Harry Potter cover reveal

Who saw the gorgeous new Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets cover unveiling at BEA this morning? If you did, I am ridiculously jealous... and I so want to see your pictures! If I can't be there, I might as well enjoy some virtual eye candy, right?

Amulet author and illustrator, Kazu Kibuishi, was asked to re-imagine the world of Harry Potter for the 15th anniversary of the US publishing of the series.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet.... below is the cover design by Kazu Kibuishi unveiled today (Thursday, 5/30/13) at BookExpo America in NYC.

Image from hypable.com

And if you have been living under a rock and haven't seen Kibuishi's version of Sorcerer's Stone....

Image from Publishers Weekly

Personally, I will always cherish the art by Mary GrandPre because that is what I grew up with and saw in my head (still do, actually!) while reading the series. Call me nostalgic. I absolutely plan on getting this set though because I love the series and would love to have these beauties join my collection.... I've got the paperback boxed set, a few mismatched paperbacks and hardbacks, and even a few alternate covers that were published. My love for Harry Potter runs deep.

So, what do you think? Love or hate the covers?... Buy or just admire in the shops?

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

ABea day 2 - Blogger Development

Hello fellow ABea-ers! Today is day 2 of Armchair BEA and our discussion focuses on Blogger Development. Join in the discussion and read other posts over at this post on the ABea website.

Blogger development? Ummm... where to begin? I feel like over my years as a blogger I have been all over the map. There are periods of time where I am spot-on with reviewing and posting... then there are times (like the majority of this month) where I get overwhelmed with life and blogging falls off my radar. Honestly, this is something that I *really* aim to fix about my blog. In order to do so, I have gathered a few ideas and I am really hopeful that after browsing through other posts on today's topic, I will have some great plans to put in place.

A few things have worked wonders for my blog over the years. One of the biggest is social media. I got a twitter handle, made a Little Bird Reads board on Pinterest, signed up with Instagram, and use GoodReads and Amazon to post reviews. All of these branches of the social networking tree have helped me to grow and develop as a blogger. I'm not a master yet, but I am beginning to get used to blog and using more social media on my phone as well- having access at my fingertips is necessary to stay abreast.

Another thing that worked for me is to schedule posts. This is awesome and also can fail me, because sometimes I run out of scheduled posts or pre-written reviews before I have time to bulk up again. Oops.

The addition of the "reply" option on my blogger comment form has also been great. I love the dialogue it opens up and it allows me to meet and respond to new visitors! In the same sense, I like weekly memes. I don't participate in many (or consistently) and that is another thing I'm interested in changing about my blog.

LBR's started a little space to write down my thoughts on the many books I read... and has now developed into a blog that I love and an online community of amazing people who share a passion for reading with me. It is such a blessing to have grown with many of you! I hope to continue to grow and develop as a part-time just-for-fun book blogger and look forward to seeing all of you ideas too!

Hope ABea is treating you well! See you around the blogosphere :)

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Hello, ABea!

Hello hello fellow bookish bloggers and Armchair BEA buddies! I am once again joining in the fun of ABea and will be participating a bit during the week (due to work) and a LOT during the weekend. I hope to see everyone around and can't wait till Friday afternoon greediness from work to REALLY get into ABea.

So today, it is introductions. We have been posed 11 questions and must answer 5... so here goes!!

#2 -- Where in the world are you blogging from?
* I am from New York, Binghamton to be precise. It is 3ish or so hours from NYC, a quick hop skip and a jump to the PA boarder, and a few hours from our capital, Albany. Bing is a decent sized town with a bunch nearby... being fairly centralized is quite nice.

#3 -- Is this your first Armchair BEA?
* Nope! I am happy to say that I am not an ABea newbie,  and have participated in years past. I come back for the fun and community of ABea... and the prizes are a fun lil perk!

#4 -- Currently reading?
* I have a mix going on right now.. I have been in a reading / blogging slump this month so I turned to Harry Potter to pull myself out of the funk. I'm still rereading the series now, as well as Under the Dome by Stephen King and One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf. I also have a lot ready to go on the TBR pile.

#9  -- Literary location?
* I would most like to visit the world of Harry Potter. I'd love to see Hogwarts and Diagon Alley and the Burrow and even Privet Drive. Since that is probably not gonna happen, seeing that I'm 28 and still haven't gotten my acceptance letter, Id settle to just visit London.

