A Novel Idea Book Club

One of my 101 in 1001 ideas was to start a book club...finally! I was really excited about this idea because it has been something on the brain and on my heart for what felt like f-o-r-e-v-e-r!

I started it a few months ago and opened it up to my friends, including female military members, spouses, and civilians in the local area. It's a great way to encourage yourself to read and hold yourself accountable to not just bypass the written word for magazines, online articles, and blog posts (not that they're bad).  

However, my book club didn't have a name. It just hung out as the "Ladies' Book Club." Kinda feels a little naked.  

I was scrolling through Instagram when I came across the Popular feed. Instagram tailors it to find posts that are similar to the Instagram accounts that you follow. I am so glad I checked it out because I became Instagram friends with Delicious Reads, a Utah-based book club that has AWESOME book club meetings.

Delicious Reads has really fun, themed book club meetings.  They host the meetings at their homes and the members contribute to a delicious, literary-themed dinner.  They do fun activities in relation to what they read.  Like when they read The Husband's Secret and their discussion questions were handed out in envelopes as "secret letters," just like the book.  I think one of my favorites was their Walt Disney biography meeting.

I solicited some advice from their president and she was awesome! I found out some great tips for the structure of their book club and it inspired me to do some big changes.  First off, a renaming and A Novel Idea was born.  We've been picking our books out monthly and it has honestly wasted so much time.  It has taken a week to get book nominations and another week to simply vote.  So in taking a chapter out of Delicious Reads' plans, we are using our next meeting to select books for September through December and then the November meeting will be used to pick books for 2015.  So much time saved! 

I also really LOVED the idea of having the book club meetings in our homes.  That was our overall goal and since we were just starting, we limited them to coffee shops but now that we're a few months in, I think we're ready.  I think literary-themed dinners and decor is so much fun and I want to bring that to my club as well.  Delicious Reads has been going strong since 2011, so it's nice to be able to utilize some of their tips to help improve ours.

I am so excited to see where our club goes and to invite other members in the future.  If you're in the Great Falls, Montana area and are interested in being a part of our ladies book club, shoot me an e-mail :)

 

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2013 Gift Guide for the Book Lover

If you're looking to purchase some solid reads this holiday season, these are some of my favorites that I read in 2013 and that I highly recommend.

1// The Fault in Our Stars

Two teens who fall in love is your pretty typical teen fiction novel, except these two have life-threatening illnesses. What I loved about this novel is how it dove into true human character and was brutally honest but did so with love.  You've seen it on bestseller lists because it is that good.  It is definitely one of my favorite books.

2// The Storyteller

Loved this book because it dealt with idea of who has the right to forgive.  The character Sage, is a young Jewish woman who struggles with her identity and how she fits in society.  As she struggles with her own issues, she meets an elderly German man who seems like the perfect samaritan until she learns more about his past.  The book is so compelling and will have you guessing until the very end.

3// Bloom

Kelle Hampton started her blog showcasing her life as a stay-at-home mom and it was the birth of her second child that rocked her world.  Kelle had no idea that her second daughter would have down syndrome and it completely restructured how she perceived life and how she treated others.  She calls herself out on so many of her weaker characteristics throughout the book and it made me really enjoy reading it because she was so honest with herself.

4// Divergent

I had this on my bookshelf since last December because I knew it was a bestseller but didn't read it until the third book in the series came out.  It's incredibly good and is about a dystopian society that takes place in what was Chicago.  Society is broken up into factions based on strong characteristics.  The main character, Tris, is torn between choosing between her selfless faction, Abnegation, or breaking away from it and becoming a rebel.  On a side note, having lived close to Chicago, I enjoyed being able to identify the areas of Chicago that certain factions took up.

5// Redeeming Love

Ruthie Hart recommended this book to me and it's so good.  It's a Christian fiction novel that takes place in the early development of the west.  Angel is a young woman who was forced into prostitution as a child.  She's considered this rare and expensive purchase and has very little concept of self-worth.  Michael Hosea, a young farmer, has been praying to God to give him a wife and all of a sudden God wants him to marry this prostitute.  He is so beyond confused but follows in God's word and the outcome is pretty amazing.  You can read my review here. 

