bloggers

Nurturing Relationships = Join Twitter

Michelle12 Comments

Today’s topic is about nurturing relationships in this lovely little book blogging world. I’m putting a little bit of a different spin on it and using it as a chance to convince all of you nonbelievers why you need to be on Twitter. Because I really think that Twitter is where I nurture relationships. I find that I can sometimes go days weeks without checking Google Reader and during those periods the only way I stay connected outside of my own blog is through Twitter. It’s easy to check while you are anywhere and it doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment. When I am not reading blogs in my reader, I still click through links via twitter and read blogs that way. I chat about books and not books and anything I feel like chatting about. Someone is always game.

Which brings me to my biggest point: you get to meet the most AMAZING people. And it often starts with something really innocent and unremarkable. Some examples:

NOTE: I have many twitter friends that I love and talk to every day. These are the people that I specifically remember bonding with over a particular subject early on in our twitter friendship. And that one little conversation led to the solid blogger friendship we have now.

Jen/ Devourer of Books /@devourerofbooks
We bonded over: Books based in Ann Arbor.
Result: She is pretty much my best friend. Which makes my husband insanely jealous.

Jen / Makeshift Bookmark /@makeshiftjen
We bonded over: Michigan Football.
Result: She makes me read super awesome YA books.

Jamie / Broke and Bookish and The Perpetual Page Turner / @brokeandbookish
We bonded over: Music
Result: She cracks me up every day. She might be #1 on my Must Meet IRL List.

Jennifer / The Literate Housewife / @lithousewife
We bonded over: The Decemberists and being Michiganders
Result: I cheated here. Jennifer and I were friends long before the bonding at issue. But I think it took our twitter friendship to the next level and I now consider her one of my very best blogging friends.

Lessons:

(1) Twitter is TOTALLY worth it
(2) I really like people named Jennifer (+ a Jamie)
(3) One little conversation can spark a more meaningful friendship.

AND, for those of you who still aren’t convinced, you get to talk to authors and publishers and bloggers all day long. And when a favorite/famous author tweets you, you get to squeal with delight like the fangirl you are. Yes, I am talking to you R.L. Stine. You made my day a few weeks ago.

Join Twitter. Use Twitter. Follow me.

BBAW: Forgotten Treasure – Simon Singh’s Big Bang

Michelle10 Comments

Today’s Topic:

Thursday – Forgotten Treasure
Sure we’ve all read about Freedom and Mockingjay but we likely have a book we wish would get more attention by book bloggers, whether it’s a forgotten classic or under marketed contemporary fiction.  This is your chance to tell the community why they should consider reading this book!

My recent reading life is so blogger-driven that I had a really hard time coming up with a book to feature today. Sure, some books I read are not as well known as some, but none of them seemed appropriate for this. So I’m taking you all the way back to October of 2007 when I was assigned a book for law school (don’t ask how this is law school appropriate) and fell in love.

Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh tells the history of the big bang theory in a very interesting and easy-to-understand manner. I will admit that I am partial to books about The Universe, but I think anyone with any interest in learning how we got to our understanding of the history of Everything would enjoy this one. I don’t have a science background but I found it very readable. I have at least one more of Singh’s books and I really should get around to reading them.

I hope you check out Big Bang if you have any interest in the subject matter. Please let me know how you like it if you do.

PS – I think this book might be the beginning of my attempt to explain to Ben how when we look far away we are looking back in time. I think he might finally understand it.

BBAW: Interview with Katy from A Few More Pages

Michelle12 Comments


Today is what I have heard many people tell me is their favorite part of BBAW – interview swap day. I have the pleasure of bringing you Katy from A Few More Pages (@afewmorepages on Twitter). I already knew Katy a bit from Twitter but I had fun getting to know her better. I hope you all enjoy the interview and you can see Katy interview me over on her blog today. I will turn things over to Katy now.

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1. How did you become a book blogger?

After I started talking a lot about books on my family/kids blog, I decided to start a blog that focused solely on books. Then when I found the Book Blogs Ning, I realized that there was this big community of book bloggers that I could connect with. I started networking, and I never looked back. What started as a hobby to just post my thoughts about books I’ve read became something even better when I started talking to other book bloggers.

2. Where is your favorite place to read?

I love to read just about anywhere, but my favorite place is in my bed. I’ve always loved reading before going to sleep (though that often means I stay up too late reading those books that I just can’t put down).

3. Where is your favorite place to blog?

Hmmm, I don’t really have a lot of choices, so I guess my favorite place to blog is at my desk. Timing is more important than location, though–I like to blog in the morning when hubby is at work and the kids are at school (and preschool) so I can concentrate with no interruptions. 🙂

4. If you could only read one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Historical fiction. I love it. There are so many time periods, locations, and subgenres that I could immerse myself in. Most of my reading lands in that genre already.

5. How do you balance blogging and reading with your work and family life?

Reading is something I’ve always done to relax. Most of the time I would rather read than watch TV. Blogging and work both happen mostly when the kids are sleeping or at school, so when my workload gets heavier the blogging has to slow down. I’ve had to step back from blogging a bit in the last few months because of my job, and although I’m not posting daily right now I’ve tried to focus more on reviews. Once I gave myself permission to not post everyday, it was a lot less stressful and a lot more fun.

6. In your bio, you talk about giving your kids a reading obsession similar to yours. How is that working?

I think it’s coming along nicely! They love books and we read books together throughout the day. We always read before bed. They adore going to the bookstore and the library, and they won’t let us leave without bringing some books home with us.

7. How many book blogs do you regularly read?

Well, I’ve got about 250 blogs in my Google Reader, which I try to go through at least once a week. I haven’t been commenting as much lately as I used to because I’ve been a bit busy (shame on me for lurking!), but I have been reading new posts. I also visit blogs I’m not subscribed to through twitter when I see a tweet that grabs my interest.

8. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?

I love to dialog with other people about books–I don’t have a lot of people in real life to talk books with besides my mom. I love visiting other peoples’ blogs and reading reviews and discussions about books I’ve read or am planning to read. I think one of my favorite blog-related activities is Twitter–I got on Twitter because of my book blog and I love being able to tweet with authors and other book bloggers about books.

9. What kind of reader were you as a child?

I was a serious book nerd when I was a child! When I wasn’t outside playing in the summertime, I had my nose in a book. I loved going to the library and discovering new authors and series. And silent reading time was one of my favorite times of the day in grade school.

10. What is the best book you’ve read this year?

Ah, it’s so hard to pick just one! Just based on how long I kept thinking about it after I had closed the book, I’d have to say The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. But I also couldn’t put down Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, which I just finished reading last week. I have been so lucky to read a lot of really great books this year.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog Michelle! This was really fun!