Lifestyle – Page 5 – …on the B.L.

Welcome to …on the B.L.

September 6, 2018September 6, 2018 RaeAnna

Still all about the books. Have no fear!

I started the blog Bookish Liaisons on December 24, 2016. I love the title. In the year and half since, I have grown so much!!! What started as a passion project is now a job. Woah. How, oh how, did that happen? Well, a lot of work and late nights.

I began Bookish Liaisons with the intention of being a bookish-lifestyle blog. The name Bookish (me) Liaisons (my adventures). Over the past few months as I have traveled more, soul searched, experimented, and thought about it, I decided to change the name of my blog. I love books, and I am still just as bookish as ever. However, there are things I want to touch on more than I do. I was feeling a little hemmed in by the title Bookish Liaisons because people only saw me as a book blogger. Books come first on this site’s menu, and it’s what I’ll write about most consistently. I just don’t want to feel the need to constantly post pictures with books or write solely about books or relating to books because the word ‘book’ is in the title. My life is a lot more complex than being a bookworm. I want to start exploring that.

As I was searching for new names for my blog, I wanted to keep or, at least, incorporate Bookish Liaisons somehow. I came up with …on the B.L.

Why?

B.L. = Bookish Liaisons. Get it! I am …on the B(ookish).L(iaisons). of life, if you will.

Also it’s a play on the idiom “on the DL” short for “on the down-low” meaning “keep it hush-hush.” I liked this word play for a lot of reasons. 1) It’s word play. I am a nerd, you know. 2) So much of what I read is not necessarily mainstream. I like to read female authors, minority authors, and unlikely stories. 3) I also want to start talking more about my past of sexual abuse because I have an audience. I would be remiss not to speak about such important things when I have people paying attention to what I say. I used to lecture at Iowa State University, written blogs, talked, and advocated for change regarding sexual and domestic violence. This is not new for me in any way, shape, or form; it is just new here. I have a history, which has not been gone into on this platform, and I want that to change. 4) I also want to advocate and educate myself and others on issues of intolerance, racism, and more because these things need to change, and unfortunately they’re all still kept pretty hush-hush – along with point three. 5) The fun stuff: food, clothes, restaurants, vacations, etc. I don’t necessarily do, wear, see, eat, or go to popular places. I like to find the new and different. I like supporting small, local, independently owned, and/female business.

Mostly, …on the B.L. is meant to use my platform to help affect change, encourage others to use their voices, or support people and business who haven’t found theirs yet. That being said, I can’t always live that way. Target is pretty great. (Not sponsored, but I’d be happy to chat!)

Lifestyle

I’m Not In It For the Free Stuff… BUT!

June 26, 2018 RaeAnna

For this week’s Tuesday Truth, I want to talk about the one thing that is really starting to get on my last nerve about being a blogger.

I started Bookish Liaisons as a hobby and a passion project. A place I could take all my thoughts and opinions about the books I read. It still is. It has definitely grown larger than my wildest dreams. It accidentally turned into a small job and business. This place of mine transformed from a book blog into a bookish lifestyle blog because I’m a nerd with a life!

I never, not once, started this to get free stuff. Actually, the first time someone sent me a free book, I was thrilled and mostly shocked. “I should have started doing this a long time ago,” went through my mind because free books! A bookworm’s dream. I do not search out free books, and I do not search out free stuff. Sometimes, I get things in exchange for an honest review. Always honest. I’m never going to sell out for loot. Or try and sell my followers on things I don’t genuinely believe in.

Complete honesty: I’m pretty proud of the following I have on Instagram. I love all my followers because they are joining in on this great journey of mine. I’m no Selena Gomez, but I’m doing just fine!

Due to the number of followers I have, I get a lot of offers from companies and people wanting to send me their products. I turn down most because I am very picky about what I associate with. I am only ever going to talk about, post, and promote things I believe in and would spend my own money on. The books I have received from publishers are fabulous, but I only say “yes” to the books I’m actually interested in reading. I have turned down a ton of books, even if they are free. No matter what, I still review with honesty. (The books I have hated the most have been books sent to me for free. Oh man, I roasted a couple.) I’m not going to put my integrity on the line for a free book. No way. If I upset a publisher, editor, or author because of that, so be it.

What is starting to get on my last nerve as a blogger: companies soliciting. I’m a blogger. I’m a blogger on a limited budget. I freelance for a living. I like to spend my money on three things: travel, my dog, and food. I’m a bargain shopper when it comes to books because I’m a bargain shopper with e.v.e.r.y.thing. I ABSOLUTELY HATE WHEN COMPANIES, AUTHORS, ANYONE REACHES OUT ASKING ME TO BUY THEIR PRODUCT AND REVIEW IT. I get. We all have to hustle. It’s the way of the world. If you really want me to review your book, candle, bookmark, product, whatever, then send me an email, ask if I’d be interested, and then send it to me for free. I will never ever ever ask anyone to send me something for free. If I want it I will buy it. I am not going to spend the little money I have on something I do not want, need, or am looking for.