#11 -- What changes do I want to see in the coming years?
* Okay, so I'm going to veer off blogging / ABea for this one and talk and our society... I'm making generalizations here, so sorry in advance! I would really like our society to wake up. I think we are sheep who often follow whatever the media feeds us. I'd also like to see parenting swing back to the era I was raised in: where respect and manners and courtesy and kindness mattered - not the entitlement I see oozing from kids today (and yes I can stay that because I've taught middle school for the past 5 years! Haha). I think our eating habits and general way of life needs to change for the healthier... or pretty soon we won't have a legacy to leave behind. Overall, I want the works to be more MINDFUL... be kind, think, feel, enjoy, thrive. (ok, stepping off my soapbox now before I go into crazy rambling zone)

Soooo that's that. Questions answered and a bit of who I am. Can't wait to meet you all and to visit your blogs throughout the week! I'll see ya around!

Xo
Jenna

ps: I posted this from my cell on the blogger app -- let me know what ya think!

From the dog's point of view...

Not long ago I finally got around to reading W. Bruce Cameron's A Dog's Purpose and A Dog's Journey.... no idea what took me so long! Written from the point of view of a dog, both books are touching and heartfelt reads.

A Dog's Purpose is a wonderful story about a sweet dog who is rolling through (more than one) life and figuring out just what it is he is destined to do. He has some pretty interesting adventures, all of which have a message. I adored this book and took away some beautiful little messages on living your life with a purpose. This book was a quick read and I was so very anxious to read A Dog's Journey. Thankfully I had this book on hand so I started it right away. Our favorite pooch is back in A Dog's Journey... he thought he served his purpose, but he has just a bit more work to do. Just as heartwarming as A Dog's Purpose, Cameron hits it out of the park with A Dog's Journey. Filled with meaning and more little tidbits to take away, this was another quick and cute read. I really enjoyed both books. I met such a great cast of characters in both books, I felt as if I learned a little bit from each one.

I highly recommend both books to anyone interested in a book that is both a fun and light read while still having plenty of meaning and is very heartwarming.



write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

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What we've been up to.... in pictures.

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

The world of Harry Potter

I have been a bit absent from the blogosphere this past week. I fell into a bit of a reading funk so to pull myself out of it I started in on a reread of Harry Potter. That always pulls me out! Plus, I have been extremely busy... I just started my new job and have spent a good chunk of time tearing down and cleaning out my old classroom, then more time setting up my new classroom. I am finally settled in at the new school and my class is running smoothly... feeling well adjusted.
I have a few books ready to roll and I am actually thinking of writing my thoughts up about rereading Harry Potter as well... I like the idea of writing a review based on my observations now, as an adult, after many many readings.
More to come soon! See you around!


write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Gotta love a sweet book trailer

Eric Smith from Quirk Books sent me this video link for The Resurrectionist... this is SUCH an amazing book and the book trailer is pretty sweet too. Best part: it is due out later this month!  You can check out my review of The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black here.



write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

FTC: I received a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Book Blogger Hop

Welcome to another Friday of Book Blogger Hop!... and another week of late posting!

May 10th - 16th

^^^ link up here! ^^^

As always, Billy is our fabulous host and our question comes from Tanya

This week she asks us:

What was the last book you re-read?

Oh, well I guess we're going back to my stock answer of Harry Potter!! I love the series and have reread it a trillion times (okay, maybe that is an exaggeration) and am perpetually reading the series. I just finished this up last night (Sunday) and started Prisoner of Azkaban.

I *really* wish I had this copy!

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Book Blogger Hop

Happy Friday Book Blogger Hop Buddies!!

(Tuesday edit: whoops!... look like I forgot to hit publish and only saved it as a draft!)

May 3rd - 9th <<<< link up here!

Billy is our gracious host and this week we have another question from Tanya over at Girlxoxo.

She asks:

What is the last book you read that was recommended by someone else? Did you like it?

That would have to be These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf. My friend turned me on to her with The Weight of Silence, and then she read These Things Hidden and told me I absolutely had to read that too. I loved it... it is another great book..this is one I gave 5 stars. If you're interested, I reviewed it here.

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow