BBAW — Readers

Today's topic:

"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!"

Blogging has definitely changed the way that I read. Most of the books I read before blogging are remembered in my mind as "That was good" or "That was bad" or maybe I remember one scene and that's it. But you can't get by on a blog saying, "Book. Good. Next." That would be the most boring thing ever.

So now I pay a lot more attention to why I think a book is good or bad. Is it the writing? The characters? The plot? If there's one scene that sticks out at me, how does it relate to the rest of the book? Is this book something I do or would understand better after reading another book?

And even though I've read more than three hundred books in the last three years, I can remember them well enough to recommend them to people now! Or if the book was that middling that I don't remember it, I have a place to turn to to jog my memory, and these posts usually do the trick.

BBAW — Blogger Interviews

The interviews are always my favorite part of BBAW, because I get to have a new BBBFF (book blogging best friend forever, obvs)! And I am really quite enamored with mine this year. Andrea, The Little Red Reviewer, writes about books that I would probably never give the time of day if I met them in the library, but after reading her take a few have ended up on my "to be borrowed" list! She's sneaky like that.

Here's what she has to say about herself, and if you go check out her blog you can maybe find out some interesting things about me!

1) Your blog is "mostly science fiction and fantasy." What is it that draws you to those genres more than others?
I was raised on Science fiction. When I was a kid my Dad and I had a standing date to see every Star Trek movie in the theaters together. my first crush was on Han Solo. I read Dune in high school, and the rest is history. Only in the last few years have I gotten into fantasy. What draws me to those genres? I love Scifi that happens in the future. I love how different authors play the "what if" game. I love that in scifi and fantasy anything is possible. Scifi and fantasy are safe places to experiment with anything safe, and anything dangerous. it's the ultimate escapism!

2) What does a book of any genre need to have for you to be interested in it?
hmmm. . . swear words? as much as I love my favorite four letter words, compelling characters and snarky humor is a big plus in any book.

3) Where do you get the books that you read?
Most of them are purchased used or come from the library. I've been buying a lot of stuff new lately, and it's killing my bank account! I do have a few contacts at a few publishers, so occasionally I beg for an advanced reading copy. Sometimes they even send it!

4) Which book, if it were just you and that book on a desert island, would you rather pitch into the ocean than read?
this is actually a really hard question!! I'm looking at my bookshelves, looking for a book I don't like, and even my old college textbooks I don't want to pitch into the ocean! I'm sure there's a really dry and boring history book around someplace. . . .

5) What is your favorite post that you have written?
not really scifi or fantasy, I really liked the review I wrote of Catherynne Valente's "Deathless". She specializes in fairy tale/mythology retellings, and Deathless is sort of something like that. It's an incredible book written by an incredible woman. And i was kinda snarky on the title of the post, which is always fun. (http://littleredreviewer.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/does-your-husband-kno/)
Can I cheat and tell my 2nd favorite post too? It's my super spoilery guesses on where Patrick Rothfuss is going next with his Kingkiller Chronicles series starring Kvothe, who is also sort of deathless. (wow, I think I just realized i've got a weakness for handsome men who refuse to die?) Rothfuss is another incredible writer whose debut novel "The Name of the Wind" single handedly turned me into a fantasy fan. (http://littleredreviewer.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/kingkiller-chronicles-predictions-what-a-woman-wants/)

BBAW — Community

My third Book Blogger Appreciation Week (or BBAW, for shorts)! This year's theme is community, and so the first topic:

"While the awards are a fun part of BBAW, they can never accurately represent the depth and breadth of diversity in the book blogging community. Today you are encouraged to highlight a couple of bloggers that have made book blogging a unique experience for you. They can be your mentors, a blogger that encouraged you to try a different kind of book, opened your eyes to a new issue, made you laugh when you needed it, or left the first comment you ever got on your blog. Stay positive and give back to the people who make the community work for you!"

I follow what I consider to be a LOT of book blogs, so it really is the whole community of bloggers that have introduced me to new books, kept me up to date on the scandals of the bookish community, and made me giggle a little on the inside or the outside.

And of course, I love all of the people who comment on my posts, even you non-bloggers! Every time I get an e-mail about a new comment, I'm like, "Ooooh shiny!" and off I go to read it.

But since this is Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I'm going to give a tip of the hat to a couple wonderful book bloggers who leave me some of the wonderful comments that make me so happy in my heart.

