{"id":642,"date":"2015-07-23T01:31:10","date_gmt":"2015-07-23T05:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?p=642"},"modified":"2015-08-19T20:20:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T00:20:03","slug":"thursday-bookish-updates-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?p=642","title":{"rendered":"Thursday Bookish Updates #2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><a href=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ThursdayBookishUpdatesBow.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-812\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ThursdayBookishUpdatesBow.png\" alt=\"ThursdayBookishUpdatesBow\" width=\"643\" height=\"56\" srcset=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ThursdayBookishUpdatesBow.png 643w, http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ThursdayBookishUpdatesBow-640x56.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" \/><\/a><\/center>Ive decided the time has come to really start updating my blog with what I do each week. I was recently inspired by a post I read by Kelsye at Wise Ink Blog <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wiseinkblog.com\/social-media-2\/the-ultimate-bloggers-guide-to-growing-your-readership\/\">Ultimate Bloggers Guide to Growing Your Readership<\/a>. Her list of ways to increase traffic got me thinking about how little I actually do to set schedules and really update readers on what to expect from my little slice of the inter-webs. In <i>theory<\/i>, this feature should help keep me on track and active. My long term goal is to keep everyone updated on the comings and goings of Silk&amp;Serif in the community on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n<p><b>What should you expect?<\/b> Every Thursday I&#8217;ll post a list of new books I&#8217;ve received through publishers or I&#8217;ve purchased myself. I will also include a portion about my activities in the book community that are especially exciting or &#8220;bookish&#8221; in my opinion.<\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Inthecommunitybow.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-814\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Inthecommunitybow.png\" alt=\"Inthecommunitybow\" width=\"446\" height=\"58\" \/><\/a><\/center><\/p>\n<div class=\"description\">\n<p>I recently joined a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/group\/show\/9526-the-post-card-exchange\">Postcards Exchange Group<\/a> on Goodreads. The group features itself as an &#8220;International group of people who love reading and mail&#8221;. Each month the group is tasked to send a post card to someone (or everyone!) in the group with a cute,book themed message. Ive already received one adorable post card in the mail this month and should be receiving another. I love how this group utilizes snail mail and also incorporates a love of reading!<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bookaddictsguide.com\/2015\/07\/15\/the-lunar-chronicles-reread-along-intro-sign-ups\/\">The Lunar Chronicles (Re)Read Along<\/a> is an event hosted at The Book Addicts Guide for readers who wish to re-read or start reading The Lunar Chronicles before the new installment Winter is released in the fall. Considering I&#8217;ve had The Lunar Chronicles on my Kindle account for awhile now, it seems like a good idea to finally read it.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>WHAT IS IT?<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Readers will have four weeks to read each book (though the entire month will be allotted).<\/li>\n<li>At the end of each month, readers will be encouraged to write either a review of the book or some sort of recap post.<\/li>\n<li>Readers are also encouraged to share updates (NON-SPOILERY) on social media using the hashtag #TLCReadAlong! At the end of each month, one person using the hashtag will be randomly selected to win a TLC-related prize! <em>Contest\u00a0is open to US participants only.<\/em> Sorry! But we hope that regardless of country, you\u2019ll join us in reading!<\/li>\n<li>There will also be opportunities for fun Lunar Chronicles posts related to each book\u00a0\u2014\u00a0think less book report questions, more fun &amp; games!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Plus, The Book Addict&#8217;s Guide has TONS of Lunar Chronicle swag to give away to US participants!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/InmailboxBluebpow1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-813\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/InmailboxBluebpow1.png\" alt=\"InmailboxBluebpow\" width=\"374\" height=\"46\" \/><\/a><\/center>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/721003.Peak\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-646\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cover69481-medium.png\" alt=\"The Peak\" width=\"255\" height=\"397\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><b><b> by Roland Smith: <\/b><\/b><em>NetGalley.<\/em>I remember reading and loving the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/series\/53618-everest\">Everest series<\/a> by <a class=\"authorName\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/2130.Gordon_Korman\">Gordon Korman<\/a> as a teenager. I have long desired to read another book like it so when I found Peak I was intrigued. A book about a teenager who climbs Everest with a climbing troupe sounds just as fun as the original.<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">After fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he&#8217;s left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his father&#8217;s renewed interest in him has strings attached. <i>Big<\/i> strings. As owner of Peak Expeditions, he wants his son to be the youngest person to reach the Everest summit&#8211;and his motives are selfish at best. Even so, for a climbing addict like Peak, tackling Everest is the challenge of a lifetime. But it&#8217;s also one that could cost him his life.<\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Roland Smith has created an action-packed adventure about friendship, sacrifice, family, and the drive to take on Everest, despite the incredible risk. The story of Peak\u2019s dangerous ascent\u2014told in his own words\u2014is suspenseful, immediate, and impossible to put down.