I'm now Wordpress bound!

 

 

Yes, you read that title right, I'm finally, finally, finishing my Wordpress move and redesign! Because of the vast amount of content on this blog (and, let's be honest, no small amount of sentimentality), this process has taken a good year to complete.

 

The last decisions to be made were the practical ones: matters of follower transference and whether to bother with a redirect. Ultimately, I decided to start completely fresh and 1) not transfer my followers and 2) build a redirect into the base code of this address in about a month's time.

If you follow me by email and would like to continue, head on over to www.blueeyebooks.com and follow me via Wordpress or email at the bottom of the page. If you're following me on my socials, never fear, those are staying the same (how could I possibly give up my handles?). Those are @blueeyebooks on Instagram and @blueeyebooks on Twitter for those not already following me there.

I'm delaying the redirect for a number of reasons but mostly because it requires replacing some code and I'm ridiculously sentimental, okay? After that final backup of the blog, it'll go into effect to redirect any lingering links out there on the inter-webs.

I'm still updating all my old posts on the new address so you'll be seeing the old graphics around on those posts for a few months until I can get to each and every one of them. It'll take a while for little ole me to update over 750 posts with only a couple hours every night but I'll get there!

I'm excited for this next scene in the story of Blue Eye Books and I hope you all will come along with me!

Resurrecting Blue Eye Books (with a snazzy redesign)

 

 Hello fellow humans of Earth! As you may recall it's been a hot few months since I've posted anything (November of 2019, holy macaroni and goblets) and the discerning eye may have even glimpsed a tumbleweed rolling across the screen. But now I'm back! Read on for all the updates.

The Life:

I have officially graduated with a BS in biology and creative writing! Yay! This happened in May and let me tell you, those last two semesters were doozies (hence the disappearing act). I made it through, though, by the skin of my teeth (side note: what is up with that expression?). I've been taking the summer off to get my affairs in order and generally figure out my entire future. All in a few month's work. What's in Laura's future, you may ask? Graduate school applications, I answer! I'll be applying to science writing and poetry programs in the coming months along with working and enjoying the life.

More relevantly, now that I've sufficiently relaxed, chilled, and otherwise emptied my somatic cells of stress, I'm itching to get back to blogging!

 

Coming Soon (to own on video and DVD; I've been watching too many old movies okay?):

A complete redesign will be coming (and has already partially happened). I'm adding more plants and green to the color scheme because I have become a plant fanatic (more on that in another post). I'll also be finishing up those tabs that lead to the 404 void and generally doing some reformatting and revamping.

For authors, I'll be expanding and updating my services list. I found a love of copyediting in this last year so I'll be doing more of that behind the scenes along with the usual reviews and other jazzy bits.

That's all for now folks! I shall now disappear back into the hole of endless HTML. How have you all been doing? How's your life? How's your mental health with all the upheaval recently? Have you tried any new vegetables lately?

An Update: The Fall of Blue Eye Books (only temporarily!) and the Role of Priorities and Compensation

Hello!  Yes, I'm still here and I hope to continue to be here for a long time.  However, I think I'm long overdue for a little life update (mostly to put at ease all the authors and bloggers that have emailed me and my own inner SpongeBob that's running around setting filing cabinets on fire).

https://www.sbmania.net/forums/threads/my-spongebobs-brain-theory.41544/

So without further ado, let's get personal.

An Update: I Am Rising From the Dead

Yes!  I was, for all intents and purposes, 6 feet under.  The past month has been the definition of unremitting.  Let me tell you all about it and my plans to get back on track.

A Quick Video Interlude Conversation

I recently watch a couple of videos (well, one is more like a movie) that I really feel passionate about and I think everyone should watch.  But if you don't want to watch them, that's totally cool!

To Read or Not To Read: The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Time for another To Read or Not To Read!  This time, I'll be talking about The Blood of Olympus and whether or not I'll be reading it.

Meme Launch: 50/50 Friday

So guess what?  Carrie @ The Butterfly Reads and I are ready to launch 50/50 Friday!  Carrie originally had the idea and was asking for people to help with the idea.  I've always wanted to make a meme but I've never really had the time to do it myself so this was such a perfect opportunity.  Carrie and I have been working on it for the past couple of weeks, ironing out everything and such, and now it's finally ready!

It'll be a weekly meme every Friday, starting October 7th (the first Friday in October)!

