Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Manuscripts Don't Burn

Do  you have a favorite quote from a book you've read? One quote that stands out for me is "Manuscripts Don't Burn", which comes from Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master & Margarita.

According to Kevin Moss from Middlebury College, the quote "Manuscripts Don't Burn" is explained in the following way:
This phrase became a popular saying in the Soviet Union. It was used especially in reference to writers whose works were considered dangerous by the government. Many of these writers never wrote down their stories or poems. They memorized their works so that the police would not find copies of the writings. This method helped preserve their stories for years. As a result, "manuscripts don't burn" because no matter what happens to the written copy of the work, it will always exist in the mind of its author.
Censorship in any form is a sad state of affairs. I find it interesting to discover which books are deemed "dangerous" or are banned/challenged books. 

Many times I don't understand why some individuals or groups find a particular book offensive enough to want it banned, but such is life. Not everyone is going to like every book, story, or message sent out into the world.... I'm fine with that, as not everyone is going to like everything, but why try to ban or censor the material? Just because one person or group doesn't like something doesn't give them the right to ban the rest of us from reading or having access to the material. 

I'm an adult. I should be able to read what I want and decide for myself what I think about what I've just read.

Which quotes from books you've read are meaningful to you?

Monday, July 30, 2012

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

"We all know books burn -- yet we have the greater knowledge that books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory... In this war, we know books are weapons." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Sunday, July 29, 2012

DIY Book Purse Craft Project!

Here's another craft project for those that enjoy making them! This time around you can make your own purse from a hardback book to wear with an outfit and book earrings from yesterday's project! See this craft project on Wikihow. Let me know how your purse turns if you make one.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Make Your Own Book Earrings!

Add some fun to your outfit by making your own book earrings with this diy craft project from Wikihow! I haven't tried making these earrings, but they look cute to wear and make as gifts to give friends and family. If you make these earrings let me know!!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Margaret Mahy Dies at Age 76

As a young girl, one of my favorite books to read was Ultraviolet Catastrophe!: Or, The Unexpected Walk with Great-Uncle Magnus Pringle by Margaret Mahy! The story and illustrations are fabulous.

Margaret Mahy passed away on Monday, July 23, 2012 and was a beloved author in her own country of New Zealand and around the world. She wrote more than 120 books. 

In an article published in the Washington Post, titled Beloved New Zealand children’s author Margaret Mahy dies; 2-time Carnegie Medal winner by the Associated Press, comes the following quote:
Mahy’s best-known books include “A Lion in the Meadow,” ‘’The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate” and “Bubble Trouble.”

She won the Carnegie Medal for outstanding children’s writing twice and in 2006 won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for her lifetime contribution to children’s literature. She was one of 20 living people to hold her country’s highest honor, the Order of New Zealand, and her books were translated into 15 languages.

Prime Minister John Key said in a statement Tuesday that Mahy was “widely acknowledged as one of this country’s finest authors, and one of the world’s greatest writers of children’s and young adults’ stories.”
It's sad to lose yet another wonderfully talented and gifted author this year. May Margaret Mahy rest in peace.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Declutter Your Reading List!

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed these days with the amount of books (and ebooks) in my to be read pile... Or audiobooks to be listened to on my iPod. The amount of books waiting to be read by moi is looking more and more like Mount Everest with each passing month. I easily have a decades worth of reading material at hand.

It's not like I don't read. I simply tend to accumulate books faster than I can read through them. As much as I want to read through every single book I have in my Mount Everest pile of books, I think I have to simply scale down my collection as books are cropping up everywhere in my home. 

Don't get me wrong, I love books. Some women have an obsession with shoes, handbags, clothing, jewelry and so on... Me, I'm into books and the more the merrier. In my opinion, paradise is some sort of book heaven. 

So, what's the problem with my collection of books, if I love them so much? Well, for starters some of the books I've been given as gifts and I don't want to read some of these books. Or they are ones I've purchased for myself and I'm now no longer interested in reading them any longer due to changing tastes and interests.

Coincidentally, I've come across an online article titled Declutter the Reading List on the Small Notebook website. After reading Declutter the Reading List, I was determined to go through my own book collection and set aside books I no longer want to read. Most of these books have been registered on Bookcrossing, so I plan on releasing these books in the wild or at Official Bookcrossing Zones, etc.

