Get to Know the Book Swap Hosts

With the Blogger Book Swap's official start being days away, I thought you all might enjoy the opportunity to get to know your hosts (hostesses) and their blogs.  We are all avid readers and bloggers, so take the time to check out our blogs and leave some lovin' =]

I'm Lesley and I blog at By the Porchlight about all things creative along with good reads, good deeds and random adventures! I, also, co-founded the Literary Junkies monthly link-up and online book club. I have so much fun with my real-life book club that I thought an online one would be a great way to connect with other bloggers. The best book I ever read with my book club was Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum - a fantastic WWII story. I love historical fiction!

 Photo credit Claudia Carter Photography
"Today, I'm Bobbi." is a lifestyle and travel blog that focuses on pretty things in pretty spaces. I spend a lot of my time traveling, helping brands and blogs define themselves and grow, and trying not to burn my kitchen down during cooking experiments.

My favorite books to date are The Harry Potter Series (obviously) by J.K. Rowling, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. All are absolutely magical in their own unique ways and create such a rich world for the reader that it's nearly impossible to draw yourself out of it. To me books provide an oasis of reflection and imagination and when an author has a way with words they have my heart.

Hey Book Swappers! I'm so glad you've decided to join this blogger book swap, I think it's going to be a LOT of fun! My name's Nicole at Three31 and I am a 20-something country girl from Kentucky married to a Texas boy. We live near Fort Worth with Blue, our white horse. I love Jesus, sweet tea, country music, the SEC, learning photography, cooking, and, of course, blogging and reading. My tastes in literature vary just as much. I love most everything from classics (Pride and Prejudice, The Scarlett Letter, Where the Red Fern Grows, and The Great Gatsby), religion and spirituality (Margaret Feinberg, Maya Angelou, Eckhart Tolle), romance (Bluegrass State of Mind), fiction (Room and The Help), and non-fiction (Biography of Benjamin Franklin and Night). If all of this isn't confusing enough, my favorite in 2012 was the 50 Shades Trilogy. Say what you will and think what you want, but I love these books. I read the entire series in one weekend -- I could NOT put my Kindle down! While they are not the best written, the story is fantasy at its best. It is raw, powerful, and a reminder that it is in relationships we are broken ... and restored.



Hi Everyone!
I'm Daliene and Alamo Adventures is a life and style blog about my adventures here in Texas. I'm so excited that you will be joining us for the Blogger Book Swap!  I'm an elementary GT teacher by day and a wanna be runner, baker, blogger, thrifter, design-addict by night.  If I could spend my days reading on the couch (and eating ice cream) I would be the happiest girl in the world!  My favorite book of all time is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I am a sucker for true love, because Florentino waiting 50 years for Fermina gets me every time! 

Hi friends! My name is Nicole and I blog over at Flip Flops and Combat Boots. When I'm not blogging you can find me cooking, traveling, eating, drinking...and, of course, reading. I'm the girl who never creases, dog ears, or bends her books - making them look like they have never been read! My library ranges from mystery to memoir and everything in between. Memoirs are my favorite...I love reading and learning about people, no matter how "big" or "little" they are. Need a great book recommendation? Pick up Life After Death by Damien Echols...you'll thank me later!

I'm Kim, the author of The Simplicity of Being Curious and the one who has been sending out all of those e-mails.  I love to read and have a way of picking up more books than I can handle.  I love exploring a good bookstore, whether it's new books or used.  I especially love finding a thrift shop with an excellent book selection. Thank you to all those who have participated in this book swap.  Y'all are amazing and I could not have seen this idea come to life without you!

Unleash the Kraken! The Book Swap Partners are Out!

 

It's official, the 41 e-mails to 82 awesome people have been sent out!

Please check your e-mail tonight or tomorrow morning and make sure that you received your e-mail.

I carefully selected your partner for you based on your favorite types and genres that were listed on the registration page.  Now you may not end up being soulmates here, but keep an open mind and have fun with this!

