The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

Welcome fellow book hoarders :D You can introduce yourself here if you'd like.

Well, hello, I'm Hayley, I'm 25 and I live in lovely, sunny England (haha)!

I have an eReader called Mimi and thankfully live by myself so no one can interrupt my reading/hermit like time ;D

I also sneak on at work - in fact I'm terrible for that - you'll know when I'm at work because the space bar doesn't always work :(

Hi, I'm Becca! I'm 16, I love reading and chocolate (well, okay, everybody loves chocolate), and I live in Vermont.

Hi Becca :D Yup, I definitely like chocolate!

Well I better introduce myself, too! Man you guys are fast :D My name is Jessica and I live in Utah. I have a kindle but I don't have a cool name for it like Hayley does. I'm a stay at home mom of 2 and I've been married 8 years. I like to travel and read and OH MY GOSH I love chocolate too :)

I have tons of family in Vermont, Rebecca! I love it there!

Sorry Jessica, we're just speed demons obviously ;D

Sounds like a nice family life you've got there (and in a nice sounding place too, both of you >:O)

Hi, I'm Adriana and I'm 18! I love reading almost anything but mostly YA. I live in Florida. Going to college this fall hopefully...
Sorry. I do like chocolate but not that much. (:

Hello there! I'm Thalia and I'm sixteen. (: I live in Oregon, and there's like...probably a thousand books in my room and there's probably like, five hundred of them that I either haven't read yet or haven't read in a WHILE. I thought this would be a fun way to help myself reach my Goodreads challenge goal (which like only eighty. /fail) and...learn not to spend so much money on new books when I've got a ton I can read here. XD

Nice to meet you all. (:

Hi Thalia! *waves*

*waves*
Hello! (:

Hey Thalia and Adriana, welcome to the group :D

Adriana: Ooh, good luck with college. As for the chocolate thing - we'll let you off this time ;D

Talia, that sounds like a lot of books! I'm sure this group will help you read them and save money (least that's what I'm counting on ;D)

I've been going to the library lately. I hadn't realize how fantastic it is till now. Bookstores don't call me as much.

Hello everyone will read my little words. I'm Nights from Egypt,My love. This will be my first time to read an English books. I'm afraid of not complete that, who will encourage me?

Welcome Nights! We will all cheer you on!

thanks Jessica!

Hi Nights! Pleased to meet you. (:

I'm Mindy, and I'm uh.. twice the age of at least one of you :) I'm 32, a YA librarian, reader and author. I really, really think this is the coolest and most motivating reader challenge I've ever seen. (And if you check my list, you'll see that I've owned one of my book since 1995 - were some of you even born then??)

It's a dusty shelf indeed - here's to amending that!

I was two! (:

Ha! Well, that's why I'm a writer and not a math teacher :)

Haha Mindy, I'm 25 so was definitely around in 95 (tho' reading different books back then - I was 8/9 after all) Good luck with that book!

Mindy wrote: "Ha! Well, that's why I'm a writer and not a math teacher :)"

Interesting book. Do you have an excerpt anywhere?

Thanks Adriana!

I don't as of yet, but I do have the query that landed my agent up on my blog (link below). It's a little more detailed than the blurb here on GR.

http://writerwriterpantsonfire.blogsp...

Hi Mindy! Pleased to meet you! (:
Hmm, 1995? I was less than a year old! Like...two days old, hahah. Huzzah to showing love to the books we've disregarded for so long! (:

Hi Thalia... oh man you guys are doing a great job at making me feel... uhmm.. let's say classic. Yes, I'm classic style. :)

Classic is good! (:

I'm 27! Yay for classic! I haven't seen your list yet, Mindy but I'm totally going to check it out now :)

Oh whew. I didn't want to go from classic to vintage just yet!

I really like it thanks (:

Aw, thanks Adriana! I'll let you know when we're closer to pub date, i'm sure I'll be able to share some excerpts at some point!

Do you know who's going to do your cover?

No, not yet. I'm not sure how soon I'll know that either, but believe me I'm dying to see it! :)

I've always wondered if you get to pick who's going to do the cover for you or if it's picked for you. How does that work?

It's very much picked for you, good question! If you hop over to my blog there's an interview I do with authors called the SAT - if you click on SAT in the word cloud to the right on the blog it'll line up all the SAT's for you. The question of how much input they had on their cover art is one of the standard questions I ask - some people have a lot, some people have not a lot.

Wow. I thought everyone would be able to have more choice. I would be angry actually if I didn't like it and I had no choice because it kind of sounds like that for most of the authors. Thanks for answering. That question has been on my mind for awhile (:

No problem. I'm confident in my house doing a good job for me though - all of the covers I've seen from them have been fantastic, so I'll trust to their good taste :)

Hi Everyone! I'm Alysia and I have a dusty bookshelf. :) I'm 39 and in Los Angeles and this is my first reading challenge and it is sooo perfect for me. I am currently finishing up my first book now and hopefully I will start moving faster. LOL!! Nice to meet all of you!

Hi Alysia! Pleased to meet you! (: Good luck on your first challenge! We'll help cheer you on! (:

Hi Alysia! Nice to meet you, too :)

Nice to meet you Alysia!

Hello! I'm DaLynn! I'm a stay at home, homeschooling mom of 5 kiddos. The big boys are 12, 8, and 7, and my twins - another boy and my only girl - are 16 months old.

My goal is to read a book a week this year, mostly of the stuff I have sitting on my shelf, and then purge it!

