Physical Comfort of Books

While I love both, a physical book in my hand gives me a much more comforting feeling than my Kindle.  With a physical book, I can feel its heft in my hands, feel and hear the crisp paper as I turn the page, I can gaze at them lovingly as they sit patiently on my shelves waiting their turn. I love the smell of books and bookstores (there is a reason there is a perfume just for book lovers out there!) 

I like the warm, fuzzy feeling I get knowing there are books literally all over the house. They are on shelves.  They are in boxes in the basement.  They are on coffee tables. There's one waiting for me to read in my next bubble bath (I do love me some bubble baths!)  I like to look at all the pretty covers and run my hands along the spines.  I like finding really old books- their spines cracked with wear, their pages yellowing and brittle, touching and reading a book that someone who lived a hundred years ago also touched and read.

I'm not just a reader, I am a book aficionado, I am a book collector, I am a book hoarder, if you want to get down to it.  I love all of the e-books on my Kindle.  I like that I have so many books I can easily carry around with me and can switch off books I am reading while on the go and not have the equivalent weight of bricks in my purse from books.  I like that it saves trees.  But there is just something about holding a physical book in my hands that will never get old to me. 

What about you?  Do you love the physicality of books?  

Blogging Rules-Schmules with Tamara of Traveling with T

Hey ya’ll! I’m Tamara and I blog at Traveling With T (mainly about books, but other things creep on the page from time to time!) I’m so excited to be hanging out at Book Bloggers International today! Enough about me, though, and let’s get to the meat and potatoes of the post- Onward to Blogging Rules-Smchules!

Blogging Rules-Schmules

In my real life, I’m a bit of rule follower. I try not to speed down the Interstate (note: I try not to- but sometimes that Camry feels the need for speed!), I wait 30 minutes after I eat before I get in the pool, I rarely jay-walk. So, I’m not afraid of rules. I actually like rules. However, when it comes to blogging, I have been all about breaking the rules.

Let me elaborate further: When I started Traveling With T, I didn’t have this big soul-searching thought about “What do I want from my blog?” I knew what I wanted: I wanted a piece of the internet, a place where I could talk about the things that interested me. I had a vision of some sorts, but nothing concrete. That is rule 1 I broke.  In the beginning, I had an idea of running 2 blogs- one Traveling With T- that would have a hodge-podge of topics- book signings, local events, a bit of travel, etc. The other, a yet to be named blog, was going to be strictly books. But, the more I began blogging, the more I realized that I didn’t want to run 2 blogs- I wanted to talk about books at Traveling With T. So, I do. Majority of Traveling With T is about books. Other things creep on there for my discussion, but if I had to break a ratio down- I’d say Traveling With T is 95% books.

My main area where I break rules with my blog is post count per day. At first, I was a terrible blogger. I didn’t have a schedule. I wasn’t motivated. I was about to quit with the blogging when some things started changing- I felt inspired. I wanted to blog, I began seeking out content, interacting with folks and having a good time. I was still such a blogging newbie, though. I didn’t realize I could schedule my posts (seriously, happy dances happened when I figured out that gem!) I was SEO-what? I could link- link the heck out of stuff, but all that bloggy talk was like Charlie Brown’s teacher “wah-wah-wah” to me. Then, last summer, things began to change. I had found some bloggy folks I liked and was learning a bit of the behind the scenes to blogging. I was getting more views, people were sharing my posts. And this when I began to realize, breaking bloggy rules was working for me. I was marching to a beat of my own drum. I was having fun, I was learning new things and incorporating them into my bloggy routine- but I was not worrying about the rules-schmules of blogging.

I’ve taken some heat from not following the rules. I’ve had people not like it.  I’ve also had people love it- to like the variety in my posts. When I started breaking the rules, I found that was when I was most excited about blogging. At some point, in the time you blog, you are going to have decide things that work for you. Because blogging, at times, can be a solitary hobby (or job if you are making money from this.) This is when you have to go with your gut.

Today, I’m still a rule breaker (not a rebel with a cause rule breaker, more just a blogging cheerleader type person who still thinks that bottom line- blogging should be fun. If not, why bother?) Some days, there are 2 posts in the same day (there have been known to be 3). I don’t do it all the time, every day- but I do a couple of times a week. I also post daily (or at least 6 days a week). I find that, for me, having something up on the blog everyday makes me feel more productive and it gives my readers something to check out. 

I read all the advice- the tips on how to make your blog a success. The whole: Do this. Post at this time. Use these keywords. Work the heck outta social media. No, wait; take a break from social media. No, no, use social media- but only on days that end in a drink with a blogger wanting to pull their hair out. (Ok, seriously, I may jest about the last thing- but really- sometimes, after I read all these things- that is how I feel.)

