Best Blog Award!

Hi guys!

Just in case you didn't know, earlier Natalie from Mindful Musings had up a post where you could nominate your favorite blogs! Now the votes are in and there are some serious tie-breakers. I'm up against Princess Bookie for 4-5th place. Go vote for your favorite over on Mindful Musings! :) I want to say vote for me.. but Princess Bookie is pretty awesome, so I won't mind if you vote for her either. :)
Read more...

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

J.Kaye hosts this wonderful meme.

Read this past week:
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Grimm Fairy Tales Vol. 1 by Tedesco Ralph
Cinderella and the Mean Queen by Tony Bradman
Red Riding Hood Takes Charge by Tony Bradman
Wind Power Whiz Kid by Scott Nickel
The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
The Espressologist by Kristina Springer

Currently Reading:
Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder
Beautiful Dead Book 1 Jonas by Eden Maguire

Upcoming:
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
Wings by Aprilynne Pike
The Espressologist by Kristina Springer


Updates:

• Notice something different about my blog? I've got a new layout! So freakin' cool, isn't it?
  
• I posted about the New Years Read-a-thon and other reading events. I will be posting a Mr. Linky soon! Sometime this week. So keep an eye out guys!
• I took part in the Thankfully Reading Weekend - which I really didn't get a lot of reading done. More blogging stuff done. But I did manage to finish a few books.
• Tomorrow begins the Birthday Bash! Check back at 12:01 am CST tomorrow for the kick-off! I'm so freakin' excited to give all this stuff away! (Thank you to all who donated items!)

Poll Results:
When should the contests end? (referring to Birthday Bash)
42% said 1 week
42% said 2 weeks
13% said taper to one day
2% said end of the day

I did decide to have every contest end on December 30th.

Which type of contest do you like best?
35% said Multibook contest
27% said Pick your own book to win
22% said Gift card to bookstore
8% said Single book contest (preread)
5% said Comment contest

Well, I'm going to have at least one of each next month!

Which books do you want me to giveaway next month? (Pick 3)
47% said Once a Witch
45% said Hate List
40% said Ballad
32% said Little Black Lies
26% said Secret Society
23% said Bran Hambric
20% said Lipstick Apology
17% said Once Was Lost
10% said War Games
9% said The Fetch
4% said Freaks and Revelations

I will try to get the first few listed read for giveaways next month. :)


Awards!

I got a little behind again..

The New and nominated:

Prolific Blogger Award

Thank you Teddyree over at The Eclectic Reader!

This award is to all those prolific bloggers, who read voraciously, blog tirelessly and have made the blogging community such a vibrant place. This award is in recognition of their achievements and their enthusiasm. They are the people who keep me going!

There are a couple of rules for this award:

1. Every winner of the Prolific Blogger Award has to pass on this award to at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. Spread some love!

2. Each Prolific Blogger must link to the blog from which he/she has received the award.

3. Every Prolific Blogger must link back to This Post, which explains the origins and motivation for the award.

4. Every Prolific Blogger must visit this post and add his/her name in the Mr. Linky, so that we all can get to know the other winners.

My nominations are:
Drea from Book Blather
Tynga from Tynga's Reviews
The Book Vixen
Kim from And Anything Bookish
Kate from The Neverending Shelf
Two and a Half Book Lovers
Wondrous Reads

Honest Scrap

Thank you Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews and Frankie over at Frankie Writes!

How it works is you have to list ten things about yourself then pass it on to ten other blogs.

1- I'm an elementary school librarian, but still love reading my YA fiction.
2- I dated my husband for five years before we married (he was 16 and I 19).
3- I cannot walk into a bookstore without leaving with some kind of book.
4- I used to surf amazon for hours and get recommendations for new books when I worked at a Public Library.
5- I started blogging because I was jealous of all the pretty looking book blogs around and wanted one of my own. (Who knew it would become a monster time-consumer!)
6- So far this year I've read 224 books.
7- If I could eat cheese all day, I would.
8- I'm very forgetful and often stop and say "What was I just going to do.."
9- I just recently set my stove on fire because I didn't know the drawer was a broiler drawer.
10- I squee when I find a new library (yes, I just got my new library card Sunday!)

