Quarantine reading and why I don't really hate Libby

Hi everyone, I know it's been really quiet here. Lots of things have happened personally in the past year with me, and then COVID-19 happened. I hope you and your loved ones are safe and you continue to be so. 
This blog has been always safe haven for me, and reading and the book blogging continues to be a source of comfort for me. I may not be that active in the community but I love following along (lurking) in the conversations that continue out there. I love the fact that a lot of my contemporaries out there are still quite active and still welcoming more people into the wonderful world of books, reading and blogging.

What no one tells you about #KonMari and book regret

... and how much it really hurts

I am suffering from some serious book regret. If you were livid when you heard Marie Kondo purportedly declaring you should “only should have 30 books” (untrue, she never said it), then read on.

Close to a year ago, we had to move — about 2000 km away. We were moving from a two-bedroom house with basement to a one-bedroom apartment.

Moving costs money so everything oversized and heavy had to stay. I was brutal when culling my books and I even ignored the whole “spark joy” feeling. I had my other family members do their own culling - yes, I drank the Konmari Kool-Aid and was not going to make that decision for them.

I initially felt great after the purge. High fives all around. I knew I was oh-so-practical. I knew I was saving money.

So we hied off to the new home and before I knew it, I was craving certain books. My lovely short story collections - I looked up some of these books in the local library and surprise, surprise, many weren’t there (credit my obscure taste for short stories). The SO asks where I had put his copy of Cain, and gggrrr ... I tell him that he specifically said it was fine to give away, yes he did, he really did. The other month, I was looking back at old blog posts and realized that I had tossed a whole bunch of vintage Agatha Christies into my donation bin, collected over years of thrift store hauls. Over the months, I have been having these severe moments of regret.

My takeaways from the whole experience?

Take the time to find out which books spark joy in you. Why the hell did I cave in to pressure of practicality, I keep asking myself? Well, we we under a time crunch. If you have the luxury of time, don’t do your book decluttering when you feel you’re under duress.

When in doubt, don’t throw it out. The books you’re lukewarm about, keep them. Then do another culling. Or not. The problem with this whole spark joy business is that on the day I did the cull, I was in different mindset and didn’t have time to process what I was keeping and letting go of.

Don’t let anyone else dictate how you should feel about letting go of a book. ‘Nuff said.

Give yourself permission to keep some sentimental books. Sure these books are replaceable, and maybe even borrowable from the library. But there is something deeply personal about certain books. I loved my short story collections, with many of them being ARCs; I was among the first to read, love and and review them! I loved my vintage Christies; can I ever get back that feeling of holding those ARCs or that initial thrill of spotting them glinting on those shelves?

And with that, I say, be kind to yourself. Decluttering requires a ready mind, and in some cases, a ready wallet. Sometimes that extra few dollars will save you heartache.

Photo by Verne Ho on Unsplash

The story of the failed book journal. Or why I decided to embrace dogearing.

Oh, look at me with my fancy Moleskine, my pen, and my thoughts. Scribble, scribble: title, author, year. Lovely lettering. A flourish here, a little doodle there.

You can probably see why I was so enamoured with my journal.

But why is this blasted journal a sad testament to my bad journalling habits ... years later?

I was more in love with the idea of a journal than actual journalling.

Consider my reading and blogging habits. I am a mood reader. I usually have two books going at a time. I pick up the book that fits my mood at the time and either do a quick, short power read ... or I settle down, get comfy, and binge read. If I feel like it, I'll grab my Moleskine and jot down a few quotes that appeal or quick observations, feelings, mostly. But I noticed I most often do not feel like writing while reading - it really spoils the flow. I end up forgoing pen and paper and simply *GASP* dogearing.

When I'm ready to put together a review, I often find myself flipping to the dogeared pages and trying my darnedest to remember why I dogeared the page in the first place. This is a great little memory jogger and I most likely remember the things that make a relatively lasting impression. Otherwise, I think, what is the point of writing about something I feel lukewarm about?

In conclusion, I am conceding that this lovely book journal no longer needs to carry the weight of my failed book journalling habits. I free it. And, more importantly, I free me.

Now, shall we move on to my next read?


(Header photo: Jan Kahanek, unsplash.com)

Current status: #BloggersBlock (and some quick updates + I've been living loud on #Instagram!)

So guys, I am in a bit of a slump here on the blog. It's been quiet, I know. I have allowed myself to get busy in other things and the blog has borne the brunt. 

But ... I am loving it! Really quickly this is what I have done in the past month I've been quiet here. 

I've been living loud on Instagram!

Follow me @guiltlessreader for all the bookish stuff and more. And I mean lots more. Take a peek.

I've gotten into a serious books and socks obsession:

Too much cheekiness in one photo. Ooooh #madness ... @davidchang meets @mailchimp! #socks #recipe #momofuku #davidchang #bookstagram #booksandsocks

A photo posted by guiltlessreader (@guiltlessreader) on Dec 16, 2016 at 3:58pm PST

I've also traveled some and Washington DC led me the Library of Congress, oh but of course. Highlights were the beautiful architecture, the gorgeous ceilings, Thomas Jefferson's library, and the overview of the Main reading Room. Gasp. (I didn't put all the photos - just go visit Instagram to see them all).

