Feature & Follow – #136 (2/15/13)

Increase Blog Followers, gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

This week we have an activity: Write a letter to your favorite character. Rant, rave or gush…just pretend like they are real and you just want to let them know a “few things”. – Activity courtesy of author, Kelly Walker.

I always have such problems deciding my “favorite character.” So I wrote to Lex from Croak by Gina Damico since I just finished that book.

Dear Lex,

First of all, fist bump of awesomeness for not turning evil. I don’t know if I’d be as strong as you if given the same choice. Some people just need killing, ya know? The world would be a better place without some of them. Sorry about that. You probably don’t need to hear that right now. I support your choices, girl. Secondly, I’m sorry about your sister. That sucks. Was obviously going to happen but sucks anyway. All I have is a mangy brother but I’d still be sad if he got killed because of me. So, sorry about that.

Also, it was obviously Zara! It was so obviously Zara it might as well have been tattooed on her forehead. But I guess hindsight is always 20/20. The Junior Grims all have such crappy pasts that someone was bound to snap before too long. You should probably get a therapist in there to talk to them. Pass that suggestion on to your uncle for me. Those kids need to talk it out or something. Also, why don’t you find it insanely creepy that Driggs fell in love with you from pictures? I guess it does say something that he still professes to love you after meeting you and all that unlawful reaping shit that went down. Any other guy would probably be running for the hills by now. It’s still creepy, though. Sorry.

But, hey! Reaper powers! That’s awesome at least. Being able to scythe from place to place and all that. You’re providing a valuable service for the living. So, thanks. You’re going to be busy hunting down Zara and all that but it’s still pretty cool. I’m still kind of wondering why your twin sister didn’t have the same powers as you though. Sorry. Cordy is probably a touchy subject. I think your Dad knows what’s up though. You might want to talk to him to see what he knows.

Anyway, sorry about your sister and being betrayed by Zara. Say hi to the other Junior Grims for me. I’m serious about that therapy suggestion. I think Elysia might be huffing the ether in the afterlife atrium, if you get my meaning. Nobody is that happy without medical assistance.

Good luck! Don’t get killed.
Patricia @ Lady with Books

Happy Friday everybody!

Feature & Follow: 2/1/13

Increase Blog Followers, gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs.

This week’s question is: What is the first thing you would do if you woke up to find yourself in your favorite book?

Panic. Panic and find somewhere to hide. As book lovers we get asked this question a lot and it always confuses me. Why would I want to be in any book? Books are interesting because they are full of danger and conflict and strife and honestly I’d probably start crying like a baby if I found myself in the middle of Harry Potter or The Hunger Games or something. All my favorite books have heroes and heroines that almost die and I try to stay away from anything that might end up with the same results. I like breathing and living and I’m very attached to all my body parts. Thank you.

There are a couple books where I’d probably go around slapping some sense into people. Characters can be dumb sometimes. Most of them need a good kick in the pants. Common sense is severely lacking in book characters. I could become the fairy of good judgment and ass kicking.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Feature & Follow – #123 (11/16/12)

Increase Blog Followers, gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow!

Welcome to Feature & Follow!

Our question this week is: Books are turned into movies all the time! Turn it around. What movie would make a great book?

I’m going to mess this up and come up with a movie that is already a book and I was just too dumb to know it. I know a lot of movies have their own books. It’s like a packaged deal now. When the Star Trek 2009 Reboot movie came out a tie-in book was also put out that was just different enough from the movie to be interesting. It included several scenes and facts that had been cut from the movie. Like Admiral Archer’s dog, that Scotty lost with his beaming experiments, being rematerialized at the end. (I’m a geek. You wouldn’t know what I’m talking about if you weren’t obsessed with the movie. Sorry.) But, what I’m saying is that there are books that were written to be tie-ins to popular movies. 

I’m rambling. I’ve like to see Labyrinth turned into a proper book. (What? I have a think for 80’s fantasy movies!) I know there is a manga comic series set after the movie but I’d like to see a properly written book for Labyrinth. I wish The Avengers movie had a book tie-in. (I’m obsessed with Iron Man. Hush.) The Pirates of the Caribbean needs to be a book. I can just imagine someone trying to write Johnny Depp’s crazy. 

So much glitter…

The Grimm and Once Upon a Time TV series would make awesome book series. When my brother was a teen he was addicted to Star Trek books. They were like a valid form of fanfiction before fanfiction took over the internet. When I got older, I read them too. My best summers in high school were spent reading book after book of Star Trek. Good times, good times. (Yes, my geek badge is firmly attached to my forehead. Thank you.)

Other movies -

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Season of the Witch

Burlesque

Inception (It would be an awesome book. Shut up.)

The King’s Speech (I’m pretty sure this is a book but whatever.)

Salt

Megamind

Avatar

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

9

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Feature & Follow – # 109

I got a cold earlier this week. By Wednesday it felt like I was swallowing glass. I felt a bit better on Thursday but today I’m on phones all day long and a lot of talking still makes me cough. I’m tired and cranky and congested and I hate the universe and I just want to go home and sleep. It’s a not really great Friday and time for the Feature and Follow. (Because I’m a dedicated book blogger, darn it, and I will post even while sick!)

