August 20, 2013

Top Ten Things That Make My Bookish Life Less Stressful (32)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
I'm an anxious kinda gal who has this terrible tendency to procrastinate. I'm also incredibly impatient and something of an OCD perfectionist. Basically, I'm a complete and utter contradiction and need lots and lots of help to function as a human and keep the grey hairs at bay (I've pulled four in the last couple of week. I know they stay for everyone one you pull two grow in, but whatever, I'll just be bald). As such, I'm constantly looking for shortcuts. Here's a list of Ten Things That Make My Bookish Life Easier.

1. BARNES & NOBLE
Other bookstores too, but the best and closest to my apartment is Barnes & Noble. Bookstores are on this list for a bunch of reasons. 1. It's on my short list of places that actually calm me down. I walk in, hang out with my books, maybe sit and read a quick, fluffy romance and my day is suddenly better. 2. I can sample the books in person. Order something online or reading an Amazon preview just isn't the same as giving a physical item a trial run/read. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS. I can go to the store, talk to someone in the Teen Section, get into it and get a very personalized recommendation. Obviously I can get the same thing from my (blogging) friends, but a stranger's impression can also be very helpful towards managing my insanity.

2. GOODREADS
This is a given. If I need to explain myself, you clearly haven't been on Goodreads. So go get on that.

3. LOTS O' LISTS 
I'm a compulsive list maker. I make lists of books I need to review, books I intend to read, discussion topics, Top Ten Tuesday topics, blogging projects I'm working on and other random drivel. I keep my lists on my laptop though - I have a Mac and I use the Stickies app - because if I had hardcopies, I'd obsess and I just can't. But I do have it set up so the Stickies app opens up when I turn on my computer. So there's that.

4. A CALENDAR
My iCal app also opens as soon as I turn on my computer. It syncs to my phone and iPad. I always know what I have scheduled/what I want to have scheduled on hand. It calms me to see it all laid out instead of all crammed into my head. 

5. OODLES OF BOOKMARKS
I actually have a Ziplock bag full of bookmarks at home. I mostly use tickets or other bits of paper that have sentimental meaning to me - not formal bookmarks you'd buy or get as swag. It just means more. Anyway, I don't lose track of them the way I did as a kid anymore (I would buy the nice ones at the store and constantly misplace them) but I still have upwards of 50 potential bookmarks and it's nice to know I'll never lose my place. 

6. FRIENDS WHO READ
This refers to my blogging friends, my IRL friends who actually like books and even some of you. I might say: "I want to read this book." And someone might reply: "Oh, that's not a Gaby book." Or "That one wasn't very good." While I'm not one to not read a book because everyone says not to (I'm actually more likely to go ahead and read that book) I like going in with intel. Goodreads comes in handy for this, but so does going to the bookstore with bookish friends. Also, these friends who read? They're generally pretty good at lending me books/ARCs I don't have and even sometimes giving me books they don't want anymore. Which is also pretty awesome.

7. MY LIBRARY
Books I don't have to pay for and can borrow for 3 weeks at a time, not counting renewals? Sign me up. Oh wait, I've already signed myself up. In two different states. I LOVE YOU BOSTON AND NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARIES. YOU'RE GREAT. NEVER CHANGE. (Unless you're getting more books or renovating or getting more librarians or somehow acquiring more money. Then CHANGE AWAY.) Also, the online sites for both these libraries are awesome. 

8. TWITTER
Twitter sometimes makes my bookish life a little stressful (there's a lot of drama on the Interwebz) but mostly it's a really fun place where I connect with other awesome bookish people and find links/read about things I, as a bookish person, should know. It's also really fun to follow your favorite authors and "get to know them" (as much as you can in 140 characters). Or even follow publishers who like to interact with the readers. SOMETIMES THERE ARE EVEN GIVEAWAYS ON TWITTER. It's cool, to say the least. 

9. EBOOKS
I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in saying I LOVE PHYSICAL BOOKS. I even prefer them to eBooks. But when you're going on vacation or you're physically running out of floor space in your home or there's some amazing deal on Amazon or Nook, YOU JUST CAN'T SAY NO TO THAT EBOOK. Also, when you pair this whole eBook thing with the whole Library thing? Let's just say, when I was abroad, this saved me. Times a million.