6// The Art of Racing in the Rain

This book had been recommended to me time and time again, but I hadn't picked it up.  If you're a dog lover or have puppy babies like I do, this is definitely a good read for you.  The entire story is told through the perspective of Enzo, a mixed breed dog who is taken in by a young man who loves to race cars.  Hearing the love and respect that Enzo has for his owner brought tears to my eyes as Enzo tells an entire life story of a family and their struggles.

7// Kisses for Katie

This is another true story that is very Christian-faith based and it's incredible.  Katie is a young woman who went to Africa to serve, yet her parents had every intention of her coming back to the U.S. to go to college.  After her work as a teacher in Africa, she decided to stay and not only that but adopted children and created her own family.  The work did her in community was so wonderful and she truly lives out the word of God.  It's a beautiful story and one that reminds you of what truly is important in life.

8// Outlander

My friend Lindsey Herber, whose family is originally from Scotland, recommended this series to me and I love it! Starz is also making a series about it and the actor who plays Jamie is pretty smokin' hot.  The story follows a nurse, Claire, right after WWII as she is reunited with her husband.  While helping with his work out in the field, she time travels hundreds of years back and meets Jamie, a gorgeous Scotsman who is a rebel, outlaw, and incredibly loyal person.  Following their story is so much fun and you never know what will happen with Claire and her time travels.

Are there any books that you would love to receive for the holidays?

If you liked this post, share it with others! If you feel particularly moved by it, leave a comment because I love feedback and discussion. Social media links are provided below and thanks for reading!

20 Things About Myself at 23 (Part II)

6. I love to read and I'm sure many people know this from the two blogger books swaps that I've hosted in the past.  I have loved to read every since I was a little kid.  At a time when there were probably few opportunities for my parents to go out and buy things or pay for activities, the library was free entertainment.  I don't think I ever realized that as a kid, but I did know that I loved the adventures that I read in books and getting completely soaked into a story and its characters.  That love continued on as I grew older and went to student competitions, like Battle of the Books and the English Writing Festival.  Although it was slightly dampened by required reading, some of those high school and college classes introduced me to new favorite books.  I'm sure that my fellow book lovers would also like to know that our next blogger book swap will be in November with one of my great friends, Nicole :)

7. I firmly believe that developing a relationship with Christ is a journey and one that people need to go on at their own time and rate.  Although I post spiritual pictures/text on my blog and Instagram, that doesn't mean that I don't respect your needs and concerns.  For me, sometimes it's hard to identify as a Christian, in fact I still don't.  There are still so many negative connotations that go along with being a Christian, none of which I support.  I'm a follower of Christ but there are a ton of Christians that I don't necessarily like (ahem, Fox News).  I like Jesus and what he stood for and I'm doing my best to follow in his name and to be a better person.  As a follower of Christ, I think there are things that he lived for and taught that still help the world today.

8. One day when I'm a mom, I totally think I'm going to be a hipster mom.  I can totally picture myself with a pumpkin spice latte in one hand, Etsy shop diaper bag, and a little baby boy who could be a mini GQ model. I'm excited to plan birthday parties, trips to Disney World, and take a stab at sewing clothes (not that I don't do these things already). I'm excited for the opportunity and privilege to hopefully become a mom one day. I talk about it enough on my blog but I'm really excited to have kids with Ryan.

9. My dream job would be to be paid to craft and design. I would love to scrapbook, design birthday parties, or create DIY tutorials as my main source of income. I swoon at the thought of a crafting chain, like Michael's or Hobby Lobby, sending me free product to create a tutorial for them. If I could blog all day about crafting and DIY or really get my blog going, that would be amazing.

