3/27
The Number of Books Read Per Year — 4/5
Recommending Books — 4/10
Chunky Books — 4/17
Reactions To Books — 4/24
Having People To Talk Books With- 5/8

Filed Under: Before and After, discussion Tagged With: Before And After, bookish habits, discussion, reading habits

I Feel Like A Unicorn In The Blogging/Book World Sometimes!

May 10, 2013 by Jamie · 79 Comments

I’ve already confessed this in my top ten bookish confessions last year (it’s SHOCKING!) but I decided I wanted to talk more about 2 of my confessions after a few conversations I’ve had recently and seeing this post which touched on a few of my confessions but in the OPPOSITE way.

I feel like the ONLY blogger in the WORLD sometimes (dramatically exaggerating here) who does not care about certain things when it comes to buying books.

I do not inspect my books in any way before buying them.

In my almost 3 years of blogging I’ve had a lot of trips to the bookstore or signings with other bloggers and I picked up on this really quickly. Let me set the scene:

A blogger and I are browsing for books. We finally choose what we are going to buy. I grab the book off the shelf and I’m all. OK READY. I turn to look at the blogger and find all of the books off the shelf and she is inspecting it with a magnifying glass as if she is searching for fingerprints or evidence or something. Ok, maybe there were no magnifying glasses but you catch my drift.

Me: Wh-what are you doing? *looks around to see if people are staring*
Blogger: Just grabbing the book!
Me: But….you are literally touching like 10 of them. They are all the same.
Blogger: Yeah but I need to make sure the pages are not bent, that there are no thready things hanging, THAT NOBODY TOUCHED IT EVER.
Me:

Now, in no way do I think there is something wrong with this blogger, because I soon learned this is NORMAL BEHAVIOR and I am in fact OUT OF THE LOOP. But I truly had never thought about inspecting my books before I buy them until that day. A page might be bent? A crease might be on the cover? There are thready things that can hang off the pages? Wrinkles on the pages?? Specks of things? I mean, if there was a huge rip in the cover or an obvious maiming to it I might pick the one behind it but I had NEVER SEEN THIS. Ever. Maybe it’s because I loooove used books and used to buy them a lot. I don’t know.

I do not care if my covers match in a series.

So ready for another story?? I was reading the Jessica Darling series and had just finished book 2. I realized that I was *GASP* missing book 3 but had book 4 & 5. I tweeted a picture of this on my shelf and said, “DO WE SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?” and literally, I kid you not, almost every person said, “Yeah, your books don’t match.” NOT THE ANSWER I EXPECTED TO SEE.

It’s true. They didn’t match. I had never noticed it. I didn’t know this was a thing. All along my shelves are different covers in a series or a hardcover next to a paperback. I just buy the books when I see them! Especially if it’s on sale as in the case of the Jessica Darling series. This amuses me because I would consider myself a person who likes things to match (not annoying matchy match) in fashion and in decor. But books? I’m like ughhh?

So when all these cover re-packagings happen I sit in the corner only mourning if they made them fugly — not because now my series won’t match. (Although I will say I find the excess of the re-packagings rather irritating though it mostly doesn’t affect me). Would it be awesome if all my books in a series matched? SURE IT WOULD BE. Would I notice? Probably not!

Now before we get to talking just remember:

So I’m not judging your habits at the bookstore

What about you guys? Do you inspect your books?? (what do you look for?? Please tell me!!) Is it something you’ve always done? Do all your series have to match?? Are there any other “book OCDs” you have? Is there anybody who honestly doesn’t care? I’m telling you…I feel like a pinky sparkly unicorn on this one because I have not come across a blogger (that I’ve gone to the bookstore with) that DOESN’T care. Come on, let’s not care together!

