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.

Listen

Here's A Post From My Drafts

Today something clicked. Something snapped, almost like a rubber band that's being stretched out too far, and I felt so incredibly naive. I knew that everything going on was because of me, and not in the way that you're probably thinking. Still, I'm at fault for something. Something that has the potential to tip me over.  I'll write about it later. I'll post about it later. But I went through my drafts for some inspiration, or maybe just to read some words that I had started but never published. I came across this post from last month. For some reason or another I didn't hit publish. 

I remember exactly how I felt that day. I recall exactly what happened too. My confusion was at an all time high that day. My emotions were all over the place. I remember the adrenaline pumping through my body. The event that took place, should have been a wake up call for me, but it took only a few hours for me to dismiss it. I can say that once the day had passed I was closer to seeing that "line drawn in the sand" more clearly though. I was pretty close to understanding what I ended up realizing today, but obviously I just wasn't ready to push myself in order to get there. Today however I am so many things all at once. It all came crashing down. It was everything I felt on that day last month, and then some.

Something in my head clicked over today. It's caused me to question so much. It feels like I'm having a lot of thoughts, and emotions shoved inside of me, and then being told to figure out why they were all put there. I need to dissect the feelings that are associated with each of the questions I'm asking myself with an overwhelming amount of truth, and honesty because that's the ONLY way to get anywhere.  But the thoughts aren't in order. It's all really random right now. It's fresh, and raw. Jumbled. How I feel right now may change in the next second. So I can't write about that now. Not until I'm sure. Not until I know. So instead, I'm giving you this. A half finished post about wishing that I had no free will because that would make life easier, and at that very moment easy was what I needed. And today, in a really intense moment of anxiety, I kind of wished for the same.