Miscellaneous Ramblings

I hate making decisions…….

Tara

Okay, so I really don’t hate making decisions. But the truth is that I am a compulsive decision maker. By that I mean that  I can and will make a decision in the blink of an eye. Without really thinking things through. That’s just who I am. I’ve always been that way.

But here lately I’ve really been contemplating a lot of things. And these things have to deal with my blog. One day I’m ready to throw in the towel and close my blog completely. The next day I want to buy a domain. I just don’t know what I want to do anymore.

On the one hand I love my blog. Obviously I love to read and share my thoughts about the books that I read. I love interacting with the people who read my blog and the other bloggers out there. I enjoy tweaking my blog and making changes and making things look better and more creative. But then it’s also a lot of work. And I’m not all that well-known in the book blog-o-sphere. In a recent post to one of my Yahoo reading groups, I likened myself to someone being lost in the middle of New York City. And that’s honestly how I feel sometimes. I have been blogging since 2008 when the book blog world was still relatively small. Now it’s booming and I just feel like I’m lost with no place to go. I feel torn about this.

I have made some great connections with different publishers/publicists. I enjoy receiving ARCs for books that I would never have found on my own. But at the same time, I don’t have all the connections that a lot of people have. I don’t get pitched some of the really good books that I would die to get.

I have some really great loyal followers who I love interacting with. They are usually the smaller bloggers like myself and I know immediately who they are when I get the notification email that I have a new comment waiting for me.

I like hosting giveaways but I tend not to because I have such low participation. I have tried to publicize myself in every way that I can possibly think of, but I am starting to run out of ideas. I don’t necessarily want to have so many readers/commenters that I can’t keep up, but I would like to be able to host a giveaway and have more than a handful of people sign up.

I would like to think that I have found my niche. I have always been completely, 100% true to who I am on this blog. I have not tried to represent myself as someone who I’m not. For the longest time I never really tried to bump up my readership to the massive amounts that some people get. Why? Because that’s not who I am. But this year I have been participating in more memes and commenting more. But I’m still kind of unknown. Heck, I don’t even have a completely original blog title anymore for there’s actually a few others out there that are so close to mine it’s kind of scary.

Do you want to know how the book blogger world sometimes feels to me? It feels like a popularity contest. And that’s not what I’m here for. That’s not what I want out of this.

I wish I knew what I wanted to do. But I just don’t. I keep wondering to myself how long the book blogs are going to last. When are they going to run their course? I know it’s going to happen someday, it’s just a matter of when.

Because here’s the deal: I don’t see myself still doing this in a few years. Next year, definitely. But after that? Who knows. One thing that I have contemplated is to start a new blog that encompasses everything about me, not just the book reviews, and transferring all of my old content. Because I also have a life outside my blog … I enjoy cooking and sharing recipes. I have the cutest dog in the world (okay, that’s my biased opinion!) that I could share funny stories about. I hope that I will eventually be embarking on a pregnancy journey.

But the down side to changing blogs is that I will lose a lot of the connections that I have already made. I will alienate a lot of people who are just here for book reviews. Can you see why I’m so torn about this?? I have considered just starting to implement all those things here on the blog, but as I said earlier: I’m worried about alienating the few readers that I already have. I have also considered just changing the title of my blog to be more all-encompassing, but keeping my current site address, although I have thought that doing so would make things confusing.

So my question to you, dear readers, is this: have you contemplated where you see your blog going? In a year? Two years? Five? What about registering a domain if you haven’t already? And what do you think about me saying that the book blogger world feels like a popularity contest? Do you agree or disagree? Let’s start a discussion!!

Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday, Sept. 19, 2011

Tara

Mailbox Mondays

Mailbox Monday is on tour, with September’s location being at Amused by Books.

Only one book this week, but it’s one that I requested for review. I must add that I have already read this book and LOVED it! The review will go live on the publication date, 9/27 so watch for it 🙂

 Charlotte Kramer, America’s first female president, is beginning her second term and is determined to make her mark on history though events do seem to be conspiring against her. Melanie Kingston, her best friend, just signed on as secretary of defense. Will their relationship survive? Dale Smith is the senior communications advisor to the vice president and knows a secret that could not only ruin her own career, but put the credibility of the White House on the line. Tara Meyers is the most popular vice president in recent history, but does her public image match her private life? When a classified terror threat is made public, all the weaknesses of this presidency are laid bare – and with the country’s safety at stake, someone in the White House isn’t taking any chances.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

I need blog button advice….

