Alexis Lampley's Blog, page 16
February 6, 2017
The Burning World
by: Isaac Marion {HAPPY RELEASE DAY!}
Being alive is hard. Being human is harder. But since his recent recovery from death, R is making progress. He's learning how to read, how to speak, maybe even how to love, and the city's undead population is showing signs of life. R can almost imagine a future with Julie, this girl who restarted his heart--building a new world from the ashes of the old one.
And then helicopters appear on the horizon. Someone is coming to restore order. To silence all this noise. To return things to the way they were, the good old days of stability and control and the strong eating the weak. The plague is ancient and ambitious, and the Dead were never its only weapon.
How do you fight an enemy that's in everyone? Can the world ever really change? With their home overrun by madmen, R., Julie, and their ragged group of refugees plunge into the otherwordly wastelands of America in search of answers. But there are some answers R doesn't want to find. A past life, an old shadow, crawling up from the basement. {ARC cover copy}
I would just like to start by saying that I am so grateful for bookstagram. Without a place where I could take creative photos of books and shamelessly plaster them all over my Instagram feed, I would not have had the opportunity to do this review. Why? Because I never get ARCs. I'm generally not cool enough to be sent any by publishers and I don't really request them because 1} I suck at reading anything on time these days and 2} The "This Is An ARC" wording plastered on otherwise beautiful covers makes me, as a graphic designer who is a confessed cover snob, super sad. BUT when I posted my picture of Warm Bodies after pre-ordering my copy of The Burning World, I was offered an ARC of The Burning World from none other than the brilliant, charmingly hilarious Isaac Marion himself! Once I picked myself up off the floor, I didn't hesitate to accept it.
If you haven't been around this blog for the last four years, you might have missed my initial review {back when I attempted one-sentence reviews} of Warm Bodies {which you can find here} you can tell, in just the few words I said, how much I loved it. If you can't tell, then let me make myself clear: The writing in Warm Bodies had such an impact on me, as well as a story and character and voice which has all remained so solid in my memory, that it is easily one of my forever favorites. I was definitely not expecting what I read when I picked up this "zombie novel."
{Quick note about the old review picture: My forehead was so red from being out on the boat the day before, but I let the filter enhance it rather than trying to spot correct it because it sortof looked like I had been partially scalped or something else creepy, which seemed fitting, don't you think? haha}
And now... SPOILER ALERT, this is the review for the SECOND book. I'm not responsible for you reading past this point and ruining the first book for yourself. Got it? Okay, cool.
The Burning World. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was when I discovered that there was more to the story of R and Julie. {Thanks to my sister for that one}. I have since learned that there was another book; The New Hunger, which I haven't read yet, that is set before their story. I can safely say that while I have heard you gain some insight to some characters in that book, you won't be lost if you don't read it between the first and second books. I was able to dive right in where I had left off with book one. And wow, was it great to be back in this world. More specifically, the world of R's brain. I love seeing the slow character revealing and growth that happens for R throughout this book. We are slowly, much like zombie flesh, peeling back layers of R and finding out what he is made of. This was one of my favorite aspects of this book. I also really enjoyed the We POV. It is definitely a little hard at first to gain your bearings with that POV, as it is new to the story, but I think it was handled and written really well. I also loved that this book expanded on the world outside of the one community of living, as well as giving us a look at what had become of that community and the structure of everyday life once so many undead had become what R was: the Nearlies. It was fascinating. And it felt entirely plausible within the story's "rules" {aka the constructs of the world that characters abide by. ie: the Mist keeps normal humans from seeing monsters and Gods unless you're a Demigod like Percy Jackson, or Predators used to eat prey in Zootopia but now apparently all went vegan because you never see them eat animal products}.
ANYWAY. This was a fantastic second installment of the story of R {and Julie and friends} and I am so anxious to find out how it will conclude in book three. I am very invested in a certain new set of characters, and they better survive, dammit. {You hear me, Isaac?! Keep them safe! Maim them a bit if you have to, but they better survive}. I think the story wrapped up with a clear lead into what is at stake, what R's motivation will be, and what is going to have to happen, at least in part, for this series to end well. After this follow-up to such a great first book, I have complete faith in Isaac Marion's ability to pull that off.
I usually write favorite quotes here, but I'm not supposed to post quotes from the ARC, so I'll have to add these later when my shiny new copy arrives in the mail, or, more likely, because I'm super busy running my own business, this will stay like this forever. Oops.
Sidenote: If you have been following my weekly "Ramblings" updates, I haven't given that up! With my birthday and our vacation hitting right before the busiest point of my month with work, I decided to skip all that mess and resume when the storm subsided.