10. MY EREADER
Given what number 9 is, I feel like number 10 had to happen. But guys, you know how indecisive I am. So Nook? Kindle? Nah. I have an iPad Mini. I can have Nook, Kindle, iBooks, OverDrive, 3M Library Cloud, Bluefire Reader and I don't even know what else. I don't have to curse at myself for not being able to get the best deal or not be able to download something because the little iPad Mini That Could very literally can. IT. CAN.

Are any of these things helpful to you too? Am I forgetting something? If you can think of something I missed, be sure to remind me in the comments below! 

16 comments:

  1. Good list, Barnes and Noble makes my list as well and I agree with you that the experience of going to a book store is much better than buying online. I also love making lists as well but I didn't think about it in terms of helping me blog.

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  2. Great list! I love my Kindle, but I much prefer a physical book and going into bookstores to buy them.

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  3. Don't worry. I'm a compulsive list maker as well. I actually have a journal full of them, it's insanity. But thankfully, I've recently discovered the sticky app on my laptop, so at least I'm not using as much paper.

    And the library!! I'm so obsessed, and the people are almost always incredible helpful. Plus, it's like reading books for free! Most of the ones I request come from another county, but even then $0.50 for a book? Not bad at all!

    Great list!
    - Tabitha @ Tabitha's Book Blog

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  4. Love this list, Gaby!
    My real life friends on high school were not so much of readers so I mostly relied on my bffs from book blogger community or twitter friends online. But since I got to college and getting to know some of my new friends, it's been awesome because lots of them are also a reader! I love discussing books with them. Friends who read are awesome and oh-so-fun, I totally agree. :D

    -Tirta @ I Prefer Reading

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  5. OMGosh! I have tons of bookmarks, too! I don't know why I didn't think to put that on my list! LOL What an excellent idea! The rest of your list is great, too. :-)

    If you're interested, here's my list: http://proudbooknerd.com/2013/08/20/top-ten-tuesday-thats-better/

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  6. I don't have friends who I could talk with irl which really breaks my heart. But that makes my blog experience that much better - I never have enough of talking. Great list!

    My TTT

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  7. A big YES to this list! Though I mostly shop for my books on Amazon (I know, evil! But so cheap!) and I don't really tend to make lists. Or if I do, I lose them, haha. I'm better at keeping lists online though.

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  8. It's been funny how many people have listed their e-reader, but said something like "Oh I was hesitant to get one." Or something similar. I absolutely LOVE mine and feel like it has revolutionized my blogging/reading. While there's no substitute for an actual book, my Kindle is pretty awesome second!

    Also... B&N is totally my happy place too. :)

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  9. Haha. I'm a list maker too. And I actually like to write them down, not type them up, although I do that too. And yes, yes, yes to friends who read!! And LIBRARIES! I'm a librarian, so I love when people share library love. I could talk for hours on why I think a public library is the best thing ever.

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  10. Goodreads and my library are THE BEST!

    I LOVE bookmarks. I have so many, I'm a compulsive collector of them. XD

    Great list!

    My TTT:

    http://qaisracetusbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/top-ten-tuesday-82013.html

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  11. It's nice to see libraries on so many lists--they're getting a lot of love on this week's Top Ten.

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  12. Great list! I don't have many friends IRL who read so I LOVE that I've met awesome people through blogging! It's great to have people to chat with about books and to get recs from too!

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  13. I can relate to so many of these! Compulsive list maker. Check. Love Twitter. Check....

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  14. I love that you said both ebooks and your ereader because both are wonderful and lifesavers! Also: YES to bloggy friend recommendations! This is my favorite part of blogging, and I would have missed out on SO MANY awesome books if it weren't for you guys. It's amazing.

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  15. I'm going to have to agree with every single thing on your list, just because I UNDERSTAND. All of these things are pretty much necessary for me as well in order to keep my head on straight, particularly the calendar and the lists. While I sometimes procrastinate TOO MUCH, I think in general, they help me be more organized.

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