Where Is Your Bookmark: (07/28/2015)

 (An Unbirthday Cake which easily could 

have been my blog's anniversary cake, 

now that I think about it.)

This past Thursday (07/23) was my ninth blog anniversary. I went back and read my very first post last week as I always do this time of year for nostalgia sake. Over the years, my purpose for this blog expanded from what it once was, although has still remained the same at its heart. Musings of a Bookish Kitty is simply a place where I can come to share my thoughts with you about the book I am reading (and other topics on occasion too). I had not realized the extent of the book blogging community at that time and was giddy with joy when I was welcomed into it. It's so much bigger today than it was back then. A lot has changed. And yet there is a lot that hasn't either. Book bloggers are still among the best people around, especially when it comes to getting book recommendations, discussing books, and finding support and acceptance for our more eccentric book loving tendencies and obsessions. Through all of that, many of us also have shared bits and pieces of our lives. We've seen each other through difficult times and the highlights of our lives.

My reading has changed over the years, both in part because of blogging and life events.  I am a more careful reader now, I think, than before I began blogging, and my reading has become more varied. I discovered reading challenges and accept books for review. I read books you have recommended, even ones outside my comfort zone. I still read for me. I still look for those connections in books between the story and characters and my own life, no matter how different we may seem. I read for pleasure and to learn and to feel and to hope and to grow. To be entertained and even escape. To understand. To reflect on life and also to expand my horizons. That has not changed. I am not a prolific reader like some of you, but I am no slouch either (as compared to the national average), but my love for books and reading has not diminished over my lifetime, and definitely not since I began blogging nine years ago.

I do not know what the future holds, other than I am determined to make it to my tenth blog anniversary. There are days I think that will be it for me and Musings of a Bookish Kitty, and other days when I cannot imagine giving up blogging at all.

Thank you for letting me into your lives and taking the time to visit my blog. You all are what makes blogging worthwhile.

Moving on to what I am reading (because isn't that why you are really here?) . . . This weekend I devoured Julia Heaberlin's The Black-Eyed Susans. Everyone who said it was good wasn't lying. Now I am reading Amy Stewart's Girl Waits With Gun, which I picked up to read after Shaina from Shaina Reads helped get me over my near panicked oh-my-gosh-cannot-decide-what-to-read-next moment. She chose the book because of the cover. I chose it because I felt it would be a bit of a lighter read after Heaberlin's book. I think we both made a good choice!

First Paragraph Girl Waits With Gun:

Our troubles began in the summer of 1914, the year I turned thirty-five. The Archduke of Austria had just been assassinated, the Mexicans were revolting, and absolutely nothing was happening at our house, which explains why all three of us were riding to Paterson on the most trivial of errands. Never had a larger committee been convened to make a decision about the purchase of mustard powder and the replacement of a claw hammer whose handle had split from age and misuse. 

Random teaser from Girl Waits With Gun at 10% on my Kindle: 

An engine rattled around the corner and I pulled Dolley toward me. Would they come after me? I held my breath and waited, but the machine rumbled past and its driver didn't even turn to look at me.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?  

What are you reading at the moment?  Is it anything you would recommend?

---

© 2015, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.