Update on Life

Hello, readers.  I'm still alive, I promise.  I've been more absent than I would have liked, but I've been pretty sick.  I even had to leave the family camping trip early, so things haven't exactly been going as I would have liked.  It's kind of like my body is fighting against me, much like this:

I am having surgery tomorrow, to be followed by 6 weeks of recovery.  After the first few days, I'll probably be back in full force.  I'll need something to occupy my time while I rest, after all.  I'm still reading, but other than that I'm taking things easy for now.  I will be back before you know it.  I even have a little somethin' somethin' special for you when I return.

I hope to "see" you all again very soon.  I will be back.  You can count on it.

Sometimes Life Gets in the Way

You may have noticed an unexpected absence from me over the past week.  It was just as unexpected for me, as I had a lot of plans.  Then, life happened.  You see, I will be having surgery in just 3 weeks.  Around this time 2 years ago, I had a surgical procedure to fix a problem I was having.  Needless to say, it didn't work, so this time I will be going in for a more serious procedure.  In the interest of having some privacy, I won't say what it is, but needless to say it's major surgery and I will be in the hospital for two days.

In the meantime, my concentration is shot.  I haven't been able to read a single book since last Monday, aside from those I read to my daughter.  It's difficult to have books to review when you can't concentrate on reading them, you know?  So, in the interest of keeping myself as healthy as possible, I won't be posting as much for the next month.  I do have some interviews for you all, so those will be going up soon.  As for reviews, however, don't be surprised if it takes a while for me to post one.  I'm still here, just a bit preoccupied, and for good reason.

Where I've Been & What's Going On

So, you may or may not have noticed that my presence around here hasn't been as frequent as usual.  Life has been a little more difficult as of late, so I have had to let some things slide for a little while.  Unfortunately, those things were blogging and marathon reading sessions.  If you are wondering what is going on, I'll sum it up:

• School - I had 2 exams within 7 days that required studying, studying, and MORE studying.  It was worth it, though.  I pass with an A+.
• Health - I have a couple of recurring health issues that like to rear their ugly heads just to make my life difficult.  It certainly hasn't made school any easier and is what I have to thank for the drop-off in blogging.
• Overall Exhaustion - Between keeping up with classes and a 3 year old, I'm bushed!  I've spent the past week taking lots of naps just because I can.
• A Death in the Family - This is the most recent event that left me absolutely reeling.  My uncle, who played a huge role in my early childhood, lost his fight with cancer on Tuesday.  He was a sweet man and had a quirky sense of humor.  He and my aunt babysat me while my parents were at work, so I can't remember a time that they weren't around.  The diagnosis was very recent, so I wasn't expecting that we would lose him a month afterward.  Tomorrow, I will be back in my hometown to go to his funeral. 

Needless to say, I will be absent for a little while longer.  I'm not going to be closing the blog or anything like that.  Just consider this a mini hiatus while I attend to important life matters.  I'm looking forward to returning to my usual routine.  I hope you all will still be here to read and comment.

I promise, I'm still alive...

It's just been a very, very bad couple of weeks for me, so I desperately needed to cut down on the number of things I had to do. Since I couldn't brush off my classes, it had to be blogging. It has given me time to rest, read without the worry of needing to write, and think about things I would like to change about my blog. I've got some fresh ideas and will be ready to hop back to it full-time starting on Sunday. I've got a colossal IMM vlog coming up, as well as some reviews, and some overdue status posts. I hope you'll join me for a new week then!

June Wrap-Up

It's that time again! It's the end of the month, so it's time to look back upon all that has come to pass at Starting the Next Chapter for the month of June. STNC hit some new milestones this month. Not only did my blog turn 4 months old, but I also reached and surpassed 300 followers! Thanks, everyone! I've bought some good books, borrowed some good books from both the library and a friend, and received some wonderful ARCs from various publishers, all of which I am grateful for the opportunities of reading. I am behind on the writing of reviews thanks to my computer woes, but I did read and review some great books this month. I read 16 books and have reviewed 12 of them, so far. You can expect to see the remaining 4 reviews in addition to reviews for my July reads in the coming days and weeks.

I've had more of a variety of posts over the past month. Not only did I get to interview the fabulous Cara Lynn Shultz, I also wrote posts about a variety of topics, such as my friend's introduction to the book blogging world and responses to the more incendiary articles that have been published as of late. I hope to have more to offer on my blog in July as summer begins to wind its way down. I have two more months until classes resume and my reading load will have to be reduced in favor of doing well in my courses In case you're wondering, I'll be taking intermediate French (eep!), parliamentary procedure (a speech class), an English methods & research class, and a film studies class (important film performances).