And ta-dah! The Main Reading Room of the #libraryofcongress in #washingtondc. The immensity of this "room" simply cannot be captured in a single photo.

A photo posted by guiltlessreader (@guiltlessreader) on Jan 6, 2017 at 11:42pm PST

I got a stiff neck just looking up all the time. Can you blame me?

The best place to get a stiff neck ... the #libraryofcongress #washingtondc #librariesofinstagram

A photo posted by guiltlessreader (@guiltlessreader) on Jan 6, 2017 at 7:30pm PST

So while I am still getting my act together on this blog, you at least know that I am still reading... and that I am still enjoying the high of my recent travels and the discovery of my old love, photography.

More soon, promise!

Photo: Amador Loureiro on unsplash.com

3 reasons I love old books. Let me know yours.

A book is a book is a book. Funny thing though: I noticed that lately I am gravitating to old books. A trip to the bookstore always give me a thrill ... but a trip to the thrift store or a garage sale give me more than a chill of anticipation. Who knows what beautiful old books await?

Why, I wonder? I pondered:

Old books capture an era. Old cover designs tell stories of their own. The fonts used, the illustration or artwork, or the photography tell plenty. You know if something is vintage 70s. Or whether a book is more valuable in so many little details like its cover,  the binding, the weight of the paper, and the artisanal quality. I've lusted after too many that would break the bank but there are a few out there that have wormed its way into lesser expensive venues just waiting be be discovered.

1958 edition of E.M. Forster's Where Angels Fear to Tread

Old books feel loved. They have history. Sometimes, scribbled little things both inside and outside add to their charm. New ones are beautiful too and there is nothing like making a new book my own. But I love getting an old book because it makes me feel that the imprint of the previous readers somehow have left a piece of their souls on it: Did someone sigh when I sighed at that one passage? Did someone lay down the book and take a deep breath reading through an emotional chapter? Did someone love it as much as I did?

1953 edition of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Old books make me connected to a wonderful history of reading. Books have existed even before Gutenberg set out to conquer the reading world with the printing press in 1450. That's close to 600 years. Can we just let that sink in for a minute? Pretty amazing, don't you think?

How do those yellowed pages make you feel? Do you love old or new books? Or does this just not even matter to you?

How I #KonMari-ed my TBR (or I am holding out for gourmet donuts)

I've made a fascinating correlation between my eating and reading. 

I've realized that I've been holding out for the gourmet donut rather than any old, regular, run-of-the-mill donut. I'd rather wait for some amazing limoncello gelato in its teeny cup than a humungous tub of the cheap store brand. Or that high grade (and expensive, eep) dark chocolate rather than cave in to a sugar-laden chocolate bar that usually makes it in our Halloween stash.

You get the picture. I've been eating more intentionally. I think I've been reading more intentionally lately too.

I admit that I'm a book hoarder. When I first started blogging about books, I accepted most books for review. To the point of exhaustion. I hung on to books for years -- books that I never cracked open. I have maybe less than a hundred books right now, many of which are old favourites I've re-re-read, or are on my current TBR. So I've been keeping and picking up the books I really want to read as opposed to reading just whatever I happen to get all giddy about for the moment -- not that the two are mutually exclusive.

Before you all think I'm a book snob, let me say, no I am not! I'm simply culling the physical To-Be-Read pile and removing anything that I have in the house that I never get around to reading for whatever reason.

Here's what I did: I used the Konmari method. I pick up the physical book, I ask myself: "Does this spark joy in me ... RIGHT NOW?" If the very feel of the book makes me go "yay" inside, I hang on to it.  Simple as heck.

Now I have a nice collection of books - read, unread - that I am dropping off at the thrift store. I've also got a few earmarked for people I know want to read the book/s! Win-win: a manageable number of select books in the house and happy friends.

Have you done any Spring cleaning?

Spring #Bloggiesta wrap up! + the #WINNER of @luvlymarket giveaway!

As always, I can never believe it when Bloggiesta rolls to a close. My week did not go as planned and so I didn't get much done. But I've always been kind to myself as life tends to happen ;)

I also encountered some issues with Disqus, my commenting system. While the commenting interface was visible, all my comments had disappeared! I semi-panicked but eventually got things working again. Now experiencing this has raised some red flags in my mind, so I will need to look into this further.

... and the winner is ...

First off, let me thank everyone who join in the mini challenge I hosted, I Need/Can Help Mini Challenge. There were 4 people who asked for help (and one of them was me) so I was a little disappointed that not very many people decided to participate. This was a bit of an experiment to begin with so I'm not sure how this can be tweaked for the next time (or if there ever is one).

However, despite the few participants asking for help, there were tons of you who hopped around to give advice. Thank you to all the advice-givers! You rocked our blogs!

