Write On Review-a-Thon 7: Goals and Progress #reviewathon

The Write On review-a-thon is a monthly event created and hosted by Brianna at The Book Vixen. It’s 2 days dedicated to getting reviews done, whether you have one review to write or 30+. This edition of the review-a-thon takes place all day Saturday, August 30th and Sunday, August 31st. Let’s get those reviews done! Thanks to Fantasy is More Fun for posting about this event!



I'm pretty sure that joining this party late and creating this post this morning is a form of procrastination!

To Do

1. The Reluctant Assassin by Eion Colfer
2. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
3. Avery by Charlotte McConaghy
4. Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf
5. Tease by Amanda Maciel
6. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
7. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
8. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
9. The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
10. The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales by Heidi Garrett
11. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
12. The Giver by Lois Lowry
13. Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez
14. Traveling Left of Center by Nancy Christie

Done and Scheduled

1. The Reluctant Assassin by Eion Colfer
2. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
3. Avery by Charlotte McConaghy
• Glad this one is done! It's part of a book tour.
4. Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf
5. The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales by Heidi Garrett
6. Traveling Left of Center by Nancy Christie
7. The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
8. Tease by Amanda Maciel
• This one was a toughie!
9. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
10. Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez
11. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Final tally: 11 of 14 reviews complete. Plus a new post tracking document and one guest blogger post. Not bad. How did you do?

A Note from the Director: Out Loud! 2014 featuring Wally Lamb

Last Friday night, I attended the second Out Loud! event of 2014. Our three Metro area libraries sponsor authors throughout the summer months. The events usually involve a reading and a signing afterwards. The cool part? They are free events!

The second speaker this summer was Wally Lamb. While I haven't read any of Wally's books, I have heard of him and his books are come highly recommended by lots of people.

It was great to hear Wally speak. He shared a funny story about a book signing he did at a newly opened Costco which warmed up the crowd and got us laughing. He read from his newest book, We Are Water and ended his night answering questions. One audience member asked about his connection to characters with mental illnesses. Wally shared a wonderful story about his friendship with a man who copes with mental illness. It was a touching story. Wally said mental illness is a mystery and a miracle. Since my husband dedicates his life to working with individuals who have mental and physical disabilities, Wally's story meant a lot me as I see that in my husband's life almost daily.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Coming next week!: Elizabeth Berg.

A Note from the Director: Out Loud! 2014 featuring Sarah Vowell

Last Friday night, I attended the first Out Loud! event of 2014. Our three Metro area libraries sponsor authors throughout the summer months. The events usually involve a reading and a signing afterwards. The cool part? They are free events!

The first speaker this summer was Sarah Vowell. While I haven't read any of Sarah's books, I have seen her on The Daily Show with John Stewart. I found her to be very funny and I spent most of the night laughing. She shared a story about visiting Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. When I had a chance to get the books I purchased on-site signed, I shared my story of traveling to South Dakota and thinking there was nothing of note in North Dakota.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Coming in July: Wally Lamb.

Waiting on Wednesday: Shameless Plug for ICON 39 and My Programming Idea

Back in January, I mentioned that I was planning to attend ICON 39 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I probably failed to mention that I am on the planning committee for ICON 39. I've only attended a total of 3 cons (2 ICONs and Chi-Fi 0), but I really had a blast at all three. And so far I'm really enjoying being on the planning committee for ICON 39.

So a bit about ICON! ICON was started in 1975 and is the oldest and largest science fiction convention in Iowa. This year will be the 39th convention and our theme is The League of Extraordinary Gentlefen. The event is being held at the Cedar Rapids Marriott on October 31 through November 2. My role, beyond helping our wonderful ConCom plan the event, is to be a wonderful hostess for Megan Lara.

Over the last couple of planning meetings we've talked briefly about programming and I've been tossing around some ideas. I thought I would throw my favorite idea out into the blogosphere to see if anyone out there was interested in attending the Con and helping out if the proposal would get accepted.

My big idea: Being a Blogger: The Who's, Whats, Whens, Wheres, Whys and Hows.

