Musing Mondays

I'm a week behind, so last week's MUSING MONDAYS post was about borrowed books.

Where do you keep any books borrowed from friends or the library? Do they live with your own collection, or do you keep them separate? Do you monitor them in anyway.

I don't put my borrowed books with my own book collection because if I did, they would never get back to the proper owner. I normally keep library books and books from friends on top of my piano. The piano is right inside my front door, so this is an obvious place for me to use. This way, I can see my borrowed books before leaving the house, just in case I need to return them.

I try very hard not to borrow books from friends, mainly because I don't like to lend out my books. After you have had a few books go missing because you have lent them out, you learn to be more possessive of your books. However, I do check books out of the library on a weekly basis - for research, book reviews and pleasure reading. Having them within eye sight keeps me on track with my reading and reminds me I'm on a deadline to finish books and return them in a 2-week period.

Musing Mondays

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your "to be read list…"

As a follow up to last week's question, Joseph asked how you keep track of your tbr list. Do you have a paper list or on your computer? Do you take it with you when you go shopping? How do you decide what gets added to it?

My "To Be Read" list is a simple spiral notebook. I have one with a divider in the middle, so I can separate my lists. The first part of the notebook is for books I have read positive reviews about or had friends recommend to me. The second half of the notebook is for new book series I hear about. If I learn of a new series, I feel compelled to start at the beginning of the series - this section of the notebook helps me keep the books of a series in order.

I'm not organized enough to keep a computer file, although I envy people who do. My list is more user friendly because I can check off books I've read, mark if I've requested them from interlibrary loan, or scribble off books I didn't enjoy. It is also easy to carry my notebook into a book store, or to have it open on my desk if I'm searching online.

Of course, my TBR list is continually growing - by leaps and bounds. When deciding what to put on the list, I have very few rules:

Number one, if it's an author I adore, any new books automatically go on the list. This rule covers authors like Laurell K. Hamilton, Patricia Cornwell, Brandon Mull, Neil Gaiman, Silas House, Barbara Kingsolver, Bobbie Ann Mason, and too many more to be listed here.

Number two, recommendations from friends. Since most of my "face-to-face" friends are non-readers, I rely on recommendations from my bloggy friends. Book bloggers are the greatest people in the world and I have discovered many wonderful new talents through their recommendations. Some examples are James Dashner's "The 13th Reality" series, Kaza Kingsley's "Erec Rex" series, and Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments" trilogy.

Number three, book reviews. Although I don't rely on book reviews alone, they can sometimes push me into the direction of a book I might not have normally read. A recent example is "The Girl She Used To Be" by David Cristofano - he is a first-time novelist and I sometimes don't give first books the due consideration I should. But for this book I read an interesting review, so I placed a request at the library. This book is the best book I've read so far in 2009.

Number four, recent arrivals to the public library. Because I am a book reviewer for the Mercer County Public Library, I review new arrivals for a weekly book review column in The Harrodsburg Herald. This column is to attract readers to the library and give them a sampling of new books available for check-out. Because I try to hit all the target audiences, I usually review one adult fiction, one young adult fiction, one children's book and one non-fiction a week. Of course, these are my own self-imposed guidelines, but I want to make sure I'm appealing to as wide of an audience as possible.

It goes without saying, that all the books I read and review also go on my book review blog, Bobbi's Book Nook. This blog is mainly for me to have a record of my thoughts about the books I read - having my bloggy friends read and comment on my posts is an added bonus.

As much as I love to read, I will never be able to read all the books on my TBR list. New books are published every day and new authors are emerging on a continuous basis. But I enjoy have a "wish list" of books I know I can fall back on during literary hard time.

***James Dashner's 2nd book in The 13th Reality series, "The Hunt for Dark Infinity," Neil Gaiman's young adult "The Graveyard Book" and children's book "Blueberry Girl" and Brandon Mull's 4th book in the Fablehaven series, "Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary" are currently available in bookstores.

***Kaza Kingsley's first 2 Erec Rex books - "The Dragon's Eye" and "The Monsters of Otherness" - will be released in paperback tomorrow. The 3rd book - "The Search for Truth" - will be released June 30, 2009.

***Laurel K. Hamilton's newest Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter book, "Skin Trade" will be released June 2, 2009.

***Silas House's newest novel, "Eli the Good" will be released September 30, 2009.

Musing Mondays

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about bookstores…

How many bookstores do you frequent? Do you have a favourite? If so, which one and what makes it so?

Because I live in a small rural town, the only bookstore we have (with the exception of Wal-Mart books - yuck!) is an antique bookstore - great for finding older or first edition books; not so much the place to find current books.

