It's Tuesday! Where Are You?

My name is Etta Place. Well, that's not my real name, but its been my name for almost two years now. Ever since my father committed suicide back in Pennyslvania in 1898 and I had to go into hiding from the people he owed money to. Really bad people. I was in Grand Junction, Colorado for awhile working as a "Harvey Girl", serving train passengers their meals until the son of a wealthy family thought he could have his way with me. I was able to get away, but not without shooting and killing him. No one believed my story though and now I'm on the run again - from the law. I've made some friends with some outlaws and they brought me to a place where the notorious Hole In The Wall Gang hides out. I've recently met Butch Cassidy, the leader of the gang and The Sundance Kid. I find Mr. Longbaugh (The Sundance Kid) very handsome, quiet and polite and I'm looking forward to getting to know him better. ~ ETTA by Gerald Kolpan

To find out where other readers are today, visit Raidergirl3 at Adventures in Reading.

I usually include a Teaser for Teaser Tuesday, however, I left my book in someone elses car yesterday and I won't get it back until later today! I was so upset with myself!! Anyway, I hope you all have a great Tuesday! Happy Reading!

Musing Mondays: Comments

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about blog comments.

How do you respond to the comments on your blog? Do you try to email individually or comment on post yourself answering the comments above? What do you think is the best way to respond to comments and do you respond to all of them? Do you feel slighted if you don't receive a response back from the blog owner? (question courtesy of Jenn).

I agree with Rebecca, I think this is a great question! Who doesn't love to get comments? It makes my day when I have a post that generates a lot of conversation and I've always wondered about commenting etiquette. It's been kind of a grey area for me. Here's how I handle them . . .

The only time I reply to comments via email is if there's a specific question that requires a lengthy response or if I prefer it to be private. But I don't do that too often. I usually leave a comment on my blog responding to each person individually. That way, other commenters can see my responses too. In this manner, if I respond to one, I respond to all. I may not comment back on every post I publish, but I don't feel that its expected. Therefore, no, I don't feel slighted in any way if my comment doesn't gain a response. We all know how time consuming blogging can be and I would never put such high expectations on replies to comments. Of course it is nice to get a response, but to me, if I do get one, that's just an added bonus! That doesn't mean I expect one every time.

How do you handle comments to your blog? For more answers to this musing, please visit Just One More Page.

The Sunday Salon: Happy Easter!

It is going to be a beautiful Easter Sunday here in Florida - a perfect day to give thanks for all of the blessings I have in my life. So I thought this would be the perfect day to say thank you for a few awards I've recently been given.

Jo-Jo from Jo-Jo Loves To Read gave me the Friends Award. This award is very special to me and it really means a lot that she chose me as a recipient. Here is what the Friends Award stands for:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.

Now I will present this award to eight other bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award.

I am going to pass this award on to eight amazing bloggers who I am happy to call my friends. And they are:

• Staci - Life In The Thumb
• Anna - Diary of an Eccentric
• Dar - Peeking Between the Pages
• Ti - Book Chatter and Other Stuff
• Kathy - Bermudaonion
• Lisa - Books On the Brain
• Jill - Breaking the Spine
• Karen - Planet Books
  

Please take the time to visit their blogs if you haven't already. Thanks again Jo-Jo for honoring me with this award!

I also received the Lemonade Stand Award from Tonya at Story Time With Tonya.

This is an award given to bloggers who display a great attitude and gratitude. The rules are that I'm supposed to nominate at least 10 bloggers to pass this award on to. However, it is impossible for me to pick only 10 because all of the bloggers whose blogs I visit regularly are most gracious and always show gratitude to their readers. For this reason, I'm going to accept this award on behalf of all of the book bloggers that I have come to know over the last year or so that I've been in their company. There are simply too many to list that possess these qualities. I am delighted and thankful for this award. Thank you so much, Tonya!

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For the rest of today, I'll be reading a debut novel by Gerald Kolpan called ETTA. It's the fictionalized story of Etta Place, who was the notorious girlfriend of "The Sundance Kid". I only began reading it yesterday, but so far I'm liking it. I haven't read a western-themed book in quite awhile, so it's a nice change of pace.

Earlier this week I was thrilled to learn that I will be getting an ARC of THE LAST BRIDGE by Teri Coyne from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. That was the book I hoped for most when looking over the choices. I'm very anxious to get started reading it.

