Meet CLP: Annie in the Spotlight

As CLP celebrates 5 years, I have to spotlight the fabulous reviewers on my team that help me keep up with the high demands of running a book blog! I definitely could not keep this site as up to date and filled with book reviews and content if it weren’t for my fabulous team! Today, we spotlight Annie! 

Why were you interested in joining CLP as a reviewer? 

CLP was a site I was already checking out nearly every day, so when the opportunity came for me to be an Associate Reviewer, I went after it!  Being accepted as Reviewer for CLP was one of my most exciting accomplishments!

I also wanted to be part a website that promotes reading on such a high scale!

My happiest moments arrive when one of my reviews makes someone decide to read a book!  The joy I receive when someone lets me know that they read a book because of my review cannot be measured.

CLP gives me more exposure for these joyful moments!  I am very grateful and proud to be part of this adventure!  Very excited to celebrate CLP’s 5 year anniversary!

Can you name one or two of your favorite books that you’ve reviewed for CLP?

Asking a book reviewer to name one or two favorite books is an unfair question, Samantha! HAHA!  So, I am giving you the best answer I can.

1. I like you just the way I am by Jenny Mollen (I never would have picked this one up, so I was tickled to see how much I thoroughly enjoyed it)
2. “The House we grew up in” by Lisa Jewell
3. I also loved ” The Widow Waltz” by Sally Koslow

Besides reading, what hobbies do you enjoy? 

I find such joy in sending handwritten “snail mail” cards and letters.  They can be for holidays, birthdays,  get well, encouragement, just to say hi/thinking of you. My favorite (next to cards sent for Christmas/Hanukah, etc. Season) are sending “Thank You” cards. I feel that it is a forgotten gesture.

I have an 8 year old pen-pal, and it is so much fun corresponding with her.  I am in a post card club of One! LOL..there was supposed to be a group of us, but I am down to sending post cards with one woman in Hawaii…being in NY, it is fun to get post cards from the other side of the USA.

I also enjoy all sorts of arts & crafts , from Coloring (yes, I have a full Crayola collection), to making soaps/bath salts, crocheting, scrapbooking, and making holiday decorations….needless to say, I have many “unfinished” projects 🙂  I am going to be painting soon, just waiting for the time.   But, I have all I need to begin.

I love walking our dog, Simon at the park when I am up to it.

I plan to try to learn to play the guitar, as I was gifted one by my friends on my 40th birthday…I am turning 45 in December, so I think the guitar has had enough rest. 🙂

I am trying to enjoy working in the yard.  I have been gifted a brown thumb, trying to turn it green!!  I am watching YouTube videos on how to take care of everything outside, so I am planning to have a successful garden this coming spring.  Wish me Luck!

What has been one of your favorite birthday celebrations?  

My husband and I closed on our House on my 40th birthday , so unlocking the door and entering the place where we would grow and build a home together, was one of the most magical gifts….Oh, Ok, wait!  The year I turned 34 was the first birthday I was with my husband.  We had only been dating since April, and with my birthday being in December…there was a huge snow storm.  My husband came over to where I lived with a SLED!  And, he pulled me all around my neighborhood on the sled..It was still snowing, and I lived on the water at the time, so the view was Magnificently Magical.

Hard to say…”House”….”Sledding” .. ???  I guess I have two favorites!

More ways to find Annie! 

Facebook: 

The Write Review

Website:

The Write Review

About Annie

Annie McDonnell joined CLP in May 2014!

HI, I am Annie McDonnell!  I am so excited to be here!

I live on Long Island, New York; and have been reading books since I can remember.  I was always the school girl in the library instead of taking my lunch break.  Being surrounded by books is, without a doubt; my “Happy Place”.  I have a Library in my home, like my husband has his Man Cave!  And, it is Glorious!  It is shocking I was not born with a book in my hand.

“Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite Disney Children’s book, for the simple fact, that the Beast gifted Princess Belle a HUGE Library!  Ballroom dancing in the middle of a Majestic Library would be a total “dream come true” for me.  Most girls want Diamonds, I want books.

I do not have children, but I am that “crazy” Aunt that always gifts books to my nieces, nephews, and Godchildren.   I am an “Author Stalker”, (a phrase that author Steena Holmes coined), meaning if I like an author, I collect their novels, and friend them on all social media, and mark the dates that their next books are being released, etc.  I have been reviewing books for over ten years now, with Elle Magazine and a few PR agencies and particular authors.

I have an “Old School” penchant for holding the printed novel in my hands.  There is something about touching the paper and its scent.  The books are more “Alive” to me when I have the actual book in my hands.  But, my eReaders do get a lot of mileage too!

There is not one specific genre that lights my soul on fire, but being a girly girl; Chick Lit is definitely ON TOP of my preference list!!!   So, I am honored to join Chick Lit Plus as an Associate Reviewer.  I have been giddy since being accepted for this amazing opportunity.

It is the characters that an author creates that light my soul on fire!  When I cannot put a book down, I am in Heaven.  I can fall in love with both fiction and non-fiction, so my love affair with books is all over the place!  I have “wings” when it comes to reading, therefore; I am not boxed in to one genre.  I have a very open mind.

I am often asked, “What is your dream job?”….My answer has always been “Book Reviewer”!

So, Let the Game’s Begin!  My Dog and two cats are also excited for me to get my first book to review for CLP, as they snuggle me while I read.

Here’s to devouring Books and getting lost between the pages!  I would love it if you followed my reviews here on Chick Lit Plus!

And don’t forget to enter the big giveaway!

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