I hope you all will join me during the month of July. Hopefully I will have some good stuff to offer or, at the very least, some teasers for what is to come in August. You definitely will not want to miss that!

May Wrap-Up

We have reached the last day of May, so it's time for another state of the blog, so to speak. I've made a lot of progress this month. I'm starting to receive more reviewing opportunities, which is very exciting. I also reached (and surpassed) 200 followers and am on my way to 300. I have big plans for when I reach 500, so stay tuned! I received 3 ARCs and won 1 finished book from Goodreads, bought some awesome books on my own, and patronized my local library... a lot. While I didn't get reviews written for all of the books I read this month, I did manage to write a respectable 16 reviews out of the 20 books I read. All of the rest will be coming soon, maybe even starting this evening.

Everyday life, while maintaining a certain level of stress, is at least free from classes until August. My summer break started on May 4th, which was such a relief. I came out of classes with one A, one B, one C (it's a long story), and one W (that's for "withdrawal"). It's not my most stellar grade report ever, but it's a surviving one and means that my GPA didn't suffer, which is all that matters to me. Next up, I have GREs to prepare for and graduate schools to select and begin applying to. It's all a very daunting thought, as it's been several years since I last had to go through the applying for college routine. It's all enough to make my head reel! Plus, finding an ALA accredited library science program that just might give me a shot is leaving me feeling very nervous, indeed. I did, however, find out that my friend decided to go with information/library science, herself, and has confirmed with a school! It's very exciting and I can't wait to hear all about it.

It's been a great month, all in all. Thank you to both my new and old followers for making it so. I can't wait to see what June has in store for us all. Let the summer officially begin (just with less humidity, please? maybe?)!

Vacation Time!

From tomorrow (Thursday) though Tuesday, I will not be making any new posts, meaning I am taking a break from the memes I typically participate in. I will be headed back to my hometown for an overdue visit with my family, a trip to used book heaven (a.k.a. McKay Used Books), and, if the weather agrees, maybe a trip to the zoo. If I can manage, I hope to finish Divergent and post a review, but as of yet am unsure as to whether I can squeeze it in tomorrow between a lunch out with my book buddy and packing for myself and a two year-old. I'm sure I will post IMM when I get back, as I will probably have books I want to show off. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a fun, safe weekend and I will see you all on Tuesday!

Freedom!

I took my last final exam for the semester this morning. I very nearly did a jig on my way out of the building. To say that I am relieved is a vast understatement. The combination of the terrible twos and this past semester has been agonizingly frustrating for me. It would have been much worse had I not been able to indulge in a little escapism with books. I highly doubt that I will make the dean's list again this semester In fact, I know I won't since I had to drop my history of the English language class (aka "HEL(L)") like a hot potato. My GPA would have plummeted had I not done so. My advisor assures me that I have other options aside from that class, which is good since I refuse to take another class with that professor.

So, what is the point in all of this? First off, I suppose I needed to vent a little. Hope you all don't mind. Really, though, the end of the semester means good things for Starting the Next Chapter. I will be able to dedicate a little more time to reading, meaning there will be more reviews. I have some really good ones in the works, one of which will be revealed in what I hope will be my first vlog for In My Mailbox this Sunday! I'm so thrilled by what I got in the mail yesterday that I don't think a text and picture-only blog post will do it justice. I hope you will all stay tuned to see what I have in store this summer. It's going to be a good one!

Taking a Break for Tuesday

In the interest of spending quality time in the foreign language lab working on my French, I will be taking Tuesday off from blogging. So, I will not be posting any memes or reviews tomorrow. I have a French final on Wednesday that I need to prepare for, so I will see you all after noon on Wednesday!

Coffee shops, tornado shelters, and Books-A-Million, oh, my!

It has been quite the day. My French class was cancelled unexpectedly, so I was able to go to my favorite coffee shop and read until my friend arrived to chat for a bit. I read the first fifty pages of Tyger Tyger while I enjoyed an iced mocha and a Black Sheep cupcake (dark chocolate cupcake with chocolate mousse filling and a dark chocolate ganache). I enjoyed the cupcake and I think I am really going to enjoy the book.

