I was just over at Molly’s blog, and I really enjoyed reading her post answering today’s Booking Through Thursday question:

How can you encourage a non-reading child to read? What about a teen-ager? Would you require books to be read in the hopes that they would enjoy them once they got into them, or offer incentives, or just suggest interesting books? If you do offer incentives and suggestions and that doesn’t work, would you then require a certain amount of reading? At what point do you just accept that your child is a non-reader?

In the book Gifted Hands by brilliant surgeon Ben Carson, one of the things that turned his life around was his mother’s requirement that he and his brother read books and write book reports for her. That approach worked with him, but I have been afraid to try it. My children don’t need to “turn their lives around,” but they would gain so much from reading and I think they would enjoy it so much if they would just stop telling themselves, “I just don’t like to read.”

I decided to play, too!

I’ve always read to my children, from the time each of them were very small, far too small to understand words; I remember being so excited by the way their eyes absorbed the shapes and colors in whatever board book I was reading to them.

My older two are two years apart, and as they got older, I took to reading middle grade novels to them, like the Harry Potter stories. Eventually, when they were almost in double digits in age, reading aloud to them before bed had turned into an hour-long ritual, since they had different tastes and I would find myself reading aloud a chapter from two different books every night.

It was at this point that we stopped the bedtime reading ritual; to this day though, we have lots of laughing moments during which we fondly remember Bunnicula, and Harry, and, from a bit farther back in their childhood, Amelia Bedelia and Captain Underpants.

When my youngest was born (he’s six now), I of course began the bedtime reading ritual with him again. He can now read, so bedtime always includes his reading a book to us – this is something I didn’t do with my older two, both of whom always preferred to be read to, but since we are homeschooling Dylan, it’s an easy way of adding more learning into the day.

I’ve written in the past about my older son, the “non-reader” who actually does like to read, although he’d never admit to being a reader. Late last year, for example, I won a copy of Stephen King’s latest, Under the Dome, and he polished it off in about three days. This is a big, doorstopper of a novel, but he got so into it, he even took it to school with him to read during his spare period!

My daughter is, however, a true “non-reader”. She’s never liked to read, and in fact, during her last three years in primary school, she actually decided to sign up for the local Battle of the Books contest in the hopes that she would learn to like reading.

I was stunned when she came home and announced she had joined up (actually, I probably won most unsupportive mother of the year award that year, because I recall bursting out laughing – I thought she was joking). We all knew how much she disliked reading, and the Battle of the Books requires participants to read up to 38 books. The “battle” consists of answering questions about each of the books.

Participating in the Battle of the Books didn’t work out quite the way she’d planned. She had a great deal of fun, and was usually appointed spokesperson because she speaks clearly and loudly, but even after two years of participating in the event, she still didn’t like to read books.

She does find the occasional book that she enjoys, like Swimming in the Monsoon Sea, by Shyam Selvadurai; she even made a short film of a scene from the book as her English project that year.

Very much like Molly’s son, my daughter is an auditory learner. She can watch a movie and then repeat lines verbatim (she’s always been great at doing impressions; when she was younger, her goal was to do stand-up comedy). She also watches a lot of movies and has made over 100 short films.

I’ve come to understand that for her, films are very much like books. She can watch a movie and dissect it the way one dissects a book for an English essay. She can see the archetypal structure of the storyline, and all the symbolism the director has used. There are, apparently, reasons for using certain camera angles other than “it looks good” …

Somewhat surprisingly, despite being a non-reader she is an incredibly good writer; she has always excelled in her English classes and has even won the award for having the highest English mark. But even though she’s good at writing, she still doesn’t feel any urge to read for fun.

Luckily, it appears that I finally do have a child who loves to read; Dylan, our youngest, has just learned to read, and loves both reading and being read to. The other day we had to cut short our weekly trip to the library to pick up my daughter from school, and he kept crying, “But I want to get another Dr. Seuss book first … I want to get another Dr. Seuss book NOW”. (He already had four of them in his book bag.)

So I have high hopes that there’s now another book nut in the family! But at the same time, I’ve learned to accept the different reading styles (or non-reading style, in my daughter’s case) of all my children.

I continue to buy and borrow books for my older son that I know will interest him, and he continues to read them. He still hates to go to the library or to a book store, though; but that’s all right, since I enjoy such trips immensely and it’s all the more rewarding when I come home with a few books for him. I suspect when he’s in his 30s I’ll still be dropping in with a load of books under my arm!

And I am so often in awe of my daughter’s filmmaking creativity; she’s really taught me a lot about films, and the kind of background things that go into making a good film. These things are very similar to the kinds of things that go into writing a good book, and I can see how very like a good book the better movies really are.

And as for my youngest, I’ll continue to nurture his love of reading as best as I can; I can hardly wait until he gets into chapter books and I can begin sharing with him the books I loved best as a child.

Week 1’s assignment for the 2010 Blog Improvement Project is to create a blogging to-do list.

While I’m not a big fan of to-do lists, I like the idea of this one because there’s no time element attached to it. I think what I’m most resistant to, when it comes to to-do lists, is the whole daily/weekly/monthly/yearly aspect of them.

But if I think of the to-do list as a goals list instead, it’s a much smoother, easier thing for me.

I also like that the point of this to-do list is to be specific, rather than vague. And I’m going to keep this list flexible, coming back to it to add things (and delete things) if necessary.

Blogging To-Do List

1. Implement new theme. I have my eye on a new theme, which I hope to purchase soon.
2. New header design. I’ll need a new header to go along with my new theme.
3. Brainstorm new tag line. I’d like to have a tag line about MsBookish that says it all; I’ve been playing around with a few phrases but nothing seems to catch what I’m wanting to do with this blog so far.
4. Deciding what I really want to do here. Having said that bit above about the tag line, I also need to decide what it is that I really want to do here. I still want to talk about books and writing, but most of all, I find I enjoy being able to write about whatever topic catches my interest.
5. Prune my categories. I’d like to have a lot fewer, much broader categories, and rely on my tags for more detailed categorization of posts.
6. Add new tags. Since some of my existing categories are more appropriate as tags, I’ll be going through each of my posts and adding in new tags.
7. Update my blogroll pages. My blogroll pages are sadly out of date, plus I need to add a new blogroll page for blogs I follow that aren’t writing or book blogs.
8. Revise my review policy. I’m not really doing reviews anymore; instead, I prefer to talk about different books I’m reading in general blog posts that aren’t labeled “Review”. I find I’m much happier chatting about books I’m reading, have read or want to read; it also means I don’t procrastinate about writing up posts, which is a bonus. I’ve been letting publicists and authors know this when they email me, but it’s probably time to revise my review policy, too.
9. (Possibly) add new features. I’m always tempted by the idea of new features, but sticking to a schedule has never been my strong point.
10. Update my sidebar items. Lots of clutter up there right now. With the implementation of the new look, I’ll have to do something about that. I also have a hard time keeping my “Currently Reading” titles in the sidebar up-to-date, mainly because I tend to have five or six books on the go any given day, and on any given day, those books change regularly.

