Carl, We Want a Vlog

One of the highlights of BEA was the opportunity to meet so many awesome bloggers in real life. Kathy of Bermuda Onion was one of the bloggers I met and she's tops. Really, she's just a wonderful person in every way.

In addition to Kathy, I met Kathy's husband Carl. Let me tell you how cool Carl is. We all woke up at the crack of dawn, (after only two hours of sleep for Julie and I!) to stand in line to get tickets to snag a copy of Catching Fire signed by Suzanne Collins. Unfortunately, Natasha was still in the shuttle on the way to the convention center from the airport. We were all feeling bummed because we weren't supposed to get more than one ticket for a signing and we were worried Natasha would miss out. Well guess what? Carl got a ticket for Natasha! Wasn't that nice of him?

Now Carl has read both the Hunger Games and Catching Fire but he hasn't reviewed them for Kathy. Maybe he doesn't like writing. Fair enough. But I think we'd all like to hear his thoughts on these beloved books. So why not do a vlog?

So...if you're interested in seeing a vlog of Carl sharing his thoughts on books, chime in with a comment! Let's give him the encouragement he needs!!! :)






hoping Kathy doesn't kill me!

Ten Things I Learned at the LA Times Festival of Books

1. The UCLA campus is big and my sense of direction still stinks.
2. Authors really are the best sort of celebrities.
3. I continue to be fascinated by authors even if I have no interest in reading their books.
4. S.E. Hinton's husband always thought she could write soft p0rn.
5. There are still a lot of people who have no idea what a blog is.
6. Buying books from independent bookstores is EXPENSIVE. And basically means buying fewer books.
7. I really want to write a middle grade fiction book...now if I could just get an idea.
8. My French is very rusty...but Muriel Barbery is absolutely adorable and ever so charming.
9. I'm a complete sap and get a little teary when I hear people talk about how much books mean to them.
10. Book bloggers are authentic in their online personalities...and the ones I met this weekend I am glad to now call my real life friends.
    

I'll write more later about the festival, but I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. And sadly, they expect me at work tomorrow! Can you believe that? What did you do this weekend??

Oh so Many Wonderful Awards

While it's true that blogging community can't replace face to face community, there's something that happens in blogging community that doesn't happen in face to face community. Awards.

My real life friends, oddly, don't give me awards on a weekly basis. I just don't get it. (I do have an award I've kept from my summer internship team in France from college though...it was for "most well-placed sarcastic commentary" I'm rather proud of that one!)

In any case a huge thank you to the following bloggers for bestowing these wonderful and very prestigious awards upon me!

The most prestigious has to be this one:



Okay actually I'm thinking it's a kind of ghetto award hearkening back to...ifyoudon'tforwardthisto3000peopleyouwilldie!!!! stuff, but here's the gist of the award that the lovely Lenore and Beth Kephart both mentioned me for.

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 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...
Wow! I learned something about myself! I didn't realize I believed in the Tao of the zombie chicken, but now that you mention it...well that makes sense. Actually, that's probably why my roommates and I decorated our bathroom in chickens in college. (yes, yes we did)

Anyway, here are are five bloggers I believe are deserving of this:

Bloody Hell, It's a Book Barrage
And the reason for this is that no screams Tao of the zombie chicken to me like chartroose. Who always makes me laugh when I'm lucky enough to be graced with a comment by her on this blog.

Things Mean a Lot
It almost pains me to pass this on to Nymeth because I know she'll just ignore it, and risk the wrath of the zombie chicken. And what will do without her, once her eyes have been clawed out? But seriously, she's the best of the best of the best...in reviewing, in class, and in commenting.

Chris of Book-a-rama
She chats LOST with me. She writes great reviews and collects great bookish links.

Jen of Daily Mish Mash
Not a book blogger, but a daily must read for me. For March Madness, she matched up a bunch of hot guys. Sadly, like ALL of my favorites got voted out first round. Oh well. Jen is funny in a way that I get, that makes me laugh out loud, but she's also got great heart and wisdom.

Trish of Hey Lady!
I don't think I have to explain, you all know Trish! She's always putting a twist on things and helping us to see things in a different light. Mainly through humor. I think Trish was telling me just the other day that the one thing she needed to really feel fulfilled was a zombie chicken award. Well, I live to please.



Lilly of Reading Extravaganza (whom I adore) and Kelly of the Novel Bookworm nominated me the Sisterhood Award! I think there are a bunch of rules with this one too, but I just want to pass it on to some gals I think of as sisters....

Deborah of Books, Movies, Chinese Food
Julie of Booking Mama
Swapna of S.Krishna's Books
Rel of Relz Reviewz
Mimi of Woven by Words
Jen of Devourer of Books
Ruth of Bookish Ruth
Kathy of Bermuda Onion
Beth of Beth Fish Reads
Kristin of This is Kristin
Heather of Age 30+
Natasha of Maw Books
Elizabeth of As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves
Dawn of She is Too Fond of Books

And so many more, but it's getting late and I should try to get some sleep, don't you think?

Also, a huge thank you to Lynn Squire for the Premio Dardos Award! I'm so glad you enjoy Faith 'n Fiction Saturdays, Lynn!

