Tuesday Thinger: Updating Books in a Hurry!

Welcome to another week of Tuesday Thingers! We always love to hear from regular participants as well as new people.

Last week I was looking for a quick way to update some tags on Library Thing, so I went to my 'Your Library' tab and started looking at the different views. I accidentally clicked on the covers link and viewed all my books simply by their cover. I decided to click on one to add the information I wanted to. . . after adding some tags and hitting the save button, I was AMAZED that I was taken right back to my cover list! I was then able to click on a few other pictures to add some more tags quickly and easily.

I thought I'd share this in case anyone was not aware of how quickly you could edit your existing book information simply by going to your book list. :)

Questions: Were you aware that you could edit the book details from the cover images under Your Library? Do you have a quick way you like to update books that are already in your library? Do you have any topics/areas you'd like to explore on Tuesday Thingers or general blog/book topics for the coming weeks?

My Answer: I was aware that you could update some information actually ON the page that shows "Your Library" listings. Some items can be edited by double clicking in the space reserved for that item (reviews). Unfortunately, I couldn't get tags to work that way - it may be possible, but I was not willing to work on it anymore. :)

I was so excited when I stumbled onto a quicker way to edit multiple books in my library - I thought I would have to go to my list, click the book , save, go back to my library manually and start again. Instead, the site made it easier than I was expecting by taking me back to my list automatically when I hit save - great time saver!

Looking forward to reading everyone's answers!!

~ Wendi

If you are new to Tuesday Thingers: Welcome! The meme was originally created as a way to network with other bloggers and to learn about Library Thing! I'd like to encourage you to join us. If you don't know what Library Thing is - you are in a great place to learn about new things, and if you are an old pro, stick around and share your wealth of information! Visit Library Thing here. To join in, copy the picture and question into your post and link back here so people can read other responses. Make sure you leave a comment here with a link to your post so we can stop by! If you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment here!

Product Review: Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters

The wonderful people at MyBlogSpark invited me to participate in reviewing the new Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters.






The Scoop:
There is something new and exciting from Nature Valley - four great flavors of their new Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters.



New Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters are bite size clusters of nuts, granola and a touch of honey - a 100% natural, wholesome and delicious treat for any time of the day. If you are a lover of nuts, you´ll love what Nature Valley has done with this powerful little snack. It is the perfect combination of sweet & salty flavor and crunchy texture made from natural nut goodness that you can see and taste. And with a resealable bag it´s perfect for sharing either on the trails or in your living room! New Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters come in four tasty flavors; Nut Lovers, Roasted Almond, Roasted Cashew and Honey Roasted Peanut.

My Thoughts:
These make a great (and healthy) snack for both kids and adults. My husband saw these on the counter and literally dove for them! He couldn't wait to open them and check them out. Add to that the fact that our son loved them too, and I was one happy woman! They thought they were getting a treat, and I knew it was both healthy and handy!

The Nut Clusters come in great re-sealable packages that are easy to keep on the pantry shelf, or to take on outings. They are also easy to add to lunches, or use for snacks. We took a bag to the zoo for a snack and they were a HUGE hit with everyone that we went with (note to self: next time take two bags).

As far as the flavors go, each one is unique and wonderful. . . although my personal favorite is the Roasted Cashew - I simply find them divine, and I find cashews to be less "nutty" in flavor with more of a smooth, richness that goes well with sweet, salt and chocolates!

My recommendation - pick up a bag of these great new snacks next time you are at the store - give them a try and see what you and/or your family and friends think!

For the nutritional information, visit the Nature Valley site. They have links to the nutritional information for each of the four flavors.

Tuesday Thinger: Are you a Groupie?

Welcome to another week of Tuesday Thingers! We always love to hear from regular participants as well as new people.

Sorry for posting this late!! I had my surgery last week and so far everything looks good. . . but I took a little longer to recover than I expected, and I didn't realize that yesterday was Monday! Oops. ;)

This week, I'd like to take a quick peek into the Groups section. For anyone who hasn't visited the groups section, it is a place that is very much like a normal forum, or a place you can post comments and reply to what others have posted. Some groups are topic oriented, and others are more relaxed. LT has sections for Standing Groups (I think this means that they were created by LT and will always be available), Groups with the Most Members, Most Active Talk, Member Projects, etc.