Okay, now 10 blogs to pass this on to!
1. The Book Butterfly
2. Booking Through 365
3. A Bookshelf Monstrosity
4. A Flight of Minds
5. What Bri Reads
6. Bites
7. Page Turners
8. And Anything Bookish
9. Wicked Good Books
10. Well-Read Reviews

Nominated again!? :-D

The Heartfelt Award



Thank you to Justine at A Bookful of Thoughts!

Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when you're relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family and friends? You know the feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea, or a hot toddy? That is what the Heartfelt Award is all about, feeling warm inside.

One Lovely Blog Award


Thanks to Haley over at The Life (and lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object and Yvonne from Socrates' Book Reviews!


The Lemonade Award

Thank you Teddyree over at The Eclectic Reader!

And to advertise a contest for a brief moment.. The Enchanted Inkpot is holding a fantastic contest that I am DYING to win. 3 winners - each get 8 books! Isn't that sweet?

Read more...

Awards - a ton of them!

So, I've decided that I need to accept any awards I get with my Monday posts. Because I procrastinate and then this happens: I have 16 bloody awards! Which is cool, but takes hours to post up!

So let's get this party started. I've broken it down between the awards I've gotten already but really want to thank those who've nominated me - and then NEW awards! Which means more noms! :-D Enjoy!

Awards I've gotten before, but still wish to thank people for:

Your Blog Rocks Award

Thank you to Page Turners for this award!

The Lemonade Award

The Lemonade Award is for blogs that show Attitude and/or Gratitude.

Thank you Misty from Book Rat for this award!

Let's Be Friends Award


The Let's Be Friends award is awarded to those who are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers.

Thank you to Casey from A Passion for Books AND Nicole from WORD for Teens!

Zombie Chicken Award

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all.

Thank you to vvb32 reads, Jenn-ay from My Tea Time is Book Time, and Rhiannon Hart!

The Humane Award

This award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn't for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. This award is to thank them for their growing friendships through the blog world.

Thanks to WilowRaven from Red House Books!

Friendship Bear (or Me-To-You) Award

Thank you Bookworm Nation!

Kreativ Blogger Award

Thank you Tynga from Tynga's Urban Fantasy Reviews!

"B-I-N-G-O" BEAUTIFUL BLOG AWARD

Thank you to Miss Eliza from Strange and Random Happenstance!

This award was started by Bookin With BINGO and here are the rules:
This "B-I-N-G-O" BEAUTIFUL BLOG AWARD means that this blog is...

B: Beautiful
I: Informative
N: Neighborly
G: Gorgeous
O: Outstanding

New Awards:

Dangerous to TBR Lists Award

First off, Rebecca from Lost in Books created this award when people were posting their huge TBR piles for BBAW. This is what she said:

I thought I would start off by giving away a special award I made to all of those blogs who inspire me the most and who contribute the most to my ever-growing TBR List! Whoa, it's huge.

And well, here's my TBR pile if you haven't seen it yet!

And I can only truly pass this one to one person:

Kristi at The Story Siren - because every time I go on her blog something gets added to my TBR list.

Top Commenters Award

This award honors my blogs top commenters, thank you for being a loyal follower and showing me love on a daily basis. You all make my blog exciting and fun, I look forward to reading all of your thoughts and opinions. Without you my blog would just be ordinary, you all help me spice it up and I am thrilled to be part of book blogging.

Thank you to Eleni at La Femme Readers!

