Utah Book Blogger Summer Party

Time to crawl out of my self-imposed blogging absence to share great news about another Utah Book Blogger get together.  This is a great time for bloggers, authors, and readers alike can get together for some good food and great conversation. 

Thank you to Enna for this great button that gives all the information.  Here are the details:

Utah Book Blogger Summer Party

When:  Friday, 8/24 @7 pm

Where:  Wines Park in Lehi--Pavilion #3, SW Corner

What to Bring:  A dessert to share & a book or books for an exchange

You might want to bring a camp chair or something of that sort, just in case the tables aren't enough.  Please pass this along and share with anyone you know who would be interested.  We hope to see you there!

Book Blogger Get Together & Library Loot

Sadly, I'm not participating in BBAW.  I'm kind of mad at myself for not pulling myself together more to get involved, but I'll admit to avoiding even the very thought of anything that requires me to sign up because of how crazy things are with work and my online job.  I'm sure enjoying all the posts though!  I know I'll be back in that groove soon, so for this year I'm just going to appreciate from the sidelines. 

All right.  It's time for me to make a confession and acknowledge that I'm NOT the camera queen.  Every time I leave an event or get together, I think, "Wait.  Why didn't you take a camera or get any pictures?"  Well, I'm regretting it about now when I want to report back on our Utah Book Blogger Summer Social.  Our numbers were small, but it was a fun time chatting about books, social media, and blogging in general. I met a few new (to me) bloggers, and chatted with others that I knew and had met before.  Thanks to everyone for such a great time!

I have to give a quick shout out and thank you to Allie Condie and Suey at It's All About Books for bringing us copies of her sequel Crossed, which comes out on November 1st.  I managed to win a copy that I'm going to have to read pretty quickly so I can pass it along to MANY of my students who are going to be knocking down my classroom door to borrow it.  Thanks for the books Allie and for bringing them to share, Suey!  Also, thanks again to Suey (from above), Natasha at Maw Books Blog and Emily at Emily's Reading Room for putting this great event together.

On the home front with reading, I managed to make it up to the gym and library (they usually go hand in hand since they are next door to one another) on Monday.  Yes.  It's a modern miracle!  The power went out right at the end of our meetings and we were told to turn everything off.  Since it was time to go anyway, that was the big push to just shut down and head home.  I suffered through a workout and then ran to the library.  Here's what I picked up:

Well, that is only a small dent in the  number of books I have stacked around the house, in my room, on the shelves, and even on the floors.  It's always great though to have plenty of options!

What great finds have you made lately?

Utah Book Bloggers Summer Social 2011

 

Hi!  Just a quick reminder about our Utah Book Bloggers Summer Social coming up this Saturday!

• WHEN:  Saturday, September 10th at 6pm
• WHERE:  Vivian Park in Provo Canyon at the small pavilion  (Take 800 North in Orem to Provo Canyon, 5.8 miles up the canyon, park is on the right, pavilion is on the right after turning into the park.)
• WHO:  Book bloggers, authors, booksellers, etc.
• WHAT:  Families are invited.  We will be having pulled-pork sandwiches and ask that you bring a potluck item to the bash.
•  HOW:  Really, there is no how here!  Come with a paperback book, ready to swap, chat, and have a great time. 

***Please RSVP to utahbookbloggers(at)gmail(dot)com so that we know who can make it that night. (Thanks for all the RSVPs so far!)

We hope you can come and look forward to chatting and socializing again!  We'll see you there.

Utah Book Bloggers Summer Social 2011

It's that time again for anyone in our area to get together for our Book Blogger Summer Bash!  Natasha at Maw Books Blog, Suey at It's All About Books , Emily at Emily's Reading Room, and myself are hoping to gather as many of our blogging and writer friends together as possible. 

Here is the basic information:

• WHEN:  Saturday, September 10th at 6pm
• WHERE:  Vivian Park in Provo Canyon at the small pavilion  (Take 800 North in Orem to Provo Canyon, 5.8 miles up the canyon, park is on the right, pavilion is on the right after turning into the park.)
• WHO:  Book bloggers, authors, booksellers, etc.
• WHAT:  Families are invited.  We will be having pulled-pork sandwiches and ask that you bring a potluck item to the bash.
•  HOW:  Really, there is no how here!  Come with a paperback book, ready to swap, chat, and have a great time. 

***Please RSVP to utahbookbloggers(at)gmail(dot)com so that we know who can make it that night.  Also, please don't hesitate to get in touch of any one of us for more information.  Other than our blogs, we can also be reached on Twitter at:  @mjmbecky, @SueySays, @mawbooks, & @emsreadingroom.

We hope you can come and look forward to chatting and socializing again!  It's always great fun to see the wizard behind the curtains, meaning that we're happy to get to meet the amazing writers of blogs and books alike.

