The Big Decision: A New Bookshelf from CSN Stores

It’s back..the big decision. I am once again drowning in books. They are in every nook and cranny of my office…some quite organized and others well not so much as I would like. So what to do? I have gone through them and most I do not want to part with. There is hopes of my getting a new office soon so I am holding out that there will simply be more space for them there. I have also designated some for giveaways…however there is still a large number. What do you do when your relationship with a book goes far beyond just paper…when I connect with a book, I want to keep it. My house makes this quite clear with one glance. (Movers hate me by the way.) So what to do with all my books?

Perhaps I want to keep them for memories or that “moment” of reading in time. I know I am not the only one out there like this. I knew many people in Library School with me that felt the same (perhaps why we all ended up in Library School in the first place).I just love books…the way they look, feel, smell…everything.

As for the new office…I am hoping it will soon be a reality. I want it to be lavender and white for some reason and am excited about covering a Victorian lounge massage chair that was once my grandfather’s with a nice print. Also I want a new desk in white and built in white shelving. New table lamps, chair…well I guess I want it all. I will keep you posted. Somehow this new want of space stems from my new found writing career. I feel I need my own creative space to work…away from baby, husband and said husband’s millions of running awards and financial textbooks. I need a clean space…for just me and my thousands of books! Ah…well as for the big decision…I guess I will just buy more bookshelves for the time being! CSN Stores has a great selection and there are few I have my eye on….I will let you know which one I chose and how I like it but here are some of my options….Scio Bookshelf or French Country Ladder Bookshelf. These would be for the living room since the current office is bookshelfed out!

But what do you do? Do you keep, hoard and hold on to your precious books, are you a tosser, or do you have some other secret habit when there just doesn’t seem to be room for one more lovely book?

In the meantime see my real writing space tomorrow (rather than my dream one pictured above) when I am a guest on Cathy’s Kittling: Books. Thanks again Cathy for the honor of being a part of…

Snippets on a Sunday

So many exciting little tasks and blurbs today to make up “Snippets on a Sunday” today.

First off without further ado I will announce the winner of my Got Books? contest which included a fantastic YA book prize pack and some secret swag as well! The lucky winner is….Erin of Bookish in a Box! Congrats Erin!I also conducted a poll for favorite authors with the contest. It’s something I am always interested in knowing about people. I like to also see what interests my readers have. So below are the top ten authors as chosen by contest entrants and twitter responses. I had over 200 responses to this question and I found my results to be very interesting. I see some trending due to new and much awaited future releases but I also see some classic author responses as well. What do you think? Whose your favorite author? Did they make the list?

Top Ten Favorite Authors

1.) Suzanne Collins

2.) J. K. Rowling

3.) Cassandra Clare

4.) Charlaine Harris

5.) Maggie Stiefvater

6.) James Patterson

7.) Stephen King

8.) Stephenie Meyer

9.) Janet Evanovich

10.) Kelley Armstrong

Close Runners’s Up: Meg Cabot, Jane Austen, John Green, L. J. Smith, Nora Roberts, Margaret Atwood

And I also was a winner yesterday….Stiletto Storytime received the Versatile Blogger Award from my friend Selva at My Views. Selva is from India and new to the book blogging world. I always find it interesting what he chooses to read and review. I myself cannot imagine reading and reviewing in a second language! It’s part of what to me makes his blog so interesting. Make sure you check him out. Thanks Selva!

Now that I’ve received this award, the rules are I have to pass it on to 15  other fabulous blogs (I will be doing 8 blogs) that I have just discovered. I also have to link back to the person who gave me the award (as done above) and say 7 things about myself that you wouldn’t otherwise know…

1.) My favorite color is white some people find that odd.

2.) My favorite smells are clean laundry, fresh cut grass and lavender.

3.) When I was Young…

4.) My favorite book is Jane Eyre. I read it several times a year. It’s my comfort book.

5.) I am an Alpha Delta Pi alumni.

6.) I love Granny Smith apples with sharp cheddar cheese.

7.) I once spent three weeks traveling throughout India.

Now here are my 8 blogs that I think are worth checking out:

*Bookish in a Box *Me, My Book and the Couch *Parajunkee’s View *Reading Vacation *Word Bird *Pop Culture Junkie

* Young Adult Books Reviewed *The Story Siren

To all my fellow bloggers…I hope you enjoy the award! I do so enjoy all of your blogs! Congrats!

Linguistics on Memorial Day

I recently had an interesting experience at the eye doctor. It was my first time going to this particular practice and I chose it because it was close to home and had a fun boutique type atmosphere. Why not make a very clinical experience almost a shopping trip? Or at least try to trick yourself into thinking that in some way as you pay way too much for a pair of glasses. After coming in and settling down on a nice comfy couch I realized this was obviously the place for me when I saw the free Wi-Fi. A practice after a bloggers heart indeed.  My eye doctor greeted me sans white coat but nice button up, jeans and italian leather loafers. And away we went. We chatted as he asked me to sit in the chair and then gave me a puzzling look which makes you nervous in a medical sense. I immediately thought there must be something so wrong with my eyes, he as a pro can view it from across the room!(I tend to over exaggerate in medical situations, sadly this is not the first time).