Being alive is hard. Being human is harder. But since his recent recovery from death, R is making progress. He's learning how to read, how to speak, maybe even how to love, and the city's undead population is showing signs of life. R can almost imagine a future with Julie, this girl who restarted his heart--building a new world from the ashes of the old one.And then helicopters appear on the horizon. Someone is coming to restore order. To silence all this noise. To return things to the way they were, the good old days of stability and control and the strong eating the weak. The plague is ancient and ambitious, and the Dead were never its only weapon.
How do you fight an enemy that's in everyone? Can the world ever really change? With their home overrun by madmen, R., Julie, and their ragged group of refugees plunge into the otherwordly wastelands of America in search of answers. But there are some answers R doesn't want to find. A past life, an old shadow, crawling up from the basement. {ARC cover copy}
I would just like to start by saying that I am so grateful for bookstagram. Without a place where I could take creative photos of books and shamelessly plaster them all over my Instagram feed, I would not have had the opportunity to do this review. Why? Because I never get ARCs. I'm generally not cool enough to be sent any by publishers and I don't really request them because 1} I suck at reading anything on time these days and 2} The "This Is An ARC" wording plastered on otherwise beautiful covers makes me, as a graphic designer who is a confessed cover snob, super sad. BUT when I posted my picture of Warm Bodies after pre-ordering my copy of The Burning World, I was offered an ARC of The Burning World from none other than the brilliant, charmingly hilarious Isaac Marion himself! Once I picked myself up off the floor, I didn't hesitate to accept it. 
If you haven't been around this blog for the last four years, you might have missed my initial review {back when I attempted one-sentence reviews} of Warm Bodies {which you can find here} you can tell, in just the few words I said, how much I loved it. If you can't tell, then let me make myself clear: The writing in Warm Bodies had such an impact on me, as well as a story and character and voice which has all remained so solid in my memory, that it is easily one of my forever favorites. I was definitely not expecting what I read when I picked up this "zombie novel."{Quick note about the old review picture: My forehead was so red from being out on the boat the day before, but I let the filter enhance it rather than trying to spot correct it because it sortof looked like I had been partially scalped or something else creepy, which seemed fitting, don't you think? haha}
And now... SPOILER ALERT, this is the review for the SECOND book. I'm not responsible for you reading past this point and ruining the first book for yourself. Got it? Okay, cool.
The Burning World. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was when I discovered that there was more to the story of R and Julie. {Thanks to my sister for that one}. I have since learned that there was another book; The New Hunger, which I haven't read yet, that is set before their story. I can safely say that while I have heard you gain some insight to some characters in that book, you won't be lost if you don't read it between the first and second books. I was able to dive right in where I had left off with book one. And wow, was it great to be back in this world. More specifically, the world of R's brain. I love seeing the slow character revealing and growth that happens for R throughout this book. We are slowly, much like zombie flesh, peeling back layers of R and finding out what he is made of. This was one of my favorite aspects of this book. I also really enjoyed the We POV. It is definitely a little hard at first to gain your bearings with that POV, as it is new to the story, but I think it was handled and written really well. I also loved that this book expanded on the world outside of the one community of living, as well as giving us a look at what had become of that community and the structure of everyday life once so many undead had become what R was: the Nearlies. It was fascinating. And it felt entirely plausible within the story's "rules" {aka the constructs of the world that characters abide by. ie: the Mist keeps normal humans from seeing monsters and Gods unless you're a Demigod like Percy Jackson, or Predators used to eat prey in Zootopia but now apparently all went vegan because you never see them eat animal products}.ANYWAY. This was a fantastic second installment of the story of R {and Julie and friends} and I am so anxious to find out how it will conclude in book three. I am very invested in a certain new set of characters, and they better survive, dammit. {You hear me, Isaac?! Keep them safe! Maim them a bit if you have to, but they better survive}. I think the story wrapped up with a clear lead into what is at stake, what R's motivation will be, and what is going to have to happen, at least in part, for this series to end well. After this follow-up to such a great first book, I have complete faith in Isaac Marion's ability to pull that off.
I usually write favorite quotes here, but I'm not supposed to post quotes from the ARC, so I'll have to add these later when my shiny new copy arrives in the mail, or, more likely, because I'm super busy running my own business, this will stay like this forever. Oops.
Sidenote: If you have been following my weekly "Ramblings" updates, I haven't given that up! With my birthday and our vacation hitting right before the busiest point of my month with work, I decided to skip all that mess and resume when the storm subsided.
February 5, 2017
Show Your Work!
by: Austin Kleon
The world is waiting.
In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon gave readers the key to unlock creativity. Now comes the next step in the journey: how to get known.
SHOW YOUR WORK! puts an end to the destructive myth of the lone genius by showing artists and writers, makers and creative entrepreneurs how to join the new ecology of talent. It is about getting found by being findable, about using the network instead of wasting time networking.
The key is process, not product. Share something new every day (but don't turn into human spam). Keep an amateur's mind--where the possibilities are limitless. Be a connector, a teacher, an open node. Don't hoard.
