We have a family move coming up in the next few weeks.  Finally leaving apartment living and going to the house.  I cannot wait!

It’s the getting to the finally unpacked and home part that’s the major pain in the butt.

This opportunity came up suddenly – but it was impossible to pass up.. so I’ve a lot of packing to do, changing address forms to fill out and sleepless nights ahead.  But I’m telling myself I can sleep in the new house with no neighbors loud music or fire alarm bells ringing (usually false but still) – I may sleep for a week but it’s gonna be So Worth It.

So, why this post?  Well, I’m going to be offline a lot in the next few weeks.  I’ve some scheduled posts up and coming – plus I’ll try to hop on for an hour or so during coffee breaks when I can.

I will apologize from my heart for any inconvenience this sudden move will make on my reviewing commitments.  But frankly – this was something I simply could not say no to… so I’ll be around just not as much until some time in February.

…now where did I leave that masking tape and marker?

We’re on the final countdown.  Hours to go.

How did yet another year get away from us?

Here at Keeper Bookshelf I’m ending the year with a good feeling.  While I may not have accomplished all of my goals – I’ve made a darned good start, and I’m content with that.

On a completely personal note, I got some disturbing news recently.  Seems that the blurry and fuzzy words on my monitor and Kindle cannot be fixed with a new glasses prescription.  Instead, next week I’ll begin to find out how bad and what can be done with a cataract on my left eye.  Funny, I always thought I’d be able to see one of those suckers on my eyes – but apparently not always.  For someone who loves to read as much as I do – aside from having several bookish blogs that need daily attention… this kinda hit me hard emotionally.  Oh, I know it can be fixed.  It’s just something that happened to my grandmother – not me.  *sigh*  How silly we are at times, right?

Anyway, because of the strain I’m putting on my eyes right now (current glasses don’t work and cannot get new ones because they wouldn’t work either)… I’m probably going to slow down just a bit on my reviews.  I don’t want to – but I think until this is resolved, I need to.  I imagine I’ll still be posting at least once a day – and I have tons of posts and reviews that are scheduled, so you may not actually see very much difference.  But I’ll know what’s happening in the background so I need to effectively deal with that mentally and emotionally.

2016 will offer up challenges for us all – that’s not anything new..  My wish for you is to have a safe New Year Eve’s celebration — and then enjoy the rest of the year doing what makes you happy.  Big – small – it doesn’t matter, but doing what you love is a gift we give to ourselves every single day.  I wish that gift for you.

May 2016 bring you every happiness you ever dreamed of – and may you go through it with your sense of humor, faith and love intact.  Can’t wish for much more than that, really.

Well, look at that.  We made it through, well almost through, 2015.  Five more days to put the finishing touches on the plans for 2016.  And then we’re gonna start all over again.  Gotta love dedicated readers like us, right?  🙂

And I’m just abut a week away from having Keeper Bookshelf up and running on a daily basis for its first complete year.  Not bad at all.  This is an accomplishment I certainly am proud of.

I learned a lot.  Certainly embarrassed myself at times.  Met some amazing book people.  And talked to authors for the very first time.

And I guess most importantly – I didn’t give up on the dream, the plan – the crazy idea to take what I love doing, reading, and create something about that personal joy of mine.  I’ve got a long way to go, but I kept at it for this first year.  Day after day, even when I was certain no one even knew this place existed.  But I did – and that’s all that mattered then.

So here I am, late in the evening letting my mind wander to all the things I want to do this coming year.  And wondering just how the heck I’m going to manage it.  I’ve got this notebook that I’ve jotted stuff down in all of 2015 – you too?.  So now comes the time to take the ideas and make them reality.  That is the scary part, but also the adrenaline pumping part too.

I simply wanted to say to all of us who sit and read, find that extra moment to get lost in another world for a bit – to those of us who call ourselves review bloggers or book bloggers… Good Job.  Take a bow, we’ve earned it.  Okay – now back to work.  The new year is about to start and it’s time for us to jump in to the reading frenzy for another round of the stuff that we consider fun.  Yeah, maybe a bit crazy but someone’s gotta do it.

Thank you for a fantastic 2015 — and here’s to an amazing 2016.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently you might have heard of a pretty big movie release – a little film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Yeah, pretty big deal for us Star Wars fans.

I was lucky enough to see it this past Thursday, December 17th thanks to my son staying online for about 4 hours to get tickets to the day before release viewings.