Tara

So I made a blog button this morning. It’s probably something that I should have done AGES ago. I got it posted on the right sidebar. Everyone should see it now. But my question is, how do I get a grab button box? Am I not able to do this because I’m not self-hosted? It’s the only thing I can think of as to why it’s not working for me. I mean, I have tried a gazillion different ways this morning. I googled how to do it and came up with LOTS of different blogs that offered step by step instructions, but nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

Sunday Wrap-Up

Sunday Wrap-Up, September 18, 2011

Tara

It has been such a long week for me. It hasn’t been very much fun. I spent most of Tuesday at the doctor’s office with my husband. We thought it was his gall bladder, but the tests said that it’s not that. We have a follow-up on Monday, so hopefully we will find out what else could be going on. Then on Friday we had my mother’s birthday party. A few hours with the entire immediate family. I’m sure most people can feel my pain on that, lol. It’s not that bad, but it is very tiring. Oh and through all of this I’m still stuck without a fully functional computer at one location. But, Geek Squad is supposed to be coming between 8 and noon on Tuesday to diagnose and hopefully fix the problem. It’s something with the network, but it’s above our IT guy (who is really my uncle in his spare time). So I was definitely glad for the weekend. But the next two weekends are going to be busy for us. Next weekend we go up to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play the Cubs for my dad and husband’s birthdays. Then the weekend after that we have tickets to a concert in Nashville, which was my gift to Nathan. I need a staycation!!!!!!

This past week on the blog:

I posted three reviews:

  1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  2. The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King
  3. The Guardian by Robbie Cheuvront & Erik Reed
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, R, RATING, Read in 2011, Review Book

2011.55 REVIEW – The Guardian by Robbie Cheuvront and Erik Reed

Tara

The Guardian
by Robbie Cheuvront and Erik Reed

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 443
Rating: 4/5
Read: Sept. 13– Sept. 15, 2011
Challenge: No Challenge
Yearly Count: 55
Format: E-Book
Source: NetGalley

Blurb: Plunge into the world of seen and unseen forces in The Guardian. Anna Riley has just come into possession of a two-thousand-year old scroll that God gave to John the Disciple. Her mission—to guard the scroll and unlock its secret. Jason Lang, her protector, has his work cut out for him as they begin their journey around the world, facing corruption and dodging bullets—all the while trying to keep his attraction to Anna at bay. Will he succeed in defending the woman he’s vowed to protect? Will Anna, forced to trust other people to stay alive, fulfill the challenge that she’s accepted?

Review: I requested this book from NetGalley having been immediately intrigued by the description. And I must say that I was not disappointed. While I am not a particularly religious person, that didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the book. Personally I felt as if the characters were well-developed and likable. And the action. Wow, was this a great thrill ride of a book! It was non-stop from the first page to the last page. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thrilling read.

And an interesting sidenote: I was originally unaware that one of the authors (Cheuvront) was actually part of the country band LoneStar, who I personally think has some really good songs.

Harry Potter

HP Read-a-Long Post #4

Tara

Okay, so having finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (and not really reviewing the book, sorry, but I just didn’t have any words for the book), I have been pondering the discussion question …..

What is one memory you have, happy enough to conjure a full-formed Patronus? And what form do you think yours would take?

I’m just slightly stumped on this question.

First of all, I can immediately tell you what the happy memory would be: it would be my wedding day. I had never been so happy/nervous/excited/terrified all at the same time, and I haven’t felt that way since either. It’s such a happy memory for me. We had a small ceremony at the MGM Grand Hostel in Las Vegas, with only our immediate families. We then took lots and lots of pictures, it was like a photo shoot and I loved it! Then we had a great dinner with all of our guests at the Italian restaurant in the hotel. It was a wonderful day (if a little hot!) and I will never forget it. Oh and I have to brag a little bit about our honeymoon suite: this thing was the size of an apartment! There’s a neat little story behind how we scored such an awesome room. The week that we got married was the same week that the Academy of Country Music Awards were in town and at the MGM. For whatever reason, someone failed to check out of the suite we were supposed to get. So, we got an upgrade! And wowzers, was it amazing!! Oh, and the best man and maid of honor got their picture taken with Taylor Swift … I didn’t get any pictures, but I did ride in the same elevator as Bucky Covington. So yeah, it was a pretty memorable wedding week 🙂

So the part of the question that has me stumped is really what form my Patronus would take. I’m just not sure. I can’t answer that part for whatever reason.

3/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, K, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011

2011.54 REVIEW: The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King

Tara

The Blue Edge of Midnight
by Jonathon King

Copyright: 2002
Pages: 265
Rating: 3/5
Read: Sept. 11– Sept. 13, 2011
Challenge: Take a Chance Challenge 3
Yearly Count: 54
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: On a night that will haunt him forever, ex-cop Max Freeman killed a twelve-year-old child in self-defense in a Philadelphia shootout. Since then he has lived a solitary existence on the edge of the Florida Everglades, where he answers to no one save the demons tormenting his conscience. But when he finds the corpse of a child along a shadowy riverbank, he’s pulled back into the twisted maze of law and order – as a murder suspect. Now Freeman has no choice but to hunt down a killer who has committed the unthinkable – even if it takes him to the darkest places of the soul…