That’s it so far! Whether or not you’re participating in BIP, do you have some sort of blogging goals list? I’d be interested to know what things are on your blogging to-do list!

Thank you so much to everyone who commented on my 20 minute writing commitment post. I felt so inspired after reading all of your comments – and suddenly, it really did feel very much like “it’s only 20 minutes”.

So I took roughly 20 minutes today to work on Waverley; I am now 1200 more words into the story, and even better, a new character has made his way into the tale.

His name is Marcus, and as I’m writing without rereading what I’ve written, I just inserted him right in the scene I was writing – I’ll have to revise earlier chapters to get him in just right.

But the great news is, he fits. He was an off-page character earlier on in the novel, but I’ve been having this feeling that something was missing, and apparently, that something was Marcus.

The funny thing is, I know him so well – if any of my characters is my alter ego, it’s Marcus.

So now I have my threesome: Charlie, Nella and Marcus. They have come a long way since they were Thing 1 and Thing 2 in my mind. And while they still have a long way to go, at least now I feel like, yes, they will get there eventually.

At the pace of 20 minutes a day!

************************************

Is anyone signing up for Bloggiesta? It is being held on January 8, 9 and 10 of the new year, and I’m debating whether I’ll be able to sign up.

Unfortunately, it falls right on the final weekend of my current “I’ve got a TON of work” period. And we’ve been invited out for dinner on the 8th. So I’m not sure I’ll be able to commit to doing Bloggiesta properly or not.

On the other hand, I’m going to be installing a new template for MsBookish, and it would be lovely to be able to get that done during Bloggiesta.

So I’ll have to see how many of my deadlines I can finish ahead of time. I may be able to sign up after all!

How about you? Do you have plans to do Bloggiesta in the new year?

I’m just tickled to be hosting this 42nd Bookworms Carnival! Thank you to everyone who sent in their links on such short notice.

I chose the topic of Comfort Reads because there are always those times in life when a much-loved, well-read book is exactly what I need, and I’m hoping you all feel the same, too.

The desire for a spot of comfort reading hits me most often during the winter: usually at night, when it’s toasty warm inside and bitterly cold outside. I look at my special reading armchair and thoughts of a good, familiar book and a mug of hot tea come to mind.

I’ve enjoyed seeing the titles my fellow bloggers turn to when they’re up for some comfort reading; there are many old favorites of mine in the group, plus some new titles that of course I’ve now added to my list of books to get my hands on. All I can say is, it’s a good thing Christmas is just around the corner!

Classics

Ah, the classics! I have quite a few classics on my own list – especially Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, A Room with a View, by E. M. Forster, and The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford. Only one person submitted a classic, but it’s a lovely one for reading on a cold night, all warm and cozy in front of the fire.

Heather from Age 30+ … A Lifetime of Books submitted Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë. If you’re like me, whenever you think of Wuthering Heights you think of Heathcliff. I also tend to think of dark and glowering brows, too! Heather has included a great detailed list of the cast of characters that does a wonderful job of refreshing your memory about this classic if it’s been a while since you’ve read it.

Fantasy

There’s something about a good fantasy that gives that old favorite one an edge when it comes to being a comfort read. I think it’s because the world you dip into is so different and all-encompassing (with the best fantasies, anyway), that you literally are swept away for those few hours you’re re-reading.

Heather submitted as another comfort read, Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, one of my own favorite reads. I’ve always had a fondness for retellings of the King Arthur story, and I read this when I was a teen and just adored it. Heather says, “I guess I’d have to say that if you DO find it challenging, it is VERY worth the effort you put into it. For me, this is a “must read” for just about everyone.” And I agree totally!

Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series is another series I turn to in my own comfort reading, so I was pleased to see it showing up in the submissions. Zee at Notes from the North recommends listening to the Dragonsinger series in audio, which sounds like a great idea. Jemi at Just Jemi has also included the Pern series in her list of comfort reads, and I am in complete agreement with her! I recently bought the first three books in the series in ebook format, so that I’ll always have them to dip into.

Zee also includes in her list a fantasy series by David Eddings, the Belgariad and Mallorean series; I’ve read a few books by Edding, and she’s reminded me it’s time for a revisit.

Jackie at Literary Escapism submitted three urban fantasy books that sound like fantastic reads; I haven’t read any of them, and have added them to my list. There’s Friday Night Bites, by Chloe Neill, a novel about the Chicagoland vampires, and Destined for an Early Grave, by Jeaniene Frost, another novel about vampires. And I’ve had the Riley Jensen series, by Keri Arthur, on my list for a while now; the latest installment, Bound to Shadows, sounds so good.

Sheila, from One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books, picks The Three Sisters Trilogy, by Nora Roberts as her comfort reads; I haven’t read very many books by Nora Roberts, but as soon as I read Sheila’s post, I immediately added these books to my list – I love the concept of three independent women who are all witches. In her email to me, Sheila wrote, “These three books are favorites of mine and are always a “go to” series if I need to just sink into characters that are like old friends to me. Even talking about them now makes me want to go visit them between the pages of these books.”

Mysteries

There’s nothing more perfect than curling up with a good mystery, and with the passage of time, I find that my memory of exactly whodunnit has dimmed enough for old favorites to be just as enjoyable as they were the first time I read them.

For Aarti, at Booklust, Footsteps in the Dark, by Georgette Heyer, is a favorite read. She says, “Footsteps in the Dark is a thriller mystery of the first order, complete with secret passageways, priest holes, skeletons and a cowled monk.” She definitely has me sold on this one! I’ve never read a Georgette Heyer, and one of her mysteries seems like a good place to start.

Candace, at Beth Fish Reads, submitted a book from one of my new personal favorites: the Hamish Macbeth series by M.C. Beaton. In her review of Death of a Travelling Man, she notes that she started this series in audio mainly because of the narrator, Davina Porter. Candace likes to read her series in order, but I tend to grab hold of whatever I can find; I seem to have started the series at the opposite end, and the majority of the ones I’ve listened to have been narrated by Graeme Malcolm. I like Porter’s narration a bit better, but Malcolm does some great accents.

Zee’s picks include J.D. Robb’s In Death series. This is a series I’ve been meaning to read for a while; Zee writes, “This series makes me laugh and the characters feel very real …”

And I’m very glad Jemi included Agatha Christie in her list. She says, “Agatha Christie’s mysteries are kind of like chocolate for me,” and that’s such a perfect description of how the Christie books feel to me, too. My memory isn’t as good as Jemi’s, though – I’ve been rereading Christie in audio, and I find that I’ve forgotten who the culprit is in most of the novels!

Children’s Books

The books I read as a child will always hold a special place in my heart; one of the first things I did as a “real grown-up” holding down a job (ie finally having a bit of money to spend) was to start buying copies of all the old favorites that I’d borrowed time and again from the library when I was little.

I grew up with Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery, so I was so glad to see that Jessica, of The Bluestocking Society, and Jemi both chose Anne Shirley as one of their favorite comfort reads. I have read and reread the whole Anne of Green Gables series so many times, I can quote whole sections from the book. Jemi writes, “As a shy, serious girl, I wanted to be Anne’s friend.” I could have written that! I remember wishing I knew someone like Anne, too; the term “kindred spirits” will always hold a special place in my heart.

