Jenn's Bookshelves

I had a very productive Bloggiesta! Ok, so I didn’t get all of my tasks completed, but that’s only because I added new ones!  Here were my initial goals:

1. Clean up images (Not completed)
2. Fix Formatting: (Not completed)
3. Write Reviews: (Wrote 1!)
4. Reply to Comments Completed!
5. Launch Tales of a (Former) Reluctant Reader Completed! Button has been created (after literally spending hours obsessing over it!) and TFRR will launch later this week!
6. Clean up Google Reader Completed!

In addition to the goals listed above I also:

• cataloged review copies I’d received
• helped out a bunch of bloggers on Twitter with their #bloggiesta questions
• Helped a dear friend Geri launch her own blog, One More Funny Notion!

Overall, I *only* devoted about 10 hours to Bloggiesta.  Hopefully, with better planning (and perhaps a babysitter or two!) I plan on participating a bit more during the next Bloggiesta.  So, thank you Natasha for yet another outstanding Bloggiesta!!

It’s the beginning of the new year.  What a perfect time to do a little blog maintenance!  Natasha from Maw Books Blog is once again hosting Bloggiesta, your excuse to spend the entire weekend working on your blog (like you needed one!).

To assist you in improving the look of your blog, ten mini-challenges have been established:

• Rebecca from The Book Lady’s Blog – 2010 Resolutions.  You know you got them!
• Pam from MotherReader -  Blogging is about community, so check out this Comment Challenge (watch for a Mr. Linky to be up on Saturday for you to complete this challenge).
• Danielle from There’s a Book – Blogging takes time & I’m sure we’d all love to blog faster.  Using a cheat sheet is just one idea of how to save time.
• Pam from Bookalicio.us – There is nothing worse than seeing your post on somebody else’s blog.  Talking about blog copyright and what you need to be doing to protect yourself.
• Beth from Beth Fish Reads – Using categories & labels to find what you’re looking for.
• Jackie from Farm Lane Books – Do not lose it all!  How to back up your blog.
• Karin from Karin’s Book Nook – There is nothing worse than landing on 404 error pages.  It’s time to go on a dead link hunt!
• Chelle from Tempting Persephone – You have some great content.  But can people find it?  Here’s showing off the best of the best.
• Kristen from Bookworming in the 21st Century -  Introducing a new blogger mentoring program and forum.
• Jenn from Jenn’s Bookshelves (ME!)– Got nothing to say (not likely – that’s why you’re blogging in the first place!) but here is an opportunity to brainstorm blogging topics.

Be sure to check out these great challenges. If you participate and comment, you will be eligible to win some great publisher-sponsored prizes!

I participated in Bloggiesta last year and, admittedly, came up with some pretty elaborate goals for the weekend.  I’ve learned my lesson this go round and come up with six fairly easy goals:

1. Clean up images: When I moved to self-hosting from my blogger blog, I lost a lot of images.  I’m going to go through all my old posts and fix the images.
2. Fix Formatting: Yet another thing that didn’t transfer over well from Blogger was the formatting.  Several posts have wonky spacing, etc. that needs to be corrected.  So, while I go through all my old posts to fix the pictures, I will fix the alignment as well.
3. Write Reviews: We’re barely in to 2010 and I’m already behind on my reviews.  I plan to write at least five this weekend.
4. Reply to Comments: I love it when my followers leave comments! I did have a process of going through posts weekly and responding to comments, but this process has fallen by the wayside! 
5. Launch Tales of a (Former) Reluctant Reader: This is my ten-year-old son’s new feature in which he, as a former reluctant reader, will spotlight books that got him excited about reading.  I still (HELP!) need a button for this feature and need to schedule the posts, but I’m really looking forward to this project!
6. Clean up Google Reader: I can admit that I’m subscribed to way too many blogs.  I can’t remember the last time I cleared my reader down to zero (without marking all as read).  So, it’s time to unsubscribe to those blogs I don’t really follow anymore.

Sound easy enough?  I hope so, because I also have to take down the Christmas tree and do all sorts of work around the house!

Situated in the free state of Ohio, Tawawa House offers respite from the summer heat. A beautiful, inviting house surrounded by a dozen private cottages, the resort is favored by wealthy Southern white men who vacation there, accompanied by their enslaved mistresses.

Regular visitors Lizzie, Reenie, and Sweet have forged an enduring friendship. They look forward to their annual reunion and the opportunity it affords them to talk over the changes in their lives and their respective plantations. The subject of freedom is never spoken aloud until the red-maned, spirited Mawu arrives and voices her determination to escape. To run is to leave behind the friends and families trapped at home. For some, it also means tearing the strong emotional and psychological ties that bind them to their masters.