10. I think it's incredibly important to pay attention to your audience. This is kind of a broad idea, but I believe it's important to understand your privileges and what you bring to the table. My perspective and life experiences will most likely be different than the people I talk to through my blog. I try to respect that and understand that people might get it and sometimes they might not. When I first wrote about the difficulties of a young marriage, I got some backlash. But then I realized that the audience I was talking to is very diverse. One comment I received was that marriage for her was easy. All I kept thinking of was that's awesome, but my experience has been otherwise. In looking more closely at the situation, we have two very different lives. Not to get into too much detail, but at 23 (and Ryan being 22) we are very different financially than let's say a couple in their 30's who have been in their careers for some time. Whereas some people would be done with college at Ryan's age, he's just starting and that's because of his service to the military. I would also say that our experiences in the military have also fashioned a different outlook on live than other people may have. Our experiences help fashion our outlook and it's important to keep that in mind.

Be sure to look out for Part III!

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Accents Bring All the Girls to the Yard

I so want to get Ryan a kilt in his clan's tartan colors.

I don't know about you, but accents make me melt.  Languages are beautiful to me and with a lilting accent, boy howdy, I'm putty in your hands.  I've recently started reading a book series by Diana Gabaldon called Outlander.

The series is about a nurse, Claire, who has just finished her tour in Europe during WWII.  She is reunited with her husband after they've been separated for the majority of the war.  While he researches in Scotland, she comes across a stone formation that transports her back in time where she runs into a multitude of characters, including the families of the MacKenzie and Fraser clans.  It's a historical romance, but don't let the stereotypes of cheesy romance novels dissuade you from checking this out.  The storyline is really good and Claire is a really strong female character.  I'm super picky about female characters.  They tend to be annoying or super dependent on a male protagonist and it pisses me off.  Claire however is strong-willed, independent, and in the 1700s it gets her in a lot of trouble.  Nevertheless the character of Jamie Fraser guides her in the right direction plus in terms of character crushes, hands down, he wins.

Source via Outlander Fan

The series was recommended to me by my friend Lindsey and the fan following is crazy.  Right now the author, Gabaldon, is holding a read-a-thon in preparation for her 2014 release of the eighth book in the series.  What's extra awesome is that Starz is making a tv-series that will also be premiered in 2014 with Sam Heughan as the actor for Jamie. #bestillmyheart

 

He is from Scotland, has a Scottish accent, and is super cute. It's one of those #mancrushmonday moments where I wish my husband actually had a Scottish accent.  Ryan's family is also Irish and German so I'd take any of those as well ;)

However, the series did get me interested in Ryan's Scottish heritage (the series is incredibly interesting).  So I did some investigating, which ultimately made my husband laugh periodically throughout the day with my sudden outbursts of trivia bits. 

  

First off the first known person of the name Erskine was Henry Erskine who was also the owner of the Barony of Erskine.  I love the name Henry and I think this is destiny-esque but then again I think a lot of things are predetermined destiny.  In modern Scottish Gaelic, the name is spelt Arascain.   

That just makes you want to say it and I've been repeating it for the past 24-hours. 

Just saying it gives you a slight Scottish lilt.  

The family's crest is shown above as well as the tartan colors. The clan's motto is Decori decus addit avito (He adds honour to that of his ancestors).  It sounds so badass...I love it! The flower is the red rose (my middle name is Rose) and the motto on the crest is Je Pense Plus, meaning I think more. I'm not sure why there's two, maybe someone can explain this to me?  I might just be overly nerdy about all of this, but I just love it.  As much as I know about Filipino culture, I don't know much about my Irish culture and now I'm part of Ryan's family which includes a German and Scottish heritage.  There's still a lot more I need to learn but I'm utterly fascinated.

If you have any books on Scottish or Irish history, culture, or folklore, I would love the recommendations!

If you liked this post, share it with others! If you feel particularly moved by it, leave a comment because I love feedback and discussion. Social media links are provided below and thanks for reading!

Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Book Challenge

From Megan's Blog:

The Semi-Charmed Book Challenge is back for summer 2013! The challenge will follow the same rules as the winter 2013 challenge, and it will run from July 1 to September 30. See below for the full list of rules and categories, and thanks to all my readers who submitted category ideas!

Rules:

• The challenge will run from July 1, 2013, to September 30, 2013. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on July 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on September 30 will count.
• No re-reads (unless specifically stated)! I want you to experience new books with this challenge.
• Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audiobooks are fine, as long as the print versions meet the page requirements.
• A book can only be used for one category. If you want to switch the category later, that's fine, just be sure to account for that in your point total.
• The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will win a featured/guest post on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. Good luck!