Jemi also includes The Hobbit in her list of comfort reads – another one of my favorites! I couldn’t decide whether to put this under Fantasy or children’s books, but since I’ll always associate The Hobbit with childhood, I decided this was the proper place for it. (I read The Hobbit long before any of other The Lord of the Rings books.)

Food Writing

There’s something just so comforting to me about reading about food; I go on occasional food-writing splurges, during which time I’ll read nothing but food writing. I also come out of these splurges with a few extra pounds, I think, because one thing about good food writing – it makes you hungry!

Margot, of Joyfully Retired, has submitted a book that’s one of my personal favorites: Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, by Laurie Colwin. As Margot points out, “Her tone is strictly conversational – just as if you are sitting in her kitchen talking about food.” That’s what makes this book such a charming book for me; I loved Margot’s example of having a conversation with the author as she was reading it!

General Fiction

A lot of the books in my own comfort reading pile fall into a general, non-genre category. When I look at them, I see that a charming, cozy feel is a common element.

I loved Jessica’s review of 84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff. This is a book that has long been on my “I really want to read that” list, and her review is a good reminder that I really do need to get to it.

Amy, from Amy Reads Good Books, submitted Trouble, by Kate Christensen. I’ve never read any novels by Christensen, but Amy’s caught my attention with this: “it was a thoughtful meditation on how we do or do not bounce back from trauma as we age.” Another interesting book!

Jackie at Farm Lane Books has chosen The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp as her comfort read – Sharp’s books are out of print, but she was lucky enough to find three of them! Ever since I read Jackie’s review of The Nutmeg Tree, I’ve been on the lookout for books by Sharp. They sound like the perfect comfort read.

Myrthe, at The Armenian Odar Reads, submitted The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. This is a lovely review; she writes, “It is the one book that still makes me cry all through the last chapter, a book that I immediately want to start again when I finish it.” I haven’t read The Chosen yet; it sounds like such a beautiful coming-of-age story.

I was also thrilled to see that Melanie, at The Indextrous Reader, submitted Alexander McCall Smith: “My version of comfort reading must always include Alexander McCall Smith,” she says in her post. Me too! She has great things to say about both the Mma Ramotswe series and the Scotland Street series. I haven’t yet fallen under the allure of the Mma Ramotswe series yet, but McCall Smith’s Scotland Street and Isabel Dalhousie series are both very near and dear to me.

Melanie also submitted The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, by Eva Rice. The title is so charming. Melanie writes, “Full of eccentric English characters, revealing social conditions, ancient houses, True Love, teatime and Selfridge’s, I greatly enjoyed this lovely and unusual novel.” I think it will be one I’ll enjoy too.

Finally, Meg’s review of The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen, at Write Meg is so enticing; this is another book I’m adding to my burgeoning list of books to get my hot little hands on. Meg calls The Sugar Queen a “seriously delightful, magical story”, and reading her review, it sounds absolutely charming and whimsical, with dashes of mystery and magic.

This ends the Comfort Reads edition of the Bookworms Carnival! I hope you’ve rediscovered some old favorites in this list, and perhaps added a few to your list that you haven’t read before.

Play along with us! What are some of your comfort reads?

MsBookish is hosting the 42nd Bookworms Carnival! The topic? One that is near and dear to my heart: comfort reads.

What are the books you turn to time and time again? The ones with which you love to snuggle up in your favorite armchair, steaming mug of hot chocolate or tea by your side? I’d love to hear about them!

If you have a review of a favorite comfort read, or a post talking about some of your favorite comfort reads, and why you love them, please send me your link to be included in this edition of the Bookworms Carnival.

Due to a few email glitches, this post is going up a little late – if you could spread the word about the Comfort Reads Bookworms Carnival, that would be great, too!

The current submission deadline for this edition of the Bookworms Carnival is November 27.

I’m practicing the Art of Procrastination (I am an ardent and devoted follower of the Art), so I thought I’d sit down and write my semi-regular rambly Saturday post. Why am I procrastinating? (I’m usually always procrastinating about something, and today is no exception.)

Tonight’s Open-House Dinner

I only managed to get a couple of rooms clean yesterday, leaving the untidiest rooms to do today (in the next few hours, no less). I’m still debating whether I should tackle my office or whether I should put up some sort of a barrier and an “Enter at Your Own Risk” sign at the door.

We have 28 people coming for dinner. It’s funny how that number makes me feel like I need to get the house cleaner than, oh, say six people coming over.

So wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

NaNoWriMo Update!

So much for my stellar start with NaNoWriMo. Initially, at the pace I was going, I should have been close to finished by now. But I still haven’t gotten the write-everyday-pattern down pat, and ended up taking two days “off” from writing. I’m not likely to get any writing done today, either.

Current total: 25,651 words

I’m still on target to complete 50K words by the end of the month, which is a very good thing indeed!

Currently Reading

I haven’t had the chance to read any print books this week. I did, however, end up sticking with my M.C. Beaton audios, and just finished up Death of a Dreamer. I’m really liking this series in audio – the Scottish accents are wonderful, and the stories are great cozies, very good when you’re in the mood for a comfort read.

Bookworms Carnival

And speaking of comfort reads, I’m hosting the 42nd edition of the Bookworms Carnival! (I think I am, anyway. I’ve submitted my topic, but haven’t heard back yet, so I need to get on the ball and email again, I think.)

The topic I’ve chosen is Comfort Reads. Deadline for submission of posts is November 27, 2009.

And if all goes well (meaning, my emails to the organizers haven’t been going astray!) I’ll be writing up a more detailed post later this week.

This Coming Week

Things should be less hectic this coming week. Several of my deadlines have shifted into December (great for November, not so great for Christmas!) so I’ll be able to take a bit of a breather and hopefully be able to finally tackle my Google Reader.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get tomorrow’s International Giveaways List post up, as I usually write that one up on the Saturday and well, it’s Saturday already, the house is only half-cleaned, and tonight I’m going to be more busy than not.

What have you been up to this week? I haven’t had a chance to visit very many blogs, so please feel free to leave links in the comments to your posts about any interesting things going on this week in your reading or writing life!

As some of you know, I recently persuaded my husband, Ward, to start blogging at the food blog we’d set up together, Muse in the Kitchen. I was having the most dreadful time keeping Muse in the Kitchen up-to-date with recent posts because, frankly, what I love is eating, not cooking, and I just didn’t feel very passionate about writing up all the delicious recipes he was trying out.

It made far more sense to have him blogging there, because he’s the one doing the hands-on work; he’s also the one who gets excited over discovering a new ingredient, or finding a challenging recipe. In other words, he’s the one with the passion for cooking, and passion is what makes a blog work.

So now we’re a team – he writes up the posts, I format them and do some light editing, crop the pictures, and add my two cents to the end of each post (because you all probably know, I can’t resist adding my two cents wherever and whenever possible!).

