Mooch Away!

I wanted to give an update on my feelings about Bookmooch. After about a month of use, I cannot say how thrilled I am about this site.

My initial reaction was that there were no books to be found and that it was a waste of my time. That's because I'm an instant gratification type person, I want what I want, now. After I slowed myself down a little bit, took my own advice and added almost 200 books to my "wishlist", things got rolling. Currently, I have sent out 16 books all over the nation and I have received three with six more on the way. It's kind of like a hide and seek adventure! Some of these titles include:

1. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
2. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
3. Vampire Academy by Richelle Meade
4. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
5. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer
7. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson 

Basically, what I have come to find is that if you are vigilant and quick, you are not just limited to old books no one has ever heard of. I feel like everyone using this site has a passion for books and it gives you a good community feel. I have only had one book come to me that was in questionable condition, i.e. its spine was heavily creased and cover was tarnished, but for the most part, every book has been in great shape and would be easy to put back on this site after I read it. 

The main reason I love this site so much is because every book I get mailed to me, I pay for by mailing a book to someone else. The shipping cost for USPS Media Mail is typically $2.47. So not only am I getting the satisfaction of giving out a book that I enjoyed, I'm getting another one to replace it at a bargain price! I would encourage anyone who loves to read but hates the sticker shock that comes along with buying books to check this site out, it's beyond fabulous. 

I hope that everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving and that this finds you in good holiday spirits! Happy Cyber Monday! Until next time, take care!

You're the Best Around!

As I stated at the end of my last post, I really wanted to do an entry on my favorite books of the past year. Also, as I've said, I'm just getting back into the literary world so this by no means is an all encompassing, multi-genre romp. This is a small cross section of books that I just so happened to run across in the past 365 days-ish.

The Name of the Wind 
by Patrick Rothfuss

Not often does a book come along that so easily moves up the ranks of "Top Books in Erin's Mind". For many years now, the Harry Potter series has dominated those coveted top positions with few true adversaries. I started that series when I was twelve and grew along with the characters, basically making them my life and loves for ten years. I am a true believer that Post-Potter-Depression is real. No book could grip me the way Harry Potter did. But like all old loves, we must move on. So I was doing some interweb browsing and came across this flowchart of fantasy/science fiction books that had a bubble titled "Give me more precious lads at schools of magic please", thus Name of the Wind came into my consciousness.

I will tell anyone who asks, this has got to be one of my favorite books of all time. I'm not really a synopsis kind of girl, so I'll leave that up to Goodreads and just give you my reaction. This series is right up there with Harry Potter. The characters are so intricate and developed that you feel like you know them intimately. The story has some plot lines that end within the first novel and some that are going to be overarching through out the series. Everything about this book screams epic fantasy, and it's the best sort. The world building is highly believable and painted by a true wordsmith. The dialog is witty and quick with many laugh aloud moments and pacing that works. This is a book for fantasy lovers and anyone else who loves a good story with characters they can get invested in. I could go on and on about the love I feel for this book and I feel most people who have read it would echo this sentiment.

My Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.55/5

A Wise Man's Fear
by Patrick Rothfuss

So thankfully I started this series when A Wise Man's Fear was almost out, otherwise there was a four year wait between books one and two. I'm hoping that Sir Rothfuss is actively writing as much on the series finale (The Doors of Stone) as he is on Goodreads. This book, A Wise Man's Fear is just as good as the first and longer with much more story to enjoy. For all of the positives I have to say, see above review. Best. Series. Ever.

(Note: If you like Game of Thrones, this is for you times 10,000.)

My Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.52/5

A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness

This book didn't capture my heart like the last series did, but that's like comparing apples to oranges. Discovery of Witches is more of a paranormal, current/historical fiction, if that makes any sense. It focuses on witches, vampires and daemons, which, since Twilight, is a overly used plot line, but this is done well. What I like about this book is the educational aspect, it's set at Cambridge in England, and there is a very modern-victorian feel about it. There is a romantic aspect to the novel which doesn't really help or hurt it any but just moves the story along. I was really excited to learn the second book (Shadow of Night) that came out this year, and I purchased an advanced copy. To be honest though, I got about 40 pages in and had to put it down. Maybe it was too much time between novels, maybe I need to read the first again, but it didn't propel me forward. It's still sitting in my to-be-read bin.

My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.97/5

Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher

You might read the synopsis of Thirteen Reasons Why and think to yourself, "Why would I ever pick up a book about teen suicide, how awful." Me too. After reading this, I might think twice. There was something soft and understated about the telling of this story. There isn't a focus on suicide itself, but the events that lead up to this girl, Hannah Baker taking her own life. The parties involved, the cruelness of high school but also the beauty. This story is told posthumously via tapes left by Hannah which are heartbreaking and touching. This could have been my story, it could have been your story, it could have been anyones story. I found it very relatable and moving. It's a simple read, but I found it has stuck with me long after I've put it down. It's the kind of book that makes you want to hug everyone you see and reach back into your past and say I'm sorry to those you might have wronged. But on a more disappointing note: This is going to be a movie. With Selena Gomez. Bah.