In ten vital new principles, SHOW YOUR WORK! shows that you have to be open, generous, brave--an artist that other artists will steal from. {cover copy}
I read Steal Like an Artist a few years ago and absolutely loved it. It was encouraging and inspiring, and helped me focus on where I could improve how I took inspiration from others and showed me where I was doing things right. While a lot of this new book was stuff I was already doing, it was still encouraging to see that I have been unconsciously on the right track. It also expanded on those things I was doing and gave me something new to think about or implement. I am pretty much an open book, so that part isn't really a problem, but I noticed that I do better with certain parts for certain aspects of my job, and I think this will help me to round that out. {For instance: Showing my work in the literal sense has been easy to do on my art-centered Instagram, but is something I can improve on in my book-centered Instagram}. I'm so glad I stumbled on this at my bookstore the other day. Absolutely recommended for all creatives!
Usually I highlight favorite quotes here, but I would want to quote the entire book, so I'll just reiterate my feelings instead: GET THIS BOOK. It was great.
The world is waiting.In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon gave readers the key to unlock creativity. Now comes the next step in the journey: how to get known.
SHOW YOUR WORK! puts an end to the destructive myth of the lone genius by showing artists and writers, makers and creative entrepreneurs how to join the new ecology of talent. It is about getting found by being findable, about using the network instead of wasting time networking.
The key is process, not product. Share something new every day (but don't turn into human spam). Keep an amateur's mind--where the possibilities are limitless. Be a connector, a teacher, an open node. Don't hoard.
In ten vital new principles, SHOW YOUR WORK! shows that you have to be open, generous, brave--an artist that other artists will steal from. {cover copy}
I read Steal Like an Artist a few years ago and absolutely loved it. It was encouraging and inspiring, and helped me focus on where I could improve how I took inspiration from others and showed me where I was doing things right. While a lot of this new book was stuff I was already doing, it was still encouraging to see that I have been unconsciously on the right track. It also expanded on those things I was doing and gave me something new to think about or implement. I am pretty much an open book, so that part isn't really a problem, but I noticed that I do better with certain parts for certain aspects of my job, and I think this will help me to round that out. {For instance: Showing my work in the literal sense has been easy to do on my art-centered Instagram, but is something I can improve on in my book-centered Instagram}. I'm so glad I stumbled on this at my bookstore the other day. Absolutely recommended for all creatives!
Usually I highlight favorite quotes here, but I would want to quote the entire book, so I'll just reiterate my feelings instead: GET THIS BOOK. It was great.
The Stack: January 2017
One day I won't be so busy, and reading won't be something that happens on stolen time. Till then, I'll keep carving out tiny bits of reading time. This month I managed to carve out an entire day: my birthday! I finished one and read the other two right after. It was a glorious day!The Midnight Star Marie LuDefinitely a let down after the first two books, but the ending saved it.
Show Your Work! Austin Kleon
Review to come! I'm days and days behind schedule because I had the audacity to take a vacation for the first time since I started my business last spring.
The Girl From the Other Side .Review to come!
January 23, 2017
Week 3: Work, Work, and Oh, Almost Forgot! More Work.
So, Alexis, it seems you only post weekly wrap-ups in the Ramblings section so far this year, do you not like reading anymore or posting reviews? Nope. I still love reading. I'd love to post a review. But I have four books I want to finish this month and only a week left to do it. Wanna know how far I've gotten? I haven't finished even one. *sobs* And I don't have many topics to talk about this week because I am literally working all day long, every day, even the entire weekend. But we are headed to Disney on Thursday and I have to finish all my designs before we go so that I can enjoy my family and don't have to stay up till 5am every night like I did this weekend working.Most of the time, I feel like I'm just barely staying afloat with all my tasks, but "hell week" is a whole other beast. The week before I order everything for the boxes, I am working to finish up the designs. It's always a stressful week, and I don't do much else, so our house looks like a disaster. Usually I can roll with it, but it has really been bumming me out this time. Probably because I have such a clear vision of what I want from the rooms that are messy and I am itching to rectify them, but I am forcing myself to ignore it all to get my work done. Perhaps the timing of completing my paperback book formatting and cover and having it in my hands by my birthday {which is Jan 31- my golden birthday this year as I'm turning 31} was a bit of an overreach, but it's something I want to do, so I'm finding time to make it happen. I haven't slept much lately, so this whole week feels like a blur. Honestly, the last several months have been a blur. I work too much. I feel like I've said that. Sorry. Thank goodness for Madeline, whose presence in the mornings and evenings at least forces me to get out of my own head for a little bit each day.
There's so much more I want to say, but I worry it will sound like I'm complaining or repeating myself. Instead, here are my goals: get the book ordered for a proofing before we leave for Disney. Finish designs before we leave for Disney. Clean up for one hour each night while Madeline helps so the house won't be so depressing. TRY and take pictures to post on bookstagram while we are on vacation so I don't have to think or worry about them. Those are the big things. Let's cross our fingers that I can make it happen!