The first topic will be:
Overrated/Underrated Book

So basically, you make a post discussing a book you think is overrated and a book you think is underrated!  Every week will be a different topic with the same slash symbol to show the 50/50 part (think opposites).

There's a new tab at the top of my blog that has all of the topics that we've decided on so far so if you'd like to build up some posts, go for it!  We'll also have a linky (think TTT or Stacking the Shelves) so everyone can see everyone else's posts and book picks!

Updates

I say, it's time for another update?  What say you?

So it's been about 3 months since I've returned and I've successfully completed 30 Days of Books!  I'm so glad I decided to finish it because there were so many awesome prompts that I wanted to answer!

1.  Next on the non-review posts!
Next up on the list is finishing the Fantasy Favorites (I didn't do two posts for that).  You may remember Fantasy Favorites was hosted by Olivia, Aly, and Igne and focused on you reading as much fantasy as possible and participating in the prompts!  Here's my introductory post.

2.  Reviews on deck.
I also have lots of reviews to publish (that I haven't written yet, but don't worry, it'll happen!).  Some of them include:

Until Then by Krista Noorman

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

I currently have 39 books waiting for a review so hopefully I'll get rid of that pile by the end of the year!  I'll probably end up doing a mini review round up for a couple of them as I really don't have that much to say.

One more thing!

3.  You can read more of my writing!

I've started to post my writing from last year's NaNoWriMo!  Though I didn't finish, I plan to finish it during this year's NaNoWriMo.  You can find chapters every Thursday on Goodreads and Niume.

That's all for now!  I hope you're all having a wonderful September!

Remembering 9/11 - The 15th Anniversary

Today marks the 15th anniversary of 9/11.  Living and growing up in the US, this event shaped my life and the lives of all of my fellow Americans, not to mention those who were impacted outside of the US.  We remember all of the firefighters, rescue workers, family members, and all those impacted by this horrific event 15 years ago.

Under Construction!

Hello everyone!  I'll be doing a bit of blog maintenance over the next couple of days and the layout and colors and everything of this blog will be changing!  I'm already semi-solid on my new design but I'm thinking of tweaking a few more things.  I'll recap all the changes when I'm satisfied with the final product!

To Read Or Not To Read: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling

In this new discussion type post, I'll be talked about whether or not I really want to read the next book in a series and what my reasons are.

As all of you probably know, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child came out today (the play debuted in London yesterday).  It takes place years after the original series ended with Harry now married to Ginny with three children enrolled in Hogwarts and a job at the Ministry of Magic.

Harry Potter #8

Goodreads

Goodreads Blurb:

"Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a new play by Jack Thorne, is the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. It will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on 30th July 2016 

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places."

When the book (or rather, screenplay) was first announced, I was so excited to get a peek into Harry's life after the whole Voldemort storyline.  We got a little bit at the end of The Deathly Hallows which was so, so cool and I wanted more!  So I found all the news I could on the subject and learned as much as I could of what the plot would be like and when it would be released and all of that.  And I settled down for the wait.

After a while though, I got lost in other series' and in other character's lives.  After finishing a few series', I thought about how wonderful the endings were because they left just enough to the imagination and allowed your mind to wander.  Everyone could choose how they wanted the characters to end up and it really emphasizes that the future is a mystery and you don't know what will happen.

So the release date drew ever closer and I was resucked into the excitement via other bloggers and fellow bookworms.  But this time, I just felt... meh.  I actually didn't really want to know what happens to Harry as he grew older.  I didn't want to see how his marriage with Ginny was holding up and how his kids were doing and what job he had and just what his life was like.  As terrible as it sounds, I really liked the happily ever after in Deathly Hallows and I'm content with that.

So will I be reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?  The answer is probably not.  I honestly just don't want to know what happens.  It's like how I felt after watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  I really shouldn't have seen it because I was content with how things ended in the original series.  I don't want another generation (but, of course, now that I've seen it, I have to see the next one coming out in December).

However, I AM really excited to see Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them!  It's set in a new setting with different characters (I still have to take the new test of what house I'm in for the US wizarding school!) which I'm really excited for.  The wizarding world is very fascinating to me and I would like to read more stories that take place in it, however I think I'll leave Harry Potter right where I left him at the end of Deathly Hallows.