The great thing about these groups?? If you want to talk about a book or author, there is probably a group or thread available for you to read, join, or comment in. There are even some great Book Challenges (75 Books Challenge for 2009)!! You can read about a group and then read the "threads" (topics/conversations), join the group, watch the group, or recommend it to a friend.

When you join or watch a group, you can have it show up on your home page on LT if you haven't taken it off your settings (mine shows up under my Connection News).

Questions: Have you recently browsed any of the groups? Are you actively participating in any groups? Do you have any favorites?

My Answer: I actually haven't checked out any of the groups lately. When I first joined LT, I found the ARC Junkies, and Freebies, Book Giveaways and Contests groups to be very helpful in getting some great new books!

I used to be very active in those two groups, and would like to become active again in the near future - I just need to catch up on some of my reviews first!!

I'd have to say those two, plus one other, Bloggers, have been very helpful and would be my favorite groups.

Looking forward to reading everyone's answers!!

~ Wendi

If you are new to Tuesday Thingers: Welcome! The meme was originally created as a way to network with other bloggers and to learn about Library Thing! I'd like to encourage you to join us. If you don't know what Library Thing is - you are in a great place to learn about new things, and if you are an old pro, stick around and share your wealth of information! Visit Library Thing here. To join in, copy the picture and question into your post and link back here so people can read other responses. Make sure you leave a comment here with a link to your post so we can stop by! If you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment here!

Review and Tour: Sunflower Serenade by Tricia Goyer

Title: Sunflower Serenade (Home to Heather Creek)
Author: Tricia Goyer
Pages: 258
Publisher: Guideposts
Genre: Fiction / Christian
Edition: Hardback - many thanks to Amy of LitFUSE Publicity Group for including me in the book tour!

Perfect for : Personal reading, Book club read, Gift book

In a nutshell: Let me start by saying that this book is absolutely beautiful! It is a hardback book that is full color, perfect to give as a gift for the book lover in your life. I would frame it if I could ;). That said, the book is just as great while reading. I loved the gentle wisdom Charlotte used and shared throughout the book. There were also plenty of spots with humor to keep things light. While I'm not exactly a city-girl, I'm not as familiar with country life, so this book was like stepping into another world for me - it was refreshing and fun, and I'd like to think that I learned a few things along the way about country life, and that I'm feeling a little more inspired by the miracles and gifts God has given us.

About the Book:
About Sunflower Serenade: A small-town summer...

The days are long and lazy, the corn is high, the sunflowers are in bloom, and everyone in Bedford is gearing up for the biggest event of the summer: the annual county fair. But when a Nashville music producer approaches Bob about using Heather Creek Farm to film a country star's new music video, he and Charlotte are faced with a dilemma. Will they allow the glamour and enticements of big-city life to encroach upon their peaceful home? Will the excitement of celebrity drown out the simple joys of summer?

About the Home to Heather Creek series: Charlotte Stevenson's world is turned upside down when her daughter, Denise, dies in a tragic car accident. She ran away at eighteen and Charlotte has never forgiven herself. Now, Denise's children, abandoned by their father, are coming from California to live on Heather Creek Farm in Bedford, Nebraska.

Charlotte is uncertain about her ability to care for three grandchildren who are not thrilled to give up the beach and sunshine for snow and farm chores! But she sees a chance to make amends and will do whatever it takes to keep her fragile family together. Feel the courage, strength and commitment of this family as their lives unfold in the Home to Heather Creek series.

Link to buy book: Click here. The books come in a series and you can order those at the link. However, if you just want to order Every Sunrise you must call the customer service number (1-800-431-2344).

About the Author:
Tricia Goyer is the author of eighteen fiction and non-fiction books, including Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. Tricia writes magazine articles for publications like Today's Christian Woman and Focus on the Family. Tricia also enjoys speaking. She and her family make their home in Montana.

Contest: Playing on one element of the book - big city entertainers vs. old county fair – the contest for this blog tour is City Girl Goes Country! Share your funniest story (about you or someone you know) about a time when you as the “city girl” goes to the country or “country girl” goes to the city. Enter the contest here.