January 16, 2017
Week 2: Hustle Pays Off and Sometimes You End Up Crying in a Pile of Baby Laundry
Hello again! This is week two of my new Ramblings section, in which I talk about my week as an author, bookstagrammer, mom & wife, and CEO {that sounds weird. I technically am, but it makes me think of pantsuits. And unless LulaRoe starts selling those, that's not what I wear}.This week started off pleasant and even a little relaxing, despite it being packing week. Toward the middle, however, it devolved into a reevaluation of my current work habits and crying in the middle of a pile of Madeline's laundry while talking about my hopes and dreams. It was all very glamorous. Luckily, by the end, I had a new plan, and dove into week three with the feeling that I will get everything into a semblance of a rhythm soon. I hope.
On the BUSINESS OWNER front:
Nerdy Post Boxes Yet To Be FoldedOne part you can't forget about when you own a subscription business is packing the boxes. With the help of my mom and dad, I was able to complete the Packing Week process in just three days. The first day, I rolled posters while my mom bagged up mini-button packs and my dad folded our new and improved boxes. Day two my mom and I packed all the boxes in a nice little assembly line. Usually, on my own, this takes me two days. On day three, we all taped up and added shipping labels to each box, then crammed them into every available space in my 4Runner, and I dropped them off at the post office. It was probably the smoothest Packing Week we've had yet. I really think we could sustain this method of fulfillment each month well into double the amount of subscribers we are currently at.On the AUTHOR front:
This week, the book was put to the back burner until after packing and shipping out boxes. I had the last of the formatting to take care of before sending the file to my best friend and her husband, who have offered to look over it for any blatant typing errors and any formatting mishaps. Formatting for paperback isn't too bad once you get the hang of it, but it's definitely a trick to getting to that point. My goal for next week is more on the design side of the book. I plan to put together a Bonus Box for reviewers and for those who want to buy directly from me so they can get a signed copy. I was originally considering doing a pre-order bonus type deal, but after looking at the logistics of my time management and the cost to us to get things printed, it made more sense to do almost a mini version of my subscription box, but include a signed book. I hope it works out and people are interested. In this case it actually helps that the book has been out in e-format for a year. Thanks to starting my business instead of designing the cover and prepping the files just a couple months after publishing, the gap in time is larger, but it has given me time to accumulate reviews and the like on Goodreads!
On the MOM & WIFE front:
Baby Laundry, Successfully OrganizedSo, I'm not the best housewife these days. On my list of priorities, cleaning the house or doing chores or making dinner is at the bottom. It's not that I dislike doing any of it. I just know that I can sacrifice doing the dishes for an extra 30 minutes of baby-free design time, and that kind of prioritizing adds up. The funny thing is, I am so much more centered and focused and confident and productive {especially when it comes to bookstagram} when my house is clean. Which brings us to the moment my husband walked in the door while I was having a mini-panic attack while folding Madeline's laundry on the living room floor. I started venting about how I can't keep taking on freelance jobs, but I don't know how to say no since we could always use the money, and half the time I just really want to be involved in the project, so I just say yes, but then I hit hot deadline after hot deadline and I never have time to hang out with my kid or my family or my husband, and I feel like a crappy person. By the time all that came out, I was in tears. So we decided to take a few minutes to discuss what we imagined our life and our surroundings to be and make a plan for realizing those things. It helped. And once I finished the hot deadline designs, I immediately dove into doing exactly as we planned.
Madeline's CLEAN Room!A little setup: I have three problem rooms {used to be two until we re-did our living room}. My office, my work/storage room {known as the Room of Requirement}, and lately, Madeline's room. Mads seemed to have gotten four thousand toys for Christmas, and her room had become an over-cluttered disaster instead of the sanctuary it had always been. My Room of Requirement was overloaded with boxes of inventory for the subscription box and all the boxes in the picture above. My husband has always felt that room would make a great playroom, but I really need that space. So I had an idea.
Madeline's New Playroom!We have a ton of extra baby gate fencing, so it would be possible to use it all to create a divide in the room where both of us had access to it, since there are two doors into it. The one closest to Madeline's room became the entrance to her "playroom" where I would take all the excess toys and furniture from her bedroom and create a play space for her that might possibly help keep the living room cleaner. I bought organizers for my inventory and consolidated that mess, took the boxes to my parents' house, shoved everything else of mine on Madeline's side of the Room of Requirement onto my side of the room, put up the fence, and made the playroom happen. My plan from here is to purge my side like I did with my closet, then move all the bookstagram photo and video setups into my side, which would clean up my office and would finally fix all three rooms!And last but not least, BOOKSTAGRAM:
I am still behind here. But with a vacation on the horizon, I am making plans to take a bunch of photos and put them in the queue so that I can post on a more regular schedule, as well as make a list of photos I can do more frequently so I will not be so starved for creativity as I have felt lately. I think all of this will be helped immensely by the de-cluttering and organizing of those problem rooms, so... wish me luck!
