Monday, January 30, 2012

(meme) It's Monday! What are you reading? 5th edition


One of my favorite bloggers Sheila from Book Journey is the host of this weekly meme. If you haven't checked out Sheila's blog yet then what are you waiting for. I love reading Sheila's blog because she covers it all and I always end up walking away like I get to know Sheila a little more from her post.

I also just discovered recently that Sheila has partnered with Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and they come up with  a fun meme with a kidlit focus - anyone reading and reviewing books in children's literature - it can be picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, you name it in the world of kidlit and it's in!
So in case you are wondering what It's Monday! What are you reading? is about well its a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

Can you believe that this is the very last Monday of  January? Where is the time going? I have no idea where January went but phew I wish it would slow down some. Surprisingly this is up early for once and that is because I actually prepared this post in advance and have it schedule to post. Yea me.

Well this will probably be up while I am volunteering at my son's school library. I am really enjoying this and its so much fun to see some many kids I know. I love giving them book ideas.

Since working in this enviroment I have been contemplating going back to school to get a degree in Library Science so that I can eventually work in a library enviroment proferably a school. That will be the plan this week to contact the local CJEP (sort of like a intro to university or almost equal to a grade 12 elsewhere) I will keep you posted on what I end up doing. Wish me luck.

Last week was a slow week in reading for me. I only read one and a quarter books.

What I read this past week:

I really enjoyed this book.

Currently reading:


What will be up next:


Hope everyone has a good week.

This is what I read and whats on my agenda. I hope everyone has a good reading week.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Month of Letters (UPDATE Please Read)

I just wanted to make this quick post as an UPDATED post.

I just updated the form to now include a blog URL if you filled in the form already do you think you could put in the comments your blog URL (the first post about this challenge) or email it to me at cindysloveofbooksarc(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks so much.

A month of Letters

One of my favorite bloggers, Heidi from YA Bibliophile mentioned this in her blog post today and it sounds like this could be alot of fun.

Can you remember the last time that you actually got a letter in the mail? In the actual mailbox and not an email? I think for me the last time would have been Christmas time. I love getting mail, don't you? I love seeing something addressed to me that isn't a bill.

The person behind this is author Mary Robinette Kowal.

Here is her challenge to us: (She even has a seperate blog up for this http://lettermo.com/ that you can click on to find out more about it.)

I have a simple challenge for you.

  1. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
  2. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

All you are committing to is to mail 24 items. Why 24? There are four Sundays and one US holiday. In fact, you might send more than 24 items. You might develop a correspondence that extends beyond the month. You might enjoy going to the mail box again.

The Mailbox Post


Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday is originally hosted by Marcia from A girl and her books and The Printed Page. In the summer of 2010 Marcia decided she needed a change in hosting and didn't want to rely on one blogger alone to do it because its a lot of work so she decided to put Mailbox Monday on tour and so far with great success it has made monthly stops at more then a dozen blogs and this year is booked until the end. I will actually be hosting Mailbox Monday in April.

The host for January is Alyce from At Home With Books.

The host for February is DC Metro Reader.

Another host for In My Mailbox is Kristi from The Story Siren.

Be sure to check out the above blogs to see what they and others got in their mailboxes this past week.

Seriously can you believe that is already the end of January? Where did the month go?

I didn't record a vlog this week because I only got one book for review. It was easier to take a picture then record, upload, edit and post to youtube and my blog.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and I can't wait to see what you got in your mailboxes.

This is what came to my door this week:

For Review:
Diary of a Mad Fat Girl by Stephanie McAfee. I am on a blogger tour for this in February I believe.

Books Bought:
I didn't buy anything this week because last week I ordered some Scholastic books and I am waiting for those to come in.

R.A.K:
Nothing this week.

Freebie:
Since I buy Special K (cereal and bars) I noticed that they were giving away a free yoga mat if you submitted pins from specially marked boxes and I did and I got my yoga mat this week.

