Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Hello everyone and Happy April Fool's Day and of course, Blog Hop and Follow Friday!

Our first host, Crazy-for-Books (http://www.crazy-for-books.com/) is asking the following question.

"Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?"

My answer:

Strangely enough, the only prank I can remember pulling is putting tennis balls in my husbands pillow. In my defense, he pranks me constantly. I keep threatening to put his underwear in the freezer. One day...One day...

What has he done to me to warrant tennis balls? Turned my pants inside out one morning when I was late going to school, putting dog toys under my pillow, faking me out about pigeons being small turkeys. I freaking believed him. Ugh! (This is when I was much younger, people. I'm just sayin'.)

What else...there have been so many things over the years you start to lose track of them all. He is a sweet trickster at heart and keeps me on my toes.

I hope you and yours have a safe and fun April Fool's Day!

Now for more Follow Friday fun with Parajunkee! http://www.parajunkee.com/

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Feature & Follow Friday #39

Happy Follow Friday everyone! Let me tell you a little bit about this HOP. Every Friday or really Thursday evening we all get together and say HI! But, we need to know how to find you, so please leave your link in the Mr. Linky below. Also on Follow Friday we have a Feature...because alliteration is the way we roll. Each week is a different feature from the book blogging community. They are picked randomly or I give in after multiple harassing emails. Just depends on the week. If you want to be next weeks feature...leave your link. Also, I've had a recent rash of people signing up on the linky weeks later, which sort of defeats the purpose. If you want to participate check back here on the next Friday! The link is on Parajunkee's website, http://www.parajunkee.com/

Our feature this week is...

Books Ahoy!

Last week I decided that I wanted to start a book blog because I love to read books. I also thought it would be cool to share my opinion of a book with other people who also like reading, so I did a little research. I decided to ask my friend BookLover and she thought it was a great idea, so we became co-writers. After deciding on what we would do on the blog BooksAhoy was born.

Personally I love to read and there is hardly ever a time when you won't see my nose in a book. My favorite genre of books are action/adventure books with a little romance thrown into the mix, such as Twilight. BookLover is a big fan of the fantasy books. This combination gives us both a chance to explore new book boundaries. Overall, we love to read and can't imagine a world without books.

Q. What is the book that you really don't want to admit to loving??

For me it would be Time And Again: Time Was\Times Change by Nora Roberts. For some reason I adore that book, but I just can't admit to loving anything by Nora Roberts. LOL

My answer:

Wow. I have to think of something here. I guess the book I get most embarrassed about that I actually liked was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Normally, I don't care for Christian Fiction. Most especially if it is preachy. Somehow, that one got by my radar and I actually liked it.

Why did I like it? The theme. The whole idea that even the worst of us can find redemption. Kind of cool if you think about it.

Thanks for another edition of Follow Friday! Hope you all have a great week! Stay a moment and share some comment love!

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch A Dolphin in the Mouth-The Review

Okay, so I don't like the title much, but this book was laugh out loud, scream through your fingers funny. I got it in the mail today from the publisher and have already read it cover to cover.

In Matthew Inman's 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides), samurai sword-wielding kittens and hamsters that love .50-caliber machine guns commingle with a cracked out Tyrannosaur that is extremely hard to potty train. Bacon is better than true love and you may awake in the middle of the night to find your nephew nibbling on your toes.
Inman creates these quirky scenes for theoatmeal.com, which launched in July 2009 and already has more than 82 million page views. In fact, every 15 to 30 seconds, someone Googles one of theoatmeal.com's creations. Now, 60 of Inman's comic illustrations and life-bending guides are presented in full-color inside 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides). Consider such handy advice as:
* 4 Reasons to Carry a Shovel at All Times
* 6 Types of Crappy Hugs
* 8 Ways to Tell if Your Loved One Plans to Eat You
* 17 Things Worth Knowing About Your Cat
* 20 Things Worth Knowing About Beer
(Goodreads)


If you haven't been on The Oatmeal website, you are missing out. Seriously. For those of you who like your humor with a bit of wicked fun, you have to check this out. Not for kids. These are adult only comics with language and some crude comments. They are hysterical.

The book covers everything from bad emails, to the club scene to the upcoming zombie apocalypse. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me this great book and giving me a day of scream filled laughter. Mostly behind my hand. Yes. There was all manner of snorting and giggles. Then my husband came home and stole the book. I heard the laughter from the next room. Enough said.

Matthew Inman is a web designer, developer and online marketer. He writes, draws, and codes the Oatmeal from his home in Seattle, Washington.

The Oatmeal was listed as one of Time magazine's best blogs of 2010.
It is read by more than 5 million people with 20 million page views each month.

