Top Ten Tuesday- Blogging Life Easier

Top Ten Things That Will Make Blogging Easier!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish in which book bloggers are given a topic and asked to make a corresponding list of their top ten books.  I don't always participate in Top Ten Tuesday but this week is a topic I love to find out more about!

1.  Goodreads! This is an amazing resource for all of us readers.  I love goodreads.  I run two groups on there and discover new books that way. I use goodreads for the book description in all my reviews and the picture I use for the book cover.  Thank you goodreads!

2. Rafflecopter I have only held two giveaways on my blog (I don't do giveaways to get followers) and both times I used Rafllecopter.  I saw it used on other blogs and it is so easy for giveaways and it's FREE!  

3.  inlinkz I recently am hosting my first giveaway hop Off to OZ (sign up if you are interested in joining the hop).  I looked around and tried to use Mr. Linky like I see a lot of blogs use but it turns out you need a paying membership. inlinkz is FREE and easy to use!!

4.  Bloglovin.. I like Feedly.  But I really like Bloglovin.  Since I am used to GFC on blogger, Bloglovin helps me to know how many people are following me.  I know some bloggers say the number of followers you have is just that .. a number.  But I like to know how many people are actually interested in my blog.  Bloglovin gives me that number. 

5.  Pixlr has made blogging easier for me.  It helps me make pictures better.  I do have photoshop but am a little lazy to go and learn it.  My husband uses it all the time though and I got tired of asking him to always help me out.  I used it to make my banner for my Off to Oz giveaway and other buttons for my OZ month here.  

6.  Other blogs have helped me out along the way.  I have a section on my blog that links up to links from other blogs that have shown me how to do things.  I have these links on my blog to help you guys out.. I take NO credit for the stuff listed so I hope those blogs don't mind that I link them up.  Find help here

7. Library honestly I couldn't be a book blogger without my library.  I could never afford everything I read so therefore I am there at least once a week.  Plus I don't feel bad if I don't get a book read since it is free (do you see a theme with my list??? FREE???).  Seriously.. use your library.

8. Amazon Prime.  If I do order a book.. this is how I do it.  It's cheap and free two day shipping.  When I had my giveaway my winner was so happy to get the book so fast and I was happy because it was FREE shipping.  FREE!   Of course there is also Media Mail from the US Post Office so always remember to ask for that shipping rate if you are mailing a book. 

9. Memes and networking... a lot of people might not like this but memes I think really help bloggers find bloggers.  I have found several blogs to follow through this meme here.  Participate in them but don't participate in only memes.  Only do the ones you really care about too.  Comment on other blogs and really get to visiting their blogs. 

10.  no Captcha! Please!  This makes blogging so much easier when you don't have it turned on.  Really it isn't that necessary.  There is even a challenge for this that you can check out:

Hope these help all bloggers out there. Now I am going to check out your blogs to find out some tips for myself!

Follow Me Friday

This is the day of the week where we get to know each other better by answering a question devised by our lovely hostesses Parajunkee & Alisoncanread. Sounds like GFC is eventually going away..  so you may want to follow by email or bloglovin/feedly (I love both). And now for this week's question....

Q. What do you do with your books after your done reading them?


A. Well this is easy for me... I return them to the library! I would say 99% of my books come from the library.  I love my library.  I read sooo many books and I just don't have the money to buy all of them. I go to my library on the same day every week and return what I am done with and pick up what's new.  I love it.. I get books, video games, and movies from there.  Now for this epic cat move!

Also.. I am doing the Reading Road Trip- and I have the state UTAH if you want to check it out! Click here!  If this tempts you more.. there is a giveaway!

National Library Week April 14th-20th

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I love my library.  It is where I practically get every single one of my books.  I read so much that I just don't have the money to buy everything I read.  So I always like to tell people about National Library Week.  This year the ALA has teamed up with Caroline Kennedy to help promote the event. Kennedy said that all types of  libraries are, “tabernacles of personal freedom: freedom of thought, freedom of expression,  freedom of opportunity and the  true test of liberty – freedom to dissent,” and noted that, “Libraries have a critical role in teaching the higher order thinking skills that students need under the Common Core curriculum, and the research techniques  and analytics that are so critical in the information age.”

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This is a great week to go to your library and check out what events they have going on. Here are some national events for that week:

Top Ten List of  Frequently Challenged Books - released in State of America’s Library Report (Monday, April 15)
National Library Workers Day (Tuesday, April 16)
National Bookmobile Day (Wednesday, April 17)
Support Teen Literature Day (Thursday, April 18)


Also.. if you are interested in supporting your library and do like to own books then you should for sure check out your library's book sales.  Usually you can get amazing deals and all the money will help the library.  

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National Library Week (April 8-11)

I just love my library.  If it weren't for my library I wouldn't be able to read as much as I do.  Since I don't work there is just no way I could afford all the books I read.  I just love what they are doing this week!  You can get some pictures for your facebook profile!!  I love these (click here). Please support your local library.  You may not know it but they not only check out books, but most will have video games,movies, ebooks, and music cds, and more!!

 Here are some events from their website:

You belong @ your library Six Word Story Sweepstakes

Share your story of why you belong at your library by composing a six word story for National Library Week! Tweet your story at #nlw6words, for a chance to win a copy of Honorary Chair of National Library Week Brad Meltzer's Decoded season 1.
Check out the six word story sweepstakes for more information and examples.

Share Your Library Story

You belong @ your library. Do you have a story about how the library has impacted your life?  Share your story!

Celebrate National Library Week on Facebook

Show support for your library during National Library Week by uploading one of several Facebook cover images available on atyourlibrary.org.

 

Other Events During National Library Week

• Top Ten List of  Frequently Challenged Books - released in State of America’s Library Report (Monday, April 9)
• National Library Workers Day (Tuesday, April 10)
• National Bookmobile Day (Wednesday, April 11)
• Support Teen Literature Day (Thursday, April 12)

About National Library Week

National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use. You can buy this poster on the right!! I love all the stuff for sale here!

Library Sale= Bummer!!!

Well, today I attempted to go to my first library sale.  It was a 3 day sale... first day was for members, second day was for everyone, but the 3rd day was a $5 brown bag sale.  Everything you want in a bag for only $5.  I chose this day because some friends were supposed to go with me, but they didn't end up going. 

WOW!  If you look at the picture above you can see just how crowded it was!  I didn't expect this.  People had bags stacked on the walls full of books.  One person had a cart of like 10 bags.  I will not be trying to go on the $5 bag sale next time that is for sure.  I only picked that day for my friends but now I know better.  I didn't see any young adult books which is what I was going for.  I wanted to get some to support the library and then have a giveaway.  Also... turns out it was cash only which I didn't have any (plus I should've known that).  I am also going to look into becoming a "friend" of the library and see what the membership is all about.

Next time I will be better prepared.  I WILL have cash, I WILL go on Saturday, and I WILL not leave empty handed!  They seem to take place every 3 months so the next one will be a Spring sale and I will have another post!