I also got my 50 card pack from http://us.moo.com/ because I had added the timeline feature to my facebook page. I love them.

So this is what I got in my mailbox. I hope everyone had a good week.

Just in case your not on my facebook page I thought I would share the new look I got this past week. I was unsure at first but now I am really liking the new look.

Monday, January 23, 2012

It's Monday! What are you reading? 4th edition


One of my favorite bloggers Sheila from Book Journey is the host of this weekly meme. If you haven't checked out Sheila's blog yet then what are you waiting for. I love reading Sheila's blog because she covers it all and I always end up walking away like I get to know Sheila a little more from her post.

I also just discovered recently that Sheila has partnered with Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and they come up with  a fun meme with a kidlit focus - anyone reading and reviewing books in children's literature - it can be picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, you name it in the world of kidlit and it's in!
So in case you are wondering what It's Monday! What are you reading? is about well its a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

Can you believe that we are almost at the end of January? Where is the time going? I am a little late in getting this up today because of course its Monday and its my day to work in the school library. I love working in the library and have been thinking about going back to school perhaps in the fall to take a library science course. I would love to work in a school library.

Once again the weather has changed from last week. Today it was very mild out compared to last week's freezing cold weather. Apparently we will be sitting at around 0 most of the week. Tonight its pouring rain so hopefully it won't freeze over night other wise it will be messy in the am.

Last week was a slow week in reading for me. I only read one and a half books. I was reading Bunheads and I because I have been busy during the day cleaning the house and getting it ready for Michael's first Communion in May I haven't been reading during the day so my reading has been happening at bed time. Then on Friday morning I managed to hurt my back so I ended up on the couch most of the day and Bunheads was upstairs so I had to pick another book to read.

What I read this past week:

I ended up buying this last week because last Monday we were talking about this in the library and after we talked about it I just had to pick it up. Apparently the grade 6 classes are reading this in the class. Wow what a book. I have never read it but it was always on my wishlist.

This is my current read:

I am 3/4 of the way done this so I am sure I will finish it either tonight or tomorrow night.

I am not sure what I will be reading next as I have to check to see what my commitments are like and whats upcoming.

Hope everyone has a good week.
This is what I read and whats on my agenda. I hope everyone has a good reading week.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Glymm Box January Edition


I am super excited at how fast my January Glymm box came this month. I got a email January 13th and it arrived January 17th. I think this is the first time I ever received it so quickly considering I am in the same city (Montreal) that it ships from. So for me we started off on the right foot.


What I got in my Glymm box this month:

-Kaia Naturals- Juicy Bamboo Facial Cleaning Clothes. Full sized product is 30 clothes for $17.99 and my sample size was 1 cloth for $0.60
-Vasanti Csometics- BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator. Full sizes products is 120ml for $34.00 and my sample size was 12g for $3.40
-Anastasia Beverly Hills- Clear Brow Gel. Full size product is 0.28oz for $21.00 and my sample size is 0.085oz for $6.38
-Burt Bees- Nourshing Milk & Honey Body Lotion. Full size is 170g for $12.99 and my sample size was 2x 0.25oz for $1.08
-Cargo Cosmetics- Eye Pencil. I got a full size of this product for $16.00 for 2g.
-a card for a Free Lip Shine valued at $25 with a order.

This month my box totally paid for itself. I got almost $28 worth of samples and if I happen to get the Lip Shine then it will be bring box over $52.

I am very happy with the products I got to sample this month. They are all products that I am excited to try. As you can see the jelly belly beans were missing this month. I went on to their facebook page to see what happened and because they were a safety hazard they discontinued them but promised that there would be something new and exciting coming.

I will be placing an order with Glymm tomorrow because I have enough points to redem for something but I am not quite sure what I want to use them for.

Here are some pictures:
I love the postcards they use.  When I am done doing my posts for the box and product review posts I use these cards for bookmarks. They are the perfect size.This is another pretty card.
This is what I got in my box.

