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Into Africa cover

My TBR Challenge 2019

By Jan
 on June 23, 2019

I’ve been reading (ahem…) about book challenges this week and remembering my previous attempts to keep up with them. I’m fairly sure I failed 90 percent of the time. Regardless, I’m ready to take one on again!A Journey Through Texas cover

What’s that you ask? “Why would you do that again, given your track record?” I enjoyed the 2018 Reading Challenge at Goodreads, and I did well, for a change. Maybe I’m flushed with my success and ready to repeat it.

Whatever the reason, I’m doing something a little different—at least, for me.

One of the (many) things I love about reading is actually the acquisition of the books. I love buying books of all kinds and keeping track of them. I have hundreds of unread books in my Kindle Library and quite a few in my Audible library. For 2019, I want to read books I ALREADY OWN. Thus, I’m borrowing the To-Be-Read (TBR) Challenge from other sources for myself.

The following books I have already acquired are on my reading list for 2019:

  1. Quite Ready To Be Sent Somewhere: The Civil War Letters Of Aldace Freeman Walker by Thomas Ledoux [ebook and paperback][COMPLETE]
  2. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah [audiobook] [COMPLETE]
  3. The Forever Life (The Forever Series Book 1) by Craig Robertson [ebook]
  4. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick [audiobook] [COMPLETE]
  5. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt [ebook]
  6. A Journey Through Texas, Or, A Saddle-trip on the Southwestern Frontier (1857) by Frederick Law Olmsted [ebook and paperback][COMPLETE]
  7. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland [audiobook] [COMPLETE]
  8. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell: A Novel by Robert Dugoni [ebook]
  9. Then She Was Gone: A Novel by Lisa Jewell [audiobook] [UNFINISHED]
  10. Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone by Martin Duga [ebook]
  11. Forsaken Kingdom (The Last Prince Book 1) by J.R. Rasmussen  [ebook]
  12. Crow Hollow by Michael Wallace [audiobook]

Updated 6-23-2019

In categories List, Reading Tagged with ,
War and Peace t-shirt

Review: Literary Book Gifts

By Jan
 on September 16, 2018

Emily Dickenson tote

Literary Book Gifts is a fun website to browse, especially for readers and lovers of books. You can order t-shirts and tote bags from a huge variety of reading, writing, and classic literature-related illustrations and titles.

Shirts comes in a large number of colors and sizes, too. The women’s t-shirts, hoodies, and tank tops come in sizes XS to 3XL, the men’s/unisex t-shirts and hoodies come in sizes S to 5XL. These are excellent quality, Gildan-brand heavy t-shirts of 100 percent cotton (the women’s tanks are 60/40 cotton and poly). Even the tote bags come in S, M, and L sizes!

War and Peace t-shirt

I could never choose a favorite (or even a top ten), so I went with one for my husband. I ordered the “War and Peace” shirt in Texas Orange at right (go UT Longhorns!) and ordered a 2XL, figuring it would shrink a little. It didn’t. Turns out that’s okay because hubby has a 2XL tummy. (LOL)

The t-shirt looks exactly like the one in the store picture; in fact, the color is richer in person. The shirt machine washed and dried very well, although the 100-percent cotton meant it wrinkled a little after I left it in the dryer for a bit. Okay, I actually left it in the dryer for a few hours. Oops!

Typewriter t-shirt

The only thing about the site I didn’t like was the sizing charts. They give the measurements of the actual t-shirt, but not the measurements of the wearer. This can make it a little difficult to know which size to order unless you run and measure your favorite fitting shirt. However, Melissa does add hints in the product descriptions if the product runs large or small, which is quite helpful.

Because the site is using Shopify, the ordering process was super easy and my transaction went very smoothly. Melissa was easy to contact and replied to my message right away. Thank you for the great service!

In categories Reading
Ereader photo

The Three Best Sources of Free or Discounted Ebooks

By Jan
 on January 30, 2016

I’ve tried many sources for ebooks and have found the following three to be the best for me.