Our question this week is: What would you do over if you were to start your blog again from scratch?

For some reason I got it in my head that I didn’t really like Blogger, the blog platform hosted by Google, and switched my personal blog over to WordPress sometime early last year. So when I had my idea for a book blog last June, I put it up on WordPress. Now that I’ve had a chance to really use WordPress and tinker, I wish I’d stayed with Blogger. Don’t get me wrong! WordPress is fine. But it’s not as flexible as Blogger and not being able to use Java Script on the blog is really beginning to piss me off. I see a lot more Blogger hosted blogs than I see WordPress hosted blogs.

I know what you’re thinking. Why don’t I just export/import my blog over to Blogger? God, I wish it was as easy as that! But that never works 100% correctly and the thought of going back over a year’s worth of posts and fixing all those little mistakes makes my soul shudder. And I would have to fix all those little mistakes because I’m a perfectionist and leaving it messed up would drive me slowly insane. I thought about moving from the free WordPress site to the paid hosting but I’m pretty sure you have to download an editor then and that means I wouldn’t be able to post from work because there is no way IT would let me keep a blog editor on my computer and about 99% of my blogging gets done at work. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.

What do you think I should do? Should I just bite the bullet and move to Blogger, knowing it would take me forever to fix everything? Is there another option? I’d really hate to have to spend money for hosting on a third party site and I’m not very tech savvy. Where do you host your blog?

Feature & Follow – # 108

Friday! How I missed you so! And now for Parajunkee and Alison Can Read’s Feature & Follow blog hop!

Our question this week is: Do your reading habits change based on your mood? Do you read a certain genre if you are feeling depressed or happy?

Not that I’ve noticed. At least not habits based on my moods. I do tend to read a genre until I exhaust it, like when I read several Arthurian legend books one after another. Around October I do tend to read more witchy and spooky books just to get into the Halloween spirit and around December I might go for more sappy Christmas stories. I do tend to have ups and downs in my reading habits. There are some weeks where I just can’t seem to get the motivation to read anything or take forever to read a book for no apparent reason. (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, I’m looking at you.) Then there are times where I race through book after book like my life depended upon it. I don’t know if that counts as a mood. I think I might just be lazy. Knowing me, I’d vote for lazy.

Feature & Follow – #106

It’s my 1 year blog anniversary and in celebration I’m holding a raffle for a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card. To enter, stop by this post and fill out the form and be sure to include the method you follow me and the username you followed me with if different from log in. I will announce the winner on Monday! For now, it’s Friday and it’s time for Feature and Follow.

Our question this week is: Christmas in July! Someone gives you a gift card for two books (whatever that costs). What two books will you buy?

Well, first I’d buy my current favorite, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. Does the book have to be out now? Because I’d probably wait and buy the squeal, Girl of Nightmares, when it comes out in August. That’s only a couple weeks away. I’m patient. I can wait to buy both at once. If I couldn’t wait, I’d probably get another of Judika Illes’ books. I have several by her and they are all stupidly useful. They keep me from having to sort through multiple books to find a piece of information. I’d probably go for The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World. I like witchy books. I rarely ever buy books, so I’m perfectly willing to just get them from the library. I buy my favorites and any witchy books since I tend to write in them, but otherwise I just use the library. I’m cheap. I know; the horror. If I was independently wealthy I’d buy all the books but since I live alone and work an office job that is not going to happen. Woe is me.

Feature & Follow – #105

I’ve been a bit of a lazy good for nothing the last two weeks. After the Wicked Wildfire Readathon I could feel several synapses in my brain break and then the regular receptionist took the week of the 4th off and I had to do phones and that just means I hated the universe for the duration. I hate phones. In other words, I needed a moment to clear my head. I need to write two book reviews, as I was still reading during this period, but that’s next week. For now, I thought I’d participate in Parajunkee and Alison Can Read’s Feature & Follow for some fun. Thank god it’s Friday.

Our question this week is: What drove you to start book blogging in the first place?

It was a whim. I have a lot of whims. They usually last for a few months to a year and then I have a new whim. It’s a vicious cycle. (Speaking of which, my one year anniversary is on July 18th. I should do something. I think I’ll hold a raffle or something. Yeah, check back here on Wednesday.) I’ve always had an online journal that I posted my writing to and then I broke off a different journal for my personal ramblings. I’ve been blogging in some form for over 15 years now, mostly in fandom for various books, movies, and TV shows I’m obsessed with. (I have a very obsessive personality. I will fixate on something until I exhausted it.) About two years ago I helped with a news blog, sort of a witty sarcastic thing that got old fast for me. I loved blogging but I had trouble focusing my attention. Then I hit upon book blogs and found another whim.