I need an acronym for this section so I don't have to list out the parts of me. Hm. I shall think on this.
Also, I really wish our walls were all grey. The grey looks so pretty in pictures. Maybe I'll add that to my list?! Haha
January 8, 2017
Week 1: Getting My Life Together
the pigeon in that book is literally me. Week One of January 2017 and already this year is flying by. I have so much I want to accomplish this month and only three weeks left to do it. I don't know about you, but I always feel like I haven't done a thing, even if I have been checking off tasks from my list left and right. Maybe it's the nature of my tasks.This week my mom has been in town being a huge help and a hindrance all at once. Her presence has definitely hurt my ability to get Nerdy Post and collaboration related work done, but that's because she helped me with the monumental task of purging my closet this week. Without her, I wouldn't have survived that process. I would have either given up and put everything back in, or I would have just lit everything on fire and started over. It took us the better part of two days to do it. I have a hard time letting go. But the closet is so clean and organized now that I can feel a weight off my shoulders.
Now I can focus on other parts of the house, like my Room of Requirement, which I intend to clear all the Nerdy Post related items {inventory from past boxes, shipping materials including 2,000 unfolded boxes} from and use as a space to take all my bookstagram photos for @dropandgivemenerdy and hyperlapse videos for @nerdy.post so that I can clear all the backgrounds and tripods and lights cluttering my beautiful library's floor. It's a long and slow process, so for now I still look like a hoarder. But I am determined to make our house match the picture I have in my head of what I want it to be--what makes me happy.
What else makes me happy? The fact that I am getting closer to finally having my book in proper printed form. On the days I wasn't cleaning my closet, or drawing up the plans for our Sherlock box and the months after it, I have been focusing on formatting my book for paperback. It's a challenge, and would have taken me days if not for the help of my best friend Michelle and her husband. Now I have only to input the last of my ebook-to-paperback edits from my incredibly talented editor friend, Lara Ferrari, draw up the book map, finalize the formatting, send the pdf to Michelle for one last pass through from herself for formatting and her husband for copy, then get the book printed and sent to me to make sure all is in line. Meanwhile, I'll need to create some fun extras to go along with the book, which I plan to send out to some IG reviewers to help generate buzz {I hope} and then officially release it to the masses. Self-publishing is hard. Maybe I should skip the bookmap for now and make it a special promo piece instead. I do, after all, have deadlines for three other collab projects this month. Yes, probably best to wait on the map.
Meanwhile, I carved out some time while rocking the baby to sleep tonight to read the last chapters of Pride & Prejudice, which I had to put off so I could finish designs for our Star Wars box and get everything ordered late last week. I am dying to start so many books it's not even funny. The two I am most itching to read right away are Crooked Kingdom, because I hate trying to avoid those spoilers, and the Rogue One novelization. Who knows when I will get to them, since I have a special readalong with a group of bookstagrammers for The Midnight Star and then Heartless to read for the bookstagram book club I am part of called Kindred Readers.
It's 2am and I can't decide if I should read, organize the Room of Requirement, or work on the book edits. Of course, at any moment the kid could wake up and decide its bedtime for me, refusing to go back to sleep anywhere but curled in my arms in my bed, where we will cuddle and I will get extra sleep and accomplish nothing else on the productivity side of things.
Here's hoping I use this time wisely!
Getting My Life Together
the pigeon in that book is literally me. Week One of January 2017 and already this year is flying by. I have so much I want to accomplish this month and only three weeks left to do it. I don't know about you, but I always feel like I haven't done a thing, even if I have been checking off tasks from my list left and right. Maybe it's the nature of my tasks.This week my mom has been in town being a huge help and a hindrance all at once. Her presence has definitely hurt my ability to get Nerdy Post and collaboration related work done, but that's because she helped me with the monumental task of purging my closet this week. Without her, I wouldn't have survived that process. I would have either given up and put everything back in, or I would have just lit everything on fire and started over. It took us the better part of two days to do it. I have a hard time letting go. But the closet is so clean and organized now that I can feel a weight off my shoulders.
Now I can focus on other parts of the house, like my Room of Requirement, which I intend to clear all the Nerdy Post related items {inventory from past boxes, shipping materials including 2,000 unfolded boxes} from and use as a space to take all my bookstagram photos for @dropandgivemenerdy and hyperlapse videos for @nerdy.post so that I can clear all the backgrounds and tripods and lights cluttering my beautiful library's floor. It's a long and slow process, so for now I still look like a hoarder. But I am determined to make our house match the picture I have in my head of what I want it to be--what makes me happy.