Later today I'm looking forward to reading the blogs to see what books have captured your attention this week. I hope you all are having a peaceful, happy Easter Sunday!

Booking Through Thursday: The Numbers

For something different, MizB is borrowing a question from ine of the very first questions ever at Booking Through Thursday. Back from 2005 when Laura owned the blog but, because it was so new, it didn’t get as many responses as it does now … so, why not revisit? Here’s the question:

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…

Are you currently reading more than one book? Yes

If so, how many books are you currently reading? Two. One fiction and one non-fiction. Two is my limit.

Is this normal for you? I suppose so. Typically, I don't like to read two fiction books at the same time. I end up getting torn between the two. I think I read more efficiently one at a time.That being said, I did recently read Jane Eyre at the same time I read another book. I chose to read Jane at bedtime. It was a great way to wind down and end my day. But I don't normally have a particular bedtime book. I think non-fiction books are a bit different though. I usually have a non-fiction book that I'll read from time to time, but I'm not as regimented with those. I won't necessarily read it every day.

Where do you keep your current reads? I have a reading table that my dad made me that sits in my living room in between the couch and the chair that I like to read in. It has shelves on one side (where I keep my dictionary) and a piece that pulls out with a tile that matches my floor to sit a drink on without the moisture discoloring the wood of the table. And when I'm not using it, it slides back in. I always keep my current reads on that table. I do take whatever fiction book I'm reading with me when I'm out, but when I'm home, that's where it can be found.

How many books do you read at a time?

It's Tuesday - Where Are You? & A Teaser

This week I thought I'd mix it up a bit with Raidergirl's It's Tuesday, Where Are You? along with MizB's Teaser Tuesday.

This week I'm in Andover, Massachusetts. The year is 1692 and my family and I just found out that a warrant has been issued for my mother for witchery. They are coming to take her to the jail in Salem Village in the morning. There have already been many arrests in neighboring villages and even as far away as Boston. My father has tried to persuade her to leave and go into hiding but my mother, being a very strong-willed woman, won't think of it. She plans to go before the magistrate and explain to them how ridiculous their claims are. If only they would believe her. My mother is not the kind of woman to back down and she has created tensions with many of our neighbors who claim she has cast spells on them.

Then another man said, "They say there is one true test for a witch. You throw 'em in the river. If they drown, their innocense is proved. If they float, they're a witch and you take 'em out and hang 'em." ~ page 218 of The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Musing Mondays: Your TBR List

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your to be read list…

As a follow up to last week's question, Joseph asked how you keep track of your tbr list. Do you have a paper list or on your computer? Do you take it with you when you go shopping? How do you decide what gets added to it?

Like most, I'm always adding books to my TBR list, so its ever-changing. Most of the books on that list were taken from book reviews I've read on the blogs that really grabbed me. I keep my main list on my computer, but I also have a wish list on LibraryThing, but come to think of it, I don't think it's up to date. I don't have the books listed in any kind of order because my reading choices change with my mood. I don't like to read too many of the same type of book back to back, so I like to mix it up. Since I don't have one of those fancy phones like Rebecca has to keep her list on, I just use a small notepad that stays in my purse. That way I always have it with me. I also have a list of authors that I want to read at some point. If I'm not looking for anything particular, I refer to that list and can always find something interesting that I've wanted to try.

For more musings visit Rebecca at Just One More Page.

Booking Through Thursday: Library Week

National Library week is coming up in April, and that led to some questions:

How often do you use your public library and how do you use it? Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library? Did you go to the library as a child? Do you have any particular memories of the library? Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries?

This year National Library Week is April 12th - 18th and this years theme is

Worlds connect @ your library...

You may want to check with your library to see if they have any special events planned. In the last year, I've been using my library more than ever. I think for some people the bookstores with coffee shops have replaced libraries, but in these tough economic times, I think you'll see that changing, if you haven't already. I used to love to go to the bookstore, get a cup 'o joe and browse. I would always end up leaving with at least one book, but I'm watching my pennies closer now.

Although I did visit the library as a child, I don't really have any memories that stand out. I love the coziness of older, smaller libraries, but I really enjoy our new local library. It's very spacious and the lighting is amazing, which is important to me. There are lots of places to sit and many large tables and computer workspaces. This summer I'm planning to visit the library much more often and do a lot more browsing.

What do you like most about your library?