The Challenge:

5 points: Freebie! Read any book you'd like, as long as it follows the above rules. :)
5:  Read a book that is less than 150 pages long. (Yes, this is an exception to the general rules! You're welcome haha.)
10: Read a book with a color in the title. Submitted by Erinn of it's the journey on Twitter.
10: Read a book that is not the first in its series. (And yes, it must be in a series.)
15: Read a book it seems everyone but you has read! Submitted by Brighton of Dear Brighton on Twitter.
15: Read a banned book. (For consistency's sake, the book must be found on one of these lists. See the links in the first paragraph for book lists.)
20: Read a book written by a celebrity. This can be a memoir or a fiction book published by someone who was already famous by another means (e.g. James Franco). Submitted by Brighton of Dear Brighton on Twitter.
20: Read a non-fiction book that is not a memoir. It can be pure non-fiction or narrative non-fiction. Submitted by Blair's Head Band on Twitter.
20: Read a book that takes place in a state you have never been in. If you have been to all 50 states, choose a book that takes place in a country you have never been in. Also do the latter option if you are not American.
25: Read a book that is at least 400 pages long.
25: Read a book with a main character who shares your first name. If you have an uncommon name and really can't find a book, let me know and we can come up with an alternative. :) Submitted by Erinn of it's the journey on Twitter.**
30: Read a book written by an author who was born in or died in your birth year.****

**Edited to add: I've decided to amend this category to allow nicknames of your first name and alternate spellings of your first name. I recognize this category is difficult and I don't want anyone to give up looking! :)
****This category was also amended after the original posting when I discovered too many participants were unable to find an author born in their birth year. This website will help you find authors who were born in or died in a specific year.

How to keep track: Megan will post a check-in on the first day of every month, on which you can comment with your progress. She will also include the scoreboard from the previous month on each check-in post. The first check-in post will be Thursday, August 1. Megan will also host a link-up on Monday, July 1, if anyone wants to share their preliminary reading list for the challenge (see an example post from one of my previous challenges here).



I'll be sure to write up how I'll participate in the challenge very soon!

The Lightbearers Book Review

This book review is my own personal opinion and one that I was not paid for, instead I was allowed a free copy of the book for the review.  I am by no means a professional book reviewer, I just enjoy a good read.

The Lightbearers by Nora M. Garcia is a captivating novel that brings the reader into the plot right away.  The action starts with a sinister plot that the reader doesn't quite have a full grasp on, except that we know that an evil scientist, Dr. Natas is involved.  The protagonist, Jean Crystal and her husband George are determined to foil Dr. Natas' evil plans but Garcia's story works within the difficult circumstances of society.  Dr. Natas has created a cyber school run completely by robots and with a target of elementary school children.  Promising parents that their children will not only develop faster than other children their age but be certified geniuses, Dr. Natas' test schools thrive, much to the dismay of Jean and her husband.  What's not quite explained right away is that Jean is able to transcend from her body through extreme meditation.  Instead, the reader is introduced through various descriptions of Jean leaving her physical state, which is an interesting and incredibly curious concept within itself.  Within a few chapters in, the background story is covered where King Akhenaton and Nefertiti, Egyptian royalty, are invited to be Lightbearers.  Lightbearers are guardians of the human race and to enlighten any whose path they cross. Through reincarnation, during each of their lifetimes, they strive to overcome violence, greed and injustice and in each lifetime they leave  individuals with whom they have shared their secrets of life and death and to carry on the mission (from the Goodreads synopsis).  It's quite good stuff.  Readers will cheer on Jean and George as they figure out how to save the world from the dark plans of Dr. Natas.