The Force Awakens is, in my opinion pretty amazing.  The new adventures, the chance to catch up with old friends.  It met my every hope and then some.

I will be the last person to talk publicly about the film.  Yes, I absolutely loved it.  Would recommend it to fans and new to the franchise movie goers who want to see what all the fuss has been about all these years..  But I won’t talk about it.  For one main reason.

Why would I (or anyone) want to spoil this movie for those that haven’t seen it yet?  I do not understand that concept.  Especially when there are parts of this film that even Disney managed to keep under wraps right up until release.  Why would I mess that experience up for anyone?

Yet there are already headlines and Twitter comments, Facebook posts, blog posts, television reports and media of every sort out there ready to spoil the experience for any person who happens to run into those comments.  I have friends who have shut themselves off from social media in order to try to not hear tidbits about the film before they get to the theater themselves this weekend.

So what does Star Wars have to do with book reviews you ask… well, everything.  I feel about books the same way I feel about people blasting the entire plot of a movie I haven’t seen yet.  I don’t want to know.  I want to experience it for myself – not have someone, a reviewer (be it movie or book reviewer) tell me the entire story in minute detail.  That SPOILS IT FOR ME.

Come back in say… a year, and we can discuss plot twists until we’ve exhausted every tidbit of the movie or book.  But right now – on launch day, on release day… let me experience it myself.  Please.

I don’t know about you – but I love getting gifts.  So, yeah Christmas is a really explosive fun time around my house.

There is a fun, and gift filled giveaway going on over at  Indie Romance Authors Christmas Kindle Giveaway.  A Paperwhite Kindle and lots of ebooks to start off stuffing your brand new Kindle.

Fill out the form, answer the questions and someone is going to be picked to win big time.  So, if you like giveaways, contests and just plain fun head on over and check it out – maybe it’s something you’d like to take part in.

I learned about it from author Caroline Mickelson whose stories I always enjoy – right now on Keeper Bookshelf I’ve got a bunch of her Christmas stories up for the Christmas Daily Feature.

So excuse me – I gotta go put on my thinking cap and enter a contest.  Happy Christmas everyone!

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”  ~ George Eliot

 

This Reading Challenge is simply for pure fun — and adventuring out beyond my own comfort zone in the genres that I don’t normally read.

I honestly don’t intend to get caught up in Challenge madness this year.  The three Challenges that I’ve posted about this morning will probably be the only ones that I do this year.  I have a better idea of my time limits going into this second year of book review blogging.  I’m not super blogger by any means *grin*  I wish.

The New To You Reading Challenge is simply reading an author that you’ve just discovered, or trying out a far different genre than you usually read.  It’s simple, uncomplicated and just about anyone could do it.

So head over to the sign up page at The Herd Presents and check out the rules and suggestions.  I’m going for Level 4 of 50 books.  I believe I can master that, after all I’ve got an entire year.  🙂

Rhiannon.  I have adored this character (sorry, goddess) since the first time I read about her.  Wings in the Night, both series, have a special shelf on my bookcase all to themselves.  A place of honor if you will.

Now, I can’t wait for Halloween Eve when the newest adventure will hit my Kindle.

You should discover these amazing stories for yourself – I’m betting you’ll never look at vampires quite the same again.

https://youtu.be/-9R4b6KVUwg

We’re coming up on the busiest months of the year, for most families.  Fall activities with the kids, maybe going on a weekender to see the beauty of the colorful fall leaves.  Halloween parties and decorating.  Thanksgiving with the entire family… and the mad dash for the Friday Shopping after the meal (or sooner).  Then comes Christmas with all the wonderful parts of the holiday season.  Yeah, I’m already tired just thinking about it.

Come January 2016 this blog will have been active almost every single day, for a year.. I missed a couple here and there.  I had absolutely no plan.  Totally by the seat of my jeans.  And it’s been fun and a little successful.  But I could do more, maybe differently, perhaps more efficiently.

So I believe now, months in advance is a good time to start thinking about what I want to accomplish in the coming year.  Not floating around in my head but down on paper, decisions made and plans in place to get off to a roaring start in January.  Now might be a good time for you too – before the holiday madness sets in, and time is one of the least things we have available for a clear thought.

Simply a thought.  One that I’m starting on and I thought maybe you might want to at least think about it for your 2016 blogging plan.

The amazing author, Kelly Moran just shared this beautiful video on Twitter.  And I’m going to share it here – ‘cos it’s lovely and the books are great.  Enjoy.