I spent a lot of time staring at a computer screen, so if the e-mail have grammatical/spelling errors, your name is incorrectly spelled, or your name looks completely cray, I apologize.  If your name is so incorrect that you think you may have the wrong partner, feel free to send me an e-mail at erskine.kimberly@gmail.com.  I had a few submissions on there two to three times, so if you received multiple partners, let me know so I can fix it.  I made sure to go through and delete duplicates, but alas, I am human and so is your partner.  If your partner hasn't responded to your e-mail within 72 hours or is completely out of the country and can't respond to e-mails (that happened five minutes ago), just let me know.  If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to e-mail me.

A lot of your general questions may be able to be answered in posts that I have provided throughout this past week, so feel free to browse and get those creative juices flowing.  The only requirements is that you pass along a book and a note on why you chose that for your partner.  If you would like to add extras, like a bookmark or other awesome knick knack, feel free to do whatever you please.

Check back tomorrow to find out more about the wonderful co-hosts who made this all possible!

Favorite Things Friday

Copyright Scott Lenhardt - Twenty Four Hour Woman

Can someone please get me this calendar?  If I could be naked all day and accomplish all of my life ambitions- that would be so fricken awesome.  I came across Etsy artist Scott Lenhardt through an Etsy tweet and saw a video of the process for creating this doodle character. 

I don't know what it is about her, but I think it's something about how it's quite literally just her accomplishing all of these cool things.  There's nothing about networking, connections, upbringing, what she's wearing, or even what she looks that stops her (or helps her) in accomplishing these events.  As Beyonce said, Who run the world? Girls

 

SPACE & MISSILES YEAHHH BABY!!

 

I may or may not have been dreaming about craft projects last night and this lovely frame was definitely on the list.  I think it would be so cute to have, especially with it featuring our military moves =]  Speaking of which, we're moving soon, dealing with a house rental situation here, scheduling hotels along the way and finally moving to my new base.  I'm actually really excited to get there and check everything out.  I've never been to Montana and I'm really looking forward to experiencing it all.

Copyright Sophistifunk

Copyright Better Life Bags

Scrolling my blogger roll, I came across Brie's blog, Sophistifunk and her Instagram always shows her awesome shop bracelets.  I've had my eye on a sideways cross bracelet for some time now and this just makes me swoon.  Ehrmahgerd I lurrrvs.

 

Now this bag right over here is the Molly Bag made my Rebecca and her awesome team at Better Life Bags.  I could not be more in love with an organization.  Rebecca and her family recruits their employees from some of the poorest areas of her city to provide them with a quality job opportunity, skill and trade.  They get an actual fair wage for their awesome work and create a beautiful product.  If you're going to get a bag, consider investing in one of these.  I even sent my husband the link and an e-mail for this.  I am hardcore hint dropping with this because the bag, it just calls to me.  I had it waiting in online shopping cart and I was so tempted to just get it right then and there but I guess I'll wait (curses being a responsible wife).  Rebecca also sells Husband Prayer Cards in her shop, but if you don't want the personalized set, send her an e-mail and she will send you the files for free!  I don't know you Rebecca, but you seem like such a genuine person.

I've also started to listen to more audiobooks with a free trial to audible.com.  Their subscription service is broken up into a few different options, but I wasn't quite ready to commit.  That was quickly handled with the 30-day free trial with their 1 credit option.  For 1-credit, I could download a free audiobook.  I was thinking that it may be a good alternative to listening to music while I work out.  I already enjoy listening to This American Life, why not an audiobook?

 I ended up downloading a copy of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I can't wait to get started on this and from the reviews, I think it's going to be a great choice for my first download from Audible. 

Thanks for Reading and TGIF!