Filed Under: discussion Tagged With: book habits, bookish confessions, buying books, discussion

Before & After #10: Having People To Talk Books With

May 8, 2013 by Jamie · 29 Comments

I’d finish a book and literally had nobody to talk to and all my thoughts would just stay put in my heart with nowhere to go. I had one friend who was a reader but we read vastly different things so our recommendations would just go in one ear and out the other to each other. We’d politely listen to each other talk about our reads but just because we both loved books. There was no squeeing and excitement and FREAKING OUT! I didn’t have anyone I trusted to give me a recommendation so I mostly just got them from magazines or displays at the store. Mostly I just browsed.

When am I NOT talking about books or flail or rage or SQUEEE?? I can pop on Twitter and instantly talk about a book I was reading or write a review and share my thoughts and people will TALK BACK ABOUT IT — and on a personal level also. It’s honestly incredible to have so many people to digest these books with. It’s even more amazing to now get PERSONALIZED recommendations from people who know what I like in books. I’m never without a recommendation. Though sometimes I kind of miss just browsing without any particular recommendations in mind (but honestly it’s so amazing to be at a bookstore and be like TWITTER WHAT DO I NEED TO BUY??)

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — Did you have people to talk books with before blogging? Anybody with similar tastes? Where did you get your recommendations from prior to blogging? If you aren’t a blogger — Who do you talk books with? Where do you get your recommendations from?

Previous Before & After’s:

Filed Under: Before and After, discussion Tagged With: Before And After, bookish habits, discussion, reading habits

Before & After #9: Reactions To Books

April 24, 2013 by Jamie · 31 Comments

I’d finish a book and the extent of my thought was “that was good” or “ehh I didn’t really like it.” Unless I had to think critically about it for school I didn’t really explore all the reasons why I liked or didn’t like it.

Obviously now as a blogger I DO think about why or why not I enjoyed a book. Blogging has challenged me to be able to explain the things I liked and didn’t like when someone asks rather just than saying “it was good” or something like that. I’m much more likely to talk more in depth about all the reasons I like a book though like I admitted here I’m not the most scholarly or whatnot in my reviews. Overall I think this is a positive thing to keep thinking critically and be able to explain myself BUT I will admit that there are some days where I miss the days of NOT having to explain why or why not I liked a book. I just want to either like it or not. lol. But that’s mostly on the days when I feel lazy or when a book maybe just doesn’t seem to lend itself to be talked about MORE.

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — Did you always think critically about books before you were a blogger or would you kind of just have a simple that was good or that wasn’t good mentality? Do you sometimes miss the days when you didn’t think about every book to death? If you aren’t a blogger — Do you feel like you think critically about what you are reading or does it hover around “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it.” ? For everyone — Curious if there are certain genres or types of book that are a challenge to think MORE about outside of “it was good’ etc. I think for me sometimes it is those lighter, fluffy reads because I LOVED them but sometimes I can’t think past WHY except that they were fun and enjoyable.

Previous Before & After’s:

Filed Under: Before and After, discussion Tagged With: Before And After, bookish habits, discussion, reading habits

Jamie Gets Self Conscious Sometimes

April 21, 2013 by Jamie · 58 Comments

I’ve been doing my whole Before & After blogging series in which I’ve been talking about the big and small ways I’ve changed since becoming a blogger. This post could probably easily fit within that series but mostly I feel like these are just my strange insecurities. I just never experienced these 2 things when I was just a reader and not a blogger that lately have been these things I’m very much aware of.

Disclaimer: I do not let these things influence my reviews or thoughts. You always have my candid thoughts here. These are just weird insecurities/self-conscious thoughts that pop into my head and I have to shake off. Also, this is about nobody nor am I saying things about people who DO these things that make me self conscious. That’s just my problem that I let these thoughts in.

