my books. my life.

I don’t have too many pictures for you today, but I didn’t want to leave out this little bit of the house. I’m saving the best – the nursery – for last. So stay tuned.

At the top of the stairs, there is a little bit of room, so we thought we’d put a desk there. Then we realized there are no outlets. So it’s pretty much an old fashioned writing desk right now (excuse the little mess).

And here is the HUGE master bedroom. Eventually, we’d like to replace this awesome blue carpeting with hardwood or wood laminate floors.  When we do that, we’re going to paint the room slate blue and hang some white drapes. Or that’s at least the vision I have in my head.

Until then, I can be content with my pretty new duvet cover…

…and my brand new bedroom furniture. We’ve been using hand-me-downs for the last 7 years, and I am psyched to have something of our own finally.

I haven’t lived in a two story house for a very long time and it is taking some getting used to. I have to strategically plan to keep from unnecessary stair-climbing, especially with the 30-extra pounds this baby is currently giving me. But if I go past my due date, it might be a good way to induce labor, no?

I’m curious. What does your dream bedroom look like?

I know I promised you a tour of the upstairs next but it’s not quite ready (in some respects it feels as though we have taken steps backwards). So I will show you part of the upstairs – the guest room/library – and then two areas that my dad painted while he was here.

The guest room is oversized, so we decided to make it a guest room AND a library. All of these books need somewhere to live. (I believe that’s a super moon in the window by the way).

Unfortunately, Ben and I both had to work for a lot of my dad’s visit so he requested more projects to do while we were gone. We had some leftover paint from the green cabinets I painted awhile ago and decided to brighten up this little hallway and add a splash of color to the otherwise neutral walls downstairs.

Then we took some of the paint from the baby’s room and freshened up the half bath downstairs.

No nursery pictures yet – it’s coming along but I’m saving that for last for a big reveal. So here is the baby’s bathroom with the super cute whale theme to tide you over.

More pictures to come. Eventually.

Let’s continue with the tour of the house, yes?

One of my favorite rooms is the kitchen. I love the light. This picture was taken at 8pm and it is still full of light.

After years of apartment living, I love all of the counter space.

The dining room (which still needs a little unpacking) is right off of the kitchen and also gets a ton of light.

And from the dining room, you can walk out to this deck on the side of the house.

From the kitchen, you can walk out to the screened in lanai. It needs some furniture, but we’re waiting since it will be too hot to really use it before the fall. I can’t wait to open up all of these doors and windows in the winter.

Looks like only one cat snuck in this time.

We’ll be heading upstairs in the next post.

You’ve asked for them, so here they are: house pictures! In order not to overwhelm you (and because some rooms aren’t quite finished), I’ve going to do this in a few different posts.

Here is the exterior of the house. Isn’t it cute?

And here is the view from the porch. I think this porch needs rocking chairs, don’t you?

The front door brings you right into the living room (please ignore the poorly arranged pillows).

The living room from another angle. The hallway to the right leads to the garage and the downstairs bathroom. Continuing straight brings you to the kitchen and dining room.

And here is the our favorite part of the living room:

Let’s look at those books again, shall we?

We actually have more of a library upstairs, but these hold a lot of our favorite books.

I think that’s enough for today. I’ll move on to the kitchen and the dining room (and the deck and lanai) with the next post. Then we’ll go upstairs after our bedroom furniture is delivered and the nursery is finished (thanks to my visiting dad).

Bonus: how many cats did you spot?

The mini-reviews continue today with a pair of books that took me across the Atlantic.

Apart from all of the things I am thankful for in life – my friends, my family, my job, and this new little person growing inside me – I am thankful for all of the things reading as brought into my life.

• Books. They’ve always been there for me. Even when I haven’t been there for them. Like right now.
• Book Blogging. I am so thankful to be part of this community. I’ve met so many wonderful people as a result: other bloggers, authors, publishers, and plain-old-readers.
• You. My readers mean the world to me. I know I can be inconsistent (and a bit whiny) so I appreciate that you continue to come back. One of my favorite things in life is when someone tells me they bought a book as a result of my blog and loved it.

On Tuesday I shared the books I would be reading if I still read books. Obviously I’m exaggerating a bit when I say I’m not reading at all. In fact, I’m in the middle of a bunch of books, including these ones:

I am so excited that I am far enough along that I can finally share my news with you. Baby Appleseed (so nicknamed for it’s size when we found out) is slated to make his/her appearance sometime around May 28. Ben and I are beyond thrilled (and a bit terrified).

Did I surprise you? Or have all of my tweets about being exhausted given me away? (at least two people figured it out on twitter despite my best efforts to hide it from you)

As for me, I was feeling pretty awful there for a few weeks but that appears to be nearing its end (which is good since I was growing desperately tired of ginger ale and saltines as a “meal”). Now I am just waiting to get my energy back so I can stop sleeping 10 hours a night and hopefully my reading/blogging mojo will come back with it. Who knew growing a baby was such hard work?

So…any advice for me? Any books I need to add to that pile?

I can’t seem to be bothered to blog much about books these days. So until the book blogging bug chooses to return to me, I leave you with pictures of my cats. Because I think that’s what the rest of the internet is for.

Daisy

Gatsby

And Daisy again (because she’s the most photogenic)

I took all of these with my new iPhone 4s. Pretty nice, yeah?

Book blogging has definitely changed the way I read. I’ve always been a reader. Once my parents taught me how to read, I devoured any book that crossed my path. As an adult reader, I was generally drawn to classics, from Jane Austen to the Russian greats. I only read contemporary novels when people I trusted sent them my way.

In 2006, I started hanging out on the Rory’s Book Club message boards and created the first version of this blog on vox.com.  This shifted my reading a little.  The RBC members were still pretty heavy on the classics but they were also discussing what the original Rory’s Book Club list called “smart contemporary” books. Since I was now a part of that community, I started reading more of those books.

But once I took my blog to the greater book blogging community in the fall of 2009, my reading shifted drastically. People were reading the books that were out now, and I was even introduced to ARCs which allowed me to read a book BEFORE it was released. I also started reading many more young adult novels. Book blogging has given me some insider information into the world of writing and publishing. I know when books are coming out and my ever-growing TBR pile has reached impossible heights.

Just the other day I mentioned to a friend that I was a little sad that book blogging has taken me away from the classics. I am currently reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, a book I am sure I would have adored five years ago. It’s become something of a chore to get through it because of all the shiny new books that are vying for my attention. No matter how much I vow to read some older literature, or even just the backlist of contemporary authors, I know I will never be the same reader I was before blogging.

I am thankful for book blogging every day. I’ve found a wonderful community and made some amazing friends. I’ve been exposed to fantastic books and been given opportunities that the normal reader doesn’t have. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But sometimes I feel just a bit of nostalgia for those simpler days.

If you are a book blogger, has it changed you as a reader? If you aren’t a book blogger, what kind of reader are you?