My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.6/5

Honorable Mentions:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn- I was in love with the first half of this book. By midway, I was texting my mom, Ryan's mom and all other book-ies I knew telling them to acquire this book. By the last page, I was retracting that statement as quick as I could. It seriously was like reading two different books. The two halves didn't jive at all. I don't think either of the halves would have made for a particularly bad book, but it didn't work together. Overall, I'd give this book a 3/5 (aka get it in the bargain bin).

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak- There's a lot of hype about this book. People LOVE this book. It's different. It tells a story from the eyes of death, the grim reaper, angel of death. Kind of like Meet Joe Black. And Death in this instance is actually kind of funny, sarcastic if you will. Death narrates the story of a girl in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. It's set up to be a horribly sad book. And as I said, people FREAK over this book. Does it make me a bad person that I just didn't get it? I didn't get what the hubbub was all about. I shed a tear or two, but I've read some reviews where these people were literally needing BOXES of tissues. Am I soul-less? I mean it basically tells you what's going to happen in the book on the first few pages, so all shock and awe is gone there. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this story, but I didn't think it reinvented the wheel by any means. If you've read this and know what I'm missing, please let me know. My Rating: 3.5/5

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray- In my Goodreads review I likened this book to a more grown up version of A Little Princess (for those of you who haven't seen this movie, or who didn't grown up with this, shame on your parents). I really wanted to like this book. Like I gave up on my whole "book box" idea where I would just grab a book at random and start reading with out the premeditated thought processes of choosing a book. A Great and Terrible Beauty jumped ahead in line of the now 20 books I have to read. It didn't live up to my expectations at all. I was pissed at first. This book was literally 300 pages of back story, character building, setting description and mundane daily life of English boarding school girls. What saved me from burn-piling it, were the last 100 pages. After my initial anger, I started watching some of my YouTube book brethren, and they told me not to be discouraged, that they too felt cheated, but the next book in the series is WORLDS better. I feel like this is one of those "fool me once" type of situations I might regret later. My rating: 3/5

Now that I've shared some of my favorites with you, I have a confession to make. I feel like I'm in a world of confusion. I'm a 26 year old girl who is having a total book-genre-identity-crisis. I keep purchasing books that are of the YA (young adult) variety that I really WANT TO like, but something doesn't resonate with me the way I want it to, have I become too old for these? Am I over the YA hill? I don't like contemporary chick lit, I've never (nor will I ever) had the desire to pick up a Nicholas Sparks, Judi Picoult or Sarah Dessen book because I know it's totally NOT my jam. Fluffy, feel good, discover yourself love story? Where's the trash receptacle. The dystopian novels are getting redundant and played out. Adult fiction can be too real. So where does that leave me? Do you need to have a reading niche? A set genre? I guess not, but it makes for picking your next read a real game of chance. Which I suppose is half the fun. But every now and then I want to have a go to option that I know is going to be good. What does everyone else do? How do you pick books? I guess every now and then you get a few stinkers.

Well for now friends, that's all I've got. Enough writing about reading, time to actually get down to business and do it! I'll leave you with this:

Happy Chip Kelly Day Eve.

Book Worm

I know there has been a long absence of posting, I was going through a strange time of not working/being bored/not having any motivation, but now I'm back! With a post about my newly re-found love, BOOKS!

Upon reentering a world that you've been far removed from for a many number of years, especially the literary world, it's hard to know where to start. I was talking to Ryan's mother Dian around the time of my birthday, which is when this new obsession started. In this posting, I want to outline some of the sites that have made exploring new books possible and even (at times) cheap, because being a bibliophile is not a poor man's sport.

First, how it all started: Goodreads

There are not enough words in this world to describe how much I adore this website. I feel like its all I talk about and I literally try to work it into every conversation so I can get more of my friends on here. Dian, Ryan's mother, casually mentioned to me that she knew of a website and phone application where you can rate books and find new reads based on how you rate books you've read. It is SO MUCH more than that. Initially, yes, you need to get a basis set up for how Goodreads is going to recommend books for you, thus rating books. But from there you discover a community of people who love books as much as you do. I constantly think, "these are my people." You can add friends, follow top reviewers, called "Librarians" (meaning they write the most reviews and read the most books), follow authors (because almost every author you can think of is on there), write reviews, win first read books, download free books to your eReaders, so on and so forth ad infinitum. So far, I have won two, totally free books, written four reviews and brought my overall "pages read" total up from zero to nearly three thousand in a little over a month. I'd mark that in the life win column. The reason I love this site so much can be broken down like this: I'm the kind of person who walks into a bookstore and just stops. I'm taken in by all the beautiful cover art, all the possible options and worlds I could invest myself in. The problem is, I don't get much further than that. I start getting overwhelmed, thinking, "I can't buy this book, EVERYONE is reading it, what if it doesn't live up to the hype", and "I can't buy this book, I've never even HEARD of anyone reading it before!." It's quite the catch-22, and a situation in which I'm so under pressure to pick the right book I end up not buying any. So why I love Goodreads so much is because the website takes ALL of those doubts away from me. There are so many user reviews and knowledgeable sources on this site that I can research a book until my heart (and head) are content with knowing I have chosen well. I was having a conversation with Ryan the other day about how much money I have spent on books in the last month and was able to justify that spending money on books is a much better use of my resources than previous habits, aka alcohol. Everyone has to have their own vice, I just think reading and book buying happens to be one of the better ones. I digress. Back to Goodreads. I highly encourage anyone, book lover, avid reader, or literary novice alike to check out Goodreads and become my friend! Reading is the world's greatest gift to quote my friend Hannah.

