Throw Back Thursday: My Introduction to Magical Realism

Today I'm continuing my monthly feature of going back in time to 2008, my first year of blogging. It's interesting to see how my blog has changed, along with the books I read and the way I write reviews and other bookish posts.

In the summer of 2008 I was introduced to a new author who's first book had come out the previous year (August 2007). It was a fellow blogger who raved about this book and since it was a new genre for me I wanted to give it a try. The author was Sarah Addison Allen and the book was GARDEN SPELLS! At that time I didn't read any fantasy or paranormal type of books and honestly, I had never heard the term 'magical realism' before. I was so curious! 

Once I began reading I was instantly captivated by the story of the Waverly sisters and their special apple tree and all the family secrets that came out in their 'magical' recipes and concoctions. I flew through that book and so began my first adventures into an intriguing genre of books. 

From that moment on, I was a fan of Sarah Addison Allen. Her latest, FIRST FROST, which came out earlier this year is a sequel to GARDEN SPELLS  and though I haven't read it yet, it is on my list. I've read all of her other books and I've loved them all. 

If you enjoy a lighter touch of  the paranormal and great stories of family and friends you must try Sarah Addison Allen's books if you haven't already. They are charming, entertaining and fun. For my review of GARDEN SPELLS from 2008, click here. 

Throwback Thursday: June 2008

Welcome to another of my Throwback Thursday posts where I'm revisiting my first year of blogging! Looking back, I see that June was a month of firsts.  I hosted my first giveaway and I also started participating in a weekly meme, which I previously had no idea what that was!

I read and reviewed three books in June of 2008, two of which were fiction and one non-fiction. The one that stands out the most to me was A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini. (Click on the title to read my review from 2008). I remember losing myself in that book because I'd loved THE KITE RUNNER so much and I was anxious to get that feeling again. Believe it or not, I've had his latest book, AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED for some time now but I haven't yet read it! I honestly don't know what I'm waiting for but I do intend to read it before the end of this year.

BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY was the weekly meme I began participating in that month. Each week the host would pose a book related question for the participants to answer and discuss on our blogs, then posting a link on the original post.  It was interesting to visit the other blogs and get their perspectives. That meme introduced me to so many new bloggers and I realized how quickly the book blogoshpere was growing.  BTT, as it is also known, became a regular feature on my blog and one that I really looked forward to each week. Happily, BTT is still going strong today. In fact, today's meme titled The Other Side, asks: What do your non-reader friends think about your reading habits? I think it's a great question that is bound to spark up a lot of conversation.

What I remember most about my blogging in June of '08 was how busy I was becoming with it and since I was still working a full-time job as an office manager and bookkeeper for a commercial/residential contractor, sometimes I'd find myself staying up really late to get my posts written or books read. Fortunately though, I was loving it so I didn't mind at all. I was meeting some really great people and my small world was opening up to many new things.

Thanks for taking a minute to step back in time with me to reminisce about my first year of blogging. I'll see you in July!

Throwback Thursday: May 2008

In May of 2008 I was beginning to feel more comfortable in becoming a book blogger/reviewer and I was feeling more at ease expressing my opinions. Writing my thoughts and points of view down for the world to see was a huge step in coming out of my shell and not being so reserved with my thoughts. Previously, I tended to not speak out as much and let others do it for me. I never realized until I started thinking about this post but this blog has had a big impact on me in that regard.

The books that I reviewed in May of my first blogging year were all very different from each other. There was a mix of non-fiction, historical Southern fiction and contemporary fiction.  When I was writing my review for Joan Didion's THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING I remember being uneasy about it because I really didn't like the book. I know many people loved that book, but I just didn't. It was the first time that I felt such a strong negative opinion.  Nervously, I posted my thoughts and . . . the world didn't end. Everyone has an opinion and that is the beauty of these book blogs so many of us dedicate so much of ourselves to. We don't all have to have the same opinion or like the same books. There is no right answer.

I also read and reviewed Sue Monk Kidd's THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES. I immediately fell in love with that book and wondered why it took me so long to read it. But the book that really stood out was THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein. There was a lot of hype about this book and when I read it I totally got why. This book touched my heart, made me smile and made me cry. A friend recently mentioned to me that she was thinking about reading this book over her summer break and I instantly got a warm feeling all over. That's what this book does. What made it extra special was that after posting my review I received a very sweet email from Garth Stein thanking me for sharing my thoughts. That was the first time I'd been contacted by an author directly and it was a great feeling.

This is only my second Throwback Thursday post here on the blog and I gotta tell you, I'm liking it a lot. Taking the time each month to reminisce about my first year of blogging and where it all started has been eye-opening and insightful. I hope you enjoy it as well. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back with another Throwback Thursday post next month.

Throwback Thursday: My First Year Revisited

In trying to come up with some new ideas for the blog, I thought it might be fun to go back to 2008, my first year of blogging, to see what I was reading back then. Though I started my blog in January of that year, it wasn't until April that I really started focusing primarily on books. It was the best path I've ever taken. So lets take a look back and see what was on my nightstand in April of 2008.

Reading these old reviews now shows me how my writing in these posts has changed over time. I was so green back then! But hey, you have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes, right?! I posted three book reviews that month and judging by my choices, (these were not review copies), it is clear that I had eclectic taste from the start.  The three reviews were from three different genres. Two were novels, one non-fiction. One of the novels was Southern Chick-Lit, the other was darker fiction, which I still love reading. Give me dark and haunting any day and I'm happy!

I'm not at all surprised that one of my first reviews was from Mary Kay Andrews, a writer I adore! DEEP DISH, a new book of hers at the time, had just come out and I gobbled it up immediately.  Her breezy prose and wit along with the quirky, southern charm of her characters was what drew me to her from her first book, SAVANNAH BLUES.  It was fun going back and reading that review again.

THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold was a difficult one to get through, but that's not to say I didn't love the book. The subject matter was disturbing but I do enjoy going to that darker side as well.  A few years after reading this book, I did watch the movie and I must say, I thought it was fantastic. Very true to the book and the cast was awesome! Rarely do I ever enjoy the movie as well as the book, but this was the exception for me.

The non-fiction book I reviewed that month contained a subject matter that, at that time, had not made it into main-stream, but now dominates our news media outlets daily. The book is INFIDEL by Ayaan Kirsi Ali. After seeing her in an interview on CNN, I was completely impressed by what she had been through, both as a Muslim child growing up in Somalia and as an adult living in refugee camps and later as a member of Dutch Parliament, living with the threat of being murdered because of her outspoken views against the Muslim religion. It was a fascinating read and one I will never forget.

Do you ever go back to see where you were in years past and what types of books had your attention back then? Once each month I'll be revisiting posts from my first year of blogging and sharing them with you. I hope you'll enjoy my trip down memory lane as much as I think I will. Thanks for stopping by!