Pen to Paper - June

I can't believe I am keeping up with my writing! Not only that but I am writing more and more each month, and now am to the point where I am not satisfied . . . I want to send more letters!

 

This last month I sent out my usual letters to my fellow Ink Reader pen pals.  I also sent out two more letters to a couple of my fellow writing and pony pals. While I haven't found another regular pen pal yet, I have started receiving a couple of letters back from family members! It feels so great to get something happy in the mail.

 

You are going to have to remind me some time to show you some of the unique stationary I have been using. It is a secret obsession of mine (maybe it will have to be a personal post some time).

 

 

You know what else I have been thinking about lately, chain letters.  Do you remember those? They were pretty big in the 80s I think.  Anyway, I was think it would be fun to do something along those lines.  I was considering sending out 2 blank cards/post cards to a few of my friends and ask them to brighten someone's day but sending those cards to someone else. Then if they want (not necessary) they pick a few people and send 2 blank cards to someone else to send on. Nothing that would have to be sent to specific people so it wouldn't really be a chain letter just an encouragement to take the time to send a little note and bring a surprise and a smile to a friend.

 

What do you guys think?

 

Did you send or receive any letters this month? 

Pen to Paper

Another month has passed and I have been keeping up with my writing. I am really enjoying taking the time to hand write letters. It has become my quite time once or twice a month to sit down after Munchkin goes to bed, with a glass of wine of course and connect with my pen pals and friends and family scattered all over the world.

 

I encourage you all to join me and the Ink Readers to connect with fellow book lovers and meet new pen pals and friends.  I sent a letter to one of my pen pals this month and will be sending another soon as well as a letter to one of my other pen pals through Ink Readers.  I am also thinking about finding another regular pen pal, nothing beats getting a letter in the mail!!

 

I also sent a letter and a new home decorating package to my dear friend and fellow blogger Jessica at Thoughts at One in the Morning.  She recently moved to her own apartment and I had a lot of fun hunting up a small collection of decorations to bring her own personality into her new space.

 

And of course there were all the new baby, bridal shower, graduation and wedding cards, notes and gifts that I sent out this last month.

 

So have any of you written a letter to a friend or loved one recently? Have you received one? 

March RAK Wrapup & April RAK

March RAK Wrapup

I have been incredibly blessed this month with the kindness of others! I received three great books from my fellow bloggers!

Laura from Owl Tell You About It gifted me the nook book The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory, the last of the Tudor series that I needed!

Amber from The Musings of Alymbnenr was kind enough to send me a hardcover of Vanish by Sophie Jordan, and let me tell you this book is even more beautiful in person!

And Danielle from The Book Queen's Palace also sent me a nook gift as well of Rock Hard by Olivia Cunning that has been on my wishlist for some time!

I was also able to send out one book this month too!

I sent a paperback copy of Fire by Kristin Cashore to Jacquelynne from Hardcover Obsession. I try to share this (one of my favorites) as often as possible, so when I saw it on the wishlist this month I had to send it out!

April RAK Signup

I will be signing up again and hopefully sending out some more gifts, I am loving this nook book gifting option, no shipping required!

If you would also like to join RAK head over to Book Soulmates to sign up.

Here are a couple of my most wanted books this month:

March - RAK & other news

Welcome to March! It's a big month, our handsome dobie Niko is featured in a calendar this month!! So supporters of his rescue all over the country gets to see his happy face all month long!

March also happens to be a very busy birthday month including my father-in-law, sister-in-law, several friends & my own! Spring also officially arrives, even though it hasn't been a horrible winter, I am looking forward to spring and summer arriving!

March RAK Signup

It has been a couple of months since I signed up for RAK, however I have been sending books out as often as possible!  If you would also like to join RAK head over to Book Soulmates to sign up.

Here are a couple of my most wanted books this month:

I am getting so much closer to a complete Robin Cook set!!

My complete wishlist

So what books top your list?



November RAK Ending & December RAK gearup

So I got my first RAK in the mail this month!! I am super excited, Michelle from Michelle's Book Blog sent me a book that has been on my wishlist for years!  Thank you so much Michelle!

