Friday Book Blogger Hop - August 26, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it? Well, it's a way for bloggers and readers to find each other. You write a little post about the subject of the week; link it up, THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

“Non-book-related this week!! Do you have pets?”

We have an adorable Chinese dwarf hamster named Gru-Gru (the pic is not him, but this is what he looks like):

The story behind the name:  When I brought Gru-Gru home as a surprise for Bebe Boy James, I asked him what he wanted to name him.  I repeated what I THOUGHT he said.  He said, "No; I wanted to call him Pilgrim, but I like the Gru-Gru better!"  So .. that's how he was named.


How about you?  If you have your own Hop post, please feel free to leave a link in the comments; I'd love to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop (on Saturday!) - July 23, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

It's going up late, but since I spent most of yesterday and all of last night in the hospital (I wish I knew where that little kid on the bike who ran into me and gave me the large seven-stitch gash that ended up in cellulitis lived so his family could pay these hospital bills!), it's going up today.

What is it?  Well, it's a way for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

 "What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?"

This is easy - romance.  Most are too sappy/cheesy/saccharine or too bodice-rippery (yes, I just made up my own word)/graphic for me.  I like a story that includes romance, but as a general rule, romances alone just don't bake my cookies.

What about you?   If you have your own Hop post, please feel free to leave a link in the comments; I'd love to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - July 1, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?"

If you visit regularly, you will notice that I very rarely give two star reviews, and only once or twice have I ever given a book one star.  Here is the one and only reason why:

1.  There are far too many books around that I would enjoy for me to force myself to continue to read a book that I really don't like.  That goes for review books as well as personal books.  I have a general 50-page (sometimes I'll push it to 75 pages) rule - if I'm not drawn in at least a little bit by then, that book can wait until a day when I have nothing.else.to.read (which, if you were to look at my TBR bookshelf, will probably never happen).


Every now and then, I will keep reading a book that I don't like very much simply because "everyone" else seems to like it, and I think, "Well, maybe it will get better".  Most of the time it doesn't get better for me, and I'm left wondering "Why?  Well, THAT was a wasted (insert amount of hours read) of my life."


Here's what will make me put a book down almost right away:

Horrible/no editing, (in a finished book; I expect to see some of these in an ARC) - Typos, tons of grammatical errors, abrupt transitions with no explanation

Very explicit sex scenes (that's just my personal taste-if I wanted that, I would grab up some erotica.). 


A story that isn't cohesive or that reads in a highly confusing manner .. if it meanders a lot without coming back to tie things together, or if it's too "metaphysical", I put it down.  (see my one and only reason above)


What keeps me reading:


Characters that I care about

A cohesive plotline (that doesn't mean that it has to be a linear plotline)

Wonderful language (as long as it's backed up by a good story)

That undefined "something" that it's difficult for a reader to put into words -  the "I have to know what happens next" feeling - that "Just a few more chapters - sleep can wait" feeling  .. you all know that feeling.

********************************************************

I am the type of reader who likes a good story; I want to feel for the characters (or at least one or two of them).  I want to be INTERESTED in what happens to them.  I'm an "escapist" reader - the more absorbing, the better.

What about you?  If you have your own Hop post, please feel free to leave a link in the comments; I'd love to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - April 15, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

 "Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her."

I'm going with Kat from Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis (The Book Depository / Amazon):

This feisty heroine is just my cup of tea.  A young girl who refuses to buckle to convention, and isn't scared to stand up for herself.  When we meet her, she is just being foiled in her plot to go to the city dressed as a boy to save her sister from a loveless marriage.  My review is scheduled to go up tomorrow; trust me, if you like magical adventures, you want to read this one!

What about you?  If you have your own Hop post, please feel free to leave a link in the comments; I'd love to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - April 2, 2011

It's that time again!  Well, actually, I'm a day late!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books! 

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

 "Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?"

Actually, I don't think I've ever really played a good April Fool's trick on anyone.  I vaguely remember putting salt instead of sugar into my mother's morning cup of coffee, and, believe me, it didn't inspire laughter.  I'm pretty certain I'm lucky my mom didn't send me out into the yard to get a switch! :)


I will tell you about the dumbest April Fool's trick I've heard of recently.  Yesterday, one of our city employees at City Hall called her boyfriend at home, told him she heard gunshots, and that she was hiding under her desk.  Naturally, he called the police with this information.  SWAT, fire, EMT's, and police show up at City Hall.  I think she's still in jail this morning.

What about you?  I'm sure that there have been some cool tricks played, and I need a giggle or two this weekend!    If you have your own Hop post, please feel free to leave a link in the comments; I'd love to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - March 25, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?"