Here’s what we’ve been up to in the kitchen this week:

Steve Kubien’s Salt and Pepper Mills: Steve is one of Ward’s students, and a fabulous woodworker. If you’ve got a foodie on your shopping list this holiday season, check out Steve’s work on Etsy. He’s got some gorgeous pieces available, plus he does custom work!

Risotto with Bolognese Sauce: This is one of Ward’s recent creations. One of his Italian friends, Mary, suggested he mix his leftever Bolognese sauce with risotto, so when he made Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce last week, he decided to give this a try the next day, and the result was really, really delicious. (The Bolognese sauce Ward makes is also very good – I love it, and I don’t even like spaghetti dishes normally!)

A Mediterranean Menu for Our Open House Dinner: Every second Saturday of the month, Ward and I hold an open house dinner for all our friends and for all their friends, too – it’s a great way to meet new people. Basically, if we know you, you’re invited! This month’s dinner is tomorrow, and this is a look at what we’re serving. Ward’s been busy cooking up a storm all day today and the house smells lovely already!

Fava Bean Stew: This is a wonderfully savory bean stew that is responsible for my current love affair with beans. The first time Ward made this stew, I couldn’t believe it was meatless. We’ll be serving this up tomorrow, and I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as we do!

Strip Steak with Tequila-Avocado Sauce: This is definitely a good recipe. I know this, because the steaks we had were on the thinner side, and because Ward followed the cooking times in the recipe, we ended up with medium-well instead of our preferred medium-rare/rare – and the steak was still good! The Tequila-Avocado Sauce was incredibly flavorful, too.

Roasted Chayote Squash: Chayote squash is my new favorite vegetable. This recipe is so simple I could make it (and I probably will). We never have any leftovers, mainly because I have been known to remain sitting at the dining room table until the last piece has been polished off.

Quinoa Salad: Incredibly tasty and very, very good for you. This was a lovely dish, even though Ward forgot to add the dressing! (He does that sometimes, and then after dinner will look at a cup or bowl full of some ingredient and exclaim, “Oh! I think I forgot to add …!” And yet, his dishes are almost always so very, very good.)

Four Spice and Ginger Cake: Ward had trouble with this one – it took him almost twice as long to bake as the recipe suggested – but the pieces he served were moist, peppery, slightly gingery and oh, so very tasty.

So that’s been our cooking week at Muse in the Kitchen – for more delightful cooking stuff, make sure to check out all the links at the Weekend Cooking post at Beth Fish Reads!

I just realized, now that my regular Sunday Salon book giveaways list is much shorter because I’m only featuring book giveaways open to everyone, I can get all chatty in my Sunday Salon post! When the giveaways list was a huge, massive list, there really wasn’t space for any chatting.

Yay! Because I also want to talk about the readathon and NaNoWriMo today!

*********************************************

List of Book Giveaways Open to Everyone

First, here’s the international book giveaways list. As always, the links in this list will open up in either a new tab or window (depending on how you have your browser set up) to make it more convenient for you. I’m also indicating the genre of the book being given away.

This international book giveaways round-up post is a regular feature here at MsBookish so if you’re holding a book giveaway that’s open worldwide, let me know and I’ll include your giveaway in my next international book giveaways round-up post.

1. Children’s Picture Book: Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy”, by Tina Turbin, at Simply Stacie (ends Nov 1)
2. General Fiction: Only Milo, by Barry Smith, at Beth Fish Reads (ends Nov 2)
3. Historical Fiction: Virgin and the Crab, by Robert Parry, at Historical Fiction (ends Nov 4)
4. General Fiction: The Last Will of Moira Leahy, by Therese Walsh, at Peeking Between the Pages (ends Nov 14)
5. Fantasy/Paranormal: Bound to Shadows, by Keri Arthur, at Fantasy Dreamer’s Ramblings (ends Nov 1)
6. Fantasy/Paranormal: Bite Marks, by Jennifer Rardin, at Fantasy & SciFi Lovin’ News and Reviews (ends Oct 26)
7. Fantasy/Paranormal: choice of Bite Marks or Once Bitten, Twice Shy, by Jennifer Rardin, at Vampire Wire (ends Oct 28)
8. Fantasy: Shadowfae, by Erica Hayes, at Dark Faerie Tales (ends Oct 27)
9. Fantasy/Paranormal: Some Girls Bite, by Chloe Neill, at The Book Resort (ends Nov 30)
10. Fantasy/Paranormal: Charmed to Death, by Shirley Damsgaard, at The Book Resort (ends Nov 20)
11. Selection of books, at Teens Read and Write (ends Nov 15)
12. Mystery: Happy Hour, by Michele Scott , at The Book Resort (ends Nov 9)
13. Fantasy/Paranormal: Release (e-book), by Nicole Hadaway, at Layers of Thought (ends Oct 30) **Note: you need to email your entry, rather than comment for an entry
14. YA/Paranormal: Hush, Hush, by Becca Fitzpatrick, at Liyana Lands (ends Oct 31)
15. Fantasy/Paranormal: Covet, by J.R. Ward, at Fiction Vixen (ends Nov 3)
16. Fantasy/Paranormal: Once Upon A Nightmare, by Lee Moylan, at Friends and Family (ends Oct 31)
17. Nonfiction: The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition, at Traveling Mom (ends Oct 30)
18. Fantasy/Paranormal: Dark Times, by Dakota Banks, at Wordsmithonia (ends Nov 6)
19. Cookbook: Chocolate, A Love Story, by Max Brenner, at Book Junkie (ends Oct 30)
20. Selection of short story collections, at Fantasy/Sci-Fi Lovin’ Giveaways (ends Oct 30)
21. Fantasy: Traitor’s Gate, by Kate Elliott, at Fantasy/SciFi Lovin’ Giveaways (ends Oct 31)
22. Science Fiction: Red Claw, by Philip Palmer, at Fantasy/SciFi Lovin’ Giveaways (ends Nov 2)
23. Nonfiction (for Twilight fans): Robert Pattinson Inside Out or Taylor Lautner Inside Out, by Mel Willliams, at Chicklish (ends Oct 26)
24. Nonfiction: Parlour Games for Modern Families, by Myfanwy Jones and Spiri Tsintziras, at Mommy PR (ends Nov 5)
25. Paranormal: Choice of one book from Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty series, at Book Chick City (ends Oct 31)
26. Historical Fiction: Sarah, by Marek Halter, at Historical Fiction (ends Oct 31)
27. Historical Fiction: In the Company of the Courtesan, by Sarah Dunant, at Historical Fiction (ends Nov 7)

And for writers, there’s the *Another* Another Faust “retelling” contest. The contest is open to all unpublished authors. This one ends Jan 31, 2010, so you’ve got lots of time.

*********************************************

The Readathon!

I had a blast cheering for Dewey’s Read-a-thon yesterday. The Read-a-thon occurs every six months, so the next one will be in April. Will I be participating? Definitely, but probably as a cheerleader again.

Probably the most fun for me was the time I spent on Twitter between 11:00 pm and 2:30 am; it was getting down to the wire, and all the lovely, committed and dedicated readathon readers out there were getting tired. I did my best to tweet encouragement and support because truly, because of the immediacy of Twitter, I felt like I was right there with them! My tweets were my version of cups of hot, strong coffee.

