CrowdedMinds a.k.a. Rita

If so, we might have help for you. Thanks for our "buddy" Rick C. we recently learned Bluehost is open to removing the last names of STGRB's victims from the site. This might seem like a small win except...

1) On a search of your full name, the lies STGRB prints can harm your reputation.

2) Think of the work Athelissa will endure to change all full names to a first name and initial.

We can't promise everyone will have the same luck as Rick and myself, but here is the Bluehost email to use.

legal@bluehost.com

I found it best to keep the legalese wording out of your message. Just ask them to check into the following links for violations to their TOS. Basically, if STGRB says, "Joe Smith is a loser," Bluehost might force Athelissa to change it to Joe S. Doesn't have the same punch, now does it?

Be aware that Athelissa might give you a nickname. Big whoop. Nicknames are fun and I'm quite fond of mine. Beast was my first successful book, so it's a nice little reminder every time they insult me. Hopefully, everyone else will get a good nickname too.

I read this one as a group read for the month of January 2014. We had many varied views about this book, and a recurring notion was that Lyra's development as a character was lacking. I disagree with this. I find that Pullman did a good job in conveying her emotions and thoughts throughout the book, though I have to be honest as say it: J.K. Rowling does it better in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Highlight:
What I particularly found brilliant and highly imaginative about the book is the physical manifestation of a humans soul, the daemeon. That was really cool, especially the way how distance and actual permanent absences between the human and the daemon lead to a human's death. The whole parallel-world notion with a subtle tip of the hat to quantum mechanics was also quite impressive!

Favorite characters: Pan and Iorek Byrnison
Least likable characters: Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter

Definitely an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to read the next instalment in the (near) future: The Subtle Knife!

This has absolutely nothing to do with books, but it's too brilliant NOT to share!! (some of you may have seen it before, but I watched it for the first time today!)

May it become viral on BookLikes! ;-)

http://youtu.be/yxUP871zGP8

Unsure of how to use Leafmarks? This might help.

Sign up

When you first sign up or sign in, this is what you’ll see:

If you are or were a Goodreads member then you can take your exported .csv file from Goodreads and upload it via the large orange-y brown button in the middle.

Read more

Happy X-mas Eve!

I'm not going to summarise the story, plenty of other reviews fill their spaces with that. I prefer to share a few thoughts that I have about it.

This is a very bitter-sweet story that at times (especially when the foreshadowing occurs, which it basically does all the time) can be quite a tear-jerker. You just know that it's not going to end that well for these two star-crossed lovers, Claire and Henry, that are constantly brought together and torn apart.

It's a very emotional book, but in the chick-lit sense of the word: I found that it had passages that were a bit too descriptive, a bit too focused on what the characters were wearing and doing at various times, and it made me almost loose interest in it. The phrase "show, don't tell" comes to mind. That is probably why I think that I prefer the movie better than the book (which doesn't happen that often), for it basically showed what the characters were going through and feeling (I have to add that the movie is very, very loyal to the book on a near page-by-page basis) with out too much talk and background flutter, if you know what I mean. If this book had been less descriptive it would have been a much more powerful read, at least for me.

I can imagine that The Time Traveller's Wife is one of those books that you can read over and over again and still get something new out from it, as it's a very layered book, but I don't think that I'm going to pick it up any time soon. I most likely will in the future though, for I did enjoy it immensely in spite of its flaws.

This review is being cross-posted on my blog, Booklikes, GoodReads and LeafMarks.

So many book sites, so little time!!
So, tell me - who's on where?

I'm on:
www.goodreads.com - https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5032308-rita
www.booklikes.com - http://crowdedminds.booklikes.com/and now also: www.leafmarks.com - https://www.leafmarks.com/lm/#/users/10126/profile

Do feel free to fried me/follow - if we're already friends on one of the other sites please drop me a line so I can friend you back! :)

For those of you who are on more than one just one site - do you find it difficult to administer three different accounts?

Obviously these sites are all quite different and not at all mutually exclusive! Each site has advantages and drawbacks, and some of them only really serve one main function. Basically for me GoodReads is my book-database/catalogue, as so far I find BookLikes to be too unstructured to suit that purpose. GoodReads if for me also a place for Groups. BookLikes is for me a (book-)blog and it will probably be in this capacity that I will continue use it. I find that I'm more likely to blog here than on my own site, but I'm not very likely to find new books to read here (except if a friend has magnificent review of course!)! LeafMarks is too new for me to actually get an idea of what kind of fish it is. I'm just checking it out, lurking a bit and will see what it will develop into. I definitely like its clean & polished look. BookLike could take a hint from this, for to me the look and feel of BookLikes is a tad too teenage-y and MySpace-y. I imagine that the target audience for BookLikes is bit younger than I am!! ;-)

I do need to polish my own adminstrative skills in order to keep all three sites up to date! I'm a klutz! LOL  ;-)

A new booksite, new new new, Leafmarks. It looks a lot like Goodreads in its clean presentation. As it was started by two GR people, I have high hopes for it.  I've just uploaded my csv from GR to contribute some data.