My top ten commentators are:
Emma (73)
katie (71)
WilowRaven (62)
Sheere (62)
Casey (58)
WordVore Prod (52)
April (51)
Tynga (41)
~The Book Pixie (36)
Llehn (31)


Blog Addict Award

Thank you to Misty from The Book Rat!

And here are my nominees for the blogs my own wants to grow up to be:
Read Now Sleep Later
Wordsmithonia
The Neverending Shelf
The Shady Glade


Proximade Award

Being a recipient of this award affirms that this blog invests and believes in the Proximity - nearness in space, time and relationships. This blog receives this great award as a further way to reiterate that it is exceedingly charming, and aims to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!

Thank you to Ryan from Wordsmithonia!

My Nominees:
A Passion for Books
Book Dragon's Lair
booktumbling
Feed Your Imagination
Miss Danaidae


The Splash Award

Thank you to The First Novels Club and Page Turners!

The Splash Award is given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs.

Rules:
- Put the logo on your blog/post
- Nominate & link up to 9 blogs that you pick for this award
- Let them know that they have been splashed
- Remember to link back to the person who nominated you

You've been Splashed!

• What Bri Reads
• My Tea Time is Book Time
• That's a Novel Idea
• YA Book Queen
• Red House Books

Blogosphere Award

Thank you to Casey from A Passion for Books!

Rules for this one are also very simple, just have to pass it along to other fellow blogger because we love them *winks*

Nominees:
The Book Pixie
The Book Butterfly
Booking Through 365
Read Now Sleep Later
Good Books & Good Wine
Strange & Random Happenstance

THE SUPERIOR SCRIBBLER AWARD

Thank you Tynga from Tynga's Urban Fantasy Reviews!

Here are the rules for this award:

1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.

4. Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

My Nominees:
Read Now Sleep Later
Good Books & Good Wine
Strange & Random Happenstance
WORD for Teens
Wrighty's Reads

Spread the Love Around Award

Thank you to Teens Read and Write for this award!

My nominees:
The Here, The Now, and The Books
Wrighty's Reads
What Book is That?
Crystal Reviews
Debbie's World of Books

Whew... I know what you're thinking.. is she DONE yet? Yep! That's it! Thank you again to everyone who nominated me for an award!

Read more...

Hush, Hush contest winner, BBAW, and tons of Awards

Alright, I usually am VERY prompt about ending contests. But not today. I was busy getting my wedding dress fitted, running errands, having lunch with a friend, and then seeing a movie with my fiance - we saw Inglorious Basterds - which was AMAZING! I was.. however.. surprised by the amount of old couples out to see it. I know it has the same title as an older movie, but supposedly is NOT a remake. *shrugs* I've never seen the other one.

Anyways, so I drew a winner just now and let her know. So I figured I'd let you guys know!

#1017 Ju!

Congrats to Ju! I've sent you an email asking for your address! :-D.


Next topic! I want to thank EVERYONE who even thought of nominated or did nominate me for the BBAW awards. I was nominated in FIVE - I know, amazing right? - categories. Best New Blogger, Best YA Book Blogger, Best Writing, Best Commentor, and Most Prolific.

Thanks guys!

Okay, now I have been VERY bad about accepting awards lately. I actually have been given 8 or 9 different awards by various bloggers. Some are duplicates and some are new. So I'm going to start with the new ones first and then go to the ones I've technically already gotten - which, I really don't mind getting again.

One Lovely Blog Award

Thank you to The Neverending Shelf and Tynga's Urban Fantasy Reviews for nominating me!

These are the rules:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

My nominees:
Book Dragon's Lair
Books and Literature for Teens
Twin Pigeon
Tales of Whimsy
Running for Fiction
A Place for Wicked Good Books
The Undercover Book Lover (not really)

Bingo's Beautiful Award

Thank you to The Eclectic Reader for nominating me for this award!

This award was started by Bookin With BINGO and here are the rules:

This "B-I-N-G-O" BEAUTIFUL BLOG AWARD means that this blog is...

