February ’12 Wrap-Up

Since I’ve been mostly absent from the blogosphere the last new months, a lot of changes have occurred. I returned to a dramatically different e-landscape which included the death of Google Friend Connect as we know it, the beginning of the Google+ era, and the explosion of Pinterest (which has already cost me far too many hours of my life repinning countless cute animal photos and home decorating ideas). I’m thrilled to be back in the fray and am looking forward to an exciting year in blogging and social media!

Posts & Reviews

I reviewed quite a few books this month, including two memoirs which have garnered a lot of attention–Raised Right by Alisa Harris and Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber. I was pretty nervous about reviewing Alisa’s book since it’s very politically charged and to be honest, I wasn’t over the moon about how my review turned out, but a few other people seemed to respond to it, so I guess all’s well that ends well.

I also reviewed Every Body Matters, a book challenging Christians to take diet and exercise more seriously. I was so excited about this book when I first heard about it. I’ve told friends and family before that if I ever wrote a book, it would be about the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases in the church. Guess I won’t have to do that now!

The other nonfiction books I reviewed are God’s Story, Your Story by Max Lucado and Four Letter Words by Bill Giovannetti–both Christian living titles.

Headlining the fiction reviews this month are Zora and Nicky by Claudia Mair Burney and Proof of Heaven by Mary Curran Hackett. The first was a boom, the other a bust.

I also did three mini-reviews, which is something I have never done before. For Bethany House I reviewed Back on Murder by J. Mark Bertrand and Falls Like Lightning by Shawn Grady. I also did a Kid Lit feature on David C. Cook’s Action Bible.

I conducted two interviews–one with popular Christian fiction blogger Rel Mollet and the other with the author of Surprised by Oxford, Carolyn Weber.

A couple of the hottest posts this month were my Book Chat vlog on negative reviews and the Top 10 Tuesday post in which I prepared for an alien invasion.

Last but not least, be sure to check out yesterday’s Titles to Watch For post to see all the hottest upcoming releases from your favorite CBA publishers!

Poll Results

This month’s poll asked: Are you a sipper or a gulper? Click on the image to enlarge the results.

Looks like I’m in the majority here. I can read a really good 400 page novel in 24 hours, but it takes me longer to get through nonfiction. Check out the new poll in the sidebar!

Consistant Commentators

Thanks to all of you who have added to the discussion by commenting! The top three commentators this month were:

Be sure to drop by and comment on their blogs!

Quotable Quotes

On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom. {Michel de Montaigne}Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. {Truman Capote}

In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them. {Mark Twain}

Poignant Poetry

Hope is the Thing with Feathers
by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

The Best of Pinterest

Follow me on Pinterest for more!

Tweet-Worthy

J.K. Rowling is writing a novel for adults, which she says will be very different from the Harry Potter series. I don’t know about you, but I am dying to know what she comes up with.
Mike Duran wrote a great post challenging Christians read more broadly across genres, which I’m sure will spark some interesting debate. He also wrote about a million other great articles this month, so I might as well just tell you to go check out his blog and read them all.
Evangeline wrote a great post about comment etiquette for bloggers.
Even though I wasn’t able to participate, the Top 10 Tuesday prompt for this week was fantastic. It asked readers to pair books with songs. You can see all the responses here.
If you haven’t already seen it, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore won the Oscar for best short film. It’s a wonderful story about how books bring color to our lives.

Coming Next Month

I’m still catching up on outstanding reviews from last year, so I’m hoping to get the rest of those published in the next couple of weeks. I also have a lot of other great book reviews planned, including Wither by Lauren DeStefano. I thought I’d do another YA dystopian novel after my reviews of the Hunger Games trilogy were so popular. I’m also hoping to do a couple of movie reviews from last year and one or two creative vlogs, so be looking out for that!

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