Welcome New Reviewer Steph to the Nook!

 

There's a new reviewer here at the Nook. I 'met' Steph years ago at the Kelley Armstrong board though we've never met in real life. Yep, Kelley's board; just like Jax and I met at Kelley's, and many of the authors who have been guests here, I first met at Kelley's. What can I say, Kelley's board was a happening place. Sadly, it's defunct now. But I digress.

Steph comes to us from Book Chick City; she left there and I snapped her up. :D So we now have myself, Jax, Steph, and CarolKat, though these days CK is more focused on her blog which she recently started.

A little about Steph, in her own words -

Some of my earliest memories are of my mom reading Nancy Drew to me as a child. When she went to have “The Talk” with me, I told her not to bother, I had already read the book. I love to read and met my hubby on Kelley Armstrong’s board. There is nothing better than having a man that will buy you books for every occasion. I read anything and everything that catches my eye but my favorites are werewolves, vampires, dystopian and Amish romances. When I am not reading or adding to my already overloaded book shelves, I enjoy doing oddball crafts with my son, gardening and running.

You should see her first review in a few weeks. Welcome Steph!

Dropping Linky Followers Option

As of June 1st, I'll be discontinuing the Linky Followers option. It doesn't update automatically, I have to do it manually, and there are relatively few people using it. If you use Linky and aren't following me via any other method, you have options. You can follow using:

• Bloglovin
• RSS
• Email
• Kindle 
• GFC (if it's still working for you; it's not for some people and I'll discontinue it at some point)
• or you can take this opportunity to drop me from your follow list. Whatever works best for you.

If you have any questions, send me an email: beasbooknook@gmail.com

It's My Birthday! Party Time!

 

Yep, today is my birthday! And you all gave me a present this week by bringing the blog up to 500,000 page views. It took 3 years, 7 months, and 6 days, an average of 381.39 views per day. I remember when I first started and I would get excited when I got 100 page views a day. :) I've actually had days with 1,000+ views and I just squee when that happens.

Moving from FeedBurner to FeedBlitz

As you've noticed, FeedBurner has dropped the ball and is no longer providing subscription services for the blog. I lack the skills to fix the problem and there's no customer support. I am moving to FeedBlitz and moving all current subscribers to their services. FeedBlitz has support and they have been helpful so far. Ideally, about mid-week, you should once again start seeing the Nook in your reader or receiving an email or whatever RSS service you signed up to use.

There are a few things you need to know:

• Please add feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com to your address books
• Keep an eye out for the message from FeedBlitz advising you that the change has taken place.
• You do not need to do anything to stay on the subscription list or email list.
• You will receive an email notifying you of the change and giving you the chance to opt-out. If you choose to unsubscribe, please do so by using the links provided in the email, and not your ISP's spam or abuse buttons.

I have my fingers crossed that this all goes smoothly. If you have a question or encounter a problem, please email Bea at beasbooknook @ gmail . com

Been Absent, Sorry

Life has been kicking my butt lately. The new school year has started and as always, I'm tired. I'm even more tired this fall as I'm with a younger group this year, and they are more demanding physically and emotionally. So, I come home, I sit on the couch, and I doze off for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes. Sigh. I've also still been recovering from my surgery, and 6.5 weeks later, I'm finally almost human again. Phew, just in time for surgery number two. That, if all goes well, will be in 9 days on the 25th. How long that recovery will take, who knows? I've also been busy, happily, with my editing job. I got some nice feedback on my work and I've had the opportunity to read submissions in the slush pile and offer my opinion on whether we should make an offer. Scary but exciting! One suggestion I'd like to make when you send in a submission - PROOF READ!!! Also, beta readers are invaluable. I'm just sayin'.

All of this has meant that the blog has been somewhat neglected and I'm behind both in my reading, and writing reviews. So, my apologies. I've been poking at Liz and Jax and you should see more reviews and posts from them soon, *gives them flinty stare* and I will try to get back in the swing.I have some blog tours scheduled and those posts WILL go up, including the two reviews (oh panic! Reviews with a deadline, eep.)

Now that fall is here, it's time for me to do my hermit act so maybe I'll actually get books read, and reviews written and posted.

Why a hermit act? Well, it's autumn in New England and New Englanders friggin' LOVE their pumpkin and apple foods and products (candles, etc.). Naturally, those same products have spices in them - cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, mace and allspice. For most people, those are yummy; for me, they're dangerous. I am so allergic that just being in the same room will bring on an allergic reaction. You read that correctly - I don't even need direct physical contact with the offending spices. Sigh. So, for the next few months, minimal time will be spent in stores e.g. drug stores, grocery stores, gift stores, etc and no time at all in coffee shops (spiced pumpkin coffee? Really? Gag, even if I weren't allergic). Is it February yet?

