Tag #3: The New York Times By The Book Tag

I saw this awesome tag on Getting Through Anxiety a couple days ago!

You know me, I love anything that deals with books!

The New York Times is also close to my heart. I was born in NYC. I get the NYT news alerts to my email. I did my college internship with a division of the NYT, the Shared Services Center in Norfolk, Virginia!

Okay – Here we go!


Questions:

What book is on your nightstand right now?

  • I currently do not have a nightstand in our bedroom (Still moving!) Haha. So, I’ll go with the book on my living room couch – “The One and Only: A Maryellen Classic 1.” I’m absolutely hooked on the BeForever series from American Girl!

If you could meet one author (living or dead) who would it be? What would you ask?

  • Tough question! I’d love to meet F. Scott Fitzgerald, since he wrote my favorite book. I’d ask him if he had a timeline or structure for writing and editing his works. I’ve written parts of three novels, but I haven’t mapped out the time to edit them!

What books might we be surprised to see on your shelf?

  • Maybe all of Nicholas Sparks’s novels? I studied the perceptions of love and romance of female readers of his novels for my college senior thesis, so I re-read them all in prep for my research and study.

How do you organize your personal library?

  • Right now, my huge bookcase is still at my parents’ house. I’m pretty picky – I try to organize everything by author, and then everything in the order of that author’s publication. I may reorganize it better when we move said bookcase into our house!

What book have you always meant to read but haven’t gotten round to yet?

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didn’t?

  • The Divergent series. Thinking about all of them, it was a let-down.

What kind of stories are you drawn to?

  • Historical fiction, definitely. I love the Dear America series in particular.
  • Human interest stories (Think Chicken Soup for the Soul, etc.)
  • Certain crime novels.

What do you plan to read next?

  • Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee.

I Tag…

  1. booksandbakes1 – Charley
  2. Sallyporte
  3. Becky Due – Author
  4. Thrice Read – Jenn, Caitlynn, and Eden
  5. Jay Colby

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Book Review #14: “Never Stop Singing: A Melody Classic 2”

Melody - amazon

Image Credit: amazon.com

“The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that a dreamer has his eyes closed and a visionary has his eyes open.

~Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963


If you haven’t already, I would recommend reading my post titled Book Review #13: “No Ordinary Sound: A Melody Classic” before diving into this review.

Melody’s story continues just as the New Year of 1964 is rung in.

Along the way, she tries to answer her pastor’s “Challenge to Change” as a 10-year-old would. She decides on fixing up the neighborhood playground. With the help of her friends, family, and community, Melody learns many lessons throughout the winter, spring, and summer.

While Melody learns about leadership and community involvement in Detroit, the story also follows the oldest sister, Yvonne, in the South, plus a family trip to Birmingham, Alabama. The rich history of the year 1964 is interwoven – The passage of the Civil Rights Act, Freedom Summer, and the disappearance of  civil rights workers James Chaney,  Andrew Goodman, and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner.

It was a good mix of tragedy and triumph in the book. Like the first volume, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop!

I originally wasn’t planning on buying, or reading, the third volume. The BeForever series has the two classic volumes, and the third is designed to be a “choose-your-own-adventure” style read.

However, after reading the “sneak peek” at the end of volume 2, I’m definitely interested! It sounds like a great adventure – No pun intended.

Plus, one of the characters is named “Ms. Stricker,” which I think is awesome!

I’ll leave you with one other quote that struck me.

“As far as I am concerned, freedom summer never really ended.”

~Victoria Gray Adams

4 1/2 out of 5 stars.


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Getting Personal #24: “Sign Posts To Our Collective Imagination, The Library” (Reblogged)

I got so excited when I saw this post in my email this morning. I knew I had to share it!

As some of you know, I’m a total bibliophile. I love books. I love libraries. This signpost is amazing!

I love how this one photo captures so many literary worlds.

Narnia.

Harry Potter.

The Hobbit.

Toad of Toad Hall.

Peter Rabbit.

The Wizard of Oz.

Wicked.


I’m reblogging this as a reminder to myself, and it’s also inspiring. Books are never far away. I want to make one for myself!


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #1: Reading Confessions

Reading - pinterest

Image Credit: pinterest.com

I just saw this post on Ariel Lynn’s Writing Radiation, who originally saw it on The Melodramatic Confessions of Carla Louise, and she saw it on Getting Through Anxiety.

All of them are awesome bloggers!

I saw the word “reading” and was immediately intrigued!


Have you ever damaged a book?

  • The only instance I can think of was when I wrote my initials on the front dust jackets of a few of my American Girl historical novels. *facepalm*

Have you ever damaged a borrowed book?

  • Never! I can’t even highlight textbooks. I’ve never even written in the margins! Just thinking of it makes me cringe!

How long does it take you to read a book?

  • Excellent question. With my life, it varies. If you’ve read my Book Review posts, know that I try to post those within 24 hours of finishing that book. It depends. When I get in a groove, I can fly through a book. I do have to agree with the ladies before me: If I watched less TV / Netflix and spent less time on Facebook, I’d probably get through more pages in a shorter time span.

Books that you haven’t finished?

  • Fifty Shades of Grey.
  • The Twilight series – I started all four, but never brought myself to finish them.
  • Other than those, I really try to finish what I start!

Hyped / Popular books that you don’t like?

  • Fifty Shades of Grey.
  • The Twilight series.
  • Allegiant from the Divergent series.

Is there a book that you wouldn’t tell anyone you were reading?

  • Nope. I love telling people what I’m reading! To me, word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to promote a book, an author, and reading, in general.

How many books do you own?

  • Picturing my bookshelves at my parents’ house, I’d say probably 150 or so. I used to have many, many more, but I gave away eight full boxes of books to the local library in 2013 when I was preparing to move to my first apartment, and the huge heavy bookcase wasn’t going with me.

Are you a fast reader or a slow reader?

  • Depending on the book, I’m usually pretty fast. Interruptions do get in the way, especially with moving and such, so I’ve slowed down quite a bit. There were times I would plow through 5-6 books in a week or two. That’s certainly not the case now.

Do you like to buddy read?

  • I’ve never tried it. I know what it is though – When you and a friend read the same book at the same time. I think it would be an interesting experiment.

Do you read better in your head or out loud?

  • This is an interesting question. I occasionally catch myself reading certain lines aloud, but in a whisper to myself, and it kinds freaks me out. I’m a visual reader, so I can picture the scenes in my head. I can tell what I’m reading is good when I pause and can see the scene I just read in front of me, like I’m watching a movie.

If you were only allowed to own one book, what would it be and why?

  • This would be a terrible tragedy if it were to occur! However, if it were to happen, my pick would be The Great Gatsby. It’s my favorite book, one that I re-read every year. I love everything about it.

I tag:

  • Everyone! Reading is so much fun 🙂
Reading - quoteslike

Image Credit: quoteslike.com


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