I like BookLikes, I love being able to blog, but there really isn't any useful book data here for me. I don't even bother to look for books and reviews here because it is so hard to find anything and then you never find much. Until there are book pages that collect all reviews of a book together, rather than book pages categorised by seller, the book side of BookLikes isn't going to work for me and I will have to continue using Goodreads.

So I'm looking forward to this new site a lot. Monogamy of booksites is not required so it may end up that I use one, two or even three sites, probably with an overlap of friends on each site, which will make it more seamless than if it was always a set of new and different people, to fulfil my book reviewing, cataloging and blogging needs.

Anyway, Good Luck to Leafmarks and thanks to Jacqui and Emily May for founding it.

Dear friends and followers,

This just a quick little hello to wish you all a very merry Xmas and a peaceful 2014! -

- Basically I'm trying hard to compensate for my recent radio-silence! But you know how it is: sometimes real-life issues get in the way of your on-line activities!! Let's hope for a more balanced and peaceful 2014, shall we? I could definitely use that :-)

May all your dreams come true and may you all get to read a whole bunch of awesome books in this brand new year! :-)

Text  from: http://www.buzzfeed.com/alannaokun/insanely-clever-gifts-for-book-lovers

1. Handy Bookmark

 

For the meticulous type who wants to mark exactly which line they left off reading.

2. Clip-On Reading Light

 

proidee.co.uk

For the night-owls-cum-four-eyeses.

3. Floating Bookshelves

 

smartfurniture.com

For fans of WITCHCRAFT.

4. Book-Style Tissue Box

 

thegadgetflow.com

For those moments that are just too moving.

5. Transparent Book Weight

 

buddy-tools.stores.jp

For pages that demand to be kept flat (especially during times of food and/or booze consumption).

6. Talkative Bookmarks

 

amazon.com

For the person who needs help distinguishing between the teetering pile of books on their bedside table.

7. Macbook Book-Case

 

twelvesouth.com

For cushioning the blow.

8. Book-Shaped Light

 

lightupyourworld.nl

For illuminating ideas.

9. Fishbowl Bookends

 

gnr8.biz

For high-minded sea critters.

10. Penguin Classic-Inspired Matchboxes

 

etsy.com

For the slightly pretentious yet endearingly immature.

11. Thumb Ring Page Holder

 

etsy.com

For the lying-downers and the one-handers.

12. Book-Scented Perfume

 

luckyscent.com

For anyone looking to seduce the noses of the world.

13. Book-Scented Candle

 

etsy.com

For the person who wants their house to do the seducing for them.

14. Leg Bookmarks

 

etsy.com

For a reader with a twisted sense of humor.

15. Bloody Bookmark

 

designboom.com

No, wait, this one.

16. Bed Prism Glasses

 

amazon.com

For the deeply, deeply lazy.

17. Page-Wrapped Pencils

 

etsy.com

For the daydreamers who need a quick hit at work or school or wherever they happen to be (many titles available).

18. Bedtime Story Duvet Cover

 

etsy.com

And for the one who prefers them in bed.

19. “Your/You’re” Teacups and Saucers

 

etsy.com

For the die-hard grammarian.

20. Inverted Bookshelf

 

instructables.com

For the gravity-defier. Directions here.

21. Personal Library Kit

 

house8810.com

For the lender.

22. Personalized Library Embosser

 

horchow.com

And for the lender who wants to leave a mark.

23. Book Tent

 

fieldcandy.com

For the adventurer.

24. Automatic Reading Light

 

betterlivingthroughdesign.com

For anyone who wants their lamp to switch off when they place their book on top(i.e. everybody).

My better half thinks that I've spent too much money on books this year (shared credit card statement :P). How can €2000 ever be too much? I only go for the good deals and (almost) never pay full price :P

If he only knew how many books I actually leave behind in the stores - both the on-line and physical ones!

If you ask me you can never have too many books nor can you ever spend too much on them (at least not when you make good deals)! They are my preciousssss...! 

Great book for tips about what to keep in mind for various body shapes when knitting. I probably don't agree with all the theories about how to knit clothing (for instance knitting-in-the-round vs a sewn together piece), but this book is a great "go to book" for any knitter who knits clothing items. The patterns in the book are probably not all to your own liking, but they will all teach you something about design elements to consider when knitting :)

Check this out, just genius, error 404