1. The blogosphere sometimes makes me self conscious about liking too many books

This one sounds strange, right? I mean, YAY me. I’m reading and enjoying books so that’s a win for me! However, sometimes I start feeling strangely self conscious about it if I’ve loved a string of books in a row because there is always a lot of talk in the blogosphere about people who “like everything” or who “aren’t critical enough” because they write a lot of glowing reviews (to which I pull out this). A lot of times people talk about it like it’s a BAD thing that you’ve enjoyed too many books in a row which does baffle me a bit. I know I am not as uber critical or nitpicky as other readers but there are PLENTY of books, obviously if you read my blog, that don’t do it for me and you won’t find me recommending. There are not a ton of books I HATE (because I DNF them if I feel that strongly) but I do definitely have varying levels of “not for me” to “it was ok” to “it was good” to “loved it” to “OMG PLEASE HAVE MY BABIES, BOOK.”

I’m sure there are a lot of people really DO just genuinely like most things they read or have chosen to only highlight the books they have enjoyed and can recommend and I’m sure there ARE even a few people who just write glowing reviews because they want publishers to like them (how people read/blog is not my problem — I choose to do what works for me). I’m definitely not in either of those categories because I don’t like everything, I write positive/negative reviews and I don’t care if publishers don’t like me because I’m not reading for THEM and my reviews are for my readers. I think, for me, I’ve just gotten REALLY good at picking up books I know I will like or judging if I will like them from if other friends do/don’t. It annoys me when I start to feel bad because I’ve like the past 5 books I’ve read.

Oh, the horror!

Like why should I really feel bad and afraid that people are going to be like, “that chick is SO not critical and I don’t trust her” or “ look at that bitch actually enjoying books“? SORRY NOT SORRY that I liked them. Reading is my hobby and I’m happy when I enjoy the books I read. And we know after such a long streak I’m bound to have a couple stinkers. I’m critical to a certain point, but for me, I’m not dissecting literature. I’m telling you whether or not I enjoyed and why or why not and who I would recommend it to. I give my reasons but I’m not actively looking for things to hate about a book.

Thankfully, I just don’t really CARE what people think about if I am not critical enough or too positive or judge me for liking the past 5 books I read…because uhhh it’s my free time and I’m happy when I spend time reading a book and enjoy it. But I cannot pretend I don’t feel a little self conscious when I’m reading a slew of books I enjoy. Not going to lie.

2. Sometimes other blogger’s reviews make me feel STUPID

Sometimes I will read a review of a book that I LOVED TO PIECES and will read a review ripping it to shreds and pointing out thing and I’m like UHHHH I never saw that or thought of that? WHY AM I NOT SMART?? Especially if they are really thoughtful bloggers and then I read it and totally actually AGREE with what they are saying I just feel so DUMB for not seeing what they saw or picking up on it. I’m like oops. I must have built a bridge in my head over that plot hole. Or hmmm I didn’t pick up on this inconsistency. Or that something wasn’t accurate culturally or historically. I feel like maybe I should have being an English major in order to keep up with some of the things people are able to talk about and pick up on in their reviews because I can’t analyze the way do — like my reviews are forever stuck in the kiddie pool. I mean, on one hand, I’m fine with it. I’m just an every day reader and my reviews are not inherently scholarly or professional. But on the other hand, it makes me question myself because WHY didn’t I see the really smart things they picked up on in a book I loved. And then I’m like WAHHH I am an unhelpful reviewer. SELF PITY PARTY. Logically I KNOW we all see things differently and bring different things to the table but I can’t help but feel dumb when I don’t see things that others doooo!

I HATE that sometimes I get self conscious about these things when I know logically it’s so dumb and I never ever thought about these things before I blogged . Has anyone else ever experienced these things or am I just really too self conscious? THANKFULLY I just THINK about these things and don’t let them really affect me. I AM JUST SILLY AND SELF CONSCIOUS SOMETIMES!!

Filed Under: discussion Tagged With: blogging issues, discussion, this blogging life

Before & After #8: Chunky Books

April 17, 2013 by Jamie · 66 Comments

I read chunky books often and without even thinking twice. If it was a book I was interested in it didn’t matter how thick it was…I was going to read it and wasn’t scared off by how big it was. I didn’t feel like I was slowing down my reading pace — I wasn’t even thinking like that. 1,000 pages? NO PROBLEM.

