20 Non Bookish Facts about Ali

As you might know Ali Talks is a post I really enjoy posting here on the blog.  It's one where I can talk about many different topics varying from books, blogging, to every day stuff.  Today I want to let you get to know me a bit more than you do.  Honestly, sometimes I wonder if anyone knows anything about me other than I love books.  I even posted something on Facebook a few weeks ago on my personal page and I asked what is something you know about me and everyone put that I love books.  There is a lot more to me than just that.  So that's what I plan to fix today.  

20 Non Bookish Facts About Me

1.  I enjoy singing! I was in choir most of my school career. 
2.  I collect Shirley Temple memorabilia.
3.  Gretta is the name of my full blooded German Shepard.  She's spunky as can be! 
4.  My favorite type of cake is German Chocolate 
5. I'm obsessed with my Bullet Journal and my fountain pen
6. I enjoy watching several TV shows, but my favorite is The Walking Dead.  I've also met the whole cast.
7.  My desk is full of stationary and small notebooks.  I can never have enough cute notebooks!
8.  A Pen obsession...Who me?  Okay, I admit it! 
9.  My favorite color is purple, but my second favorite is green. 
10. I'm getting married in June and for one of my bachelorette parties we are going zip lining. 
11.  My new obsession is owls.  They are everywhere in my house.  I'm being serious, like even my pen holder is an owl mug. 
12. One day I wish to be able to go to Italy. 
13. My first vehicle was a green Ford Ranger flair side and I loved it! 
14. My favorite cookie is soft batch chocolate chip. 
15. My favorite ice cream is cookies and cream. 
16. I have 10 pen pals! 
17. Yoga is in my morning routine. 
18. My favorite flower is a tulip, my second favorite is an orchid
19. I play World of Warcraft.  Yep, I'm a gamer! 
20. I really enjoy cooking and baking.  They are both something that really relaxes me. 

Hopefully after reading these twenty small facts about me, that you at least got to know me a bit better.  I also hope you enjoyed this post today! 

10 Of My Most Recent 5 Puppy Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.   It's mainly a topic based top ten post where I'll be answering the question and showing off some books.  So if you would like to know more about this meme, CLICK HERE. 

So the most recent 5 Puppy Rated books here on Ali's Bookshelf are as follows...I think I'm going to count it down this week.

 10. Broken Dreams by Kelly Elliott: Love this whole series and can't wait to read the next.

9. Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons: Do I even tell you how much I love these books and the author.

8. Enclave by Ann Aguirre: This book was breath taking Amazing!!

7. A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest- Fantastic series so far, I'm on book three and loving them all! 

6. Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward: Sexy Vampires, Do I need to say more...

 5. A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest: LOVE this whole series. (Like I said above) Main characters are fantastic and the plot pulls you in. Easy read! 

4. Pivot Point by Kasie West: Wish I hadn't waited so long to read, one of my favorites that I've read this year.

3. Come Back To Me by Mila Gray: Another one of my favorites from this year! This book had me laughing at one point and then crying so hard the next. 

2. Lionheart by Richard Collingridge: The best children's book I've read in a long time.  Has a great lesson to learn and a fantastic story. 

And number 1 is...

1. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: I  can't stop telling people about this book and honestly this book is still with me even after a couple months.  

So what are your most recent 5 star rated books? 

It's Monday...What Are You Reading?

This meme started with J Kaye's Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.  It's a meme where you share what you read last week, what you're currently reading and what you plan on reading that week. 

So last week I finished listening to...

If I Stay by Gayle Forman 

This Week I Plan On Reading 

and Finishing...

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare 

(I've tried several times to read this one, so this time I'm listening to it, so far so good!) 

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Two Summers by Aimee Friedman (ARC Read) 

ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed fields of lavender . . .

ANOTHER SUMMER in upstate New York, along familiar roads that lead to surprises . . .

When Summer Everett makes a split-second decision, her summer divides into two parallel worlds. In one, she travels to France, where she’s dreamed of going: a land of chocolate croissants, handsome boys, and art museums. In the other, she remains home, in her ordinary suburb, where she expects her ordinary life to continue — but nothing is as it seems.

In both summers, she will fall in love and discover new sides of herself. What may break her, though, is a terrible family secret, one she can't hide from anywhere. In the end, it may just be the truth she needs the most.

From New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman comes an irresistible, inventive novel that takes readers around the world and back again, and asks us what matters more: the journey or the destination.

So that's my reading plans for this week.  What about you, what are you reading? 

Blind Date With A Book Giveaway (Round 1)

I'm super excited about this post and giveaway! Sorry had to get that out of my system, I've been putting this giveaway together for almost a month now and it's going to consist of 4 Rounds.  Each round will have about four to five books that you will have a chance to win, but the catch is you will have no idea which books are in each round.  That's right, each book will be wrapped and only a small snippet from the book or book summary will be able to be seen.  