 

 

 

Make the most out of your Blogger Book Swap Experience

Everyday that I check the registration documents, I am always floored.
A little idea of getting a few bloggers together to put together a book swap has grown exponentially!
As I write this, we have 79 bloggers signed up.
Say whaaat?!
That's incredible!
I'm also loving the enthusiasm and excitement to meet other readers.
It makes me so happy to see people who love to read.
As much as I love social media and am slightly obsessed with it, the core of that is literacy and a love of reading.  I grew up surrounded by books and constantly asking my mom to take me to the library.  I went to a charter school for middle school and it was such an incredible experience.  Apart from the amazing staff and people that I met there, our school was conveniently located across from a public library.  So every Monday, we would walk across the street for a designated "library period" and it was almost like story time again.  One of the librarians would introduce us to some of her favorite reads for that week and we would have the opportunity to explore those options or whatever the library had.  I devoured books during that time and I just loved it.  I remember coming home from school one day and having the sequel of a series that I had just started, in my hand.  I curled up on the big "fancy" couch and read until probably ten at night, but I finished it.
As I get older, I don't remember a time in the most recent past that I have had an experience similar to that.  The time that I read the most is while traveling, usually in an airport.  That's where I find myself finishing those sequels or finding the time to sit down and read a book that has been on my list for f-o-r-e-v-er (Sandlot reference) ;)

Well it's still January of twenty13 and you have more than 11 months ahead of you to start tackling some more books and perhaps, set a reading goal for yourself.  In my sidebar, you'll find that my goal for this year is 30 books.  I actually want to surpass that but I figure that 30 is a pretty good start and with work, may even be more challenging than I think it is.  At the bottom of this post, you'll find my Goodreads "to-read" shelf.  Goodreads is an online service that helps you organize your virtual bookshelf.  You can review and rate books that you've read, would like to read, and are currently reading.  If you are participating in the Blogger Book Swap, I highly recommend you either use your account or set one up.  Not only can create a wishlist of books that you would like "to-read" but you can also establish books that you already own.

On your left sidebar, you will find the above options.  At the top of this list, you will see that the books are organized into three distinct categories, as already mentioned. You can also add the Goodreads feature to your toolbar, so if you are exploring Amazon and are interested in a book, you can add that to your "to-read" list from there.  Pay special attention in this sidebar to the category "owned books."  Once you click on that, this will pop up:

By clicking on "Add books that I've shelved," you can add books that are part of those three original categories to books that you already own.  If you're like me, I have a ton of books that I own and still need to read.  So it would be silly for my book swap buddy to get me a book that I already own.  This is a great solution to that.

 A screen like this will pop-up and on the upper right, you will notice the drop down bar that can help organize your shelves by those three categories.  Easy peasy.

This Saturday, the registration will officially close and the Blogger Book Swap will officially begin.  If you have special circumstances, like live outside of the continental U.S. or have an APO address, please send me an e-mail at erskine.kimberly@gmail.com.  I know there are 20+ people who have not received my latest e-mail because I sent it out when we had around 50 people registered, so I'll go over some useful tips.

This is a swap, so you'll have only one partner.  Get to know that person and the types of books that they enjoy.  Find out some of their favorite genres or literary characters.  Also find out what types of books they don't like.  Explore their Goodreads profile if they have one and update yours!  If you are just craving to read a specific book, I would suggest picking your top five and sharing that with your buddy.  Giving your partner a variety of options is always a great route, plus keeping that element of surprise makes the event a lot of fun.  Apart from the book, please include a letter to your partner explaining why you chose that book for them and just some awesome well wishes.  You don't have to include anything else, but a bookmark, notebook, trinkets, etc. are small ways to express your love of reading with your partner.  I already picked up a few items that I just love and I hope whoever I get partnered with has a love of writing :)

Check your e-mails this weekend to find out who your buddy is and if you haven't signed up for the free necklace giveway from Glassy Chic Boutique, make sure that you do!

Thanks for Reading!

