blogging buddies – Of All the Books in All the Libraries

Posted on November 18, 2018November 18, 2018 by Suziey Bravo · 19 Comments

Library Lover’s Book Tag

I saw Mandy and Sha’s post and thought ooh, that looks fun. Then I get to the people they’ve tagged. Anyone with book in their blog name. Imagine my excitement when I remembered I had books in mine. So, a big thank you to Mandy and Sha @Book Princess Reviews for tagging me in this! I love my library and what better way to profess my feelings than through a tag ❤ haha

QUESTIONS
How often do you visit your local library?
At least once a week. I’m surrounded by libraries so I’m always at one of them at some point. The perks of living in the suburbs.

Are you the type of person who checks out more books than you can read or are you someone who checks out the exact amount of books you intend to read before they are due?
Oh, I check out the exact amount of books. I use OverDrive a lot so I tend to check out a physical book only when it’s not available as an ebook or audiobook.

How old were you when you got your first library card?
Um, I want to say 10? I used my sister’s card until my mom finally allowed me to get my own. Which was after my sister lost hers. 10 sounds about right…

Do you go to your library for a particular book or do you check out anything that piques your interest?
Usually for a particular book. Very rarely do I pick a book up that I hadn’t been planning to read.

Do you only check out books or do you also get DVDs, audiobooks, etc.?
I check out tons of DVD’s. Not everything I want to watch is on Netflix haha. So the library always comes through. Plus, they have a vast CD collection. And I’m all about that economical (aka. cheap) life lol.

From what section of the library do you check out most of your books?
According to my checkout history (excluding OverDrive reads) it seems to be mainly children’s literature. Ha! Makes sense. It’s all of the Nancy Drew books.

What is your favourite part of using your local library?
How am I suppose to narrow it down??? Lemme just list a few reasons:

1) Bonding with my Goddaughter. She and I have been going to storytime at the library for over a year now. She loves books. I love books. The first time she walked into the library, her little mouth dropped. And she still cries whenever we have to return her books. So we check more out and then head to the bookstore. Which brings me to reason #2.

2) The library bookstore! There is one shelf full of free books. Kid’s books are $1. Paperbacks 50 cents. Hardbacks $2. So babygirl and I have zero restraint. The rule is 2 books for each of us. Ha! Neither one of us sticks to that. The volunteers in charge of the bookstore are super nice. They’re actually pretty lenient with book prices. For example, this past week I bought a total of about 15 books. 8 for me, 7 for my goddaughter. I only paid $4. They want to encourage kids to read so when they see a child’s enthusiasm towards books, they let them keep all the books they’ve picked out for free. Extremely generous.

3) Library events. Holy crap the events! There’s the summer reading program. The YA events are the best though. There are always author discussions and signings going on. There are adult arts and crafts. Book clubs. Oh my goodness, so many things. There’s honestly, something for everyone. Whatever age group.

4) The apps! OverDrive, Libby, Freegal, Mango, etc. All free apps I use courtesy of my library. OverDrive is my life. It’s the one app I couldn’t live without. It is where I check most of my books out from. It’s easy to use and the book selection is top-notch.

5) The librarians. These people are dope. Dope, dope, dope. Incredibly helpful and kind. Always quick to lend a hand or offer a book recommendation. Where would we be without them???

I TAG…
I am going to steal Sha and Mandy’s idea (sort of 😉 ) and tag anyone whose blog name has the word library (or something library-related) in it… I’m keeping it broad on purpose 🙂

HAPPY BLOGGING EVERYONE! 😀

Posted on October 21, 2018October 26, 2018 by Suziey Bravo · 20 Comments

The Unique Blogger Award

Thank you LaRonda @Flying Paperbacks for nominating me! You’re the best! ❤ And so sorry it’s taken me forever to get to this! I’ve fallen way behind on tags. #bloggingstruggles

THE RULES:

Share the link of the blogger who nominated you
Answer their questions
Share some love with the blogging community by nominating 8-12 people
Ask three questions for your nominees

QUESTIONS:

1. Sell me on your favorite read of 2018

So apparently I’ve had quite a few favorite reads haha. But honestly, I think this would be the year of Steinbeck. So far I’ve read 3 of his works this year. East of Eden has got to be one of the greatest pieces of literature I’ve ever read. The themes he explores – love, religion, family – are all intertwined in a family saga with the beautiful (I’m biased) California valley as its backdrop. It’s so so good. And absolutely, without a doubt, one of my favorite reads of the year.

2. If you could read a book about any mythological being, which would it be and why?

Does Pegasus count?? Lmao mythology isn’t really my thing. Possibly why I never continued with the Percy Jackson series. That and I really thought there were hundreds of books in the series. But um, I watched Hercules as a kid and Pegasus was my favorite character. And Meg. Is she based on a mythological figure???

3. Who’s a character that has motivated you? How?

Anne Shirley!!! I first read Anne of Green Gables as an adult a few years back and I adored her instantly. She’s full of life and imagination, brilliant and hardworking. I could gush about this girl forever. She’s pretty much all I aspire to be haha. I’m naturally realistic (my friends say pessimistic), but like I said, Anne is a bright person. And her positivity is contagious. I feel happy whenever I think of Anne.

On a personal note:

Life has been unexpectedly hectic lately. BFF and I are planning birthday parties for 2 of her kids and their baptism. That’s 3 events in the span of one month. And one of those birthday parties is super last minute because the original plan went straight out the window when her soon -to-be 6 year old got some bad news. She broke her elbow in mid-August and has been in a cast since then. The doctor said it’d be off by her birthday. Well, that was a lie. Apparently her elbow keeps shifting and the ortho hasn’t discounted surgery as an option. (Torres, where you at?) Understandably, little girl hollered, screamed, and cried her eyes out when they put a new cast on her arm. So the original “birthday dinner plan” was canceled and bff decided to have a big birthday party for her to cheer her up.