So, that's that. I am trying to visit blogs and leave comments. If you want to leave a comment on any of my posts, existing or forthcoming, I'd be delighted. In the meantime, happy autumn!

Change in Review Requests

From the blog My Mercurial Nature

I did an image search for piles of books and this one caught my eye. I hadn't seen this poem before but I like it very much. It's quite apt, for myself, and for Liz and Jax. If you don't have a magnifying glass handy to read the poem with, it says this:

Books to the ceiling, books to the sky,

My piles of books are a mile high.

How I love them!

How I need them!

I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.

Arnold Lobel

Liz, Jax, and I are all busy, with reviews that we have accepted and with life stuff. I've decided to close the blog temporarily to new requests. We are starting to get snowed under and currently are running about two months out for reviews. When we've caught up, and caught our breath, the blog will re-open to new review requests. For publicists and blog tour companies that we are currently working with, we will still consider new requests as time, and our sanity, permits.

We will still do the occasional interview and some guest posts and book spotlights so feel free to email us about those. If we said we're reviewing your book, it's coming! I apologize for any delays. Thanks for your understanding.

One Lovely Blog Award

. 

I received my first blog award, from the very kind Book BagLady. As you see from the picture above, it's called "One Lovely Blog Award". This was a delightful surprise. Thanks so much Louise, aka Book BagLady. :)

There are two very simple rules that accompany this award:

1.  Share "7" facts about yourself and...
2.  Pass this award on to "15" other deserving blog owners

"7" Random Facts About Me:

1) I'm scared of burns - sunburns, grease burns, etc. I'm terrified.
2) My paternal grandmother hated my given name and right up to my baptsim, tried to convince my parents to change it.
3) I can eat an entire can of black olives in one sitting.
4) I love to watch NCIS and Law & Order.
5) I once dated a guy  I met via a wrong number.
6) Despite all of the social media that I do, I'm actually pretty shy and awkward in social situations.
7) I was an Air Force brat. My siblings and I were each born in a different state.


Ok, now to pass this onto 15 other deserving bloggers:


1) Jax at Tangled Yarns
2) Kyla Holt
3) Reading the Paranormal
4) There's A Book
5) Mary (Bookhounds)  
6) D.B. Reynolds
7) J.A. Campbell
8) P.J. Schnyder
9) Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories
10) Krista D. Ball
11) Seleste deLaney
12) Book Chick City
13) Simply Junebug
14) Pia Newman
15) Brittanys Thoughts

Now, go forth and spread the loveliness. :)

One Year Old! It's My Birthday

Well, more specifically, it's the blog's birthday. I realized, as I was working on the blog yesterday, that its anniversary or birthday was coming up soon. So I looked it up and it's today. I had thought about it a while back. I thought about doing some big bash but decided against it. I was already working on plans for Banned Book Week and wanted to keep my focus on that. It's coming up in a few weeks, Saturday September 24 to Saturday October 1. I have guest posts, reviews of banned books and giveaways. It's my first big event here on the blog and honestly, it matters more to me than the blog's birthday. I got so busy that I forgot about it until now. Although, that doesn't mean I'm not happy that the blog has made it this long.

It's been a crazy year, with ups and downs, mistakes, and lots of challenges: no Internet access at home (some day I will), my laptop died and it was several months before I could buy a new one, learning how to write reviews (that's an ongoing challenge, getting it just right), health issues, working up the nerve to approach authors, publicists and publishers, learning how to use Blogger and take advantage of it's extras, etc.

It's been a good year too. I added my friend Jax as a part-time reviewer, made friends and acquaintances and  connected with bloggers, reviewers, editors, authors, etc., I've read many books that I might not have otherwise, even got a part-time job as a result of my reviewing (that still blows my mind). I think the best part, maybe even better than all of the books I've read, is all of the people I've met. Whether I met them on here, on another blog, or on Twitter, I've met some awesome people as the result of this blog.

So thank you to all of you - the blog readers, the followers, the people who have taken the time to comment, the people who have done guest posts and guest reviews, all of the authors, publishers, and publicists who have asked Jax and I to review or said yes when we asked to review a book, the people who have stood by me when I have screwed up, the people who have generously shared their time and expertise, and the people who have replied on twitter when I've given a panicked shout for help (some days I want to throw Blogger off of a really high cliff).

Thank You to all of you. I hope this coming year will be as good as or even better than the first.