What else makes me happy? The fact that I am getting closer to finally having my book in proper printed form. On the days I wasn't cleaning my closet, or drawing up the plans for our Sherlock box and the months after it, I have been focusing on formatting my book for paperback. It's a challenge, and would have taken me days if not for the help of my best friend Michelle and her husband. Now I have only to input the last of my ebook-to-paperback edits from my incredibly talented editor friend, Lara Ferrari, draw up the book map, finalize the formatting, send the pdf to Michelle for one last pass through from herself for formatting and her husband for copy, then get the book printed and sent to me to make sure all is in line. Meanwhile, I'll need to create some fun extras to go along with the book, which I plan to send out to some IG reviewers to help generate buzz {I hope} and then officially release it to the masses. Self-publishing is hard. Maybe I should skip the bookmap for now and make it a special promo piece instead. I do, after all, have deadlines for three other collab projects this month. Yes, probably best to wait on the map.
Meanwhile, I carved out some time while rocking the baby to sleep tonight to read the last chapters of Pride & Prejudice, which I had to put off so I could finish designs for our Star Wars box and get everything ordered late last week. I am dying to start so many books it's not even funny. The two I am most itching to read right away are Crooked Kingdom, because I hate trying to avoid those spoilers, and the Rogue One novelization. Who knows when I will get to them, since I have a special readalong with a group of bookstagrammers for The Midnight Star and then Heartless to read for the bookstagram book club I am part of called Kindred Readers.
It's 2am and I can't decide if I should read, organize the Room of Requirement, or work on the book edits. Of course, at any moment the kid could wake up and decide its bedtime for me, refusing to go back to sleep anywhere but curled in my arms in my bed, where we will cuddle and I will get extra sleep and accomplish nothing else on the productivity side of things.
Here's hoping I use this time wisely!
A New Direction in 2017
I was preparing for another year of reviews earlier this week by spicing up the look of this blog, when I randomly decided to add a subtitle... and in turn created an entirely new direction for it to go in. Now, rather than "Alexis Lampley's Read-Along Blog" it is "Ramblings & Reviews of a Reader, Author, Bookstagrammer & Momtrepeneur." What I realized in writing this new subtitle was that there's so much else that goes on in my life that could be interesting to readers. And I wanted a chance to expand on that, while also hopefully creating a way to be more active here than a couple reviews a month.
I love staging those review shots. I also love sharing them on Instagram. I have for many years. And it was that love that brought me to the world of bookstagram. Bookstagram is a little corner of the IG community that I found about a year and a half ago {just a couple months after having my daughter, who plays a large role in my IG presence(s)} where readers share not just reviews, but their love of books and fandoms and all the bookish merch your nerdy heart desires. These, I quickly came to find, were most definitely my people.
In the time since I began my bookstagram account, I have gained over 45,000 followers, become such close friends with some of them that I send them Christmas gifts, started a bookish art Etsy business, quit my job to be a stay at home mom, morphed the Etsy business into a fandom subscription box {Nerdy Post. Its own IG account currently sitting at just under 75,000 followers}, and published my own book {ebook already available. Paperback version will be available at the end of the month}. I'm busy, to say the least. But I have never felt more creatively fulfilled in my life.
I always mention in my recaps and reviews how busy I am, and my followers all know it, too. But despite being an open book on IG, I have never really thought about translating that feeling onto here until now, when I changed the subtitle and had a flash of inspiration.
The Ramblings and Reviews of a Reader, Author, Bookstagrammer & Momtrepeneur
I really enjoy reading about other people's lives. Especially those who do so much and seem to have themselves {and their beautiful, spotless, how-can-you-have-so-much-white-furniture-but-also-a-gaggle-of-children houses} so incredibly together. I love hearing about the pains they went through to make an incredible shot happen despite the craziness of life with their seven kids {I made that number up, but you get the idea}. And I know that so many of my followers, because of everything that I do, often consider me as similar to the way I view those IG moms: someone who has everything together. So I figured, hey, maybe they'd be interested in getting a more behind-the-scenes take on my life and how well {or terribly, depending} I balance it all.
So here's what I intend to focus on:
Book Reviews: These will of course continue to be posted for both myself, and, once she decides cooperating is fun again, with my daughter Madeline. My reading schedule can't be set in stone, but I really enjoyed the Monday "Maddie Moo Baby Book Review" posts, so this is something I hope to implement again. Kids books are a big part of our life and my bookstagram, and I want those things included here.
Momtrepeneur: I want to talk about the thing that dominates my days and nights. I want to make time each week to recap the stresses and successes and give you an inside look at my process, and how that process is affected by also having to care for a hyperactive, clingy, adorable toddler. This will mean Nerdy Post spoilers sometimes, and sometimes stories about the kid.
