May 30, 2014

Armchair BEA 2014: Topic of Choice and YA/MG!

Armchair BEA Headquarters
Header designed by Amber of Shelf Notes, photography by Wolf_359 on Flickr.
 
 
I hope that everyone has had a blast this week with Armchair BEA! I know I have :) I have had so much fun meeting and discussion with everyone.
 
Today for Armchair BEA we are discussing A Topic of Choice and YA/MG reads :) -- Great day isn't it !!!!???



My Topic: Book/Blog Organization!

So... This week has been CRAZY busy on the blog ... probably on yours as well... so I wanted to take the time to talk organization as my choice topic today.

Over the few years that I have had the blog it has been one of those learning curve things. When I started, I thought, 'Oh this will be an easy fun thing to do in my spare time'.... well if you blog you know that is WRONG!!!! Yes, it is a whole lot of fun, but it takes time, organization, and practice to get into a good blogging groove. So here is my style of that craziness...

Reading the Books!
I am a bit obsessive when it comes to lists and calendars, so since I use Gmail, I use the Google/Gmail calendar to plan my months as I add on book reviews, tours, reveals etc. I color code it according to the touring group or if it is just me posting and then I also have colored labels in my email for the individual emails as well that match the colors in my calendar [I am crazy! I know it... I am OK with it :)].
Here is the crazy calendar (Sorry is is blurred out --it does that as the days pass  - oh well you get the point):
I also have a spreadsheet of all the ARCs and Tour books that I get and I plan out my month for the books I need to read through. It has stuff like Title, Publisher, Pub Date, Review Date, and who I am reviewing it for Tour/ARC etc.  I really like my spreadsheet. It helps me stay on track each month.
 A Place for the Books!
You would think that someone with so many calendars, color coding and spreadsheets would have a very specific way the books should be, right? HAHAHAHAHA you are funny! NOPE! Is there shelf space? Probably not, so there are books everywhere, mostly concentrated in my Library/Dining Room in stacks on the shelves. Sometimes I make medium piles that are my monthly TRBs but most the time it is just piles to keep them off the floor... :/

Blog Maintenance! 
Last thing I want to bring up is about maintaining my blog... I kind of suck at updating things like my "reviews by author" tab and backing up my blog... yes I know it is a dangerous life I lead...I have started to be better about this stuff and learned about Bloggiesta this year. It is awesome!!! If you haven't done one, you should. I fixed all the blog things I needed to in a matter of days and cannot wait until the next one. 
I hope my rambling helps someone, if not that is ok too, I like to ramble :) Happy Blogging!


 YA / MG DAY !
I just want to share some YA/ MG Books I have really enjoyed recently...
Fangirl  Fallout  Half Bad (Half Life, #1) Orion Poe and the Lost Explorer 
 Zoe & Zak and the Tiger Temple (Zoe & Zak Adventures, #3)  Rose (Rose, #1)  The Orphanage of Miracles  Two Boys Kissing