I rarely ever read chunky books anymore. Any time I want to read a book that is borderline chunky I side eye it. I wasn’t aware about how this habit changed but I know I felt pressure to read more books so I could review them. I would think, “Well in the time it would take me to read this book I could read 3 or 4 other ones.” I HATE that my subconscious thinks this way and prevents me from picking up those massively huge books more frequently. It’s not that I don’t read thicker books anymore but I’m just less frequent about it and it prevents me from picking up books I really want to read. One of my bookish resolutions this year was to read more chunky books so I’m really going to try to achieve it!

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — Do you read more or less chunky books than before? If you read less is it because you feel pressure to read more so that you have stuff to review? If you still read a lot of chunky books how do you make it work for you blog and having reviews? Or do you just not let it bother you? If you aren’t a blogger — Do you read chunky books often? Do they ever intimidate you or make you feel like you could be reading MORE books in that time? For everyone — Curious as to what the biggest book you’ve ever read is? What chunky books are on your TBR?

Previous Before & After’s:

Filed Under: Before and After, discussion Tagged With: Before And After, bookish habits, discussion, reading chunky books, reading habits

Before & After #7: Recommending Books

April 10, 2013 by Jamie · 31 Comments

I was reallyyy hesitant to recommend books to people. I think I wasn’t confident in my recommendation skills and mostly that was because I didn’t feel like I read enough and was really limited in my knowledge as to what books were out there. Also, a fear I still have to some degree, but I was so scared that someone would HATE the book I loved and had recommended to them.

I recommend books ALL OF THE TIME NOW. Not just through the blog and Twitter but to people in my life. I feel so confident now in my skills of recommending books to people because I feel like I have a good sense of what is out there and what people would like based on other books they have read and loved or based on what they are looking for in a book. I still FEAR recommending a book and they will hate it but I think I’m getting a lot better at being able to give personal recommendations and I LOVE doing it and feel confident now. Also, I just read so many darn books and feel compelled to recommend them! I recommend books in times and to people I probably would have never done so before. I probably would have sat quietly but now I don’t hesitate.

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — Were you always a book recommender or do you think you do it MORE now? If you aren’t a blogger — Are you someone who recommends books a lot to people? For everyone — Who do you feel comfortable recommend to — family, friends, strangers? Do you feel like you are good at giving personal recommendations that end up working out for people?

Previous Before & After’s:

The Time In Between Two Books – 2/27
Being Up On New Releases — 3/6
Book Real Estate — 3/15
Re-reading — 3/20
Meeting Authors + Myths About Them — 3/27
Number Of Books Read Per Year – 4/5

Filed Under: Before and After, discussion Tagged With: Before And After, book recommendations, bookish habits, discussion, personal book recommendations, recommending books to people

Before & After #6: Books Read Per Year

April 5, 2013 by Jamie · 48 Comments

This one, besides the book real estate thing, is definitely the biggest change in my life. I read probably 20-30 books a year — which I know was more than a lot of my friends or the average human being I’m sure. Like I said in my first Before & After, I waited a longer amount of time before I would pick up a book upon finishing one. Sometimes I would wait a few weeks before I picked up my next book so I definitely read at a slower rate PLUS I wasn’t spending as much time per day reading a book — I’d read for an hour maybe before bed. There were times when I would spend a whole day reading on a rainy day but most of the time it was just a little time here and there.

I definitely read WAY more than I did before blogging — probably between 75-100 books a year (though last year was only 55 because of wedding planning, my job stress and moving). I definitely read more often and take less breaks in between books. I think there definitely is a pressure to read MORE as a blogger to make sure that I can have reviews for the blog. I confessed this in my Things I’m Afraid To Tell You post but I often feel bad because I know I can’t review as many books per week as many other bloggers because I’m simply not reading as much as them but that’s the choice I’ve made and have decided that 2 reviews a week is doable for me at the rate I WANT to read books. I don’t push myself to read when I don’t want to and there are times when I go for days without reading. I think I also read more as a blogger because I am so hyper aware of all the books out there –especially with all the habit of anticipating all the books as I mentioned in another Before and After.

