Early Reader Reivew: Goodnight Football by Michael Dahl

Goodnight Football
Series: Sports Illustrated Kids
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Publication Date:  August 1st, 2014

 

Format: paperback ARC
Source: Capstone Young Readers as a prize from Armchair BEA. receiving this book in no way effects my review or opinion of the book

Rating:

 




Goodreads Synopsis: 

From the opening kick off to the final whistle, Goodnight Football will bring the excitement of a football game to the youngest fan. The rhyming text, vibrant illustrations, and gentle ending will capture the love of the game through a child's eyes. A celebration of football, friendship, and family. This book is sure to be a touchdown for every football fan!

 Review: 

This book is adorable and I will be passing it on to family to read with their young ones. It follows a family as they attend a football game and all the wonders that are there. The colors and pictures are bold and bright to hold the attention of youngsters and the story is cute as it follows the kids leaving the stadium saying goodnight to all of the wonderful things that make up football. Lastly, the story rhymes, making it fun and easy to read aloud.

Being a book for ages 4-8 there isn't much more that I can say about it, but I do believe that your young reader will enjoy learning about football, stadiums, and love for the game thought this book. Very cute!
 

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

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...

     

      

Armchair BEA 2014: Giveaway Day!

Header designed by Amber of Shelf Notes, photography by Wolf_359 on Flickr.

Up for grabs from Cover2CoverBlog for Armchair BEA is a bunch of YA and MG book swag, including bookmarks (some signed), stickers, and other book goodies :) I may even add a book -- who knows?! Surprise package of things!

