New Year’s Eve…on my couch.

The fact that we are 1 day away from 2016 is kind of blowing my mind right now.

Most of the people I know fall into one of two categories when it comes to New Year’s Eve. Group one goes out and parties all night, stumbling home after a night of drinking; and group two stays home watching Ryan Seacrest tell bad jokes before the ball drops. Typically I have high hopes to be part of group one but end up in group two.

This year we’ll be making lots of junk food and watching the various countdowns on TV. Boring? Maybe to some. But for me it’s fun to chill in my PJ’s and reflect on the past year while binging on TV.

I live in the Mountain Time Zone so I’m two hours behind the Eastern Time I grew up with. So the ball dropping at 10 p.m. here is pretty lame but it’s fun for my niece and nephew to actually watch the ball drop in New York; there is no way they could stay up until midnight.

Maybe one of these years I’ll actually go out for NYE but this year I’m looking forward to an evening on my couch.

Do you have any fun NYE plans?

A Bookish Christmas

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

This year was the first time we hosted Christmas at our house and, I must say, it was a success! I didn’t burn the food, the dogs didn’t eat the gifts, and a fun time was had by all (phew!) On top of that, I got a ton of book-related gifts and thought it would be fun to share.

First, I received a Kindle Fire. I’d been using a Nexus but it’s a few years old and was so slow it became impossible to use. So far, I really like it!

Next, I received some fun stuff from Out of Print Clothing, one of my favorite book-related stores. I got a Great Gatsby t-shirt, Alice in Wonderland socks, and Card Catalog socks (which is appropriate, since I work in a library!)

Finally, I received a book-themed iPhone case. Last year I got a fun Harry Potter case but it didn’t last too long. This one seems nice and sturdy though.

So basically my  in-laws know me pretty well! How about you all? Did you have a nice Christmas? Did you get any fun book-themed gifts?

 

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Book-related Gift Idea

Earlier I posted about Out of Print Clothing as a fun book-related gift idea. Well, I’ve got another one – Frostbeard Candles!

I personally love candles and have at least one in each room of my house. So when I can buy candles that are also book-related that is a huge win! Frostbeard has a Book Lovers Collection that includes scents with titles such as “Bookwork,” “Gatsby’s Mansion,” “Reading at the Cafe,” and “Pumpkin Juice.” They sell through Etsy and, along with buying a book-related candle, you are supporting a small business!

Have you tried Frostbeard candles? What did you think?

*I should note that I am posting about these products because I honestly enjoy them and think they would make fun gifts, nothing more*

Book Cover!

I finally have a book cover for The Trouble with Family and wanted to share. That is all 🙂 

Out of Print Clothing

Every winter I have to make a Christmas list and send it to my family. I would be perfectly happy with Amazon gift cards so I can buy a bunch of eBooks. However, that’s not exactly thrilling for the gift purchaser so I have to come up other ideas.

One of my favorite go-to websites is Out of Print Clothing (outofprintclothing.com). I first learned about them when we started selling their t-shirts at the Borders Books where I worked. (We were a test store and got a lot of fun stuff!)

If you haven’t checked them out, all of the items on their website are book-related and super fun (I am partial to the t-shirts.) On top of that, for each item sold, they donate a book through Books for Africa.

So if you are looking for items to add to your Christmas list (or looking for a gift for a book lover), I recommend them!

Have you purchased through this company? What did you think?

I’ll be posting a few more book-related gift ideas through December as well!

 

Goodreads Choice Awards 2015

I always enjoy looking through the Goodreads Choice Awards winners. I like to know what fellow readers like (vs. professional critics), it gives me a chance to bulk up my ‘to-read’ list, and there are always a few surprises in there as well.

Fiction: I was somewhat surprised to see that Go Set a Watchman won the fiction category. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s one of my all time favorites. However, I’ve read so many mixed reviews I didn’t think it would win. Especially with the new character traits of Atticus. It is on my to-read list, though.

Mystery: Girl on a Train was a fun read, in my opinion. I enjoy a good mystery and it has a Gone Girl vibe. I know a lot of people that didn’t care for this book and the ratings on Goodreads aren’t great. But it was very popular and a movie is in the works so not too surprising that it won.

A few of the winners are already loaded on my Kindle and I haven’t gotten to them yet (The Nightingale, Why Not Me, and Dead Wake, for example.)

I’m always looking to bulk up my YA collection and I was able to snag Red Queen, Finding Audrey, and All the Bright Places during Black Friday on Amazon, among others.

What did you think of the Goodreads Choice Awards winners? Did any surprise you?

 

 

 

ARC Conundrum

Everything I read tells me that in order to sell copies of my book, I need reviews. A LOT of reviews.

I see services for eBook promotion on Twitter but…I wonder if people scroll past those posts without really looking? Perhaps Goodreads and LibraryThing are best? Or maybe book bloggers?

If you have published a book, did you give out Advance Reader Copies before publication? How many and where?

Outside by Nicole Sewell

My fellow Loomis Park Press colleague is publishing a book NEXT MONTH! (Are authors with the same publishing company colleagues? I’m going to say yes.) Please show her lots of love and read her book Outside. It is the first book in her Shiloh Series and, as someone who has read it, I can honestly say that it’s great! The book comes out January 28 but it’s available for pre-order now!