Back To School Book Blogger Challenge Day 6

Today we are supposed to talk about things we want to do on our blogs, which is a topic I'm really excited about.  So let's get to it! 

Day 6: Starting Fresh! Back to School means time to get organized and start fresh. What are some steps you will take on your blog to keep things flowing smoothly or to change things up?

 

1. The first thing I want to do is get more organized like I used to be. 

2. More Giveaways! It's something I want to be able to offer  you so I'm going to be looking for ways to do that. 

3. More reading and reviews.  I feel as if I've dropped the ball this year on the blog and I'm sorry for that. 

4. More posts.  Again it's something that I failed to do this year. 

5. More content, other types of posts, not just memes and reviews.  (If you have any suggestions let me know.  I would love to hear from you!)

6. Book Club: I want it more organized and for more people to be able to join in the fun. 

7. Vids: I really want to get more Booktube vids posted and going.  I'm working on this one right now. 

 

So that is my starting list.  If you have any suggestions, like I said above, I more than welcome them.  Thanks for sticking with me this year, seriously, it's been a rough one for me.  So again thanks!!! 

 

 

 

 

Back to School Book Blogger Challenge Day 5

Today's Challenge is to talk about who or what fostered my love of reading.  So that's exactly what I'm going to do, but in my case it wasn't just one thing.  

Like I said above it wasn't just one thing that fostered my love of reading, it was more like a group of things.  The first one being my mom, every time we went to the store my mom would buy me a book, from a very young age she helped me love reading and made it fun.  It never was a chore and that's the reason I'm the way I am with my kids.  She loves reading just as much as I do now.  We also both blog about books now. 

The next thing that fostered my love of reading was school, all of the schools I

went to helped me to realize how much reading meant to me.  I think the first book that I fell in love with due to school and it being assigned was The Outsiders, I can talk about that book forever and still not do it justice and how it's impacted my whole life.  The second book, I feel the same way about, is The Giver.  Which is why I'm super excited about it being a movie now. 

So yeah that's pretty much my story and how I came to love books as much as I do now.  

Back to School Book Blogger Challenge: Day 4

Day 4: If you are a parent, or have advice for parents…what do you do (or think would work) to foster the love of reading in your kids?

 I am a parent of two amazing kids and they love reading just about as much as I do.  I will say that I have been fostering their love of reading since before they were actually born so I do have a few tips.

1. Make reading fun, don't force them to do it.  If you do, they will hate it. 
2. Read to them on a nightly basis.  Don't skip nights and make it your special time with each of them.  I read separate books with each of my kids. 
3. Do not censor what they are reading, I'm not saying let your nine year old read erotica, I'm saying that if my nine year old wants to read Harry Potter, I'm going to let her.  I do not tell my kids that they are to young to read something.  My seven year old reads chapter books and my nine year old has been reading way over her grade year as well. 

That's my main three tips for fostering reading in children.  It's pretty simple if you ask me.  What do you think about this topic? What are your tips? Id love to know.

Back to School Blogger Challenge: Day 3

So today we are supposed to share our most memorable school memory and I have a few that I thought of right away to share with all of you, but then I got to thinking, the challenge was to share something memorable, so here we go...

I was a senior in High School and was also a teachers assistant.  Well as some of you know I have suffered from seizures pretty much my whole life.  When I got older they went away and came back every so often, well I was sitting gradding papers this one day and like I said I was a senior and what I didn't tell you was the teacher was a freshmen English teacher.  But anyway, I was sitting there looking out the window and grading papers, when all of the sudden I got my warning sign that one was coming on and all of the sudden I was down for the count.  Hit my head on a hard floor and everything.  

But the best part was when I came to, all these little freshmen were there staring at me surrounding me freaking out.  I got to leave for the day of course and went home.  But after that when I came back in the next day, they all told me that they thought I had died in front of them and were still flipping out.  

Then of course one of the little freshmen boys tried to follow me every where and wanted to carry my books for me to each class.  It was super sweet but for a senior to have a little freshmen lackey might work for guys but it didn't work for me.  It took me about two months before he finally got the hint that I was fine and didn't need any help. 

Funny thing is he still remembers that day to this day as well.  I saw him a few weeks ago and he mentioned the story as well.  

So there you have it, one of my most memorable memories from my school days. 

Back to School Book Blogger Challenge Day 2

So today for Parajunkee's Back to School Book Blogger challenge, we are supposed to pretend that we are the English teachers and showcase what our reading plan would be for our class. I'm very excited to see everyone's post for this one.

 

1. Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare 
2. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton 
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 
4. The Giver by Lois Lowry 
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
6. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green 

I think it would really have to come down to the age group I was teaching, but this would probably be my starter list if it were High School English.  Mixing a little bit of the old with the new would be my idea.  Compare and contrast when it came to The Hunger Games and The Giver, etc.

So what would be on your list? 

Back to School Book Blogger Challenge: Day 1

So today is also the start of the Back to School Book Blogger Challenge.  This challenge is hosted by the amazing Parajunkee!

Today's challenge doesn't seem to hard, but it's something that I hated to do when I went to school.  It's a bit easier when I'm on here, because most of you know me and if you don't...Hello! 

Today's Challenge!

It's time to stand up in front of the class and share with the rest of us a bit about you!

Like I said above Hello.  I'm Ali and that is short for Alicia.  I'm a single mother of two who loves to read and teach her kids to love reading as well.  Samantha is almost ten and I can't believe it.  She is also my mini me and I'm serious about that, looks just like me and acts like me as well.  My son, Braxton is my little man at the age of seven. Both of my kids love to read or be read to.

I started blogging in 2011 and yes there have been ups and downs along the way, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.  Ali's Bookshelf is the perfect way to share my love of books with everyone that reads my blog and that is one of my great joys in life, other than my kids that is. I spend my Sunday afternoon's on my blog and a few day's throughout the week.  Trying to get posts scheduled and making sure that Ali's Bookshelf looks the way I want it to.  If there is ever anything you would like to see more of or something new you would like to see, please let me know. 

I'm not just a mother and blogger, I also handle PR and Marketing for authors.  I love that part of my job, getting the word out about authors and their books is so much fun.  My desk is always full of books and candy.  Yep Candy is my reading snack and my work snack, well that and chips.

So now you know a bit more about me.  If you want to know more, feel free to ask questions below.  But make sure you raise your hand!