Joining Book Swim and Starting Book Blog

I've read a lot of books. A lot. Sometimes more than once, and in several cases upwards of 20 times. There are some books I re-read every year, and then there are some that I've been reading off and on for a few years now... and still haven't finished them (yes, I'm talking about you Lisey's Story and Under a Velvet Cloak).

I read pretty much every genre, but I have my favorites. Horror/thriller, chick lit, YA, and just regular popular fiction. Occasionally I'm brave enough to read a manga, or romance novel. I enjoy science fiction now and then. Rare is the time I read non-fiction, but it happens. I used to love true crime, but grew out of my morbid phase, but I'm still loyal to my girl Ann Rule. She had me at The Stranger Beside Me.

I love books, I love buying them, displaying them, sharing them, talking about them... I love their smell... most of the time. My friend Courtney and I started a book club, and our friend Mandy dutifully reads along our monthly selections. We even have a website since I moved from Oklahoma back to Virginia, so we can discuss the books online. Sadly, we haven't had any other regular members, except my friend Michelle who was an early member but soon ditched us.

Moving to Virginia and going from full time manager to extreme part time employee meant less money for books. So I got a library card. But alas, the curse of Not Being Able To Return Books And Or Movies On Time, Not Even Remotely On Time had followed me. I am bad at returning things on time. Even when I've finished all the books I checked out, and even with online renewal. So, whilst I save up for the Kindle of my dreams- thus being to somewhat hide my book buying binges from hubby, I came across Book Swim.

Yes, Book Swim costs a monthly fee, and I don't recommend it if you are one of those millions and millions of folks that can return books on time, or have less of the debilitating curse that was bestowed upon myself. And to be honest, the book selection is still in the growing process, but I already have about 100 books in my rental pool. It's just like NetFlix or Blockbuster Online. There's different pricing fees, return shipping is free and you also get the added bonus of buying the book if you want to keep it.

The down sides so far are that shipping does take a looooooong time, both sending and returning. And I'm too cheap to pay the extra $6.95 for faster shipping. At the moment I get 3 books for $19.99, but I'll probably move up to 5 books for, I think, $24.95. I easily spent more than that a month on books prior to this, and it keeps my already overburdened book shelves safe (they're color coded, because I have enough books to make that look cool).


All this means is more books for me!! Although I still have a pile of books that I have previously bought and not read or remain unfinished. This blog gives me an excuse to get thru those, even more so than my book club does since I don't always get to pick the book we read.

This blog will be my journey through books... and possible cooking and baking- other areas of which I'm trying to improve. So perhaps I'll do a tie-in with the 3... Not sure yet.

Reading is the ultimate escape. In the first grade the school wanted to hold me back because I hadn't learned to read. My parents were shocked, there had been no bad reports no warnings. Both my parents were big readers. My dad yelled a lot, and the decision to move me on to second grade was resolved in his favor (God bless his Irish temper). That summer my dad took me to George Mason University to have me tested to see if there was a reason for my lack of reading skills. My IQ was above average, and it was determined that I had dyslexia. All summer I went to a reading tutor, shout out to Mrs. A, and by the start of the new school year i was several grades ahead in reading ability and comprehension than my classmates.

Years later I realized how lucky I was to get diagnosed at such a young age, at a time (early 80's) when dyslexia was not as well known as it is now. Wow, this is starting to get deep, and I want it to be fun, so on with the book blogging!