Do you feel overwhelmed by your reading list? Then learn how declutter your reading list by clicking on the link above.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

"The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones." Joseph Joubert

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

If You Liked The Hunger Trilogy...

Then check out the Christian Science Monitor article titled 10 books to read after the 'Hunger Games' trilogy by Elizabeth Drake. Drake writes in her article:
So you’ve finished the "Hunger Games" trilogy and you are now officially addicted to dystopian novels with strong female heroines and absorbing plots. You need something to fill that hole pronto, and it had better be an action-packed story about teens in a dystopian society who must rely on their intelligence, courage, and friendships in order to survive as they fight menacing and oppressive social systems. Fear not, there are an increasing number of young adult books that fill that bill more or less precisely. Here's our list of the 10 books most highly recommended to ease "Hunger Games" withdrawal.
Until my next post happy reading!!

Monday, July 23, 2012

How to Read a Book!

I watched the following video, "How to Read a Book", on YouTube thinking it was going to be a video on the best way ergonomically read a book. Instead, this video describes the not so comfortable ways to read a book!


There have been so many time that I've found myself trying to read in the same ways presented in this video and ended up feeling the same way. 

I've found that reading in bed doesn't work for me! I like reading sitting on a chair at the table with a book propped up at a comfortable angle or while sitting in a chair, on the sofa, etc. and holding a book in my hands. How do you like to read a book?

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart. Wow, kudos to Amy Stewart for writing such a wonderful nonfiction book about bugs!! 

I found Wicked Bugs to be very captivating, scary and creepy all at the same time. Wicked Bugs is captivating because it is packed with information about a wide variety of bugs that any layperson, like myself, can easily understand and enjoy reading. Wicked Bugs is also scary and creepy because there is a lot of bugs out there that are harmful or destructive to the world around them. Granted, I realize that there are a plethora of bugs which are very beneficial, but it is the harmful or destructive ones that concern me the most... Ticks, mosquitoes, etc. that could potentially pass along disease and cause a lot of pain scare me senseless. 

Being a book lover and avid reader that I am, one of the sections I enjoyed reading most in Wicked Bugs was about bookworms, which aren't really worms at all. Bookworms are not harmful to people, just destructive to books. Some of these so called "bookworms" are listed as follows --- book louse, larder beetle, silverfish, drugstore beetle, book scorpion, and furniture beetle.

Below is a video of author Amy Stewart discussing her book Wicked Bugs!! I found the video really well done and hopefully you will too.
Also, check out NPR's article Where To Find The World's Most 'Wicked Bugs' and also listen to an NPR interview with Amy Stewart. 

Hopefully, both the above video and NPR interview will intrigue you enough to want to read Wicked Bugs. Until my next post, happy reading!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Out of Print Clothing

My Favorite T-Shirt From Out of Print Clothing
Are you looking for that unique gift for yourself or another like minded book lover?? Then check out Out of Print Clothing!! 

Out of Print Clothing offers an awesome assortment of t-shirts for men, women, and children, which "feature iconic and often out of print book cover" on them. 

I'm personally partial to the women's Master and Margarita book cover printed on a 100% cotton t-shirt as I am a huge fan of this novel written by Mikhail Bulgakov. 

Out of Print Clothing also offers other gift items like fleeces, tote bags, coasters, phone cases, journals and stationery.

Best of all I love Out of Print Clothing's Company Mission:
Out of Print celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion. Our products feature iconic and often out of print book covers. Some are classics, some are just curious enough to make great t-shirts, but all are striking works of art.
We work closely with artists, authors and publishers to license the content that ends up in our collections. Each product is treated to feel soft and worn like a well-read book.

In addition to spreading the joy of reading through our tees and accessories, we acknowledge that many parts of the world don’t have access to books at all. We are working to change that. For each product sold, one book is donated to a community in need through our partner Books For Africa.