Sunday Blatherings: Utah Author Month

I'm a bit behind this month and what is new?!?  I've been debating, actually a lot lately, the idea of what I share or don't share on this blog.  There are times that I think, "Geesh!  Does anyone even want to hear about being busy with school or the cold I caught?"  Then other times, after I sit around wondering where some of my much loved blogging friends have disappeared, I think it might actually be good to get a little information eeked out once in awhile, right?  Having said that, life is good here in my corner of the world.  Really.  It is!

As my earlier quandary intimates, I came down with a humdinger of a cold over Easter, that kind of tortured me for awhile.  Any extra energy went in to getting those last essays and papers graded before my AP students took the AP exam, which is happily out of the way!  They felt really good about it, so I'm hoping that's a good sign.  Now that much of the stress that a school year can bring is over, I'm feeling pretty darn happy.  We still have four more weeks, but things are truly starting to wind down.

One of the things I missed this past week was the Utah Author Month, initial start up.  Natasha, at Maw Books Blog has spearheaded an awesome opportunity for those of us in this area, or who are interested in participating, in reading and highlighting authors from here in Utah.  I have to say that the list of authors is pretty amazing.  If you don't believe me, check out the Goodreads list "Books by Utah Authors" that we've compiled! 

For my participation, I'm going to try to finish a couple of books that I am currently reading and then try to maybe throw in another one by the end of the month.  I'll also post a little something about books that I've read and reviewed here on One Literature Nut that are written by Utah authors.  It should be a great time, and a wonderful opportunity to support some of our local authors. 

Since my mom and I are not celebrating Mother's Day until two weeks from now (when we'll be together), I better take advantage of this slightly rainy and chilly day to get some reading done.  Besides, I don't have a single paper to grade--for once--and I'm feeling a little bit out of sorts!  Happy Mother's Day all, and have a great week!

Sunday Blatherings: Another Great Get Together

Yesterday we held another great Utah Author Book Blogger Social.  It was fun to see the group continue to grow, and this time was no different.  We had about 60+ great bloggers, authors, aspiring authors, etc. all meet up for dinner and a book swap.  I'm always a little nervous showing up to a book blogger get together (which is BIZARRE, because I teach teenagers every day), but it was really great and so easy to chat with other folks who know and understand book blogging, book reviewing, and other social medias.  When you share a love of reading, how can you not have plenty to talk about?  Book folks are so  nice and fun to chat with!

I'm sorry that I'm not better at taking pictures though.  For pictures, you'll have to visit one of the other 80 bloggers; I'm horrible toting a camera around!  (I will mention that Heather of Fire and Ice had the cutest little guy who snapped some pictures of me while I was talking to someone.  It was pretty funny, and I'm sure the pictures were pretty hilarious as well, since I didn't really know he was taking them!  Too cute.)

To check out our growing list of bloggers here in Utah, you can see the list at the Books Blog Ning.  Thanks to everyone who came, chatted, and had a great time with us.  As always, thanks to Natasha at Maw Books Blog for being our book blog community glue!  Yes, I called her glue, but all in a good way.  Also, Suey from It's all About Books, who always gets things rolling.  You both are great!   I hope that other folks can make it for our get together in August as well.  They are always such a fun time!

Utah Book Bloggers Winter Social

It's that time again for anyone in our area to get together for our Book Blogger bash!  The time is ticking down quickly, but it's always an exciting time to gather with other bloggers, authors, and publishing industry folks.  If you can make it, please join us.  The information is all below, along with the RSVP address.

Here is the basic information:

• WHEN:  Saturday, March 5th at 6pm
• WHERE: Golden Corral @ 655 East 7200 South in Midvale
• WHO:  Book bloggers, authors, booksellers, etc.
• WHAT:  The cost is $9.88 per person, plus drinks and tip. 
• HOW:  There's not much to the how bit, except to come with a paperback book, ready to swap, chat, and have a great time. 

***Please RSVP to utahbookbloggers(at)gmail(dot)com so that we know who can make it that night.  Also, please don't hesitate to get in touch of any one of us for more information.  Other than our blogs, we can also be reached on Twitter at: @mawbooks, @SueySays, and @mjmbecky (that's me).

Other places to check in:  Utah Book Bloggers Group, Utah Bloggers RSS Feeds, or Utah Book Community Twitter.

We hope you can come and look forward to chatting and socializing again!  It's always great fun to see the wizard behind the curtains, meaning that we're happy to get to meet the amazing writers of blogs and books alike.

Sunday Happenings After Work Week #1

Happy day, Sunday is here!  After what felt like the longest work week of my life, even though we only had students three of those days, I was so ready for my first official weekend.  It has been a good start to the school year so far, and I'm happy to see the kids again, but also feeling that workload creep back up again.