I liked this book right away and the thing about book reviews of lesser known books is that it can always be a toss up.  However, Garcia has an incredible imagination and a power for storytelling.  One of my critiques with this is that sometimes she tried to tell too much in too little of space.  Jean's ability to transcend her physical state wasn't explained much later and so the reader is left to question if Jean is a spy or a government work, etc.  Jean is a teacher who cares about human compassion and understanding human needs.  She's also a Lightbearer.  I think it was an interesting format for the story to start right away and then give some background to it, but I also think it would have been great to have those chapters serve as a prologue.  Garcia spent a lot of time explaining that concept, which as the reader, was much appreciated.  The aspect of Lightbearers being able to meditate so deeply that they could leave their physical bodies to reincarnate was pretty cool and added such dimension to the story.  I felt like I was watching a movie as I read through the book.

Some of the characters were introduced really quickly and then cut out a little too soon.  In order to get to the next major concept, I felt like Garcia rushed certain aspects and relationships with characters.  In one chapter, there was a focus on Jean and George's previous life in which they were a French family and it provided more background information on being a Lightbearer but had little to do with the plot.  Dr. Natas' bond with his new son was also an important relationship but I also felt that his marriage was awkwardly intertwined throughout the last chapters.  I could see the importance of covering how unsociable this man was and how negative that can impact a society, especially when it comes to creating schools based on this mentality, however it just felt awkward to me.

Overall I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.  I really liked the story and it's one that grabs your imagination and runs with it.  I would love to see this made into a movie, but it would definitely need finetuning.  There's a lot of action and great characters, plus it will make the reader wish they were a lightbearer.

  

Saturday Morning Post: Jamaican Bobsled Team, Mermaids, and a Bull Mastiff

1// I've split my reading time inbetween my Kindle and tangible books.  Absolutely love reading Kisses for Katie and her journey to Uganda to help people.  I have loved her writing prose and everything that she has shared so far. I highly recommend it :)

2// As a member of the Literary Junkies Book Club, I have this opportunity to review a book and Lightbearers has been such a great read.  I can't wait to share my thoughts on this with all of you.

3// Made enchiladas for the first time and they were so good!

4// I really enjoy being silly and adding that fun element to my marriage.  After one of my alerts, I visited my husband at his job and before I went home, I actually propped up a cardboard wall decoration of a hula girl in his driver's seat.  I left him a goofy love note and it had totally freaked him out.  He thought that he had walked into the wrong car!

5// My friend Karla introduced me to an organization called Operation Write Home where you make cards for our troops.  These cards go to our deployed service members and they can select from different cards that are handmade and they send them to their families.

6// My new garden gnome friend for our community garden plot. After a long day of preparing the ground and then planting, I couldn't figure out the watering system.  Thank goodness it rained the next two days.

7// Had a fun dinner at our friends' home.  My friend's husband is a chef and he made this fantastic meal.

8// Before we went on alert one day, we got to meet Devon Harris who was a member of the first Jamaican bobsled team.  Thanks to America300 Tours for having him visit :)

9// My baby Blu has an E. coli infection in his bladder.  It was really frustrating after going to numerous vet visits with him and listing out his symptoms.  It's been an expensive process, especially after finding out that a lab culture we sent out cost $133 (yikes!) and the medicine to treat it is over $200.  I'm really hoping that the bacteria will be killed and he'll be 100% a-ok.

10// We've been helping out our friends Emily and Cory with watching their Bull mastiff, Lily, whenever he's on alert.  She's an absolute joy and such a mellow dog.

11// My commander sent me a picture of her bookshelf and I did a comparison shot.  We both love to read and I'm such a nerd because I love bookshelf shots!

12// In book nerd fashion, I was reading Amazon book reviews and so many folks love Ken Follett's work.  There are also movies based off of many of his books,  so my interested was picqued.  I went to Barnes and Noble and was walking around when I discovered that Fall of Giants was in the clearance section! I was able to score the hardcover edition for a little over $7.  While I was waiting in line to check out, I spotted a superman bookmark with Henry Cavill, be still my beating heart.

13// I've been working on my fitness and I love being inspired by all the fitspo Instagram accounts I follow.  After a fitness aficionado shared this workout, I tried it out myself and loved the weighted tricep dips.

14// My husband needed a designated driver so I found myself driving around the city with his friends and going to The Front, my favorite establishment here.  It's attached to a place called The Faster Bassett which has amazing crepes.

