Scene of the Blog Featuring Rory of Fourth Street Review!

It's always a pleasure to stumble across a new book blog and see that you share some reading DNA with the person who's created it. Is this week's featured blogger a nut about crime fiction? Nope, but then I do have more than criminal reading genes, you know! Rory is an eclectic reader who once harbored hopes of being the female version of Indiana Jones. (As long as there's no snakes, I'm right there with you, Rory!)

This Coloradan is a librarian by day and a book reviewer by night, writing adult and children's reviews for the National edition of Examiner. The simple, clean design of her blog, Fourth Street Review, reminds me of the photos you're about to feast your eyes on. If you've never visited Fourth Street Review before, I certainly hope you'll take this opportunity to do so-- and please don't forget to say hello while you're there!

If you're visiting from Rory's blog-- Welcome! I'm glad you stopped by to see her creative spaces. If you'd like to see any of the photos in larger sizes, all you have to do is click on them, and they'll open in new windows. If you'd like to see the reading and blogging spaces of previous participants, click on the Scene of the Blog tab at the very top of my header. There are two ways to search: by Blog Name and by Location. Rory's waiting to give us the tour, so let's not keep her waiting!

A primary reading spot!

We moved into our house nearly two years ago, but as we are still in the process of renovating, multiple and mobile blogging stations are a necessity. One of the selling points of this house (for me) was that it has a room that was clearly destined to be a library. In addition to housing most of my books, it serves as one of my primary reading and the occasional blogging location. There is an identical bookcase on the other half of the room, but the state of the shelves is so chaotic that it borders on embarrassing.

[The shelves above my desk are in the same category, Rory!]

Who could resist reading in here??

The other location where I can be found reading or blogging is in bed. The bedroom was the first room to be redone right after the move. The previous owners had glued(!) and haphazardly nailed old floorboards to the walls, those boards had become infested with a variety of creatures. The final straw was one night when I pulled back the bed sheets – there were spiders in the bed. My family’s lucky I didn’t run screaming for the hills (it was close; I am not a bug person). At any rate, I now treat my bedroom like the bug free reading sanctuary it has become. It also explains the prevalence of white – bugs cannot hide on white furnishings.

[No, they can't. I remember an old white fake fur bedside rug from years and years ago. The owners of the apartment building should've spent a few dollars having the apartments sprayed because I could sit in bed and watch earwigs crawling across that rug, heading right for me. Okay... now I've given myself goosebumps....]

Can't get much more organized than this!

Ironically, perhaps the place I blog from least is the office. I think the only way I get in there is if the rest of the house is asleep! You can see a little bit of my system on the shelf. Library books get their own category, then there is the to be read and to be reviewed pile. The books have sticky notes indicating publication and review by date if it’s an ARC.

Start 'em early, I always say!

We take reading seriously at all age levels! :-)  I do a lot of reading in the boys’ room as well – though it is certainly not my reading.

As I am a fairly recent entrant to the book blogging community, I feel like there is still so much to learn (and other bloggers to stumble across, so please stop by and say hello)! 

For me, blogging started as a way to talk books to others who actually wanted to hear it! Despite being a librarian, I don’t know many people who enjoy reading with the same passion I do. I work in a highly subject-specific research library, which leaves little room for talk about fiction, so this has been a wonderful outlet. 

It has been rewarding (and a bit of a relief to be honest) to find there are other people out there who share the same fictional love for Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester that I do!

[You betcha! Forget that mangy Heathcliff. Give me Eddie any day!]


Thank you so very much for allowing us this glimpse into your home and creative spaces, Rory. We certainly appreciate it. I would also imagine that I'm not alone in thinking your home looks like it belongs on the pages of House Beautiful. You're doing a fantastic job of renovation!

Don't forget to stop by next Wednesday when I'll be featuring yet another book blogger from our worldwide community!