At one point, I made so many tweets, Twitter locked me out for a while. Thankfully, Twitter relented after about 20 minutes and let me tweet again.

By 2:30 am, though, I couldn’t stay up any longer. I really, really wanted to, because there were quite a few readers still up and trying to get a few more pages in, but I couldn’t. So I had to sign off, but I dreamed about waving my readathon pompoms in my sleep!

Altogether, I visited 170 blogs from the sign-up list, plus clicked over to blogs via links in Twitter. I left comments on all blogs I visited that had a readathon post up.

I am so impressed with the amount of pages everyone was reading. The update posts were all wonderful. Some bloggers even managed to put up reviews!

I’m hoping to have some time later tonight to check out as many readathon wrap-up posts as I can.

What did I get out of my participation? A real sense of community. Community has been the best thing about blogging for me, and my experience during the readathon has enhanced this feeling of community.

*********************************************

NaNoWriMo Is Only Seven Days Away!

I know! It blew me away when I realized that November 1 is next Sunday! Even though I theoretically had the entire month of October to do all my prep work for NaNoWriMo, I still haven’t gotten as much done as I’d have liked.

So this week, I’m going to get through all the things on my “prep” list. No outlines, because I’m not an outliner, but here’s what I’d like to have done before next Sunday:

• Finish up my “words” research (my novel involves “words as words”, and I’d like to have several lists on hand so that wherever my muse takes me as I write, I won’t have to stop to think.
• Create a whole bunch of character collages for potential secondary characters. I’m hoping having a lot of characters on hand who might or might not play a part in the story will help prevent me from having to stop to think. (You might be noticing a trend, here. Yes, I do not want to stop and think while I’m writing. I want to get 50K words written in November! Stopping and thinking would make things more difficult.)
• Create a “Shiny” list. This is just such a fabulous idea!
• Along the same lines, create a list of things I like in fiction.

There’s a Toronto meetup for NaNoWriMo participants this coming weekend, and if I can get my sister to go with me, I just might attend, even though doing things like that scares the bejeebers out of me. I am not good at meeting people, although I’m good at becoming friends with people, if that makes sense (I call it my introverted extroverted tendencies).

Are you doing NaNoWriMo? What (if anything) will you be doing this week to prepare?

I guess I was doing TOO good a job cheerleading for the Readathon – Twitter won’t let me make any more tweets for now!!

That’s a good thing, right?

So I’m off Twitter for now, but Go, Readers, Go!!!

And I’m taking this as a sign that I’m meant to go comment/cheer on more of the readers’ blogs!

This post is going live at 8:00 am today, which is when the October 24-hour-readathon starts. I’m actually writing this right now at 12:52 am (Toronto time) because no way am I going to be up at 8:00 am. Try 10:00 am and we’re looking at a possibility.

So it’s a good thing I’m a cheerleader for this wonderful reading event, and not an actual reader, since the aim is to read for the 24 hours.

I’m a member of the Romantics cheerleading squad, and I’ve committed to four hours of cheering.

Has this ever happened to you? You’re looking forward to an event, and you’ve been talking it up with your family the whole day before. “Yes, I’m cheering for the 24-hour readathon tomorrow. I’ll be making lots of comments. Writing lots of tweets on Twitter.”

In the meantime, your husband is preparing for another event that you also “know” is happening – except that it’s the kind of “knowing” that hasn’t quite sunk in.

Two hours ago, I realized, “OMG, that’s right. We’re having a DINNER PARTY tomorrow night!”

Now, you may not think this is a problem. But around here, a dinner party means “having people over” which automatically turns things into a full-day event.

Because, you see, the house has to be cleaned. At least, the parts of it guests will have access to.

Not only does my husband usually teach on Saturday mornings, this particular Saturday morning he has a student grading (he runs a martial arts dojo), which means he’ll be home even later in the afternoon than usual.

He normally does more of the housework around here than I do, but because of the grading, me and my current audiobook (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) will be shouldering most of the cleaning-the-house burden.

I’m also responsible for the usual host duties once our guests arrive, since my husband will be in the kitchen, chopping away and performing his usual food magic. And I think everyone does expect me to sit down to dinner with them.

I don’t know HOW the fact that these two events are actually occurring within the same time frame could have possibly slipped my notice. After all, I knew that today is the readathon. I also knew we are having a dinner party today.

I just didn’t put two and two together adequately enough to notice that they would be happening at the same time.

(Did you notice? No-one around here – ie my husband – clued in to the fact that both events were taking place at the same time, either.)

Thankfully, I’ve committed to four hours of cheering. I can do four hours. I’ll be commenting during my breaks from cleaning the house. I might have to discreetly keep my iPhone on my lap under my napkin at dinner and tweet encouragement to various readers, but I will meet my commitment.

In fact, I’m hoping to exceed those four hours. Plus, everyone who’s coming has either young kids, or teenagers who play hockey at the ridiculous hour of 4:00 in the morning on Sundays. They’ll all be out of here by 11:00 (okay, 12:00 at the latest), and since I’m a night owl, that still leaves me a couple of hours to cheer before bed.

I will update this post with my cheerleading thoughts as the day progresses.

Good luck, everyone! And have fun! I know I will.

Cheerleading Update Number 1 (1:24 pm Toronto time)

Cleaning? What cleaning? :) I’m going to start now. I have now visited 85 blogs and commented at every one of them that had a readathon post up.

I also spent about half an hour on Twitter, having fun tweeting away.

I didn’t know cheerleading could be so fun. But … my husband is vacuuming and I’m feeling mighty guilty. A-cleaning I go!

Good luck, everyone!\

Cheerleading Update No. 2: 1:11 am Toronto Time

I think I must be doing a good cheering job – I just got booted off Twitter for making too many updates!

Today’s the final day of BBAW! This has been my first year participating in the fun, and it’s been such a blast. My Google Reader is filled to the brim, bursting with a lot of really wonderful new blogs I’ve discovered this week, too. Here’s the final prompt for the week, and it’s a good one:

Tell us and this is really important, in 50 words or less what you love best about your blog!  And then in 50 words or less where you want your blog to be by the next BBAW!

Most of you know that brevity isn’t my strong point, but I’m up to this particular challenge. No tricks this time!

What I Love Best About MsBookish:

All the people who visit here, read what I have to say, make comments, email me, encourage me and give me support in various ways. (Word count: 25 words)

Where MsBookish Will Be By The Next BBAW:

Nominated for Best Author’s Blog. (Yes, I do realize I will need to be a published author first, but my motto is Dream Big.) (Word count: 25 words)

See that? Not only did I meet the 50 words or less goal in my answer to EACH question, I’ve come in at 50 words TOTAL. I knew I could do it!

What about you? What do you love about your blog right now, and where do you see your blog in a year?

Thank you, Beth Fish Reads!

Back in early June, Beth Fish Reads wrote a post about the John Ceepak mysteries by Chris Grabenstein. I trust her implicitly, and at the time I was just in the beginning stages of my love affair with audiobooks, so I was very intrigued, because she’d listened to the series in audio:

I listened to the entire series, which is read by Jeff Woodman. I can’t imagine a better narrator for Ceepak and Danny. In fact, Woodman’s work is so amazing that the books are not to be missed in audio.

