TSS: A Sigh of Relief and Some Awards

Good morning, fellow saloners! Did you all hear that collective sigh of relief echo across the blogosphere yesterday? Book Blogger Appreciation Week officially ended Friday night. I think we were all relieved Saturday morning when there were no more posts to write or new blogs to visit. It's been quite a week, for sure.

I learned that:

-it's a good idea to have at least a rough draft of the week's posts done ahead of time

-it's impossible to visit everyone writing BBAW posts

-it's even more impossible to leave comments on all the blogs you do visit

-not much reading happens during BBAW

What I did last week (in addition to BBAW):

-posted a review of French Milk by Lucy Knisley

-started reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (a very popular choice just now!)

-continued listening to Little Bee by Chris Cleave.

This week I plan to:

- get back into the Short Story Monday routine

-post my review of Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple

-finish Little Bee

-continue reading The Woman in White

-read a couple of short stories (possibly from The Dubliners)

And now for the awards:

Kay from Chapter Chit Chat, one of my newest blogging friends, gave me this Spread the Love Award.

"What makes you feel an affinity to another blogger when visiting their blog? Their unique or fun design? Their blog content? Their personality? How about all three?"

I'm so happy to have discovered Kay's blog and look forward to following her reading adventures. This award goes to:

Darlene at Roses Over a Cottage Door

Stacy at Book Psmith

Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles

The Zombie Chicken Award

"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken-- excellence, grace, and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all."

This award came my way from DS at third-storey window. I love third-story window for the wonderful writing, but there is so much more! If you haven't been there, do stop by and take a look. I'll send this Zombie Chicken Award on to:

Claire at Paperback Reader

Tony at Tony's Reading List

Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook

Verity at The B Files

Simon at Savidge Reads

The Your Blog is Fabulous Award stands for: Integrity. Commitment to Excellence. Stubbornly Optimistic!

This award came from my friend Ivy at Willing To See Less, another blog I love to visit regularly. And it goes to these new-to-me bloggers:

Rachel at Book Snob

Stephanie at ReviewsbyLola's Blog

Bloomsbury Bell

Madeleine - a brand new blogger at Wordbird

And finally, The Heartfelt Award

"Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when your relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family and friends? You know the feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea, or a hot toddy? That is what the Heartfelt Award is all about, feeling warm inside."

This award came back at the beginning of the month from Laura at Laura's Reviews. Check out her blog for great reviews of books, audiobooks and even movies. She's a fellow Jane Austen fan and is having a great time with the Everything Austen Challenge!

The Heartfelt Award goes to:

Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Carrie at Books and Movies

Kim at Page After Page

Karen at BookBath

This turned out to be quite a bit longer than I thought, but thank you, again, to the four bloggers that gave me these lovely awards. And thank you, too, to the bloggers receiving the awards...you've all added so much to my reading and my life!

Now I'm going to settle in with another cup of coffee and read The Woman in White. What are you reading today?

BBAW: Setting Goals

Today's task:

It’s time to show off! 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! Ready? GO!

Likes:

As most of you know, I love the lake! I'm happy that it's featured prominently, both in the name and header photo of my blog. I like that I've found some sort of pattern for my posting (although it's been less than evident these past few weeks). I also like that responding to comments has lead to some great conversations.

Goals:

There are so many technical aspects of blogging that elude me, so one goal is to improve my basic skills. Another is to find a better balance between reading and blogging. I love blogging and visiting other blogs, but most of it is done at the expense of reading time. I'm sure a happy medium exists ...I just need to find it!

Wrap-up:

BBAW has been a great opportunity to both celebrate blogging and reflect on the part it plays in our lives. A year ago, I never thought I'd even have a blog, now I go through withdrawal if I am away for a day. What a great community, thank you!

BBAW/BTT Combo

BBAW: The task today is to highlight the book discovered only because you read about it on a book blog and then you realized you couldn’t live without it!

As it turns out, the book I was going to feature also answers today's Booking Through Thursday question!

Today's question:

What’s the most enjoyable, most fun, most just-darn-entertaining book you’ve read recently?

(Mind you, this doesn’t necessarily mean funny, since we covered that already. Just … GOOD.)

My answer:

I didn't have to think long for this one! French Milk by Lucy Knisley is an incredibly creative graphic travel journal/memoir. Even the cover is fun!

Karen from Bookbath brought this gem to my attention. She read it in preparation for her own trip to Paris (she checked in from Ireland yesterday). Although I won't be traveling there any time soon, I enjoyed visiting vicariously through Knisley's book.

My review was posted on Tuesday and you can find it here.

Click over to today's BTT to see more answers.

BBAW: Reading Meme

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

I mostly drink ;-) ...coffee, water, tea, wine (depending on the time of day)

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of

writing in books horrify you?

write in books??? horror!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?