Stephanie at Reviews by Lola
Stephanie is from my home state of Ohio, which makes her awesome right off the bat! She also shares with me a foolproof method of spending time with the hubbers — sharing a couch while one reads and the other plays video games! I'll let you figure out who does what, there. :) I love Stephanie's blog because I am always sure to find books I have absolutely never heard of before but am suddenly very interested in.

Steph, one half of Steph and Tony Investigate!
I love the name of Steph's blog! I get this picture of Sherlock Holmes in his apocryphal deerstalker cap wielding a magnifying glass while he reads an incredibly varied assortment of books. I never know what I'm going to see when this blog pops up in my Google Reader. Steph hates epilogues, but doesn't have a favorite element, so we can't quite be best friends yet!

Cari, who is a Walking Identity Crisis
Okay, I'm cheating here a bit because Cari's not really a book blogger, but hey, here's a book review she did! It totally counts! Cari writes about writing and librarianing and bassooning and a myriad of other things, and even when I have no idea what she's talking about I learn something from her posts.

And, for a bonus, I also tip my hat to Mary, Amy, Laura, and Deborah, who are my sunshine on cloudy days and are also fantastic readers and recommenders, even if they don't blog!

BBAW — Forgotten Treasure

Today's Book Blogger Appreciation Week topic is...

Thursday—Forgotten Treasure
Sure we’ve all read about Freedom and Mockingjay but we likely have a book we wish would get more attention by book bloggers, whether it’s a forgotten classic or under marketed contemporary fiction. This is your chance to tell the community why they should consider reading this book!

I don't know how many times I have answered questions like this with the exact same book, but I think it's a lot, and still I haven't heard much about it in the blogging world! I think it's because it's such an odd book — I have also answered many questions on what makes me love a novel with answers like plot and character, but this book isn't really about either. It's about the writing, which is brilliant and wonderful and immensely quotable.

The book is called The Manual of Detection, and it's a sort of homage to those gritty noir detective stories, one that doesn't take itself terribly seriously. The author throws in all of the classic noir tropes, but adds to them a bit of whimsical fantasy, in which the main villian once stole the entire day of November twelfth, with everyone waking up on Wednesday wondering where the heck Tuesday went. If you like the Thursday Next series, the attitude of this book is rather like that and I think you will find it amusing. But it's really the writing that I love — click that link above for one of my favorite passages from the whole thing, which is a small treatise on how "the world is unkind to the shoeless and frolicsome."

Oooh, and this book would be perfect for the RIP Challenge. Perhaps I will go read it again!

BBAW — Unexpected Treasure

Today's Book Blogger Appreciation Week Topic is...

Wednesday—Unexpected Treasure
We invite you to share with us a book or genre you tried due to the influence of another blogger. What made you cave in to try something new and what was the experience like?

A good question! I have been far more open to trying new things since joining the book blogging community, as I get a chance to a) hear about more books in general and b) hear people whose opinions I trust talk about books they love that I've never heard of.

Most recently, I read Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters, without ever actually reading a review of the book. But I kept reading reviews of other books in which people would compare them to Fingersmith — always with Fingersmith coming out the winner, if only by a hair. So I was like, "Well. I had better go read Fingersmith." And I did and I absolutely loved it and I totally have Waters' The Little Stranger sitting on my shelf ready for the RIP Challenge.

And I just went to check out my ratings of other books to see if there was ever a blogger-recommended book that I just hated, and there is not! My Google Reader is filled with trusted reviewers, apparently... perhaps I should try a few more of those books that everyone's reading.

BBAW — New Treasure

This is my favorite part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week... the interview swap! Today I am introducing you to Robin, of My Two Blessings. She was kind enough to answer some questions for me about her hectic life, and I talked with her about library science and my undying love of Jasper Fforde, which you can read over at her site! Without further ado...

1) I note that your blog started off with much less talk about books... when and why did you decide to add more books to your posts and/or life?
I've always been a reader, but when I started my blog didn't know anything about book bloggers. It was home school bloggers that influenced me to start blogging. I have to give the credit to Katrina from Callapidder's Days for getting me started blogging about books. Up until that point I never even thought of blogging about what I was reading. I heard through some home school bloggers about the Fall Reading Challenge 2007 and decided to join in. Through the challenge, I discovered the beautiful world of book bloggers.

2. In your most recent posts, I see a couple of books I've read and enjoyed, but mostly books I have never even heard of. How do you hear about the books you read?
I've discovered quite a few books through the book and author blogs. Mental Multivitamin was a big influence and got me started thinking outside my book box and trying authors I normally wouldn't have read. And it just sort of snowballed from there. Then, I started following some of my favorite authors who post on group blogs such as Murderati and started checking out some of the other authors books. I have a lot of my favorites that I read such as J.D. Robb aka Nora Roberts, Stuart Woods, Ted Dekker, Charles De Lint, Patricia Briggs, no matter what they write.

