Updates and New Content Topics!!!

A few things have been swirling in my mind since late last year...

I think it's pretty common knowledge that the blog doesn't follow the same format as years past.  I've given up on trying to maintain the 3 book a week + audio schedule and probably won't take review requests anymore.

• I just can't commit to a certain schedule
• I don't read as much or as often #adultingsucks
• I want to spend the time I have reading and not reviewing

But the blog isn't going anywhere.  There's a lot of content here that I don't want to disappear and I do still want to talk about books and reading here.  It's my first love after all. I'm just not going to apologize or feel guilty (all me and no one else) because things aren't as consistent here.

AAAANNNNDDDD.....
Expect to see some Organizing and Planning stuff popping up around here.  Last year, I made a concerted effort to plan better so that I could spend more time doing the things I love (i.e. reading) and found a whole community.  I'm going to share here.  I know a lot of reader girls are also planner girls so let's discuss.  That's what we do here!

I've started a Youtube channel (ultimate amateur here though) where I hope to post book and planner videos and I'm also active on instagram (follow me if you are interested).

This is going to be fun year guys!!  Let me know your thoughts about these changes!!

Testing

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Oopsey! My Feed Has Changed

I do want to put it out there that my old RSS feed no longer works.  I bought a new web address and in my hurry (i.e. that time I didn't follow the directions), I changed the feed without keeping my followers.  I feel sad about it because now people can't find me.

Sooo... if I'm not talking to myself, please re-follow my blog so we can connect again.  It can be lonely out here in these streets.

Some Thing Is Brewing...

Something is stirring in these parts.

Shhhh...

Hiccups and Such

Every time I try to get my act together and post all the amazing (or not so amazing) bookish things, I get thwarted by life and weird problems.  Losing my domain name by some fluke has left me lost at how to even get started again.  I tried to fix the issue.  I tried to wait patiently to rebuy the domain.  And... I've decided to just move on from that.  I really care about this site.  But I've been away from it in the manner that I desire for more than a year.  The time has come to face reality...

I need to just start over.  I'm going to buy a new domain and link it.  I'll start letting posts in draft go live.  And I'll hope my friends eventually find me again.  Oh and the links... I will slowly but surely change the links on my page to reflect the change.

But I can no longer be Reflectionsofabookaholic.com.  I will have to change.  I'm never good with change.  But.  It. Is. What. It. Is.  More content to come.  One day you guys will find it, right?

I'm Back.

Yes, Really.

Blog Updates + New Beginnings

Some of you may have noticed things look a little different around here.  Whoot!  Whoot!  This new look has been a long time coming.  Seriously, clean and simple never took so much work.  Who would have thought?

Thank you to April from Creative Girl Media for her visionary expertise.  She spiffied up my header, created the drop-down menu (the evil thing), and inspired the vision.  Certainly all of my work on the back end was so much easier because of her.  Thanks so much!

I've got bookmarks!!

BUT THERE'S MORE!!

I've got a giveaway to celebrate the new look and to unveil the new Facebook page (Why am I just now creating this page?!).

Rules are simple:

1. Rafflecopter
2. Prize - Book of your choice $15 or under from either Amazon or Book Depository (as long as can be shipped to you).
3. Ends July 1st (because that's a nice round date).

There are a few more surprises to unveil...  I'm expanding my services + introducing a wonderful editing/media service... but there's time for all that.  Stay tuned! For now, fill out the rafflecopter to enter the giveaway!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

First time Bloggiesta (March 2013)

I debated on participating in Bloggiesta but I've always wanted to do it and I really NEED to do it so Bloggiesta it is.

WHAT is Bloggiesta, you ask?  Bloggiesta is an event founded by Maw Books Blog and run by It's all About Books and There's a Book, that schedules a Blog Spring cleaning of sorts over a weekend.  It's running this weekend, March 22-24.

Now you might wonder WHY you want to spend a whole weekend cleaning up your blog.  But I think we all know the answer to that.  It feels good for things to no longer hang over our heads.  Plus, it things are always more fun when shared.  During this event  there will be mini-challenges, twitter chats, and other bloggers doing the same thing as you.  What more could you ask for?  I know, I know.  But we can eat ice cream while doing this, so we're all set.

Follow @Bloggiesta and me, @BookReflections

Here's my to-do list.

So Confused...but I'm still on BlogLovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 Can someone (anyone!) explain this site that I just signed up for.  I know it is silly to sign up for something that you don't understand but I don't mind being silly.  You guys know me.

Last gif I promise.

I joined because I wanted to check my feeds.  But then they have this following section that tells me I'm following <300 people on blogluvin.  Why is that number so low and how did it get there?  I just joined today.

