So the facelift came a little early

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Did I say mid-September on the previous post for the blog facelift? I did. Oh but I’m out of the country on mid-September so…

…look guys, I sort of have a blog facelift! :D

So welcome to the sort-of newish book blog, with a sort of new layout and a cute little header. In case it’s your first time here, this used to be One More Page, but like I said in my previous post, I kind of have a feeling that I’m outgrowing the entire “one more page” thing. You know, like how you can’t sleep until you finish one more page (because I totally do that now), and how you have to stop doing some things because you have to read one more page. My reading has changed a lot since I started this book blog, and I think that’s why I kind of stopped blogging a little because it doesn’t exactly fit how I read now.

And so I figured there’s nothing like a little change to shake things up and (hopefully) get me blogging again. And so here’s the face lift/blog overhaul of sorts!

Why “I Like It Dog-Eared”?

Well…it’s because I dog-ear my books. I tried to not do it you know, with post-its and stuff, but I lose my post-its and it’s just easier to fold the corner of the page. Right, right?

Plus, here’s the thing about me and dog-ears: I find that the more dog-ears make in a book, I seem to like the book more. I normally dog-ear books because I like a quote (or several) on that page, so I keep it there. Of course, when I go and reread that book, I often forget what quote caught me on that page…but I like guessing it sometimes. Sometimes a quote catches my eye because it was just really good, while other times it’s because I can relate to it.

So my books (print ones, anyway) are usually dog-eared, and if there’s no dog-ear there…then it means nothing really resonated with me. It’s not mutually exclusive, though — like if I don’t have dog-eared pages it means I don’t like the book (although so far, that’s been the case). Maybe I’ll write about this more later on.

I am rambling. I dog-ear my books, and I cannot quit it. I do not dog-ear books I borrow from friends, though. For that, I force myself to use post-its. I hope that if you’re the type of person who doesn’t dog-ear, you’re not horrified with me yet (wait until I talk about cracked spines :P).

Oh, and if it matters — I like dogs, too. So you know, dogs + books? Sold. (Although dogs in fiction almost, always dies. *cries*)

 Any new stuff to look at?

Well…I haven’t gotten to that part, yet! Let me catch up with my reviews first (I have some new features there, I think!), and then we’ll get back to reviving old features. Like this and this. And maybe write about more bookish things, because I kind of miss it. Oh and definitely more book club stuff. And maybe some giveaways, before the month ends, like when I get back from my trip next week? I still have a few formatting stuff to do on old posts, so you might see some changes (who knew I’ve written so many reviews already?).

So there! Welcome (back) to my (newish) book blog! No need to update URLs for those who have linked me, but if you can change the link name from One More Page to I Like It Dog-Eared, then I would really, really appreciate it. :)

Before I go, here’s a picture of a dog who is supposed to be on the header, but I haven’t really had the time to clean it up. (The dog on the header is a free stock image from sxc.hu…and isn’t it just the cutest? :D) The dog in the photo below was my beloved Batman, who passed away earlier this year (and still holds a very special place in my dog-loving heart).

Batman <3

Hello, welcome to I Like It Dog-Eared. :D

If I stop blogging again, tweet me this link to give me a little guilt trip. ;)

Thanks for visiting, and here’s to more book blogging!

P.S. I just had some chocolate, hence the semi-incoherence of this post. I should probably go read now.

Posted in: Site Stuff

Required Reading 2013: September (and then some)

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Hello folks, look at that – it’s September! In the Philippines, Christmas preparations start as early as today so I will go ahead and say: Merry Christmas! :P

On another note, August has come and gone, and I read a lot of books this month (compared to last month, anyway) because there were several long weekends in the month. :) I wasn’t able to finish all August books, though, because I got distracted by other shiny little books along the way. Still, no regrets. :D

  • Tall Story by Candy Gourlay (4/5) – the reread was as charming as the first time. We had our discussion yesterday and it was filled with warmth, especially with all the sibling stories we shared. :)
  • No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July (3/5) – I didn’t like some of the stories, but there were others that were really good ones. Here’s to trying to find time to blog about it soon.

I didn’t touch Jasper Fforde’s book at all, or even made really good progress with A Clash of Kings. Well. But I’m not hurrying anything, so…let’s go to September. :D

Required Reading: September

No particular theme this month, except for that spillover from July. I’ve tried to balance out the serious and lighter books but I don’t even know if I will be able to read them all. Heh. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to try. :D

September 2013 books

  1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov – our book club’s book of the month. I hope I’m ready for this. XD
  2. A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin – it is my hope to finish this soon, except that I’m still at page 250ish. Not that it’s boring — it’s not. I’m just not in the mood for it for some reason. Oh well, I must soldier on!
  3. The Zigzag Effect by Lili Wilkinson – something light to offset the first two. :)
  4. The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne Valente – just because the main character’s name is September. :)

—

Now we go to the “and then some” part of the post. I haven’t really been blogging, obviously, and I think I found out why: I’m not too interested in it anymore. This doesn’t mean I will stop blogging, though — I think maybe I just need a little change. I think I may have outgrown the “One More Page” aspect of this blog.

SO…I am going to apologize in advance if I don’t really blog yet anytime soon, but trust me, I’ve got something going on for this blog. It may include a blog facelift of sorts and even a name change, something to reflect my new reading habits, among other things. :) This won’t take too long, I hope! (Maybe by mid September? :D)

Have a happy reading month, you guys. :)

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The Versatile Blogger Award

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When I was still new to the web design business, one of the things that everyone who has a personal website gives away and pines for are awards. I remember having an entire page full of awards for my site, and yeah, I was proud of it. Looking back, I realize that all those awards are just for hits and hits and hits, but then…that’s the website business, right?