After lunch, I headed out to my second class of the day. It had been an overcast, windy day and it was about to get worse. As soon as I reached the doors to my building, the tornado sirens went off. Then, the building's alert system activated and I was stuck in the stifling, over-crowded basement for an hour and fifteen minutes. Needless to say, my second class was eventually let out early.

The second best part of the day was going to Books-A-Million with a dear friend of mine. We perused the YA and general fiction sections, as well as the clearance tables. I splurged and snagged several that have been on my to-buy list for weeks now. I got five in all, two of which I was thrilled to find on the clearance table. I'll save all of that for another day, though. I've got to have something to post for In My Mailbox on Sunday, after all!

March Wrap-Up

It's the last day of March, which concludes my first full month of book blogging. This past month has been a lot of fun for me and I've been introduced to many new (to me) blogs and bloggers. This month, I read nine books and reviewed seven. I also changed my blog's layout, established a Facebook page for it, started a Twitter account, and joined Networked Blogs. I received my first ARC from Goodreads First Reads and my first two review requests, one of which I accepted. Lastly, I participated in a lot of memes and started going to the local library again.

Academically, I have had some great news. I found out yesterday that I may be able to graduate in December. I had an appointment with my advisor at which we combed through my transfer transcripts and learned that I am very near the finish line. If I can find a way of completing my remaining two required French classes this summer, then I will be able to take the last of the courses I will need for my major this fall. Such news also means we will not have to move in August! This was a great source of relief for me, as I was worried about coming up with the deposit for a new apartment and the rental fee for a van. I still have to worry about taking the GRE or MAT this summer, picking graduate schools to apply to, and (possibly) taking the CLEP for French, but I'll take it!

Thank you to all of my visitors and followers. You all have made this first full month great for me. I'm really enjoying my blog, as well as reading all of yours. I'm looking forward to seeing what April will bring.

(Edited to add the book I finished and reviewed today.)

I'm Still Here Reading...

though not in the capacity I would like to be reading. I am taking a full course load this semester and am in the midst of a very difficult class. I am taking a history of the English language course that is putting me through the ringer. I am trying to make my way through The English Language: A Historical Introduction by Charles Barber, Joan C. Beal, and Philip A. Shaw. It is a very informative book and includes everything from phonetics to full-on history. It is, however, very dense and there is a lot of information to take in. I will say that I am still learning a lot from this class. I have picked up several of the IPA symbols (i.e. phonetic symbols), which I wouldn't have thought possible. Learning about why the English language is spoken the way it is today and where the different parts come from is also very interesting. I'm having to put more effort into reading this book than I'm used to, but I think it will be very much to my advantage by the time I'm finished.

Rest assured that I am still working on my recreational reading. I try to steal moments with my current book while I wait for classes to begin or for the bus to arrive. In the meantime, I will continue writing here in some capacity. I'm going to do my best to get ahead in this class so I can have more time for what I'm calling my "sanity reading." I'm nearing the finish line in both this class and my current program of study. I've got to keep going and to do that, I'm going to need to blow off steam through reading for pleasure.

I may be stranded, but at least I have my books!

We had a car disaster yesterday when we left to cat sit for my in-laws. Inexplicably, the pull spring (i.e. the huge spring located over each tire) snapped and wound up resting on top of the tire. Thus, when I started driving, the spring started burning a ring around the inner edge of the tire, which caused a horrible smell and billowing smoke to emanate from my car. Luckily, we hadn't left town yet and there is a service station a few blocks from our apartment. The mechanic saw us coming and came right out to us. After the discovery of the problem, it was determined that the cost of repairs would be over $500 and take several days. Yikes. Luckily, a friend of mine had the evening free and kindly agreed to drive us to my in-laws' house so we could keep our word. However, we will now be here until the end of week where we had originally planned to only stay a couple of days. What's worse is that I'm going to miss my packages from UPS containing new books and we're going to have to rent a car so I can get John to his doctor appointment on Friday. I'm going to be on the phone a lot today as I try to get UPS to hold my packages until I can get there to pick them up and arrange for a rental car through Enterprise. What fun.

Being the bookworm that I am, I was at least prepared. I brought two paperback books and my NOOK with me, not to mention my laptop, so I'll at least be able to keep up with my reading and my blogging. I'll probably finish one if not both of the books I am currently reading today, so I have that to look forward to. In the meantime, we're going to try to make the best of things and treat this as if it were a vacation. There isn't much else we can do since we're stuck here without a car until Thursday.