Now I'm a new blogger. I've only been doing this since January. But I know that some of my followers are also bloggers and some of you live close-ish to Cedar Rapids or perhaps some of you always wanted to visit the great state where the Field of Dreams was filmed that maybe you might be interested helping out with a panel like this. If so, send me an email and we can brainstorm a bit and submit our proposal to the Con. If you have another idea that you think would be cool programming, let me know. I can hook you up with our Programming Chair and you can submit your idea directly to them.

But, Terri, I'm not really interested in doing a panel, but I would like to attend the Con, please tell me what bookish type things are going on?! Well, right now on Thursday night 16 authors are gathering at Barnes & Noble-Cedar Rapids to sell, sign and mingle with fans. During the convention last year, I had the opportunity to chat with Jim C. Hines and Catherine Schaff-Stump about the writing process. I had drinks with Dennis W. Green, Jed Q. Peterson and Michael Koogler. I heard Joe Haldeman read from a book that is currently in progress. The experience was amazing and really got me thinking about starting my own blog to share my love of books and movies and promote local bookish events. I only hope that Jim C. Hines remembers how to spell my name this year when he signs his latest book for me.

The important details!

ICON 39
The League of Extraordinary Gentlefen
October 31 - November 2, 2014, Cedar Rapids Marriott
Featuring : Hugo and Campbell winning author Elizabeth Bear, World Fantasy finalist author Scott Lynch, Artist Lar deSouza, Artist Megan Lara and Toastmaster Jim C. Hines
Register Online
Find us on Facebook

Book Review #21: Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson

This year the Linn Area Reads program chose Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came from and What Really Matters by Jennifer Wilson. I have never read one of the Linn Area Reads book before and was excited when I learned of their choice this year.

Before I dive into my review, I wanted to share a little bit about the Linn Area Reads program. Founded in 2003, the project is sponsored by the Metro Library Network and Barnes & Noble. A book is selected each spring that will encourage discussion among the community. You can learn more about the project and the events associated with this year's selection on their website.

By adding Running Away to Home to my to-read list once the selection was made, I realized I might set a record for the number of non-fiction books I'll read this year. I normally stick to fiction as many times I find non-fiction dense, boring and a little too real. Within the first few pages of the Running Away to Home I was sucked in and before I knew it an hour and half had passed along with about 80 pages. My cats were milling around my reading chair meowing at me because it was past my bedtime. This book had me hooked.

Wilson does a great job of setting the scene for her family's decision to move to Croatia and keeping the story moving through the ups and downs of such a dramatic decision. You see the outcome of the decision for each member of the family as the story progresses. For me, it was very easy to identify with her and her husband and their goal of finding family (past and present) and finding themselves. I could see myself and my family in Jennifer's and as the story progressed, I became of bit jealous of her journey and her tenacity. I now have a renewed interest in tracing my maternal roots.

Running Away to Home is a quick read. It's a memoir of self discovery and family. I think many readers will be able to identify with Jennifer's journey to Croatia and what she discovers there. Oh, and there are family recipes at the end of the book! Running Away to Home gets a thumbs up.

Buy on from Amazon.com

The Sunday Post #12: Week of February 23, 2014

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted
by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

What's Happening on the Center Stage

• The second review in a series of reviews of Queen Victoria's Book of Spells-An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.
• A bonus book review! Allegiant. May contain spoilers; read at your own risk.
• Feature & Follow Friday #190 gave me to chance to rewrite Allegiant.
• This week's quote of the week is about taking a chance and doing something daring.
• While I didn't post about it, I said good-bye to another season of Downton Abbey with a group of wonderful co-workers last Sunday. Till next winter Downton!
• Sunday is the Oscars! Later today on I'll share my picks and then later this week, I'll let you know how I did with my picks. Only 2 movies left at the cheap theatre for me to see before the big show...Gravity and The Wolf of Wall Street!

What's Happening on Other Stages

• Found this article on The Huffington Post quite delightful: Stop Binge-Watching And Start Binge-Reading. I Read 300 Books Last Year And Am Smarter Because Of It. While I doubt I could cruise through 300 books in one year, I did like the author's point about reading the stuff in books that interests you.
• I found two articles in the past week about required reading in schools. I found them be quite thought provoking. The Press Democrat's Close to Home: Give teens better books than 'Catcher in the Rye' and The Medium's Why required reading is hurting America.
• As a fan of House of Cards, I found this article about 9 Things 'House Of Cards' Took From Shakespeare quite interesting. I honestly love how Frank speaks directly to the camera. I've read a few books as well that break that fourth wall and if it is done correctly it is so delightful. It's like someone is reading your thoughts and confirming your suspicions about where the train is headed.
• Did anyone else check out this chart from Epic Reads this week? An Epic Chart of 162 Young Adult Retellings.
• And here's my Facebook image for this week.

