Lit Collective: An Online Reading Retreat discussion

Tell us about yourself, what you like to read, and leave us a blog link, if you have one.

I'll start! I'm Michelle, the group's founder and one of your moderators. This group grew out of a chat between myself and some of my book chat cohorts from my weekly book chat group, TuesBookTalk. Laura (who will hopefully be one of our moderators) mentioned a reading retreat with which she was going to participate in real life. After she explained how it worked, I thought why not do something like that online? They were all game and this group was born!

I have 13 blogs. My main book blog is http://www.truebookaddict.com I also have a horror/speculative fiction blog, a writing blog (I'm working on a novel), and I host various reading challenges and four read-a-thons a year. My other book group is TuesBookTalk here on Goodreads with weekly chats on Twitter at #TuesBookTalk (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/3...).

I guess it's obvious that I love books! I own over 3000. I'm also the mom of two terrific preteen boys and two lovely cat daughters. I work at home as a virtual assistant and, as mentioned above, I'm working on a novel.

Welcome to the group! Nice to meet everyone. =O)

Elizabeth here :)

I'm a writer and currently employed as a freelance copy editor (fiction for the most part). My home is in the middle of Oklahoma and I am an amateur photographer. I enjoy literary fiction and my reading has slowed down a lot since I've started in my new line of work. Can't wait to dig in!

You can find me blogging at http://www.elizabeth-michelle.com

Elizabeth wrote: "Elizabeth here :)

I'm a writer and currently employed as a freelance copy editor (fiction for the most part). Can't wait to dig in!

You can find me blogging at http://www.elizabeth-michelle.com"

Welcome to the group, Elizabeth! Looking forward to reading with you.

Hi, I'm Lianne! I blog about books at http://www.thetoweringpile.com

I was a computer scientist, but have now just started school to become a librarian. My biggest hobby (outside of reading) is genealogy, and I also blog about that (occasionally) at http://storiesofacanadianfamily.blogs...

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Hi, I'm Lianne! I blog about books at http://www.thetoweringpile.com

I was a computer scientist, but have now just started school to become a librarian. My biggest hobby (outside of reading) is ge..."

Welcome, Lianne! Nice to see you here. Thanks for joining!

OMG, how do you manage 13 blogs!!
Thanks for setting this up.
I have been book blogging for 3 years. [http://wordsandpeace.com]
I'm actually French, living in the US. I teach French online and do lots of translations.
apart from my blog i run France Book Tours, virtual book tours for books having some type of connection with France [http://francebooktours.com]

Hello, fellow group members! My name is Erica, I'm 26 years old, and I live in New Jersey, outside of New York City, in the USA. I've been an avid reader since the age of 12. My favorite genre is historical fiction, but I also like young adult novels, memoir, history, poetry, and more! Besides reading, I also like to crochet, make mixed-media art, and pen pal.

Emma wrote: "OMG, how do you manage 13 blogs!!
Thanks for setting this up.
I have been book blogging for 3 years. [http://wordsandpeace.com]
I'm actually French, living in the US. I teach French online and do l..."

Welcome, Emma! Well, I don't blog on all of them ALL the time. HaHa! Let's just say that I'm pretty busy. So glad to have you in the group!

Erica wrote: "Hello, fellow group members! My name is Erica, I'm 26 years old, and I live in New Jersey, outside of New York City, in the USA. I've been an avid reader since the age of 12. My favorite genre is h..."

Welcome to the group, Erica! Historical fiction is also my favorite genre.

Hello everyone, I'm Vivian LeMay.
Thank you Michelle for the invitation.
I love historical fiction, especially about time periods or places I never knew about. I have authored a Kindle series called The Last Lord of Paradise, a generational family saga, and keep a blog about New France, when America was French.

http://thelastlordofparadise.blogspot...

Looking forward to our next read.

Vivian : )

Vivian wrote: "Hello everyone, I'm Vivian LeMay.
Thank you Michelle for the invitation.
I love historical fiction, especially about time periods or places I never knew about. I have authored a Kindle series cal..."

Your series looks so interesting, Vivian! I just added the first book to my wishlist. Are the characters based on your actual ancestors? I'm a genealogist, and have always wanted to write historical fiction about my own ancestors. I'm also of French Canadian and Acadian descent.

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Vivian wrote: "Hello everyone, I'm Vivian LeMay.
Thank you Michelle for the invitation.
I love historical fiction, especially about time periods or places I never knew about. I have authored a Ki..."

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Vivian wrote: "Hello everyone, I'm Vivian LeMay.
Thank you Michelle for the invitation.
I love historical fiction, especially about time periods or places I never knew about. I have authored a Ki..."

Lianne,
I don't have much more information than names and dates about my ancestors so The Last Lord of Paradise is total fiction. But I enjoyed doing historical research about Detroit and Michigan's early French settlers (1701). Historical letters and journals show that both the British and later the Americans complained about the French habitants. Apparently they were having entirely too much fun to suit the staid British and the hard working, all business, Americans who later overwhelmed their culture.

But I do recall that happy attitude toward life in my own family. They always enjoyed their marriages, and children and neighbors. Perhaps you recognized that attitude in your own French Canadian relatives, Lianne.

Vivian

Risa wrote: "What a lovely idea!

I am known as Risa online. I'm a postgraduate in English Literature. I lectured for a couple of years before I got married. Now I stay at home and look after my baby boys while..."

Welcome to the group, Risa! So glad you're joining us.

Vivian wrote: "Hello everyone, I'm Vivian LeMay.
Thank you Michelle for the invitation.
I love historical fiction, especially about time periods or places I never knew about. I have authored a Kindle series cal..."

You're welcome! Thanks for joining the us, Vivian!

Hey everyone! Kriss Morton here. I am an Alaskan book blogger, author, publicist and most importantly a reader. Until recently I was an adjunct Eng Lit prof, now I just read the books I could not let everyone know I read (my genre books)and now I can read zombie, horror, romance whatever else I want. I taught medieval lit so... as much as I LOVE it, it is hard to blog about it. WOW 13 blogs! I have a hard time balancing three! I also have over 3K physical books and that does not count the ones on my Kindle!

http://cabingoddess.com is my blog! THANKS for the welcome!

Hello, everyone! I'm Heather from Utah in the U.S. I love reading. I love learning. My favorites are non-fiction science-related and philosophy, and feminism-type books. But I also love young adult fiction, zombie books, historical fiction, pretty much anything!

I'm a stay at home mom to a 4-year-old boy and in the meantime I read a lot, blog here and there, and study programming.

Thanks, Michelle, for adding me in here! Looking forward to this!

http://gofita.blogspot.com/

Hi!

I'm Lydia from The Lost Entwife (http://thelostentwife.net). I have a B.A. in English Lit and am sending out grad school applications this fall. I also own a piano studio and teach here on the beautiful island of O'ahu.

When I'm not playing or teaching piano, I'm reading on the beautiful beaches of Ko Olina, and I love nearly everything (I don't read erotica, romance, a lot of non-fiction, and new adult). My favorite authors right now are Kate Morton, Brigid Pasulka, and for older literature, I'm a big Tolkien nerd.

She has another coming out in Feb. loving it so far!

Hi! I'm Raquel, I work as a doctor (I'm an haematology resident). I love reading, listening to music, spending time with my two cats.
Nice to meet you all!

Hi everybody! I'm Melissa. I live near Vancouver, BC, about an hours drive east (depending on traffic) and have lived here most of my life, spending about 2 years as a young child in Sao Paulo, Brazil. From my earliest memory, I have always been a reader, trying new types of literature. I currently work in a school library, helping with checking in and out of books and then shelving them and other duties as needed (and yes that does include shelf reading, but I tend to do that while I shelve the books, as I can get a good idea if books are in their correct spot as I put books away). My mom was a school librarian for a number of years when I was younger so that had an influence in what I currently do (she also was the school librarian at the same school I am working at long before I came there).

I try to read a wide variety of literature, but mostly gravitate towards the classics, historical fiction, and literary fiction. I read some fantasy and YA to mix it up a bit.

I have been blogging since October, 2009 and you can find me at http://jaynesbooks.blogspot.com/

Kriss wrote: "Hey everyone! Kriss Morton here. I am an Alaskan book blogger, author, publicist and most importantly a reader. Until recently I was an adjunct Eng Lit prof, now I just read the books I could not l..."

Hi Kriss! Welcome to the group. So glad to have you with us.

I forgot to mention that my 3000+ books do not include my Kindle books either. HaHa! I have over 1500 on my Kindle. I'm insane! Glad to know there are others out there like me. =O)

Heather wrote: "Hello, everyone! I'm Heather from Utah in the U.S. I love reading. I love learning. My favorites are non-fiction science-related and philosophy, and feminism-type books. But I also love young adult..."

Welcome, Heather! Glad you're with us.

Lydia wrote: "Hi!

I'm Lydia from The Lost Entwife (http://thelostentwife.net). I have a B.A. in English Lit and am sending out grad school applications this fall. I also own a piano studio and teach here on t..."

Welcome to the group, Lydia! Glad to have you with us. I take it you're enjoying living in Hawaii? It sounds dreamy. =O)

Raquel wrote: "Hi! I'm Raquel, I work as a doctor (I'm an haematology resident). I love reading, listening to music, spending time with my two cats.
Nice to meet you all!"

Welcome, Raquel! Wonderful to have you in the group. =O)

Melissa W wrote: "Hi everybody! I'm Melissa. I live near Vancouver, BC, about an hours drive east (depending on traffic) and have lived here most of my life, spending about 2 years as a young child in Sao Paulo, Br..."

Welcome to the group, Melissa! So glad you're joining us.

Rita_h wrote: "Hi all! (moving my intro to the appropriate thread here)
I'm Rita, with a book review blog found at: http://myhomeofbooks.blogspot.com
I am an absolutely eclectic mood reader, covering almost any ..."

Welcome, Rita! So glad that you're joining us. =O)

Well, since I have been reading everyone else's intros, I guess I should go ahead and add my own. My name is Kristen and I blog at http://booknaround.blogspot.com. I have taught college English, worked as an editor, moonlighted in an independent bookstore, and now stay home to chauffeur my kids around although the oldest got his license yesterday and the middle child got her permit so my days in that position are numbered. ;-)

I am currently the president of the Women's National Book Association-Charlotte chapter (http://www.wnba-charlotte.org), the editor for the local high school's quarterly newsletter, and volunteer in the middle school library. Obviously my life revolves around books! I have a bit of an addiction to them, having more than 10,000 in my personal collection (the benefits of having received a great discount once upon a time). As for what I read, it's easier to tell you what I don't. I absolutely don't read horror, true crime, or self-help. Most anything else is fair game although I'm not a huge sci-fi/fantasy or mystery fan and have to be soundly convinced before I'll choose either of those two genres.

Hi! I am Sophie, long time history-nerd, voracious reader of historical fiction and the classics, and more recently a debut author with NAL/Penguin. My first novel, The Sister Queens, is set in 13th century France and England. My wip is set in the 16th century.

I blog but intermittently (more off than on lately as I am trying to finish a manuscript)at my personal web page, and also as a member of Book Pregnant and From the Write Angle

Pleased to meet everyone!

Kristen wrote: "Well, since I have been reading everyone else's intros, I guess I should go ahead and add my own. My name is Kristen and I blog at http://booknaround.blogspot.com. I have taught college English, ..."

Welcome, Kristen! Glad to have you with us. 10,000, huh? Well, now I don't feel quite so alone. I'm headed that way myself. =O)

Be sure to read the group news discussion thread. I just posted it yesterday and it further outlines how we will be doing things in the group.

Sophie wrote: "Hi! I am Sophie, long time history-nerd, voracious reader of historical fiction and the classics, and more recently a debut author with NAL/Penguin. My first novel, The Sister Queens, is set in 13t..."

Welcome, Sophie! Glad to have you in the group. You know The Sister Queens is one of my favorite HF books. =O) Looking so forward to your next one!

Be sure to read the group news discussion thread. I just posted it yesterday and it further outlines how we will be doing things in the group.

Will do Michelle :) And thanks for making me blush this early in the morning :)

Hi,

My name is Liz, I live in NYC. I tend to read a lot of non-fiction, but am really trying to read more fiction these days. I'm currently in school, so my reading has suffered. I used to read between 75-100+ books a year, but that number has dropped because school work is taking up most of my time. But I manage to get some recreational reading done.

I have a blog. It hasn't been updated in a while.


http://busyisreading/blogspot.com

Michelle/ wrote: "I forgot to mention that my 3000+ books do not include my Kindle books either. HaHa! I have over 1500 on my Kindle. I'm insane! Glad to know there are others out there like me. =O) "

We so SO will NOT talk about my Kindle, nope... nope!! WELCOME EVERYONE!

Liz wrote: "Hi,

My name is Liz, I live in NYC. I tend to read a lot of non-fiction, but am really trying to read more fiction these days. I'm currently in school, so my reading has suffered. I used to read..."

Welcome, Liz! Glad you're joining us. =O)

Rita_h wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Hi! I am Sophie, long time history-nerd, voracious reader of historical fiction and the classics, and more recently a debut author with NAL/Penguin. My first novel, The Sister Queens..."

It's a great book, Rita. I loved it!

Hi, I'm Diana. And let's just say that at least once a week I find myself missing the days I could devote to books. Especially now that I have a few boxes filled with them. I'm currently shelve-less but even if I wasn't I doubt I'd have room for them all.
I spend way too much time in thrift stores looking for books (and interesting bags) which I blame my mom for since she's always suggesting it. And of course I'm the type that spends one day saying "ok no more books for a while" and then getting a bag of them the next.

Greetings. I'm Sue. Gosh, I don't have the credentials all of you have. I work full time in the area of sales development. I have just finally found time in my life to get back to reading books with daughter now in college. I've always loved reading which started with my Mom bringing me to the public library's Bookmobile that cruised our neighborhood every two weeks. Mom didn't have a car so this was perfect for us. In school I read what was required and eventually went on to college and majored in French so spent several years reading French lit and then teaching. Most tell me I should write but there just isn't a book in me so I stick to reading whatever my book clubs tell me to read. Looking forward to reading and discussing a few interesting books with all of you.

