Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Do you overextend yourself with too many reviews because you can’t pass up a book in hopes you will get them all done or do you carefully plan and be sure you can fulfill the deadlines for all the promised reviews?

I’m assuming this question is about promising reviews in exchange for a copy of a book–promising myself I’ll write a review is a whole different situation!  So I’m looking at it from the book/review exchange promise perspective…

I am a planner in all aspects of life, so I was never one to get overextended on promised reviews.  Lately, this is even more true…I haven’t actually accepted a book for review in a very long time.  I have kind of a lot going on right now (and I know I’m due for a goal update!) and I need my fun things to actually be fun and relaxing, not another obligation.  (I might feel differently by December, but right now I’m strongly feeling the ‘maybe a year of super low pressure reading challenges’ vibe for 2019.  We’ll see.)

Another reason I’ve pulled back on accepting review copies is that I didn’t always have much luck with them.  In fact, I had several experiences where I could tell by page two that a book wasn’t really for me, just on a writing-style level, but felt obligated to finish reading.  Because…someone sent me a book for free in exchange for a review, and reviewing that I read two pages and stopped didn’t really feel like holding up my end of the bargain!  Those books didn’t turn out to be terrible and I tried to give balanced reviews, but would I have kept reading if I didn’t feel I had to?  Nope, I don’t think so.

When I eventually get back to accepting review copies of books (because I do intend to eventually, when life settles down), I’ll probably request to see the first few pages before committing to reading and reviewing.  That seems like it would be better for everyone!

Fellow book bloggers, are you accepting books for review?  Do you feel on top of it, or do things pile up sometimes?

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: How many book clubs do you belong to? If you do belong to an in-person book club, do you have meetings in the day or evening? Do you meet at someone’s house or meet at a local restaurant or coffee house?

I am in one book club, and have been for almost eight years—I had to look that up!  I would have guessed it was five or six years…  But I actually joined just two weeks after I launched this blog, in November of 2010.  That was a big month for me.

I set out to look for a book club, and had several flagged on MeetUp.  But the first one I went to turned out to be great, and I never looked back.  Started as a young adult book group, it somehow took a geeky turn along the way.  It’s also had a lot of turnover through the years—I’m now the third-longest standing member, though others have been in for years too.

We meet monthly in the evening, at some public place.  Location has changed over the years too—we started at a local café, tried different parks for a while, spent some time meeting at Denny’s and IHOP, have flirted with Panera, and currently meet in the dining area of the local mall.  The goal was always to meet somewhere public, relatively quiet, and where food was available but not required, for those who preferred not to get a meal.

We are an extremely laid-back book club.  In different seasons of my life I have been more and less dedicated to actually reading the book.  I usually come whether I have or not, if that month works out (and it doesn’t always).  No one minds much about that.  We try to have some book discussion, but conversation ranges too, and often turns to Star Wars somehow. 🙂

Besides the official book club meetings, there are social events and game nights held throughout the month.  And in December there’s always a holiday party and book-themed White Elephant gift exchange.

I highly recommend book clubs for people who enjoy reading.  For me, it was never about finding books to read (I have no shortage of those!)  From the beginning, it was always about meeting like-minded people and having bookish (or geeky) discussions.  And I got lucky, because my book club turned out even better for than I ever could have hoped!

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: When meeting with friends, do your discussions usually turn to books?

Oh yes…definitely!  I mean, there’s a reason we’re friends…  I wouldn’t say I talk about books with my friends a majority of the time (even at my book club meetings, since our conversations tend to range across all geeky topics and, occasionally, life).  But I think it’s rare to have an extended conversation that doesn’t bring up books at some point.  That becomes even more true if you count discussions of the books we’re writing, as I have a good number of writer friends and that’s a major topic.

Basically, my friends tend to be people who will ask (and can be asked) the question, “Read any good books lately?” and it’s not a throw-away, small-talk question at all!