Synopsis from Goodreads: "Quentin Coldwater is brillant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless.

Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would.

Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real."

Unfortunately I wasn't able to send any books out this month, but I did purchase several popular books to send out in December! I can't wait to browse everyone's wishlists.

As far as December, I will be signing up for RAK again and of course my wishlists are giant but some of my top books are:

So what's on the top of your December wishlist?

Follow Friday, In My Mailbox & August RAK

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - Hands & Home & www.memyshelfandi.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. LINKY TOOLS IS BACK! I paid for the subscription - finally so now you can add the links to your own post!!! To add the code to your own post click on GET THE CODE here under the list of names.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Q. Talk about the book that most changed or influenced your life (was it a book that turned you from an average to avid reader, did it help you deal with a particularly difficult situation, does it bring you comfort every time you read it?). 

Wow, that is a difficult question.  I honestly don't think I can pin point one particular book that influenced me as a reader, but I think one of my most memorable books was when I read the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce. That series seemed to have kicked my whole book obsession into high gear, I absolutely gobbled those books up as fast as the library could get them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren that I have decided to participate in.

How IMM works:
Make your own IMM post! You can post about books you've bought, gotten from the library, received for review... books don't have to arrive via your mailbox.
I post every week, but you don’t have to. You can do one week out of the month or every other week it’s up to you.
You don't have to call your post In My Mailbox... (some people don't even have mailboxes!)
I post my IMM on Sunday, but choose a day of the week that works for you.
Once you have your IMM posted, come back to The Story Siren on Sunday and add your link to the list.
Try to post a comment on other bloggers IMM posts. I don’t expect you to post a comment on every single one, but pick a few!

All book bloggers are welcome, while I’d like to keep the theme to YA literature it’s NOT a requirement.

There is no right or wrong way to do In My Mailbox, you can vlog, you can take fun picture, you can use the books cover art, it’s up to you!

Most importantly HAVE FUN!

Guess what?! I was a very good girl this week and didn't get any more books! Aren't you all proud of me for only reading the books I already have?! :P

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time for August RAK!

RULES:

• Sign up each month that you'd like to participate.

• Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button :)

• Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.

• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.

 • At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K!

 Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us :)

So head over to Book Soulmates to Sign up!

I have plans to send a few books out this month, maybe you will be the one I send one to!

On my major wishlist for this month are the Frost Series by Kailin Gow (books 2 - 5: Forever Frost, Silver Frost, Frost Kisses & Midnight Kisses) and the last three books I need for Melissa Mayhue's Highlander Series (Soul of a Highlander, Highlander's Destiny & Highlander's Curse).

Hope you all have a great weeek

Follow Friday~In My Mailbox~July RAK

 

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://imabookshark.blogspot.com/
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. LINKY TOOLS IS BACK! I paid for the subscription - finally so now you can add the links to your own post!!! To add the code to your own post click on GET THE CODE here under the list of names.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog! 



Q. ACK! Your favorite book/movie character (example Hermione Granger played by the Emma chick) just walked into the room! Who is it and what would be your first reaction? You get extra points if you include visual stimulation.

This is a tough one for me, I don't really pay attention to books to movies or actors.  The first one in my head was Jasper from the Twilight series, probably just because I saw those movies more recently. The next one who came into my mind was Ned Stark from the Game of Thrones, I thought they picked the perfect actor to play the part in the series, he was exactly what I had pictured.  And then I thought of James Caviezel playing Edmond Dantes in the Count of Monte Cristo, but I decided on  . . .

Daniel Day Lewis as Nathaniel Poe aka Hawkeye. I honestly don't know what I would say other than "You can rescue me at any time."  Honestly I haven't read the book yet but fully intend to in the near future because the movie was fantastic!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren that I have decided to participate in.

