Olé! Bloggiesta 2015

I look forward to Bloggiesta because I get so much more done when I have a community backing me up. This is really fun for me. 

I have been a miserable book blogger over the past three years, but this year I have made big strides back toward being involved in my reading and blogging life, so I'm proud of that. As part of this spring's Bloggiesta, I resolve to 

• enter the books I've read this winter into Goodreads
• sign up for one reading challenge for 2015
• read at least one of the books on my TBR shelf.

Now I've begun setting up my wordpress.org site, which is far more complicated than I expected -- but I've done web hosting before and managed my own servers, so I know I can figure this thing out soon enough. I resolve to

• sort through the issues around hosting and domain registration
• transfer my Blogger site to Wordpress
• create my blog banner using the art my mom created for me. 

I'm sure there are other things I could be doing, but that's a good start. 

Bloggiesta: Day 3 Final Wrap-Up

Well, as much as I might not like to admit it, the weekend is over, and so is my first Bloggiesta!  I had so much fun reading others' posts about how to improve their blogs, and learned a lot just by observing the layout of others' blogs too.

Today I had a little more time than yesterday to do some work:
• I'm still getting caught up on reading posts from the feed, which was so fun.
• I implemented some of the ideas I collected on blog layout, including changing the layout/color scheme, adding a Currently Reading and Listening box, adding a Goodreads widget, adding a Followers widget, etc.
• I wrote some posts.
• I added a footer, per the mini-challenge.
• I added my challenges to my Challenges sidebar.

All in all, I spent over 10 hours this weekend on my blog, which is more than I've ever spent on it in the past.  I left 24 comments (not counting comments on challenges), mostly on Friday and Saturday and participated in five mini-challenges, two from last time and three from this time.

Things I didn't do this weekend:
• Review any books.  =(  I'm still reading the book I started the weekend reading.  Even the picture books my kids chose to read with me were repeats.  *sigh*  For a book review blog, I haven't done any actual book reviews in a while!

Still to do, on a rainy day:
• Put my to-read pile into Goodreads and figure out how to link directly to public library & Paperbackswap (book links function)
• Update my Google Reader list from the RSS feed list in Mail.  The formatting is so much more pleasant.

And, on a regular basis, here are some additional goals:
• Write more reviews, darn it!
• Participate in Booking Through Thursday, Saturday Reviews and In My Mailbox frequently (I won't say weekly, because I know that will be the kiss of death).
• Keep up with TBR pile and challenges reading.

This has been a great experience.  Thanks to everyone who made it possible!  I would have loved a Newbies post for those of us participating in the Bloggiesta who are new to the blogosphere, but I really learned a lot just by paying attention.  Next year I'll try to make more focused time to participate, but all things considered, I'm proud of myself and really enjoyed every bit.

Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: Footers

This was a very simple mini-challenge, but I can imagine it might be important!  I just added a simple page footer and feed footer.

Bloggiesta: Day 2 check-in

Ugh ugh ugh! I didn't make it on the computer AT ALL today. Every time I opened up the computer, Ivy was right on top of me, begging me to do something with her. Brunch, our neighbor's kids' birthday party, an unplanned nap (hubby, not me) in the middle of the day, laundry, gaming and tiki cocktail hour at another neighbor's... well, that was a full day right there.

I'm revising my goals to 5 reviews this weekend instead of 10. We are going to see Avatar tomorrow afternoon, then having dinner with friends, so I'll only have blog time in the AM and evening. Still, I'm pleased for what I've done so far. I did spend a chunk of today reviewing my recent order from Powell's, but I'll make a separate post about that.

Hope others are having a fantastic Bloggiesta and getting tons done!

Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: Goals for 2010

I've really enjoyed reading others' goals for the upcoming year! Y'all are way too motivated for me. I can barely manage to brush my teeth every day. But, of course, I'm here to TRY, right? So here goes:

GOALS FOR 2010

1. Participate in, and successfully complete, 5 or more challenges. Organize challenges in such a way that they're easy to remember and follow.

2. Write at least one review each week and post it to Saturday Reviews. Schedule time to read and write review each week, then DO IT. Do more reviews with Ivy.

3. Read more with my kids. I read a lot with them over the summer, but during the school year it gets hectic. I can manage one book a day with each of them, either in the morning or the evening.

4. Keep library TBR pile under 100 books -- mostly to be kind to my library!

5. Read blogs and comment regularly. This is something I do sporadically, but really enjoy and would like to make more time to do.

I think that's enough for this year.

