BBAW and TGIF!

How is it Friday already?  But Book Bloggers Appreciation Week is coming to an end, and it's been a great week of getting to know other bloggers and enjoying everyone's posts about this fantastic community!

One last prompt then from the week:

The world of blogging is continually changing. Share 3 things you think are essential tried and true practices for every blogger and 1-3 new trends or tools you’ve adapted recently or would like to in the future.

I don't think I've been blogging long enough to have any tried and true practices!  But I think one of the things to remember is that we're always getting better at what we do, and it's important to let your habits and practices change as things make sense to you.  But then I think that about everything so I can't say it's restricted to blogging!

One of the things I've adapted recently is the use of letter grades to preface my reviews.  I feel like I want to indicate in some way - beyond my often lengthy reviews! - my overall thoughts on the book, but I'm unsure if this is the best way for it.  It's so difficult to decide what letter grade to give!  And then how do I distinguish between them and...it's been a bit of a crap shoot so far.  I'm not sure I like them, but I can't think of a better way to go about it.

I've also tried to be more aware of linking to Amazon to purchase a book and to Goodreads to find more reviews and thoughts on it.  I'd love to start the practice I've noticed on other blogs where one links to other bloggers' reviews of the same book, but I'm not sure I'm quite that organised yet to start it!


And now on to two Friday memes that I've been wanting to participate in for weeks and finally am!


 

 This week's featured blogger is Alaskan Book Cafe who's a snarky outdoor lover with as many problems picking a favourite book as I have!  Go check her out! 

Q. It's that pesky magic book fairy again! She has another wish: What imaginary book world would you like to make a reality?

Such a difficult question!  I'm tempted to answer Harry Potter's world since it's just so well-drawn and magical, and I desperately (still!) want to go to Hogwarts!  But I think I'll have to go with an older book world - can't I have Narnia be real?  I've always wanted to crawl through my wardrobe and end in up in that magical land with Talking Beasts and Cair Paravel...

This Friday's Question:

Book Disappointments: Have you ever come across a book you were so stoked to read, but it failed miserably in your eyes?

 Haven't we all?  It's a very, very depressing fact of reading that sometimes the books we look forward to disappoint us utterly.
I'll choose three books that I read before starting this blog that left me colder than I'd hoped.  I'm sure these books have people who love and adore them, but for some reason, they were not for me.

Where I Belong
by Gwendolyn Heasley

I loved the idea of a fish out of water story - the New York socialite moving to rural Texas, but I couldn't connect at all with the rather spoiled main character of Corinne.

...and maybe as a slightly country (though Northern country) girl myself, I hate the implications about how New York is always so much better!

Die for Me
by Amy Plum

It's set in Paris!  About sisterly bonds!  There's a swoon-worthy love affair and scenes set in the sidewalk cafes that abound in the City of Lights.  How could I not love this book?

But I didn't.  And I'm still really quite sad over that.

 The Pickwick Papers
by Charles Dickens


Any Dickens really that's not Tale of Two Cities or Hard Times could go here, but Pickwick Papers disappointed me the most.  I tried to read it right after falling in love with the descriptions of it in Little Women, but...no.

Dickens is just too overly indulgent in his writing.  It turns about and about and never goes anywhere. To be fair, this is a problem I have with most 19 century male English or American novelist, but Dickens, oh Dickens, I want to love your work!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week - Book Blogs and Reading Habits

The Book Blogger Appreciation Week prompt for today is the following:

Book bloggers blog because we love reading. Has book blogging changed the way you read? Have you discovered books you never would have apart from book blogging? How has book blogging affected your book acquisition habits? Have you made new connections with other readers because of book blogging? Choose any one of these topics and share your thoughts today!

First off - say ‘book bloggers blog’ five times fast.  Or don’t because then your dog will look at you like you’re an utter idiot.  And of course, she’ll be right.

I don’t think my book blog has changed the way I read yet - except for the taking notes and trying to read more analytically instead of devouring books as quickly as possible.  So maybe the way I read has changed...

But book blogs have absolutely changed the way I read.  Before I started reading other people’s blogs, I usually started my library route at the adult fiction and maybe glanced through the new YA shelf but I didn’t really look for YA books beyond that.  Since I started reading great blog reviews, I began requesting my library purchase books or ordering them through interlibrary loan because I wanted to see what made these people I enjoyed reading enthuse so much.  And I can’t say I’ve been disappointed!  I haven’t always loved the books I read obviously, but I love reading them and feeling connected to this great community of bloggers!  So I guess, to sum up, book blogging has made me more willing to take advantage of the resources offered by my library system.

For book acquisition habits...oh yes, especially since I’ve started reading NetGalley arcs, I’ve been buying so many more YA books.  I love the covers and how they look on the shelf, and since I love to reread, I want all my favourites near me!  Plus when I enjoy an arc, I feel like it’s good practice to purchase the book and support the author.  I’ve also learned more about the way publishing works so I’ve been more apt to go buy a book during the release week to help the author get her numbers up.