I’d always loved to read. I’ve always loved to blog. Bingo was his name-o, book blog. And it’s been one long trip in a hand-basket ever since. To tell the truth, I didn’t realize that the book blogging community was so effing huge. I might have been a little more intimidated if I had known just how many book blogs there were. I’m sure I’ll never stack up to them. Some blog are gorgeous things and I shudder to think about the amount of money some of you must sink into your blogs. I don’t have the cash for that. I’m cheap. And I have no art skills and no desire to figure out a computer art program. I can just about half-ass PhotoShop and that’s it. But I like the sheer amount of information book bloggers pass to their readers and I’ve made a couple friends alone the way. Not bad for a whim, if I do say so myself.

Feature & Follow – Pick your cast!

I have a bagel. My Boss has a habit of bringing in bagels on special occasions and the Friday before Memorial Day apparently counts as a special occasion. You cannot buy my love with bagels! You can rent it for a while. But not buy it! Mostly this means I’m not plotting anyone’s bloody death at the moment. The power of bagels. Be in awe. And, now it’s time for Parajunkee and Alison Can Read’s Feature and Follow!

This week: Activity! Dream cast your current read.

Oh, I suck at this. I don’t know anything about actors! I’m currently reading Witch Catcher by Mary Downing Hahn. I’m about half way through it, so I think I’ve seen all the characters.

Elle Fanning as Jen, the main character.

Jodelle Ferland as the fairy Kieryn.

Catherine Zeta-Jones as the evil witch Moura.

There is Jen’s father and the evil guy who’s name I can’t remember. I’m thinking Paul Bettany for either, really. And that’s only because I like his voice. Did you know he’s the voice of Jarvis on the Iron Man movies? Ginger’s have no souls, you know? (smiles creepily) [They have no souls because I stole them all and keep them in little glass jars on my windowsil.] {I should probably get some sleep.}

Feature & Follow – Vacation Reading?

What would I do without book memes? Never post anything probably. I don’t know how I’m going to get through the day. I have like 5 hours of sleep and I feel like a zombie. I’m going to be useless at work. But, it is Friday! All we have to do is get through today and we’re home free. Plus, it means that today we have the Feature & Follow hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

Our question for this week is: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

I’m sorry to say that if I went anywhere on vacation, that reading would probably be the last thing on my mind. I travel so rarely and I have so many places I want to visit that if I did manage to get myself to one of them then I’d be too busy exploring to read. Even if I had just gone to the park or a coffee shop, I’d most likely end up people watching rather than reading. People are endlessly fascinating to me, even if it is sometimes like watching a car wreck. I’m more likely to read sitting on my sofa or out on my deck. I distract easily. Going somewhere to read is counterproductive for me.

As for where I would go? Europe. I’m sure people who actually live in Europe find it nothing special but I want to go to Europe so bad. (I have nobody to go with, even if I did empty my savings account to pay for it. Which I would do in a heartbeat if I had someone to go with!) I want to go to France and Spain and the United Kingdom and Italy and Greece. How about I just start in Scotland and work my way down in a zig-zag pattern? (I also want to go to Egypt, India, China, and Japan.) Ugh! I don’t even travel within the United States and that’s just pathetic.

Feature & Follow – Bad Reviews?

Yay! It’s Friday! And Easter weekend. Any reason to massacre a chocolate bunny. Peeps, however, are evil. Nothing that color should be considered food. But, it’s also time for Feature & Follow over at Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. If you are hopping through, I’ve rearranged some things and all of the follow options should now be over on the left sidebar. I think. I hope so anyway.

Our question for this week is: Have you ever bought a book BECAUSE of a bad review?

Ah, I know where this question came from. Parajunkee just did one of her Book Blogging 101 posts (which I adore) and an asker was asking how to handle authors who get upset at bad reviews or seem to be trying to buy a good review from a blogger by giving them extra little “gifts” or what have you. Not something I’ve ever had to deal with since I’m really new at book blogging (well, newish) and I’m very hesitant to reach out and contact authors and publishers for just these reasons. I’d feel horrible if I was given an ARC and ended up hating it. It just seems like a big hassle and I’d rather just keep reviewing books that I’ve chosen. I don’t want to open that can of worms because I’ve heard some real horror stories from other book bloggers. (This is supposed to be fun, people. Stop making book blogging harder than it has to be.)

I can’t remember specifically if I’ve gotten a book because of a bad review but I probably would if it seemed like something I might enjoy or if I felt the reviewer didn’t like the book because of a reason I find ridiculous. I’ve read reviews from bloggers where the genre really wasn’t their thing and the review was lukewarm because of that and still gotten the book because it was a genre I liked. Not everyone is going to like the same book just because a reviewer gives a good review. I’ve hated books that had good reviews from other bloggers. A bad review might make me avoid a book if it listed some of the same dislikes that put me off books, like being slow or needlessly complex just to look impressive. I also avoid books where the reviews even elude to irritating main female characters. Nothing makes me hate a book quicker than some annoying girl in the lead spot. (Yes, I’m a girl. Most of the real life girls I know bug me too.)