Feature and Follow Friday March 22, 2013

Hello Everyone! This is my first FF in a little while, but things are ever so slightly more calm in my hectic life right now, so I'm trying to get back at the blog! I miss it :( And what better way then to check out some new featured blogs and answer a little question :) Also, I am loving this new button! Gorgeous!

 

First of all, this weeks features are:

Cherie Reads

and 

Shiloh Walker

So stop over and check these blogs out.

Second, this week's question is about guilty pleasure book genres:

Q: What is your guilty pleasure as far as reading? Is it a genre, or is it a certain type of book?

A: I have two; one is adult chick lit (think Sophie Kinsella, Lauren Wiesberger, Candace Bushnell, etc.) and that has been one for awhile, but more recently in the past year is young adult contemporary romance (think Stephanie Perkins, Sarah Dessen, Megan McCafferty, etc.) Blogging allowed me to discover that I love this type of book. I mean, I love tons of other genres as well, but if I'm ever looking for a 'lay on the beach and bring a book I know I'll like no matter what' kinda thing, I'm almost always going to grab for one of those two genres.

Follow Friday, January 11, 2013

Hello Everyone!

Sorry my Friday post is so late! (It's practically Saturday!) but this is the weather we just got:

(I'm in the white area! - so much snow!)

But, we are all dug out, and got some food from Pizza Delight, and our power came back on so we could get out of bed without freezing!

This week's features are:

and

And this week's question is:

Q: IF YOU COULD CHOOSE ONE SUPERNATURAL BEING/CREATURE TO REALLY EXISTS WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

A: This is a pretty easy one for me, as the only really supernatural type of thing I have ever wished actually existed is magic a la Harry Potter! I (and everyone else I'm sure!) would love to have Hogwarts be real and be able to be a witch or wizard!

If you want to join the hop, here are the details - 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!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools — keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

All features are chosen randomly to be the feature. They are not chosen by content or name.

Feature and Follow January 4, 2013

This weekly feature has 2 hosts Parakjunkee and AlisonCanRead and each blog features a different blogger to introduce us to.

This week we have:

and

Lost in Thought

This week's question is:

Q: What New Years Blogging or Writing resolution have you placed on yourself?

A: This year I need to get a posting schedule and stick to it. Before I used to just post a review whenever I was done a book, and if I had a back log I would post a bunch in one week, and then there wouldn't be any for awhile. Now my schedule will be:

Monday - Book Review

Tuesday - Top Ten Tuesday List

Wednesday - off

Thursday - Personal interest content (movie, TV, etc.)

Friday - Feature and Follow

Weekends - whatever I feel like :)

I think that this is something I can easily stick to, and not feel overwhelmed. That is my main blogging goal for 2013. As a secondary, I'm also hoping to make a few blogging friends that I chat with somewhat frequently. I can't get into Twitter or even my blogs Facebook page, but I will definitely be doing more commenting. I'm always hopping around reading, so why not let people know I was there! That's what I would want people to do for me :)

Feature & Follow Friday - November 2, 2012

Hello Everyone and Welcome to this week's Feature and Follow Friday! I hope everyone is still riding high on their Halloween candy sugar rushes! I didn't get to really do much for Halloween this year, as we were supposed to move yesterday... but that didn't happen. There are a select few people out there who I want to strangle, but that is another story for another day!

This weeks features are both new to me, so its very nice to meet you both :)

First from Parajunkee, we have Katie at

I was lucky enough to be Katie's 99th follower, which of course takes me to the "I've got 99 problems but the B---- ain't one" place from my younger years. Oh Jay-Z *sigh*

Anyway, back to Katie. Katie appears to be pretty new to the blogging world, but she looks to have great taste in books, so you should stop by and visit her!