Mine would be Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street series .. not only is there a great knitting shop in a small town, but there are wonderful people that I would love to have as my neighbors.  I think it's funny in a way, since these books are nothing like most of the books I review, they're my "just for fun" type of reads!

What about you?   If you have your own Hop post, please feel free to leave a link in the comments; I'd love to visit!

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Friday Book Blogger Hop - March 4, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

 "Who's your all-time favorite book villain?"

Wow; I'm going to have to think on this one .. NOT!!  Hannibal Lector, from Silence of the Lambs, most definitely.  The movie is one of my all-time favorites, and this is one of the few cases where I actually saw the movie before I read the book.  In the movie, Lector is creepy and smart, and in the book, he is creepy, smart, AND much more multi-dimensional.  

I know, I'm an odd duck.

What about you?  Who's YOUR favorite book villain?  If you have your own Hop post, please feel free to leave a link in the comments; I'd love to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - February 18, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What book(s) would you like to see turned into a movie?"

This one's easy; I just reviewed Delirium by Lauren Oliver (Review Link) - The first thought both my Not-So-Bebe-Girl Autumn and I had was that it would make an excellent movie. 

 
Another that would be a good movie is Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West (Review Link).

Feel free to leave a link to YOUR Hop post in the comments section; I'd be happy to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - February 4, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What are you reading now and why are you reading it?"

Well, that's a loaded question, as it seems that I'm in the middle of quite a few books right now.  I'm actually on a year-long readalong of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.  I've also promised myself to keep at least one classic on my reading pile (in this case, it's a Kindle edition) - currently I'm reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  I'm also reading an eBook edition of The Dreamseller: The Calling by Augusto Cury for review.  And for my hard copy, I'm reading The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers. 

How about you?  Please feel free to comment with what you're currently reading or  leave a link to your Friday Hop post - I'd love to visit!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - January 14, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

Why do you read the genre that you do?  What draws you to it?

Well, I read a LOT of different genres.  What draws me to a particular title might simply be escapism - getting caught up in a tale that takes me to another time and/or place.  Sometimes it's to learn - maybe there is something or someone or someplace that I'd like to know more about.   Sometimes it's a mixture of the two - in the case of many historical fiction novels, I'm taken away to a different time or place AND I learn something I didn't know before about that time or place.

What about you?  Feel free to leave your answer or a link to your own post in the comments!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - December 17, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?"

Oh, that's difficult.  I'm thinking that it would have to be the plot, though.  It doesn't matter how great a particular character might seem if there's no storyline to back him or her up.

Feel free to leave a link to your Friday Book Blogger Hop in your post!

Friday Book Blogger Hop -December 10, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What is the thing you like most about reading book blogs?  Is it the reviews, author guest posts, articles, giveaways, or something else entirely?"

This is a great question.  For me, I usually feel like the "odd duck out" because I'm not much for movies and TV, but I'm always reading.  I like book blogs because they introduce me to authors and books that I might not have known about otherwise, whether it's through a guest post, article, or any of the above.  I think I enjoy reviews most; I like seeing how different regular readers describe the same books, and I love the different styles.  I've made quite a few online friends through this blogging business, and I like the sense of community.

That's a long answer, but it could have been longer.  I'm glad I sort of stumbled into book blogging in particular.  :)

Feel free to leave a link to your Friday Book Blogger Hop in your post!

New Year's Reading Resolutions Blog Hop! Coming Soon!

Candace from Candace's Book Blog, Lori from Pure Imagination, and Angela from Reading Angel are hosting a New Years Reading Resolution Giveaway Hop!  Bloggers, fill out the signup form for more information!  Readers, please check back on January 3-9 for some awesome book-related giveaways throughout the book blogosphere! 

Here's what Candace has to say:

We're hoping a ton of bloggers will sign up. 

Here's how it works: 

 
On January 3-9 everyone will host a giveaway on their blogs with book or book related items.

You can give away anything you want, worth as much as you want, as long as it's book or book related.

We will provide a link list of all the blogs and people will be able to hop around and enter a bunch of giveaways all week long.

So sign up and join me in the fun!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - December 3, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

Oh!  I can hear the intakes of breath now!  It's not that I didn't LIKE The Passage; it's that I didn't LOVE it.  I expected epic; I got .. OK.  I have not posted a review, although I do still have it in my pile of reviews to be posted.  When I DO post a review, I'll definitely admit my disappointment.  Maybe it's not a great idea to expect a LOT based on other reviews, but a LOT is what I expected, and I DID get a lot of pages, but not one character that I cared about, except for one that disappeared near the beginning of the novel.

How about you?  Is there a book that you waited with bated breath to read based on everyone else's reviews, only to finally sit down with it and say to yourself, "That's it?  I don't get the fuss."