The Dark Night of the Reviewing Soul

I don't think I have to state how much I love reading and that I love blogging and that I particularly love book bloggers. I certainly believe in literacy and the beautiful fragile way we fight to keep a community of book lovers alive..those who love story and know it's redemptive power, the pleasure of exiting our worlds and escaping into another, celebrating the wonderful things we read, the way the words change us, inform us, and entertain us. But for as much as I love it, as thankful as I am to be a part of it, I hit a wall last week. Of all the posts that I write on this blog, the book reviews are the hardest. I'm not really a book reviewer. I think I've gotten better than when I first started, but I don't really offer literary criticism...I offer my impressions and my interaction with the book. You might be surprised that I find the book reviews the hardest...mine are a lot shorter than others! But I do. Opinion pieces? Easy...only problem is that my fingers can't type fast enough for my brain. But the book reviews? Always a challenge.

Add to that, I have more ideas for this blog and this community than I will ever have time to enact. I also write for two other blogs that I've been neglecting lately. And of course there's that thing called real life.

So when I reviewed two books I was fond of and excited to share and got zero comments, I thought...maybe this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. Because way back when I first started talking about books on my blog, it was to share what I'd been reading, to process through it, and to interact with others about books. In short...to share my reading experiences. So maybe I lost that vision somewhere, got caught up in the frenzy of reviewing books, forgetting to let them sit in my brain before I went onto the next one, forgetting to let them slowly be absorbed into who I am.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not really whining about no comments. I understand that people are busy. I can only read a few of my favorite blogs through the week. I just was wondering if my reviews were really adding anything to the book blogosphere and community or if perhaps there was a different roll for me to fill. And then I remembered something Steph (one of my most favoritest bloggers ever) said back during BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week). Here are her words: "god knows that while book blogging is a community thing, it is extremely lonely and sometimes (okay, most times) we get little to no return" The message of that to me? I am not alone in my (sometimes) loneliness.

Sadly, I didn't remember all of this before I sent out a message asking if I should stop reviewing on Twitter. (a bit of a pity fest for myself, I guess!) Here are some of the wonderful responses I got:



You all are so fantastic thank you so much!

Do I only review for myself? Well yes and no. I'm not sure I would review books if there was no one to read them. Would anyone? Isn't the very nature of a review that you know someone will read it and you are writing it for someone to read? But mostly I review to share my reading experiences..and interact with other readers.

So that's why I'm excited to participate in By the Chapter with Marcia of The Printed Page.
I can't tell you how wonderful I think Marcia is. She is so very thoughtful and I'm excited to be joining in a more interactive way of discussing a book on a blog.

So all of that to say...I'm not going to give up reviewing books. Anything that is worthwhile gets hard sometimes doesn't it? It can't all be comments and puppies and love. Sometimes, I might still feel like I'm sending my voice out into the very empty universe. But that happens to us all. And it's worthwhile to reexamine why I'm doing what I'm doing...and if it's really adding benefit to the literary community.

Do you ever get tired of reviewing books? Do you get more comments on book reviews or other posts?

By the way, my fourth blogiversary is at the end of March and I'm planning a big bash! Hope you'll stick around!

More Blog Love--Thank You!

I have been so honored to be the lucky recipient of more blogging awards!


First, many thanks to Wendy of Caribou's Mom who gave me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Wendy is an important pillar of the book blogging community (in my opinion!) and I'm honored she thought of me. She said this: "Amy at My Friend Amy for her empathy. Amy just exudes empathy for others on her blog. I could have also awarded her for generosity of spirit. I love that she remains open to other people’s thoughts and differences and really tries to understand others." Since I already did the exercise for this award, I am just going to humbly say thank you!

Next, Vivian Zabel gave me the Premio Dardos or Darts Prize. I'm copying the information straight from Vivian's blog:
The Prémio Dardos is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web.

Wow!!! I feel so honored. I am meant to pass this one to 15 bloggers so here goes:

Caribou's Mom
The Book Lady's Blog
Bookish Ruth
S.Krishna's Books
Savvy Verse and Wit (I love how Serena keeps a love of poetry alive)
Booking Mama
Literarily
She Is Too Fond of Books
A Novel Menagerie
Devourer of Books
Scobberlotch
The 3 R's blog (Florinda)
In Spring it is the Dawn
Literary Feline
Beth Kephart

All of these blogs I chose because they add something a little special and unique to my blog reading. Their passion for literacy and love of the written word is clear, they have integrity, infectious enthusiasm, great heart, they are courteous around the blogosphere, and I am always delighted to read their blogs. It's funny, I thought, wow I get to choose 15! But it's still not enough!!!! The bloggers above really embody the spirit of that award, though, I think.

Finally, Michele of A Reader's Respite gave me the following award which puzzles me just a little. It's for "the coolest blog I ever know" huh?

Anyway, Michele gave it to me "Because of Amy's dedication to helping the publishing world." Thanks Michele!

I'd like to pass this one to:
Trish of Hey Lady! Because Trish embodies cool.
Jen of Daily Mish Mash She's on a cruise right now, but you already know she's a must read for me.
Presenting Lenore. Who still seems so mysterious to me and has introduced me to all kinds of cool YA books.
Alea of Pop Culture Junkie Seriously one of the nicest people ever.

I hope I have managed to give a lot of my favorite bloggers an award, but I know I still missed some. I'm exhausted just from writing this post and the emotional agony of making decisions. I hope you enjoy your awards, even if it's the millionth time you received it.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You So Much Friends of BBAW!!!! What an absolutely wonderful surprise this was! You are all so special...I got tears in my eyes when I saw this!!! And thanks also for the gift. It was so unexpected and unnecessary, but greatly appreciated! :) You're the best! I couldn't have done it without you.