When Beth Fish Reads says something is not to be missed in audio, she means it – she listens to a lot of audiobooks, and her recommendations are always dead-on.

And that’s how I ended up listening to Tilt-a-Whirl, the first book in the series. And within the space of about six weeks, I listened my way through the entire series, including the latest book, Mind Scrambler, which was released near the end of June.

There are just so many things to like about the series: Danny Boyle, the boyish narrator who really feels like the kid brother I never had; John Ceepak, that Dudley Do-Right, as Beth Fish Reads describes him in her review, who turned out to be both very likeable and a true hero; the darkness and complexities of the mysteries, which work deliciously well in conjunction with the light-hearted style of narration; and Jeff Woodman, the audiobook narrator, who is most definitely a real gem in the audiobook world. He does such great voices, even for the female characters, and his Danny Boyle and John Ceepak are perfect.

The John Ceepak series is the only one I’ve listened to entirely in audio; I enjoyed each book as well as Woodman’s narration immensely, and I can’t see myself opting for the print version of future books in the series without first having listened to the audio version.

It’s all thanks to Beth Fish Reads.

And not only did she introduce me to one of the best books (and best series) I’ve read this year, she also cemented my new-born love of audiobooks. These days, I listen to an audiobook every night before bed; I also listen while I’m doing mundane chores around the house, and find that I actually look forward to cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.

Actually, now that I think about it, my entire life has changed. Housework no longer stresses me out – I look forward to it. That’s not bad!

So thank you, Beth Fish Reads! If she’s not already in your list of daily reads, she definitely should be. You can read her review of the entire John Ceepak series here and my review of Tilt-a-Whirl here.

Update: I was just on Twitter talking with Beth Fish Reads and Nicole of Linus’s Blanket, and I remembered this article by Stephen King on audiobooks, where he points out that “the spoken word is the acid test. They don’t call it storytelling for nothing.” If you’re not convinced yet about the audiobook format, click on over and see what King has to say. He makes some very good points.

Another Update: Congratulations to Beth Fish Reads for winning BBAW’s Best New Blog award!

And don’t forget to check out the other book bloggers who are being appreciated today!

I thought this one would be tough for me. Everyone knows how much I like using five words where one word will do, ten words where two will do, twenty words where three will do (need more numerical examples or was that just perfect?).

This BBAW meme requires me to answer the following questions in as few words as possible – and be creative while I’m at it.

And guess what? I had a TON of fun doing this. Why? Because I CHEATED! I’ve snuck in a few extra words (well, okay – a WHOLE LOT of extra words) throughout this post. The extra words are here, on this page. You DON’T have to leave this post to read them.

PLUS there’s a little BBAW giveaway hidden here, too. Yes. On this page. You DON’T have to leave this page to read about the giveaway. Honest.

*************************************

Let the games (and fun!) begin:

1. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

Yes. Food. Any food.

2. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

Pristine pages (except for food stains).

3. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

Tried corner bookmarks:

Didn’t work. Still do this.

4. Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?

This and that.

5. Hard copy or audiobooks?

Yes and yes.

6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?

Read to the finish. Sometimes.

7. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?

Like this? I wish.

8. What are you currently reading?

This, this and this.

9. What is the last book you bought?

This.

10. Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?

Multiple books.

11. Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?

Anytime. Anywhere.

12. Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?

Yes and yes.

13. Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?

Yes. Several, in fact.

14. How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)

Organize? What do you mean, organize?

***************************************

Did you figure it out? Here’s a clue: put your mouse over any of my links but don’t click.

And the giveaway? Put your mouse over the links in my answer to the “bookmark or dog-ear” question, but don’t click – you might have to move your mouse off the link and put it back on again to finish reading.

It’s just a little giveaway – and it’s only for as long as my mailing budget holds out. (Click here to email me your info). BUT you’ll also get added to my holiday card mailing list. AND my RAK list – I’m always on the lookout for little book-related things or slim paperbacks that can be easily slipped into an envelope and mailed out to names on my RAK list!

More BBAW fun: Show us your TBR pile. And as luck would have it, I’m actually really, really prepared for this post (which is quite an odd thing, as I’m not particularly well-known for preparedness).

A while back, I was tagged for the What’s On My Desk Wednesday meme, and I posted the following picture of the tidiest TBR pile in my house – the tidiest one at the time, that is:

Needless to say, this particular TBR pile only grew untidier. As TBR piles have the tendency to do, the books in this pile got up to some very naughty hijinks in the middle of the night and they all reproduced– over and over again. Until finally, it got to the point where I couldn’t get to my desk without heavy-duty lifting.

I’m not kidding.

Since I work from home, this was not a good thing. It was either clear up this TBR pile, or starve. Although I’m on the untidy side, and a master procrastinator, I also like to eat. So I decided I’d better clear this pile up.

My Great TBR Shelving Idea

That’s when I got my great TBR shelving idea. It’s such a great idea, I bolded it so it would catch your attention.

We recently bought this very cheap “shelf” thing which is supposed to hold about 250 DVDs or 150 VHS cassettes (remember those?). It cost about $30; we bought it at Walmart. It was a cinch to put together – although a little bit on the wobbly side, but that doesn’t really matter because you’re going to be putting books on it. Books = heavy.

The beauty of this shelf is that it’s got an extremely small footprint (as far as a bookshelf goes) – it measures, roughly, 6” X 22” at its base, and is about 46” tall. You can took it away in almost any corner. Here it is, when we first put it together, tucked in between my six-year-old’s toy and book corner and his Geotrax trains box (which you can’t see in the picture, but trust me, it’s there).

Here’s a closer look, so you can see that this baby doesn’t actually have any shelves! (I think that’s why it’s so cheap – it’s just dowels, basically).

And here it is, fully loaded with that renegade TBR pile that had grown to enormous proportions on my office floor.

Guess how many books it’s holding in this picture?

It’s holding 99 books!

I’ve added a bit to it since then, so it’s holding about 103 books right now – but that includes a lot of thick hardcover books. If you used one just for your paperbacks, you could probably get a lot more on it.

Want A Closer Look?

Here’s a shot of each shelf – I wanted to get close enough, so some books at each end didn’t make it into the pictures.

The top shelf:

Second shelf:

Third shelf:

Bottom shelf:

And in conclusion: (I’ve always wanted to use that phrase in a post!) I love these little DVD shelves! I have several other TBR stacks lying around the house, and I plan to tuck more of these shelves all over the place, just for them. And I might use a few to house my permanent paperback collection, too.

I just have to find some nice little unused spots around the house, and I’m good to go.

What do your TBR piles look like?

It’s Day One of Book Blogger Appreciation Week and today it’s time to shine the spotlight on some of my favorite book blogs! It was extremely difficult culling down my list, although it was helpful that some of my favorites were shortlisted and therefore had to be cut from my list.

Which, by the way, is the downside of being shortlisted: I don’t get to have wonderful book bloggers writing wonderful things about me!  More’s the pity, as I didn’t win. Ah well! A big congratulations to Books on the Nightstand, who received the blue ribbon for Most Eclectic Taste, and deservedly so!

