GoodReads

I love books. I remember always riding the bus to and from school with my nose practically glued to one. They were my adventures. They were my escapes. They offered up excitement for a girl growing up in a small town. Some of my first crushes even came out of the pages of my first Sweet Valley High book. Nowadays, we adults call them "book boyfriends". :) Then, when I was in Jr. High I had a wonderful librarian that nurtured that side of me from my very first visit/tour of our school library. She would always recommend new books to me, and allowed me to check out more at a time than was normally allowed. If there was ever a time when I needed to just be alone, to finish up a good book, she allowed me to do so before the doors were officially opened. Recently, this wonderful librarian passed away, and in her obituary there were a few lines that expressed how much she loved that job. Interacting with the kids, and helping them explore the adventure of reading. Looking back I wish I had gone back before she retired and told her just how grateful I was for her generosity. So, that's why I felt like I should write a bit more about my love for books right now. Why I should never stop reading, even if it's just a newspaper or blog posts, and hopefully work on passing this love along to my daughter.

The genres I'm currently interested in are more along the lines of "New Adult", "Romance", and a tad of the good ole' "Erotic" smut. What can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic that likes some kinky shit thrown in every once in awhile? Anyway, one of my favorite authors is Gayle Forman and she's ignited this wanderlust in me that I can't shake. I've always had this want to see other places, and explore other cultures. But her stories are always so well crafted, and set in various countries that she usually leaves me wishing I could buy a plane ticket to whatever country her most recent novel is set in and experience it first hand. Another lovely author that gets me hooked from paragraph one would be Colleen Hoover. Her most recent work was so captivating. It was a book about a pretty important issue, and something I've experienced myself. It wasn't glorified or vilified, but there was such understanding in it that I basically cried like a baby after reading her personal inspiration for the story. Obviously, there are a few other hiddens gems by authors who are less well known in the book world. Likewise there are some that people rave about, and once I finally get a chance to read them I'm left wonder what all the fuss was about? Still, I love to read. I love to explore the different stories that take place within the pages. 

Now, I haven't done a book review on here in awhile. That's not to say I haven't actually written some. My favorite website that has all things book related would be *GoodReads, and I'm usually consistently active on there. I think that's mainly because I'm always reading something, or on the hunt for something else to read. Anyway, if you're not familiar with the website it's actually really great at discovering recommendations based on the books that you've already read or liked. You're also able to join book clubs, or friend other users that have common book interests.  If you want to make it interesting you can even add those that have zero in common in order to broaden your reading material options. Another great feature is that a lot of authors interact with readers through this platform as well. They give reviews, hold Q&A's, and even do giveaways. But what I think I enjoy the most is getting to read reviews before purchasing a book. The flip side to this is that you're also able to leave your own reviews for others to see, update your progress, and rate the book once you're finished.The website just received a new makeover too which offers an easier to navigate live feed, and it's also really tied in with Amazon Kindle. If you're not on the whole Kindle bandwagon don't fret because it offers up other options like Barnes & Noble, and a variety of other book publishing companies. Anywho, if you have an account definitely add me! If you don't, and you're an avid reader you should definitely check it out! 

Recently I discovered a pretty cool feature that allows me to embed the reviews I post there right onto this blog of mine. I know that's been an option since forever, but only recently did I actually look into how it really works. Now that I've gotten it figured out I just might post some of these reviews from time to time. So many plans, I know! I'm currently working on that Q&A with the little, and I've started to draft some more writing prompts from the Trent Shelton quotes so it'll all come along eventually. Fingers crossed. Until the next post! 

*This is not a sponsored post. I just really enjoy GoodReads and thought to pass it along.