For example, my own cry of help "I need help with my email subscription" gave me some extremely valuable information. I got a great response which will feed into (or confirmed) some of my decisions on what I want to do next!

... and now, let's get to the winner:

Congrats, Perusing Princesses, you won this amazing Spring Mega-Bundle from Luvly.co.*

Here's what I did get done during my Bloggiesta week:

Regular clean-up

✔ Back up my blog. Done. I also backed-up Read the Nobels. As always I backed up everything on Google Drive.

✔ Back up my template. Yup. Just do this in tandem with above = peace of mind.


Get up-to-date with my reviews. Not this time. 

Update my Book Map with old and recent reads. Nope.

Clean up wonky posts. Nope. Although I do this on a regular basis anyway when I do see something.

✔ Read new Bloggiesta posts.

✔ Join mini challenges that I think are fun and useful.

I am lumping this and the previous bullet together. I didn't get through very many this Bloggiesta posts or challenges, unfortunately. Although I encountered are quite a few new bloggers out there and I love discovering them through Bloggiesta!

• I am now part of a Blogging Mastermind Group (courtesy of Stacy at a Novel Life)! I'm pretty excited about this one!
• I learned about Litsy through Jenni at Jenni Elyse. Problem is I'm not a mobile phone user so I sigh a little when a new apps come out.
• I found out about Libib through Katrina at Bookish Things and More. I am considering bringing in my Goodreads lists here since Libib libraries can also be created for music and movies! One place for everything!

More ...

✔ Host a mini-challenge. Done.

✔ Host a giveaway. Done.

✔ Check out the Twitter feed for #bloggiesta and participate in at least one Twitter chat.
I was able to join one chat and thoroughly enjoyed it! I think I am finally getting the hang of it!

So tell me ... how was your Bloggiesta? Are you looking forward to the next one?

And it begins ... Spring #Bloggiesta + a mini challenge to celebrate #Bloggiesta's true spirit of helping out!

Bloggiesta is a blogging marathon revolving around ticking off those items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing.

Our awesome mascot Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize) is ready to break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two! It’s nothing short of an awesome fiesta!

It's Spring! And it's time for the big #Bloggiesta! Time to get inspired by fellow book bloggers cleaning up their blogs and their to-do lists... it's great to know we're never alone.

Usual stuff: My handy dandy Masterlist gets pulled up again. Since this is an entire week of Spring Cleaning, I'll be doing my usual usual plus plus ;)

• Back up my blog and Read the Nobels. 
• Get up-to-date with my reviews - I have one review I want out next week. If I get two done, I'll be more than happy!
• Update my Book Map with old and recent reads. 
• Clean up wonky posts. 
• Read new Bloggiesta posts. 
• Join mini-challenges that I think are fun and useful. - I've joined in Bookish Mastermind Groups and I'm excited to see how this works out.
• Host a mini-challenge. Host a giveaway. - Check it out down below or JOIN IN HERE.
• Check out the Twitter feed for #Bloggiesta and participate in at least one Twitter chat. 

Big Project: As my "big" task, I plan on focusing on getting my email subscriptions up to snuff. I have amassed a few articles about this and will be doing some more research about it. I have only close to 100 email subscribers (thank you ;)) and I really want to make my subscribers feel extra special.

Don't forget to check out the Mini Challenge: I Need/Can Help! + Giveaway!

I've signed up to host a mini challenge! My experience in the book blogging community has been tremendous - I find most are willing to give a helping hand when asked. Our community is a wonderful resource because of the range and diversity of experience and there is so much to tap into!

Ask for help, or dispense some advice.
JOIN IN HERE!

Feel free to join in either to get some feedback, or to give feedback! Plus ...

... if you join in, you may win a PRIZE!
The lovely Luvly.co* is offering my readers something really fun ... a prize! If you join this mini challenge, either as a helpee or as a helper, you qualify to be entered into the draw for their Mega Spring Bundle (it sells for $29 but it is a humungous bundle of goodies valued at over $500!).

Happy #Bloggiesta-ing everyone!

*Affiliate link

Spring #Bloggiesta Mini Challenge: I NEED help! / I CAN help! }

Bloggiesta is a blogging marathon revolving around ticking off those items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing.

Our awesome mascot Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize) is ready to break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two! It’s nothing short of an awesome fiesta!

Howdy! It's time for a mini challenge!

Do you have things you want to do on your blog but are hemming and hawing about ... and maybe just want a little advice, a second opinion, or someone to have a bit of a brainstorm ?

Or maybe you're on at the point where you're on the other side of things? Love answering bloggers' questions on their mind, sharing your experience, a resource your loved, or your best advice?

My experience in the book blogging community has been tremendous - I find most are willing to give a helping hand when asked. Our community is a wonderful resource because of the range and diversity of experience and there is so much to tap into!

This Spring, get this mini challenge in your Bloggiesta list of things to do! This works like a blog hop where those who want some book blogging help can post about their needs, and fellow bloggers can hop around and dispense advice. Everyone is welcome, and of course, you can hop both sides of the fence!