Decided to award 2 winners :) Thanks to everyone for entering!

~~~ Rules ~~~

 US only (Sorry INT peeps)

13 years old w/ a parents permission or older

Must enter on the Rafflecopter below.

Winner will be chosen on  June 1st and will have 48 hours to respond to the notification email with a mailing address. Failure to do so will forfeit the prize to the next person.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Armchair BEA 2014: Expanding Blogging and Novellas/Short Stories

Header designed by Amber of Shelf Notes, photography by Wolf_359 on Flickr.     Hello Again Everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful week so far with Armchair BEA and have won some prizes! (If not tune into some Twitter parties and make sure to visit sites and comment)    Today for Armchair BEA we are discussing Expanding Blogging Horizons and Novellas/ Short Stories :)


Expanding Blogging Horizons!

As one of the helpers of aBEA I got to experience the behind the scenes fun that went into planning the agenda for aBEA... there was a lot of great discussion. Some of that discussion was focused on today's topic of Expanding Blogging Horizons. There were many people that felt expanding horizons meant vlogging, podcasts, other media outside of just the blog. I think that those things DO expand your blogging horizons if you are interested in them, but I also took this discussion day to mean a lot more.

 
Community Outreach

 I, for one, have done a good amount of things in my communities (plural because I have moved in the middle of my blogging endeavors) and I feel that while my blogging isn't necessarily benefiting - I am as a reader and blogger.
 
For example. for the last two years I have been given the honor to participate in World Book Night  as a book giver. My job as a giver is to pass out free books to those in need of books. 

 

 

This year I gave away Agatha Christie's After the Funeral at my local community center dinner and the response was super positive! I got a lot of "free book....why?" but as a book lover there doesn't have to be a reason. I explained my love of books ans my love of sharing them with others --just cause....

 

My blog is one thing in my life, books and what it means to share them with others is a lot more of it, that is why the blog is there in the first place (well that and my husband said I should get a hobby). I feel that sharing books with real people in the real world expands my blogging horizons.

 

But the Pageviews!!?!?!?

 

That is not to say that I have not ever tried to help my blogging numbers, because we all look at those and *sigh* occasionally. In this aspect I have tried vlogging but I always feel like a goob and end up not posting them. Maybe I need to just get over that feeling. Do you Vlog? How did you get over feeling ridiculous about it, or did you not ever feel that way? Let me know, I need the helps!

 

I have also tried to get more involved with the blogging community, because for a while there I was reading other blogs but my blog and I were in our own little world. In the past year I have tried my hardest to comment on the posts that I like and relate to and state discussion on books -which is what we are here for right?! I have also participated in more blog community things like read-a-thons, Bloggiesta, Review-a-thons, aBEA :) 

Those too have allowed me to branch out more and more as a blogger. What have you tried?

Novellas and Short Stories  

Novellas! Good, Bad, Eh?

In the last few years I have been overwhelmed by the number of novellas that authors have for various series as extra tidbits. I find them wonderful!!!! but also kinda frustrating... here is my thoughts on this.
 
If I read a series...say 3 books...but don't read the novellas, have I finished the series? NO!!!! I feel like I am missing something because I know that they exist.  

 

They can be wonderful for adding to the story line of other POVs so I can enjoy them, it just keeps prolonging the end and I feel that I need more stand-alones in my reading life. 

 

Short Stories 

Wow, I love that short stories is one of the topics this year, I have a few that have left me with wonderful memories of reading. So here they are :)

 

The Lottery and other Stories by Shirley Jackson 

  

 

This book! OMG I love this book so much. The Lottery is so messed up but a WONDERFUL short story (speaking of which I need to re-read this book... hmm need to go to the library) 

 

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

 

Can you really go wrong with Poe? I think not! 

 

 

What are your favorite short stories and novellas? and as always Happy Reading! 

Armchair BEA 2014: Author Interaction & More than just Words

Header designed by Amber of Shelf Notes, photography by Wolf_359>on Flickr.     Good Morning Bloggers!  Today for Armchair BEA we are discussing Author Interaction and More Than Just Words :)
These are amazing topics!
Author Interaction!  

As a blogger I use a lot of social media to connect with authors and publishers. Specifically Twitter, oh how I love me some twitter! Before blogging I had a twitter account that sad by the wayside and was just kind of there... doing nothing in my life... then I became a book blogger and Oh my gosh!!!!! Who knew authors would talk to you?! I was super stoked about it (and still am if you couldn't tell).

I love when you tweet that you love a book or it is your Waiting on Wednesday and the author says thanks, that to me is the best kind of reinforcement for what I do here on the blog.

So what about this More than just Words thing...?

I have been a reader for a very long time...always under the covers with a flashlight, or hiding from my family to sneak a chapter during family get together. But it is not just books that strike my fancy, I am also a comic book and graphic novel reader ... I love them so much!

As an art minor in college, I love/d anything to do with the arts - museums, photography, charcoal, crafting, books with pictures!!!! So graphic novels are up my alley.  I love a lot of them but I would like to share some of my favorite series (Both Graphic Novels and Comics) with you:

Courtney Crumrin by Ted Nafieh

 

~~ Read My Reviews Here ~~

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things Volume 1

Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics Volume 2 Courtney Crumrin and the Monstrous Holiday Volume 3  

Courtney Crumrin and the Monstrous Holiday Volume 4

Courtney Crumrin and the Witch Next Door Volume 5 

Harley Quinn (The New 52) by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti

 ~~ Read My Reviews Here ~~

Harley Quinn #0

Harley Quinn #1 / 2  - No Reviews

Harley Quinn # 3/4

A few other loves: 
   

As you can tell, I am a fan of the more macabre books and such. I love the vibrant dark colors and fantasy that are intertwined through these series. SO GOOD :) -

Do you have favorites? Let me know!

Armchair BEA 2014: Day 1-- Introductions! Who be you?!

Header designed by Amber of Shelf Notes, photography by Wolf_359>on Flickr.

Hello All! It is May and that means that that Armchair BEA is back in full swing for those of us who are [jealously] sitting at home instead of at BEA in NYC -- BUT on the bright side we have each other over the interwebs!!! 

So HELLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO interwebby blogger peeps!

First up is INTRODUCTIONS!  

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from? 

Hi! I am Stephanie, I am married, have a dog a cat and 2 bearded dragons as pets (no kids- they are my kids), and I am happily an Administrative Assistant 40 hours a week at Dartmouth College.

I have been blogging for just over 2 years now here at Cover2CoverBlog and LOVE IT and all the blogging community. (Heart you all!)

I started blogging because I read…a lot… and my husband said I needed a hobby, so  reviewing the books I read became my hobby and blog, and now most of my 'spare time'. I love it… although Andy is not as thrilled about his suggestion since my house is now overflowing with books - and the never-ending TBR pile is ever prominent when he wants to watch TV with me and I want to read...

I am blogging from the US, in the Green Mountain state of Vermont. I moved up here in June of last year from Washington, DC/ the Northern VA area. I love it here, it is so pretty when it is warm out and, oh my, we got SO much snow this winter :)

Describe your blog in just one sentence. Then, list your social details -- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. -- so we can connect more online.

A Young Adult and Middle Grade genre review blog, sometimes with other posts and sometimes with me freaking out about books.

Twitter / Facebook / Bloglovin' / Google+

What genre do you read the most? I love to read because ___________________ .

I read YA the most, but Middle Grade books are a VERY close second. I love to read because it is nice to leave the real world and dive into someone's life and experiences. It is a wonderful escape but also I love to see the ideas authors are coming up with for new books. They amaze me!

Spread the love by naming your favorite blogs/bloggers (doesn’t necessarily have to be book blogs/bloggers).

I love following other bloggers, you all are awesome! A few of my favorites are(in no particular order)

I love her YouTube Channel also :) Adorable videos.

Angie! Have you met her online? She is great and does lots of commenting and will comment back to you. I love people that read my comments (Don't we all)


Since before I even started blogging, I have loved Candace's Blog. She reads a lot of YA and MG like I do so that is great but now that I blog I adore her even more! She is one of the nicest most down to earth people (online -- I have not met her for reals) I <3 her in a non-creepy way.

And a crappy person/ friend I would be to not mention my IRL friend Michelle and her blog, Playing Jokers :) She  has a beautiful blog and has recently been back-in-action reading up a storm. (Yay Michelle!)

On a side note: I am also a HUGE fan of Stacking the Shelves/ Sunday Post/ Book Haul posts from everyone! Make sure to link me up every week and I will def. stop by. I love looking at what everyone is getting and what is new in all the genres.

What does your favorite/ideal reading space look like? (Pinterest encouraged!)

Ah, well my favorite place to read is anywhere warm -- I am always cold. So in the sun, in front of a heater, under a pile of blankets -- That is my style. I also normally have my dog and cat with me. Here is a picture of Rolo sharing my love of heaters -->

My ideal reading space would look like one of these: Pinterest Ideal Reading Nook Board

I can't wait to read about you!
 Have a great time with Armchair BEA!