B: Beautiful
I: Informative
N: Neighborly
G: Gorgeous
O: Outstanding

Please look carefully at as many blogs as you can to find the top FIVE blogs that YOU think also exemplify these standards and pass it along to them. Please don't break this chain of FIVE! If you are someone who doesn't want awards or doesn't pass them on, please tell the person who is giving it so they can share it with someone who would want it. Thank you. Also, link your award to the person who gave it to you so when people link on the person's name or blog name, it will take them there to see that person's BINGO-RIFFIC BLOG.

My nominees:
A Flight of Minds
The Neverending Shelf
Good Books & Good Wine
Mrs. Magoo Reads
The Book Explorer

Alright. That was hard.. really, always is.

Now, here are some awards I got for a second/third time. I'm not going to nominate more people, but I wanted to thank those bloggers for nominating me!

The Zombie Chicken Award

Thanks to Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm for this award!

The Lemonade Award

Thank you to La Femme Readers, That Chick That Reads, and Feed Your Imagination for this award!


The Me to You Award

Thank you to A Reader's Adventure for this award!


Super Comments Award

Thank you to Red House Books for this award!


The Hearthfelt Award
Thank you to Romantic Harbor for this award!

If, for some reason, you gave me an award and I didn't post about, please let me know. Email or comment. :)

I'll try next time not to let them pile up so high! I swear!

Thanks again to these amazing bloggers who nominated my blog for awards. :)

Read more...

More awards!

I feel like every time I turn around a new award pops up. Which it feels pretty darn good to get these babies. Even if it takes me FOREVER to pick new blogs to give it to. :) That's the main reason I procrastinate on posting these babies.

So let's start! *cracks knuckles*

The Lemonade Award
Thanks to The Book Scout!

Rules:

The Lemonade Award is a feel good award that shows great attitude or gratitude. Here are the rules for accepting this award:
-Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
-Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
-Link your nominees within your post.
-Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
-Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

Here is my list of nominees:
Emma at Booking Through 365
Kim at The Book Butterfly
Andrea at The Little Bookworm
Liz at Booklover
Nicole at Books and Bards
Sara at The Hiding Spot
Kate at The Neverending Shelf

Check out their awesome blogs if you haven't already!

The Zombie Chicken Award
Thanks to For the Love of All that is Written!

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all...

This award is AWESOME! And I'm super freakin' excited to get it. Funniest one EVER.

Here is my list of nominees:
Shayla at The Book Explorer
Kay at You 2.0 Blog
Lee at Lee A. Verday's Book/Writing Blog
Sarah at Green Been Teen Queen
Tina at Fantastic Book Review
Kristi at The Story Siren

Super Comments Award
Thanks to A Flight of Minds!

My nominees:
Mishel at mis(h)takes
Jazz at Miss Danaidae
Vivienne at Serendipidity
WilowRaven at Red House Books
Celi.a at adventures of celia bedelia

Me-To-You Award
Thanks to A Flight of Minds!

My nominees:
Bianca at A Place for Wicked Good Books
April at Good Books & Good Wine
Samantha at Harlequin Twilight's Book Blog
Melanie at Melanie's Musings

I know, I'm choosing random amounts, but oh well. I'm getting tired. So tired I don't know if I have the energy to leave comments notifying all of these peeps. We'll see... it's a long list.. :)

Thanks again to everyone who nominated me for these! And also, check out the blog links okay?



Read more...

Contest Winner + An Award

My Twenty Boy Summer contest for a hardcover copy of the book and an imitation necklace just closed about 10 minutes ago and, with the help of a random friend picking a number on twitter, we have a winner! First of all, thank you to everyone who entered for sharing what awesome things you are doing or did this summer! It was fun to read through all of those!

#103 Mariah from A Reader's Adventure!

I'm sending you an email in a minute here.



And now for an award!