3. What genres draw you in?
I'm a pretty eclectic reader but the main genres that pull me in are thrillers and suspense, paranormal, fantasy and science fiction and romance.

4. What components of a book (dialogue, writing style, font face, whatever) are important regardless of genre?
The writing style is important to me. I prefer 3rd person point of view but am branching out a bit and discovered there are a few writer who do 1st person point of view really well. The writing really has to pull me in from the very beginning. I'm a very visual person so if I can't visualize the story, I lose interest.

5. Are your son and husband readers, too? Do they share your tastes (or your tastes as a kid) in books?
My husband loves to read, except he only reads non fiction and loves war and spy stories. I usually pick him up a couple books whenever I'm at the bookstore. I'm working on my son. He has a room full of books but seems to gravitate to graphic novels and is into bionicles right now. He finally expressed an interest in Harry Potter, so we are reading the first novel together.

6. How easy is it for you to find time to read as a homeschooling parent and student yourself?
Schedules! We've got a good routine down for lessons and my studies. After all there are 16 hours in the day when I'm not sleeping. It's easy to find time to read when you love it. I read while eating breakfast, during lunch, and in the evening when James has gone to bed. I don't watch much tv so that isn't an issue.

7. In fact, how easy is it for you to find time to eat and sleep?
LOL! I need my sleep. If I don't get my 8 hours a night, I'm a very grumpy mom.

8. What is your favorite activity to do outside of reading?
Writing!

9. What is the one book you would least like to be stuck with on a desert island?
The least? Hmmm! Does Captain Underpants counts as a book?

10. What is your favorite post that you have written?
Yikes, that's a hard question, since I've written over 900 in the past 3 years. I think it would have to be a personal one - How our Life Together Began. Every time I read or think about it, it reminds me of how blessed our lives have been. Still gives me goose bumps to this day.

BBAW — First Treasure

Hello, Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Today's topic is about spreading the love to other bloggers, or:

Monday—First Treasure
We invite you to share with us about a great new book blog you’ve discovered since BBAW last year! If you are new to BBAW or book blogging, share with us the very first book blog you discovered. Tell us why this blog rocks your socks off and why you keep going back for more.

Yes, that.

Today, I shall share with you a blog whose writer I met through the wonders of library school! I'm done, but she's still there, reading up a storm and preparing to become the coolest teen librarian this side of, um, really cool teen librarians. (I am not going to be a teen librarian, can you tell?) This awesome chick is Melissa, aka bibliochic, and she is a hoot and a half. She reads all the cool YA — dystopias, love stories, historical novels — but also books for very small people and full-sized people as well. She and I have fairly similar tastes outside of those icky love stories, so when she puts up a review I almost always add that book to my list. You should definitely go check her out, tell her I sent you, and ask her how the FRBR is going. She'll know what you mean. :)

Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

I think I forgot to mention before that I am participating in Book Blogger Appreciation Week again this year... oops! Consider it mentioned. I didn't put myself up for any awards or anything, but I will be participating in the daily blog topics, which are all about treasure! Yarr.

Tune in on Monday for the first topic, in which I will gush about a blog or two that I enjoy. It could be interesting!

BBAW — Setting Goals

Today's BBAW topic is short and sweet... "Write in 50 words or less…what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?"

I love that I've settled into a good posting routine (usually once per weekday) and am participating in memes like Booking Through Thursday and Musing Mondays and this very event! I think that in a year I'd like to be better about commenting on others' blogs and writing more non-review posts on mine.

BBAW — The Almost Undiscovered Book

Today's BBAW topic is really interesting to me; it made me think a lot about how I find my books! Here it is:

Today we encourage you to blog about a book you read only because you discovered it on another book blog. Preferably, this will be a book you loved! You might also write a bit about the blog you discovered it on!

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have read The Hunger Games except that I read about it on, oh, every book blog I read! I haven't seen it on display at my library, I haven't heard about it on NPR, and the people I've heard about it from have all gushed about the love story, which I thought I would (and did) dislike.

But the blogs all told me about the better parts — the contest itself, the really interesting dystopian vision of the future — and I was definitely interested.

Similarly, the blogs have told me that Catching Fire is way more about the love triangle, so I know I won't be reading that.