I have been contacted so many times because people want me to buy, review, and promote their product. Being a blogger, creating content, writing posts, and promoting takes A LOT of time. If you can’t pay for my time to market your product as the influencer I am, then at least offer to send it to me for free. I always politely say “thanks, but no thanks.” Sometimes, they even ask if I could shout them out or repost their pictures on my feed directing my followers their way. NO. Unless I can product test, I am not going to promote it. Integrity people. So many of the people who have approached me this way had products I would have totally accepted. Not now. Ya gotta spend some to make some.

I’m nothing special; I have a respectable following. I am an influencer and a blogger. I absolutely love doing this. I hate that people don’t take the work, my time, or my followers seriously. I’m not in this for free stuff. I am also not in this to spend all of my money.

End of rant!

Lifestyle

Happy 27th Birthday to Me

May 23, 2018 RaeAnna

Today, is my 27th birthday.

I decided to celebrate with a Get To Know Me post because I haven’t done one in, well, ever. Since I have over 6,000 followers, I thought it might be time for you to know more about me as the blogger and person.

I was born and raised in Ames, Iowa, which is known for being the home of Iowa State University. You’re welcome for peanut butter; George Washington Carver discovered that gem about a mile away from my parents’ house.
I’m allergic to peanut butter, but didn’t develop that allergy until I was 17. So I know exactly what I’m missing.
I went to Cornell College and majored in Literature, French, and Russian with an Emphasis in Literary Translation and Analysis. Yup. It’s a mouth full.
I speak English, French, and Russian. My Spanish is passible. My German is marginal at best.
I am a freelance editor, writer, and translator. I would love to do more writing.
I hate wearing pants. I work from home, so I never have to wear pants. My dog starts having mild anxiety attacks whenever I pull pants out of the drawer because she knows that means I’m leaving the house.
I lived in Aix-en-Provence, which is in Southern France, for a bit during college. If I could live anywhere, I would live there. I also spent some a summer studying literary translation in London.
I travel all the time because I love it. My dream would be to get paid to travel with my dog.
My dog is named Beauvoir – for Simone de Beauvoir – but she goes by Beau. She’s a rescue, who I brought home a year and three months ago. She is almost three years old and is the light of my life.
My favorite genre to read is literary fiction. Although, I also really love British history.
The top five places I want to see: India, Nigeria, Algeria, Ireland, and Bali.
I have a passion for advocacy and volunteering. I have spoken and written about my past with sexual and domestic violence because it is really important to me to try and change the world we live in.
I trained to be a ballerina for years, but stopped because I was too tall to be a ballerina and I had a bunch of injuries.
I am incredibly goofy and weird. I sing and dance around the house constantly. I tell jokes a lot because I love making people laugh.
I love fashion and looking good, and I always have. When I was little, my grandma used to make me clothes, and everyone loved them.
I love fashion, but shopping is a pain in the ass because I’m 5’10”. Clothes, in my budget, are not made for people this height. UGH!!!
I hate working out. With a passion. I like going for walks, but working out is the worst.
I LOVE food. I love eating, cooking, baking, and learning about food. I am pretty sure I ate my way through Europe.

There’s a bunch of random information about me.

In my 27th year living, I am focusing on doing. Doing the things I have wanted to do, doing the things I’ve been scared to do, doing the things I should do, and doing more. So that’s my goal! I wrote more about it on my personal blog Unashamed Truths about my Year of Doing.

Books

An Irish Country Doctor

March 17, 2018 RaeAnna

Read: Yes
Length: III
Quick Review: A sweet tale about the finding the beauty in a small town.

Patrick Taylor writes about Northern Ireland and doctors with authenticity because he’s a retired doctor from Northern Ireland.

An Irish Country Doctor is a sweet story. None of his writing feels trite or imaginative but grounded in reality, which is how I like my novels. Even though the town of Ballybucklebo is imagined, it is obvious Taylor has native experience with the region and people he’s inhabiting.

Ballybucklebo remains deeply rooted in their traditions and heritage. Doctor O’Reilly is the esteemed and trusted village doctor. It’s 1964, and the world is changing. O’Reilly brings young Doctor Barry Laverty into the fold as his assistant bringing with him new medicine and point of view. The town is inhabited by a group of highly eccentric yet totally lovable villagers. Barry is put off at first by O’Reilly’s unconventional treatments and rather bizarre medical practice in general. At a shocking pace, Barry is taken in by the community and begins to fall in love with the entire profession of General Practice in a small village.

The novel is full of Irish phrases and Taylor’s own unique word plays. It’s hard not to be drawn into his prose. His style is straightforward, but there are lots of descriptive bits. Normally, I am not a fan of too much descriptors, but Taylor is not excessive nor too flowery.

Ireland is a majority Catholic country, and was just as conservatively Catholic as you can imagine in the 1960’s. Taylor deals with issues that were prevalent during the time – and today, as well. The plot is thickened with touches of pregnancy out of wedlock, birth control pills, abortion, poverty, deadbeat dads, among other things. If the novel were any shorter, the abundance of hot button issues would have been a bit much; however at 429 pages set in a poor village, it’s appropriate. Taylor has touches of feminism as the books is riddled with strong female characters including a female civil engineer student. Even the aging Doctor O’Reilly is pro birth control, pro choice, and tells husbands to help their wives with the children.