Yesterday I went and picked up a new haul of great books.  I grabbed a couple of cookbooks this week, as I'm still trying to fill my diet with healthy choices that taste great.

I also picked up a few books based on blog posts I'd seen around.

And, to wrap things up, I'm reading quite a stack of books that I keep rotating.  Unfortunately, when you read many at once, you don't necessarily finish anything quickly.

Besides a jump back into reading that kicked off with the two books I read last weekend, and a Harry Potter post still to come, I also had a chance to attend the Utah Book Blogger Summer Social last night.  Despite wind bursts that had paper plates, tablecloths, and potato chips flying, we had a really nice time!  I have a couple of pictures that I'll post as soon as I can dig up the cord to my camera, but it was a great time.  It's always great to meet the wonderful, dedicated people behind the words and reviews.  I didn't take very many pictures, since I always forget, but I know you can check out any number of other bloggers' sites.  In fact, Natasha, at Maw Books Blog was around taking lots of pictures, so I'm sure she'll have some great ones to share!  (I'm secretly wondering how wind blown we'll all look!)

Well, I'm off to enjoy this beautiful, even if a bit windy, day!  How was your week?

Utah Book Blogger Summer Social!

It's that time again for anyone in our area to get together for our Book Blogger Summer Bash!  Since the time is ticking down, we wanted to get the information out this week via our blogs to let you know.  The lovely, and organized Natasha at Maw Books Blog has posted all the details and information on her site.  Suey at It's All About Books and myself are helping with this fun time and hope we can gather as many of our blogging and writer friends together as possible. 

Here is the basic information:

• WHEN:  Saturday, August 28th at 6pm
• WHERE:  Riverfront Park East at 10991 S. River Front Parkway, in Sandy  (Same park as last summer.)
• WHO:  Book bloggers, authors, booksellers, etc.
• WHAT:  Families are invited.  We will be having pulled-pork sandwiches and ask that you bring a potluck item to the bash.
•  HOW:  Really, there is no how here!  Come with a paperback book, ready to swap, chat, and have a great time. 

***Please RSVP to utahbookbloggers(at)gmail(dot)com so that we know who can make it that night.  Also, please don't hesitate to get in touch of any one of us for more information.  Other than our blogs, we can also be reached on Twitter at:  @mjmbecky, @SueySays, and @mawbooks

We hope you can come and look forward to chatting and socializing again!  It's always great fun to see the wizard behind the curtains, meaning that we're happy to get to meet the amazing writers of blogs and books alike.

Sunday Salon: Lazy Sundays? I Wish.

Yes, it's another late Sunday Salon, as I've been doing my best to work through a to-do list that I hastily threw aside yesterday morning when I heard the news of the tsunami. Actually, my mom was the one to call with the news that she was being evacuated. Knowing what happened to Hilo back in 196o, people were rightfully concerned and wanted to be prepared. (Let's not forget that my mom has personally lived through a flood, and an island-wide blackout--that I was there for--that left us without power for 24 hours.) I had every reason to be concerned!

Obviously, the news was good, and Hawaii evaded any major catastrophe. Chile, however, will be struggling to dig out and rebuild for some time. My heart goes out to the people of Chile and I hope for their safety and speedy recovery.

Well, having spent my day waiting to make sure Hawaii was going to be all right, I'm now working through a long list of things I need to do before heading back to work tomorrow! I'm hoping to finish all the "must do's" by tonight so I can spend a little time finishing up Shannon and Dean Hale's graphic novel Calamity Jack. I've already read Rapunzel's Revenge and look forward to doing a double review of the two.


I'd also like to dive into Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella. I really like Kinsella's novels, so have had this one for some time and would love to finish it soon.


Finally, let me point out the fun way I spent my Saturday evening! Last night I had a chance to attend the Utah Book Blogger Winter Social. It was such a great time meeting other bloggers and authors there. Since we all have such a love for reading and books, it's wonderful to meet up with others who share their own experiences with blogging or books. Honestly, I couldn't list all the people I met up with there, but will point to a couple of other bloggers who will probably be posting pictures in the near future, as I saw them taking pictures and toting cameras: Natasha at Maw Books Blog, Suey at It's All About Books, and Angie at Angieville. Thanks to everyone else I met, I'd link you all up here, but there's a great list up at the Ning. You can see this pretty impressive list of bloggers in our area at: Utah Bloggers. (Thanks Natasha for providing this link!) Since I can't join in on the awesome blogger conference coming up in May, this gave me a great opportunity to meet and mingle with the people behind the words!

Now, tell me what you've wrapped up or pushed aside so that you can do some reading today?