Are you planning on reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?  Or, if you're lucky enough to live in England, are you planning to watch it?  How do you feel about books that pick up a character 20-30 years later?

Life Update: Vacation Pictures Part 2

This is part two of the vacation pictures!  I didn't want to make the first post super long so I decided to split it into two.  If you didn't get to see the first post, and you'd like to, click HERE.  In that post, there were pictures of the Four Corner Monument, Sedona, AZ, San Diego, CA, LA, CA, Hwy 1, Big Sur, and Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA.  In this post, there will be pictures from San Francisco, CA, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Salt Lake City, UT, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone National Park!  Let's get into it!

Life Update: Vacation Pictures Part 1

When I first got back from vacation a couple of weeks ago, I promised to share some vacation pictures when I got everything in order.  Well, that day has come!  First, I'll share some of those and talk about what I got to see and at the end, I'll update you guys with what's coming up book-wise for me!  Because the trip was so long and there are so many different places, I'm going to split this post into two and Part 2 will go up tomorrow!

Return of the Elusive Laura! (...and other updates)

Hello everyone!  It feels like forever since I last posted something (other than those two blitzes)!  You may be wondering "Laura, you just dropped off in the middle of 30 Days of Books and vanished!  What's the dealio?"  Answers are coming your way as we speak!

So for the past 3 weeks, I was on vacation!  Before I left, I thought I would be able to get all of my posts scheduled and it would be like nothing ever happened.  Except that clearly I don't have that amount of planning smarticles.  And, you know, a whole lot of other stuff was happening as I was trying to prepare and pack (ie. graduating, planning multiple trips with friends, planning the vacation, getting someone to come and take care of my two cats while I'd be gone, etc. etc.).  I was pretty busy!  And now I'm super behind on reading all of your posts and commenting on other blogs.  I'm slowly digging through the pile of emails!  But now I'm back :)

So where does that leave us?  I've missed lists so let's do a list:

30 Days of Books
I'm going to pick up where I left off with this (I think I was on Day 12 or something...) because there are so many good prompts that I want to answer!

Some Upcoming Reviews
I have several reviews that I need to publish within this week.  They are:

Until Then by Krista Noorman

Dark Fae by Lillian Carter












Recent Reads and Therefore Reviews That Are Also Coming Soon
I currently have 34 books that need reviewing but these are the ones that will be coming first (if nothing crazy happens!).

Meritorium by Joel Ohman

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

Cascade by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott












So there you have it!  I'll do a separate post tomorrow or on the 4th to tell you all about my vacation!  I hope you all have had a wonderful two weeks!  Happy reading!

2016 Blogging Resolutions and Goals

Finally!  I know, it's already February and I'm just posting my resolutions.  That's because I'm just really bad about planning ahead, okay?  :D  Anyway, here we go!


1.  Actually have posts scheduled ahead of time.  This is a really big one for me because this past year I tried and failed.  And then I got super behind on everything.  Another reason, I collect notes on books and then they never get reviews written!  Which is how I got so behind on my Goodreads yearly goal.  That's all going to change this year!

2.  Do more discussion posts.  I really like writing these but somehow they fell by the wayside in the last 6 months of last year.  I really hope that I'll be able to do at least one discussion post per month.  Excluding January, of course!  Because, you know, me and my procrastination.

3.  Not allow myself to read another book until I write a review for the one I just read.  For the life of me I can't remember who gave me this tip but it's one of the best pieces of advice ever in terms of my personality.  This will really help me whittle down my 'review' pile and keep it under control.

4.  Catch up on all R&R books before February 29th.  This is the one resolution that I WILL NOT FAIL ON!  My R&R pile has gotten so bad and I feel horrible for authors that I've kept waiting when I told them 3 months at most.  So I'm going to fix that and not fall into that hole in the future with my next resolution.

5.  Have a maximum of 4 R&R books per month.  I'm really bad about simply accepted pretty much all of the review requests that turn up in my inbox and while I love to help as many authors as possible, it isn't really viable if I want to keep a schedule.  So, if I'm going to keep accepting all of them, I'm going to schedule when I'm going to read all of these books so I can give authors an accurate estimate of when I'll have a review up.

6.  Interact with more bloggers and bookish people in general!  I did pretty well in 2015 in terms of commenting on people's blogs but I'd like to discover more blogs this year and maintain friendships I've made!