My thoughts so far:

I’m halfway through my reading of Wench and I can’t help but state how drawn I am to the characters already.  Each of the women have a compelling story and a specific reason for not opting to run when the opportunity presents itself.  The storyline itself is heart-wrenching and powerful.  Never before have I read fiction about slavery that haunts me so.  When I’m not reading the book, I can’t get my mind off of the characters and their brutal histories. When I am able to devote some time to reading it, I instantly become absorbed in each of the women’s lives. I guarantee this novel is going to garner a lot of well-deserved attention and praise.  Please come back on January 25th for my full review of this novel.

About Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s fiction and essays The Kenyon Review, African American Review, PMS:  PoemMemoirStory, North Carolina Literary Review, Richard Wright Newsletter, and SLI:  Studies in Literary Imagination.  She is a 2009 finalist for the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Award.  A graduate of Harvard and a former University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Dolen splits her time between Seattle and Washington, DC.  She is a faculty member of the University of Puget Sound where she teaches Creative Writing.  Wench is her first book of fiction.  You can visit Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s website at www.dolenperkinsvaldez.com, her blog at www.dolen.blogspot.com or connect with her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dolen.

Happy New Year, everyone! Life caught up with me and I didn’t get a chance to do a 2009 wrap up post!

I still wanted to write a short post about new things coming up on Jenn’s Bookshelves:

• Reading more books from my TBR piles!  This year, I vow to be a bit more selective when accepting review copies.  My poor TBR piles are about to collapse and I need to pay some attention to them!

• My son, John-John, will be launching a new feature entitled “Tales of a Reluctant Reader” in which he will focus on books that interested him, as a reluctant reader.  I still need a button for this feature.  Anyone willing to help out? Also, if you are a publisher or author with a book geared for reluctant readers, John-John is accepting review requests! Simply fill out the Review Request Form.

• I was recently diagnosed with pigmentary dispersion syndrome.  It’s a mild form of glaucoma.  Basically (if you don’t want details skip the rest of this!) the pressure build-up in my eye is causing the pigment to fleck-off and drift into the black part of my eye.  In addition, I also have a small rupture close to my optic nerve.  I go back to the dr. on the 18th for more tests and to discuss my options.  More than likely, I will have a procedure in which they use a laser to create a small “vent” to help alleviate the pressure.  If this doesn’t work, I will have to use eye drops to alleviate the pressure.  What does this mean? Lots of dr. appointments and not a lot of free time.  So, publishers and authors, if I have agreed to review your book, please be patient with me.

Ok, I think that wraps it up!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and once again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year!? Today I came home to find a shoebox sitting on my porch. Realizing I would have never purchased a size 7 boot for myself, I realized it MUST be my Secret Santa Gift! I ripped it open (I’m so impatient when it comes to opening gifts!) and below is what I found.

Inside was a note from my Secret Santa, Molly & Andy from The Bumbles Blog:

Happy Holidays via the Book Blogger Holiday Swap!  We do hope you enjoy your gifts.  We tried to keep your interests and suggestions in mind while also providing some personal touches of our own:

• Neil Gaiman’s “Graveyard”: From your Amazon wish list-so you can complete your Middle Grade Challenge–this is a clever book!
• A bookmark: From your suggestion list-in the “book thong” style which Molly is a faithful fan of ever since another blogger made one for her a year ago.  Hers doesn’t have a cool pendant on it though.  She picked out “Beauty” since, especially in reading, it is in the eye of the beholder.
  
• A Coffee mug: From your suggestion list–unsure of what kind you enjoy brewing, we thought it best to provide you with the vessel instead. It carries an inspiring quite from one of our fellow New Englanders whose pond we recently visited.
  
• Chocolate expresso beans: From your suggestion list-keeping with the coffee theme we thought you might like these treats to munch on with your coffee and book.  These are oe of Andy’s favorite treats.
  
• John Connolly’s “The Book of Lost Things”: Bonus!  One of Molly’s favorite recent reads and based on our research of your blog, something we thought you might enjoy too.  We couldn’t confirm whether or not you had read it already so took a chance that if you haven’t, you will love it and if you have, you loved it and wouldn’t mind a copy to keep or share with others.
  
• A Bumble of your own: A token of our little mascot to keep your handsome sons amused and of course, something to remember us by.

So thoughtful!  So thank you SO MUCH Molly & Andy!

