Monday, March 5, 2012

Book Tagged

I've been graciously tagged by Maria at A Night's Dream of Books for a new meme, a fun new way for book bloggers to get to know one another. The best part, it's really easy to take part and is a great way to make friends around the book blogosphere. So here're the really simple rules, really quickly:
1) Post the rules.
2) Answer the questions by tagger & make your own questions for your the bloggers you've tagged.
3) Tag 10 people and link them in your post.
4) Let the people you've tagged know you've tagged them.
The people I'm tagging for this meme include:
 1) Maria @ A Night's Dream of Books (tag-back!)
 2) Sarah @ Workaday Reads
 3) Lisa @ Lost in Literature
 4) Tiffany @ Book Cover Justice
 5) Danielle @ Mercurial Musings
 6) Marian @ A Sunny Disposition
 7) Kary @ The Once and Future Librarian
 8) Tara @ Hobbitsies
 9) Grace @ Livre D'Amour
10) Jodi @ Ocean in a Cup (not precisely a book blog!)

First, Maria's questions:

1.) What's your favorite book meme and/or blog hop? You can name more than one.

This is a tough one, there are so many I love! I think, though, that On My Wishlist, hosted by Book Chick City tops the list, WWW Wednesday, hosted by Should be Reading, and Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read are my absolute favorites. I'm always on the look out for new memes and hops, but so far these are the ones I really enjoy the most.

2.) Would you ever like to reach more than 1,000 followers? Why or why not?

I don't know, really. I blog because I really enjoy it, and thought I'd love to reach a large audience, I don't think it would influence my content. I post about the books I love, I read for fun and to relax, and my reviews are always honest. So, I suppose if I could get to 1,000 followers who really wanted to interact and with whom I could interact, then sure! For me, it's much more important to build relationships than to find followers.

3.) When you first started blogging, did you simply follow the steps at Blogger (or some other platform), read a book/books about blogging, or visit blog instruction websites? Did you do all three? Please name any books or sites you've used.

I've been personal blogging since 2003, so blogging really is one of my favorite hobbies. When I first started blogging, my very first platform was Blogger. So, when I decided to start this blog, I started it as a self-hosted Wordpress blog. I decided, pretty quickly though, that Blogger was a much better platform for this particular type of blog, so I moved it over. Overall, I've never been big on instructional websites for bloggers, mostly because I believe blogging is a platform for personal self-expression, but I did get some really good tips about book blogging from Parajunkee's Book Blogging 101 series when I was just starting out.

4.) Have you ever read a book that you felt should never make it to the movie screen? Name the book, and why you feel this way. If you haven't read such a book, then give the title of a book whose synopsis you've read on Goodreads or Amazon. If you can't come up with any book, just skip this question.

The only book I've read that I've read that I absolutely hated was Bathory: Memoir of  Countess. It was absolutely horrible. I'm really interested in Bathory, so when I saw this book I thought it was a sure hit, but when I started reading it I realized it was just the opposite. It's also the only really bad book review I've ever written. So, yeah, this book would make a horrible movie, though there are some pretty good movies out there about Bathory.

Otherwise, I'm not sure that Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series would make a good movie, simply because it's so, so long and so filled with characters, it would be impossible to follow. That said, I really love Robert Jordan (R.I.P).

5.) Do you enjoy participating in blog tours? Why or why not?

I never have done a blog tour, but I wouldn't be opposed to doing so. I just haven't found the right one, and honestly it was a long time before I understood exactly what went on during blog tours. I also have no idea where to sign up.

6.) If you like romance novels, do you prefer realistic human men, or paranormal/fantasy ones? Please explain your choice. If you don't like romance novels, feel free to skip this question.

I like both, actually. It depends entirely upon the kind of romance I'm reading. Regency romance, which is my favorite, has to be human men. Of course, it always is so that's fine. For more contemporary romance, I like a mix. I like my romantic male lead to be a vampire, a werewolf, a Greek god, just as much as I like the humans.

7.) Some readers think that the romance genre is "trashy reading". Do you agree? Why or why not?

This might not be a fair question, I mean, I have a degree in English. Ha!  No, but in all seriousness, I really, really enjoy romance novels, but that wasn't always the case. There was a time when I thought they were trashy, but then I read Bound By Honor by Collette Gale (which is actually historical storybook erotica/romance). After that I started to get into regency romance, and I've never looked back. It's really my guilty pleasure. I love them, no shame at all. So no, I don't think they're trashy reading. I tend to believe that everyone needs a break from the serious stuff, and that some reading is just fun. That's romance for me, it's just a way for me to kick back and really relax.

8.) Have you ever read a book that you think you could have written much better? Which book is it? Name one thing you would change about this book -- whether it's the overall plot, the ending, a character's personality, or anything else you can think of.

I don't think so, no. I'm pretty liberal about what I enjoy and other writer's style. Okay, wait, I think I could have done Bathory: Memoir of a Countess much more justice than did the writer. Otherwise, not at all.

9.) What would cause you to stop reading a book in disgust?