How we read is changing as we move further into the digital age. It’s unclear what the role of the book cover will be in this new era, but we feel it’s more important than ever to reflect on our own individual experiences with great literary art before it’s forever changed.
 Check out the Out of Print Clothing website. It's a wonderful looking website.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Controversial Books That Changed Science Forever

I stumbled upon a post which I found on Wired Science titled The Classic, Beautiful and Controversial Books That Changed Science Forever by Tanya Lewis. It's amazing that works like On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin and Gray’s Anatomy by Henry Gray were controversial during their day, but are taken for granted today as the foundation of natural science. See the above link for other books that changed science as we know it.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

The latest book I've finished reading is Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's a book filled with a collection of nine short stories and published in 1999. 

In 2000, Interpreter of Maladies won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and according to Wikipedia, Interpreter of Maladies "was also chosen as The New Yorker's Best Debut of the Year and is on Oprah Winfrey's Top Ten Book List."

Although I feel that Jhumpa Lahiri is a good writer, I wasn't overly impressed by her writing. I was surprised after reading Interpreter of Maladies that it won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and also chosen as The New Yorker's Best Debut of the Year as I have a higher expectation for books that win prestigious awards and are selected as the best of anything in prominent magazines.

I felt that most of the stories in Interpreter of Maladies were too sad/depressing for my taste. I don't plan to read anything else written by Jhumpa Lahiri in the future.

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine, The Treatment of Bibi Haldar & The Third and Final Continent were the best stories in this collection of short stories in my opinion.


Sexy was a bit bizarre to me. The kid in this story gave me the creeps. I felt sorry for him, but he was too demanding personality wise.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens ..." Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Bill Gates Shares His Favorite Books of the Summer

Who knew that Bill Gates is a voracious book reader?! I guess it's something I never took the time to really ponder. 

In an article posted on GeekWire, titled Voracious reader Bill Gates shares his favorite books of the summer by John Cook, the following was written:
Want to get inside the mind of one of the world’s richest men? Just take a look at his bookshelf. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shared his summer reading list, displaying a wide variety of non-fiction titles that cover everything from life in urban slums to the economics of energy to the life of Chinese communist leader Deng Xiaoping.
So, which book is Bill Gates's favorite summer read?
His top read is The Better Angels of our Nature, a more than 700-page whopper by Harvard University professor Steven Pinker. The psychologist makes the case that things are actually much better in the world today than in years past.

“This got me thinking about how we can achieve more positive outcomes in the world today through the work of our foundation,” writes Gates in a review of the book.
 Click on  above link to read more of Bill Gates's summer favorites.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Latin American Novels & Poetry Podcast in the Guardian

The Guardian (British national daily newspaper) offers free literary podcasts. I recently listened to a 40 minute podcast from The Guardian titled Guardian Books podcast: Latin American novels and poetry

This is a fantastic podcast and I learned a lot about various Latin American novelists & poets I'd never hear of before, along with two new literary movements (or at least new to me) in both Mexico (the "crack" generation) & Chile (the McOndo literary movement).

There is even a reading list given at the end of titles and authors to read that were mentioned in Latin American Novels & Poetry podcast. Click on the above link to listen to the podcast and to discover the reading list.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

5 Books To Inspire Innovation

On NPR's website, I came across a cool article by Jonah Lehrer titled What's The Big Idea? 5 Books To Inspire Innovation. In the article, Jonah Lehrer writes:
The human brain is a piece of meat, a few pounds of pale pink jello inside the skull. It's also the wondrous source of consciousness and creativity, the place from which our emotions and insights emerge.
The following books look at the mystery of the creative mind from many different angles. They investigate the quirks of human nature and the science of beauty, the importance of stories and the necessity of investing in the right kind of collaborative spaces, both online and offline. They show us where our ideas come from and how, just maybe, we can have a few more of them. But they also document this strange world that our ideas have helped create.
I like books that focus on how to inspire innovation or how creativity works inside our brains. Click on the above link to see the 5 books that inspire innovation and what each book is all about! Until my next post happy reading!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Dogs Love Reading Too!

OMG, I love dogs! Check out these cute photographs of dogs posed to look like they are reading in an online post titles 25 Dogs That Love Reading found on Buzzfeed.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Reading Journal For Book Lovers

I just received the Reading Journal For Book Lovers, that you see to your left, in the mail today. It is a gift I purchased for myself to record my thoughts about the books I read.