Second, from Alison Can Read, we have Megan at

Megan has been blogging for about as long as I have been, and she has reviewed quite a few books that I haven't yet heard of, so I may have to log onto Goodreads and check them out! She is also a Team Stefan, which you really don't see a whole lot of (but I can relate - as by the books, I am too {by the show though, I'm totally torn - I love both!!}) So, if you haven't yet, drop by her blog and say hello!

This week's question is:

Q: What is a deal breaker for you in a book? For example, do you abhor love triangles? Or can’t deal with bad editing?

A: I think for me it really depends on the book. If there is something I like about the book (the actual story, the characters, etc.) I can look past a lot of things that would have been a deal breaker in other books. One thing that does bother me a lot though is when you can tell an author busts out a thesaurus every now and then. I hate when a book is mostly done in simple easy to understand language and then all of a sudden a word like 'Masticating' is thrown in there. It just doesn't fit, pick a style and go with it. I know that it's nice to use different words for things instead of just saying 'said' all the time, but you still need to make sure your target audience knows what the F you are talking about! 

100 Followers Giveaway!!!

First, let me say that I can't actually believe that I have more than 100 followers. I have been writing this blog for the better part of a year and a half, and as much as I has always hoped people would follow it, I do it because I like doing it, and if people follow, that's just a bonus!

However, since I have started getting more followers, and my stats have shown me that people might actually be READING what I'm writing, I can honestly say that it increases my enjoyment of putting this stuff out there even more. Not one of my followers do I know in real life (at least I don't think I do!) and that makes me feel even better about having you choose to read my blog! In an effort to say thank you, I'm going to be putting together a small giveaway.

I don't have a whole lot to offer right now, as we are moving this week, we are stretched pretty tight financially as far as cash flow goes. (Lawyers, and closing costs, and movers, and alllll that other great stuff that goes along with moving costs A LOT of money!!) But, I do have some older books that could definitely use a great new home.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
So if you like, enter, and if you know someone else who might like these books, pass the link along! Or enter to see if you can win and then give a book as a Christmas gift! Books are the sexiest gift, new or used!

Thanks for entering and being a fan of my blog. I really, truly, from the bottom of my heart appreciate it.

Also, I wanted to say a special thanks to Parajunkee, Alison Can Read, and the girls at The Broke and The Bookish for hosting their weekly memes, as without those I never would have reached my first blogging milestone.

Feature & Follow Friday October 26/12

This weeks features are:

and

This week's question is:

Q: What writing device or trick most irritates you when reading a book? For example, if an author employs an omnipotent narrator that is sometimes considered bad form.

A: This week I'm in a huge hurry, but I wanted to participate anyway (I'll hop around later) but, I have two big pet peeves when it comes to reading. One is when characters immediately fall in love. It's not because it's not necessarily possible it's just that in most books its not written that well. Veronica Roth actually has a great post on her site about it here.

Two, Missing parents syndrome. I'm sorry, but some of the things 15 and 16 year olds are up to in some books, almost any parent would be like "hold the hell up". A book thats bad for that that comes to mind is '13 Little Blue Envelopes'.

That's all I have time for right now! Sorry for the rush, have a great weekend!

Follow Friday Oct 19/2012

Good Morning and Happy Friday to you all!

Today I am getting back in the grove with one of the first meme's I ever started regularly participating, that I have unfortunately been dropping the ball on lately (I wish they would release the question for this week on Thursday night's so I could get this ready, I work every second Friday!) Anyway, they don't, and here we are. For anyone who stumbles upon this and isn't part of the hop, The Feature and Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by the fabulous (and fully decked out for Halloween!) Parajunkee and the equally as fabulous Alison Can Read. It focuses on featuring two blogs and also asks a question so we can all get to know another a little better! I have been holding my breathe to hopefully be a feature someday but I fear my irregular participation has probably put a hold on that dream! Anyway, this weeks features are my two newest friends (although they don't know it yet!), so you should go check out both of their lovely blogs!