Holding Auditions

• Watching: The West Wing Season 2, Supernatural Season 2, Grimm Season 3, The Big Bang Theory Season 7, The House of Cards Season 2, The Game of Thrones Season 3
• Reading or Read: Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• Purchased: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
• Looking forward the Linn Area Reads discussion on Thursday, March 6 at Barnes & Noble.

What did you read or watch this week? Anything good? Something I should add to my to-read or to-watch list?

The Sunday Post #11: Week of February 16, 2014

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

What's Happened on the Center Stage

• The first review in a series of reviews of Queen Victoria's Book of Spells-An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.
• Updated my reading challenges. Find out many pages I've read to my goal of 20,000 pages!
• Updated my Oscars Edition of Waiting on Wednesday.
• Feature & Follow Friday #189 gave me a chance to show my emotional side.
• This week's quote of the week is about setting expectations.

What's Happening on Other Stages

• Props and a several nods of agreement when I read Alison's post about How TV Turned Me Into a Reader. I wouldn't have even attempted Martin's Fire and Ice Series if I hadn't seen the HBO series first. Being a reader has also opened me up to shows I didn't look twice at a few years ago like Supernatural and Doctor Who. Reading isn't about genres, as Alison points outs about sci-fi, it's about the human condition. Perhaps that is why dystopian fiction has taken off recently, it shows us the best and worst of the human condition.
• Mulled over Entertainment Geekly: The New Rules of Spoilers.
• With a name like Terri, I really identified with the BuzzFeed List that Rainbow Rowell tweeted: 16 Things Only People With Unique Names Will Understand.
• Still thinking about my summer vacation and wishing these libraries were real.
• Check out Bea's Book Nook: February Kindle Fire HDX Giveaway. Ends on 02/28/2014.
• As a Whovian, I couldn't resist sharing this image that was posted via Facebook this week.

Holding Auditions

• Watching: The West Wing Season 2, Supernatural Season 2, Grimm Season 3, The Big Bang Theory Season 7, The House of Cards Season 2, The Game of Thrones Season 3, Downton Abbey Season 4
• Reading or Read: Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• Had a great time at the Fill Your Bucket Final Party at the Marion Public Library. Came away a winner! I can now treat myself to a morning at Wit's End and my favorite book.

What did you read or watch this week? Anything good? Something I should add to my to-read or to-watch list?

Saturday Snapshot #09: Week of February 2, 2014

What's Happening Here

• Review of the non-fiction book The End of Illness by David B Agus, M.D. posted.
• My Thoughts on The Super Bowl. Well, not THAT Super Bowl.
• Check out which books I wish I could read again for the first time in Feature & Follow #187.
• This week's Quote of the Week reminds me of Peter Pan's motto, "I won't grow up!"

What's Happening Out There

• Hiawatha Public Library deems 2014 Year of "Take-a-Book": Visit the website to see this month's challenge!
• Marion Public Library Adult Winter Reading Program Fill Your Bucket: What's on Your Bucket List? January 6th through February 15th.
• Cedar Rapids Public Library Adult Winter Reading Program: Hot Reads for Cold Nights. January 20 through March 20.
• Linn Area Reads 2014 Book Selection will be announced on Sunday, Feburary 9th.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Healthy Entertaining with Chef Jen. Wednesday, February 12 at the Marion Public Library.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Final Party on Friday, Febraury 21 at the Marion Public Library. Pre-registration required.

Feeding My Addictions

• Watching: The West Wing Season 1, Supernatural Season 1, Grimm Season 3, The Big Bang Theory Season 7
• Reading or Read: Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
• Bookish Events Attended: Fill Your Bucket Event: Great Travel Destinations. Wednesday, February 5th at the Marion Public Library.

What did you read or watch this week? Anything good? Something I should add to my to-read or to-watch list?

P.S. I might be kind of quiet this week in the blogosphere as I have a busy work week coming up. I should be back in action by Valentine's Day!

