Feature & Follow (July 13) – Why I Started Blogging

Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

If you’re here for the first time, I’d love if you could follow via email, RSS, LinkyFollowers or Networked Blogs. Just let me know your follow method of choice in the comments, and I’ll be happy to return the favor.

And if you’re not new, welcome back! Repeat visitors rock my world.

Today’s question is simple:

What started you Blogging?

As you’re probably aware, I haven’t been book blogging all that long. I started this blog at the end of March, a scant 3.5 months ago. I have, however, run a personal blog for years, the content of which was ravenously consumed by members of my immediate family. They wanted to read about my kids, and I provided oodles of info on that subject, and they were appeased.

Yes, I still write that blog. No, I’m not going to tell you where to find it. Sorry.

But I’m assuming this question is referring to book blogging. So as far as that goes, I started this blog for several reasons:

1) I was consuming too much television and felt my brain turning to mush (even though I watch awesome television). And I was all like, “Hey, self, remember when you used to read all the time and be semi-intelligent? How’s about you start that up again?”

“In my day, television was called books.

Name that movie.

2) I feared that if I simply made the resolution “I’m going to read more” without any accountability, I wouldn’t read more. So I set up a blog. Voilà, accountability!

It’s the same reason I got a running partner. But the problem there is that she is about as motivated to run as I am, so on our most recently scheduled running day, we went to go see Spider-Man and I ate almost an entire bucket of popcorn. But it’s okay, because Spider-Man rocked my world almost as much as repeat visitors.

3) Most books I read are not the same books my husband or friends read. And I always wanted to talk about books when I finished reading, and was always disappointed that I didn’t have anyone to discuss them with. I thought writing reviews would be a good way to get all my thoughts out into the world, and then maybe people would even read them and we could talk about them. But even if no one read them, just the act of writing helped me process my thoughts about a book.

4) I would be lying if I didn’t admit there was a bit of a draw in the idea that if I actually could dredge up some readers, publicists might want to send me advance copies of books I really wanted to read. For free. Before they were released.

No, I didn’t start the blog “for the ARCs,” but if you don’t see the appeal in the idea of being able to read a highly-anticipated book before release, then you must have that crazy thing called “patience” that I’ve heard about but never really possessed. And I envy you.

 **********************

So there you go. That’s why I got started.

Of course, if you wanted to ask why I’m still blogging — yes, a whopping 3.5 months later — the answer would be slightly different. It would involve the awesome bookish community, the great bloggers and authors I’ve met (either in person or online), the way it’s gotten my creative juices flowing, the way it’s inspired me to come out of my shell and share more of my passions than just reading (like So You Think You Can Dance. And comic book superheroes. And other things that may or may not be just as nerdy).

But you didn’t ask that. So I won’t tell you.

Feature & Follow Friday (July 6) – Jumping Genres

Welcome to Feature & Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

I’m going to make it short and sweet this week, because we’ve got the makings of an awesome storm outside (please rain, oh please oh please oh please. Our poor straw-like grass is thirsty) and our power keeps flickering.

And Bly “flickering,” I mean it flickered, then turned off for half an hour while my kids FREAKED OUT and my 3-year-old asked if our apartment was going to flood and we were all going to die. Never mind that it’s not even raining yet.

So this is going to be short and sweet.

If you are new to my blog, I’d love it if you would follow via LinkyFollowers, Networked Blogs, email or RSS. If you let me know that you’re following in the comments, I’ll return the favor!

This week’s question:

Jumping Genres: Ever pick up a book from a genre you usually don’t like and LOVE it? Tell us about it and why you picked it up in the first place.

Okay, I know I mention this book a lot, but I’m going to go with Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. While there is a tiny amount of sci-fi thrown in because of the time travel element, it is mostly a mashup of romance and historical fiction — neither of which are genres I frequent. Oh, I love a sprinkle of romance in my books, to be sure, but I pretty much never, ever read straight-up romances, especially not steamy ones. And Outlander has plenty of steam, and history, and I love it bunches.

I picked it up based entirely on 2 factors:

1) The kindle version was free on Amazon (sadly, that is no longer the case).

2) A good friend recommended it to me, and I place unwavering trust in her recommendations.

I still can’t say I dabble regularly in historical fiction or romance, but I’ve revisited this book several times since my initial read, and if it’s even possible, I love it more every time.

Time to go shut down my computer and possibly huddle in the dark.

Don’t worry. We have Pop Tarts, so I think we’ll survive the night.

Feature & Follow (June 29) – Birthday Character Surprise

Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

If you’re new to my blog, welcome! I’d love it if you could follow via one of the options in my sidebar (LinkyFollowers, Networked Blogs, email or RSS). Be sure to let me know your follow method in the comments so I can return the favor!

I’ve also got a snazzy button you can grab. If you wanted to put it on your blog, that’d be groovy.

Today’s question is:

Q: Birthday Wishes — Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your cake…who is it and what book are they from??

Again, I need to point out that I am an adult who reads YA. Most characters in the books I read are teenagers. It would semi creepy for me to request that a teenager pop out of my cake, because…yeah.

Although really, it would be weird for me to request anyone to jump out of my cake, because I’m happily married with small kids, and I don’t know many married people with kids who like people jumping out of their birthday cakes.

But that is a super-boring answer. So let’s just put that aside for a moment.

Also, comics are kinda like books, right?

Sooooo…

I pick Hawkeye. Who will be shooting arrows (preferably not at me). So there.