Today, I’d like to shine the Ms. Bookish spotlight on the following blogs.

Dorte, at DJ’s Krimiblog. If you’re interested in mysteries and suspense, DJ’s Krimiblog is definitely a place to visit. What’s even better is that Dorte is in Europe, and it’s because of her that I’ve added quite an international touch to my own mystery reading list – I’ve discovered scores of new European authors through her. Dorte also shares her flash fiction on her blog, and they are such great reads. Want to know something really impressive? English is a second language for Dorte, but she has such an enviable command of English, you wouldn’t guess it’s not her mother tongue.

Memory, at Stella Matutina. Memory writes mostly about speculative fiction, and I have gone away from her blog many, many times with a new title or author scribbled onto my “I want to read that” list. She writes with such passion and style – her reviews are very in-depth and she shares a bit of herself with each one, too. I love reading everything she blogs about. And she doesn’t limit her reviews to new or current books, either; she writes about lots of older books and I really enjoy that. She’s also a fiction writer, and is currently hard at work revising her current WIP.

Carrie, at Books and Movies. Carrie is constantly adding to my list of “I want to read that book”. I especially love her recommended reading lists that she occasionally puts together for various genres. And here’s something that I am totally in awe of: in addition to blogging at Books and Movies, Carrie also writes a popular homeschooling blog, Mommy Brain – she homeschools her four children! Ward and I are just embarking on the homeschool path with our six-year-old, and I can’t tell you how inspired I am by all that Carrie accomplishes.

Nicole, at Linus’s Blanket. Nicole writes simply gorgeous reviews, the kind you can sink right into and emerge feeling like your life has been irrevocably enhanced by her words. I always feel like she’s taken me on her own reading journey whenever I pop over there. And there’s often a bonus at the end of her posts: a thought-provoking question which has me commenting with glee.

Rebecca, at I’m Lost in Books. You wouldn’t know it from her blog, but Rebecca only started blogging this year. She is an extremely prolific blogger, and comes up with the most delightful posts. She has an extremely eclectic taste, and reviews new and old books in all sorts of genres. She also has this knack for coming up with the most creative features. A visit to her blog is always fun because you never know what you’ll find.

Meghan, at Medieval Bookworm. As many of you have probably figured out by now, historical fiction isn’t something I read very often. It just doesn’t appeal to me, not unless it’s got a mystery or fantasy thrown into the mix. Despite this, Meghan’s Medieval Bookworm is a place I enjoy visiting very much. No, she doesn’t always review historical fiction, but she does review quite a lot of it, and does that matter to me? Not at all. I read all of her posts with interest, because she has such a gift of writing great reviews.

Update: Well, I don’t know where my mind was at; I’ve been feeling scattered all day. That’s my only excuse. Margot from Joyfully Retired is on my personal shortlist, too. I love, love, love her blog; you know how you visit a blogger and wish you knew them in real life? Well, that’s Margot. Her Favorite Places posts are fabulous, and it’s always such a treat when she gets her husband or her daughter to do a joint review with her. She is one of the first blogs I visit whenever I go bloghopping.

There are so many more book blogs out there that I enjoy reading – it was very hard narrowing down my list to these specific blogs. While I don’t always have the time to comment much, just having each and every one of you in my Google Reader adds immeasurably to my book reading life.

The BBAW shortlists are now up, so it’s time to get voting!

Congratulations to all those who have been short listed for their various categories. I’m going to have fun going through the lists, as I took a quick peek earlier today and saw several that are new-to-me. My feedreader is eager for all those lovely new feeds!

I’m thrilled that MsBookish has been shortlisted in the category of Most Eclectic Taste.

I suspect most of you will be doing what I plan on doing: visiting blogs and checking them out before having some voting fun.

So, for those of you not familiar with MsBookish, I thought it might be helpful to include the links to the five posts that I submitted to the BBAW panel in this category:

Learning to Read

On the Write Track: Some Accountability Please

Review: L.A. Candy, by Lauren Conrad

Audiobook Magic: 7 Reasons Why You Should Listen to Your Next Read

My Daughter Directs: A Short Film Inspired by Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

Finding eclectic posts of mine wasn’t actually that difficult – narrowing them down to five was! So here were the ones I considered including, but couldn’t.

So Where Did I Get the Last 20 Books I Reviewed?

On Writing: Do You Keep a Journal?

The Art of the Insult

Happy voting, everyone! I’m very glad I finished up my Project From Hell last week, so I can have the fun of getting to know some great new-to-me blogs via BBAW this week …

I’m featured at Cathy’s The Scene of the Blog today! Come drop by here to take a peek at where I do my blogging.

I am still marveling at Cathy’s perfect timing. She managed to catch me right after I had cleaned my desk. At this very moment, as I’m typing this, I can’t actually see much of my desk because I have too many things piled up here. (Yes, I’m a piler …)

The Second Annual Book Blogger Appreciation Week is coming up September 14 to 18, and I’m very excited to be participating this year. Last year I wasn’t involved because MsBookish.com wasn’t yet born; it sounds like an incredibly fun event and I’ve enjoyed reading the BBAW meme that other book bloggers have been posting about.

Amy, at My Friend Amy, is the founder and organizer of this event, and she’s been doing an amazing job. In addition to a meme for bloggers who participated last year, she also has one for those who are participating for the first time. So here you go:

What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you?

Without a doubt, the main highlight of blogging at MsBookish has been the absolute thrill of finding myself a part of this wonderful community of people. I have always been a voracious reader, and as luck would have it, I’ve never been friends with another avid reader. Blogging about what I’m reading has helped me discover a lot of people whose opinions I admire and respect, and who I just plain like very, very much. The same goes for blogging about writing.

What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you?

This is such a difficult question to answer, because there are so many, so I’m going to cheat and list a few bloggers:

Kathy, from Bermudaonion, almost singlehandedly kept me blogging when I was at that crucial beginning stage and there were days when I thought, wouldn’t it be so nice if at least one person read what I was writing? Kathy was that one person. I don’t know how she does it, but day after day, week after week, she’d be here, posting her comments. I hung in there because of her.

Beth Fish Reads, Jill from rhapsodyinbooks and Margot from Joyfully Retired also somehow manage to comment on most of my posts, and I don’t know how they do it either, but I’m very thankful that they do. It’s wonderful and very much appreciated.

And Dorte from DJ’s Krimiblog, Memory from Stella Matutina and Cathryn from Cathryn’s G-rant have been very encouraging of my writing posts; with their support I’ve finally been able to work on my fiction writing consistently.

There are so many others, but since I am already cheating by naming more than one, I’d better stop here or I could get really carried away!

What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer?

Okay, I’ll admit this: I don’t actually know what one does during BBAW, other than vote for the best bloggers in each category. I think I’m supposed to read others’ posts during that week, and find new bloggers, but I’m not too sure what I’m supposed to do here at MsBookish. Should I be blogging about anything specific? I do have one great giveaway lined up, but other than that, I’m at a loss. Your help would be much appreciated!