Kimberly's to-read book montage

Kimberly Erskine's favorite books »

#onelittleword in my life update

Today has been such a #onelittleword day!  After my training ride, I came home to my We R Memories binder (I chose hunter green) and my necklace from Jessica in the mail. 
I have mad love for this necklace.  Not only is it symbolic of everything I want this year to encompass, but it turned out beautifully and I know whoever wins the necklace from Jessica will absolutely love it.

It arrived in a drawstring, sheer bag and was complete with the necklace snake chain that I had ordered.  Jessica, who has outstanding customer service, was worried that she had forgotten something with my order, so she sent me another envelope featuring two small pearl charms and a new edition of her snake necklace, in case I preferred a thinner version.

In case you're joining me for the first time since my last #onelittleword post, the project is basically choosing a word that you are going to embody for one year.  You'll often see me talking here about twenty13 being the "year of opportunity," well that certainly fits since my one little word is "opportunity."  To hold myself accountable to my chosen word, and to have a little fun with it, I searched through Etsy for a necklace that would help out with it.  I found Jessica's Etsy shop, Glassy Chic Boutique, and just loved her work.  On the necklace, I chose the upper block text and on two sides, it says "opportunity" and then the dates, starting January 1st and ending December 31st- a year of opportunity. 

My definition of excellent customer service involves corresponding with your client or customers frequently throughout the order and creation process.  It also involves making sure that they are either completely satisfied or their expectations are blown out of the water.  Jessica fits all that and more.  I also want to make it clear that I sought out her work and she didn't seek me out to do a promotional giveaway.  I mentioned my blog and the project and she loved the idea.  She's just that awesome. 

If you're looking for custom, beautiful and affordable jewelry, I would definitely head her way.  I love supporting Etsy artists and designers :) 

Etsy Shop // Facebook Page // Twitter // Blog

I've started to work on my one little project with Ali Edwards' Big Picture Class.  I was going back and forth on spending the money for the program, because I could definitely scrapbook on my own, but he likelihood of me keeping up with it on my own was slim to none.  So I figured a $36 class, in which she provided free printables, videos, prompts and extras for an entire year was worth it.  I'm really glad that I did it.  Below is a sample of some of the cards that I put together for the January prompt.  They're in an extra rough draft mode, so no judgments...or at least, not yet! ;)

I've been brainstorming synonyms to help break up my goals and my intentions for what focusing on opportunity is meant to do for me this year.  I'm excited to put my binder together and see where the project takes me.   

My hubs and I watched the movie, Savages, the other night.  I'm not too keen on violence in movies. I'm the 23-year old with her eyes covered in the movie theater.  However, as violent as some of the scenes were in the movie (hence the name "savages"), I really liked the story line.  The story plays around themes of testing human limits (cruelty, mind games) and variations of love and power.  You'll recognize actors such as John Travolta, Selma Hayek, and Blake Lively in the film.  Lively plays the shared love interest of characters, Chon and Ben.  That was definitely an interesting dynamic, since the two male leads loved each other so much as brothers and best-friends, that they were willing to share the love of their live, Ophelia, otherwise known as "O." 

 

Source

The characters lived complicated lives and you love to hate the bad guys and what they're willing to do next.  My favorite character was Ben (played by Aaron Johnson).  At the surface, he seems kind of like a weed-smoking-surfer-California-dude, but the film cuts at the surface of how much time he devotes to helping third world countries.  This includes developing orphanages, clean water systems and schools.  Combine that with his devilishly handsome good looks and all I've got to say is be still my beating heart.  What reminded me of #onelittleword with his character was that he never let anything stand in his way.  His character used a dual-degree from Berkley to develop a product and sell it (in this case, marijuana), but in turn, he used that to help a lot of people.  Not just throwing money their way either, actually going there and devoting time to their lives.  That type of dedication is admirable, even if displayed by a fictional film character.  

I'll continue to explore my #onelittleword in other areas of my life and I invite you to participate with me and come up with your own little word.  If you would like to win a FREE necklace from Glassy Chic Boutique, make sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom of my #onelittleword post.

Thanks for Reading!