Book Liaison

I was actually already a follower of this site prior to today (I love when that happens!)  This blog has pretty colours, which just makes me feel happier when I am on their site! From a quick scan of their reviews, I can see we don't have a lot of the same books, which is great! most of the books I have read this year are because I discovered them on someone else's blog! I love that.

This blog is new to me today, and I took a read through, and it appears as though she has just worked her way through Kelly Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, which I can totally get behind! I have just recently started that series, and it rocks.

And, now on to the question!

Q: When you step out of your USUAL genre what do you like to read? Best books in that genre?

A: It has been awhile since I really read from my pre-exisitng 'safe' genre (which would be basic chick-lit (think Sophie Kinsella, Lauren Weisberger, etc.) which I still love). Blogging has exposed me to soooo many books I never would have picked up 2 years ago - paranormal (vampire, werewolf, fey), YA for the most part I wouldn't have read much of. Dystopian, mystery, crime, I could go on! I had always been a big reader, but I used to just surf the sale tables and pick up something that looked ok. I used to re-read books all the time too, I had to be reading, but I didn't care what. I have changed my reading so so so much since I started blogging. I would have to say now that I am most likely to pick up a paranormal, dystopian, or YA contemporary outside of my usual genres. I can't even begin to list the best books in this genre, because I still have only scratched the surface of getting into them!

Follow Friday Returns to My Blog!

Follow Friday Feature was something that I had gotten into when I first started this blog, and I liked doing it a lot. I ended up dropping it last year when I went on vacation, and we were moving, and my computer was sucking... and you know how it goes, where there is an excuse to be found... I was only updating my blog once a week or so, and the meme's I enjoyed doing just dropped off. Recently I have decided to get back into my blog a little more, so I'm finally getting around to picking up Follow Friday again. I might as well be honest here, and tell you that it is hard to get good books to review if you don't have that many follows and page hits (as I'm sure you know) and this meme is a fantastic way to not only meet new bloggers, find new great books to read (blogging was how I got into paranormal & dystopian books!) but it is a great way to get more followers! I hope you like what you see here enough to become my newest one ;)

Parajunkee and AlisonCanRead host this weekly meme, and you can click on either of their names to go to their blogs, or this button!

This week's question is:

Q: What would you do over if you were to start your blog again from scratch? A: This is a great question, and one that I have soooo many different answers for. First, I probably would have done a little bit of research before diving in and starting my own. I would have looked around at my different options. Second, I would have thought harder about a name. Recently, I shortened my blogs name, and I'm thinking about making some other changes that will make things easier as well. Finally, I wish I knew how to write HTML so I could make a better web design and personalize the look and feel of my blog, because I don't really like it. I'm thinking about hiring a designer once I have some extra money to pay for one!

Thanks for stopping by! Leave me a comment and I will get back to you, and if you choose to follow, I have GFC, Linky, or you can stop over to my blog's new twitter account @Imma_Bookworm

Nice to meet you :)

Jessica

Desperately Wanting Wednesday

This is a weekly feature hosted by Parajunkee over at Parajunkee.com where she lists some books she is wanting to read. I won't be participating in this every week, but I wanted to make a post about this for this week, because I am desperately just wanting to be READING right now!! I have a very big stack, and a lot of ebooks ready to go, and just no time to get to them. I wanted to highlight some older books that I missed when the hype was hot that I'm still dying to read, and also some new-ish ones that I can't wait to get my hands on!

Of course, no particular order :)

**warning, some of these are VERY old, but I may have recently gotten into the series, or am recently absorbed in a genre that I hadn't read much of for quite a few years**

I recently finished with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I am dying to get to this book. It is on my night table, and I look at it every day, but I have papers to write, and tests to study for, and OMG it's killing me, I need to read this book!

 

This book was all over blogs a few months ago, and I love the sounds of it, but just haven't gotten to it. I have the ebook which a friend sent me, along with a recommendation, but I haven't even loaded it onto my Kobo yet, I have no idea why.

 

This book is one I am still seeing many bloggers do reviews of, even now. I recently finished Delirium and am a fan of Oliver's writing from that, so I definitely want to get to this one soon.

