It's that time of the week again to explore other awesome blogs and make new bloggy friends! Here is a unique new hop that I came across...Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

With the advent (and growing popularity) of eBooks, I’m seeing more and more articles about how much “better” they can be, because they have the option to be interactive … videos, music, glossaries … all sorts of little extra goodies to help “enhance” your reading experience, rather like listening to the Director’s commentary on a DVD of your favorite movie.
How do you feel about that possibility? Does it excite you in a cutting-edge kind of way? Or does it chill you to the bone because that’s not what reading is ABOUT?

My answer...

Wow, this is a very relevant question to what has been going on in the world of books/reading! Thanks for the question :). Well, I do have a Nook Color that my husband sweetly bought me as a Christmas present and I can't lie, it IS great! I've read a few books on there, but lately, it seems like I've been on a spending spree with paper books at the bookstore :). While my Nook is very trendy and convenient, I still like paper books better overall. There's just something about holding a book in your hands, smelling the musky scent of the pages etc...I will probably always prefer "book" books!

I have heard lots of people say that soon, libraries and bookstores will disappear and everything will be online and electronic. While this may eventually happen and while I admit some new technology is cool and even amazing, I will definitely be one of those people who will be loyal to the old-fashioned way!

Book Review of The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

Synopsis in a Sentence: Dr. Peck uses case studies and evidence to guide individuals to a better life and understanding of themselves.

My Thoughts:

I don't think I'm going to rate this book with my keys as it is hard to give a self-help/inspirational book a rating. First of all, The Road Less Traveled is a non-fiction inspirational classic. I had heard about it for years before I finally decided to pick it up! I even read once that Princess Diana referred to like a Bible. Dr. Peck gives a lot of wonderful and straight forward advice on life's ups and downs...I think he and Dr. Phil should meet because they would probably become best friends haha! While some of his advice can get a little bit rambling and abstract, he still knows how to get you to really examine your own life and inspires you to make changes where needed. I thought it might be easiest to break down the main points of this book in a bulleted list so all of you can decide if it's something you'd like to add to your TBR pile or not:

• Having discipline and taking responsibility for your life leads to happiness.
• Balance is the key to a life well-lived.
• Love is the motive and energy behind all of the good things that we do.
• Laziness and indifference are the opposites of love.

This is kind of what the book is about in a nutshell. There's obviously a lot more depth and detail to it than this, with lots of case studies to back up all of his advice. I love reading case studies because you get to read about other people, their struggles and sometimes, how they are able to overcome stuff.

I have to admit that I was a little bored and confused for some of this book...but when reading the last couple of chapters, something just kinda "clicked" for me, and I understood what he was trying to say. Living a life full of love is the only way to true happiness.

Favorite quote from the book:

"To put it plainly, our unconscious is God. God within us. We were part of God all the time. God has been with us all along, is now, and always will be." from p. 281

I also love the title of this book! Does anyone know Robert Frost's poem of the same name? It was my quote in my senior yearbook of highschool!

"In a wood, two roads diverged...and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference..." ~Robert Frost

Happy reading everyone!

It's Friday again and time for the Hops! Have fun everyone! :)

This week Parajunkee asks us:

The magic book fairy pops out of your cereal box and says "you and your favorite character (from a book of course) can switch places!" Who are you going to switch with?

My answer:

I would have to say Jo from Little Women! First of all, I love the setting of the book (New England) and I love that Jo gets to be a part of New York City in its fledgling years...how cool is that?! Also, she has an incredibly supportive and loving family...I've always wanted to have more sisters to hang out with. Finally, she is a writer and ends up publishing a book about her family and my dream is also to be an author!

This week Crazy for Books asks us:

Who is the ONE author that you are DYING to meet?

My answer:

If I could meet an author who has passed away, it would be J.R.R. Tolkien of Lord of the Rings fame. He seemed like a very wise and intelligent man and I would have loved to just have had a conversation with him about where his inspiration for these books came from!

If I could meet a living author, it would probably be Kristen Britain who has written the Green Rider fantasy series. I will be doing a review soon of her 4th book, Blackveil. If I had the opportunity to meet her, I would try to convince her to let Karigan and Zachary end up together...the romantic tension in that book is driving me nuts! :)

All things being equal (money, space, etc), would you rather own copies of the books you read? Or borrow them?

Answer:

I would rather own them, which, can sadly amount very quickly to a small fortune! I like the feeling of knowing I can read it at my own pace or take it wherever I want, without worrying about when to return it or the possibility of it becoming damaged. Being a girl, I know I'm supposed to love shopping for clothes, jewellry, shoes etc...but I actually don't really like shopping. To me, it's stressful...but there is one thing I do love shopping for and that's BOOKS! Bookstores are my favorite places on Earth and I can spend hours just meandering around with a chai tea latte in hand!

Having said that though, I do love libraries too and my childhood library is still a place I adore going to...very peaceful and smelling of wonderful books.

My hubby and I hope to amass a large library at our future, permanent house one day...and with the way we buy books, we are well on our way!