"The Oatmeal is one of the funniest and most creative sites on the Web. It mixes the absurd with the educational with the silly to get a site that appeals to all ages and types."
Alex Leo, The Huffington Post

"I have never seen such a rapid rise to becoming a staple Internet phenomenon as quickly as the Oatmeal has. Every time the Oatmeal releases something new, it immediately becomes a viral hit and an instant classic."
Matt Van Horn, Digg.com

5 out of 5 stars.

The Ice Princess Blog Tour

This book was a real page turner. Camilla Lackberg does a great job in her first book in this series. A young woman finds her friend dead  and is charged with reporting on her death and the events that surround it. Each step she takes leads her closer to the deadly truth. Was it suicide or was it murder? Struggling with memories of her friend from years ago, the main character has to put the past and the present together to form a picture of what really happened in the ice covered crime scene.

The author's description of the interplay between characters in the book at times made me laugh. She showed honest emotion that you sometimes don't find in mysteries like this. The scenery made me want to go to Sweden. It was very artfully crafted.

I liked this book. It kept my interest and the pages flew. My reviews will not give spoilers, but I can tell you that it is a great mystery that will leave you wanting to read more by this talented author. It reminded me of the Stieg Larsson series for the Swedish aspect, but as a reader, I found this book much easier to get into than The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. There is no information dump. The plot develops and you learn things as you go. Thumbs up.

My thanks to Free Press for providing a copy of this book for the blog tour through Book Blogs. I will be checking out other things by this author. She is one to watch.

4 1/2 out of 5

Spring

A picture for inspiration. Spring...

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Book Trailer Cupcake Scarf

Book Trailer for Bon Appetite Desserts

I have done several posts about this book on my cookbook blog http://bookgirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com/ but I wanted to share this book trailer with you also. It really is one of the BEST dessert books I have ever had the pleasure to review. Custards, cakes, puddings, tarts, pies...it's in there. This book= food love.

Follow Friday and Blogger Hop



Happy Follow Friday everyone! Let me tell you a little bit about this HOP. Every Friday or really Thursday evening we all get together and say HI! But, we need to know how to find you, so please leave your link in the Mr. Linky below. Also on Follow Friday we have a Feature...because alliteration is the way we roll. Each week is a different feature from the book blogging community. They are picked randomly or I give in after multiple harassing emails. Just depends on the week. If you want to be next weeks feature...leave your link. Also, I've had a recent rash of people signing up on the linky weeks later, which sort of defeats the purpose. If you want to participate check back here on the next Friday! (http://www.parajunkee.com/)

Our feature this week is...

Rebecca from Confessions of a Page Turner

Hi fellow book lovers! My name is Rebecca and I am thrilled to be a new member of the book blogging community! I absolutely love sharing with others about reading and so, starting a blog about books seemed like a great way of doing this. Ever since my dad read The Hobbit out loud to my sister and I when we were little, I have loved books and reading. My husband and I currently live in Oklahoma while he finishes up his medical residency. Once he is done, we are excited about our dream of moving to somewhere in New England! I am an aspiring writer and am currently working on two books...a nonfiction book and a novel. My hobbies besides writing and reading include scrapbooking, painting, and knitting. Basically anything that allows me to express my creative side!

Look for a little bit of everything on my book blog :). Variety is the spice of life and I enjoy dabbling in almost every genre, although, fantasy and fiction by women writers are particular favorites. I look forward to getting to know all of you and conversing with you about magical and wonderful books! Happy Reading!

Q. Inspired by the inane twitter trend of #100factsaboutme, give us five BOOK RELATED silly facts about you.

1. I'm an ADD reader. I am reading like five different books at once.
2. My physical TBR is now close to 100, yet I continue to purchase books. In fact I just ordered three from amazon right before I did this post
3. I so like Urban Fantasy over Paranormal Romance, sometimes I want to punch the testosterone prone heroes in the face and call them "little boy"
4. I read everywhere...in the tub, in the car at stoplights (don't tell the police officers!), in the line at the grocery store and while I'm uploading web sites at work
5. I've now taken to downloading audio books and keep on increasing my membership at audible.com, I love the 4.95 sales!!!

Now for the Follow Fun!

<center><a href="http://www.parajunkee.com/search/label/FF" target="_blank" ><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4710921228_bf32d46f6d_o.png" /></a></center>

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://readingwithrebecca.blogspot.com/
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!

*********

My answer:

1. My book piles are legendary. Seriously, this is only one.

2. I read at least 6 books at once. Between my bookpile, Ipad, Nook Color and my audio books, I am never without a book in my hand. No, seriously. I even read on my phone. Kind of ADD, right?