Are you ready? Here's how to participate:

I NEED help!

Something about your blog weighing on your mind? Do you have ideas but want to bounce them off a few more people before taking the plunge? Do you want some advice, input, resources, or just to another opinion?

Simply write a post on your blog describing your situation and what type of input you want. End your post with: 

Give me some advice or suggestions on ____. 

Don't forget to:

• Link up your specific post (not your blog URL) in the linky below so we can easily find what to comment on!
• If you have a bunch of questions, make sure to put them in a numbered list so it's clear what people are providing advice for.
• Please link back to this blog post / add the button below so that people know it's part of this blog hop and they can also visit the others!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://guiltlessreading.blogspot.ca/2016/03/spring-bloggiesta-mini-challenge-i-need.html" rel="nofollow" title="Guiltless Reading"><img src="http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz351/readerrabbit22/event%20buttons/rsz_i-need-can-help-bloggiesta.jpg" alt="Guiltless Reading" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Generate your button code

Link up your post below!

I CAN help!

Check back here during Bloggiesta week and visit the blogs in the linky above. Go ahead and hop around and help out some of our fellow book bloggers'! Simply leave your two cents in their comments.

... and a PRIZE!

The lovely Luvly.co* is offering my readers something really fun ... a prize! If you join this mini challenge, either as a helpee or as a helper, you qualify to be entered into the draw for their Mega Spring Bundle (it sells for $29 but it is a humungous bundle of goodies valued at over $500!).

Just enter using Giveaway Tools below. Extra entries for promoting this mini challenge.

*Affiliate link

Entry-Form

Helping hands make the book blogosphere a happy place to be! Happy helping!

Photo: Thank you, Mark Daynes! (on Unsplash)

The power of three four for #FreebieFriday!

Feeling Spring ... we're almost there!

This is my second bunch of freebie finds. Let me know if you find anything that you'd like mentioned here. I love to share the freebie love around!

SumoMe

Touts itself as "Tools to grow your website traffic," it offers tons of free tools for all websites (self-hosted, Blogger, Wordpress, etc). I'm a little (ok a LOT) in love with this - and I've abandoned many other apps - because it offers so much and integrated into one interface for free with the option to upgrade if desired or needed. You'll see that little blue square with the crown on it on the righthand side of my blog. It offers everything from integration of social media for image sharing (click on an image and you get to choose to share through Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook), heat maps (know where your visitors are clicking), a subscribe pop-up (that's the List Builder), a Smart Bar (I abandoned Hello Bar because this provides more flexibility), a Highlighter (highlight text and you can tweet it). Oh man, I could go on and on. I haven't yet explored everything but I'm totally sold. Go try SumoMe out for yourself!

Maira Gall's Aurora Template for Blogger 

I adore my template which I bought from Maira Gall*. It's clean, non-fussy, it's for Blogger (yes it is, can you even tell?), it got responsive design (and so looks great on mobile) and so easy to customize. If you're not quite ready to commit to buying, why not try out her freebie called Aurora?

POWr.io 

You'll feel like a kid in a candy store! This is a collection of tons, TONS (I mean, LOOK!) of plug-ins. I'm still playing around with these and figuring out what I can use but really, look at the selection - anything from galleries to e-commerce. There are free versions of all them, but of course if you want more functionality, then you pay up some. Go play on POWr.io!

Creative Market*

BONUS: I already mentioned Creative Market* two weeks ago, but if you don't already know about this weekly bunch of freebies, please go grab this week's Free Goods!

If you liked this post, please share! Which of these are you going to click? Tell me if you end up using any of these fabulous free resources!

* Affiliate link. If you purchase anything through these links, you help out my blog! Thank you :)

Oh the things out there! #FreebieFriday

I spend a ridiculous amount of time online and come across so many freebies floating around. I'll compile them and give them out to you when a Friday rolls around for my bookish (and not-so-bookish) version of #FreebieFridays.

Giveaway of Karin Bosman's Spitting on Hans' Tosti (two copies, open international). A potentially free book for you, if you win it! This a firsthand account of sexual harassment in the workplace. One of those topics you ignore ... unless it actually happens to you or someone close to you. Go enter!

Canva - a free online design program that even non-designers will love! Lots of great templates which take a lot of guesswork out of sizes. Tons of free content including photos, icons, fonts, and more. There's also a pro version but I find that the freebie version already packs a punch for my blogging needs. I created the header on Canva, as well as a lot of my blog graphics you see!

Creative Market* - this is among my first go-to's for design inspiration, templates, logos, photography, fonts and anything digital. I willingly part with my money here because the quality of the work is waaay up there. For example, my blog template is made by the amazing Maira Gall*. Now, for the freebies --- I go a little crazy every week because 6 items are FREE for download for a week! Go check out this week's Free Goods.

I'm booking my tour to Saturn!
(right planet?) 

Unsplash - looking for stock photography that's got oomph? Unsplash photos are totally, absolutely free. If you love getting freebie by email, sign up and get 10 new photos every 10 days.