My advice to you as you blog- find out what works for you. Blogging 1x a day may be your sweet spot. 2-3 times a week might work. Just remember- it’s your blog. Do what works for you and don’t be afraid to chart your own course. Just think of yourself as the Christopher Columbus of the blogging world or maybe the blogging world as the final frontier and you are Captain John Luke Picard. Go forth, bloggers, go forth! Or, in other words- #keepcalmandblogon. 

Thanks, Tamara, for sharing with us today!   Be sure to visit Tamara's Blog and to leave a comment or question!

Kelly from Reading with Analysis

Please welcome Kelly, who blogs at Reading with Analysis. Kelly's blog is know for romance reviews.

Questions:


1.      NAME OF MY BOOK BLOG(S): Reading with Analysis

2.      I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING SINCE: February 2012

3.      GENRES COVERED MOST ON MY BLOG: Romance

4.      THE BOOK I HAVE RE-READ THE MOST TIMES:  Pride and Prejudice definitely wins with the most re-reads, followed closely by Persuasion, but I have a list of books that I re-read on a semi-regular basis: Far from the Madding Crowd, In Search of Lost Time, Cry, the Beloved Country, and The Winter of Our Discontent.  I haven’t done as much re-reading in romance since I started my blog, but I’ve got a soft spot for Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens, England’s Perfect Hero by Suzanne Enoch, and The Duke and I by Julia Quinn.  Those three books welcomed me back to the genre after my decade of snobby reading.

5.      MY FAVORITE PLACE TO READ:  My favorite thing in the world to do is to lollygag in bed with a book.  I naturally wake up at about 7 a.m., but on Saturdays I usually don’t need to get out of bed before 9.  I love to spend that two-hour period reading and annoying my husband with my lazy ways.

6.      MY BOOKSHELVES ARE: organized by subject, generally, but Dewey would cry if he saw them.  He’d say, “What kind of madwoman forces Greek and Roman literature to share a shelf and sandwiches them between a shelf of ‘British literature’ and ‘20th Century European literature’?  She knows nothing!”  He’s right, honestly.  And anyway, I actually read 100 e-book romance novels to every 1 paper book have on my interestingly organized bookshelves, sooo…..

7.   A BOOK THAT INTIMIDATES ME: James Joyce’s Ulysses (and, I suppose, Finnegan’s Wake, but I wonder sometimes if anyone actually reads that book or if folk just pretend they have for the dubious benefit of passing themselves as well-read) is the most memorable example of a book I tried to read but could not finish.  The book itself is not all that intimidating… I’m not saying I really understood any of it when I was reading it, but I got through three quarters of the book with no real problem.  Unfortunately, during my reading of the book, I suffered a trauma, and I’ve never been able to pick it back up again.  I’ll never get to the glory of Molly Bloom.  Perhaps it’s for the best.

8.   MY FAVORITE NON-BOOKISH ACTIVITY:  I love to entertain guests in my home. My husband and I host a weekly dinner party at our house, and my job is generally to keep the conversation going and, occasionally, to be unbearably awkward.  I’m fairly decent at both.

9.   MY BOOK BLOG STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD BECAUSE:  Honestly, I can’t imagine that it does.  I suspect my reading approach to romance novels is a trifle unusual, both because I take them seriously and I have expectations of quality when I approach the genre.  On the blog, I try to approach books in a thematic way, when there are sufficient themes within a book to discuss, or a specific way, to explain what I did (and often didn’t) like about a book.  In other words, I’m shooting for constructive criticism.  Also, just about everything in the world reminds me of an Eddie Izzard reference or a clip from Veggie Tales or a comedy from the 80s, etc., and I like to share those references to keep things fun (or awkward). Oh, and I’m kind of a feminist (like Pol Pot was kind of a mass-murdering fuckhead), and I tend to discuss romance novels through a feminist perspective.  Not sure if all of that makes for a stand-out blog, but there it is.

10.   MY READING PERSONALITY (http://www.bookbrowse.com/quiz/) IS: “All Rounder” – It would seem that I fit equally into all four reading personality categories.  Books and reading comprise a huge part of my life, and I’m forever thinking and talking about them, often to people who really don’t care.  Even though I spend a lot of time reading, I don’t read for reading’s sake, and I hate to waste my time on books that are bad or that are just not to my taste.  I do my best to protect myself from starting books that I won’t like, and I’m getting better about not finishing books that will only continue to enrage me.  Once I’ve found an author whose voice and storytelling I enjoy, I tend to buy up and read everything that author has available.  Finally, although I do tend to stick to the romance genre for my everyday reading, I like to broaden my horizons occasionally by participating in a book club at my workplace and taking recommendations from friends and family.  (Can I just nitpick for a bit, though, about some of the weird homophone issues going on in that quiz? Even the name of my reading type, “All Rounder,” is not quite right...)