 

And speaking of both Oliver and Delirium, I am seriously drooling over starting to read this book. I even pre-ordered it, and it came about 2 weeks ago, and I haven't touched it (except to gawk at the cover for a few minutes, and then put it back on my night table). I'm so excited for it, but I know I will need to READ it once I start, and I've only had time to pick recently. Boo.

 

With Season 1 of the TV version of this being recently released on Blue Ray, and I ring in so many people buying it (I work part-time at Best Buy) my interest has been re-sparked for this series, and I'm really excited to get it started. It has like 4 big books already though, so I think that's why I have been putting it off.

 

With True Blood's next season already starting to be promoted, and the newest book having been recently on people's blog's, I'm reminded that I have only read two of these books so far. I like them, but I don't love them. However, I am a very faithful reader, and I want to get back onto this series, if only so that I see it thorough. I owe it at least 2 more books before I make up my mind though. I had a hard time getting into The Vampire Diaries books, but when I finally started separating the books and the show, I enjoyed them A LOT more. I'm hoping for the same thing with this series.

 

I love this series for a light, hilarious read. I want to finish them up though, I have been reading them on and off for years. I'm looking forward to starting the new Tallulah series she has similar to these.

 

I have no idea why I want to read this so bad, but I do. I'm not a big Tyra fan or anything, but something about this book is really calling my name. Hopefully I will get to it (this year...)

 

Huge series in the blog world. I may be a little vampire-d out, but this one (and the next one) are series that I think sound really awesome, and I want to get into. There are a few other vamp series that I want to try too, but I have been reading a lot lately. Any recommendations for the best ones???

 

This is the other big vamp series' I want to get into. Again suggestions? 

Others are 

-Clockwork Angel (Cassandra Clare)

-Blue Bloods (Melissa de la Cruz)

-Jessica's Guide (Beth Fantaskey)

-Mortal Instruments (Cassandra Clare)

-Bloodlines (Richelle Mead)

-Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice)

-House of Night (P.C. Cast)

-etc

How does one chose the best vamps??

 

This was another book very popular around the blog world a little while ago, it intrigued me, but I didn't buy it for quite awhile. Now that I have it, it seems lower on my priority list, but I should change that.

 

Another popular one in blog-land, and a series that sounds so good, I just haven't found the time. Much is the case for the following books:

 

 

This series was a big choice for me, I wanted to start it, but it is such a behemoth that I wasn't sure trying to catch up was even worth it at this point, BUT I read the first one, and it was pretty good, so I will have to keep going with it now. Book 37 just came out, so maybe in 5 years I'll be caught up?! haha

Anyway, I could seriously go on for days with this list, so I will stop here, but thinking about how much there is to read, and things that keep coming out (another I could add is Sophie Kinsella's new book) I actually get stressed about how much I want to read. I need to quit my job and blog/read full time. Sounds like a happy life!!

Blog Hop (5) and Follow Friday (3)

It has been awhile since I participated in these hops, which is sad because I really like them, but I have just been so busy lately that I don't get my post up in time, so I just don't do it! Working 2 jobs and doing 3 courses is time consuming!! haha

So, Follow Friday is hosted by both Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, so great blogs (check em out, they're linked!) With these, they also do a feature blog, and this week's are: In Which Ems Review Books and Reading in the Corner so take a peek ;)
For the question this week they have asked:

If you could have dinner with your favorite book character, who would you eat with and what would you serve?

This is kind of a no brainer for me, because I would definitely have dinner with Hogwart's favorite trio, Harry, Ron, and Hermionie! Preferably at the castle, so the food could just kind of ...show up! But, in the event I had to prepare something, I would make a roast chicken, and Yorkshire pudding with some veggies, and of course tea and banoffe pie for dessert!