Not entirely sure yet how this works, though I think I understand the making the bookshelf part. This "challenge" per say, and making a goal of how many books - over how long a time is this supposed to be? And when it's over does it repeat?

Looking forward to getting to know you all! Headed out the door now for Bible study but will be around later tonight and this weekend. :)

DaLynn - Wow! Hat's off. I'm not wearing one, but you know.

Hi DaLynn! I can't believe you have time to read a book a week!

The challenge goes for the calendar year and then starts over next year. If you have any more questions, just ask!

Nice to meet you, DaLynn! (: That'd be quite an accomplishment to read a book a week and homeschool your kids, and take care of twin babies! I wish you the best of luck! (:

Thanks everyone! I read somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-35 books this last year, amongst a major move (and also not having internet for 8 of those months LOL), and that was without really trying or keeping up.

So I think and hope this is a decent goal. Though I'll admit I'm still on my first book for the year. :P Well, technically my 2nd as one of them is a Bible study I just do once a week over 13 weeks (and I have a few more books like that as well).

Thanks for the welcomes and thanks Jessica for that answer! Looking forward to reading with you all. :)

Hi! I'm April (and I've been stalking Jessica's awesome review page for sometime...but I've come clean and told her...and now I follow her!) I am 37, homeschool my 3 kids (10, 6 adn 2), married to the man of my dreams (shameless plug here, who has just written and published his own book:(not neccesarily for YA reading:) I'm so proud! . . .and I love to read! A good book...seriously, my kids see me holding a new, good book on my kindle, and they know they've got it made! School's out...mama got a new book she can't put down:) Hopefully I transfer my love of reading to them!

I'm starting off with 20 books...it may be a lofty challenge, but we'll see...I've got lots on the shelf I haven't read for a nubmer of reasons, but I'm hoping the extra push helps me get through them!

Question for everyone....is it ok (not for the challenge really, but in life...) can you put a bad book down . . . one that you're really dragging through, or do you have to see it through to the end, just because you have to know?

I've started my own challenge this year too...I have a genre a month...becuase I have a personality defect to where I like to stay in fantasy world: I like it there! I'm hoping this helps me broaden my horizons:) We'll see...!

January is Christian fiction for me...so here goes! Excited about this...I love to talk about books I've read to other people who love books!

Cheers! . . and happy reading!

Hey April! I have a kindle too! It's hard to read all my dusty books when I like reading ebooks so much :D

That's a good question. I have the hardest time putting a book down when I've started it because I feel like a quitter. I get that nagging feeling when I don't finish a book that maybe I would have liked the end and now I'll never know.... I've read a lot of books where it dragged in the middle but the ending was amazing. The best example was A Tale of Two Cities. Of all the books I've ever read, I can only remember not finishing about 3 of them.

What about you April? Are you the kind of person that keeps reading or do you put it down and move onto better things?

I'm both! It really depends on how much it's dragging:) There is always something going on with three kids running around, television and/or some sort of mind boggeling disaster of the moment...so if it can't keep my attention through an episode of Dora the Explorer, it's time to put it down for awhile:) I tend to read several things at once, so I can move back and forth if something is 'boring' me. But, eventually I end up reading it to the end! I have the same problem...I never quit or give up on the book...I can't, I just put it up on that dusty old shelf...but always come back to it...I can't think of a book I haven't finished (although I do have one, Divine Conspiracy...which is a hard read and very thought provoking...so I take it in sips rather than gulps! so it's still waiting) But, I've finished everything I've ever started...but some have taken years! :D

Dalynn wrote: "Hello! I'm DaLynn! I'm a stay at home, homeschooling mom of 5 kiddos. The big boys are 12, 8, and 7, and my twins - another boy and my only girl - are 16 months old.

My goal is to read a book a we..."

Hi Dalynne! Kudos to you on your goal:) I homeschool also...and I'm looking forward to watching you read so many books, you're amazing...I wish I could find more time to read...I'm sure it's there, It's just hiding... and I can't wait to hear your homeschool stories! Nice to 'meet' ya!

April wrote: "Hi! I'm April (and I've been stalking Jessica's awesome review page for sometime...but I've come clean and told her...and now I follow her!) I am 37, homeschool my 3 kids (10, 6 adn 2), married t..."

What's the book called and do you know any good teen christian fiction?

Adriana wrote: "April wrote: "Hi! I'm April (and I've been stalking Jessica's awesome review page for sometime...but I've come clean and told her...and now I follow her!) I am 37, homeschool my 3 kids (10, 6 adn..."




Hi Adriana! My husbands book? It's The Norseman and his name is Jason Born (he is a GoodReads author, so you can find him on here if you're looking to check into it.)...It's a historical fiction about Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson, it's very good (and I don't think I'm even being biased!:) But, it is about vikings so there is some language and some sexy-type scenes...and battles, but if you like historical fiction (or know someone who does, it's very good!)

As far as Christian fiction...I think Ted Dekker is a genius, if you haven't read any of his, I would start with The Circle trilogy (well I guess there are four now) Black, Red, White, and now Green...excellent story, writing and message. I also like Frank Peretti, he and Ted Dekker very much alike. So anything by those two I would suggest. I also like the Amish stuff..Beverly Lewis is great...I love her characters and there's always a good plot! If you've read all of those, let me know and I could probably suggest a few others... a few years ago...that's all I read all year, so I found several authors I really liked!