Blog Hop: On-Call Books

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Are you ever without a book?

Never.

I bring a book to work, on errands, to the doctor’s office, any time I’m meeting someone, to most parties (and never read it), to every meeting of my weekly writing group (where, in three years, I’m positive I’ve never read a book), and…pretty much any other situation you could think of. I’ve gone to the movies alone and read while waiting for the movie to start (though the lighting can be a challenge). I’ve read standing in line at the grocery store and while waiting in line to climb the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral. The only time I don’t have a book with me is when I go for my morning walk and only carry my keys and cell phone—which has a Kindle app, so technically I do have books with me.

Because you just never know when you might have time to read!

Blog Hop: Holiday Reviews

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you ever do a review post based on a holiday? For example review Christmas theme books in December.

Frequently!  Although it often turns into movie reviews for holidays–somehow I tend to tie my holidays to movies more than to books.  I usually try to do something Christmas-related for December, I posted about Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for the 4th of July, and I reviewed Jesus Christ Superstar on Good Friday.  Although I did miss Guy Fawkes Day for V for Vendetta.

Among my more unusual holiday posts was reviewing Casablanca on Pearl Harbor Day, and the time I shared an old Star Trek fanfiction piece about a very unfortunate redshirt for Friday the 13th.

Bloggers, do you do holiday-themed reviews?  Readers, do you like to read holiday books close to their related day?

Blog Hop: Bookish Collections

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you collect things that are book related? Like bookmarks, nameplates, 1st editions…

I mostly just collect books!  I wouldn’t say I have any collections of bookish things, but I do have a handful of souvenirs that I bought because of their bookish connections…

P1030436I visited the Harry Potter Studio Tour earlier this year, and couldn’t resist buying a wand at what must be the coolest gift store ever (boxes of wands, piled everywhere!)  You can get pretty much any character you could possibly want, but I decided on Hermione’s, because it’s gorgeous but more importantly because–seriously, Hermione?  SO awesome. Continue reading “Blog Hop: Bookish Collections”

Blog Hop: Bookmarks

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you use bookmarks? If so, do you match them to the book you’re reading or do you use random scraps of paper?

I have a bookmark collection, and have been mostly using the same ones for ten years or so.  They’re all home-made, and I remade some just a  few months ago because they were getting rather tattered around the corners.

My bookmark collection, essentially, reflects some of my very favorite characters…

Bookmarks (1)Mostly, it’s the characters I wrote stories about in my fanfiction days–and so they continue to live in my head (and the books I read) in a way that other much beloved characters do not.  The exception to that rule is the Doctor Who bookmark, which I created new when I was refurbishing the others.  That’s also my only two-sided bookmark…

Bookmarks (3)When I’m thinking about it, I like to match characters to the book I’m reading (a couple of recent reads involving Rome were definite Kirk books, for instance, while Peter Pan usually lands in the kids books).  But I don’t always think about it, and end up using the same one for weeks!

Do you have favorite bookmarks you like to use?  Any particular habits around them?

Reading Challenges, Mid-Year Update

We’re a little past the midway point of the year (how did that happen?) so it’s a good time to check in on reading challenges.  I’m being laid-back this year, which is a good thing since I started a new job about four months ago and it’s been distracting me!

One of my reading goals was to do more rereads of sort of…second tier favorites.  Books I like a lot, but don’t frequently think of rereading.  That’s been going along well, especially on audiobooks, where I’ve been working through the Harry Potter series and The Little House series, alternating books (one Harry Potter takes me about three weeks; Little House tends to be one week or less…)  I’m enjoying them both, however different they are, and I highly recommend The Long Winter as a good COLD read during hot weather!

I also realized that I’ve neglected two of my first tier favorite books for almost five years, and promptly reread L. M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle and Star Trek: First Frontier by Diane Carey and James I. Kirkland.  Both of them wonderful character studies with excellent setting descriptions!  Continue reading “Reading Challenges, Mid-Year Update”