News and Stuff from the Bookalicious Babe

Summer is here!  Yay!!  This is the first chance I've had to sit down and take a breather.  Life has been very busy:

 I finally made it through two years of grad school to achieve my MA.  It went so quickly, but at the same time it seemed like I would never finish.  I met so many great people and mentors at the University of Iowa and will continue those friendships.  I have to say I miss school, but I don't miss the homework!  

With the summer ahead of me, and back to "just working" full-time, I've been thinking about how I will tackle the heaps of books I've got at home.  At work we've actually started an employee "Reading Challenge" for the year.  It's a fantastic way to focus on reading many different types of books, and moving out of my comfort zone.  My ability to read anything other than non-stressful, fun stuff had been put on the shelf during school, but now I've got the opportunity to stretch my reading into new areas.  So you'll see different book reviews in the coming months, on books I've deliberately picked to push myself and complete my reading challenge.  If you'd like to start a reading challenge yourself and aren't sure what to do, email me and I'd be happy to give you some tips.  

Reviews will begin again 2-3 times a week!  And I'm working on getting back into my podcast for the Bookalicious Babe.  It's been a few years, but I'm ready to put new content on iTunes.  If you haven't heard my podcasts, just go to iTunes and under podcasts search for "bookalicious babe".  It's me rambling about books.  Loved to do it and can't wait to get back into the groove.  

I'm looking forward to an exciting summer wading through my piles (and boxes, and stacks, and bookshelves) of books.  You'll see a mix of brand new books, older books, and books that are fairly recent, but not brand-spanking new.  I am a firm believer in "A book is new if you haven't read it".  It's easy to forget about books you want to read because the tidal wave of new releases can be a bit overwhelming.  So I'm here to help you along, and remind you about books you may have wanted to read, but forgot about.  I am guilty of the "Oooh, look at the new shiny pretty thing" mentality when it comes to books, so I can get forgetful too. 

Reviews coming up:  The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright; The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian, and many more!

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News and Stuff from the Bookalicious Babe

The Rest of the Year: A Challenging Reading Goal and Learning Excel So I Keep My Sanity

Learning Excel is one of my goals in the next few months.  I realize it is an excellent tool to use for most anything; especially trying to organize my books in some kind of order.  I think I'll be asking my sister for some quick lessons on Excel...

Going back to school is no doubt going to cut into my reading time.  I like to be organized, but will only take it so far.  I try and plan my reading, but then something shiny and pretty comes along and bumps the rest of the books back a few spaces in my "to be read" mental file.  And then they disappear into the stacks on my shelves and on the floor. I figure the discipline of school will push me into being a bit more organized and working from a plan for reading, reviewing, and blogging about my books.

So....I'm still going to read what I want to read.  I've gone through the stacks on my floor and listed all the books on Excel.  That's as far as I've gotten in that process, since I am clueless on spreadsheets.  But not for long!  And when that happens, I am going to go down my list, one by one, and read what I've got, post reviews, and either keep the book, give it away, or sell it.  I culled many titles earlier this year from my bookcases, but they've gotten away from me again.  Funny how books multiply, right?  And I rarely only buy one book at a time, so the stacks quickly pile up.  And when my boyfriend Bud comments on the books, I know I need to take action.  He's not a reader, and rarely says anything about my books--so a notice from him is a heads up to clean up my space.  

School, upcoming book talks at work, and my blog will certainly keep my world of books hopping.  I'm sticking with my goal of reading 100 books this year; I'll hit 80 by the end of August (fingers crossed!).  I'm glad I lowered my goal from last year; I simply won't be able to read as much as I want.  Retail Christmas usually means the whole month of December I stumble home from work and fall asleep on the couch at 5 PM.  I give myself through November to hit my yearly goal for this very reason.  Even though I so want to read, I just can't keep my eyes open in December.  

With that being said, I'm off to read before I head to my first day of classes this afternoon.  A review will be up by the end of the week!  

How do you keep your books organized?  Do you even try?

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The Rest of the Year: A Challenging Reading Goal and Learning Excel So I Keep My Sanity

So Much to Say, I Don't Know Where to Start!

I started this blog because, well, I spend my days telling people about books, but it just doesn't seem like enough.  I'm always anxious that I will miss the most fabulous book ever written, and I won't even know it because I'm busy reading so many other great titles.  What do I read?  Pretty much anything that catches my fancy.  In my college years, I gravitated towards historical non-fiction and pure escapism (read: romance).  Over the years, that has changed.  I read much less romance, and much more fiction, with the occasional non-fiction title tossed into the mix.  


What I didn't see until just recently is that I read a lot of  historical fiction!  I'm not even conscious of  my choice--I just want to read something entertaining.  I also read a lot of teen novels.  I find many of them are just as good, if not better, than some adult novels.  It is gratifying to see so many adults reading teen and young reader novels--not because their reading level is an issue, but because they're just damn good stories.  So,  you'll find my blogs contain a wide assortment of books--Sci-Fi, Fiction, History, Biographies, Science, Teen and Young Adult.  Yes, a book cover does make me pause and pick it up.  It happens to me every week.  I've discovered some incredible books this way.  


Reading is probably my most favorite thing to do.  The act of buying a new book, taking it home, and settling in for a few hours of reading time makes me happier than just about anything else (except Bud, my sweetie).  I know there are others (I mean You!)  out there just like me, and I hope you stick around, read my reviews, and share your views with me.  I have so many books to talk about, I can't decide  which book  to start off my blog!  I'll give it some thought so stay tuned for another blog from the Bookalicious Babe.

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So Much to Say, I Don't Know Where to Start!