Tag: Random Posts

Going Digital

Posted October 13, 2015 by Rowena in Discussions | 25 Comments

Going Digital
One of the biggest problems that book nerds the world over has is the problem of space. There’s never enough room for all of the books that one acquires and since most of us don’t come with our very own Beast to build us the libraries of our dreams, sometimes steps need to be taken.

Steps like purging your book stash every three months or going on book buying bans or if you’re like me, going completely digital.

For years, I’ve held on to the hope that even though I was reading less print books, I still had to have them around. They were a comfort to me and I still liked waking up to the sight of them. They made my bookshelves pretty but then my daughter asked me, “When was the last time you read one of those books?” and the answer? Years. Not days or weeks or even months. Not even one year but multiple years. Years of those books just collecting dust because I just wasn’t into reading them anymore.

So far in 2015, I’ve read not one print book. Not one and we’re coming up on October.

In 2014, I made a TBR jar in an effort to get control of my monstrous TBR pile and all of those print books on my shelves and let me tell you…that was an epic fail. I tried to read 12 books and I just couldn’t do it. I think I got maybe 3 books read and that’s it.

In 2013, I read a handful of print books but none were books from my shelves. All of the books I read were from publishing houses, sent for review.

In 2012, I read a handful of books from my bookshelves but most of the books that I read that year were eBooks.

Well, no more.

I spent the weekend spring cleaning the hell out of my bedroom. I went through my clothes and my daughter’s clothes and packed up anything we haven’t worn in years then I set up the boxes that would pack up every single book on my bookshelves.

I have two bookshelves that were filled with books.

photo

This is an old picture because 1) that’s not my room anymore and 2) I didn’t take a picture of my shelves before I packed up the books so there were quite a few books added since I took this picture but still, you get the idea.

Here’s what my books look like after they were all packed up and ready to go.

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I thought I would feel more sad that I got rid of so many books but honestly, I’m excited for the space the books free up in my room. These days, I’m reading 100% of my books on my iPad. If I’m not reading on my iPad then I’m reading on my iPhone and my virtual bookshelves are amazing. I love pulling up Calibre and organizing my eBooks and just seeing them on my iBooks shelves.

So that’s it. It’s done. I’ve gone completely digital and I can’t help but think…

How many of you lovely readers have gone completely digital? Do you think you’ll ever leave print books behind for good?


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How Do You Decide What To Read Next?

Posted October 19, 2011 by Rowena in Discussions | 6 Comments


If you’re a book blogger like me then you probably have more books to read than you know what to do with. You come across loads of review requests in your email that you can’t say no to, you see books that you’re itching to get your hands on through NetGalley and you click on the request title link.

My to be read/reviewed pile is ridiculous.

I have a working list that I’m working off of right now and I’m pretty anal about keeping up with it too.

While I was updating my list, I got to thinking about how I choose the next book that I’m going to read. I used to read whatever I want, whenever the mood strikes but my TBR pile has gotten too out of control so I had to nip that method right in the bud. These days, my method for picking my next book is much more boring.

I pick my next book by release date.

Here’s a quick glimpse at my TBR pile:

2011 Releases

February Releases:

  • Blind Dates and Other Disasters by Ally Blake, Fiona Harper and Barbara Hannay


March Releases:

  • More than Words by Jill Shalvis, Carly Phillips, Donna Hill (ARC)

August Releases:

8/30:

  • Ambitious by Monica McKayhan (e-ARC)
  • One Night in London by Caroline Linden (e-ARC)
  • In the Arms of a Marquess by Katherine Ashe (e-ARC)

8/31:

  • Vanish by Sophie Jordan (ARC)
  • Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs (ARC)
  • Lie by Caroline Bock (e-ARC)

September Releases:

9/1:

  • To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell (ARC)
  • Don’t Mess with Texas by Christie Craid (ARC)

9/19:

  • Something So Right by Elyse Mady (e-ARC)

9/27:

  • Unclaimed by Courtney Milan (e-ARC)
  • Only His by Susan Mallery (e-ARC)
  • What a Duke Wants by Lavinia Kent (e-ARC)
  • In Total Surrender by Sophie Jordan (e-ARC)
  • In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster by Stephanie Laurens (e-ARC)