I hope you all enjoy this giveaway and do remember this really wasn't my idea, I saw something like this at the library and thought it would work great on the blog. So credit where credit is due!

Each round will consist of a main post so you will get to know a little bit about each book and you'll get to see the pretty wrapping.  Then at the bottom of the post, will be the giveaway widget.  There will be several ways to win, but sadly I have to go ahead and tell you, that this giveaway is for anyone 18+ and it's for US residents only. 

I made the giveaway 18+, mainly because there are some adult books in the stacks. Alright, with all that done, let's get to it shall we? 

So here's the first round of five books...

When she meets James, her potential new boss, she knows she shouldn't mix business with pleasure, but finds it impossible to resist...

 

 Before, she knew who she was--a regular girl who ran track and got good grades, who loved her boyfriend and her best friend.  Now, she can't even recognize herself.

 

 When they meet two more friends who can also see Jessica, the question arises: What is it that they have in common?

Rebekah never planned to fall for the tall, goofy drummer with the weird sense of humor and a heart the size of the galaxy.  But Eric makes her laugh and his constant attention makes her feel sexy and irresistible.

But what happens when the girl who never thought she'd date a good guy suddenly finds herself dating a great one? She doesn't need a boyfriend...but she wants it to work out with this particular boyfriend.  And he wants it to work out with her.

Time for the Giveaway Part. 

• This giveaway is going to run from today till April 25th. The next one will start in May.  
• 18+ and to residents of the US only! 

Good Luck!! 

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Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all enjoy this giveaway, I love giving books away here on Ali's Bookshelf.

 

Did I Succeed or Did I Fail? Bloggiesta Finish Line

It's the last day of Bloggiesta and I've gotten so much accomplished.  I'm actually really happy about everything that I've done.  Was even able to get a few things done that I didn't know I wanted to complete.  Anyway, below is my list of completed tasks and the ones I didn't finish, I will by the end of the night. 

Post a Daily update on how I'm doing throughout the week

Schedule two or more weeks worth of posts

Write and Schedule five reviews 

Update my Goodreads 

Post my upcoming Giveaways

Write up the Hero Post and the twenty facts post 

Update Review Index

 Participate in at least one Twitter chat

Complete at least 2 mini challenges

Visit and comment on other blogs

Reply to comments on the blog  Work on the Plan With Me Vid and Post for April 

 
So as of right now I have one more task to complete and like I said before the night is over, I'll be marking it off as well.
 
I'm Pretty sure this makes this weeks Bloggiesta a huge Success for me! 

 This is one of the main reasons I love Bloggiesta so much and highly recommend it to bloggers, I get so much accomplished during the week. Anyway, I hope you all had a great week and Happy Easter!!

Bloggiesta Day 6: To Do List

So it's day 6 and Bloggiesta is almost over.  I have so many things to mark off my list.  So I better get going on today's list.  I know I'm a bit late posting this, but I spent the morning at the bridal place helping all my bridesmaids get fitted for their dresses.  Super excited, I only have a few more months of single life.  Can't wait to marry my best friend!

Below is my to do list for today and hopefully I can accomplish each thing.  As I go along throughout the day, I will mark each one off as I finish the task.  Also if there's a task that I don't finish the day before, it will be the first thing I work on the next day.

 To learn more about Bloggiesta: CLICK HERE

Today's List  

• Schedule two or more weeks of posts 
• Write and schedule 3 Reviews 
• Write up Hero Post and Twenty Fact's Post 
• Post upcoming Giveaway! 
• Comment on five more blogs

 Hopefully I can get this all done today well seeing as it's 7 PM here let's just say tonight.  Hope you all have had a great day and a great weekend.  Tomorrow is Easter and I'll more than likely be busy all day.  So that's the other reason I'm trying to get the rest of my list finished tonight.  For those that celebrate...Happy Early Easter everyone! 

 

Right Up My Alley (Revamp)

Alright, Right up my Alley is a post that I used to do here on the blog, it was mainly a discussion post and I created it, sort of titling it as a play off my name.  Anyway, I'm thinking of bringing this back, but going to change it up a bit.  

Right up my Alley is going to be a post where I highlight something I saw during the week that peaked my interest.  It could be a blog, piece of jewelry, something in the letter writing community, or even a book.  Mainly I'm going to start showcasing other things in my life that I enjoy.  Right Up My Alley will be a regular post here on Ali's Bookshelf and will be posted on Saturdays. 

This week I've seen several things that peaked my interest, but mainly this week I participated in Bloggiesta, this isn't something really new to me.  I've participated in a lot of them in the past several years, what I found different this time though, was the new blogs and bloggers that I got to chat with. I headed over to each of their blogs and made sure to check out their content, which is something I always do before I follow.  

The best part was that I found a few that I'm really enjoying and wanted to share a few of them with you.

The Bookkeeper's Secrets - The thing that really caught my attention with this blog is her content.  One of which had me staring at my screen.  Bookish travel guide post! Yep that's what I said, bookish travel guide.  She shows us places that are in books.  The images are beautiful and drew me into the blog and made me want to see what other content she has. 