Website Grader - curious where your website/blog needs improvement? Run this little audit and get some concrete suggestions. I only got a grade of 62 so while it passed, I can definitely see some areas I can work on .. maybe come Bloggiesta time!

whos.amung.us - I've known of this free little widget for years and love it! Know how many people are online real-time (it's that little red tab on the side) ... and even know where they're from if you install the map widget!

NASA's giving away brilliant travel posters! I know, so random. I had to add this because it's too cool not to share!

If you liked this post, please share! I'd love to hear what you think of some of the things I feature in my Friday lists!

* Affiliate link. If you purchase anything through these links, you help out my blog!

Simplifying my "Book Love" (& Happy #ValentinesDay!)

I know you know it: that feeling of finishing a really good book and you've got that stupid grin on your face. Or you're feeling a "wow" inside you that's hard to shake off (or whatever the feeling you feel with a good book). The "book high" is a wonderful experience.

I know you most likely started your own book blog because you love your books and want to share that love!

But when did reading become such a stressor? When did it become so complicated? And why?

I've heard plenty of book bloggers complaining about burnout. We're a passionate bunch and we can't help but push ourselves to keep reading, keep reviewing, keep in the loop, engage with the community, engage with authors. Memes, giveaways, book hops, book tours, I could go on and on. Then there's another layer of being a "good blogger" with time management, social media management, SEO, etc. etc. I know you know what I mean. My head, stop spinning.
I love to read. It's simple. And I want to keep it simple. It should be simple. And that's the reason I named my blog Guiltless Reading.

Here's how I keep my book love–and by extension book blogging–simple and stress-free:

It's about me

I read for selfish reasons: I want to, I enjoy it, I love a good story. I also started blogging for selfish reasons: I get to express myself, I get to share some great reads, and it tickles me pink to get a few people interested in what I have to say. So while I admit that my reasons for reading and book blogging have grown beyond those simple reasons, I remind myself that reading and blogging really is about me.

I read what I want to read

I remember pre-book blogging, picking what to read was so easy. I read what I wanted to read, as the mood carried me. I have generally stuck to this principle, and dug my heels in adamantly, because I cannot imagine forcing myself to read something I'm not remotely interested in reading. Do I really want the pressure of "required reading" a la university? So when a book is offered up for review or recommended highly - and it just doesn't rock my boat - I just say "no thanks." Nothing wrong with that.

I read when I want to read

There was a time I read and reviewed at least a book a week. I pushed myself, loved the thrill of it but it took its toll ... naturally I burned out. I never force myself to read. I pick up books at will, when I have the time, if I have the times. If life happens and I don't get large blocks of time to read, I read in snippets when I can and when I know I'll enjoy it. (You're probably wondering about reviews - that's a different story. If you commit, deliver.)

I don't compete

There's a lot of great stuff going on in the community - memes, readathons, reading challenges, and more. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and busy-ness that comes with them. But it can also arouse the competitive streak in people (I know most of it is friendly, but some has become downright nasty). Like in life, there will always be someone who has read more, reviews more, has more creative ways of doing things. I just don't compete period.

I steer clear of the drama

Real life is more than enough for me, so no thanks.

I don't guilt-trip myself

I've had book slumps. I've even disappeared from the book blogging scene over the years. I've been a "bad" commenter. Heck, I've even fell back on my reviews (confession: I apologize, sometimes I don't). But I never, never guilt-trip myself about it. Books and book blogging are just a part of my life and while I love this, I won't allow it to consume me.


So tell me, my book-loving (and book blogging) friends, what keeps you loving your reading and book blogging?


Gorgeous "love" graphic from Creative Market (affiliate link)

Do you want to know the artist behind my logo? Here's your chance!

I got extremely antsy last year and was hankering for a change. I'd changed my blog theme but I felt like my logo needed something. 

Where did I find this amazing artist? I've been dabbling a bit with fiverr for my advertising and came across some artists and designers and I gravitated to the artist who calls herself "mephmeph" with her beautifully weird, edgy illustrations. After a little back and forth about my blog, myself, and some randomness, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and gave her full artistic license to design a logo for my blog. And there I was, still wondering if I needed my elephant logo revamped!

The header is her handiwork and you'll see variations of it associated with my account. Here's the coloured version.

To close, I simply want to thank mephmeph and highly recommend her as an artist. You can be sure that you'll see more of her work on my blog!

(This is a non-sponsored post - I hired this artist to create my logo, and I was pleased with her work and simply wanted to share the love!)

Now, enough about me, meet mephmeph or Ilisăi Andreea, who hails from Romania. Check out some of her wonderful work:

Ilisăi Andreea 

I'm never good when it's about talking about myself but I suppose that the images speak better than me. Some say my drawings are wicked, weird or that my style is bold and defined by colors but when it comes about me I just know it's an ongoing meditative process about what goes around in my messy head and that's pretty much it.

I started as a typical art student studying a lot of different techniques and styles and not so long time ago I figured out what and how to do it to look natural and feel natural.

As a book lover I just wanna say: Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse and nothing more.

