TGIF (6)

TGIF @ GReads is a great way to meet new bloggers. Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be sure to pop over to your blog and follow you back!

This Friday's question:

Buy or Borrow: Where do your books that you read come from? The bookstore? The library? Do you prefer to own a book, or have it on loan?

 

I'm a buyer. Oh, sweet baby Moses, I'm not only a buyer but I am a hoarder. I buy and buy books ... and then they sit on my shelf, looking all pretty and shiny, but I keep buying and I can't read nearly as fast as my finger can hit the "ORDER" button on Amazon.

 

Amazon is my crack. Especially for hardbacks since they discount them so much. And paperbacks are usually 4-for-3, so I convince myself I need to get four so I can save money. Yeah. I have issues.

 

That's why I am currently in my room, surrounded by nearly 300 books (oh, and I have more than that in other rooms). It might sound like heaven, but I am rapidly running out of walking/sleeping space. Sigh.

TGIF (5)

TGIF @ GReads is a great way to meet new bloggers. Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be sure to pop over to your blog and follow you back!

This Friday's question:

Writing Reviews 101: What's your process for writing book reviews? 

Any tips or suggestions you would recommend to other bloggers?

Wanna know a secret? I'm a horrible procrastinator. I have a least ten reviews waiting to be written. I actually wrote four reviews the other night to force myself to catch up. Mostly the reviews I postpone are for books I either completely and totally adore or completely and totally didn't enjoy.


Can I just say I do not recommend my way of writing reviews? Don't do what I do. I often forget special, key moments I loved when reading, but neglect to add in my review. Then I'll read someone's review of the same book and they mention it, and I feel like an idiot. Or worse, if I'm not a fan of the book, I forget what I read. Then I have to dig out the book and skim it to remember what it was I wanted to say.

I hate writing negative reviews and shy away from them. But I also understand (and I hope others do, too) that this blog is simply my opinion on a book. It's not gospel. Just because I didn't enjoy a book doesn't mean it won't be your new favorite. I think if you are going to write a negative review, you need to justify why it didn't work for you. Don't just say, "I didn't like it." Why didn't you like it? And I also always try to throw in something I did like and maybe even a link to a positive review.

Positive reviews are hard for me because I can never verbalize what I feel internally. That warm, gooey feeling you get when a book is just perfect and lights your world on fire is so hard to put into words. And I feel like I get repetitive in my glowing reviews: "It was just awesome. It was epic. I loved it." Maybe it's just my hang ups.

TGIF (4)

TGIF @ GReads is a great way to meet new bloggers. Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be sure to pop over to your blog and follow you back!

This Friday's Question:

Aside from the normal work, sleep, eat, shower, etc.? I love to write. I have 3 original novels in progress, but I'm also a fan of fanfic writing. Truthfully I haven't been writing all that much lately, though.

I am obsessed with finding new music to fall in love with. Nothing excites me quite like finding a new song I can listen to on repeat 100 times. My tastes are very eclectic: rock, pop, country, rap, instrumental ... I have it all on my iPod.

I love baking and cooking for my family and hanging out with friends. I'm a huge TV fan and watch more than I really should. I also have more DVDs and TV shows on DVD than any one person should own. It's only rivaled in size by my book collection.

And lately I've been happily planning my trip to NYC in June 2012 for BEA! Anyone else going?

What about you? Leave me a link so I can swing by your blog!

When You're Not Reading:

What occupies your time when your nose

isn't stuck in a book?

TGIF (3)

TGIF @ GReads is a great way to meet new bloggers. Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be sure to pop over to your blog and follow you back!

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? 

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Sadly this is the disappointing reality of avid readers (like me). Most recently, a book that horribly disappointed me was Tris and Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison, and I said as much in my review. I'm a huge fan of Arthurian legend, and Tristan and Iseult have this amazing story, which I felt was botched horribly in this adaptation.

Another one that fell flat for me was Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice. Her adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was just ... wrong. The characters were unbelievable and the plot so contrived. I get that it's a remake, but I felt she never owned her own characters. They got stuck in this weird limbo of being original and carbon copies of their predecessors.

TGIF (2)

TGIF @ GReads is a great way to meet new bloggers. Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be sure to pop over to your blog and follow you back!

This Friday's Question:

The Reviews We Don't Write: 

Have you ever read a book and not wanted to review it? Are some books too personal that we want to keep our thoughts our own? 

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I don't know about them being too personal, because if I can truly connect with a book on an emotion level, then I simply must tell the world about it. The best book is one that can evoke a physical reaction - laughing out loud, crying, throwing the book, etc. I go into every read praying this book is next book that will make me feel.

There are, however, books I hesitate to review. This is typically because I cannot connect with them or flat out don't like them. I recognize the hard work that goes into each and every book, which is why I hate to give a negative review. I know I am essentially saying I don't appreciate the years of sweat and tears someone poured into this work, and that just makes me feel bad.

For example, I am currently reading a book (no, I won't tell you which one as I read several at a time) that feels like a wicked hangover. Ever gone out, gotten wasted, and then woke up the next morning not sure how you got into your own bed? That's this book. I'm pretty sure there's a good time somewhere in it, but there are so many jumps and holes in the story, I can't get a clear picture. It's jumbled and confusing and I'm only praying it gets better.

TGIF (1)

TGIF @ GReads is a great way to meet new bloggers. Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be sure to pop over to your blog and follow you back!

This Friday's Question:

Author Block Party: 

If you could gather a handful of authors to hang out with, 

who would you choose?

 

Such a fun question. Off the top of my head, I would select Richelle Mead (author of The Vampire Academy series and upcoming Bloodlines), Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder series), Rachel Vincent (Soul Screamers series), Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire series), and Andrea Cremer (Nightshade series) for an old fashioned cookout. I adore these women for the strong characters they write and their seamless storytelling. I would love to pick their brains about their inspirations ... and what the future holds for my favorite characters, of course!