The on-going dilemma of a book blogger

Today's #libraryhaul. I raided the Christmas section, got another beginning chapter book for Abby, grabbed a couple for a new book club, picked up my holds, and got a free movie. Guess I'd better try to finish my current read (Liane Moriarty) this afternoon since it's so hard for me to read more than one book at a time... Thank goodness for renewals! #bookstagram

A photo posted by Carrie Roer (@carrieroer) on Nov 30, 2015 at 9:55am PST

I've written before about how I can't read more than one book at a time, so today's #bookwormproblem is slightly related. It's the biggest reason why my blog has been more silent lately than I'd like it to be.

How does a book blogger choose to spend her time?? She could be a) reading books b) writing about books or c) doing all of the other things in life that need to be done.

Option c has gotten the most priority for me lately. Sickness, cleaning, volunteer work, kids activities... You know how that goes, right?

In the photo above, 4 of those books are for me and I was in the middle of a 5th, and they're all due back to the library in 3 weeks. With renewal that makes 6 weeks. I should be able to get them all read, right??

I hope to get a better handle on my weekly schedule and get back to posting more frequently, plus allowing myself time to sit and read (it's good for my introverted self anyway). In 2016 I'm excited to be part of a new book club with some other bloggers. There WILL be time for everything I'm most passionate about doing. :)

If you're a book blogger (or not!), how do you manage your time? 

Linking up to Jessica's monthly #bookwormproblems!

Spoiler alerts are my #bookwormproblem

There are many books I feel like "everyone" has read except me. Last year I joined the YABMC because the first 7 months of the year were the Harry Potter series, and though it was a second- or third- or more-time read for many, it was a first-time read for me (I was part of the mindset when they came out while I was in high school that they were evil books...).

I LOVED them (Goblet of Fire was my favorite). But I'm sure many of my fellow book club members had a hard time not saying certain things and carrying on conversation without including spoilers. Then this was exactly the time when Rowling released the statements about regretting having Ron and Hermione hook up. Um... I hadn't gotten to that part yet. But I brushed it off as "I figured it was going to happen anyway." (at least no one told me who died in the end before I read the last book!)

Then last month in the YABMC we read Little Women. Another first-time read for me, though many people read it when they were kids. Now, if any of you in the club are reading this, please know I do NOT fault you for comments and conversations we had during this book! It's my own fault for reading it slowly (I'm still not quite done) and for not having read it sooner! But I did learn a few things about what would happen later in the book - and again have brushed it off as "I figured something like that would happen." 

So my #bookwormproblem of the month: being embarrassed about needing spoiler alerts when conversing about a book "everyone" else has already read. 

What book have YOU not read that it seems like "everyone" else has??

Linking up to Jessica's monthly #bookwormproblems! She's also the host of the awesome YABMC!

August #bookwormproblems

My husband and I recently went on a little weekend getaway, sort of a belated-10-year-anniversary trip. We drove about 3 hours north (though we took the scenic route up, which took longer than 3 hours) and spent a couple days at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore (yes the place that got hit by a huge storm the following weekend!) and Traverse City.

Just before the trip I got the notice from the library that a book I had requested had come in -- so I quickly grabbed it and we set off. I had a feeling Rocky might enjoy it too, so I volunteered to read it aloud while we drove.

We took turns reading it over the course of the weekend -- in the car, on the beach, in the hotel, etc. WHAT A GOOD BOOK. But we didn't finish it by the time we got home.

(Did I mention Rocky is not typically much of a bookworm? That made this whole thing even more special for me. :) )

So of course our schedules started to get busy again, and we only had time to read together late at night. I should note here that I am a morning person and Rocky is a night owl. [and now you can probably tell where this is going...]

I gave Rocky permission to continue without me if I fell asleep. Which of course I did.

The next day I posted this on Instagram:

The hubby and I started reading this aloud to each other during the car rides on our trip last weekend. Now that we're home it's been more difficult to find time to keep it up, but it's sooo good. I fell asleep last night after 2 chapters (gasp! but I was sooo tired), so now I have to play catchup while he plays music... #notanightowl #bookstagram #instareads #amreading

A photo posted by Carrie Roer (@carrieroer) on Jul 29, 2015 at 6:39pm PDT

He had gotten far ahead... but after a couple days I finally caught up to where he had stopped. And I was amazed that he had stopped at all. Because he had stopped at the most edge-of-your-seat, the-book-is-almost-done spot. I don't know if I would have had the self control to stop there. But he did. And I love him even more for it. :)

THEN it plagued me to no end to wait a couple MORE days before we had the time to finish it together!! But finish it we did. And then I quickly brought it back to the library so the next of the 10 people in line could have it...

And now we have to wait. We have to wait 1) for this author to write another book - hopefully it will be as good as his first novel - and 2) for the movie to come out this fall. I don't mind watching movies that are based on books, but I almost always try to read the book before seeing the movie. And now Rocky and I can enjoy that together too. :)

What is something book-related you have had to wait for? 

Linking up today with Jessica at Quirky Bookworm! Click through to see what other problems bookworms are having this month.

This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Purchases you make from Amazon through these links help support The Lion is a Bookworm a little bit without changing the cost to you!

The Lion's Tales: May 31-June 6 (including June's #bookwormproblems)

This weekly recap is where I blog about anything and everything from the past week. Could be about books, my kids, my garden... Random things in my life that don't fill enough space for their own post!


1. It was the last week of school around here. Rocky has finished his 10th year of teaching, and Abby has finished her first year of preschool.