The Reading Journal For Book Lovers is a 160 page hardback book with the following dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 7 inches.

This particular reading journal allows one to record the following information about each book that one reads: 

Title 
Author
Date Published
Date you started & finished reading a book 
Category (fiction, nonfiction, etc.) 
Rate the book based on a scale  of 1 through 5 

A section to record your thoughts about the book you've just read. There is also an area to record favorite quotes from books. Plus a reading tree where you track how reading one book influenced you to read another book. There are several pages devoted to such topics as which authors have influenced you the most and also an area to record your favorite authors, favorite books, favorite places to read, favorite genres and so much more!

What an exciting little book!! I am so looking forward to using it in the near future.

Do you keep a reading journal? If so, what kinds of things do you record in your reading journal?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

25 DIY Awesome DIY Ideas For Bookshelves

Are you good at making DIY projects? If so, then check out these 25 creative DIY bookshelf projects that I discovered in an online post on BuzzFeed titled 25 Awesome DIY Ideas For Bookshelves by Peggy Wang.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez Has Dementia

Sad news, rocks the literary world. Gabriel García Márquez's writing career has come to end due to dementia. In article from The Guardian titled, Gabriel García Márquez's writing career ended by dementia, Conal Urquhart writes the following:
The Nobel prizewinning author Gabriel García Márquez is suffering from senile dementia and can no longer write, his brother has revealed.
Jaime García Márquez told students in Cartagena, Colombia, that his older brother, affectionately know as Gabo, calls him on the telephone to ask basic questions.

"He has problems with his memory. Sometimes I cry because I feel like I'm losing him," he said.

The 85-year-old Colombian writer won the Nobel prize in 1982 and is best known for novels including One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
He has fought a long battle against lymphatic cancer which he contracted in 1999 and it is believed that the cancer treatment has accelerated his mental decline.

I had the opportunity to read Gabriel García Márquez's novella, Memories of My Melancholy Whores a few years ago. What a unique writer. I am saddened to hear the news of Gabriel García Márquez's declining health. I wish him and his family the best during this difficult time.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Jane Austen's Gold & Turquoise Ring Goes Up For Auction

Today, Sotheby’s will be auctioning off a gorgeous gold and turquoise ring once owned by author, Jane Austen. The ring is expected to fetch $46,000!

In an article on the USA Today website titled, Jane Austen's ring expected to sell for $46,000 at auction, by Rachel EllBaum, comes the following excerpt:
The natural turquoise ring set in gold was unknown to Austen scholars and fans until now. It originally belonged to the “Pride and Prejudice” author who passed it down to her sister, Cassandra, after her death. Cassandra then gave it to their future sister in-law, Eleanor. It remained in this large family until now when the owner, who has no daughters, decided to sell it.

The ring, which lies in a box contemporary to the time, is being auctioned off along with a note written in November 1863 by Eleanor Austen to her niece Caroline Austen, reading: "My dear Caroline. The enclosed ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you!"

The most famous piece of jewelry owned by Austen is a topaz cross, now on display in the Jane Austens’s House Museum in England. The turquoise ring is the first piece of her jewelry to be up for auction in at least a generation.
What a lovely piece of literary history! 

UPDATE: Jane Austen ring brings $236,000 at auction!! That's more than five times what it was expected to bring in!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Reading Books is Good For You!

I personally think reading books is the perfect hobby! What makes reading books so special? Reading books is  a fun, easy, inexpensive, educational hobby that can be accomplished almost anywhere. Plus I love discussing books with others and sharing books.

I read an online article yesterday morning titled, Perfect Hobby? Reading books Is Fun, Cheap and Good for You by Trent Hamm. The following is a quote from Hamm's article:
The act of reading improves your ability to absorb and comprehend written information, helping you in virtually any career path. There are very few jobs today that don't incorporate written information or instructions, and the more you read, the easier it is for you to absorb that information and execute your job better.

Reading also improves your cultural literacy, making it easier to find shared conversation points with others. The more you read, the more ideas you have in your head and the more ways you can find to connect with the people around you.

Reading can be surprisingly social, too. I love discussing books with my friends, particularly ones we've both read. Often, we'll choose to read the same books for the discussion opportunities. Book clubs take that idea to another level, turning books into a true social event. 

Reading is a wonderful hobby, and it would be even if it didn't happen to be incredibly frugal as well.

As as an avid reader myself, I already knew the above mentioned benefits of reading books. It's just nice to see another written affirmation of the wonderful benefits of reading books.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Love Letter Nail Polish Strips

Being the book lover and girly girl that I am, the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips caught my eye! The color choice I picked is called Love Letter and as you can see from the picture on the left, the nail polish has a white background with cursive style lettering.... Just perfect for a book lover like me!!

I've never tried using the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips before. I'm hoping they're easy to use as I'm not good at giving myself manicures or pedicures! 

Sally Hansen Salon Effects comes with complete instructions. All I need to do essentially is peel and stick. Okay, maybe a bit more then that, but at least there is no down time waiting for wet finger nails to dry. Also, the color supposedly lasts for up to ten days!

Wish me luck! Here's hoping my nails will look good holding a book in the near future.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Amazon Rumored to Open Its First Retail Store

Who would have guessed that Amazon would ever open (or consider opening) a retail store? Not me anyway! Amazon has been so success as an online retailer, that it never occurred to me they'd consider opening a brick and mortar store.

I read an article on the Technology Digital site titled Will Amazon Really Open Its First Retail Store? The following was written in the article:
Rumors in the business world are claiming that soon Amazon will open its own bookstore in Seattle, Washington. According to Forbes, this would be the first retail store for the electronic commerce giant since it was founded in 1994. Amazon’s bookstore would presumably feature its own products, the Kindle e-book reader and e-books among them. This company is already the largest online retailer in the world, so it will be interesting to see how an Amazon store will affect its sales. The combination of Amazon’s brand recognition and exclusive titles may change the way other bookstores operate.

Brick and mortar retailers often feel threatened by Amazon, says the New York Times. Robin Lewis of the Robin Report explains that, “A lot of people think this is a category — electronics — that Amazon will crush just as they did bookstores.” Kindle products are especially popular and some retailers have even refused to carry them for fear they will reduce sales of their own books. Many are of the opinion that an Amazon store can only benefit the consumer in the end, though.
Only time will tell if Amazon does open a retail store. I'd be curious to see what their retail outlet looks like.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Do You Read Dangerously?

I enjoy randomly searching for topics to write about for my blog on Google. Doing so, helps me break up the monotony of blogging about the same thing day in, day out or coming up with a new idea to write.

Last week, I stumbled across an entertaining article published in the New Zealand Herald titled Do You Read Dangerously? by Christine Sheehy. With a title like, Do You Read Dangerously?, I had to read the article to see what it was all about.

There are many ways in which readers put themselves in danger. One example is walking while reading. Can you imagine slipping, tripping, etc. while walking because your so engrossed in what you're reading? In Sheehy's article, she writes that she "...was delighted to discover this recent article published by Time magazine, offering a definitive guide to the art of reading-while-walking."

The Time magazine article Sheehy is referring to in her article is titled, A Book Lover's Guide to Reading and Walking at the Same Time by Lev Grossman.Grossman gives the following tips to safely read while walking in public
My first move is to clamp the book under one arm, inside-out, at my current page, like a running-back with a football, so I can whip it out at a moment’s notice.

Then I pick my spots. Short bursts is the approach. You look for a stretch of open sidewalk, maybe a half a block, you hastily memorize the major obstacles, and then you glance down at the book. You’re speed-reading here—you don’t so much run your eye over the page as grab the next few sentences all at once. Then the book goes back under the arm. You look up again and digest the words as you walk. You check your location and bearing, like a submarine, and you prepare to dive again.
Strangers look at you a bit funny, but come on—they’re strangers. Not like the characters you’re reading about. Sure, they may be fictional, but they’re not strangers. They matter.