Or not. Okay, I didn’t mean to be down with that — awards are fun. It’s just been a long time since I received one, so it was just kind of surprising. :)

Wait, I received two.

Thanks to Grace and Honey for giving One More Page the Versatile Blogger Award! If my blog had a face, it would be smiling like this: =D

The Rules for the award are:

  1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
  2. Share 7 things about yourself.
  3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order…)
  4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

Seven things about me:

  1. I name my gadgets. I feel like naming them helps me take care of them better, so I started naming them after I got my first laptop. My first laptop was named Ginger, and my first iPod was named Sam. My current gadgets are: Aslan (Macbook), Teo (office laptop), Macy (iPod Touch), Elyon (cellphone), Cornelia (cellphone), Wes (hard drive), Ashley (camera). The next gadget that comes in will be named Astrid after Rampant by Diana Peterfreund.
  2. My first love of genre is really chick lit. I love those fluffy books, but I realize that not all chick lit are fun to read (maybe more to this on a later post). Right now my favorite genre is young adult, because I get to live my teenage years all over again. Ha.
  3. I love Christian fiction. I love it when faith is written in stories I read. I don’t like preachy stuff of course (who does?), so I’m also picky with the Christian stuff I read. I admit that my faith and values influences how I rate the books (and I promise to post about this next time), so what others may like very much may not work out with me best because of something that goes against my beliefs or values.
  4. I have been a National Novel Writing Month participant since 2004. I’ve won since 2005, and I always, always love November because it gives me an excuse to be creative and to write as much as I can, even if it doesn’t always make sense. I’m also the Municipal Liaison for the Philippines, and I think I have the best bunch of novelists in the world. :)
  5. I like to run and dance. I don’t know if they like me back, but I enjoy it. I was never sporty, so I make use of the gym to get my exercise. It’s a blessing that running is such a low maintenance and not-so-competitive sport, so I can enjoy it without worrying if I will win.
  6. My dream car is a Honda Jazz. I want it pink, but not the light pink shade they have now. More like metallic pink. (Yes I love pink). There’s nothing wrong with having a dream car even if I don’t really drive, right? :P
  7. I think my body clock is perpetually screwed up. I have a rotating shift at work, which means I rotate shifts every two weeks for some client needs. I go from day shift to mid shift so I never have a permanent sleeping time it’s kind of hard to choose a time to sleep. I try to sleep before midnight when I’m on day shift, but I fail at it. Mid shift means sleeping at 2-3am. Now you know why I need coffee to be productive and cheerful.

I give this award to:

  1. Blooey of Bookmarked! – I don’t know if she got this award yet, but Blooey is one of the first book blogs I followed. I always trust her taste in books, and I am always amazed by her speed in reading and her talent at finding gems in the bargain bins. If there’s a real book lover out there, it’s Blooey. :)
  2. Chachic of Chachic’s Book Nook – It’s nice to know that there are other Filipino book bloggers who do the same memes as I do. Plus if it weren’t for Chachic, I wouldn’t have joined the Filipino Goodreads group! I like how thoughtful Chachic’s reviews are, and I trust her taste in YA fiction. I think you may have received this award multiple times now, and that is a testament of how people see your blog. :D
  3. Aldrin of The Polysyllabic Spree – Aldrin reads serious books. By serious, I mean books that I wouldn’t give a second glance to because I’m fluffy by nature. :P He’s one of the few guy book bloggers I’ve encountered, and even if I don’t really read the same books as he does, I like reading his reviews because they’re always so well-written. One of these days I’ll pick up one of the books you reviewed to see if I’d like it, too.
  4. Aaron of It’s the G World – This isn’t exactly a book blog, but he posts about books, so it could pass, right? Aaron is one of my new friends from the Filipino Goodreads community, and for the short time we’ve known each other, he’s like a younger brother to me. (Naks!) Aaron is nice, despite his villainous persona (Mighty Evil Overlord!), and he’s a firm believer of happy endings (did I get that right?), and I totally trust his taste on books. :P
  5. Lucy of Lucy Loves Fully Booked – I must give recognition to Lucy, Fully Booked’s resident blogger! I am a Fully Booked Fan, and it’s nice to know that they have started a blog, too, and I think it’s very helpful to connect to the local book blogging community to promote reading.
  6. Reggie of The Undercover Book Lover (Not Really) – At first I thought Reggie wasn’t from the Philippines, up until Honey listed her as a Filipino book blogger and when I saw one of her posts with a link to Children’s Hour. I emailed her, and she emailed back and I was totally psyched to know she is in the Philippines. I love her blog because there’s so many things to read about there, and she has the coolest contests. :D Plus, she owns International Book Tours, which help spread more reading love. If that is not a book lover, then I do not know what is. :P
  7. Ruby of The Fickle Fan – Ruby is my college schoolmate, and I was surprised to learn that she blogs about books, too! Her blog is not only about books, but movies, music and her travels.
  8. Forever Young Adult – I don’t know if they’ll notice this award since they’re really cool (they’re like the coolest kid in school :P), but I can’t not give this award to one of the most entertaining YA blogs I’ve read for the longest time. If you want honest and funny book reviews for YA books, go to them!
  9. Angie of Angieville – I found out about her blog from other book blogger friends and I love her reviews. Her reviews are always thoughtful, like she always takes the time to write about them, unlike how I do sometimes when I’m lazy.
  10. Alayne of The Crowded Leaf – I don’t really know Alayne, and I don’t think we have the same taste in books, either. But she’s always commenting on my Teaser Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday posts, and she always had something nice to say. She deserves to be recognized.

Like the two girls who gave me the award, I don’t think I can get to 15 bloggers. But I hope you do drop by those 10 I listed above. It’s always nice to know that there are people all over the country and the world who share the same passion for books. :)

Thank you once again, Grace and Honey, for the award! :)

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