Check out her portfolio links:

• behance.net/andreeailisai
• https://www.facebook.com/MEPH-916528125038858/

I'm Not Asian (from here)

Sticker  design (from here)

Become (illustration part of a series. See here)

Animated gif (from here)

Animated gif (from here)

Well it was mini! I'm wrapping up my @Bloggiesta + find out who won Inbox Zero mini challenge!

Can you believe it? This year's mini Winter Bloggiesta has come and gone once again!

Who won? (I know you wanna know, so I'm doing this first!)

I love it when a mini challenge actually is useful to someone ... or in this case someones. With the Inbox Zero mini challenge, six brave souls decided to have a go at their inboxes and I am pumped that the mini challenge spurred some action and resulted in some cleaner Inboxes!

Carey at Carey Reads not only got to Inbox Zero on her blog email (which is Gmail), she also decided to tackle her work email! He work email is Outlook so she's taken what she can take from the tutorial and Outlook-ified it.

Emily at Emily Reads Everything had already set up her system last year, but she needed to get some filing done. And done it is ... all 120 emails!

Tressa at Wishful Endings adapted the tutorial for her Outlook account and she's pared down her 2000+ emails to 10, which she responded to right away... and that makes ZERO.

Andi at Estella's Revenge seemed such a "slacker" (hear my voice dripping with loving sarcasm). She said:

Wasn't ready to go to bed, so I deleted about 2,000 extraneous emails and got ride of a gazillion unnecessary labels/folders. #bloggiesta

— Andi M. (@estellasrevenge) January 17, 2016

Tanya at Mom's Small Victories says she cleaned out 6000 emails. Amazing! But OMG wait, she is still at it with the 11,000 remaining. Chin up, Tanya, you can do it!

Stacy at The Novel Life tried Unroll.me to unsubscribe from over 200+ subscriptions, and she got fantastic results:

@guiltlessreader yup it sure is! and i was shocked when i opened my gmail to only 1 item today! Woohoo! ThankYOU!!!

— Stacy (@thenovellife) January 17, 2016

For those of you who started but never got around to linking up, that's ok too. I know that this is a work-in-progress so the real test is using the system for a few months, and of course tweaking and further customizing it to work for you.

I had a hard time deciding who won, so I left it totally to chance, the old fashioned way, using my "see no evil, hear no eveil, speak no evil" tea cup ...

And now, the winner of $10 worth of digital pretties from luvly.co is ... drumroll please .... Congrats, CAREY!!!

Regular clean-up

Back up my blog. Done. I also backed-up Read the Nobels. I am making it a habit to upload the xml files on Google Drive instead of just keeping it on my hard drive.

Back up my template. A new addition to this list - I was in the back-end of Blogger anyway, so I grabbed the code of my template and uploaded it on Google Drive.

Get up-to-date with my reviews. Ay yay yay. This is a mini Bloggiesta so, this doesn't count :) I did manage to finish one (of many) reviews I had to do - go check out my review of the heartwrenching Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

Update my Book Map with old and recent reads.  I`m up to date but I did a bit of cleaning up and I started alphabetizing the book titles and dividing the map layers up by year.

Clean up wonky posts.
I cleaned a few up again - uploaded a few images that weren't appearing, took down a few old posts with dead links. Definitely one of those ongoing things to just keep doing.

Read new Bloggiesta posts. I visited a few blogs linked up and left comments here and there. I was supposed to discover 10 new blogs but I was away (unplanned) for most of Saturday and Sunday and didn't have as much time as I'd like. Oh well, there is always a next time!

Join mini challenges that I think are fun and useful.  I wanted to do them all, especially the bullet journalling one by Emily Reads Everything, but got to only two:

• Clean your Gmail. Yeah, yeah, I know this is my challenge. I'm set up already and am at Inbox Zero. However I did action a few of my Action Items.
• Keeping Your Info Private (by Tasha from Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Books) - Fantastic post that I read through. I think this topic merits some more thought and maybe some checklists in the future.

More ...

Host a mini-challenge. Done

Host a giveaway. Done

Check out the Twitter feed for #bloggiesta and participate in at least one Twitter chat.
A miracle! I made it to the Twitter chat and it was so much fun connecting with your lovely folks. I've followed quite a number of new people (or for some odd reason, bloggers I knew but weren't following). I still have to get the hang of the whole Q1 A1 tagging ... and trying to answer all the individual comments .... ahh, but one Twitter chat at a time!

I got distracted on the weekend so not everything got checked off. But overall, another productive Bloggiesta and I know that I've got plenty more to do in the next week-long one.

How was your Bloggiesta?

Winter Mini #Bloggiesta Mini Challenge: Clean up your Gmail!

Sometime mid-2015 I faced my Gmail and was sick and tired of the thousands of emails sitting in my inbox. It was getting harder to ignore it. And I was in semi-denial that it was a problem. I decided to do something about it. All I was wanted was to be able to maintain a respectably clean inbox.