Instead he said “I like to try and guess where people are from by their accents but I am really confused by yours.” This made me smile in secretly evil way. I knew he would never peg me down. Try as he might, let the games begin. “I know you’re a southerner but other things throw me off.”  I kept smiling and said nothing. He continued the exam while I taunted him with light conversation and the occasional linguistic puzzle I knew he was trying desperately to unravel but never would. In the end he looked at me and said the words I was waiting for. “I give up.” It seems that rarely happens to him. But how could the poor guy contend with the plethora of accents, vocabulary and slang words I have built up over my young lifetime.

You see I am a Southerner. My accent is dripping with sweet tea and Spanish moss. But listen longer and you will soon become confused as well. I can use “ya’ll” and “wicked” in the same sentence without batting an eyelash.  I pronounce either and neither in a very proper way not at all like my fellow Southerners.  You may hear me speak quite knowingly about a Nor’easter while in the next sentence I drop a line to my son saying “I am going to paint your back porch red”…followed by his full name including  the suffix of the IV. In the South we feel to express anger you must call someone by each and every name ever printed on their birth certificate. This makes perfect logical sense…it only serves to make them know you mean them specifically and no one else.

I have found as a writer this history serves me well. I adapt to other languages well…easily able to pick up accents and words. So to what do I owe this ability to confuse my eye doctor and make him admit defeat? Simple. I am a military brat. Born and raised in my early years in the South….I spent most of my childhood moving from base to base. Tennessee, South Carolina, Indiana, Kansas, Maine and even Alaska are all places that served as home for my family. I am the happy child of a career military father and a super organized Army wife as my mother. Even now as an adult every few years…I get the moving itch.   And so Memorial Day is always a day for me where I try to remind others…it’s not just your day off.

Today means something to many.  From our veterans to those currently serving to the families that endure this very unique lifestyle….they all deserve to be recognized for their service. No matter your political affiliation….freedom is not free and there are always those there ready and willing to pay the price. On this day I say “Thank You” from the bottom of my heart to all those serving and who have served. Thank you for my freedoms that I know I take for granted. Even for the freedom of having this blog on which to thank you…or the freedom of reading any book I choose and spreading my opinion to the world. Everyone does not have it so. And so on this happy day you have off…please just take a moment to do something to say “Thank You”. It may only take a minute but I know by experience how very much it means. In closing I simply want to say…Happy Memorial Day and God Bless America.

• On a side note if you are interested in some book recommendations for military children and their families, The National Military Family Association has some great suggestions. (The picture shown above is one taken from my hotel room window on my recent trip to NYC)

New Year’s Resolution: To Blog More

New Year’s Resolution

This year has brought such a transition in my life and such joy it is not conveyable in words.  My beautiful baby boy and wonderful husband are  miracles I treasure with all my heart and my transition from librarian to stay at home mom has also been a unique and challenging experience but one that I feel blessed to have. For 2010 I vow to try to blog more despite the demands and joys of motherhood. I have kept up my reading and read some amazing material this last year but sadly not had time to reflect or review. I hope to change that in 2010! So here I come….ready or not….I’m putting the stilettos back on! Books on my night stand right now include Splendor and Wolf Hall….watch for reviews soon!  Also I am open to reviewing advanced copies and doing guest author posts or tours, if interested please contact me at stilettostorytime@gmail.com. Happy 2010 everyone and thanks for following Stiletto Storytime!

Remember: Just like stilettos, reading never goes out of style!

Back to the Books

After what seems like forever…I am back! While I greatly regretted my time away from the site I did do some very constructive things! I am pleased to say we have a healthy, happy baby boy! While Mommyhood is great, I do miss having the time to read more and of course update this site so I have simply decided I will have to do both. Reading cannot be sacrificed. I have somewhat mastered the art of breastfeeding and holding a book at the same time so “Watch out world”!  I look forward to getting back in the groove and am very excited about my stack of waiting books.

In the meantime I spent a large part of my first days weeks home with my newborn re-reading the Twilight series. Which I greatly enjoyed even more the second time.  As for Stephen Kings recent comment about Stephenie Meyer….honestly Myers style is much more straight forward than Rowling but Stephen Kings has no room to talk. I have always thought of his writing style as very straight forward as well. If you have a good story and plot…sometimes simple storytelling is all you need. Besides the fact that their intial target audiences are vastly different. Perhaps someone is a little jealous? While I thought his comment on Jodi Picoult right on since she is one of my favorite authors, I think that it is a very dangerous act when writers try to publicly judge other writers work. Reading is a very personal thing and different for each individual. There is something for everyone and what may not appeal to one person’s taste may be the exact book for another. Simply because a book may be geared towards to interests of teen girls does not make it not worthy and I think the mass appeal that the Twilight series has shown proves just that.

Welcome to Stiletto Storytime!

So I have finally done it. Started a blog…I feel so technologically advanced and somewhat pressured to actually write something on it. But nevertheless here it is. My random ramblings about books, kids and my job in general as a children’s librarian. Why Stiletto Storytime? Well when I first began my current job as a professional librarian a colleague of mine joked about my shoes as I headed in to do Toddler Time. In my defense they were kitten heels…but the name stuck and it’s pretty catchy too! More to come…