An update of sorts

Like I mentioned in my last It's Monday! What Are You Reading? post, I spent over a month back in Los Angeles visiting family and friends. My intention was to read during every spare moment, but it didn't really work out that way. 

I was lucky, though, that I had access to a wonderful public library system, the independent bookstore I used to frequent, and my old local comic book store. I had no shortage of books to read ... I just needed to buckle down and read! But it can be a bit difficult when you're distracted by the Pacific Ocean right in front of you:

I remain friendly with the owners of {pages}, the local indie bookstore I mentioned above. I popped in to buy a book and say hello, and one of the owners was nice enough to lend me a box of Simon & Schuster F&Gs (folded and gathered). By far, my favorite is Hug Machine by Scott Campbell (publish date August 26, 2014):

I'm lucky enough to still be close to my former library colleagues, and it was wonderful catching up with them ... and talking shop. Even though I haven't worked in over a year I fell right into their conversations about cataloging, shelving, and book suggestions. Gosh, I miss those ladies!

In the end, I managed to keep pace with my book-a-day goal and came back to Maryland having read 33 books. I'm on track to complete my goodreads Reading Challenge early. More importantly, I'm having fun doing it!

I'm currently trying to balance my reading load by rotating through my must-read piles: Capitol Choices nominees, Netgalley ARCs, graphic novels/comics, and new books. My local library system doesn't have many of the books I need to read for CapChoices so it looks like I'll be making a trip to a bookstore very soon. (Shh! To read, not to buy.) I'm downloading books left and right from Netgalley and I know I'll never catch up, but it satisfies my hoarding nature to have them on my Kindle. I've noticed that the books that are only available to read on the computer are killing my eyes and causing headaches, so I have to limit those books to graphic novels that I can read in a relatively short amount of time.

In other news, I recently joined Blogging for Books and I have the book in my hands, but I need to approach the reading differently than I'm used to. As in, I actually have to pay attention, take copious notes, and form an opinion about it. My hope is to get some coherent thoughts down and post a review on my friend's blog and have a giveaway of the book. Stay tuned!

Lastly, if you're into visiting book festivals, you'll find me at two upcoming events in the DC area: the National Book Festival (August 30 @ the Walter E. Washington Convention Center) and Small Press Expo (September 13-14 @ Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center). I'm volunteering at both so if you see me, please say, "Hi!".