In extreme cases I’ve even been known to draft off the backs of other pedestrians, the way cyclists do in a crowded peloton. I pick a target who looks like a fine upstanding citizen, with somewhere to be and a tolerant view of humanity. I find I can follow the person at a discreet, respectful distance, keeping his or her feet at the upper edge of my peripheral vision, and use them to lead me around fire hydrants and sidewalk café chairs and people hailing taxis, like a seeing-eye dog.
I enjoyed reading both Christine Sheehy's article and Lev Grossman's article. I hope you'll find them both entertaining and educational as well!

Until my next post, be careful and stay safe if you decide to read dangerously!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

What's Your Reading Preference --- A Real Book or An eBook?

I enjoy reading and owning both traditional books and ebooks for different reasons as both types of books have their own unique advantage.

I love traditional books for so many reasons. For instance, I like the way they feel while holding them in my hands and also the smell of new books. I like the way books look sitting on bookshelves or laying on coffee tables and nightstands. Books which are filled with photography or illustrations, pictures of artwork, coffee table books, cookbooks and how-to-craft type books are best suited to physical books than ebooks -- in my opinion. I also prefer to keep a physical book over an ebook if it is by an author I enjoy reading or any other book I know I'll want to keep in my permanent collection... Especially if it is book autographed by an author I respect or rare edition (not that I have any rare books in my collection). I prefer hardback books if I am going to keep them in my permanent collection, but I tend to read more paperback than hardbacks.

I like ebooks because they are paperless. I feel that if I am reading them on an ereader then I am saving a few trees verses reading the paper version! Another reason I enjoy reading ebooks is that they don't take up a lot of physical space in my home and I already have more books than I currently have room for now. You can store countless ebooks on an ereader, making it easy to carry several books with you while on travel. I also enjoy being able to change the font size, larger or smaller, with ebooks to suit my personal needs. Another reason I enjoy reading ebooks is because not every book I read is one that I would want to keep in my permanent collection. I only want physical books if I know I want them lining my bookshelves.

Share with us the types of books you enjoy reading most. Are they hardbacks, paperbacks or eBooks?

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Do You Own an eReader?

If you own an eReader, which one do you have and how do you like using it for reading books?

For my birthday in 2008, my hubby gave me a 1st generation Kindle. I absolutely loved using the Kindle. It's lightweight, compact, and easy to use and obviously, very portable. I loved being able to carry one device with me on travel that could contain a countless number of books without having to carry a bunch of them with me. Plus, I loved the ability to change the font size of the text, as my aging eyes were having a difficult time reading smaller print in books. I also love the Kindle's built in dictionary feature to look up words that I didn't know the meaning of. I also enjoyed the ability to dog ear pages while reading my Kindle, highlight passages and write notes to myself about passages I had just read. There wasn't really anything I didn't like about the Kindle as an eReader.

At some point in time, my hubby purchased an iPad, which has become our favorite portable electronic device, which we use for nearly everything from Facebook, email, surfing the web, shopping & even as an eReader!

I quickly moved over to using the iPad as an eReader instead of the Kindle, because you can use the iPad for so much more that just as an eReader. The iPad pretty much has all the features I'd want in an eReader. My only complaint about the iPad as an eReader is that it is difficult to read the screen while outdoors in direct sunlight, even while wearing sunglasses, because of the glare. Otherwise, I love the iPad as an eReader!

Share your thoughts about the eReader you use. I'd love to hear from you! Until my next post happy reading.

Monday, July 2, 2012

The Early Jobs of 24 Famous Writers

Have you ever wondered what sorts of jobs famous writers held before they became famous writers? I recently discovered an article on Mental Floss by Adrienne Crezo titled The Early Jobs of 24 Famous Writers, which I found interesting. Who wouldn't want to know what famous authors did before they became famous? 

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Share Your Reading Stats

Wow, it's difficult to believe we're halfway through 2012. Time has flown by so swiftly! How is your year in reading going so far for 2012?

After encountering a reading slump earlier this year, my reading has increased and I've hit my reading stride once again! So far, I've managed to read a combined total of 46 books, novellas and short stories this year.

My favorite reads to date have been the following books:

Grayson by Lynne Cox
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
May Day by Jess Lourey
Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas
Incantation by Alice Hoffman
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

I've blogged about each of the above books here on my blog during the past six months & you can find my reviews of each them by browsing the sidebar.

 So, which books have struck your fancy this year?