Books, Books and More Books

It's no secret that I like to read. I have books stashed everywhere in my house. The attic has several bookshelves, some double-stacked. My bedroom has two spots stacked with books, the living room has a wall shelf that is double-stacked as well as a table with a shelf that is double-stacked. I recently started a stack of books on the china cabinet. I just don't have enough room for all the books I want to read. I try to read every day, normally before bed. It's how I wind down, get my brain to shut down, and enjoy a little me time. Sadly, as much as I try to read each night, it doesn't happen most nights.

A few weeks ago, Gene and I were out at Barnes and Noble. As we were browsing the books, we were also talking about my website. I was saying that it can be a struggle to figure out a topic to write about. I'm not sure why that happens—when I first said I was going to write a blog, I thought I had plenty of things to write about—and now I can't seem to remember any of them. He said to me that I need to combine more of what I like into my blog, like my book reading.

I run a virtual book club on Facebook - Pages & Ponder: A Novel Experience. While we have a good number of members, only a few consistently participate. We vote once a month for the following month's book. Our discussions are conducted through a post containing 4-5 questions, where you comment with your answers. There is no pressure to discuss the books or read the ones we choose.

In addition to voting and discussing the books, I try to post book-related items—something that tends to fall by the wayside, as I just don't have enough time to spend scheduling posts. In some ways, running a virtual book club is harder than one that meets in person on a monthly basis because I try to keep things low-key and with no pressure to participate. That often leads to people not voting on books or answering the discussion questions.

Almost 2 years ago, I started doing "Live readings," where you can be added to the "Conference call" - I call you and merge the line with any other "Call-Ins," or you can join the live stream video. When you choose to do the video, you have the chance to see my cats or whatever pets I may be house-sitting at the time. The live book reading led me to think, I can record these and put them on YouTube.

So I started a channel for that - Mel's Book Corner. Like every other online thing I do, I don't have a huge following. But there must be one or two people who find my videos and listen to them, as each video has a handful of views.

At Gene's recommendation, I have started again reading and videoing them. Currently, I'm reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. So head to YouTube and have a listen, and share it with anyone who likes to listen to books. You can even drop requests in the comments on YouTube or send me a message for the next book I should read!

Til our Tails cross again,

Mel

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