Check back next weekend when I will share my thoughts on the products.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Mailbox Post


Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday is originally hosted by Marcia from A girl and her books and The Printed Page. In the summer of 2010 Marcia decided she needed a change in hosting and didn't want to rely on one blogger alone to do it because its a lot of work so she decided to put Mailbox Monday on tour and so far with great success it has made monthly stops at more then a dozen blogs and this year is booked until the end. I will actually be hosting Mailbox Monday in April.
The host for January is Alyce from At Home With Books.

Another host for In My Mailbox is Kristi from The Story Siren.

Be sure to check out the above blogs to see what they and others got in their mailboxes this past week.

I was going to do a vlog today for In My Mailbox but this morning I ended up hurting my back. I think i might have turned too fast because I pulled something and it hurts really bad so I have taken my second Aleve and going to go and lay down with some heat.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and I can't wait to see what you got in your mailboxes.

This is what came to my door this week:


For Review:
I received All The Single Ladies by Jane Costello from Simon & Schuster UK. This is coming out May 3rd in Canada and coming out February 2nd in the UK.

R.A.K (Random Act of Kindness)
This past week I received two R.A.Ks from the awesome Lucy at Moon Light Gleam. Thank you Lucy they were a total surprise. She sent me Dark Lover (book 1) and Lover Eternal (book 2) by J.R Ward.

Books Bought:
This week I bought one book with a remainder gift card I had and that was Lover Revealed by J.R Ward (book 4) in the series.

So this is what I got in my mailbox. I hope everyone had a good week.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Brand New Series In Books

I am always on the hunt for interesting and exciting books for Michael and I stumbled upon these on Friday. It sounds like a great series for Michael that I am thinking about getting them for him because I am sure he would enjoy these books.

Here is a description about the books:
Like any third-grade boy, Zeke Meeks has his share of problems. His little sister sings embarrassing princess songs around his friends. He has a deep, dark secret that no one can find out about. (Psst...he's terrified of bugs!) And his biggest enemy is a tiny, evil girl with razor-sharp fingernails. It's Zeke Meeks versus the world!

 Girls are ruining Zeke Meeks' life. Not only is he surrounded by girls at home, he now has a new girl neighbor. She might be good at sports and video games, but when it comes down to it, she is still an awful girl
 Zeke Meeks thinks his teacher is crazy when he announces that no one can watch TV for an entire week. There is no way Zeke will survive without videogames or his favorite shows. Will he be bored enough to play with his sister? Study? Actually read for fun? Only time will tell
 Instead of playing at recess, Zeke Meeks' classmates have been sitting around, staring at their boring Puppet Pals. Will Zeke join them, even though he has no interest in this playground craze?
Normally, Zeke Meeks wouldn't care too much about the science fair, but he needs the prize money. If he doesn't pay Grace Change fifty dollars, she'll use her evil fingernails to rip his face off. Now if only he could find a project that doesn't make the dog sick or clog up the pipes.

There is also a great website to go along with the books and its Capstone Kids .

Don't they sound like the would be so much fun to read? If you go to the Capstone kids you can read a sample chapter of Zeke Meeks vs the putrid puppet pals. I just read it and I think this is right up Mihael's alley.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

(Guest Post) Joel M. Andre

Today I am taking part in Partners In Crimes blog tour and I am honored to have Joel M. Andre stop by to guest post for me today. Thanks so much Joel for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this for me and my readers.

Most people who do a Google search on me will find an endless supply of
information. Over the years I have done a number of interviews and guest
posts promoting my books. However, around the time that my third Lauren
Bruni book, The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen, I began to build a
website that focused on a variety of horror themed topics.

It was here that I would promote items like Brutal, Kill 4 Me and other
titles I have released and built a world of horror topics that interest
people. This created an online presence that left people interested in
learning more about me after they researched another topic. This has helped
me to reach a new audience. It has also helped me to avoid plenty of the
pitfalls other writers encountered.

Many writers who self-publish sit back after the book is published and
wait for people to find and buy it. They may get a fair number of sales
once people start finding it but there is no telling how long that could
take. It could be weeks or even months before the first sale.

Why not help people find your book faster so it starts selling faster?
Using SEO strategies is the answer. It isn't that difficult and the first
step is done at the time you publish at Kindle Desktop Publishing or just
about any of the other places you can self-publish. Most places have a
field to enter carefully chosen keywords that will help bring your book up
in searches made by people looking for something related to your book's
topic or storyline. To choose the best keywords, you can use such tools as
Google Keyword Tool. This will help you find the keywords relative to your
book that are actually used by people looking for something in the search
engines.

Now, this is just the first step and while important, does not go far
enough to help your book be found sooner. The next step in SEO is
backlinking. This means having other sites link to the page offering your
book. It is important that these links come from sites that are relevant to
the type of book you have or the topic of the book.

Another effective SEO strategy that is newer is social networking. This
involve such sites as Facebook, Twitter, Redgage and Google +. Millions of
people are on these sites regularly so if you are not using them to promote
your book, you are leaving sales and cash on the table. Create fan pages,
circles and whatever is the mode for a particular social site just for your
books and then start getting people to 'Like', 'Follow' and 'Plus 1' you.
It can go viral and help to boost sales and more talk about your book.

Of course, guest blogging and blog comments are another means of helping
people find and buy your book. This can be a more personal way as you can
tell a little about yourself and how you came to write the book, which is
often a great way to promote a book.

These can be a bit time consuming to do all on your own but there is a
company with the expertise to help you get it done right without costing an
arm and a leg. That company is Need An Article, where I am one of the staff
of writers who can help you get your book noticed sooner. You can check
them out at www.needanarticle.com or visit me online at www.joelmandre.info.

Joel's newest book is:
About the book:
On a warm summer afternoon, in Northern Arizona, a double homicide stains the ground with blood. Detectives are called out to handle the investigation, each plagued with their own internal demons, and aren't prepared for what they are about to find. Detective Lauren Bruni, faces a world of darkness and evil, as a demonic force begins to leash an attack on a small town. As the stakes begin to rise, so does the stunning truth, that not even Lauren can imagine. In a world where her life had started to fall apart, she must pick up the pieces and push forward in an effort to save those that she loves the most. Joel M. Andre takes the Horror genre and pushes the boundaries in a tale full of suspense, dark comedy and genuine horror.

To buy the paperback version of this book click here or to buy it on kindle click here.

About the Author
Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry. Between the years of 1999 and 2007, Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection, "Pray the Rain Never Ends". Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark, tongue in cheek, "A Death at the North Pole", created a dark world that resulted from the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately, it proved to be a tale of redemption. October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, "Kill 4 Me." This was a tale that found Casey Dwyer being haunted by a spirit through text messages, and instant messaging. It was far more brutal than anything he had released before. Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, "The Pentacle of Light". This tale dealt with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God. As times continue to change, so does the tales he has to tell. This October he will bring back Lauren Bruni in a prequel, and come 2011 there will be the next book in his Fantasy series "The Pentacle of Light". Currently, he resides in Arizona.

Thanks again Joel for stopping by and doing this for us.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Two Funny videos I discovered today

One of my daily rituals is always to head to facebook before anything else to see what is going one with my friends. Usually they post something interesting or funny and this morning on facebook one of my friends posted this video:

I guess this can relate to any of us bloggers and I admit that I am guilty of saying a few things in this video. How about you?
Then my second thing to do online is to head into blogger and find out what fun and exciting things fellow bloggers are posting and  I saw this one this morning on tales of a ranting ginger


I am sure our significant others have said a few things this guy has said. I know mine has.

Enjoy everyone.
August 26, 2008 ~Cindys Love of Books was created.



 
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