Bookstagrammer: Here I will include the trials and tribulations of maintaining a large bookstagram account. Again, it will probably include the struggles of doing so while attending to a child. And lastly...
Author: With my paperback being released this month, and this year dedicated to finishing the second book from plot to final draft, I want to include writerly posts about my progress, because I think it's something interesting, to watch people progress and to see their stumbles. {Much like reading a story, actually. Hi. I'll be your protagonist for this blog}.
Anyway, that's about it. I sincerely hope you'll join me in this new journey. Otherwise, I'll just have a very public journal no one reads, which will be awkward.
I am still in the process of working up a schedule for all of these posts, but I hope to at least start with a weekly recap. So expect that soon!
I love staging those review shots. I also love sharing them on Instagram. I have for many years. And it was that love that brought me to the world of bookstagram. Bookstagram is a little corner of the IG community that I found about a year and a half ago {just a couple months after having my daughter, who plays a large role in my IG presence(s)} where readers share not just reviews, but their love of books and fandoms and all the bookish merch your nerdy heart desires. These, I quickly came to find, were most definitely my people.
In the time since I began my bookstagram account, I have gained over 45,000 followers, become such close friends with some of them that I send them Christmas gifts, started a bookish art Etsy business, quit my job to be a stay at home mom, morphed the Etsy business into a fandom subscription box {Nerdy Post. Its own IG account currently sitting at just under 75,000 followers}, and published my own book {ebook already available. Paperback version will be available at the end of the month}. I'm busy, to say the least. But I have never felt more creatively fulfilled in my life.
I always mention in my recaps and reviews how busy I am, and my followers all know it, too. But despite being an open book on IG, I have never really thought about translating that feeling onto here until now, when I changed the subtitle and had a flash of inspiration.
The Ramblings and Reviews of a Reader, Author, Bookstagrammer & Momtrepeneur
I really enjoy reading about other people's lives. Especially those who do so much and seem to have themselves {and their beautiful, spotless, how-can-you-have-so-much-white-furniture-but-also-a-gaggle-of-children houses} so incredibly together. I love hearing about the pains they went through to make an incredible shot happen despite the craziness of life with their seven kids {I made that number up, but you get the idea}. And I know that so many of my followers, because of everything that I do, often consider me as similar to the way I view those IG moms: someone who has everything together. So I figured, hey, maybe they'd be interested in getting a more behind-the-scenes take on my life and how well {or terribly, depending} I balance it all.
So here's what I intend to focus on:
Book Reviews: These will of course continue to be posted for both myself, and, once she decides cooperating is fun again, with my daughter Madeline. My reading schedule can't be set in stone, but I really enjoyed the Monday "Maddie Moo Baby Book Review" posts, so this is something I hope to implement again. Kids books are a big part of our life and my bookstagram, and I want those things included here.
Momtrepeneur: I want to talk about the thing that dominates my days and nights. I want to make time each week to recap the stresses and successes and give you an inside look at my process, and how that process is affected by also having to care for a hyperactive, clingy, adorable toddler. This will mean Nerdy Post spoilers sometimes, and sometimes stories about the kid.
Bookstagrammer: Here I will include the trials and tribulations of maintaining a large bookstagram account. Again, it will probably include the struggles of doing so while attending to a child. And lastly...
Author: With my paperback being released this month, and this year dedicated to finishing the second book from plot to final draft, I want to include writerly posts about my progress, because I think it's something interesting, to watch people progress and to see their stumbles. {Much like reading a story, actually. Hi. I'll be your protagonist for this blog}.
Anyway, that's about it. I sincerely hope you'll join me in this new journey. Otherwise, I'll just have a very public journal no one reads, which will be awkward.
I am still in the process of working up a schedule for all of these posts, but I hope to at least start with a weekly recap. So expect that soon!
January 5, 2017
The Stack: December 2016
December was crazy busy, but I am very proud of myself because only one of these books was an Audible read. The other three I carved out the time to actually read. Considering how much I worked, I am surprised with myself. But there were a lot of holiday days, so a lot of unexpected down time, I guess!Heir of Fire Sarah J. MaasThese get better and better. I like the witches. Is that weird? They might be my favorite part. I want Manon and Aelin to be best friends.
Furthermore Tehereh Mafi
See review
The Burning World Isaac MarionReview to come! I wanted to wait till closer to the actual release date to post it.
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Another fantastic re-read. I adore this book so much.
January 4, 2017
Furthermore
by: Tehereh Mafi
There are only three things that matter to Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and, most important of all, Father, who always loved her. It's been almost three years since the day Father disappeared from Ferenwood with nothing but a ruler in his pocket, but Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she'll have to embark on one to find the other.