15// Of course, in my DD adventures, we stopped at the Sip n' Dip and yes, this city has mermaids ;)

#5 Link-Up: Literary Soundtrack or Character Crushes!

IT'S ALMOST TIME TO SHARE OUR BOOK PACKAGES!

The anticipation is killing me- as you can see by use of caps lock but until then, it's time for our 5th link-up.  This week's writing challenge is actually up to our participants.

Kind of like a choose your own adventure.

Literary Soundtracks or Character Crushes... you decide!

For Literary Soundtracks all you need to do is create a list of songs that fit your favorite book or favorite stories.  Mixtapes anyone?

For Character Crushes, describe what character(s) you love and why.  Have a thing for Christian Grey, it's alright, now's your time to share ;)

Now you only need to pick one, but I'll be sharing both (I just couldn't decide).

A few weeks ago I finished Kelle Hampton's memoir, Bloom.  She has such beautiful photography and memories with her family that I think it would be wonderful to put together a list of songs that I love and can see with her family.

The Good Life by OneRepublic

A New Day Has Come by Celine Dion

Breathe (2am) by Anna Nalick  

        

Hey Soul Sister by Train

 

I chose these four songs because the Hampton family lives in Florida as you find out in the memoir and these kind of remind me of fun, summery songs that would involve a great family dynamic.  If you've ever read Bloom or Kelle Hampton's blog, you're familiar that with the birth of her second child, Nella, she discovers that her baby is born with Down Syndrome.  The book goes through Kelle's process of adjusting her own preconceived notions and embracing her family.  I've been wanting to write down what my experience was like reading the book and I'm pretty sure I have a rough draft floating around here but it was a wonderful journey to read.  It was the first book I read while doing alerts and her experiences kind of helped me get through that transition period of my own experiences.  These four songs automatically came to mind, especially Anna Nalick's song "Breathe" because I remember moments in college being up late at night and playing the song because it made me feel better during tough or stressful moments.

What would you have chosen if you read Bloom?

When it comes to character crushes, I have many.  When thinking of the topic, I know that I have girl crushes but I could only come up with guys.  I can't wait to read what others choose to share! 
My chosen four are Heathcliff, Michael Hosea, Peeta, and Jay Gatsby. 

By the way, Tom Hardy is Heathcliff in a version of Wuthering Heights. You can thank me for this piece of knowledge after you watch it. ;)

Heathcliff is a dark and brooding character.  No way would his behavior be considered remotely acceptable by today's standards but for some reason, I just love his character.  I think there's something about that unrequitted love that gets me everytime.  His love for Cathy was unhealthy but he wanted to be with her, even past death.  That type of commitment isn't too often shown today.

To the best of my knowledge, there isn't a movie for Redeeming Love, but Henry Cavill just makes your heart pitter-patter.

Michael Hosea from Redeeming Love is on of my all time favorite characters because I strongly feel that most men should try and emulate his love and compassion.  Of course that would be impossible because each man is different, but I truly hope to raise my future sons (if I have any) in the same light.  Not only did he pray, but he had an open relationship with God and forgave everyone.  This includes his arrogant brother-in-law.  I would love to see this made into a movie and if it already has been, somebody fill me in!

Peeta from Hunger Games is one of my favorite male characters because he's just one of those good guys that you just want to kick Katniss in the shins to make her realize this.  My old roommate was dying over how Katniss just wouldn't accept his love for her.  I'm pretty sure Brittany, my old roommate, would have jumped into those pages and dragged Peeta out for herself if she could.  But who blames her?  We love Peeta because he is a genuinely caring guy who would risk everything for Katniss.  #TEAMPEETA

Finally Jay Gatsby makes the list because I am a sucker for unrequitted love.  Doesn't Daisy's character just make your blood boil?  Tom and Daisy are literally careless people and that's what drives the story.  You have someone like Jay Gatsby with so much hope and promise and he doesn't get the girl.  Instead, this teaches Nick Carraway about life.  It's my favorite book and this weekend I finally had the opportunity see the version with Leo as Gatsby.  My heart broke and over and over again.  All of that money, time, and effort to be wasted on someone as foolish and self-centered as Daisy.  It just breaks your heart.