October Releases:

10/1:

  • If I Tell by Janet Gurtler (e-ARC)
  • Heartstrings and Diamond Rings by Jane Graves (e-ARC)

10/4:

  • There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones (e-ARC)
  • Past Perfect by Leila Sales (e-ARC)
  • The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry (e-ARC)

10/7:

  • Wish Upon a Star by Sarah Morgan (e-ARC)

10/11:

  • Tris and Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison (e-ARC)

10/18:

  • Virtuosity by Jessica Martin (e-ARC)

10/25:

  • The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa (e-ARC)
  • Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl (e-ARC)

November Releases

11/1:

  • The Next Always by Nora Roberts (ARC)
  • Promises, Promises by Erica James (ARC)
  • Christmas in Lucky Harbor by Jill Shalvis (e-ARC)

11/8:

  • Little Women & Me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

11/29:

  • Saving June by Hannah Harrington (e-ARC)

December Releases:

12/8:

  • Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett (e-ARC)

2012 Releases:

January Releases:

1/1:

  • Secrets by Freya North (e-ARC)
  • Scrumptious by Amanda Usen (e-ARC)

1/10:

  • Ditched by Robin Mellom (e-ARC)
  • The Darlings in Love by Melissa Kantor (e-ARC)

1/17:

  • Fracture by Megan Miranda

March Releases:

3/1:

  • How to eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue (e-ARC)

3/13:

  • Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard (e-ARC)

April Releases:

4/13:

  • Radiate by Marley Gibson (e-ARC)

May Releases:

5/8:

  • Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm (e-ARC)
  • Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan (e-ARC)

This isn’t all of my review pile but you get the idea. I’m just working my way down the list and I’m wondering if I’m the only person that does this. I’m sure that I’m not but it sure does make me feel a bit OCD about things. As you can see, I’ve read a lot of historical romances in the past month or so and I was just telling Holly the other day to not let me accept any more historicals for the moment because I’m burned out on them. I’m hoping it doesn’t last long because I enjoy historicals but not right now.

So anyway, that’s how I choose my next book to read, boring huh? How do you choose yours?

..and that’s your scoop!


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Want To Laugh?

Posted September 15, 2011 by Rowena in Discussions | 3 Comments



While I was writing up my review for Past Perfect by Leila Sales, I came across a blog that she runs about random texts that she gets everyday. A half hour later, I was still cracking up at the stuff that woman gets texted to her. Why haven’t I met this author before? She cracks me up and I want her to be my best friend.

Check out her blog:

You won’t be sorry, it’s just too freaking funny.

..and that’s your scoop!


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Favorite YA Couples.

Posted July 14, 2011 by Rowena in Discussions | 11 Comments


I’m a huge fan of romance. I love happy endings, I love people falling in love and I just love everything that comes with romance and love.

I read because of the relationships that blossom between two characters between the pages of each book that I pick up. Realistic or not, the characters are what keeps me coming back for more. When I’m reading, there’s nothing better than going along for that journey to a happy ending and whether they’re people my age trying to finally get it right (finding the one) or they’re people younger than me and in high school, the romance is what gets me every time.

It’s why I’m a sucker for contemporary YA books by Meg Cabot and Sarah Dessen because there’s always a cute boy that the main character likes and you want the main character to get the boy in the end.

Around blogland, I’ve been seeing a lot of lists going up about their favorite books read so far and I so want to participate in those things but then I get lazy and miss out on all the fun. So I’m just going to do my own posts in my own time whenever I’m not lazy and this is one of those posts.

My first list will be on my favorite YA couples. I’ve got quite a few but I’ve narrowed it down to just five and without further adieu, here’s my list.

1. Wes and Macy from The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen.

The thing that got me most about this couple was the friendship that blossomed into so much more. I adored the get to know you games that they played and picked up whenever they were together. I adored seeing the person that Wes came to be through Macy’s eyes and I love the Macy that she was around Wes. Sarah Dessen writes fantastic books with fabulous characters and it’s a testament to how good she is because no matter what book I’ve read and adored, when asked what my favorite YA book is, The Truth about Forever immediately comes to mind.