There you have it!  I'd also like to talk about the things that I'm going to be doing to keep all of these resolutions.

1.  Keep spreadsheets.  I've already made these spreadsheets (if you were wondering what I was doing in January, here it is).  I have a total of three: one for new releases of the year, one for R&R books and one for statistics.  I've recently discovered the awesomeness of spreadsheets in a book blogger's life and am loving the organization!  I'll actually be able to provide monthly wrap-up posts this year!

2.  Schedule R&R books.  Like I've already mentioned, I'm going to start scheduling R&R books so I can get reviews up in a timely manner.  I'm also going to use this technique to finish up the R&R books I already have so I can open up requests again ASAP.  So that means this month is definitely going to be busy!  I'm reading Little Women in the group read-along, participating in a buddy read for 2 weeks for Pivot Point and Split Second, reading 2 R&R books a week, as well as one library book a week.  Still, that only translates to about 4 books a week which is pretty manageable the way I read books.  Here goes nothing!

3.  Dedicate one hour every week day to visiting blogs and 3 hours over the course of the weekend to comment.  I really want to separate post-writing time vs. blog visiting time so this is my strategy!


That's all for today!  What are some of your resolutions?

An Update: Books, NaNoWriMo, BookBlogWriMo, and more!

Because I have no new books to report but I do have updates, I thought I'd do another update post!  In this edition, I've included updates on the review backlog/R&R books backlog, NaNoWriMo, and BookBlogWriMo!

An Update: My life, the books, and so much more!

Hey guys!  It's been a long time since we've talked and I think we should sit down for a chat!  So grab a snack and beverage and let's get into it!

So lately I've been posting nothing but reviews, reviews, reviews, reviews, and look!  More reviews!  The barrage will soon be over, I assure you!  These are all the reviews that I had written up last month and in the beginning part of this month.  The notes had been sitting there for months on end and I finally got most of the reviews written!  By the middle of November, I'll finally be all caught up!  Isn't this exciting??

Here's a list of reviews to watch out for:

Red Glass by Laura Resau
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Butterfly Crest by Eva Vanrell
Champion by Marie Lu
Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George
Glow by Kathleen Ryan
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
Altered by Jennifer Rush
Talon by Julie Kagawa
Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Counteract by Tracy Lawson
The Body Electric by Beth Revis
Where Can I Flee by A.M. Heath

And some movie reviews!

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Maleficent
The Book of Eli
The Green Mile
Pitch Perfect 2
The Shawshank Redemption


It's quite a list I know!  I've also decided to dedicate November to R&R's so I'll be freezing my library account and read solely R&R's like my life depends on it.  It's time I finished up the list!

My life in general has been pretty busy with non-bookish stuff but that should be all over by the new year which means more content stuff!  I've been meaning to redesign my blog (I even started taking a programming class to learn more about computers!) which will (I repeat WILL) happen this next year!  I also plan to start getting back to the monthly wrap-ups.  It'll be made easier once I have all these reviews out of the way so the next one will by my November wrap-up.

I hope you are all doing well!

Blogoversary and the (hopefully last) Schedule For Next Year!

Okay.  This year has been such a crazy year for me!  A little over a year ago, Blue Eye Books was born on a whim and has continued to (sort of) thrive!  Well, except for this last month or two.  That was a bit of a rough patch.  But before we get to that, I'd like to thank a bunch of people who initially welcomed me into the blogging community and made me feel so welcome!  I was friends with a bunch of these people on Goodreads as well!

My Apologies

Hello everyone!  So lately, I'm been having writers block.  I sit and stare at my unfinished (really I've only written two lines) review of Bonds of Fate by Jason Crawford of which I promised him a review quite some time ago.  There are other reviews as well that need writing (as you can tell from my currently reading shelf) but quite frankly, I just don't know what to say!  Or rather, I know what I want to say but I can't find the words.  So what I'm going to do it just pretend this week never happened and start fresh again after the weekend.  I'll most probably put up posts for these days that I didn't get them up in time just to keep my schedule for the summer uninhibited.  My apologies for the weird ins and outs of my blog and I'm sure I'll be able to finish that review once I get back from the weekend!  Thank you for your patience!

London Bound Trailer!

So instead of a review today (mostly because I just can't get my thoughts together today...), here's a new trailer for the book London Bound by Amy Daws!

London Bound by Amy Daws