Tell Me Something Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings that gives bloggers a chance to chat about everything from books to social issues and get to know each other better. It’s a big ‘ol group effort meme, so anyone who has an idea for a topic is encouraged to either email Heidi or leave a comment during the week’s stop.

This week’s question:

Let’s talk banned books. How do you feel about book banning? What are some of the banned books you have read?

Well first, book banning is horrible and shouldn’t be done. I know there are some books like The Turner Diaries that are controversial because of the hate they spread and their connection to criminal activity, but I think if you start banning books like those, you start on a slippery slope that can only lead to more bannings. As much as I dislike hateful books, I believe that they have a right to be published and shelved.

I also believe book sellers and libraries are free to make their own choices about what to stock and sell but if a customer asks for something, they ought to make an effort to locate it from another source for them (in the case of a store, special order, a library, check other branches). There will always be outlets to buy something, but that doesn’t mean it has to be available at your local Barnes & Noble or favorite Indie store. I have no idea how corporations make decisions on what to sell or not to sell and that’s their choice – I see Amazon is currently selling The Turner Diaries, but they also sell porn leaflets, so I take it for what it’s worth.

Have I read banned books? The list is so gigantic, I think anyone who’s gone to school and taken a required English course has! Just from the American Library Association’s list of the Classic novels that have been banned or challenged in libraries and schools, I’ve read:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• Ulysses by James Joyce
• The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
• Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

Those are just the classics among the top 100 banned or challenged that I’ve read. Can you imagine if I went through the top 500? And then added the contemporary novels? Shine by Lauren Myracle, an amazing, award-winning book gets placed on the list, and her Internet Girls series was on it at last look for five years running, I believe. Last year for Banned Books Week, I listed the top 10 banned books for each year of the last decade and it was startling how much YA was on the list – YA that is hugely popular that I couldn’t ever imagine anyone having a problem with was being challenged in libraries across the country.

This year, Banned Books Week is September 22nd thru the 28th and there’s usually an event going on to commemorate it (I’m not sure who’s running it). I’ve always participated though, so once I do know, I’ll put up a link in my sidebar.

A great reference for all things banned books, to find and offer advocacy and to keep up on legislative efforts is the ALA’s Website.

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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings that gives bloggers a chance to chat about everything from books to social issues and get to know each other better. It’s a big ‘ol group effort meme, so anyone who has an idea for a topic is encouraged to either email Heidi or leave a comment during the week’s stop.

This week’s question is:

What are some of the blogging events have you done in the past? What kind of events do you enjoy? What events will you be participating in this summer?

I’m sort of a fly by the seat of my pants event participant. While I’m hopping around commenting or just observing other blogs, if I see an event in their sidebar that looks like fun, I’ll contact the host. There are certain hostesses whose events I’ll always want to be a part of because they’re run so well and they’re a lot of fun (Kimba the the Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings are two of them). Generally, if I see something in their sidebar, I’ll jump on it.

I used to participate in a ton of blog hops organized by I am a Reader, Not a Writer, but it ended up feeling like too much, so I stopped. I still get notices and since I participated so much, I know when certain regular hops roll around if I decide to participate again.

I do a lot of Read-A-Thons, since they get me off of my butt and at the very least, make me aware of what I need to read. I’m a big list maker, but when it comes to setting goals for reading, I fall down on the job. I have my calendar set up with events and release dates and a spread sheet with ARCs and publisher-sent books, but never the twain shall meet unless I participate in a read-a-thon and I actually drag them together and start looking at realistic scheduling.

One of the events I really loved participating in and recommend to anyone who hasn’t done it is Bloggiesta, which used to be hosted by May Books and now is hosted by Suey from It’s All About Books and Danielle from There’s A Book. They’ve got a spiffy website that includes dates and all the details and is really just great. This should be a required event for new bloggers, it’s so much fun and so educational. I may participate again if I can find a clear weekend on time it’s running.

I don’t know how helpful that was, since I kind of participate as I go, but that’s the schedule for my events over the summer!

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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings that gives bloggers a chance to chat about everything from books to social issues and get to know each other better. It’s a big ‘ol group effort meme, so anyone who has an idea for a topic is encouraged to either email Heidi or leave a comment during the week’s stop.

This week’s question:

What are some of your most anticpated reads for summer?

Oh boy. I’m going to have to set a limit or we’ll be here all day. There are so many good things coming out this year (I say that every year)!

In no particular order, my most, most, most wanted of the summer:

A Cursed Embrace (Weird Girls #2) by Cecy Robson
Publication Date: July 2nd
Of course I have to read the first one yet. And the novella. But I hear they’re good from impeccable sources!

Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling #12) by Nalini Singh
Publication Date: June 4th
OMG, OMG Could this finally be Kaleb’s book? Is he The Ghost? I’m already hyperventilating. The freaking synopsis doesn’t give anything away, dangit!

MacRieve (Immortals After Dark #14) by Kresley Cole
Publication Date: July 2nd
I don’t even care who it’s about, it’s a McRieve! Um, that cover scares me though. I don’t know what’s up with that.

Star Cursed (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #2) by Jessica Spotswood
Publication Date: June 18th
Born Wicked was one of my favorite books from last year and I can’t wait for the sequel, especially since it seems like it’s following the oldest sister again instead of moving to the next one like I thought it might. This is one that I might actually re-read the first book again right before this one, I know it had a big ending and I want to savor it as I pick up book #2.

My list for August is gigantic and I don’t even want to go into September, so I’m limiting myself to June and July so I don’t get too depressed looking at the books I have to wait months for. *sob*. I’ve started adding books for 2014 to my lists now. That’s really awful. Why pubs, why??

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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings that gives bloggers a chance to chat about everything from books to social issues and get to know each other better. It’s a big ‘ol group effort meme, so anyone who has an idea for a topic is encouraged to either email Heidi or leave a comment during the week’s stop.

This week is a So You Want To Be A Blogger question:

What are some of your tips for building a successful blog?

This is going to be a bit of a do as I say, not as I’m doing right now answer. I got off schedule a month and a half ago and am struggling to get back on right now. I’m also not sure what “successful” means to everyone – it can be different things: traffic, personal enjoyment, high quality, all three or it can have changed. Anyway.

A few of the things I started to do that I think defined my “before” when my blog seemed to be floundering without an identity and had no followers and an “after” when I started picking up followers and had my own ideas where I was going:

• Decided on my brand and made it the same across all of my social media. My twitter is @basiasbookshelf, I bought the domain basiasbookshef.com, I grabbed the Facebook name, the Blogger name, the WordPress name, my ISPs email name (basiasbookshelf@charter.net) – everything I could think of where someone might come across me as a blogger, I grabbed that name. Then I decided on my avie and associated it with all of those things, including a Gravatar account.
• Forced myself out into blogger society. I’m shy (yep), so I’d set a certain amount of time every day that I’d spend on Twitter. I followed authors I liked, bloggers I admired and mostly at first, I sat back and watched everyone. Then gradually I’d drop in a comment here and there. If I saw another noob like me, I’d befriend her and we’d commiserate about our noob-ism. Eventually that’s how I learned about blogging events that I’d take part in, like Bloggiesta, which is awesome, both for meeting other bloggers and for picking up tips.
• Define what books it is I want to blog/review. I know, that should have come earlier, right? Well, I’m sort of a blog where I want to review what I want to read and still am. But I have to have some focus, so I think of it like a Christmas tree. What’s at the top? Is it YA? Then that’s the focus and everything else is secondary. Right now I’m a little split between NA and YA, mostly because that’s what I’m being offered/approved for and it matches my interest. But I’ll always mix things up because that’s who I am.
• Commenting, commenting, commenting. Do it everywhere you have time to do and respond to commenters at your own blog as much as you can. I’m guilty of having off days lately because of time problems, but that’s a do as I say thing. But this is HUGE. You can’t be successful if you don’t make connections. And brag about them! Put them in your sidebar and don’t be afraid to ask to be put in theirs.
• Quality is always important. I’m always pushing against that line of writing too much because I’m afraid I’m not expressing myself well. It takes me hours to write reviews because I take this so seriously and I want to do a good job. The day I stop feeling that way is the day I quit.
• You thought I wasn’t going to mention it, right? Ha, saving it until last. The Look. I think I’m freakishly obsessed with graphics and making things look right (poor Cait could attest to that one), but it seemingly has always made a difference to my success, even if it’s self-imposed. When I started out at Blogger, I had the most hideous purple colors, header and blingy things because I thought I needed eye-catching (even though it wasn’t me) and I had no idea what I was doing. Then I at least toned things down with tans (which was more me) and bought an image to use, but I still didn’t know much and was frustrated by Blogger’s constantly changing templates and rules.