[P.S. This question is oddly appropriate, because the 29th is my brother’s birthday. And although I’m assuming he would not want Hawkeye jumping out of his cake, I am still wishing him a happy birthday. So happy birthday bro!]

Feature & Follow (June 22) – Book I’d “Unread”

Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

If you’re new to my blog, welcome! I’d love it if you could follow via one of the options in my sidebar (LinkyFollowers, Networked Blogs, email or RSS). Be sure to let me know your follow method in the comments so I can return the favor!

I’ve also got a snazzy button you can grab. If you wanted to put it on your blog, that’d be groovy.

Today’s question is:

If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

Okay, this question was oddly hard for me. I started to approach it from the “book that was so bad I’d want to unread it” angle, but honestly, I’m pretty picky in what I read. I don’t read a lot of bad books. And those I do read are not so bad that I completely regret the time I spent reading them. Normally, even when I don’t like a book, I’m still glad that I read it to know I didn’t like it.

So I’m going to come at it from the angle of awesome. What book was just so amazing that I wish I could re-read it again, for the first time? (BTW: The obvious answer here is Harry Potter, but I’m going to try to think outside the box).

I tried to think of a book that I not only thoroughly enjoyed the first time through, but that contained an element that simply could not be experienced the same way in a re-read. A book that managed to knock my socks off and make me yell or jump or stay up way past my bedtime because I needed to finish.

And this is a pretty recent release, but it meets all of the above qualifications. In spades.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen is the first book of the Ascendance Trilogy. It’s a mid-grade fantasy about a group of boys reluctantly training to impersonate a prince. And it’s phenomenal.

I was happily enjoying this book the first time I read it, and then all of a sudden it blew my mind. And while I wanted to re-read it again immediately after finishing, the experience wouldn’t have been the same as that first time.

[VAGUE SPOILERS FROM RANDOM OLD MOVIES TO FOLLOW]

 

 

 

It’s like knowing that Malcolm was dead the whole time.

It’s like knowing why Andy wanted the rock hammer and the poster.

It’s like knowing who Keyser Söze is.

It’s like knowing what’s in the box???

It’s like knowing he never left the bank.

It’s like knowing that he is Tyler Durden.

 

 

 

[END VAGUE SPOILERS]

It’s just not the same the second time.

For my full (glowing) review of The False Prince, go here.

Thanks for stopping by, and I’m excited to see what you picked as your “unread” book (either so I can have the awesome first-time reading experience, or so I can avoid it like the plague, depending on how you approached the question).

(Bonus points if you can name all those movies)

Feature & Follow (#101) – Best Father Figures

Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read! Let’s all discover some new blogs and gain some new followers, shall we?

If you’re new to my blog, I’d love it if you could follow via one of my options in the sidebar (Linky, Networked Blogs, email or RSS). You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook as a bonus, but as part of the hop, following the blog itself would be great! I’ve also got a snazzy button. Feel free to grab it.

As always, if you are following, please let me know your follow method in the comments and I will follow you back!

First things first: As most of you are probably well aware, last week was the 100th week of the Feature & Follow, and to celebrate, many of us participants hosted giveaways. My giveaway was for two bookmarks signed by Amy Plum, author of Die for Me and Until I Die. My feature was Sarah from Breaking the Binding, and she and I both thank you for entering!

Without any further ado, the winner IS:

Jennifer M. from Some Like it Paranormal!

Congratulations Jennifer! Jennifer has been contacted by email, and I’ll be shipping out her bookmarks ASAP.

Now, moving on! The topic for this week is Best Father Figures in Books, in honor of Father’s Day on Sunday.

(P.S. Happy almost-Father’s Day to all the dads out there, especially my husband and my dad! *waves*)

This topic is great, but challenging. Why? Because for some reason, the dad is always dead. Seriously. Okay, maybe not dead, but the dad is always dead or absent or detached, and that isn’t great. But I did come up with a few examples of great father figures (not necessarily fathers, because, as I said, the dad is always dead) in the world of books!

Every Adult Male Character in Harry Potter Who is Not a Death Eater

Honestly, Harry Potter is chock full of awesome dads and father figures. From the actual dads of Arthur Weasley, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and yes, even Harry himself (we’ll overlook the fact that he stuck his kid with the unfortunate name “Albus Severus”); to the symbolic father figures in Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin again, and even Hagrid to an extent, the Potterverse is a celebration of strong parental figures. Heck, even Malfoy has his moments.

Hans Hubermann in The Book Thief

Raise your hand if Hans Hubermann was your favorite character in The Book Thief.
[Looks around]
[Sees everyone’s hand raised]
I thought so.

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus has his work cut out for him. He has to teach his daughter Scout about honesty, racism, integrity, and standing up for what is right in the face of adversity, while at the same time working to keep her safe. Raising a strong-willed little girl is hard enough without having to battle lynch mobs and rampant prejudice.

Henri in I am Number Four

Henri may only have been John’s Cêpan and not his father, but he raised John like a son, taught him the best he could, and fought with all his might to protect him. Sounds pretty father-ish to me.

 

Charlie Swan in Twilight

Hey look! It’s the only decent role model in Twilight! He may be a bit awkward, but he tries so hard to do right by his infuriating daughter. He does his best to protect her, build up her sense of self-worth, encourage her to find friends, and persuade her to not plot the course of her whole life around some guy she just met.

Yeah, Bella throws all his fatherly wisdom out the window and does what she wants anyway, but dangit, at least he tried.