2. In honor of Abby's 5th birthday, we stopped by the library so she could get her very own library card. I know it's more for show than anything (I keep it in my wallet next to my own card, and signed up with my email address for her due date alerts), but she was pretty excited. :)

3. I closed an Usborne party this week for a teacher-friend who got $200 worth of books for $70. And actually if those packs in the picture would have been bought as separate books, the retail would have been even higher. Would you like some free and half-priced books? Let's have a party! If we get a party in during the month of June, you can get double the amount of free books as usual because I'm still new at this. And if you're not local to me, let's do a Facebook party! Send me an email at thelionisabookworm at gmail dot com.

4. #bookwormproblem of the month: I saw this photo come through Facebook and it really resonated with me:

I realized a lot of books I read are parts of series - it's been awhile since I read anything stand-alone. But that means I often have to wait until the next book in the series a) gets published or b) comes in at the library (luckily I've gotten in the habit of requesting the next book when I'm about halfway done with the first!). AND I've gotten in the habit of paging through the back of my current book (not reading anything though!) when I think I'm getting to that point where there's a good possibility it will end sooner than I'd like, so I can be prepared...

Do you read those chapter previews at the end of a book? Or just wait until you actually get that next book? 



Linking up with Jessica at Quirky Bookworm today! Click through to see what other problems are plaguing bookworms this month. :)

What the Cubs are Reading: April 6 AND April #bookwormproblems

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers have adapted it to focus on Picture Books to Young Adult Books. Since I recap what I'm personally reading each month with Modern Mrs. Darcy, for this linkup I post what Abby (almost 5) and Ellie (2.5) have been enjoying.

AND since this particular Monday is April 6, that's the day for Jessica's monthly Bookworm Problems linkup! Click here to see what other problems bookworms like you are having this month!

(Woo-hoo, two linkups in one post! All of you visiting from one of the linkups, be sure to click through and check out the other awesome one! :) 

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My #bookwormproblem for the month? I want the kids' bookshelves to look like this:

But most of the time things look like this:

I'm really glad that they love books so much, but how is it that 1) we've obtained SO many books in the last five years and 2) they always seem to end up EVERYWHERE??

Here are some of the girls' favorites this week:

Amelia Bedelia's First Field Trip by Herman Parish. June 2011

I remember loving Amelia Bedelia books as a kid, and thought it was neat that Parish has started making bigger, colorful picture books about Amelia's earlier years as a kid in school. She still has the quirkiness that we all know and love, and my own kids are learning the real meaning of phrases we understand and take for granted. Abby chose this one at the library last week, she has a field trip coming up soon that I will be able to go on with her (now that I'm done at the library! I've missed the others she's had this school year) and she is absolutely thrilled I can go.

The Golden Egg by A.J. Wood. February 2000.

This was a gift from a baby shower before Abby was born. I'm pretty sure it's the book that initiated my love for good rhyming kids books. Little Duck goes looking for a golden egg, encountering many animal friends and eggs of other colors. It has flapped pages to look behind, and I think the ending would make any woman smile.

The Story of Easter by Patricia A. Pingry. Board Book edition February 2011.

I got this book for the girls a year or two ago to help explain Easter to them in an extremely simple way. I'm sure by next year we'll be moving on to something more in depth (we've been reading the Easter story from the Jesus Calling Bible Storybook at dinnertime), but they have been asking for this one every night since they knew it was Easter week.

Read to Tiger by S.J. Fore. August 2010

This is one of many many books we've received from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (hey that's part of the reason we have SO many books -- each girl gets one in the mail every month!). I sometimes feel like the boy in the story, trying to read while someone keeps interrupting.


Have you read any of these? How do you teach your kids to put their books away??



This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Purchases you make help support The Lion is a Bookworm a little bit without changing the cost to you!

March #bookwormproblems

Sometimes I feel like the odd one out when I see book bloggers posting photos of the stack of books they're currently reading.

Modern Mrs. Darcy's stack a few years ago

Usually I am a great multitasker, but when it comes to books, I just cannot read more than one at a time!!

Let me rephrase that... I can't read more than one fiction book at a time. As you can see from the photo, I'm reading 3 (4 if you count my daily read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan) non-fiction books right now.

I think this is why I'm still hesitant to try audiobooks. I don't think I would be able to enjoy the fictional storyline of more than one plot at a time.

Help me out here -- am I really the only one in the book blogging world who has this #bookwormproblem??


Linking up today with Quirky Bookworm! Click to see what other bookworms are struggling with!!

February #bookwormproblems

In the YA Book & Movie Club we've started reading Marie Lu's Legend trilogy. It's a first-time read for me, though I've been reading lots of dystopian YA in the last couple of years.

My #bookwormproblem? Once I get into the thick of a plot of a book like this, I never. want. to. put. it. down. I want to go and go and go and go for hours and finish it in one shot. I'm plagued by "what happens next?? how will they get out of this mess??" And authors sure know how to keep you hooked by leaving the end of chapters hanging. "I'll read just one more chapter" turns into five more...

It's taken a lot of self-control to read a single chapter then start a load of laundry. Then read another then play with the kids. Then read another then fold the laundry.

I find if I can accomplish enough things in the morning then I don't feel so bad reading for an extended period during naptime!

I know this is a good reason to try audiobooks, but I feel like I only get 2 minutes here and there to read throughout the majority of the day! And a day like today (Saturday) the hubby is home too, so I don't want to bore him with my books, or completely ignore him as well as the kids... :)

Linking up today with Quirky Bookworm! Click to see what other bookworms are struggling with!!

This post does contain Amazon Affliate links. Purchases you make help support The Lion is a Bookworm a little bit without changing the cost to you!