Plus I only have like 30 people following me on blogluvin.  I just don't know what this means (and why is that number so low)!!

I just want a freakin reader!  Somebody FIX ME!

I Took A Week Off...Oh AND I Passed the Texas Bar!!

I took a week off the blog.  It seemed time.

Well let me tell you what I've been up to.

I PASSED THE TEXAS BAR!!  Yep, total craziness.

Then... the Hubby and I talked and decided that living together was more important than living comfortably.

Or something like that.

So.. the very next day, I moved away from Austin.  We looked for and found a place the next day and then we moved in.  That's what I've been doing.  Moving.  And working.  Because I had to finish my job.  And for some reason, new places don't come with working internet.  You have to order it and stuff like that.  So inconvenient.  We still don't have cable.  But I've unpacked my books so I'll be up and going pretty soon.

P.S.  How do I convince the hubby he doesn't need 5 million poker chips, three printers or a sling shot?  He has so much... junk stuff!

And now... I have to find a job because I didn't really mean it when I said I didn't want to live comfortably.  I want to go back to doing that.  Living comfortably, I mean.

So this is me.  I'm no longer a stressed out law student.  I'm an attorney with my own bar number.  Who saw that one coming?

Can you tell I'm not really excited about taking this picture? My eyebrows...they tell the story.

Coming up this week... more of everything :)  Finishing up and summarizing the dystopia challenge.  And I'll visit your posts and be your blogger friend again.  A more dependable one, I'm thinking.  And I have my own kitchen again so more Foodie Fridays soon.

Baby I'm Back! ...Again!

Baby I'm Back!... Again!  Have you ever seen the 90s sitcom Living Single?  If so, you'd know where I got the title from and you wouldn't think that I just lost my mind.  Or maybe you still would.

Well I did it!  I lived through the Texas Bar Exam (though I'm scarred for life) and I'm ready to get back to blog hopping and reading books and talking about books and all the other bookish things I love.

I think it will take me a bit to fully get back on schedule since I usually depend on pre-scheduling to stay consistent and I have nothing to pre-schedule at this point.  I don't really know what is going on and I haven't read a book since May (*gasp).

But I did want to pop in and say hi (*waves*) and thank any and everyone who have continued to stop and visit, leave comments, and support me even though I haven't been able to return the favor.  I was constantly amazed at the small number of bloggers who consistently came though on almost ever post and shared their thoughts.  And I especially appreciate those who encouraged me to keep going through the studying or tell me to get back to studying.  All those comments were seriously needed and appreciated.

Changes to Come!!

I want to thank everyone for their congratulations and well-wishes in regards to my graduation from law school.  I am truly relieved that I am finally done with school.  However, my work is not yet done.  I have to take the bar exam, which means I have to study.  Yes...I graduate so I can study.  And it seems that this will be unlike any studying that I have done before.  I know...I'm so sad.   Since I have class 6 days a week and will be studying 8 hours a day, Reflections of a Bookaholic will be on a semi-hiatus until August.  I KNOW!! THAT IS SUCH A LONG TIME!

What is a semi-hiatus you say? 
It essentially means that posts will be greatly reduced and I plan to abandon my Google Reader (*sniff *sniff).  No longer will you see 5-7 posts a week, with 2-3 reviews a week over here.  I plan to go to 3-4 posts a week with 1-2 reviews a week.  I'm not quite sure where the reviews will come from but hopefully they'll appear on their own. I will visit my favorite bloggers, reply to my comments, and return comments but I can't commit to more than that.

So what's going to be going on over in quiet land?
It won't be too quiet over here.  It is only a semi-hiatus after all.

I have some fantastic things planned, so you can still be excited.  Some of my favorite bloggers have agreed to guest post for Why I Love Wednesdays so every week in June and July, you can expect to hear from a couple of bloggers on the topic of the week.  It will be fun. I'm excited.

I've got some changes planned for the layout, which should make getting around easier.  I wanted it to be done before bar prep but such is my life.

I'm also participating in Foodie Friday, from Geeky Blogger Book Blog and perhaps Sunday's Best, hosted by Girl xoxo.com.

So things will be going on.  There won't be any real-time contact and there will be a serious lag in my appearances.  But you guys understand right? Awesome.

Also...kind of off topic, but still things to come.  Reflections of a Bookaholic will be switching to Wordpress after bar prep. (*gasp) I know. I know. I said that I wouldn't do it.  I'm only switching because I received some nifty graduation gifts that I want to play with.  I'm not going to create another website that I'll never use to play so I'll move this one and play that way.  I'm really sad about it, honestly.  But I want to play with my presents more.  So... Oh well.

Guess Who Just Graduated From Law School?!!

I'm officially a 2012 Law School Graduate!!

Whoohooo!!

(We happen to wear all white for graduation instead of regalia... this sucks but oh well.)

Comment Changes and Black History Month Hop Updates

Comment Changes:

I have finally fixed the comment issues with my blog.  I apologize to everyone who had problems (even I had problems).  I've gone back to blogger comments but my problems had nothing to do with my switch from IntenseDebate to Disqus and from Disqus to blogger. My problems had everything to do with my template.  It took a long time reproducing my template to find the issue but I finally found it.  Notice the missing brown background behind the sidebar...

My thoughts on IntenseDebate and Disqus:  I switched from the IntenseDebate comment system because I felt like the system had been abandoned by its developers and support was lacking.  I really really loved Disqus.  If you are looking for a comment system, I would choose Disqus hands down.  I loved how quickly support responded to me and it was an easy system to work with.

Ultimately, I wanted my comments to belong to me and I didn't want to worry about getting my comments back if I didn't like a system or if a system stopped supporting a feature.  With the changes made by blogger and the issues with my comments, it seemed the perfect time to switch back to blogger.

IntenseDebate Users... IntenseDebate does not currently have a method for you get your comments back to blogger BUT you can import them to Disqus.  If you import your comments to Disqus and then sync (it's an option) them to blogger.  All your comments will return to blogger.  You can keep Disqus or delete it but you will have all your comments.

Black History Month Reminder:

The Black History Month Hop hosted by myself and Mocha Girls Read is just around the corner.  It isn't too late to sign up if you want to participate.

Looking for some books by African American authors?  Try Mohogany Books and Goodreads for ideas.

Check out this post for more information about the hop and tell us about your interest levels.

So far 21 blogs are signed up for the Giveaway Blog Hop.  Click here to join.

Don't forget, participants will be entered in giveaways for each week they participate.  We can't wait!  We know this will be an informative and fun week.

Why I Love Wednesdays Back Next Week

Why I Love Wednesdays will return next week and I think it will be better than ever.  I just want to thank everyone for the topic ideas.  We were able to generate more topics than available weeks in 2012.  Reading everyone's ideas really invigorated me and made me excited again.

Here are the coming topics:

Jan. 25: Types of Endings
Feb. 1: Book Challenges
Feb. 8: Author Blogs
Feb. 15: Love Stories
Feb. 22: Book Worlds
Feb. 29: Book Jewelry
March 7: Favorite Title

I'll update topics toward the end of February and you will always be able to find them on my right sidebar.  As I do a few modifications to the site, you'll be able to find them in other places as now.

There will be a linky every week.  Be sure to add your title and blog link so other blogs can hop around as well.

If you haven't joined in previously.  Take a lookie here at some of the previous topics.  I would love for those interested to jump in.  

Updates, Reminders, and Miracles

Updates & Reminders:

We are still gearing up for the Black History Month Hop hosted by myself and Mocha Girls Read.  Some people have expressed interest in participating but don't have books by African American authors to read and review.  We completely understand and feelings along this sentiment are part of the reasons for this hop.

Looking for some books by African American authors?  Try Mohogany Books and Goodreads for ideas.

Check out this post for more information about the hop and tell us about your interest levels.

So far 15 blogs are signed up for the Giveaway Blog Hop.  Click here to join.

Don't forget, participants will be entered in giveaways for each week they participate.  We can't wait!  We know this will be an informative and fun week.

Miracles:

Fortunately, this blog has been running itself this week.  Tuesday, I received a phone call letting me know that my baby brother had been in a car accident.  Turns out, he was hit by an 18 wheeler.  If you want to hear more about this 2012 miracle, you can click here for the back story. and here for pictures of his car (I've never seen anything like this in my life).  His survival is a true miracle.

So...I'm hanging out in ICU, praying, and feeling blessed.

1st Blogoversary! - Giveaway to follow

Well Reflections of a Bookaholic is now ONE years old!!! Um..yes.  Crazy.  I've come a long long way. My first post was title "Welcome" and my mom commented on it and I commented on it twice. lol.  So let's talk about this past year...

Total followers: 1400
Total pageviews: 222,834
Total Book Reviews: 94
Total Posts 266
Unique visitors:  ?
I don't know... when I changed the layout at the end of summer, I forgot to include the Google Analytics code.  Ooopsey!

Most popular reviews:
The Linen Queen by Patricia Falvey (6,355 views, posted Aug. 5, 2011)
The Imperfect Enjoyment by Dewan W. Gibson ( 4,499 views, posted July 10, 2011)
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen (4,034, posted on May 31, 2011)

Most commented review:
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Most popular reflection posts:
Reflection: How do you get out of a reading funk?
Why I Love Wednesdays...Series or Stand-alone novels

It's funny because it has been a year and I'm still struggling to figure out what is going on in the book blogging world.  I still feel lost sometimes.  But there are still times when I feel a bit old.  It doesn't happen often but usually I feel that way when one of my blogger friends stop blogging or decide to scale back.  I'm really really excited about entering year 2, here are a few things I'm thinking about or coming up.

Questions...
I get questions every once in a while about how I go about doing certain things or about blog growth and I don't mind answering them.  If you have any questions, fill free to leave them in the form below (it can be anonymous).  I'll answer them at the end of the week in a post or if I figure it out (and it doesn't look awful), I'll do my very first vlog.

Questions Form

2012 Book Challenges...I Think

I'm super excited to announce that I think I've narrowed down the challenges in which I'm participating in the coming year.  There are a few lost challenges (those I found, liked, but forgot where I saw them) and when I find them, I will add them in.

First up, is the Eclectic Reader Challenge from Book'd Out.  In this challenge, I commit to reading at least 12 books from 12 different genres. 

The Genres: 1) Literary Fiction, 2) Crime/Mystery Fiction, 3) Romantic Fiction, 4) Historical Fiction, 5) Young Adult, 6) Fantasy, 7) Science Fiction, 8) Non Fiction, 9) Horror, 10) Thriller /Suspense, 11) Classic, and 12) Your favorite genre

I'm thinking this should be pretty easy because I'm already a fairly eclectic reader.  But a few I'll have to seek out.

Next, I'm tackling the 2012 Multi-Cultural Book Challenge hosted by One Page at a Time and Truly Bookish.  In this challenge, I commit to reading at least 12 minority YA books this year.  If I find a challenge featuring adult books as well, I will join that as well.

The Books:  Truly Bookish shared this list from Goodreads for ideas, but I'll be looking for more recommendations through the year.  For some reason, I think this challenge will be more difficult for me because minority books aren't as easy to find.

Then, I'm taking on the Dystopia 2012 Challenge hosted by The Bookish Ardour.  In this challenge, I commit to reading at least 15 dystopian novels (Contagion level).

Here are the available Challenge Levels:
Asocial– Choose 5 books to read
Contagion – Choose 15 books to read
 Soldier – Choose 30 books to read
Drone – Choose 50 books to read
Conditioned – Choose 75 books to read
Brainwashed – Choose anywhere between 76-135 books to read
Totalitarian – Choose anywhere between 136-200 books to read

The Books:  A few weeks ago, my helpful blogger friends help put together a list of dystopian novels.  I'm going to tackle this list for inspiration.

Challenges Update...Ehhh I Could Have Done Better

When I signed up for three challenges last year, I thought I was really doing something.  Wrong.  I've seen other blogs sign up for and complete a lot more challenges.  I'm often laughing at my naive early blogger self.  Here's a quick update on my challenges and I'll post soon about the challenges I am joining for the new year.

1.  The 2011 Goodreads Challenge.
Completed 78/60 so far this year.
I definitely read more books than I expected to this year.  I didn't actually think I was going to make it.  Earlier in the year, my goodreads update was screaming at me that I was really behind.  Come summer I really beasted this challenge and said "now what."  I will be participating again in the coming year but I haven't set my new goal as of yet.

2.  Historical Fiction Challenge 2011

Completed 17/20 so far this year.
I'm pretty sure I will finish this challenge before the end of the year but I didn't expect to cut it so close.  Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres, so I thought it would be a piece of cake to complete.  I didn't count on all the amazing book recommendations I would find on other blogs or by friends and family.  It caused me to really veer away from what I thought I would be reading this year.  It was very surprising and fun.  I'm so excited by this unexpected turn of events that it has made a huge impact on the challenges I enter next year.  More on that later.

3.  2011 E-book Challenge
Completed 36/50 books so far this year.
Epic fail.  I will not be completing this challenge this year.  After receiving my ereader, I only read books on it so I didn't expect this challenge to be difficult.  I didn't account for the many giveaways I would participate and win or many of the book requests that I accepted.  While, I do prefer to read book form when convenient, I can't help but feel disappointed in myself for failing in this challenge.  I can't help it.  I'm a perfectionist and if I say I'm going to do something, I will only be satisfied by getting it done.  I've got to let it go though.  I will be picking my challenges more carefully for next year.

All in all, these challenges really made me excited when I joined the book blogging community last January (yes, it has been almost a  year).  I am super excited to choose more challenges and I hope to keep up with them better this time around.

How did everyone do on their challenges this year?  Have you decided on your challenges for next year?  What advice would you give newbies like me this time last year?

Guest Post at The Unread Reader

I'm a guest over at The Unread Reader today. Whoohoo!  Head on over to find out what I'm doing when I'm not reading.  Just click on Missie's wonderful meme image below...