3. Goodreads is my favorite book stalking ground. I love the giveaways section for new material to add to my TBR list. I am on there at least 5 times a day. I think it must be an addiction.

4. My headphones were not working on my Ipad a couple of weeks ago, so I literally propped it up on my lap to listen to my audio book to and from work. I was listening to Beth Revis's book Across the Universe and HAD to find out the ending.

5. Books are my friends. I love them and it makes me ill just thinking about getting rid of one. Literally, they are crawling up the wall on my writing desk and taking over my closet. Who needs shoes, right?

Book Blogger Hop: 3/25-3/28

12:00 AM | Thoughts by Jennifer | | Edit Post

Please check out UPDATE #2 at the bottom above the linky before entering your link or you may risk having your entire link removed. Thank you.

Grab the Logo!
<a href="http://www.crazy-for-books.com"><img src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt34/crazybookblog/cfbmemebutton-2.png" alt="Book Blogger Hop" width="150" height="150"></a>

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!  So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!! .Got to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!  And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added!  We get over 200 links every week!! 

RULES:

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

1.  Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below, including the genre that you review! (On Crazy-for-Books site http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

In your link, please state the main genre that you review:  eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.

Example:  Crazy-for-Books (contemp. adult fiction) 

2. Post about the Hop on your blog.  Spread the word about the book party!  The more the merrier!  In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).  

If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, click here to fill out the form!  Thanks! 

 

This week's question comes from Mina who blogs at Mina Burrows:

 "If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?"

My answer:  I actually have 2 series that I would love to be "in".

The first is the Booktown Mystery series by Lorna Barrett - I mean who wouldn't want to be in a fictional book town?  I adore this series and the characters!

    

Another series I would love to be in, just because I LOVE the characters is the Do-It-Yourself Mysteries by Jennie Bentley:

   


If you haven't read either of these cozy mystery series, I highly recommend you check them out!  Great stories and characters!

3.  Visit other blogs in the Linky List!  Make new friends!  Follow new book bloggers!  Talk about books!  Rave about authors!  Take the time to make a quality visit!  Check out other posts and content, make a new friend!  Don't randomly follow someone if you never intend on actually following them!  No spamming please!  (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

And just as an FYI - this event is not something you should feel that you have to participate in every week.  If you want to join in and link up once a month, GREAT!  It's up to you how often you participate!

So, have fun HOPPING and enjoy your BOOK PARTY weekend!!!UPDATE:  THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP DOES NOT ACCEPT TWITTER LINKS!  IF YOU LEAVE A TWITTER LINK, IT WILL BE DELETED!!!  ONLY YOUR BLOG URL IS ACCEPTED!  THANK YOU!

UPDATE #2: Please do not add "AND A GIVEAWAY" to your blog hop link. I've been seeing these a lot lately and up until now I've left them alone. But it's starting to get a bit out of control and I'm going to have to start deleting them if they continue to appear. The Hop isn't to advertise your giveaways. It's a place for us to explore and find new blogs we may be interested in following, not to promote our giveaways. There are several sites out there that have Giveaway Hops, but this is not one of them. Unfortunately if I continue to see the links, I will have to delete them. I hate to start having to "police" the hop, but I want to bring it back to its original state. Thank you for understanding.

My answer:

There are so many...How to pick.

Reading For Sanity: JANE EYRE Swag Bag Giveaway

Reading For Sanity: JANE EYRE Swag Bag Giveaway: "I don't know if you've heard, but Jane Eyre just hit theatres. *Happy Dance* Since we're big fans of the book, we thought..."

Girlfriends, Giggles and God

Did you ever have one of those days? You know the ones...you keep tripping over the hem in your pants; you roll over the heel of your shoe with your chair at work; again, you can't stop fighting with your kids or your spouse, or worse, you even feel that God has stopped listening to you...



Situations arise daily in each woman's life that, although sometimes hilarious, laughable, or ironic, can somehow manage to make us feel all alone. Other occasions, we will laugh through our tears, thankful that the drama has fallen on someone else for a change!



Girlfriends, Giggles, & God is a thirty-one-day devotional filled with moments of hilarity, reflecting upon circumstances that arise in every woman's household across the country. Crack the pages open, laugh (because we all know it's good for the soul), and take comfort in knowing that through all of life's unexpected twists and turns (good and bad), we can stand united by our Heavenly Father who loves each one of us eternally and unconditionally...and for that we can all giggle a little more freely!

(Goodreads)

I was lucky enough to meet the author of this inspirational book when she came into my store. It was a quick read, but very cute and inspirational. She was wonderful enough to give me a copy of this book to read and review. Thanks Dallas!