Saturday Snapshot #08: Week of January 26

• Saturday: Participated in my first ICON 39 Planning Meeting.
• Sunday: Stayed in due to impending bad weather. I did travel out, but came straight home. Of course, I watched Downton Abbey and Sherlock.
• Monday: Watched more of The West Wing.
• Tuesday: Horseback riding. Trying to play a little catch up with Grimm.
• Wednesday: Even more of Season 1 of The West Wing. Exactly how long is season 1?
• Thursday: Watched The Big Bang Theory! Laughed Out Loud A LOT! "And let me guess, you like Star Wars?
  My new addition arrived and was assembled.
  
• Friday: Ventured out to Barnes and Noble to use my last remaining gift card. Still have $2.30 remaining!
  Organaized my new addition. What do you think?!

Feeding my Addictions

• Purchased: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
• Purchased: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin
• Purchased: The Reel Stuff edited by Brian Thomsen and Martin H. Greenberg
• Purchased: The Dracula Dossier by James Reese
• Purchased: Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley
• Borrowed: Mary Poppins, She Wrote by Valerie Lawson

Local Bookish Events

• Hiawatha Public Library deems 2014 Year of "Take-a-Book": Visit the website to see this month's challenge!
• Marion Public Library Adult Winter Reading Program Fill Your Bucket: What's on Your Bucket List? January 6th through February 15th.
• Cedar Rapids Public Library Adult Winter Reading Program: Hot Reads for Cold Nights. January 20 through March 20.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Great Travel Destinations. Wednesday, February 5th at the Marion Public Library.
• Linn Area Reads 2014 Book Selection will be announced on Sunday, Feburary 9th.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Healthy Entertaining with Chef Jen. Wednesday, February 12 at the Marion Public Library.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Final Party on Friday, Febraury 21 at the Marion Public Library. Pre-registration required.

What did you read or watch this week? Anything good? Something I should add to my to-read or to-watch list? What do you think of my new addition?

Saturday Snapshot #07: Week of January 19, 2014

• Saturday: Finally saw Thor: The Dark World. Quick Review: Superhero with a sense of humor. Longest fight sequences EVER! The trailer was cut to make the move more interesting than it really was.
• Sunday: DOWNTON DAY! And of course, Sherlock returned. Is it just me or did Moffet and Gatiss really not reveal HOW Sherlock survived that fall?
• Monday: Watched the saddest Christmas television episode ever broadcast.
• Tuesday: Watch more of The West Wing.
• Wednesday: Attended Wine 101 at the Marion Public Library.
• Thursday: Was excited about a new episode of The Big Bang Theory only to be disappointed. Was shocked at who didn't get kicked off on The Taste.
• Friday: Almost done with Season 1 of Supernatural. Learned the President is Catholic.

Feeding my Addictions

• Added to Wish List:My Name is Rapunzel by K.C. Hilton

Local Bookish Events

• Marion Public Library Adult Winter Reading Program Fill Your Bucket: What's on Your Bucket List? January 6th through February 15th.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Gain Confidence from Self-Defense. Wednesday, January 29th at the Marion Public Library.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Great Travel Destinations. Wednesday, February 5th at the Marion Public Library.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Healthy Entertaining with Chef Jen. Wednesday, February 12 at the Marion Public Library.
• Fill Your Bucket Event: Final Party on Friday, Febraury 21 at the Marion Public Library. Pre-registration required.
• Cedar Rapids Public Library Adult Winter Reading Program: Hot Reads for Cold Nights. January 20 through March 20.

What did you read or watch this week? Anything good? Something I should add to my to-read or to-watch list?

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge Day 10: New Things You Will Be Doing This Year

New Things You Will Be Doing This Year

I'm a new blogger so I'm sure I'll be doing lots of new things this year. So far jumping into this Challenge on December 31st is definitely a new thing for me. I never considered joining an event like this and it has been loads of fun. I've enjoyed the people I've met and the blogs I've discovered. It's a great way to network and learn about the biz.

What new things do you plan to do this year?

Upcoming Posts and Bookish Events

Posting Schedule: Reviews on Mondays | Feature & Follow on Thursdays | Quotes of the Week on Fridays | The Sunday Post on Sundays