  So I moved to WordPress, learned CSS and started shopping for someone to do graphics or at least a header. Ouch. If I was going to pay a few hundred dollars, I was going to do it myself. So I bought a good template and found a host. What’s here now is the result of finding an artist who regularly updates her portfolio so I have lots of things to add, I’ve learned to manipulate my girl quite a bit, I have someone at Etsy who works with me on some buttons and I play with the rest. When I get restless with the header (once a season usually), I change it out, but I stick with the same girl to give myself continuity and I’m staying with the same layout from now on. So…I guess my tip there is to find a look that you like that reflects you, whether it be purple and blingy, tan and sedate, graphics galore or spare and white, as long as it’s readable, and that you can find one or two things you can occasionally change out to keep things fresh without disturbing the overall look of the blog. Make sure you’ve included your disclaimers, copyright and DMCA notices too!

I know there are other things I should be doing, but it’s always one of those time things. *sigh* Maybe by the 3rd year?

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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings that gives bloggers a chance to chat about everything from books to social issues and get to know each other better. It’s a big ‘ol group effort meme, so anyone who has an idea for a topic is encouraged to either email Heidi or leave a comment during the week’s stop.

This week’s question:

What are some of your favorite feel good, light and fluffy reads?

I have a lot of favorite reads, I had to think hard about light and fluffy though! I ended up with four that I re-read pretty often:

A Reclusive Heart by R.L. Mathewson
This is a really cute story about a mousy author who goes out on a book tour with an arrogant publicist. They come to an agreement – she’ll do everything he asks if he helps her try new things. Along the way, he finds that he’s very protective of and charmed by the very non-mousy pretty author and well… Mathewson’s humor is sort of hit and miss sometimes, but she really hits it here. It’s flirty, silly and sexy. This book is a lot of fun.

Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James
It’s Julie James! Do I really have to say more? This is one of my favorites of hers, even though they’re all great. Her dialogue absolutely kills me every time, but having the lead female character representing the defense in a sexual harassment suit is comedic gold. Aaanyway. This is a very funny story about the hottest of the hot Hollywood actor pursuing a no-nonsense lawyer who doesn’t have time for his shenanigans, even though he is pretty cute when he’s not doing all that schmoozy stuff. It’s absolute perfection, but again, it’s Julie James, duh.

Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
I’m kind of thinking this is another duh. Well, it was a toss up between this one and Blue-Eyed Devil from the Travis series, but this one is a little more “fun.” Sexy as sin Travis brother Jack first meets Ella when she’s toting her sister’s baby and demanding a DNA swab, but even when it’s proven he never even had sex with her sis, he keeps in touch, eventually setting her and the baby up in his apartment building. Lots of bonding, family visits, spine-tingling Texas drawling later and I’m in heaven with this book. I can’t decide if I want Jack or Hardy from B-ED to sweep me away. Okay, both can.

Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
I had to add this last one, especially because no book has made me laugh so hard recently. I know, I know, it’s pull-to-publish fanfiction and ethically, ew. But, dang, it’s funny. Caroline moves into an apartment and her neighbor has nightly, vigorous and wall-banging sex with different women. She nicknames them based on the sounds they make, which had me dying, especially with the one she named Purina because of her yowling that set her cat Clive off, trying to make sweet, sweet love to the wall. Anyway, Simon turned out to be a fairly decent guy and lots of sparks and romance and that awesome cat Clive made this a book to remember.

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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings that gives bloggers a chance to chat about everything from books to social issues and get to know each other better. It’s a big ‘ol group effort meme, so anyone who has an idea for a topic is encouraged to either email Heidi or leave a comment during the week’s stop.

This week’s question:

Ebook vs. Paperback. What are you more likely to buy and what is the deciding factor in purchasing a book? What price point are you comfortable with when purchasing your ebooks?

This is a fairly simple question for me. I have two six-foot tall double bookcases full of paperback and hardcover books, which means I love them and have no room for more, other than those that are very special to me. When I buy, it’s exclusively ebook and if it’s also a series I keep and have a special love for, then I’ll buy the hardcover version too. I have all of Jackie Morse Kessler’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse books, in ARC, release and autographed editions (which is overboard, I know) and love ‘em all.

How much I’m willing to pay depends on the book, but for the average “want” it, I’ll pay $7, but only for an author I know or for a book that’s gotten great advance buzz. For indies and self-pubs from authors I know, $5 is probably my absolute limit and from those I don’t know, $3 for a full-length novel with really good reviews seems reasonable.

The most I’ve ever spent on an ebook was $14, I think. If I remember right, it was one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books by J.R. Ward. Never. Again. No non-hardcover is worth that to me with my TBR list as big as it is (except maybe The Ghost’s book in the Psy/Changeling series by Nalini Singh).

All this talk about ebooks and prices has given me the urge to go shopping!

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