There are so many books I’d’ve never read if I hadn’t seen a review.  The review hasn’t always had to be a glowing one, but sometimes even if people don’t enjoy the book, the way they describe it sounds so interesting that I want to pick it up.  Let’s see...Twenty Boy Summer, Divergent, Anna and the French Kiss, Entwined, Hourglass, Playing Hurt and so many more.  So many of my recent favourites I’ve discovered through blogs.

The book blogging community is so amazing, friendly, and welcoming!  It’s been a fantastic experience both reading and commenting on people’s blogs and then beginning to participate more fully in the community by starting my own and connecting that way.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week - Interview Time!

It's Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and in celebration, book bloggers all over the web are doing interviews to introduce other bloggers and get them out from 'behind the blog' so to speak.

I got paired up with the lovely and awesome Lynn from Bringing the Epic, and this was an inspired pairing because we got along like a house afire (even though real life kept getting in the way of the actual interview!).  I'm so happy I got to meet her and get to know her blog - especially since we share interests like sports, Vampire Academy, kick ass books like Playing Hurt, and lovely boys like Dimitri Belikov and Zachary Moore.  Possibly boys with accents too?

So below is a set of questions that Lynn answered.  The answers are awesome though the questions are admittedly dorky (I wrote them - except for the ones she wrote which aren't dorky at all, what do you expect?)

1. Favourite thing to do that's NOT reading/blogging/associated with books at all!
WRESTLING! WWE - Style!! I'm a trained wrestler but I also manage a wrestler or two as well!

2. There's a debate going on about sequels v standalones in YA lit - where do you fall and what are some of your favourites from each category?

OK. Contemporary books - I like Stand Alone's most of the time. Exception definitely being the Summer Series by Jenny Hahn. Elizabeth Scott is my "go-to" contemp author. I love everything she's written and I can always count on her books to pull me from a slump!! Paranormal Romance I want sequels for sure! The more swoon the better!! Shade/Shift/Shine by Jeri Smith Ready, the Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa and The Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray are among my faves!

3.  My new job (eeek) involves Youth Services at a library - what YA books should I absolutely make sure we have on hand and what do I tell the lady who does the ordering to justify it?

I think the titles really depend on the age of the youth! When I was younger I read books like "Sisters Long Ago" and "The Beast" - they were fun reads with lessons that I didn't really "notice" ya know? For the older kids I think definitely books like XVI by Julia Karr that show what our society is becoming and how you need to think for yourself to stay safe (IMO at least!)! I'd also recommend a book like Pegasus by Robin McKinley. It's huge, but there's a lot of history and tolerance that go with it! I'd also pick up spins on the classics like Prom and Prejudice and Epic Fail that are basically retellings of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice and the Russian Folklore of Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble!

4. Back atcha - What is you absolute favourite sport and why?

Track and Field! I love to run. I mean, I hate it when I'm thinking about having to do it and sometimes while I'm doing it, but there's no better feeling of self accomplishment when you're done! And it offers a lot of time to sort through your thoughts and kind of escape! I say "And Field" because I used to dabble in shot put, discus and high jump! They were mega fun!

5. Vampire Academy v. Bloodlines: DEATH MATCH...orrr just which you like better and why? (Dimitri is an acceptable answer!)

Lol! I haven't read Bloodlines yet but I can say without a doubt - Dimitri is the way to go, no if ands or buts about it!! DimitriFTW!

6. Why did you start blogging?  Is there anything you know now that you wish you could tell pre-blogging you?

Jen from Makeshift Bookmark has been my BFF for like, 13 years and she kept telling me to do it! And then she got her blogger friends to put the pressure on and I caved! SO glad I did! I would tell pre-blogging me that bookish people truly are the best people in the world and I needed to meet them as fast as I can!!

7.  You're stuck on a desert island and only can bring 5 books (series count as 1 cause I'm not mean).  Which five and why?1- Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray - The real world/Magic world that she creates helped me create an escape from reality, plus there's Kartik and Gemma and the SWOON. Holy cow.
2- The Vespertine and I would BEG Saundra Mitchell for an advanced copy of The Springsweet so I could have it on my island with me too! This book is my favorite book of the year. So beautiful!
3- Shatter Me by Taheereh Mafi because the beauty of her language would remind me to find the beauty of where I was, no matter how bad the situation could seem!
4- The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott so I could remember how awesome it is to crush and WIN! Woot!
5- The Jane Austen Complete Collection. Because where would I be as a woman or a hopeful author without Miss Austen?

8. Did you read as a kid?  What were your favourite books then?

I read Thumbelina by myself for the first time in Kindergarten! My mom used to curl up in bed with my sister and me and we would each pick like 3 books, we'd read all night! Then I (of course) became obsessed with Goosebumps and any kind of paranormal story. If it had ghosts or past selves in it, I was game! My other fave series wasn't Babysitters Club like so many, it was The Gymnast Series! I was in gymnastics for 7 years, so I looooved those!

9. Are you in school? What grade and how does reading/blogging effect that part of your life?

Unfortunately, I'm old. lol! No more school for me, although I could go back for a Masters degree... Now I read purely for the fun of it!

10:  Anything else we should know?

BOOKISH PEOPLE ARE THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! lol!

---

See how excellent Lynn is?  Go check out her blog at Bringing the Epic and enjoy her posts and reviews!  Thank you, Lynn for trading interviews with me!