Nicole from Linus’s Blanket hosts an amazing Blog Talk Radio Show called “That’s How I Blog“, during which she chats with various bloggers about their lives, how they blog, their favorite books, etc.   She’s chatted with quite a few outstanding bloggers, including:

Trish, Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?

Kathy, BermudaOnion

Beth, Beth Fish Reads

Michelle, Galley Smith

During the last portion of the show, Nicole and the blogger have a quick 20 minute book club and discuss a a book.  Tonight at 9 PM Eastern Time, Nicole will be chatting with book blogger extraordinaire Amy, from My Friend Amy.  Once the interview is over, they will chat about Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.   Be sure to log-in to the very lively chat room or call in (646-381-4606) to ask your questions.

Next Tuesday at 8:30 PM Eastern Time, I will be chatting with Nicole about my blog!  Our book for discussion will be Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane! There’s still time for you to read the book and join in on our discussion!

If you have any questions to ask about me that you’d like to be asked during the call, you can send them to Nicole at: nicole AT linussblanket DOT com before the show!

What do you need to do to sign up? Visit the Holiday Swap Web site and fill out the Google form! But make sure you do so before the deadline of November 12, 2009.  So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and fill out the form now!

First of all, a belated Happy Halloween to you all!  I intended to post yesterday, but with all the festivities I didn’t have the opportunity.  Here are a few pictures of my boys right before we began trick-or-treating:

Snake Eyes & Duke Show Off Their Moves!

And here are pictures of all the candy obtained after almost three hours of trick-or-treating:

John's Candy

Justin's Candy

After he sorted his candy, John-John decided he wanted to pose for one more picture!

Serious Snake Eyes!

So that was our Halloween evening!

Ok, time to announce the winner of the Thunder and Blood Contest!

Grand Prize Winner (signed copy of Thunder and  Blood): Annarkie

Runners Up (signed Thunder and Blood bookmarks):

Valorie

Ann

Kailana

Terri

A. F. Stewart

Winners, please email me with your mailing address at jennsbookshelfATgmailDOTcom.  Your winnings will be sent out by the end of next week.  I will wait 48 hours for a response.  If I do not hear from any of the winners, new ones will be announced.

Thanks to all who entered, and I hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Harper Teen has recently relaunced their Pitch Black: Books With A Bite Web site, just in time for Halloween!  Find book recommendations based on your “type”:

For you “Lovers” out there, Harper Teen suggests Claudia Grey’s Evernight Series or Ellen Schreiber’s Vampire Kisses series. 

For the Fighters, check out Diana Peterfreund’s Rampant or Kelley Armstrong’s Darkest Power series.

And finally, for you Biters out there, be sure to check out L.J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries series!

And before you leave the site, be sure to check out the revamped Pimp My Coffin section.  You’ll literally get sucked into decorating your very own customized coffin!

So, what are you waiting for!  Head over and check it out now!

Have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Are you putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel and you can win both exposure to editors, and a one-on-one chat with one of New York’s TOP literary agents Regina Brooks.

Regina Brooks is the founder of Serendipity Literary Agency and the author of Writing Great Books for Young Adults. Brooks has been instrumental at establishing and building the careers of many YA writers, including three-time National Book Award Honoree and Michael Printz Honoree Marilyn Nelson, as well as Sundee Frazier—a Coretta Scott King Award winner, an Oprah Book Pick and an Al Roker book club selection. As an agent, she is known for her ability to turn raw talent into successful authors.

ADDITIONALLY: The top 20 submissions will all be read by a panel of five judges comprised of top YA editors at Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Sourcebooks and Penguin. All 20 will receive free autographed copies of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. Of the 20, they will pick the top five submissions and provide each author with commentary and a one year subscription to The Writer magazine. ONE Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to get feedback on a full YA manuscript and win a free 10-week writing course courtesy of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

Please submit all entries via the contest website at http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php. One entry per person; anyone age 13+ can apply. Open to the U.S. & Canada (void where prohibited). Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1 until 11:59pm (ET),

NOVEMBER IS NaNoWriMo

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—this contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

So apply now! http://bit.ly/1PYGaN

JUDGING

YA literary agent Regina Brooks, along with editors at Sourcebooks, will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Dan Ehrenhaft, head Acquisitions Editor at Soucebooks Fire; Alisha Niehaus, Editor at Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin); David Linker, Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books; Michele Burke, Editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House); and Evette Porter, Editor at Harlequin. These judges will whittle the top 20 down to four winners and a grand prize winner—all five will be provided commentary on their submissions.