I got tagged last week by J. Kaye for the What’s On My Desk Wednesday meme. My heart kind of sank because the state of my desk when I got tagged was really really dismal. (I actually had to move a stack of books in order to see the little date thing in the bottom right hand corner of my monitor. It’s better now, but no worries – I didn’t cheat. I took my pic on the day I got tagged. And it’s not a picture of my desk, either.)

I realized there was a loophole (can you guess what my post-graduate degree is in?) – here are the rules, from Sassy Brit’s blog (I added the bolding to highlight the nice little loophole):

Grab a camera and take a photo of your desk! Or anywhere you stack your books/TBR pile. And no tidying!

Add this photo to your blog.

Tag at least 5 people!

Come back here and leave a link back to your photo in the comments section.

That’s it.

Since I have several TBR piles on the go all around the house, I realized I was saved. I could still play and NOT take a picture of my extremely messy desk.

In the interests of full disclosure (ah, another hint about the life I was supposed to lead), I do admit that I took something like 30 different shots of this TBR pile before picking this one as being the tidiest looking one:

This is a picture of the TBR stack that resides on the floor to the left of my desk. In case you’re wondering, the two separate piles of papers are work-related manuscript proofs. There’s also a box of file folders in there. Behind the two stacks on the right hand side is another shelf stuffed with more TBRs. The box that you see in the lower right front corner is from Harlequin – I’ve decided to give romance a try (mainly because of this blog), but haven’t gotten around to opening the box yet.

In the shelf above the two stacks on the right hand side is my shelf of notebooks. Yes, in addition to being a book-aholic, I’m also a notebook junkie. I admit it.

Embarrassing, isn’t it? But nowhere near as embarrassing as my desk!

I hereby tag the following bloggers – these are the bloggers whose desks/TBR piles I’d love a glimpse of!

Diane at The Book Resort. Diane is my cozy mystery guru, and she reads and reviews so many books, I’m dying to see what her TBR piles look like (and maybe catch a glimpse of some upcoming reviews).

CarrieK at Books and Movies. Carrie’s “book lists” are really impressive – she has excellent taste in books and I trust her recommendations absolutely, another good reason to catch a glimpse of her TBR pile.

Debbie at Debbie’s World of Books. Debbie has such a wonderful style in her book reviews, and offers an eclectic mix of reviews. A sneak peak at what’s coming up next would be wonderful.

Joanne at The Book Zombie. Joanne has done more than her fair share in terms of adding to my list of books to search out; I have several graphic novels that I’m trying to pin down and get a hold of because of her excellent reviews. I figured, it’s payback time.

Rebecca at I’m Lost In Books. I love reading Rebecca’s blog because she has such a wonderfully eclectic taste, and I’m sure to find something interesting every single time I visit her blog. It all adds up to one thing: I really want to see your TBR pile, Rebecca!

and (I know this is a little strange) Dennis Denis, husband of Cathy of Kittling Books.

I don’t know if this kind of thing is actually allowed within the parameters of the rules, since Dennis Denis isn’t a blogger, but I thought I’d give it a shot. Dennis Denis, you are free to decline! But Cathy’s husband is definitely a reader (Don’t you think Cathy is so lucky? My husband cooks, but he doesn’t read. Even more impressive, Cathy’s husband likes Deborah Crombie’s books. And I won’t even mention the netbook he recently surprised her with) and most importantly, Cathy and I recently had a Twitter conversation about messy desks; she says her husband’s has to be the messiest of all time, but I personally think my desk has his beat. (I would tag Cathy, but she was actually tagged in the same round as I was … that’s my excuse, anyway.)

The past two days definitely flew by. I didn’t accomplish everything on my Bloggiesta list, but then again, with a couple of deadlines hanging over me (one down, one to go!) I didn’t really expect to.

I found that just making my Bloggiesta to-do list was helpful, and I will likely be making my way through the list for the rest of this week, getting everything ready for when I leave for vacation!

So here’s my list – I’ve crossed off the things I did manage to get done:

• write and schedule as many Incoming! new book arrival posts as possible.
• update my writing blogs links page. It is woefully behind, in comparison to the book blogs one.
• figure out how to copy all of my existing blogging templates from my desktop to my netbook (this one is very very important)
• create master printed list of usernames and passwords for handy reference while I’m away
• begin compiling my Sunday giveaways post before tomorrow night (I’ve been falling into the dreadful habit of doing it all last minute, and it can take me three or four hours!)
• upgrade existing plugins
• upload and activate new plugins

I also did some template tweaking that I hadn’t contemplated: I added gravatars to the comments section. And I now have threaded comments! I’m pretty thrilled about that one.

I also completed the following mini-challenges:

The Book Lady’s Blog: Clean up your feedreader

Fizzy Thought’s challenge: Go forth and comment!

And I did one that I hadn’t thought I’d have time for: Ruth from Bookish Ruth – You’re going to analyze what? My score? 97/100. I was pretty happy with that.

As you can see, I’ve been quite the Bloggiesta slacker compared to a lot of you. I kept up with everyone’s tweets through #bloggiesta and many of the participants were up to some awesome stuff. Debbie from Debbie’s World of Books and Diane of The Book Resort both put up brand new templates (and Debbie actually switched over to her own domain!)

Natasha (MawBooks) has The Bloggiesta: Finish Line post up, so you can check out how (and what!) everyone did over the past 48 hours.

I’ve signed up for the Bloggiesta over at Natasha’s blog, MawBooks. It’s a bit of insanity, I know, because I’m also working hard to complete two deadlines, hopefully by Monday, so that I’ll have a few days to prepare for our road trip (we leave on Friday). My husband has also been breathing down my neck to start blogging regularly at our food blog – I moved the blog to a new account, leaving behind all our old posts in the process, and haven’t done much with things ever since – so I’m also celebrating Bloggiesta over there, too, in the hopes of motivating myself to get into daily food blogging, as well.

BUT the Bloggiesta sounds like so much fun and I really want to participate! So my list of things to do here will be on the shorter side, but I figured it would be a good way to get involved and catch up on things I wanted to get done around MsBookish before I left on holidays.

Here’s my Bloggiesta list for MsBookish:

• write and schedule as many Incoming! new book arrival posts as possible. I have a huge stack here, so it would be nice to get them out of the way. While I intend to blog regularly while on holidays (we’re supposed to have Internet access), it will still be nice to know I’ll have some scheduled posts to rely on.
• update my writing blogs links page. It is woefully behind, in comparison to the book blogs one.
• figure out how to copy all of my existing blogging templates from my desktop to my netbook (this one is very very important)
• create master printed list of usernames and passwords for handy reference while I’m away
• begin compiling my Sunday giveaways post before tomorrow night (I’ve been falling into the dreadful habit of doing it all last minute, and it can take me three or four hours!)

Update (already!): almost forgot two more things: upgrade existing plugins and upload and activate new plugins!

This isn’t a huge list, but I wanted to be realistic. I also don’t want to stress out. Plus I’d like to participate in some of the mini-challenges, too, so this will hopefully leave me some time for doing that!

Happy Bloggiesta, everyone!