<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/18039168-ever-near\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-647\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cover70429-medium.png\" alt=\"Ever Near\" width=\"255\" height=\"408\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><b>by Melissa MacVicar<\/b>: <i>NetGalley<\/i>.<br \/>\nIve recently felt the need to extend my reading tastes and decided Ever Near might be a nice change. I usually don&#8217;t do ghost stories, but Ever Near sounds like an interesting mix of ghost story, young adult and romance.<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nantucket Island is haunted, but only sixteen-year-old Jade Irving knows it. Ignoring the disturbing spirits isn\u2019t an option, because one dwells in the enormous historic home she shares with her newly blended family. Jade is finding it more and more difficult to explain away Lacey\u2019s ghostly, anguished tantrums, especially with Charlie, her gorgeous, almost step-brother, living right across the hall.<\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">When a power-hungry ghost hunter tracks down Jade and blackmails her, Jade\u2019s secret teeters on the edge of exposure, and her entire future hangs in the balance. If anyone finds out Jade can talk to ghosts, her life will be forever changed.<\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Can she save herself, free Lacey, and hang on to her tenuous connection with Charlie? Or will everything she ever wanted slip through her fingers?<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/25965433-the-girl-s-guide-to-the-apocalypse\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-648\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cover70381-medium.png\" alt=\"The Girls Guide to the Apocalypse\" width=\"255\" height=\"395\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<b>by Daphne Lambe<\/b>: <i>Ne<\/i><i>tGalley<\/i>.<br \/>\nI rarely see apocalyptic novels that don&#8217;t take themselves seriously. The Girl&#8217;s Guide to the Apocalypse sounds like good fun and humour. I didn&#8217;t need much prompting after that.<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Welcome to the Apocalypse. Your forecast includes acid rain, roving gangs and misplaced priorities, in this comedic take on the end of the world as we know it, from debut author Daphne Lamb.<\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">As a self-entitled, self-involved, and ill equipped millennial, Verdell probably wouldn\u2019t have ranked very high on the list of those most likely to survive the end of the world, but here she is anyway. Add in travelling with her work addicted boss, her boyfriend who she has \u201cmeh\u201d feelings for, and a handful of others who had no businesses surviving as long as they have, and things aren\u2019t exactly going as planned. But despite threats of cannibalism, infected water supplies, and possibly even mutants, Verdell is willing to put in as little effort as she can get away with to survive.<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/19448543-lumi-re\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-649\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cover70720-medium.png\" alt=\"Lumiere\" width=\"255\" height=\"390\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<b>by Jacqueline Garlick<\/b>: <i>Ne<\/i><i>tGalley<\/i>.<br \/>\nLumiere has a mysterious description: what afliction is Eyelet hiding and what is the Illuminator? The novel also has a gorgeous cover that makes me want to crack this one open first. I can&#8217;t wait to read this one!<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Even in a land of eternal twilight, secrets can\u2019t stay in the dark forever.<\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth has only one hope left: finding her late father\u2019s most prized invention, the Illuminator. It\u2019s been missing since the day of the mysterious flash\u2014a day that saw the sun wiped out forever over England.<\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">But living in darkness is nothing new to Eyelet. She\u2019s hidden her secret affliction all of her life\u2014a life that would be in danger if superstitious townspeople ever guessed the truth. And after her mother is accused and executed for a crime that she didn\u2019t commit, the now-orphaned Eyelet has no choice but to track down the machine that was created with the sole purpose of being her cure.<\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Alone and on the run, she finally discovers the Illuminator\u2014only to see a young man hauling it off. Determined to follow the thief and recover the machine, she ventures into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous part of her twisted world.<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><br \/>\nGot some ideas on how to improve this feature or something that may interest us? Feel free to throw out suggestions, ideas or your own event!<\/b><\/p>\n<table class=\"rating-report\">\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\">Rating Report<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Plot<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Characters<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Writing<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Pacing<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Cover<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"ubb-rr-overall\">\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Overall:<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ive decided the time has come to really start updating my blog with what I do each week. I was recently inspired by a post I read by Kelsye at Wise Ink Blog Ultimate Bloggers Guide to Growing Your Readership. Her list of ways to increase traffic got me thinking about how little I actually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":820,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions\/820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}