Bookmark... preferably related somehow to the book

Laying the book flat open?

Don't break the spine!

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?

Variety is the spice of life

Hard copy or audiobooks?

see above

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?

It depends on how tired I am.

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

Sometimes... if a dictionary isn't available, I'll write it down to look up later.

What are you currently reading?

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (started last night)

Little Bee by Chris Cleave (audio)

What is the last book you bought?

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can

you read more than one at a time?

one book (sometimes two), one audio

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

I'll read whenever I can carve out a half hour, but always in the evening before bed.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?

Again, variety is the spice of life.

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

It depends on who I'm recommending to.

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

Books I've read are organized by genre, but the tbr pile is a mess!

BBAW #1 - The Deserving Dozen

How to begin listing favorite blogs? I cringe just thinking about this, because I know I will remember one more just as I hit the publish button. Perhaps if I explain my blog reading system (or lack thereof), it will help.

I discovered book blogs almost two of years ago, read a few for about a year, and then finally created my own blog and posted a review of The Painted Veil the day before Halloween last year (I had to check).

Slowly, I discovered more blogs and even got a follower or two. Thank you, Bellezza, for being the first! I decided to give 'following' a try. There are now 34 blogs that I follow, and I'm thrilled to see many of them shortlisted for awards. I love all 34 of these blogs...each in a slightly different way and for slightly different reasons.

Many, many more blogs are bookmarked and visited a couple of times a week. Updating my 'follow' list is a high-priority fall project! The idea of setting up specific folders for blogs to visit each day is appealing, too.

Google reader has been something of a failed experiment for me. I found that I missed visiting the actual blogs. The visual experience was more important than I'd realized. If you have blog visiting system that works and are willing to share, I'd love to hear it!

Today I've decided to list some favorite blogs I currently follow that were not shortlisted for awards.

My Deserving (Baker's) Dozen includes:

Bibliophile by the Sea - Diane reads a lot of books! In addition to the reviews, she lets me know when my favorite authors have new books coming out (she had me at the bookstore within hours of Richard Russo's latest release!) and features great audio reviews, too.

Book Psmith - I met Book Psmith through Short Story Monday, and she quickly became one of my best blogging buddies. She's introduced me to some great short stories (Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers" stands out in my mind), and has added countless authors and titles to my tbr pile. As you can guess from her name, she's reading a lot of Wodehouse this year!

Books and Movies - It wouldn't be Saturday without Carrie's weekly links round-up. I may have missed something important, but she never does! Her periodic lists of favorites always have me adding to my tbr pile, too.

Dolce Bellezza - Bellezza's was on of the first blogs I discovered. She was also my first follower! I love her beautifully-written reviews and, thanks to her Japanese Literature Challenge, I will finally get me to read Murakami.

Farm Lane Books - Jackie writes great reviews...and lots of them! Her journey through the Booker list was nothing short of amazing.

Fleur Fisher Reads - I love the books Fleurfisher reads. She always manages to find just the right quote to make me add nearly every one to my wish list.

Kiss a Cloud - Claire has excellent taste in books! She writes outstanding reviews that are always enhanced by her skillful photography.

Letters From A Hill Farm - I adore my visit's to Nan's farm! Whether it's a book recommendation (Ethel & Ernest is my favorite graphic novel to date), a recipe (Maple-Oatmeal Muffins...yum), or photos of her garden and the changing seasons, there is something special every time.

Life in the Thumb - Have you seen Staci's new Six Sentence Saturday reviews? I look forward to it every week and, judging from the response she's getting, so is everyone else!

My Cozy Book Nook - Molly is a kindred spirit. We started blogging within weeks of each other, are at the same point in our lives, love dogs, baking, and books (of course). Her summer vacation reading challenge has been one of the highlights of my reading year... my virtual vacation in Italy!

Paperback Reader - I became a follower of Claire's blog the first time I visited. It's obvious she knows a lot about books! My education was very heavily weighted toward the sciences, but I always wanted to be taking the great lit classes. I love all the new things I've learned from reading her reviews!

Roses Over A Cottage Door - Darlene is another one of my first blogging buddies. She introduced me to both Alan Bennett and Dorothy Whipple, has beautiful photos on her blog, and occasionally treats us to the adventures of Deacon, her border collie. The account of her trip to London last spring was another highlight of my blogging year - it was almost as good as going myself!

The Betty and Boo Chronicles - Melissa is a newer blogging pal. We have similar taste in books (she prompted me to buy The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich) and are both mothers of twins. Melissa is a fabulous writer! I'm always happy when there's a new post for me to read.

If some of these blogs are new to you, I highly recommend finding a minute or two to visit each of them this week. New blog friends are waiting...