Which means we’ve spent the last few days trying to get everything together. Thank goodness scheduled posts weeks in advance are a thing haha so I’m pretty sure no one has noticed my disappearance. Anyway, today I plan to relax and spend my day blog hopping and catching up on everyone’s posts 🙂 And if I do happen to disappear again within the next few weeks, well now you know why 😉

SEE YOU AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE! 😀

Posted on September 9, 2018September 9, 2018 by Suziey Bravo · 16 Comments

The Sunshine Blogger Award #3

Thank you Brittany @Perfectly Tolerable for nominating me!!! These are always fun to do! And I absolutely loved your questions 🙂

RULES:

Thank the blogger who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and ask them 11 new questions
List the rules and display the sunshine blogger award logo in your post/or on your blog

BRITTANY’S QUESTIONS FOR ME:
1) Show me a picture of your bookshelf!

I don’t have a bookshelf 😥 My books are scattered all over my home haha. But most of my books are in this container.

2) Name two books that you would/do recommend to everyone?

Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder. It’s so good and I recommend it all the time! If you’re even mildly interested in philosophy, then this is the book for you!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It’s already a modern-day classic imho. Very pertinent read! Everyone needs to read this book.

3) Are there any songs that you associate with a particular story or characters?

Asleep performed by The Smiths always reminds me of Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower ❤ I can’t listen to it without immediately thinking of him.
And of course,

La Bamba performed by Los Lobos reminds of Ari from Aristotle from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I grew up listening to this song! It’s nostalgic but now whenever I listen to it I think of Ari since he mentioned quite a bit in the book.

4) Where is your favorite place to read?
The stairs in my house lol. The only place I won’t fall asleep while reading.

5) Do your friends/family know that you have a blog?
Only my bff haha (Hi babe!)

6) How do you decide which book to read next?

So… this is my book box. It’s full of books that I really want to read soon. It’s conveniently located under my bed lol. Whenever I’m looking for a new read I look at my book box first and see if any of the books is calling to me. It’s simply based on feeling.

7) Do you have a favorite word? If so, what is it?
Eureka! No clue why but it puts a smile on my face.

8) Is there one particular blog post that you’re really proud of?
Um… I’m equally proud of all of them 🙂

9) Do you have any tattoos? If so, what?
Nope! But I want to get this (well, only the finch):

10) What book gave you the worst book hangover?

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut!!! I went into a serious book slump. I put down every book I tried to read. It was MONTHS before I managed to read another book.

11) What are three things you always carry with yourself?

Besides my phone and wallet 😉 I always have a book and/or my kindle on me, a snack (because I go from not hungry to ravenous in .05 seconds), and my water bottle.

Well, that’s it. Once again, thank you Brittany! ❤

*I’ve been a little busier this week than usual so I’m not going to tag anyone today*

HAPPY BLOGGING EVERYONE! 😀

Posted on April 8, 2018April 8, 2018 by Suziey Bravo · 24 Comments

The Versatile Blogger Award

🎉 This is my first blogging award. Ever. So I’m pretty excited right now. A big THANK YOU to Catherine @ This is One for the Books for the nomination!!

THE RULES

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award
Thank the person who gave you this award
Include a link to their blog
Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly
Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself

LETS TALK ABOUT ME

1) I created my blog while I was watching Casablanca. Hence the name. It’s inspired by one of Bogey’s lines in the movie:

2) I am not tech savvy. At all. Which is why my blog is as basic as it can be. Honestly, some days I can barely work my phone. So if any of you techy people want to help a girl out, I would really appreciate it! ☺

3) When I was in college I studied abroad in Italy for about 4 months.

It was the first time I had ever been on a plane (sort of), left the country (again, sort of) and traveled anywhere by myself. It is to this day one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done in my life.

4) When I was almost 2 years old I was briefly kidnapped in an airport. My sister was the one who first told me this story. I didn’t believe her though. I thought she was just being a mean older sibling. A few years later, I overheard my mom telling one of her friends the story, and I realized that my sister had not lied to me after all. Apparently a man grabbed me from my mom’s arms and proceeded to run away with me. He sat me down next to a group of kids as he got ready to board a flight with me (this was the early 90’s, so pre-TSA). My mom had chased after the guy, so she quickly found me and rescued me. Who knows where I would be now if my mom’s momma bear instincts hadn’t kicked in.

5) Classics are my jam. I like classic books, movies, tv shows, music, etc. I don’t know. There’s something about old things that draws me in.

6) I like spoilers.

I do not mind them one bit. In books, movies, whatever. Chances are that by the time I get to said book or movie, I will have forgotten what the spoiler was. And if I haven’t, then it’s something I can look forward to. Sometimes the spoilers are what get me interested in a book or movie in the first place.

7) A bookish confession. *takes a deep breath* When I was in middle school I read the first Harry Potter book and didn’t like it *immediately ducks for cover* The movies on the other hand, I loved. It wasn’t until after I graduated from college that I decided to sit down and give the series another try. Now I love Harry Potter and understand the hype. I appreciate the magical world that JK Rowling created.

Ah! Seriously harder than I thought it would be! I want to thank Catherine once again and encourage everyone to check out her fabulous blog! Her latest post was on Literary Themed Restaurants Around the World. Yeah. I said her blog was fabulous!! 😉

Now on to MY NOMINEES:

ADVENTURES OF A BIBLIOPHILE

EMILY’S ESCAPIST BOOKS AND READING