Overall:

The book gives you a month of devotions that provide humor and thought provoking questions. If you enjoy a Christian based devotional with elements of family life and bible quotes, you will enjoy this book. A great gift for a church friend or family member who enjoys an uplifting religious motivational read. Perfect for the Easter season.

4 out of 5 rating.

Follow Friday and Blogger Hop

Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop!

Happy Follow Friday everyone! Let me tell you a little bit about this HOP. Every friday or really Thursday evening we all get together and say HI! But, we need to know how to find you, so please your link in the Mr. Linky below. Also on Follow Friday we have a Feature...because alliteration is the way we roll. Each week is a different feature from the book blogging community. They are picked randomly or I give in after multiple harassing emails. Just depends on the week. If you want to be next weeks feature...leave your link. Also, I've had a recent rash of people signing up on the linky weeks later, which sort of defeats the purpose. If you want to participate check back here on the next Friday!


Our feature this week is...

Jess from Gone With the Words

Hi everyone! I’m Jess and I’m behind the “Gone with the Words” blog! I haven’t always been a reader, I was in Middle School (or Junior High to some of you), but lost interest in High School. It all changed in 2009 when I bought Twilight....and read it in a matter of hours. I then scrambled to get my hands on the rest of the series and didn’t leave my house all weekend. The rest is history. I was in love with books once again.

After reading about 200 books last year alone I decided to begin a blog where I could talk about them. Thus, Gone with the Words was born in January. At that time it wasn’t called that though, it was called “Read? Don’t Mind if I Do...” but wasn’t in love with that name. So I held a poll that included names suggested by other bloggers and Twitter friends, and that’s how I got the name for my blog. As for which genres I like, it’s evolving the more I read. I love Paranormal/Fantasy & Contemporary YA and Romance the most though. I also really like Urban Fantasy. If it’s a series, that’s even better.

Q. How did you come up with your blog name?

Mine is rather stupid. You see I tend to be that person that stuffs things together to make new and interesting things. Or just silly names - which seems to be trendy for the last decade especially with celeb names. So like, I was trying to choose what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said to myself:

"Well I like computers. Total computer dork. And I like art. So that makes me...the perfect Computer Graphic Designer!" That was random, but true.

How does this translate to a name...well I like paranormal stuff and I'm a book junkie, so...I shortened it changed the ie to ee...just for shits and giggles and viola' Parajunkee as a handle. Tack on the View because of course the blog is my opinion and there you have it. Parajunkee's View.

Now for the Follow Fun!

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To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { http://www.Parajunkee.com/} and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://bookaholicdoesblogging.blogspot.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!

*********

My answer:

I came up with the name of my blog because I have been "a book girl" since I was little. My newest passion of knitting has become very important to me as well. Put them both together and there you have it. Bookgirl Knitting.



In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!  So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list at http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!  And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added!  We get over 200 links every week!! 

RULES:

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

1.  Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below

In your link, please state the main genre that you review:  eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.

Example:  Crazy-for-Books (contemp. adult fiction) 

2. Post about the Hop on your blog.  Spread the word about the book party!  The more the merrier!  In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).  

If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, go to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/!  Thanks! 

 

This week's question comes from Somer who blogs at A Bird's Eye Review (her blog design is ADORABLE - check it out!):

 "Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?"

My answer:  In the days before my Nook, I would typically only read one book at a time.  Since I've acquired an e-reader, I typically have 2 books going at once - one on the e-reader that I can throw in the purse or take to the gym - and one in paper that I read at home.  Right now, I have 3 books going which is CRAZY for me - 1 book on the Nook, 1 book in PDF on my Netbook, and 1 book in paper!

3.  Visit other blogs in the Linky List!  Make new friends!  Follow new book bloggers!  Talk about books!  Rave about authors!  Take the time to make a quality visit!  Check out other posts and content, make a new friend!  Don't randomly follow someone if you never intend on actually following them!  No spamming please!  (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

And just as an FYI - this event is not something you should feel that you have to participate in every week.  If you want to join in and link up once a month, GREAT!  It's up to you how often you participate!

So, have fun HOPPING and enjoy your BOOK PARTY weekend!!!

My answer:

I have several books going at once. Usually one for each blog. Well, at least one. My YA blog is the heaviest right now with a mermaid series going on and some other books I am reviewing on a deadline. If I could strap on a futuristic device that let me read in my sleep, I would do it. For me, it is paper books, PDFs on my IPad and e-books on the Nook Color. Oh, and audio books too!UPDATE:  THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP DOES NOT ACCEPT TWITTER LINKS!  IF YOU LEAVE A TWITTER LINK, IT WILL BE DELETED!!!  ONLY YOUR BLOG URL IS ACCEPTED!  THANK YOU