The story is a sweet one allowing you to escape into a lovely small village of Northern Ireland. Every storyline wraps up with a nice, neat bow.

Memorable Quotes:
“Sometimes we doctors aren’t much better than a bunch of Druids.”

Title: An Irish Country Doctor
Author: Patrick Taylor
Publisher: Forge Books
Copyright: 2004
ISBN: 9780765368249

Lifestyle

Invest in Books and Friends

March 13, 2018 RaeAnna

Happy Feminist Friday!

I think two of the most important things women can invest in are books and friendship. These two things have a lot in common. They’re both time consuming. They cost. Books cost money; friends can cost money (going out, gas, etc.). They are absolutely priceless!!!

Books
Well, I obviously think these are one of the most important things anyone can invest in. Not like I’m a book blogger or anything…

Books for a really, really, really long time were inaccessible. They were expensive to make. Then the Gutenberg Press happened. Woohoo! Technology helped make the production of books simpler, faster, cheaper, which allowed more books into the world creating more authors and more readers. Before the Gutenberg Press, you had to be super rich or clergy to have books. The other big reason books were inaccessible for so long: literacy. The only way you learned to read was if you were – again – super rich or clergy. Rates of literacy began to rise after books became more accessible………..

I forgot to mention one teensy little thing. Previous paragraph is pretty much just about men. Women reading, yeah that, it’s a new thing. Women didn’t read. They weren’t taught. Education was a thing for men. Educated women? They existed… Very few and far between. That history is loooong.

Anyways, books are important. It’s still a fairly new phenomenon. There are still many places in this world where reading is rare, but I’m lucky to live in a place and a time where reading is easy and inexpensive!

Women should read because knowledge is power. Enough said.

Friends
Friends are super important. Books are not my only friends. I wouldn’t say I have tons and tons of friends. I have several really close friends. I am beyond blessed to have each and every one of them.

Funny enough, books have lead me to several of my friendships.

My best friend and I met in the library at college. We both worked there. I was a senior; she was a freshman. It was her first day of college, and it was my last first day of college. I trained her. One thing lead to another, and she has never gotten rid of me since.

My blogger bestie, Maria, and I solidified our friendship over books and reading and the general accumulation and discussion of knowledge. We lived on the same dorm floor our freshman year in college – a handful of years ago, now. We met and hit it off pretty much immediately. I would love to say books were the catalyst, but it was a combination of books and fashion. We LOVE both. Fast forward a handful of years. We had fallen out of touch because life. We kept tabs, but hadn’t talked or seen each other in YEARS. Living on opposite sides of the country, we each entered the blogosphere within months of each other, literally two. She is a fashion/lifestyle blogger: Millennial Fashionista. I am a literary/lifestyle blogger. We support one another. We chat often. We share blogging woes and highs. Books brought us together many years ago, and books helped rekindle our friendship. Click here to see us in action on her page!

Friendship is such an important aspect in our lives as people and women. It’s important to have a support system. Friends provide a place to be our weird selves.

Books and Friends. My two favorite things!

Lifestyle

This Feminist Wears Heels

March 2, 2018 RaeAnna

Happy Feminist Friday! I’ll write on this topic every so often because it’s important, and I read a lot of books with strong female characters and feminist undercurrents.

My feminism is intersectional and inclusive and all about equality. No one is better than anyone else. We all deserve the same rights and opportunities. I don’t care if you’re female, male, trans, gay, straight, bi, liberal, conservative, religious, non-religious, have similar beliefs, think I’m full of crap or everything in between. You all matter. You all deserve respect. You are all part of my rainbow, and you’re all beautiful. I have said it before. I will say it again. I will repeat it until I die. And I hope it’s something people remember about me.

This feminist is a hard core feminist. I believe we should all live our lives however we want to live our lives. I will never push my beliefs on you, and I hope you give me the same. I will never judge a woman or man on how they lead their lives.

This feminist LOVES heels. I love dresses. I love… well I like makeup. I love clothes. I love looking nice. I love having long hair. I love having shaved legs. I love bows and pearls and lace. I love cooking. I love baking. I hate cleaning. I love taking care of those close to me. I love to sew and knit. Actually, I’ll probably take care of anyone crossing my path who needs it. I love kids. I love men. I love ballet. I love music. I love art.

I live a life that screams conservative to those who don’t know me well because I am attracted to very stereotypical female activities. I’m very liberal, but I feel comfortable in the choices I make. They make me happy. The thing is: I have the choice to enjoy the things I enjoy. I wasn’t forced into them. I’m not pressured into them. When I don’t want to cook, I order in. When I don’t want to bake, I don’t bake. When I don’t want to wear heels or makeup or a dress or whatever, I wear sweats and flip flops.

I have the privilege and ability and education to live my life the way I want to live it. Sure, I experience pressures to be a certain way, but I have the confidence to live my life my way. My way wears heels.