  And for the weekly Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books, an equally as great blog, the question is: “What is your favorite Halloween costume?
Even if you don’t celebrate, what kinds of costumes do you like?”
Easily the best costume I  have ever had was my Ninja Turtle costume when I was about 8. My grandmother is an amazing seamstress, and she made the mother of all amazing costumes for me ever year. Here in Canada it is COLD in October, so she always made them extra warm, and I never had to ruin my costume with a coat. The ninja turtle costume had it all, I don't have a picture to post, because I don't have a scanner, but now I'm going to track one down, because you NEED to see this costume, it is amazing! I will try and get one up before the end of the weekend!

Until then, you can look at the costumes I made for us last year (hand sewed, as I do not have a sewing machine!! haha)



This is the last Book Blog question for an unknown amount of time, so I just wanted to put a small thank you for hosting to Crazy-for-Books, as this was the first meme I ever participated in, and I'm sure I have here to thank for several of my followers :)

Blog Hop (4) and Follow Friday (2)

This weeks Book Blogger Hop is available here (and for those who don't know what it is, she explaines it as well!)

The question is: “In honor of Banned Books Week, what is your favorite “banned or frequently challenged book”?” Click here for 2010-11 list in PDF format. You can also click HERE to view past years and choose from any of those titles!


To be honest, I had to peruse the lists, because to my knowledge, we don't get a lot of books banned here in Canada. I remember having our 6th grade teacher read "Underground to Canada" out loud in class, and I would say that's probably banned in some places. When I was reading over the list, I was so surprised! Things like the 4th Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book - seriously!! Some of them I wanted to pick for this just because I couldn't believe they were there! But, I eventually settled on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire because that is my favorite book from my favorite series. As a side note, these lists make me want to punch out a lot of parents. Sorry if that offends you. I presume I will now find my blog on the Banned Blogs list, if such a think exists.

For my Follow Friday Fix, I went to Alisoncanread.com this week and you can too by clicking here

This week's question is:

What book that hasn't been turned into a movie (yet) would you most like to see make it to the big screen, and who would you like cast as your favorite character?

This is a pretty tough question! I chose "How I Paid for College" by Marc Acito because it is a HILARIOUS book, and would make a great movie. There are quite a few characters in it, and its been awhile since I read it, but I'll do my best to cast it (also, you may need to adjust age a little bit, I sometimes forget that stars get older...)

Edward - Jay Baruchel

Paula - Selena Gomez

Kelly - Ashley Tisdale

Natie - Kevin McHale

Doug - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Ziba - Megan Fox

Edward's father Al - Jon Hamm

Edward's Stepmother Dagmar - Gwyneth Paltrow

Blog Hop (3) and Follow Friday (1)

I missed the Blog Hop last week because my in-laws were in, and my blogging had to take a back seat to them, because I don't get to see them that often! Also, in my review of the past two Book Blog Hops, I noticed a lot of people doing the Follow Friday (hosted by parajunkee and AlisonCanRead) as well. I didn't realize I was going to love these meme's so much, so I held of doing another (I'm just a blogging newbie after all!) but now I'm going to join :)


For any other Newbie's, the Book Blog Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books and it's a fun way to meet other blogger's by simply answering a little (normally book-related) question, and then hopping around to see what everyone else has said!

This week's question is: not yet posted

The new meme I'm doing this week is Follow Friday, it is another question based meme, with the same sort of principle, except the folks at Parajunkee and AlisonCanRead also pick a blog to promote, which I think is pretty cool because sometimes people participate by answering the question, but not going around to other people's blogs.

Do you have a favorite series that you read over and over again? Tell us a bit about it and why you keep on revisiting it?

I used to reread books more frequently when I didn't have an ereader (it's too easy to connect and buy something new now), but I am still forever reading Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, and I have reread the shorter Harry Potter books a few times. I have so many books on my TBR list that rereading would take up too much time! Also, now that I have started blogging, I need to read new material to keep you updated on!




I really enjoy these meme's, so a BIG thank you to the hosts of these!!