Books With Lucy - This blog is adorable mixed with great content.  Yep I'm being a content whore today. I always look for great content when following blogs and this one has fantastic posts.  I really love how when you're reading the posts you can hear the blogging voice coming through. 

Book That Caught My Attention: 

I finally got to see the Me Before You movie trailer and that reminded me that I own this fantastic book and haven't read it yet.  So this is my book addiction this week and next.  I'm going to start reading this one this weekend, hopefully.  I have two others to finish first though, but will diffidently be reading this next week, if not sooner.  

 

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

Etsy Shop! 

 As you all have noticed lately, I'm a bit obsessed with writing letters.  I joined a pen pal group and everything.  Psst...don't tell, but I seriously have over 10 pen pals now. Oh lordy that's a lot! Anyway, I found a few etsy shops that I'm now obsessed with as well, due to the whole pen pal thing. 

Paper Ivy is now one of my all time favorites, they have the most beautiful stationary and I can't wait to order my own from them.  (Can't do so till after my wedding, but I will own some!) 

OohLaLaLetters - is another one of my favorites due to the beautiful paper and cards. 

Now I want to showcase one of the bookish Etsy Shops! 

Coreographies is AMAZING! Her jewlrey is fantastic, she has necklaces that are bookshelf's! Need I say more. 

 So that's it for this weeks Right Up My Alley, I hope you enjoyed this post and the changes I've made to it.  Thanks and I hope you all have a great weekend. 

 

 

Bloggiesta Day 5 Update

So it's day five of Bloggiesta and I feel like I didn't get enough done yesterday, I ended up doing a few things that I didn't know that I wanted to do for my blog.  I did get some things knocked off my list though, so today I'm going to work on the things that I didn't get done yesterday and add a few more items to my list as well. 

 Below is my to do list for today and hopefully I can accomplish each thing.  As I go along throughout the day, I will mark each one off as I finish the task.  Also if there's a task that I don't finish the day before, it will be the first thing I work on the next day.

 To learn more about Bloggiesta: CLICK HERE

 

 

 

Today's List:  

 

• Post daily updates and cross items off as I go. 
• Schedule 1 week worth of posts
• Write 2 Reviews and schedule them
• Schedule my upcoming Giveaway
• Participate in today's Twitter Chat

 

My list isn't too bad today, hopefully I can get most of it accomplished by the end of the day.  I hope you all have a great day and Happy Bloggiesta!! 

 

 

 

 

Book Blogger Hop #15

Book Blogger Hop is another post I'm going to be trying out and this one has a topic each week, which is something I've been trying to bring to the blog.  I'm really excited about this one because I have a hard time coming up with something fresh to talk about and I'm hoping this helps. 

  

If you would be interested in doing your own post, please CLICK HERE to learn more about this great hop! 

 

I really liked last week's question so I'm going to go ahead and answer it as well this week. Hope you all don't mind! 

 

 Has your contact with authors usually been in person, via e-mail, social media, or something else?

 

My answer to last weeks question is going to be short and sweet. My contact with authors are usually through email or the publisher themselves.  I don't make any initial contacts through social media.  To me that's just plain tacky and not very professional, but that's my opinion. 

 

 

So what are you're thoughts on this subject? I would love to hear some of my author's out there.  Would you rather someone come to you through email first or social media? 

 

 

 

 How much of your day is devoted to your blog, and how much is devoted to reading? 

 

So this question is a little bit harder to answer than last weeks.  This past year (2015), I wasn't very devoted to my blog and reading.  I honestly, was so burnt out on both subjects that I didn't even want to think about it.  Now I'm trying to get back into the groove and work my way back to where I was before the slump.  It's slow progress, but I'm getting there.  I have decided to bring back the fun in both blogging and reading for myself this year and so far that's helping! 

 

 

 

Bloggiesta Day 4 Update

So it's day four of Bloggiesta and I feel like I didn't get enough done yesterday, I ended up doing a few things that I didn't know that I wanted to do for my blog.  I did get some things knocked off my list though, so today I'm going to work on the things that I didn't get done yesterday. 

 Below is my to do list for today and hopefully I can accomplish each thing.  As I go along throughout the day, I will mark each one off as I finish the task.  Also if there's a task that I don't finish the day before, it will be the first thing I work on the next day.

 To learn more about Bloggiesta: CLICK HERE

Today's List: 

• Post a Daily update on how I'm doing throughout the week
• Work on Upcoming Giveaway posts
•  Set up my post schedule for April and then add at least one personal post in there
•  Schedule 1 Week Worth of Posts
• Catch up on posting my reviews on Goodreads
• Twitter Chat: 8 PM tonight!  

So that's my list for today.  What about you? Do you break your list up into dailies or are you one of the ones that make a huge list and just mark it off once it's done?