Tour Schedule: Visit the Tour Schedule to see what other reviewers had to say!

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to add a link to your review, please include a link in your comment!

Tuesday Thinger: To Help Or Not To Help

Welcome to another week of Tuesday Thingers! We always love to hear from regular participants as well as new people.

Many of you will probably already know this, but there is now a Help button on all the Library Thing pages! The LibraryThing Blog created a post on the new feature called HelpThing: Member-driven Help. This week's post is more of a challenge - I challenge you to go to a page and click the help button to see what comes up!

Questions: Did you use the Help button? Did you get some good information on the page you were on? Did you use the edit feature to add/edit any of the information on the page?

My Answer: I have a duplicate book in my library and can't figure out how to get rid of it! I did click the Help button, and some useful information did come up, but I am still confused as to how to eliminate the duplicate from my library. :)

No - I didn't edit anything on the page, because I am FAR from being an expert in that area.

I do like this new feature and have a feeling it will be very helpful to both current and new members.

Looking forward to reading everyone's answers!!

~ Wendi

If you are new to Tuesday Thingers: Welcome! The meme was originally created as a way to network with other bloggers and to learn about Library Thing! I'd like to encourage you to join us. If you don't know what Library Thing is - you are in a great place to learn about new things, and if you are an old pro, stick around and share your wealth of information! Visit Library Thing here. To join in, copy the picture and question into your post and link back here so people can read other responses. Make sure you leave a comment here with a link to your post so we can stop by! If you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment here!

Tuesday Thinger: Have You Visited the Vine Yet?

Welcome to another week of Tuesday Thingers! We always love to hear from regular participants as well as new people.

Hi everyone! Another off-topic (to Library Thing) week for us this week. I've recently become aware of a new program through Amazon (played with it over the past month or so) called the Amazon Vine. It is "Amazon Vine™. The Exclusive Club of Influential Amazon Voices." I've enjoyed it and thought I would pass the information along in case a few of you hadn't heard of it yet.

Basically, Amazon allows some people to sign up for the program who have posted reviews on their site. Based on your interests and your reviews, they will offer you items to review, completely free of charge! All you have to do is review 75% of the items sent to you (I've done 3 books and 1 electronic/home item so far) before they will let you order more items from the Vine Newsletter.

One day, I logged in and simply had an invitation on my home page to check out the new program, and it gave me the option of signing up.

Questions: Have you had an opportunity to check out the new Amazon Vine program? Have you signed up? Is this program something that interests you? How do you feel about the reviews posted on Amazon in general (not counting the ones that have made the news)?

My Answer: I have had an opportunity to check out the Amazon Vine program. I did choose to sign up - I figured I really had nothing to loose, and that I might be introduced to some new-to-me authors and products.

I do like this program - so far I have gotten to review 3 books and 1 electronic item. Two of the books were ones I'd seen reviews for on other blogs recently, so it was fun to read them. One book was a Sponge Bob children's book with a voice changer (the toy was great, but the book really isn't for 2+, more like 5+, and I included that in my review). The electronic item I reviewed was a new Norelco Kids Clipper for clipping hair - and I LOVE it! I've always cut my husband and son's hair with a comb and scissors. . . this made it easier and less painful on my back. :) I would NEVER have tried it if it wasn't through the program!

As for the reviews that are posted, I try to keep in mind that some reviews are going to be posted by friends/family of the author, and they MIGHT be a little biased. I also try to remember that for any product/book there are going to be people who love it and those who hate it. I try to look for the facts that are given and the overall opinion rather than focus on only a few reviews.

Looking forward to reading everyone's answers!!

~ Wendi

If you are new to Tuesday Thingers: Welcome! The meme was originally created as a way to network with other bloggers and to learn about Library Thing! I'd like to encourage you to join us. If you don't know what Library Thing is - you are in a great place to learn about new things, and if you are an old pro, stick around and share your wealth of information! Visit Library Thing here. To join in, copy the picture and question into your post and link back here so people can read other responses. Make sure you leave a comment here with a link to your post so we can stop by! If you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment here!