Bloggin' 'bout Books: Quick Update

2026 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama

- Alaska

- Arizona

- Arkansas

- California

- Colorado

- Connecticut

- Delaware

- Florida

- Georgia

- Hawaii

- Idaho

- ~~Illinois~~ (1)

- Indiana

- Iowa

- Kansas

- Kentucky

- Louisiana

- Maine

- Maryland

- Massachusetts

- Michigan

- Minnesota

- Mississippi

- Missouri

- Montana

- Nebraska

- Nevada

- New Hampshire

- New Jersey

- New Mexico

- ~~New York~~ (1)

- North Carolina

- North Dakota

- Ohio

- Oklahoma

- Oregon

- Pennsylvania

- ~~Rhode Island~~ (1)

- South Carolina

- South Dakota

- Tennessee

- Texas

- Utah

- Vermont

- Virginia

- Washington

- West Virginia

- Wisconsin

- Wyoming

- Washington, D.C.*

International:

- England (1)

Quick Update

6:53 PM

I'm off tomorrow to the Happiest Place on Earth. I haven't been to Disneyland since I was about 12. Only one of my kids has been there, so this will be a fun trip. I can't wait to see the park again, especially through my kids' eyes. It's going to be a short jaunt (Anaheim is only about 5-6 hours from Phoenix); I'll probably be back before you would have even realized I was gone! Still, I wanted to say ciao, and leave you with a few parting notes:

* My eyes are still bleary from reading manuscripts that were submitted to Amazon for entrance into their Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Have you heard of this one? There are currently 100 semifinalists competing for a publishing contract with Penguin. Amazon is allowing its customers to pick the winner by reviewing and rating manuscripts. There's an incentive for reviewers, too - Amazon is giving a Kindle and $2,000 to their top reviewer. I found out about this a week ago, so I only had a chance to review about 40 of the entries. Did anyone else do this? I probably don't have a prayer of winning, but it was fun to see the different stories. Take a look if you haven't already, there are some really good entries.

* The other night, my husband asked me if the part of my brain that processes reading is tired. I realized that yes, it actually is. So, I'm not bringing any books on my trip. I may sneak in the current issue of Booklist magazine, which I haven't quite finished. Since I'm not a librarian (although I've considered getting a Master's in Library Science), I feel like a rebel reading this publication, which is geared toward professionals. The reviews in it are really good - I'm enjoying them. Other than that, it will be good to get my nose out of a book, and concentrate on my family.

* I still haven't heard from alisonwonderland, winner of The Bookseller of Kabul. If you spy her around the blogosphere, will you direct her over to my blog? Thanks!

* Have a great weekend, everyone! I'll be back soon with more reviews, author spotlights and more.

5 comments:

~V28 February, 2008 01:42
Hi Susan,
Nice site! I really appreciated your review of The Silence of Trees. Thanks again for taking the time to read and review the excerpt.

Best of luck to you.
Valya Dudycz Lupescu
www.thesilenceoftrees.com
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Inside A Book28 February, 2008 04:17
Have a wonderful time! What will I do without what seems like a daily review!?! You are smokin' in the "rapid reading" department!! I have another friend going to the big D this weekend. You may see half of our state there!!
Be safe and rest your brain!
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Lisa28 February, 2008 05:47
Susan, I hope you and your family have a wonderful time. You're a true book lover when you subscribe to Booklist. I get to read it at work as part of my job, which I love. I would encourage you to go for the MLIS. It's a great profession. I love reading about new books almost as much as I enjoy reading new books. Do you subscribe to Bookmarks? That's geared towards the general public, but it's a great book review magazine.
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Susan28 February, 2008 06:28
Thanks, everybody. We leave in a few hours, so I really should be packing right now!

V - You are so welcome. I loved your story, and I hope you win.

Inside - We chose this weekend because we thought it might not be as crowded, but I keep hearing people say that they are going this weekend, too. So, who knows? It might be one of the most crowded weekends of the year!

Lisa - I do subscribe to Bookmarks, and I love it. I also like Booklist, even though it was a very expensive subscription :) I am seriously considering a MLS. I've been out of college for almost 10 years now, and I have been a SAHM for the whole time. So, I've never worked in my degree area (English). I'm not sure where I will get the letters of recommendation they require for entrance into grad school. Anyway, my youngest is 3; when he's in all day Kindergarten, I'm going to start looking into programs. Thanks for the encouragement!

Okay, I'm off to pack. Have a great weekend, everyone. I'll be back to blogging and reading all of your blogs soon.
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alisonwonderland03 March, 2008 09:07
hey, Susan! things have been crazy this past week (and will continue to be crazy this week), and i haven't had time to visit any of my favorite book bloggers so i missed the announcement! i'm extremely excited about The Bookseller of Kabul though, and i'll email you my snail mail address right away. thanks so very much!
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