Top Ten Tuesday: Book Related Problems

In no particular order…

1. COMPUTER IS CRASHING:  So this is more blogging related, but considering I blog about BOOKS, it is also a book related problem.  My iMac has been on its last legs since before Christmas, but about 2 weeks ago it has really gotten bad.  My screen is frozen 75% of the time and it takes about 2 minutes to load a page.  This makes creating graphics and having multiple windows open at a time a nightmare.  It has been VERY difficult to blog.  I can barely email!  I did take it (okay, Mr. Betty took it) to Apple and according to the testing they did, it is still alive, but I’m not buying it.  We are now debating on what to get next, but with moving and the new baby, $$ is not our friend right now!

2. BABY BETTYS:  I love my girls!  They are only little once.  I will never be one to overlook this very important aspect of having kids.  Every single word and action has a huge impact on them.  I always want them to feel important and valued because they are!  I never want them to resent books or feel as though books keep me from them.  I want them to see my passion for reading as a positive thing!  However, this does cut into a lot of “reading time”, which does upset me sometimes.  Being a Mama has forced me to be less selfish with my time!

3. BABY:  My baby is almost 5 months old!  He is freaking amazing and I am loving every single moment with him.  I wasn’t planning on baby #3.  Once the girls were out of the baby stage, I realized how much of it I spent complaining and just trying to get through each day!  This time around I am eating it up and appreciating it all.  But… babies are a TON OF WORK.  He never stops.  I don’t get a ton of sleep and as soon as I pick up a book, I usually have to put it right back down.

4.  MOVING:  We moved into a new house right before Christmas.  It was insane and not fun.  Moving a family of 5 (including a newborn) is disastrous in itself, but throw in a bazillion unexpected house problems and I can tell you that reading was the last thing on my mind.  We are finally mostly settled in and just now getting back to my reading routine.

5. SICKNESS:  My family is generally pretty healthy, but this year has kicked out butts.  No joke.  3 of us had the flu over Christmas, Mr. Betty got it a couple of weeks after.  Once he was better, we got hit with the stomach bug going around, which took about 2 weeks to filter through our house.  I know this comes with the territory of having a child in kindergarten, but I am so over it!

6. TOO MUCH EROTICA:  I love romance… you know I do.  Can I admit to you all that I am a bit romanced out?  Sometimes I’m lucky and I find books that have a solid plot, the perfect amount of tension, and just the right amount of sex appeal– but MOST of the time it feels like flat out erotica and instasex.  I catch myself either cringing or rolling my eyes and skimming.  I need more.  I need build up and I need to FEEL the relationship.

7. GENERIC NEW ADULT:  I love the idea of New Adult… the phase of life and the age of the characters, but there are so many bad ones out there.  I hate the “sex sells” attitude.  I don’t mind the sex if there is a solid and unique plot to back it up, but so much of New Adult is the same… and really, even I am sick of the XL muscles, tattoos, and random piercing that doesn’t always mesh with the character.  Give it a rest.  Give me an average joe for a change!

8. OVERLOADED SHELVES:  I have too many books.  I just reorganized my shelves this week– READ on one side of the room, UNREAD on the other.  I have so many unread books yet I keep buying more.  It has to stop.  But can I be honest with you??  I plan to head over to Amazon after I finish this post to order one.  Shame on me!

9.  REVIEW BOOKS:  I love review books, but sometimes I let them dominate my reading choices.  I’ve been better with this lately, have been alternating in reads of my choice and older books, but this has been hard based on my lack of time and life changes over the last few months!

10.  ORGANIZING MY SHELVES:  I will probably do an entire post on JUST THIS fairly soon, but I gotta say, THIS IS STRESSFUL!  I asked twitter how they organize and got some great ideas.  I took some and ran with it!  Only a serious reader understands how big of a deal organizing books is!!