I think that most of the books on my "to rescue from the library" list have been recommended by book bloggers, but then also recommended by friends and family and NPR and the like. I think participating in the book blogging community has just made me more on the lookout for book recommendations from everywhere! How about you?

BBAW — Reading Meme

Today's BBAW topic is a meme! You know I love those. I'm meant to be brief in my responses, but if you want to hear more about anything, just leave a comment.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack? I'm usually too focused on what I'm reading to do anything else!
Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of
writing in books horrify you? I'll mark in books for classes, but not for pleasure reading.
How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open? I'll grab anything handy (bookmark, receipt, credit card) to mark my place.
Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? Fiction. I have a terrible time focusing on non-fiction.
Hard copy or audiobooks? Hard copy. Audiobooks are also a focus problem.
Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you
able to put a book down at any point? If I can, I'll read to the end of a chapter and then stop, otherwise I'll just stop where I am and probably start up a few sentences back when I return.
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? If it's giving me trouble understanding the book, yes. Otherwise I juts hope I'll remember it for later.
What are you currently reading? Everything in my GoodReads widget to the left there.
What is the last book you bought? Questions and Answers: Knowledge and The Search for Vile Things, both for my brother's birthday in a couple months.
Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can
you read more than one at a time? I'll only read one of a type of book at a time, but I can read a non-fiction book and a fiction book at the same time and be okay.
Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? I take reading time whenever I can get it, but I usually read on our fun room couch or the recliner in our living room.
Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? Series.
Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? The Phantom Tollbooth
How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) I have a few bookshelves, so my books are sorted on to them by status: read and loved (next to my desk), read and not loved, and unread. Within those categories it's a mess.

BBAW — Interview Swap

Today for Book Blogger Appreciation Week we are swapping interviews with other bloggers. My interviewer/ee was Kerri from BookEnds. We had a fine time asking each other questions, both practical and silly, about books and blogging and how awesome we both are. :) Here are Kerri's answers to my questions; my answers to hers are up at her site!

1. I recognize only a few of the books you have read this year. What genres do you read most often, and what draws you to them?
I find I read a real mixture of genres. Before I started blogging, I bought almost all of my books at Costco and my selections were always based on an eye catching cover and a good blurb on the back rather than a particular genre. If I found an author I liked, I would continue to buy his / her books. My genres have expanded with some of the challenges I've signed up for. I just completed the Non-Fiction Five Challenge, and that was about five more non-fiction books than I read last year.

2. I notice that there are some reading group posts on your site along with your reviews and memes and the like. How does that group fit in with your site?
I used to belong to a really great book club during University, but once we graduated we found it hard to find a good time to all meet so we dissolved. I was looking for a way to still have meaningful discussions on books, so a few times I've tried a reading group blog. We pick the book at the start of the month and post questions at the end of the month. Participants would reply to the questions in the comments section. We had some great discussion on a few books but it lacks the charm and face to face of a real book club.

3. You participate in blog tours and receive ARCs. Is this something you wanted to do when you started your blog? How did you get started?
I originally started a blog called 'random' because I wanted to work on my writing but I found after a few witty posts on pop culture I was running out of ideas and forcing posts. I started adding a few book reviews for fun and the blog turned into BookEnds very quickly. As I started following other book blogs, I found out about ARCs. I've reviewed a few great books and a few forgettable books. I only accept one ARC a month. I've had two really great authors contact me directly and that is the most exciting to me. My interview with author Nadine Dajani about her book Cutting Loose is one of my favorites posts.

4. I notice that most of your current challenges are of the random variety (A-Z, Take a Chance, Colorful Reading). How do these affect your reading -- do you seek out new books or find unread books on your shelf to fit the challenge? Also, do you end up liking the books you pick?
My TBR pile is a bit large right now, so I always make an effort to find my challenge books there first - but you're right - the random variety of the challenges has meant I've had to seek out some new books. Since I love to browse bookstores, I've put in a lot of effort to find books that fit the challenge requirements as well as seeming to be a book I would enjoy reading. This has not always worked out as planned, but for the most part I've liked the books I've picked. I've also read some authors and books that I LOVED that I never would have read had it not been for a challenge. My latest review of Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden is a great example.

5. You don't use tags on your blog. Why not?
Well that is a good question that I don't really have a good answer for. I suppose that brings more people to your blog? I'm going to read up on tags.

6. What is your favorite post that you have written?
I'm participating in the Take a Chance Challenge hosted by Jenners at Find Your Next Book Here. Challenge #9 asked you to write a book review in three different forms of verse: haiku, limerick and free verse. I spent a lot of time on this post as I hadn't attempted poetry since High School, but at the end of the day it was so much fun. My review was of The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa.