So that is my literary soundtrack as well as my character crushes.  Make sure you link-up and join in on the fun and remember, you only need to pick one but if you want to do both- go for it!

Preview to Summer 1st Link-Up: Top Three Favorite Books

Registration is now closed for this session of the Blogger Book Swap and I am so thrilled to have 38 participants and 6 total co-hosts.  It's going to be a great swap!  It was so exciting to read through the responses and see what inspires you to not just read, but why you love books.  I especially enjoyed reading what you wrote about yourselves.  You are all rockstars!  I wish y'all could see my face right now, because I'm just giddy.

I'm not just giddy because you all sound fantastic, but also because everyone is in this swap for the right reasons.  The biggest complaint of those who have participated in blogger-style swaps is that their partner "forgot" to send their end of the swap.  There's nothing like an uncooperative blogger to turn a fun event onto a sour note.  This Wednesday when pairings are announced, you can also find a convenient etiquette blog post/video on the do's and don'ts of swapping.

One facet of this swap is our use of writing prompts, ice breakers, and book-themed link-up opportunities.  Today is the start of our first book-themed link-up, hosted by Maria over at I Believe in Story.  It's a great theme where we all get to discuss our top three favorite books.  I definitely struggled with this one a little bit.  I definitely have my "top favorite" which conveniently is my eBook giveaway prize, but two more...the pressure!

    Although the graphic is a little misleading with my favorite book being to the far right, we'll start with that one anyways.  My favorite is The Great Gatsby and by "favorite," I find it to be one of the most moving books that I have ever read.  I think it covers how life sometimes goes.  You have the character of Gatsby who to me represents the common man, striving to accomplish his dreams.  He falls in love with a woman who is basically out of his league and despite the fact that she loves him, she marries someone else because of societal norms.  That's not shocking because sometimes life bites you in the ass like that.  But nevertheless we're humans, so we strive to figure out ways around that and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  I always felt that book covered the human spirit with its good intentions and flaws all wrapped into one.

The next one over is The Joy Luck Club which was a book that I read my sophomore year of high school in Ms. Jacoby's class.  We had to pick a book from a list to dissect and mark-up for this high school, sophomore English lit course.  Did anyone else hate writing in books?  It greatly disturbed me going into my freshman year that teachers actually wanted us to write and "ruin" books.  I quickly had to get over that, of course. I just recently came across old copies of books from high school that are still riddled with post-it notes and seven million different shades of pen inks to represent foreshadowing, symbolism, etc.  However, I had watched the movie version of The Joy Luck Club and did not realize it was actually based on a book.  I immediately chose it off of the list and it was probably one of my favorite books to analyze.  That English class introduced me to The Great Gatsby and The Joy Luck Club.  Ms. Jacoby was one of the most influential teachers in my life and I would love to send her an e-mail or shout-out if I ever ran into her again.  The Joy Luck Club discussed the relationships between mothers and daughters as one generation grew up in China and their daughters grew in the U.S.  It dove into their childhoods and how radically different they were from one another and there were so many moments that it was difficult for them to connect because they had grown up so differently from one another.  The entire book was the relationship between me and my mom.  I was born in the Philippines but she was actually raised there with her siblings.  I was her very Americanized child and she was forced to grow up and handle life at a very young age.  I lived in a very comfortable lifestyle while her family were poor farmers.  Everything about the book somehow matched up to issues in my life.  It was very moving and touching for me to go through that and experience it and especially as a teenager in high school.  It gave me that opportunity to appreciate everything my mom had to go through in order to give me the life that I have now.  Whether you come from an Asian family or not, it's definitely a great read for mothers and daughters or just women in a family together.