All of these:

  • Are completely free to use. They use affiliate links to booksellers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, and more, which is how they make money.
  • Allow you to choose only the genres you wish to see
  • Include the cover and a blurb about the book so you can see more about it
  • Send out one email message a day
  • Allow you to browse their web site instead of receiving an email message
  • Have contests and giveaways you may enter
  • Include a blog on their site with articles of interest to readers

 

1. Book Gorilla

Offers many categories and sub-categories for types of books you wish to see:

Book Gorilla choices

And a maximum number of books you want to see in each email message:

Book Gorilla choices

EXAMPLE ENTRY (1-30-2016) Click to see a larger version.

Book Gorilla example entry

2. BookBub

EXAMPLE ENTRY (1-30-2016) Click to see a larger version.

BookBub example entry

3. Sweet Free Books

EXAMPLE ENTRY (1-30-2016) Click to see a larger version.

SweetFreeBooks example

Give these a try and see how you like them and please leave me a comment.

In categories List, Reading
Penguin Random House logo

Enter to Win a Year of Books!

By Jan
 on May 5, 2015

A great sweepstakes from Penguin Random House, who are merging their libraries. Enter to win five books a month (your choice) for an entire year!

I’m so there! After all, I already need more shelves.

#WhereBooksLive

 

In categories Reading
The Borough Press logo

For Twitter Users: Book A Day

By Jan
 on June 8, 2014

The Borough Press in London has launched a fun meme for those of you who use Twitter. It’s called “Book A Day” and uses the following list for the month of June:

Book A Day list

Simply tweet once a day, answering the corresponding query for the day of the month, and include the #bookaday hashtag and a photo of the appropriate book if you can. Although I’m a little late with this, I’m going to follow along. It looks fun and something that others can adapt for their own use.

You can find me on Twitter at @mcfitzsatx and this meme at #bookaday.

In categories List, Reading Tagged with

Booking Through Thursday: Mood Reading

By Jan
 on January 30, 2012

From Booking Through Thursday, I found this question from December 1, 2011 that I’d like to explore:

Do you find that your mood affects the things you read? Like, if you’re in a bad mood, do you tend to indulge in reading that will support it or do you try to read things that will cheer you up? Do you pick different types of books on dreary, rainy days than you do on bright sunny ones?
For that matter, does your mood color what you’re reading, so that a funny book isn’t so funny or a serious one not so deep?
I definitely choose my reading based on mood, and my reading affects my mood. I carefully avoid certain genres when I’m feeling vulnerable or depressed, for instance. Other times, I seek ‘heavy’ reading to occupy my mind (“The Complete Works of George McDonald”) or ‘light’ reading to escape the real world (“The Hunger Games”).
The weather affects my mood, so the result is often predictable [pun intended]. Those dreary, rainy days call for a heavy amount of humor mixed with happy endings. Bright, sunny days are open to more variable conditions, and the outlook could be any kind of atmosphere… OK, I give up!

I often have more than one book going at once so I can choose a genre based on my mood at the time. This is especially handy with my iPad and all the ebooks on it. I’m fairly sure I have all of the compatible ereader apps known to man on there.

© Jan McClintock of We Need More Shelves

In categories Booking Through Thursday, Reading Tagged with

451 Challenge

By Jan
 on February 12, 2010

Oh, just what I need, another challenge! But this one looks so wonderful, I can’t pass it up. (That’s what I said about the others, too, of course.) The 451 Challenge originates from the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, and is hosted and managed by Elizabeth at the As Usual, We Need More Bookshelves blog (no relation :-).

What would we do if all books were suddenly banned and/or destroyed? What ideas are worth saving? Which volumes would you want to memorize or even “become” in order to pass it on to the next generation? That is the premise and worthy challenge. Join me!

My TBR list, so far:
Collected Poems of Robert Frost [WORKING ON]
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card [DONE, see Recent Reads]
The Stand – Stephen King
Time and Again – Jack Finney
Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen [DONE, see Recent Reads]

© Jan McClintock of We Need More Shelves

In categories Reading Tagged with

Teaser Tuesday

By Jan
 on February 9, 2010

“Murdered!” said John Tyler. “General Harrison was not murdered! The very idea is absurd!” (p25)

“I recognize that ring,” she said, pointing to an exposed finger. “This is Frank! This is my husband!” (p50)

Die Like A Hero: A Josiah Beede Mystery by Clyde Linsley

© Jan McClintock of We Need More Shelves

In categories Reading Tagged with
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