But ... I not only managed to do that, I (in total disbelief, may I add) managed to get down to Inbox Zero! I'm happy to report that since mid last year, I have whipped this Gmail monster into shape and I am still at Inbox Zero!

I decided to share my experience last Bloggiesta. I created a tutorial on how I set up my Gmail account and so many of you took on the challenge. And here's another testimonial (aside from mine):

This is the best post that's ever happened. Gmail Users! How I Achieved Inbox Zero & You Can Too! @guiltlessreader http://t.co/bUJ3IRQVxz

— Outlandish Lit (@OutlandishLit) September 22, 2015

A few have asked whether this challenge could be offered again ... so here it is!

Take the challenge: Towards Inbox Zero! 

1. Visit the Tutorial: click HERE. 
2. Use whatever tips or tricks you can from the tutorial and do what feels comfortable for you towards getting your email under control, towards Inbox Zero. Whether you take only one step, or decide to convert over to the set-up that I have, I'd love to hear about it! 
3. Write a post on youe blog and share your experience. Take screen caps, if you must!
4. Now for the GIVEAWAY! The prize: $10 worth of digital goodies from Luvly.co. (*Need some ideas on what to get - check this post!)
   
   Link up your completion post in the Linky below and please, pretty please, leave a comment below. I'll pick a winner and announce here.
   
   Because it's a holiday on Monday for some, the DEADLINE for linking up is January 19, Tuesday, noon!

Easy peasy, right? 

Now go do some serious inbox whooping. I pretty much guarantee you'll feel pretty darn good!

Gonna get warm this Winter Mini Bloggiesta! Ole!

Get inspired by fellow book bloggers cleaning up their blogs and their to-do lists... you're not alone. Check out this link if you want to sign up!

A mini challenge + giveaway, rebooted!

Last Fall, I urged Gmail users to get to Inbox Zero in a  mini challenge. I'm rehosting it this Winter as clean inboxes are a wonderful thing, especially in the new year. I'll be posting the details of the mini challenge soon.

In the meantime, check out the Tutorial and start thinking about whether you want to join in!

My goals for Winter 2016 Mini Bloggiesta

I'm pretty happy that I have already moved over to my new template and changed up my logo. I already feel the breeze back in my blog!

I'm referring back to my Masterlist and will try to get as many of the general housekeeping items done.

Focus for this Bloggiesta: I'll visit at least 5 new blogs each day for a total of 10 blogs to discover. Sounds exciting!

See you January 16! Remember: good luck, have fun, and be kind to yourself! 

#AMonthofFaves: This Is How I Blog: Tools, Resources & a few fails

So I am still on some other clock than most! :)

A Month of Faves is an awesome event is hosted by GirlXOXO, Traveling with T and Estella's Revenge. Check out the full sked here.

Wed. | Dec. 9 – This Is How I Blog {The Digital Edition} – Essential Computer Programs, Browser Plugins and/or Websites That Rock for Blogging

I couldn't resist this question, so here I am!

Non-negotiables, we all have them! This blog cannot function without Gmail and Google Drive and I am finding basically the suite of tools offered by Google. I've set up my Gmail so I'm practically always at Inbox Zero and I even made a tutorial about this for a Bloggiesta mini challenge (check it out here)! It's tamed my Inbox and email is a non-stressor now. Google Drive can't be beat for storage. I even have a back-up of my blog on Google Drive!

For blog graphics, Canva is da bomb! If you've never heard of it, you must try it. I know how to use Photoshop but honestly, why go to the trouble of starting from scratch when Canva is there? The designs are extremely professional (assuming you use the ones there), there are lots of templates which take out the guesswork, it's easy to use, and the best thing ... it's free. I used to love PicMonkey and still use it on occasion but Canva is now my default.

Need a good photo? My new fave is unsplash.com ... again, totally free, beautiful, and even available in high res, should you need them to be! I created these printable bookmarks for Travel the World in Books Readathon using images from this wonderful site (download them here: set 1, set 2).

Trello is still my go-to for scheduling, list creation, and just keeping track.

For general reading and inspiration, I have two huge crushes:

• Amy Lynn Andrews' Useletter because it is exactly that: useful tips for bloggers that go straight (and free) into your mailbox. 
• Smashing Magazine because it's the best way to get curated tips on design, coding, blogging, and everything in between.  

I have scaled down drastically on the tools that I use and have decided to keep things pretty simple simply because I found that being overly tooled drove me a little bonkers -- too much to keep with, and extremely distracting for my reading ;) Don't get me wrong - these tools are perfectly good but they have to work for you. And they just didn't work for me.

Some tools I have abandoned include Triberr (felt really spammy, or maybe because I was just in the wrong "Tribe"), Buffer and Hootsuite (both I just tired of).

I'm looking forward to seeing what else is out there ... what's the next shiny toy I should play with? :)

Travel the World in Books Mini Challenge + #Giveaway: Make your own Book Map! #TTWIBRAT

If you're getting a déjà vu vibe reading this post, you're not the only one! I'm reviving an old mini challenge for this year's Travel the World in Books Readathon.