Bloggiesta: Day 1 check-in

Well, I haven't had much time today to participate in the Bloggiesta, but I knew it was going to be a tough one. Friday is my other day with no planning time, plus meetings after work, stop at the library, get pizza for Pizza-and-Movie-Night, watch said movie with kids, fall asleep on couch (oops! that part wasn't planned...). You get the idea.

But here I am, and I'm psyched! I've been reading through the RSS feed and loving everyone's contests, challenges and reviews.

DAY ONE

• Tonight has been Comment-O-Rama for me -- I did at least 20 comments. Technically I did most of my comments on Day One (before midnight) but many of them drifted over into Day Two... I'm still counting them as part of Day One, though, because I did them before I went to bed. =)

• As I was reading new blogs and commenting, I took notes on things I would like to add to my blog. Here's what I have so far:

Blog Layout & Widget Ideas

- followers (all two of them, yay!) =)

- link to Goodreads and Librarything

- blogroll on side (scrolling box?) showing most recent post - how d'you do that??

- challenges w/wordmeters - http://www.languageisavirus.com/nanowrimo/word-meter.html

- books read in one year

- TwitterCounter

- To Read list on BookBox (sharebookbox.com)

- categories vs. tags, figure this out

- currently reading/listening to (although this could get quite looooong)

O my gosh, what a nifty tool: the Book Blog Search Engine! Hosted by Fyrefly's Book Blog, this promises to provide a quick way to find others' reviews of books I'm posting. I look forward to playing with this.

Off to bed. My goal tomorrow is to focus on reviews, finish reading blogposts from Bloggiesta participants, leave more comments and do the rest of the mini-challenges.

Bloggiesta: Contests

I've been hoping to find some list or (duh) blog with book blog challenges, neatly organized for my untidy little brain. What to my wondering eyes did appear? Novelchallenges! How handy. And my Lord, I will never do anything but join challenges if I'm not careful.

Here are some delectable morsels you might win, offered by bloggers involved in the Bloggiesta!

• Win a copy of The Secret Year at The Book Cellar

More to come!

Bloggiesta: Day 0 check-in

I just realized it is actually Thursday, not Friday, meaning I am a day early for the Bloggiesta. heh. Okay, so this is actually day 0.

But... blogging right along! After a short break in which I dismantled the Yule tree (and doesn't a fake tree look bizarre when taken apart into small pieces?), I'm back for a check-in before bed.

Goal #1 has been largely reached. I've sorted through the list of blogs I read regularly, weeded those I have been deleting without reading, and added a few more from others' blogrolls. I suspect I will be adding more as the weekend progresses.

Comment Challenge is coming up tomorrow. Woohoo! My goal is to visit as many blogs as I can find and leave thoughtful comments. I'm going to start with the 100 folks signed up for the 2010 Bloggiesta.

Back in June, the Bloggiesta mini-challenge was to write an elevator pitch for our blog. Here's mine: "At Mama Librarian, I read and review books with my three (now almost four!) year old daughter, comment on tidbits from the kidlitosphere, and discuss all things related to children's literature." Thanks to Deborah at Books, Movies and Chinese Food for hosting this one.

Another mini-challenge was to set up some Google Alerts relating to our blog. I did what many others suggested, which was to set an alert for any mention of my blog's name or my email address. Thanks to Emily's Reading Room for hosting here!

I'm pumped! I'm ready! (I hope for a snow day!)

Olé! Bloggiesta!

It has begun! I'm technically still at work, but I'm just waiting for my online course to begin. I can get off to a good start.

GOALS:

1. Clean up RSS feeds. Not directly related to my blog, but definitely important to my blogging ability. Thus far I've had blogs delivered to my inbox. I like this because they come right to my attention, but I just don't have time during the day to pay attention to blog posts the way I would like to. So, sadly, I turned off the inbox feature and will plan some time each day to read the blogs. I want to reconcile the blogs in my inbox with the ones on my neglected feed list on Google, or establish a feed reader I like. Any suggestions (for this Mac user)?

2. Spiff up my blog. I don't like the looks of things around here. I want it to look tighter and neater and get rid of any extraneous junk around the edges. Looks like I'll be delving into the Blogger man files. (are they even CALLED man files anymore??)

3. Write at least 10 reviews this weekend. I want to review some of the books I've read recently and took notes for, and I want to get rid of some of the picture book piles in my family room.

4. Write at least 20 comment posts to other Bloggiesta participants. I wish I could promise to write a comment to everyone! Maybe... who knows how late I can stay up. =)

If you stop by, please write a hello and some encouragement. I have a busy weekend, including a Yule tree to take down and two adorable toddlers to play with, not to mention a husband to cuddle and six quadrillion books beckoning me to read... read... read...