Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

Because of my love affair with words, letters, etc., I have more of these types of books that I probably even should. One of the more recent ones that came into my possession was The Bibliophile's Dictionary: 2,000 Masterful Words and Phrasesby Miles Westley. I adore small, fun reference books like this one. Last year, I read The Gilded Tongue by Rod Evans, about especially eloquent words, which was pretty good.

I also own a few thesauri, copywriting books, and special dictionaries (like one all about words that rhyme). I was very blessed to have great teachers who taught me proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar (even though I do occasionally struggle with the latter).

Labels: Memes

I seriously considered joining in this week's Weekly Geeks idea, but since my book blog is still a baby, I'm going to take a pass on this one. I wouldn't want to commit to something and not be able to deliver. Not that I don't plan on continuing writing here; I just want to concentrate on getting it going well before I promise to do anything extra special such as what is being proposed. Basically, the idea is: When you review a book, if one of your readers emails you their link to their review of the same book, you include their review link on your blog. If you're interested in joining in with this initiative, click on over to Dewey's to sign up!

Labels: Memes

This Redhead Reads tagged me for this meme. Let's see if I can come up with six things about myself to share with you...

1. My favorite vacation destination is Williamsburg, Virginia. I am fascinated with the Colonial American period, so I'm like a kid in a candy store when we visit Williamsburg.

2. I love to laugh, listen to others laugh, and to make other people laugh whenever I can. And laughing babies are the absolute best.

3. I'm a news junkie. I have to know what is going on in the world, or I just don't feel right. I check the Drudge Report at least 10 times a day.

4. I just turned 30 last March 16th. I hear that this is supposed to be a great decade, and I hope that will be proven true!

5. My husband and I are both only children. We both admit to being spoiled brats. We try to spoil each other as much as possible.

6. When I was little, I wanted to be a meteorologist. I wish I had pursued that.

And now I'm supposed to tag some other bloggers, so I choose:

• Debi
• Petunia
• Ex Libris

Labels: Memes

Dewey has put together a wonderful themed blogging challenge called Weekly Geeks. I'm looking forward to participating in all of the upcoming weeks. The first theme is Discover New Blogs Week! which is lucky for me, since my blog is still so new and I'm looking to grow my blogroll.

Here are just a few of the fabulous blogs I visited from the huge list:

• Reading Reflections - Laura recently reviewed The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Her high praise made me glad that I chose this one to read for the Herding Cats Challenge. A couple of the phrases that stood out in her review were "unforgettable story", "vivid imagery", and "emotionally involved". That sounds like my kind of book and I have moved it up a few notches on my TBR list.


• This Book is For You - I had to click on this one because of the totally cool title. And it turns out that the title isn't the only thing that's cool about Mary's blog. I enjoyed perusing her recent posts, such as her review of Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, her post about her seasonal reads, and a job meme she did (she was once a grape picker, how cool!).


• 1330V - Vasilly has read 38 books so far in 2008; I'm jealous, but I'm glad she has because she writes awesome reviews! One of her reviews was about Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos, a book I read last year and really enjoyed. She reports that Sarah Jessica Parker may be the one to play Cornelia (the main character) in the film version. I'll be kinda disappointed if that holds true, because she does not fit the role at all.


• So Many Books, So Little Time - I must admit, I have been subscribed to Alison's blog via Bloglines for at least a couple of months. While I was getting ideas together to start my own blog, I perused many different book blogs. So Many Books, So Little Time was one that stood out as especially spectacular, and I just really like the way she does things over there!


• Educating Petunia - Here's another one that I confess isn't entirely new to me. I discovered Educating Petunia a couple of weeks ago. I was first drawn in by the pretty, bright, happy colors on her blog, but of course I also like her posts and reviews. She also has a fantastic book and movie group, if her latest post is any indication.

Now it's your turn! Join in the geek-filled fun!

Labels: Blogs, Lists, Memes

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??

And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….

Assuming I had at least a few minutes before having to board the plane, I would most definitely find the nearest airport store and pick up a paperback or two to get me through the trip. Or maybe a nice hardcover if I had the cash. I'd likely choose something with a subject that would allow me to chill out a little bit while I read, to take my mind off the subject of whatever the family emergency was.

Luckily, all of my family members are within 6 or so hours of driving time, so I probably wouldn't have to worry much about hopping on a plane to get somewhere. But hopefully, Jeff would be available to drive me wherever I needed to go, so I could read on the way! ;)

Labels: Memes