2025 Blogging A to Z Theme Reveal

 

The day is here! Time to reveal my theme for Blogging A to Z 2025. The theme is...

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

Novelty songs

This idea came to me a while ago. I wasn't sure of any other theme ideas, so I went with this one. As always, some letters are tricky like Q, X, and Z. And some letters offer more than one choice, making it hard to pick just one. I'm still deciding on a few. For some of the ones I have already chosen there may be some debate as to whether they count as a novelty song. But if they seem close enough, I'll count them. I had to go with a few I'm only somewhat familiar with. Two others in last year's challenge had similar themes. I didn't want to duplicate too many of the songs each of them had used, but there were some I just had to use. Those were too hard to resist 😉

I will begin drafting my posts as soon as possible and schedule them as I did with last year's A to Z. That was my first time ever using schedule-posting. It came in handy for the timely event and the fact that I had to get my colonoscopy  done last year in April. No need for one this year; they said every five years 🙂 I want get the posts done this month so I can spend more time blog hopping in April. I don't know how often I'll be on the blog then outside of the A to Z, even though we will be off on Sundays. I want to use one of those days to make a Book Discussion challenge, as I did last April. Still unsure about the Thursday 13--I may take the month off from that one. My monthly book bingo post usually comes out on the third of each month, but last April, I delayed posting it until the first Sunday. I plan to do it that way again this April. I made two Sunday bonus posts relating to my A to Z theme last year, both of which were planned the day of posting. The Book Discussion post was also planned they day it was posted. We'll see how Sundays go in April. 

Be sure to visit in April for the alphabet madness. I can't wait to see what others come up with. Some have already posted their theme reveals and many sound fun. More reveals to come this week.

Five Years Ago

This came up on my Facebook memories today, from 2020:

This was just before the pandemic shutdown. I remember also getting a 12-pack of toilet paper at Safeway that same  knowing what lay ahead. 

This was very true and now it's been five years!

The following Friday, the 13th, I returned some books to the library without checking out more. It was good timing, as the shutdown would begin the following Monday. It as also on that Friday the 13th that people began noticing the empty store shelves. Toilet paper was being hoarded, and stores would be all out of it for quite a while. I could barely find any milk the following Monday morning, which ended up being my last day at work until the reopening in June that year.

I still can't believe it's been five years since having to be holed up at home, only being able to go to stores, banks and post offices, and having to stand six feet apart while waiting in line at these essential places, and trying not to literarily bump into anyone.  I would not be able to check out library books again until June, when curbside pickup began. Again, I was glad to have returned the ones I'd had out in March and not check more out right then. 

Time sure has gone fast.

Book Humor--Thursday 13

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂  

In honor of having a new bookstore in town and making my first purchase this past Saturday at a signing, I picked some cartoons about books. Some I had saved a year or more ago. Some I've shared already, some I haven't.

Book Signing & First Purchase From New Bookstore

As I have said, my hometown has a new bookstore, the first in more than 20 years. This past Saturday, there was a book signing, at which I made my first purchase.  The Author (seen below in the green shirt) is Rachel M. Yoldi and her book is Lady Nightmare. 

It was fun to attend a signing. The last such event I remember in my hometown was about 12 years ago when the former owner of a local bar had a signing  for her self-published memoir at the bar. Our last bookstore had closed two or more years prior to that time. I now more than ever want to get one or more of my books published so I can possibly hold a signing at the new bookstore. I'm now considering Amazon self-publishing even more now. The author at the recent signing used hybrid publishing at this website which I have just now begun to look at.  

March Bookish Bingo

 The new card is here.

My Books:

1. The Story of Peter Pan--Daniel O'Connor (3 squares): Audiobook, Wizard, Sacrifice
2. Courage Out Loud--Joseph Coelho (1 square): E-book
3. The Signature of All Things--Elizabeth Gilbert (11 squares): Shelf Love, Physical Book, Book Club, Not in a Series, Free Space, Green on the Cover, Tragic Back Story, Science-y, Betrayal, Immense World Building, Not Fantasy
4. It Happened One Summer--Tessa Bailey (2 squares): In a Series, NA
5. Big Magic--Elizabeth Gilbert ( squares): Library Book, Same Author/Different Genre, How-To

Slow at Writing This Month

The shortest month of the year (which often seems longer than it really is!) has come to the end today. I've not been on the blog much this month. Weird weather and fatigue mostly kept me away. And I still haven't gotten back to writing. Again, the weird weather takes my energy away. I scrambled to get in at least one Thursday 13 post and one Book Discussion post before the month was over. 

As soon as I decide on my A to Z theme, I will begin drafting and scheduling my posts for April. Last year's A to Z was when I first learned how to schedule posts. How I did not know about it until then, I don't know, but I do now. I didn't begin the schedule-posting until fifth day of the A to Z. With a medical procedure I had that month, I figured this was the way to go, as well as timeliness of the challenge posting. This year, all alphabet posts will be scheduled to give me more time to see and comment on other participants' posts. (No colonoscopy needed this year--they said in five years 😊). And as I said earlier, I'm trying to limit my non-A to Z posts in April to Sundays, and don't know how the Thursday 13 will play out then. I will likely make any other posts that month the day of, only scheduling the alphabetical posts ahead of time. 

Since I plan to begin my A to Z posts next month, I don't know how often I'll be on the blog in March. I will be sure to get in at least one Thursday 13 and one Book Discussion post, as I did this month. 

Book Discussion: Book Buying & New Bookstore in Town

 

When I began participating in the challenge last year, the subject of book buying came up twice (here and here). In recent months, I have only bought two new books when in Gilroy and stopping at Barnes & Noble in January. I was there again last Sunday, but did not make any purchases this time. And as far as  getting used books at Goodwill or other thrift stores, there has not been much lately that I have wanted to buy; as such I have not added much to my already growing pile. I am currently trying to read from my stacks at home, but still want to visit the library again soon, likely after the first of next month. And I skipped this month's book sale at the library. I wasn't sure about going at first, but a last-minute driving request from a friend made me decide against it. The last few months I'd gone to the sale, I did not buy anything. Obviously not much has caught my interest lately, except the two books I got at B&N in January. And it's been some time since I ordered books (or other things) on Amazon.

And as I have may have mentioned already, my hometown has a new bookstore, the first one in more than 20 years. I was excited to learn about this. I have visited several times already, once before the grand opening. Nothing purchased just yet. A little pricy, but if something catches my interest eventually, I will get it. It's always fun just to look.

How much book buying do you tend to do?