Feel free to leave a link to your Friday Book Blogger Hop in your post!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - November 26, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

 "What is your favorite book cover?" 

I looked through my piles, and honestly, right now, out of my current covers, this is my favorite:  Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce.  For some reason, the blue in the dress combined with the red in the leaves and hair on that backdrop is beautiful.

How about you?  Do you have a cover that you like best?  Feel free to leave a link to your Friday Book Blogger Hop in your post!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - November 19, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"Since Thanksgiving is coming up next week, let's use this week's Hop to share what we are most thankful for and what our holiday traditions are!"

I'm thankful that I live in the United States, where, even with ALL of our problems, I can complain about them without fear of retribution, and where even many of us who are struggling are still doing better than over 90% of the rest of the world's population.

I'm thankful for the health and intelligence of my children.  I've raised two wonderful, contributing society members to adulthood and am well on the path to sending two more contributing members into the world.

I'm thankful that the Creator gives me just what I need, when I need it.  No matter how difficult things get, we always have enough food to eat and enough money to keep our essentials going.

I'm thankful for the fact that I was able to spend so much good time with one of my best friends.  Although she will not be with me much longer, due to a battle with cancer, I was fortunate enough to find a true-blue friend who helped me raise my Bebe Boy James and was always there to listen to my rants.  It is so hard as adults to find good girlfriends, and she has been a blessing in my life.

My Thanksgiving tradition is:  I cook ... a LOT of food .. and desserts .. I start a week or more in advance, baking and freezing pies and cookies.  Then people come over to eat, and they bring other people who may not have anyplace to be on Thanksgiving.  Then they eat some more.  Then they all take plates and eventually leave.  Then I clean .. some ... then I usually look around and say ,"It will all still be here tomorrow; I'm going to sit on my duff and read a book or watch a movie or play a game with the kids." .. then I do.

How about you?  What are you most grateful for this year?  Feel free to leave a comment or a link to your own Hop post in the comments.

Friday Book Blogger Hop (Saturday, November 12, 2010)

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"If you find a book that looks interesting but is part of a series, do you always start with the first title?"

My answer:  Probably no.  I always TRY to start with the first book in a series, but there have been some that I read "out of order".  I'm kind of weird in a way; if I like the book I just read, I'll go back and buy the series, but if the book doesn't stand well on it's own, I feel kind of 'cheated', and will not spend my book-buying dollars on the other(s).

What about you?  Feel free to leave an answer or a link to your Book Blogger Hop post in your comment!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - November 5, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What are your feelings on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?"

Well, I'm always surprised that I HAVE followers, and that the amount increases slowly but surely.  If I lose followers (a lot, all at once), I guess it would bother me.  But I know that I have a difficult time "really" following all of the blogs that I have in my reader.  If someone continually posts things that I'm personally not interested in, I have stopped following.  But, since I only follow blogs with content I'm actually interested in, this happens few and far between.  MY problem is that there are so many good blogs out there, with so much information and such great reviews, that I can't find enough time to visit them all and let them know SOMEone is reading what they have to say!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - October 29, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost?"

I would love to have a wall of built-in bookshelves, made out of hardwood with rich, deep cherry finish.  My current bookshelves are flimsy at best, and even though I gift and swap a lot of books, I still have a double row of books in each shelf (one in the front, one in the back).  It would be great to have enough space to organize them and simply be able to look at the spines and pull one out, instead of pulling out a whole pile to find one in the back!

How about you?  Leave a link to your post or simply leave a comment with your answer.  Happy Hopping!

Friday Book Blogger Hop - October 22, 2010

It's that time again!  Time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books!

What is it?  Well, it's a way to for bloggers and readers to find each other.  You write a little post about the subject of the week and link it up.  THEN (and this is the important part), you hit a few of the other linked up blogs (take your time; you can spread it throughout the weekend), visit, comment, follow if you like what you see, and make new friends.

Each week, to encourage participation, we get to answer a different question.  This week's question is:

"Where is your favorite place to read? Curled up on the sofa, in bed, in the garden?"

For me, this changes with the season.  During the cold months (which are many here in Ohio), my favorite place to read is curled up on the couch, with a cuppa java nearby.  I'm a big believer in bedrooms being for sleep only, so I don't read in bed, but sometimes my couch BECOMES a bed when I fall asleep trying to make myself stay awake for "just one more page" or "just one more chapter"!  :)

During the summer, I love going to a park and reading on a bench or on the grass while Bebe Boy James plays with his friends on his Shred Sled, roller blades, bike, playing ball, whatever floats his bubble that day.

How about you?  Leave a link to your blog hop post in the comments or simply leave your answer to the question!   Happy hopping!