Therefore, I do most of my book shopping online: Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Google books, eBay, etc. With the exception of my very favorite authors, I try books out from the library first before buying copies for my home library. My exceptions include: Laurell K. Hamilton, Brandon Mull, Stephanie King, and Neil Gaiman, just to name a few.

Of course, there is a Joseph-Beth Books about 45 miles away in Lexington, Kentucky, and whenever I go into Lexington, I usually try to visit. But, because I HATE going into Lexington, I'm lucky if I visit Jo-Beth's once or twice a year.

Musing Mondays

Today's Musing Monday prompt:

What is your policy when it comes to new authors? Do you feel comfortable purchasing a book or do you prefer to borrow new authors from the library? How often do you 'try out' a new author?

I enjoy reading new authors, but I typically don't buy books by new authors unless I have read them first. I normally borrow books by new authors from the library first; then if I enjoy them, I'll consider buying.

Example: Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight series - I had heard a lot about these books, but I read the first book after checking it out of the library. When I realized I was enjoying the book, I had to buy my own copy. I then bought the next three books hot off the presses!

In my opinion, you have to read new authors in order to find the great books. I enjoy reviewing new authors and it makes me happy to see new authors get the publicity they deserve, especially if they have written a great book.

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Mercer County Public Library

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about the library…

How often do you visit the library? Do you have a scheduled library day/time, or do you go whenever? Do you go alone, or take people with you?

I love visiting the Mercer County Public Library - it's one of my favorite places in the world. I typically go once or twice a week. Monday's is usually my "regular" day. I go at lunch time, right after work, and I'm always armed with a list of books I'm looking for.

I also return to the library on Wednesday afternoons because it is an early-out school day for my daughter. We make an afternoon of it by going to the library and then visiting the grandmothers.

Because I'm a book reviewer for the library, I'm always placing books on request. There are many times during the week I'll make extra stops to pick up books the librarians call me about. The librarians are also great about getting interlibrary loan books quickly.

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Musing Mondays

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book stores…

How do you choose what do buy from your local bookstore? Do you have a list, or just browse? What is the selection in your book store like? Do you find what you're looking for? Do you feel pressured to buy the kind of books the store makes prominent? (question courtesy of MizB)

Unfortunately, in my small town the only book store we have is a Christian Book store and it mainly caters to the church and religious organizations. Now I do enjoy an occasional religious book, but it is hard for me to find recreational reading in my hometown. There is also the local Wal-Mart, but they only carry the top 10 bestsellers, so if you're looking for something out of the main stream, then you're out of luck.

I will ocassionally go into Lexington - maybe once or twice a year - and when I do, I typically visit Joseph-Beth Books. They have a wide assortment of reading material for all tastes. But since it is a rare ocassion for me to visit Jo-Beth's, what's a girl to do to get her reading fix?

Probably 90% of the books I buy are from the used store at Amazon.Com. I used to buy all new books from Amazon, but now they have some wonderful sellers who specialize in "hardly used" books. I can get these books for very little and I have yet to be disappointed!

My hubby is also good at finding used books on eBay. Several of my Christmas presents came from eBay this year. This site is especially good for finding those hard-to-locate books on your list.

Of course, I also buy used books from my local public library. They don't have a very large selection, but ocassionally I will run upon a find - like the first edition hardcover of Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice. I already owned the book, but I couldn't resist a first edition - and believe or not, it was in fairly good condition.

No matter where I shop for books, I don't let the store dictate what I buy. I normally have a continual running list of books I'm looking for and I try to stick to this, although I'm ocassionally persuaded by a beautiful book cover. For the most part, I've done my homework and I know which books and which authors I'm looking for.

Musing Mondays

This week's Musing Monday asks the questions:

How often do you recommend books to others, and who do you recommend them to? Do you only recommend books to your “reading friends” or to anyone you think might find the book interesting? What does it take for a book to make it to your ‘recommendation’ list?

As a book reviewer for my local newspaper - The Harrodsburg Herald - and the local library - Mercer County Public Library - I am always recommending new books to people. I currently have two book review blogs, MCPLib for library reviews, and Bobbi's Book Nook for my personal reviews.

Of course, I'm always recommending books to family and friends. I have certain books I recommend to my mom, my mom-in-law, and my aunts - these are usually books about Amish or Shaker life, or about historical events from the past. I have certain books I recommend to my oldest two daughters - these are usually wedding how-to books because both are getting married next year. I recommend car books to my dad and brother, and musical books to my hubby. My youngest daughter has such eclectic taste, she rarely ever likes a book I recommend.

Some of my favorite books to read are young adults, especially new young adult series. I recommend these to mothers of young children on the website BluegrassMoms. I've recently discovered several new series I recommend to every child I see: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, Erec Rex by Kaza Kingsley, The 13th Reality by James Dashner and The Fairy Chronicles by J. H. Sweet.