7. Where do you get most of your books?
I still love browsing the book section at Costco. The rest of my books have been coming from giveaways or ARCs. Ocassionally I'll splurge at Chapters for a challenge book.

8. Have you always been a reader? What sort of books were you into when you were younger?
I have always been a reader, and I'm blessed with the ability to read in moving vehicles. Reading was the only way I could survive 8 hour road trips to my grandma's and grandpa's with two younger sisters. I liked books by Ronald Dahl - James and the Giant Peach in particular, Judy Blume, Choose your own Adventures, and then I moved on to Nancy Drews and Sweet Valley Highs.

9. Is there a book that, if it were the only book with you on a desert island, you would refrain from reading?
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Minstry - Oprah and my book club loved it. I could not stand it, the ending made me physically angry and it was about 600 pages to get there.

10. If you were, for some reason, not allowed to read books anymore, what would you do with that time?
I would happily give up reading if I could live somewhere warm and golf all day all the time. If I have to stay in Canada without books, I would be forced to watch more bad reality television and re-runs of CSI.

BBAW — Favorite Blogs

It's finally Book Blogger Appreciation Week! What fun! I'll be participating in the Daily Blogging posts, of which this is the first one, and I'll still be posting memes and reviews, so it's going to be a week chock full o' posts. Get ready!

Today's topic: Our favorite blogs that didn't make the awards shortlists.

It turns out that most of my favorite blogs did in fact make the shortlists, which either means I have very good taste or I don't read enough blogs. Both?

So what I'm going to do is spotlight some blogs that probably you've never read: my local library's staff blogs! I don't read all of them, and some aren't updated often, but I love the fact that the staff take the time to put them together, so a round of applause for them.

These I read regularly:
The Lair of the Undead Rat — This one is, actually, updated rather a lot, and I look forward to reading it. It focuses mostly on horror and mystery novels, and graphic novels of those genres, and I've added quite a few of them to my virtual TBR pile.
Death Becomes the Librarian — This one is updated not very often at all, but it's all about mysteries and it's a good time. A "recent" post that will make up for all the non-posting lists mystery novels that are also science fiction and fantasy.
The (Mis)Education of the Excitable Rat — More mysteries! This is totally a theme, isn't it?
Picks from the RAT Collective — Lists upon lists of books you should read, by theme.

These I read less regularly, so you get to have the official Heights Library description:
Non Sequiturs from the Tree of Irony — Becky Katzenmeyer reads a little of everything--both fiction and nonfiction. Special interests are religion, biography, literary fiction, gentle 'cottage fiction,' popular science and books about autism and other learning disabilities.
The Luminous Page — Carole Wallencheck reads fantasy (one of her special loves is Terry Pratchett), fiction dealing with art as well as nonfiction art books along with alternative health and spiritual biography.
Literary Journeys with the Travelin' Rat — Raidene Hebert enjoys literary fiction, travel, the more gentle mysteries, culinary mysteries and fiction with exotic settings. She also reads general nonfiction, culinary and travel memoirs and enjoys books having a strong sense of place.

In case you're wondering about the "rat" theme, the Heights Library system calls these guys their Reader's Advisory Team Services. It's not 'cause they're smelly, I promise. :)

Book Blogger Appreciation Week — The Meme

Book Blogger Appreciation Week is coming up in just a month and a half (right before my wedding, I've just realized [oh no, my wedding is in a month and a half!]), and to prepare, participating blogs are filling out veteran and newbie memes. Here are my newb responses:

1) What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you? The fact that I read more now! The first few posts on this blog, you might notice, are short and rather far between; they were from my simple Summer Reading Project list that I once kept. Once I started the blog officially (actually, another coincidence: right around the middle of September!), my reading picked up and my thoughts got more coherent since I was writing to other people and not just myself.
2) What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you? I can't really say any one blogger has been my muse, but I thank everyone who has visited and especially those who are reading this in their feed readers; it's nice to feel read! I also thank Mary for recommending books wherein everyone dies but also generally amusing me with her comments. :)
3) What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer? How many new friends am I going to make out of this? Because I suspect it's a lot.

If you have a book blog and haven't signed up for BBAW yet, do it! Do it now!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

Things I signed up for today: Book Blogger Appreciation Week. I saw this last year, right after I started blogging, and this year I'm going to actually participate! If you have a book blog, you should sign up.