Why? Book maps are such an easy way to keep track of reads, especially if the goal is to travel around the world through books!

Take a gander ...

My book map features books I've read based on setting (with covers!) and whether it's fiction (red) or non-fiction. I've also separated them out by year read.

Ready to make your own?

This tutorial comes in two parts. Block off a few hours of time and you can come up with a basic book map sing Google Maps.

PART 1
Plan and create your book map
Start mapping your reads

PART 2
Tweak your book map
Embed your book map on your blog

Need some inspiration? Check out last year's participants' maps in THIS POST.

Prizes! Yes!

Getting a beautiful new book map on your blog is the best prize! But to spice things up, I am giving away $10 of digital goodies from Luvly.co Marketplace (go take a look! Here are a few of my recommended items.)

How to win: 

New and past participants are welcome! Open international. Winner will be chosen randomly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• When you've completed your map, leave a comment below with a link to your map so we can all see it! 
• Have you done this mini challenge already? Update or edit your book map, and leave a comment below with a link and a short description of what you did. You can enter for the prizes too!
• Make sure to fill up Rafflecopter to get your entry! Get extra entries by sharing this mini challenge on social media.

P.S. If you have any questions, post them below as there are quite a few of us who've done this already and we can figure things out pretty quickly

Happy mapping! Happy travels!

Image courtesy of potowizard at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Fall #Bloggiesta ... done and done! (+ who won the Inbox Zero mini challenge)

Well, wasn't that fun? Fall Bloggiesta has come and gone once again and I'm chuffed! I got quite a bit done this time around and it's always fun just hanging out with everyone! Thanks to the organizers of Bloggiesta and the always-enthusiastic partipants, we've got another Bloggiesta under our belts!

The big stuff

Inbox Zero mini challenge and giveaway. A few months ago I came across a life-changing email  (yes, I am being dramatic for good reason) and I finally achieved Inbox Zero. I decided it would be great to share the experience and cooked up a mini challenge.

Gauging by the response, many bloggers seem to struggle to tame their inboxes. Congrats to everyone who joined in, who commented, and even shared screen caps of their Inbox Zero (you gotta see it to believe it - check out the comments!)

And now, the winner of $10 worth of digital pretties from luvly.co is ... drumroll please ... Emily Reads Everything. Congrats, Emily!

Blog template overhaul. The week before Bloggiesta, my blog was in a weird state for a bit and I had a transition template that I only just *sort* of liked. I finally decided to just bite the bullet. I'd been stressing about how complicated my navigation was, the state of my overlabeling, the cluttered sidebars (I could go on) ...  and felt I needed a change. It actually feels like a breeze just blew away all this extraneous stuff with my new template. My red-flowered elephant isn't up yet, but makes an appearance in the blog posts. I'm still fiddling with stuff (as always) so you'll see a few tweaks here and there. 

Regular clean-up

Back up my blog. Done. Even better I also backed-up another blog I manage. I took one extra step this time around and uploaded the xml files on Google drive instead of just keeping it on my hard drive. Again, I have to say it to every book blogger: do this every Bloggiesta! It doesn't take too long and it gives you just a little bit more peace of mind.

Get up-to-date with my reviews. I knew this wasn't happening, for this Bloggiesta at least, so I didn't fight it. I did finish one review for an upcoming tour though!

Update my Book Map with old and recent reads.  Done. And only because I've been reading/reviewing far less that it makes it easy to keep up with it.

Clean up wonky posts.
I got a few out of the way, which I just do when I'm prowling around on the blog. I've also decided to delete Amazon as an affiliate (not making anything anyway) and just stick to Book Depository (because that's what I use to buy books online). Plus it's one less thing to link in the future.

Read new Bloggiesta posts. I did a fair bit of roaming around and left comments here and there but felt like I still didn't get to visit everyone! There was so much going on! I couldn't make any of the Twitter chats so I loved that the chats were all summarized on the Bloggiesta blog.

Join mini challenges that I think are fun and useful. Now call me an overachiever; I got 3 mini challenges done.

• Book Vixen's Create a Back-Up Email - how come I never even thought of this? It was so easy that I endded up backing up my personal email on top of my blogger email.
• Doing Dewey's Getting the Most Out of Reading Challenges - I have some version of this already with my own list of bookish links (and a notebook too!) so it was a nice reminder and to get a few more tips. Onward!
• Bay State Reader Advisory's Blogroll Overhaul - I went through my blogroll widget and discovered the following: (1) Some blogs had moved. So I updated the links. (2) That some blogs had not been updated in months. I deleted them here but of course I moved stuff over to Bloglovin because I didn't want to "lose" them. Who knows, they may come back! (3) I'm down to 54 active blogs. I know that's still a lot, but ... leave me alone ;)

Optional:
Host a mini-challenge.
Host a giveaway.
Check out the Twitter feed for #bloggiesta and participate in at least one Twitter chat. (See above)

Lastly, I'll be updating my Masterlist and will be planning my next Bloggiesta to-do list. Ole!

How was your Bloggiesta?