Wes and Macy are my favorite couple because they’re so normal and just so freaking great together.

2. Roger and Amy from Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson.

It was such a treat to get to know both Roger and Amy in Morgan Matson’s Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour. Aside from being a wonderfully entertaining book, both Amy and Roger were such charming characters.

I loved the both of them and watching them grow closer and closer as the story continued on was too freaking cute. One of my most favorite scenes in that story was when they were at Yosemite, getting ready for bed and Roger says to Amy.

He stood and looked at me for a moment, taking in my outfit. “You look hot.”

“What? Me?” I stammered, completely flummoxed.

“Yeah,” he said, still looking at me.

“Oh. Um, thank you. I mean, not that you don’t, but I’m not sure that you should—I mean …”

“Oh, no,” Roger said quickly, and I could see that he was blushing again. “No. I mean—I meant what you’re wearing. Are you going to be too warm?”

Haha, how cute are these two? If you haven’t read this book than you should fix that because when you do read it, you’ll know why these two made my list.

3. Adam and Mia from If I Stay & Where She Went by Gayle Forman.

Oh, the story of these two broke my heart, put it back together and then broke it all over again…and then put it back together again.

Their romance wasn’t an easy one. I mean, in If I Stay, Mia was in a horrible accident that changed her life. One minute she had everyone she loved close at hand and then the next minute, it all disappeared in a fatal car accident that changed who she was as a person.

Even the person that she needed the most changed as a person and in the end, everything was more than she could bear.

Mia was everything to Adam. Everything. He loved her with a fierceness that took my breath away. After her accident, he tried to be everything she needed and what he failed to see what that she needed him to just be him.

In Where She Went, you see how the accident took its toll on Adam. You got to see his grief, see the person that he became after the accident, after Mia’s disappearance and your heart broke all over again. The one thing that you had in both Mia and Adam was faith. Faith that they’d find their way back to each other and hope that this one thing will go right for the both of them who had lost so much and needed each other more than anything.

Gayle Forman wrote Adam and Mia’s story so wonderfully that it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’ve got these two on my top 5 list of favorite couples. If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was both Adam and Mia. Love them!

4. Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Like Adam and Mia, Katniss and Peeta went through the wringer to be together. They survived so much and through it all, they had each other. Only each other to depend on.

Katniss is one of the strongest female characters that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about and Peeta was her perfect match because there wasn’t a person on God’s green Earth that loved Katniss with as much fervor as Peeta Mellark did. Not even being tortured to the brink of death could keep his love for Katniss down for very long.

Watching these two grow closer and closer together made for an exciting trilogy. My heart hurt for the both of them when at the end of The Hunger Games (Book 1), they made the decision to die together. You could see that though Katniss was faking it for the crowds in the beginning, her feelings grew genuine over time and the things they did for each other made my heart go pitter patter so of course these two made it onto my list. I heart these guys!

5. Etienne St. Clair and Anna Oliphant from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

Oh man, this book is one of my most favoritest reads of 2011. It was one of the very first books that I read this year and the relationship that blossomed between St. Clair and Anna was just too cute for words. The way that they went from being friends into something so much more made my heart sigh and well, it made me see hearts everywhere I went.

Cheesy and all, I don’t care, I ate it all up.

I loved the person that Anna grew to be with St. Clair by her side. She blossomed wonderfully with him and she became a better person because of him, IMO. The way that he was there for her when she needed him most, even when he was hundreds of miles away and then the way that she was there for him when he needed her, it was great to be apart of because that’s what relationships should be all about. Just being there for each other.

What I loved about both St. Clair and Anna was how normal they were. They could have been anyone I knew by how normal they were. St. Clair wasn’t this perfect boy with straight teeth and perfect hair, his teeth were crooked, he was afraid of heights (and we saw it) and Anna loved him anyway. She loved the person he was and the person she was when she was with him and I just thought it was the cutest thing ever.

If you haven’t read this book, why the bleep not? This book is nothing short of fantastic and you’ll see why I love St. Clair and Anna together when you read it.

And there you have it, my top 5 list of my favorite couples. I’ve read some of your lists already but tell me again anyway, who are your favorite YA couples?

..and that’s your scoop!


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