Finally, I adore the Harry Potter series.  I know I've talked about how I was introduced to Harry Potter on my blog before, but it never hurts to reminisce over good memories.  I picked up my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at a Scholastic Book Fair following parent-teacher conferences.  For doing well academically, my parents (and sometimes grandma) would reward me with a few books at the kiosk area set up by the main lobby.  Scholastic Book Fairs were my favorite!  My friend Jake's aunt introduced him to the book and I couldn't wait to start reading.  We were on a trip to San Diego since spring break started immediately after.  I read that book all the way through within a couple of days and was begging my dad to let me buy the second one in a bookstore in Old Town.  It started my love for the series and the sheer enjoyment of sitting down with my favorite characters and diving into their adventures.  Ryan hasn't read the books, but he's seen all of the movies.  I asked him if he would read the books and his response was, "maybe to our kids."

Well at least we know they'll be well-read ;)

What are your top three favorite reads?

Make sure to link-up with Maria!

Preview to Summer: A Blogger Book Swap Registration

It's finally here! The registration starts today and we are so excited!
The form can be found on the bottom of this post or on the headquarters page.
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED FOR THIS SESSION.

What is a book swap?

Swaps happen all of the time in the blogging community.  It's where bloggers are paired up to send each other awesome packages depending on the theme.  Here we are engaging in awesome conversation and exchanging book care packages.  It's so much more than receiving a free book, we're excited for the opportunity to meet and get to know more about bloggers in this great community.

In case you're more of a visual learner, here's a quick video on the swap.

We are looking for bloggers who love to read and have an awesome, positive attitude.

If this is you and you love to meet other bloggers, definitely sign up.

We'll have weekly, book-themed link-ups that are hosted by my awesome team.  You can meet them here. We'll also have sample writing prompts and fun questions for you and your swap partner, to help break the ice.

<a href="http://www.kimberlyersk1ne.com/p/blog-page_29.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/kimberlyerskine/P2S_button3_zpsd316e15f.jpg" alt="BloggerBookSwap" width="250" height="290" /></a>

Looking for more sizes?

Here are some important dates:

Sunday, April 14 - Sunday, April 21: Registration

Wednesday, April 24: Blog swap pairings announced
Wednesday, May 15: Final day to mail your book care package

Tuesday, May 28: Book Swap link-up

The Fun Details of a Blogger Book Swap

Tomorrow (4/14) starts the registration for

If you're new to blogging or have not participated in a swap before, it's an opportunity for bloggers to get to know each other better.  We e-mail each other, visit our blogs, and at the end of the swap we send a care package to the blogger we are paired with.  They are a lot of fun and a great way to find other wonderful blogs.  

I met AJ through a Valentine's Day swap that I was a part of and she is one of my favorite bloggers and it's just a fun way to meet other people.  She blogs over at The Fashionable, Fit Traveler and is one of the sweetest bloggers you could meet.  I also recently did a book swap called Sip, Read, Swap with Lynn (otherwise known as Elle) from Wishin Good Luck and I absolutely loved what she got me.  We got each other two great books and a mug.  I loved shopping for her mug, which was a breakdown of how to do "the moonwalk."  It was also a fun experience because I always respected her as a blogger because she has awesome content on her blog, but I never really had this "gateway opportunity" to introduce myself to her.  In comes a swap and now I have a new blogging friend, plus two new great reads and a mug to enjoy it all with.   

I am incredibly excited to see who signs up for our swap.  We've made it more than the average swap experience because we want everyone to have a great time.  I've put together a team of really caring bloggers who love to read and want to make sure you have the best time with our swap.

If you are excited about this or plan on signing up, please share it with others!  If you have a blogger friend who would love to be a part of this, share it with them.

We love to see our button in your sidebars, tweets with the hashtags #bloggerbookswap or #previewtosummer, and Instagram posts sharing our Preview to Summer pictures.

<a href="http://www.kimberlyersk1ne.com/p/blog-page_29.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/kimberlyerskine/P2S_button3_zpsd316e15f.jpg" alt="BloggerBookSwap" width="250" height="290" /></a>

Looking for more sizes?

Here are some important dates:

Sunday, April 14 - Sunday, April 21: Registration

Wednesday, April 24: Blog swap pairings announced
Wednesday, May 15: Final day to mail your book care package

Tuesday, May 28: Book Swap link-up

We hope to see you signed up tomorrow and throughout the week!

Thanks for Reading :)