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — Has the amount of books you read per year increased or stayed the same since becoming a blogger? How much of a difference is there? Do you feel the pressure to read A LOT more so you can have reviews? If you aren’t a blogger — how many books would you say you read per year? Does this number fluctuate or stay pretty much the same? For everyone — How much reading time do you think you put in per day? Do you ever go days without reading or do you pretty much read even a little bit every day?

Previous Before & After’s:

The Time In Between Two Books – 2/27
Being Up On New Releases — 3/6
Book Real Estate — 3/15
Re-reading — 3/20
Meeting Authors + Myths About Them — 3/27

Filed Under: Before and After, discussion Tagged With: Before And After, bookish habits, books read per year, discussion, reading habits

Sometimes I Do Things That Would Probably Make Some of You Cringe

However, I realize that I do some things that would make most book lovers cringe. I’m kind of not so nice to my books.

(Note: These things do NOT apply to borrowed books — so if you lend me a book I swear I take good care of it!)

I dog ear pages.

I read in the bathtub/pools/other bodies of water.

I eat & drink while I read.

I have the tendency to throw my books around.

I open my books WIDE.

So are you appalled with my manhandling of my books?? On a scale of 1 to 5 how much did you cringe while reading my bad habits? Do you do any of these things also or are some of these things like really bad reader behavior??

Before & After #11: Where Books Come From

Let’s Talk:

I Feel Like A Unicorn In The Blogging/Book World Sometimes!

Before & After #10: Having People To Talk Books With

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — Did you have people to talk books with before blogging? Anybody with similar tastes? Where did you get your recommendations from prior to blogging? If you aren’t a blogger — Who do you talk books with? Where do you get your recommendations from?

Before & After #9: Reactions To Books

Let’s Talk:

Jamie Gets Self Conscious Sometimes

1. The blogosphere sometimes makes me self conscious about liking too many books

2. Sometimes other blogger’s reviews make me feel STUPID

Before & After #8: Chunky Books

Let’s Talk:

Before & After #7: Recommending Books

Let’s Talk:

Before & After #6: Books Read Per Year

Let’s Talk:

Featured

Audiobook Review – Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan & John Green

Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty

Cinder by Marissa Meyer | Book Review

How My Summer Went Up In Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski | Book Review

Featured

Archives

I’m going on a social media diet for a week — so I guess sort of like a crash diet really?

Why am I doing this/what do I hope to accomplish?

Fears I have about doing this:

What do I plan to do during this week?

So what happens after the week?

What about you guys? Do you find yourself addicted to social media? How do you strike a balance? All tips will be welcome! Also, feel free to join me!!

However, I realize that I do some things that would make most book lovers cringe. I’m kind of not so nice to my books.

(Note: These things do NOT apply to borrowed books — so if you lend me a book I swear I take good care of it!)

I dog ear pages.

I read in the bathtub/pools/other bodies of water.

I eat & drink while I read.

I have the tendency to throw my books around.

I open my books WIDE.

So are you appalled with my manhandling of my books?? On a scale of 1 to 5 how much did you cringe while reading my bad habits? Do you do any of these things also or are some of these things like really bad reader behavior??

Let’s Talk:

Let’s Talk:

If you are a blogger — Did you have people to talk books with before blogging? Anybody with similar tastes? Where did you get your recommendations from prior to blogging? If you aren’t a blogger — Who do you talk books with? Where do you get your recommendations from?

Let’s Talk:

1. The blogosphere sometimes makes me self conscious about liking too many books

2. Sometimes other blogger’s reviews make me feel STUPID

Let’s Talk:

Let’s Talk:

Let’s Talk:

Featured

Featured

Archives

Tags