Sue wrote: "Greetings. I'm Sue. Gosh, I don't have the credentials all of you have. I work full time in the area of sales development. I have just finally found time in my life to get back to reading books wi..."

Welcome, Sue! I'm glad you're joining us here for Lit Collective. It's great to see TuesBookTalk members here too. =O)

If you haven't already, be sure to vote in the two polls on the polls page (or on the main group page). We have almost decided on the books we will read for the March online retreat.

Diana wrote: "Hi, I'm Diana. And let's just say that at least once a week I find myself missing the days I could devote to books. Especially now that I have a few boxes filled with them. I'm currently shelve-les..."

Welcome to the group, Diana! Glad to have you with us!

Rita_h wrote: "Just want to explain something new with me. I am taking a 2 or 3 month hiatus from my review blog because I am having surgery, won't bother you all with the details but I have several specialists t..."

Oh Rita, I hope it's nothing really serious! I'll be sending positive thoughts your way for a safe surgery and a speedy recovery.

We will definitely keep you in the loop. I'm sure I will be sending out messages from here from time to time to keep everyone posted. I think this will be some good reading for your recovery time. =O)

Hi, I'm Jean and I blog at Howling Frog Books-- http://howlingfrog.blogspot.com/ I'm a librarian at a community college (a few hrs/week), and I classically homeschool my two girls most of the time. I've never participate in a Goodreads-based book club before, so I don't know how I'll do. But I'm looking forward to it! I love the idea of a March theme and August author.

Hi y'all! My name is Iradis (but I go by Urban Wife) and I blog over at http://livefaithfully.blogspot.com. Historical fiction is my favorite genre to read but really, anything goes since I love reading. Since I have a 7 month old baby, this online retreat is the perfect push I need to get back into reading again.

Welcome to the group, Jean and Iradis! This is an exciting new frontier in book clubs, I think. I'll be posting the discussion order and a list of discussion questions for each book soon.

Jean, please don't hesitate to message me if you need any help navigating the group.

Hi everyone, I hope I'm not too late to join in the group. I'm Darlene, I come from Canada, and of course I love to read! I blog at Peeking Between the Pages ( www.peekingbetweenthepages.com ) and have been for 6 years. Like others here I have too many books to count and besides the full bookshelves I also have a full Kindle. Adding to that I've developed a recent obsession with audiobooks and now have way too many of those too. I like to read a variety of genres but my favorite is historical fiction.

I used to work as a marketing manager until about 10 yrs ago when I unfortunately became ill and unable to work although I did work part time from home for a few years. Now I devote my time to books and my reading partner, my dog Sammy.

I'm looking forward to reading and talking books with all of you!

Darlene wrote: "Hi everyone, I hope I'm not too late to join in the group. I'm Darlene, I come from Canada, and of course I love to read! I blog at Peeking Between the Pages ( www.peekingbetweenthepages.com ) and..."

Welcome, Darlene! Sorry it has taken me so long to welcome you. Of course you are not too late!

Not sure if you read about the group, but what we do are what we call online reading retreats twice yearly in March and August. For March, we choose a theme and read a few books from that theme. For August, we select a featured author. This August is Geraldine Brooks. I'm putting up the order of discussion in the group right now. We're reading People of the Book, Caleb's Crossing and March. Hope you will join us!

Again, welcome to the group and I hope you will forgive my lateness with the welcome.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to message me or leave a comment in the group.

Hi Michelle, no worries. I'm always late with everything these days. I did read about the group and I'm looking forward to reading Geraldine Brooks books. They've been on my TBR list for years now.

Hello everyone, I am happy to be here, I hope it's not to late, I am here because I love to read, my blog is new and old at the same time, I am working on it and I invite all of you to stop by. This is my link : http://princessofeboligossipcorner.bl...

Hope you like it, I am reading in my iPad kindle app The War of the Roses by Alison Weir.
Happy to be here <3 <3 <3

Princess wrote: "Hello everyone, I am happy to be here, I hope it's not to late, I am here because I love to read, my blog is new and old at the same time, I am working on it and I invite all of you to stop by. Thi..."

Welcome, Princess!

Nope, you're not too late. This is an ongoing club. We are nominating themes currently for our March retreat. You can check it out here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

If you have a nomination, just add a reply like you did here. You can see a list of the what nominations we have so far in the top post.

Glad to have you in the group!

Thank you Michelle, happy to be here !! The only book I am reading in kindle now is The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir.

Princess wrote: "Thank you Michelle, happy to be here !! The only book I am reading in kindle now is The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir."

I like Alison's Weir's books. :)