A few days ago, I got an award from Harmony Book Reviews! Yay! Thanks so much! I'm always a little surprised to get awards and it takes me a while to get over it.. so that's why I take a few days to get these posted up. Here's a blurb about the award:

Let's Be Friends Award

"Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers."

And here are my nominations:

WilowRaven from Red House Books

Kim from The Book Butterfly

Taschima from Bloody Bookaholic

Scrap Girl from Serendipity

Sab H. from Crystal Reviews

Andrea from The Little Bookworm

Alex and Lauren from A Flight of Minds

Emma from Booking Through 365

Thanks for being awesome you guys!

A big huge thanks to Emma, who inspired me to start blogging and has become my blogging buddy, who always seems to be on when I need to share some blogging thing or another. :)

Read more...

I forgot an Award!

I feel so bad! Almost two weeks ago now, Cornucopia of Reviews nominated me for the Your Blog Rocks award.

So thank you Lizzy!

Here are my nominations:

You 2.0 Blog run by Kay Cassidy
Wondrous Reads
Reviewer X
Reverie Book Reviews
Lucid Conspiracy
Must and Lust for Books
Library Lounge Lizard
In Bed With Books
Read more...

Award Time!

Thanks to The Little Bookworm and Bambi Reads for this award!

The Hearthfelt Award:

Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when your relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family and freinds? You know the feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea, or a hot toddy? That is what the Hearthfelt Award is all about, feeling warm inside.

Rules:
Put the logo on your blog/post.
Nominate up to to 9 blogs which make you feel comfy or warm inside. Be sure to link your nominees within your post.
Let them know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog.
Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

Here are the blogs that I'm nominating:

• Booking Through 365
• Bloody Bookaholic
• Adventures of Celia Bedelia
• The Book Butterfly
• A Flight of Minds

Thanks to you guys for being awesome!

Thanks to mis(h)takes for this award!

The Literary Blogger Award

Thanks to Diane from The Book Resort for creating this new & very charming looking award.The Literary Blogger Award acknowledges bloggers who energize & inspire reading by going the extra mile. These amazing bloggers make reading fun & enhance the delight of reading!

The Rules:

1) Put the logo on your blog/post.
2) Nominate up to 9 blogs.
3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let them know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog.
5) Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

And here are the blogs I'd like to nominate:

• A Maze of Books
  
• Alley of Books
• Carrie's YA Bookshelf
• Cupcake Witch
• GreenBeanTeenQueen
• Korianne Speaks
• The Book Blogger
  

And now, for the last award!

Thanks to Bambi Reads for nominating me for this award!

The Humane Award

The Humane Award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn't for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. This award is to thank them for their growing friendships through the blog world.

Here are my nominations:

The Little Bookworm
Miss Danaidae

The Book Explorer
Strange and Random Happenstance
Booking Through 365
Another Book Blog Whore

Thanks to all of you who nominated me! And to all of you that I'm nominating - for being awesome. :)
Read more...

Kreativ Blogger Award!

Wowzers! I want to thank Bloody Bookaholic for nominating me for this award.

Here's the rules for this award: If you accept it, you are supposed to list seven of your favorite things and nominate seven blogs that deserve this award.

So here I go!

Seven favorite things:
1. My laptop - couldn't live without my baby
2. The library - would be broke without it
3. Evony.com - coolest free strategy game online
4. Audiobooks - the only incentive for me to clean
5. hulu.com - because I don't have cable
6. Netflix - for the anime I need
7. My many bookshelves - to hold all my marvelous books


And here is who I nominated:
1. A Lush Budget Production
2. The Book Butterfly
3. The Shady Glade
4. Wondrous Reads
5. The Little Bookworm
6. So Many Books, So Little Time
7. GreenBean TeenQueen


It was hard to just pick 7 - I love all the blogs I follow, but these are my top faves.

Alright, now to go and move furniture for about 30 minutes.

Tune in later for my In My Mailbox.
Read more...