How IMM works:
Make your own IMM post! You can post about books you've bought, gotten from the library, received for review... books don't have to arrive via your mailbox. 
I post every week, but you don’t have to. You can do one week out of the month or every other week it’s up to you. 
You don't have to call your post In My Mailbox... (some people don't even have mailboxes!)
I post my IMM on Sunday, but choose a day of the week that works for you.
Once you have your IMM posted, come back to The Story Siren on Sunday and add your link to the list. 
Try to post a comment on other bloggers IMM posts. I don’t expect you to post a comment on every single one, but pick a few!

All book bloggers are welcome, while I’d like to keep the theme to YA literature it’s NOT a requirement.

There is no right or wrong way to do In My Mailbox, you can vlog, you can take fun picture, you can use the books cover art, it’s up to you!

Most importantly HAVE FUN!

Well as I pointed out last Shelving Saturday, my TBR pile is out of control so guess what that means?  No books in my mailbox this week :(  I know, sad, right?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time for July RAK!

RULES:

• Sign up each month that you'd like to participate.

• Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button :)

• Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.

• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.

• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K!

Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us :)

 So head over to Book Soulmates to Sign up!


As for last month, I sent out two books (I'm not sure if they have been received yet or not so I wont spoil the surprise by spilling the beans.  I did send out a copy of The Summer I Turned Pretty and The Last Unicorn, but I won't say who will be receiving them ;)

Follow Friday #4 ~ In My Mailbox #7 & June RAK

 To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://magnet4books.blogspot.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Q. What are you doing to prepare for an upcoming zombie apocalypse and/or the return of Mel Gibson to the silver screen? (Both of which could be terrifying.)

Well Geez! I haven't started preparing for Mel Gibson but the zombies we are almost ready to take on. We are heavily armed and practiced, our preparations include a shotgun shell reloading station which I am very proficient at (can load about 100 shells an hour). There are also plans to make it down to the island and blow up both bridges.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren that I have decided to participate in.

How IMM works:
Make your own IMM post! You can post about books you've bought, gotten from the library, received for review... books don't have to arrive via your mailbox. 
I post every week, but you don’t have to. You can do one week out of the month or every other week it’s up to you. 
You don't have to call your post In My Mailbox... (some people don't even have mailboxes!)
I post my IMM on Sunday, but choose a day of the week that works for you.
Once you have your IMM posted, come back to The Story Siren on Sunday and add your link to the list. 
Try to post a comment on other bloggers IMM posts. I don’t expect you to post a comment on every single one, but pick a few!

All book bloggers are welcome, while I’d like to keep the theme to YA literature it’s NOT a requirement.

There is no right or wrong way to do In My Mailbox, you can vlog, you can take fun picture, you can use the books cover art, it’s up to you!

Most importantly HAVE FUN!

A small week this week. Only a few books in the mail and one on the Nook.

I got the rest of the Secret of the Unicorn Queen series in the mail this week :)

And on the Nook I downloaded The A Circuit

Synopsis from Goodreads: "The A Circuit is the top of the top when it comes to horse shows. It's a world with its own rules and superprivileged lifestyles. Teens travel the circuit all year, showing horses that cost as much as some homes.

Tommi, Kate, and Zara are all elite competitors on the circuit, but they come from totally different backgrounds. Tommi is a billionaire heiress trying to prove she has real talent (not just deep bank accounts). Kate puts the working in working student—every win has been paid for with hours of cleaning stalls. She's used to the grueling schedule, but Fitz, the barn's resident hot guy, is about to become a major distraction. And then there's Zara. She's the wild child of a famous rockstar, but she's ready to take riding seriously. Can a party girl really change her ways?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also signed up for the Random Acts of Kindness hosted by  Book Soulmates



 Please join me and spread the love <3  Hope you all had a great week and a fun filled weekend!

May RAK

I signed up for my first month of RAK - and already have plans for a few of my own to send out ;)   Please join us . . . .

RULES:

• Sign up each month that you'd like to participate.

• Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button :)

• Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.

• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.

• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K!

Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us :)

OPEN TO EVERYONE!

Let's keep our International bloggers in mind and in our hearts.

Remember, there's always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!

Easy peasy!