Review: I only picked up this book to fulfill a challenge requirement. While it would not be my favorite book, it wasn’t a bad book. There was just something about the book itself that bothered me. I don’t know if it was the (what I call) flowery dialogue. By this I mean that there were long, drawn-out descriptions in places where it (in my opinion) was unnecessary. But then again, I am not a fan of a lot of words, as I’ve said before here on my blog, I’m a “just the facts, ma’am” type of girl. Or if it was just the fact that I didn’t really get the main character, Max. He was a strange guy, there were a lot of unknowns about him and he just was … strange. That’s the only way I could describe it. Honestly, I’m not sure I will ever read any more in this series, I just didn’t get the book. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it definitely wasn’t great. In the words of Simon Cowell, it was utterly “forgettable.”

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, R, RATING, Read in 2011, Read-a-Long, SERIES

2011.53 REVIEW – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Tara

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by J.K. Rowling

Copyright: 1999
Pages: 435
Rating: 5/5
Read: Sept. 8– Sept. 12, 2011
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly Count: 53
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter’s defeat of You-Know-Who was Black’s downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, “He’s at Hogwarts … he’s at Hogwarts.” Harry Potter isn’t safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Review: Harry Potter, oh how I love you! In my own opinion, the latter books are definitely better than the earlier ones. So I’m definitely excited that we’re getting to this point in the read-a-long! (Because we’re getting closer to my personal favorite in the serie: Book 5!!).

I don’t really feel as if I need to “review” these books. But if I must ……

I love them. Everyone should read them.

End of review. 🙂

Meme, Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011

Tara

Top Ten Books I Read Because Of Another Blogger (In honor of BBAW!)

Okay, so I went back through my review index here on the blog to make my picks for this week’s topic. I only have 6 on my list … I would have had more, but there were quite a few books I had read based on blogger recommendations that I just didn’t like. I omitted those. And I must admit that for most of these books I simply cannot remember what blogger helped me make my decision. So, here’s my list:

In alphabetical order:

  1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher …. I had seen this one here and there around the book blog world, not sure whose review eventually made me want to read this book, but I am so glad that I did. I absolutely devoured this book. I would highly recommend this book.
  2. BoneMan’s Daughter by Ted Dekker …. I read this one back in 2009 on the recommendation of another blogger and thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking back at my review, I had an issue with the ending, but it’s been so long ago that I don’t remember what that issue was (I really should keep better notes on paper for times like this!).
  3. The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky …. I also read this one in 2009, and while I don’t remember a whole lot of it, I remember the bare bones of what it was about. I also remember enjoying it. And now I’m sitting here wondering to myself why I haven’t read anything else by Barbara Delinsky since then…
  4. 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan …. I don’t normally read a lot of historical fiction. But every time I do I thoroughly enjoy it. This one made my Top Ten list last year. I thoroughly enjoyed it and read it based on the recommendation of Wendy at Caribousmom.
  5. The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard …. I have no idea who made me get my hands on this book, and although I read it a few years ago and obviously most of my recollection of this book is a little limited, I will say that I still remember really liking this book.
  6. Still Missing by Chevy Stevens …. Wow. I am 100% certain that this book is going to make my Top Ten books for 2011. I loved it. I have seen it all over the book blog-o-sphere, but it was Samantha at Booked on a Feeling whose review finally made me pick this one up.
Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday ,Sept. 12, 2011

Tara

Mailbox Mondays

Mailbox Monday is on tour, with September’s location being at Amused by Books.

Another slim mailbox this week. But I got two really good looking books! I’m excited and they will probably be bumped to the top of the list 🙂

A win from BookTrib.com:

 Eleven-year-olds Nora and Charlotte were best friends. When their teenage babysitter, Rose, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, the girls decided to “investigate.” But their search – aided by paranormal theories and techniques gleaned from old Time-Life books – went nowhere. Years later, Nora, now in her late twenties, is drawn back to her old neighborhood – and to her estranged friend – when Rose’s remains are finally discovered. Upset over their earlier failure to solve the possible murder, Charlotte is adamant that they join forces and try again. But Nora was the last known person to see Rose alive, and she’s not ready to revisit her troubled adolescence and the events surrounding the disappearance – or face the disturbing secrets that are already beginning to reemerge.

From Bookmooch:

 On a night that will haunt him forever, ex-cop Max Freeman killed a twelve-year-old child in self-defense in a Philadelphia shoot-out. Since then he has lived a solitary existence on the edge of the Florida Everglades, where he answers to no one save the demons tormenting his conscience. But when he finds the corpse of a child along a shadowy riverbank, he’s pulled back into the twisted maze of law and order – as a murder suspect. Now Freeman has no choice but to hunt down a killer who has committed the unthinkable – even if it takes him to the darkest places of the soul…