To bring Father home, Alice will travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver, who is an experienced guide with his own tangled secrets. It will take all of Alice's wits to make it through Furthermore and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of uncertainty and loss. Bestselling author Tehereh Mafi takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating tale where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places. {cover copy}
I have adored Tehereh Mafi since I started following her on Twitter years ago, before she landed her first book deal. So I have a soft spot in my heart for any book she puts out. But this book, with its gorgeous colors, great title, and status as a Middle Grade read was icing on the cake! It makes me happy on so many levels. And you know what, so does the story! I so very much enjoyed this. It felt like I was reading a new Children's Classic in the making. Especially on nights when I read it aloud to my daughter {who is still too young to appreciate it}. For some reason, reading it aloud to her made me understand the world and the writing better, as if just approaching it in the mindset for a child made it that much richer. Whatever it was that made this happen, I loved it. SUCH a cool concept for a character and a story. Oh, and the between-the-chapters-titles were so fun!
The sun was raining again. {first line}
"He'd touched her arm, so, really, she had no choice but to punch him."
"Grief was a tangible weight Alice's small body slowly learned to carry."
"Anyway, it wasn't that she needed anyone to like her. It was just that she already liked herself so much and found herself so very interesting (and smart and creative and nice and funny and friendly and genuine) that she really couldn't understand why it wasn't easier for her to fit in."
"Now, I'll be on my way, thank you very much. It was awful talking to you."
"There were a great many talents on display that day, and hers, as it turned out, was the strength to keep from bursting into tears in front of everyone."
"It was hard for Alice to like Oliver--on account of she didn't like him very much..."
"Love had made her fearless."
"People are so preoccupied with making sense despite it being the most uninteresting thing to manufacture. Making magic ... is far more interesting than making sense."
"But then, very few grown-people have ever made sense of a young person's mind, and I've no great ambitions to count myself among the pioneers."
"Studies have shown that thinking and wondering lead to thoughtful decision-making. It's an epidemic."
"And she was beginning to realize that part of growing up meant growing tender, and that secrets were sometimes wrapped around tender things to keep them safe."
"But not-knowing is only temporary when we've got the minds to figure it out."
"...she was a girl made of more heart than hurt..."
"Laughter was a silk that would soften even the roughest moments."
"...to be different was to be extraordinary, and to be extraordinary was an adventure."
"Love, it turned out, could both hurt and heal."
• reader • {last word}
There are only three things that matter to Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and, most important of all, Father, who always loved her. It's been almost three years since the day Father disappeared from Ferenwood with nothing but a ruler in his pocket, but Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she'll have to embark on one to find the other.To bring Father home, Alice will travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver, who is an experienced guide with his own tangled secrets. It will take all of Alice's wits to make it through Furthermore and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of uncertainty and loss. Bestselling author Tehereh Mafi takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating tale where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places. {cover copy}
I have adored Tehereh Mafi since I started following her on Twitter years ago, before she landed her first book deal. So I have a soft spot in my heart for any book she puts out. But this book, with its gorgeous colors, great title, and status as a Middle Grade read was icing on the cake! It makes me happy on so many levels. And you know what, so does the story! I so very much enjoyed this. It felt like I was reading a new Children's Classic in the making. Especially on nights when I read it aloud to my daughter {who is still too young to appreciate it}. For some reason, reading it aloud to her made me understand the world and the writing better, as if just approaching it in the mindset for a child made it that much richer. Whatever it was that made this happen, I loved it. SUCH a cool concept for a character and a story. Oh, and the between-the-chapters-titles were so fun!
The sun was raining again. {first line}
"He'd touched her arm, so, really, she had no choice but to punch him."
"Grief was a tangible weight Alice's small body slowly learned to carry."
"Anyway, it wasn't that she needed anyone to like her. It was just that she already liked herself so much and found herself so very interesting (and smart and creative and nice and funny and friendly and genuine) that she really couldn't understand why it wasn't easier for her to fit in."
"Now, I'll be on my way, thank you very much. It was awful talking to you."
"There were a great many talents on display that day, and hers, as it turned out, was the strength to keep from bursting into tears in front of everyone."
"It was hard for Alice to like Oliver--on account of she didn't like him very much..."
"Love had made her fearless."
"People are so preoccupied with making sense despite it being the most uninteresting thing to manufacture. Making magic ... is far more interesting than making sense."
"But then, very few grown-people have ever made sense of a young person's mind, and I've no great ambitions to count myself among the pioneers."
"Studies have shown that thinking and wondering lead to thoughtful decision-making. It's an epidemic."
"And she was beginning to realize that part of growing up meant growing tender, and that secrets were sometimes wrapped around tender things to keep them safe."
"But not-knowing is only temporary when we've got the minds to figure it out."
"...she was a girl made of more heart than hurt..."
"Laughter was a silk that would soften even the roughest moments."
"...to be different was to be extraordinary, and to be extraordinary was an adventure."
"Love, it turned out, could both hurt and heal."
• reader • {last word}