Next, where I get my books: Thriftbooks

 When I started my Goodreads adventure, I found myself running into some road blocks instantly. After having rated books and got some recommendations, I took my phone (which was loaded with the Goodreads application and my "To Read" books) and headed down to my local book store. SCCCRRRREEEETTTCCCHHHH. That's the proverbial breaks being slammed down on my runaway book reading dreams. I live in a small town. We don't have a Barnes and Noble. We have Godfather's Books who has a resident homeless man in a motorcycle helmet with a shopping cart and not a thing published in the last three to six months. Yes, it's a wonderful store if I'm on vacation and I want to read that book that everyone had been swooning over last year that I never had a chance to read. But if I'm a budding bibliophile who wants to get caught up on the latest and greatest? I'm screwed. I left that book store so deflated, I almost gave up. Portland is a two hour drive for us, and shopping on Amazon, though you can most times get used books for $.01, shipping is around $3.99 on every book you buy. Things weren't going my way at this point, and thats when I turned to YouTube. I started watching TONS of Vlogs (video blogs) on book hauls and bookshelf tours and book reviews. For like, days (remember I wasn't working a lot, read: at all). What I came to find was this wonderful, beautiful, fabulous website called Thriftbooks. Imagine a place where you can find used books at hugely discounted rates with free shipping. Heavenly, right? FREE SHIPPING?! NO MATTER HOW MANY OR FEW BOOKS YOU ORDER?! Devine. So I sent in my first order, 6 books for $22, all of which were classified as "very good condition". They arrived a week later, and I can't say how perfectly pleased I am. They all look as if they've never been read before and I can't wait to dive in! If you follow Thriftbooks on Facebook, they update you with coupon codes. So not only did each book cost only about $3.60 each, I got 15% off on top of that. Boom.

My latest Thrifbooks acquire (I like to take pretty pictures of my books).

A Powell's Books find.

Before I knew about Thriftbooks, full price from Barnes and Noble + Godfather's.

Last, something fun: BookMooch

So I just started on this adventure. I don't have much to say about it as of yet, but I'll give you the premise. I found this site about two days ago when I was putzing around Instagram (if you don't know... no words. Speak to the Google) when I saw a similar, pretty stack of books, much like those shown above. The hashtag on it was #bookmooch (again, if you don't know about hashtags, see Google). So I puttered over to the site and found out that it's a book swap meet! People come together who have books they no longer need (read: I couldn't sell them for anything worth my time on Amazon) and they ship them off to strangers around the world who want what you have! Basically it breaks down this way: 1) You add books you own and are ready to part with and you gain .10 of a point per book. 2) You save up your points, once you have 1 pt, you can "mooch" a book, aka have someone send it to you. 3) If one of your books is "mooched", you send that book to the person's address they provided (yes, you pay for shipping) and you get 1 pt per book mooched. 4) You create a wishlist of books you want and eventually they'll be added and you can mooch the book (hopefully).

So where I'm at right now with this: I love the idea of it. Like shipping is rarely more than $3.00 and I love passing on something that I enjoyed. Yesterday, six of the eight books I posted had been mooched, so I headed off to the post office and sent out said books, with pretty notes attached that will hopefully make the person's day. It was a total of roughly $18.00, no big deal. Here's where I'm running into trouble. I can't find a single book I want to mooch. Like all of the popular books have HUGE wait lists or are in countries where the owner doesn't want to ship to the US. So, what I'm doing is creating a HUGE wishlist, the thinking behind it being that the more fish in the barrel, the more likely I am to shoot one. Right? We'll see. I think I have the advantage over a lot of other people in that I always am working on my computer and I always have my phone checking my email, so that if one of my books does pop up, I'll be quick like tiger in getting it, that's the theory anyway.

I hope this has helped anyone who is on that endless quest for the next best book, I think next blog I'll update you all with what I have purchased lately, the genres I've been reading and any recommendations I have. Until next time! Happy Saturday!