Count Me In

By now everyone’s heard of about the R.I.P. III Challenge, right? Carl V. is once again hosting this fun challenge which has readers pursuing some spooky books. I’ve participated in the previous two years and I couldn’t pass up another go at this challenge.

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So starting September 1 and going through end of October, we can choose from a couple of the Perils proposed for the challenge. I’m going to go with Peril II which involves reading two books of any length from any sub-genre of scary stories.

I have a bunch of books I could choose from so here are some of my choices (all of which come from my stacks):

I can’t wait to get started!

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On Journaling

So I’ve been talking a lot about journals lately but for those of you who like blank books but get intimidated by a blank page how do you start filling your pages? Or maybe you just need a bit of spark to get back into journaling – I know I could use a bit of spark myself right now.

I have been checking out these books which I think will be good companions for anyone who enjoys journaling.

  • Note to Self by Samara O’Shea. From the book jacket: “A tribute to the healing and reflective power of the written word, Note to Self demonstrates that sometimes being completely honest with yourself is the most dangerous and rewarding pursuit of all.” I like that this focuses more on the why it’s important to journal. This was a book sent to me by the author and I’m very excited to start it soon.
  • 1,000 Artist Journal Pages by Dawn DeVries Sokol. This is one of those books you ooh and ah over. If you like to draw, collage or do more of the visual journaling then this is a book for inspiration. I hope to add this one to my collection soon.
  • True Vision by L.K. Ludwig. If the 1,000 Artist Journal Pages book inspires you but you don’t know just how to go about doing visual journals, then this might be the book for you. It offers techniques and prompts to get you into telling your stories with some art.
  • The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel. Ok, so this is not necessarily a how-to but from what I’ve heard from some friends and reviewers of this book, it’s a good story about a discarded diary and the story it contains. See, get writing, maybe one day your journals will be discovered and talked about. Or, is that what’s keeping you from writing? heh. I hope to read this book sometime this year, thanks to Isabel who shared her copy, it’s waiting for my on my bookshelf.

If you have some other favorite books on journaling I’d love to hear about them.

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Swirl & Whirl

Forgive me if this post is going to be a bit all over the place but I feel like there’s so much going on with me and in the blogosphere that I don’t want to miss mentioning some stuff.

First, a huge thank you to all of you guys for your kind words on my shop. Your comments and words of encouragement make me smile and motivate me even more in my craft. I promise to continue to share my adventures.

Next up, I hope you all are readers of Read This!, a wonderful blog presented by the Peabody Institute Library’s reader’s advisory group. I have just had the opportunity of being a guest blogger reviewer. I know Danielle and Carl V. have also been guest reviewers so I’m very excited to join them. Please visit and see what I had to say about Elizabeth Taylor’s book Blaming.

Speaking of Carl V., did you all see that the R.I.P. III Challenge has been announced? I am so behind on most of my challenges that I’m sure I won’t finish them but I just can’t say no to this challenge. I’m looking through my stacks so I’ll be back to post on that soon.

Last week I also found out about My Friend Amy and the Book Blogger Appreciation week she’s hosting. That’s coming up September 15 – 19th. So go check it out, sounds like a lot of fun!

Finally, for those of you who love historical fiction and want to chat about it, there’s a new gathering place over at the Historical Fiction Forum. I’ve got a couple of historical novels lined up to be read next so I will have to visit the forum and see if anyone’s been talking about them.

In the meantime, I’m finishing up some books and hope to have some book reviews done towards the end of the week and even a couple of book giveaways so stay tuned!

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