If I didn't stop reading Bathory (and I didn't, I finished the whole thing in one afternoon), then I can't think of anything. I have a pretty strong stomach for violence, blood and gore, for horror, etc. I think maybe any kind violence against children or animals would do it for me. I can't tolerate people hurting the innocent. Otherwise, I'm open to almost anything... which doesn't necessarily mean I'll like it, it just means I'm willing to tolerate almost anything.

10.) What personality traits make it easy for you to like a specific character in a novel?

I really admire a strong central heroine. I love books that have female characters who can stand up for themselves, who have a central identity not dictated to them by the men in their lives, and I like for my heroine to be smart and self-aware. For male characters, I like what every woman likes, sexy! No, seriously though, I want a male character who respects women and who knows who he is.  I tend to like characters who are a little bit older, maybe late teens and up. I tend to turn away from characters who are too young or naive, which is tricky because I really enjoy YA lit.

Alright, now onto my questions:

1.) Do you prefer book series or stand alone novels? Why?
2.) How much time do you spend reading per week & what are your other hobbies?
3.) Do you write in addition to being a book blogger? If so, what genre do you write?
4.) What is your favorite movie based on a book? Why?
5.) What is your least favorite movie based on a book? Why?
6.) Name one book you simply couldn't put down and explain why.
7.) If you were going to recommend one book, what would it be and why?
8.) Do you have a Kindle or the like? Do you read e-books? Why or why not?
9.) What is the first book you remember reading?
10.) Are you more likely to read a bad book with a good cover, or a good book with a bad cover? Also, does a cover affect how you feel about a book, whether good or bad?


There you have it!  I just wanted to say that this meme is open to everyone and that I hope you'll participate. If you haven't been tagged above, but still want to participate, please leave me a comment and let me know, so I can add your tag above. I'm looking forward to reading your responses!

5 comments:

  1. Fun!!! Thanks for tagging me! I'll get working on my answers :)

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  2. Hey, Kristyn!

    Thank you so much for answering my questions, and then tagging me back! Stephanie at Steph's Book Corner has just tagged me as well!! Lol!

    Love your answers!! I'll be sure to leave a more detailed comment tomorrow, since I'm about to go to bed. It's now 11:04 PM here in Miami, Florida. Gotta wake up at 7:00 AM!! UGH!!

    I'll be back tomorrow!! Nitey nite!! : )

    Maria @ http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/

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  3. Thanks for tagging me! I'll include it as part of my Friday discussion post.

    For book tours, I would suggest checking out Bewitching Book Tours. Roxanne does an amazing job with it, and there are always a ton of tours going on. They are all ebook tours, and most have a paranormal and/or romance slant to them.

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  4. Hey, Kristyn!

    Well, I haven't been able to get back to you until now, but here I am! Just wanted to comment on your answers to my questions.

    1.) Those are all wonderful memes! I'd also like to recommend "Shelf Candy Saturday", hosted by Stephanie @ Five Alarm Book Reviews. I participate in that one, as well as in "Waiting On Wednesday", hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. But you already have a Wednesday meme. Hope you decided to participate in the Saturday one! I LOVE featuring great-looking book covers, as well as seeing other bloggers' picks!!

    2.) I LOVE this answer! You're absolutely right -- it IS more important to build relationships than have a lot of followers. Wish every blogger felt this way...

    3.) Yes, Rachel @ parajunkee.com has that WONDERFUL "Blogging 101" feature! I've consulted it myself a few times! I've also read a Dummies book on blogging for beginners.

    4, 8, and 9.) WOW!! I will definitely steer clear of that Bathory book! You referred to it in THREE answers!! I swear I will NEVER ever pick it up, wherever I might see it!! Lol.

    5.) I've been thinking of doing blog tours myself. I'm a bit hesitant, though, because of my work schedules. I would feel pressured to read a book by a certain deadline. And I have SO many books on my shelves that I have yet to read!! However, if you're interested, let me know, and I'll get you some links. I know a couple of tour organizers -- online, not in person, of course.

    6.) Excellent answer! I agree with you 100%!! And I LOVE Regency romances, too!!

    7.) Again I concur. SOME romance novels might indeed be "trashy", but definitely not the entire genre! I think this is an overgeneralization, so I'm happy you answered the way you did!! Besides, we would have to then say that novels like "Jane Eyre" and "Pride and Prejudice" are "trsshy", wouldn't we? Speaking of Regency romance, are you familiar with the novels of Mary Balogh? She's my favorite Regency romance writer!! You've probably heard of her, I'll bet!

    9.) One of the things that would do it for me is a lot of profanity. I especially detest "the F bomb" and "the MF bomb"!! Very, very graphic sex scenes also disgust me (you know, kinky sex and such), but I do enjoy tastefully-written scenes that are very romantic! A lot of blood and gore is another major turnoff for me, in spite of the fact that I love vampire fiction. However, the vampires I love are of the Edward Cullen variety!! Lol.

    10.) Oh, very well put!! Again, I wholeheartedly concur!! Everything you said is right on the money!! YAY!!

    Thank you so much for answering my questions!! I greatly enjoyed reading your answers!

    I'll have my answers to your own questions up as soon as I get a chance! Now, off to bed I go...gotta wake up early for "another day in Paradise"...UGH! Well, at leaat next week I'll have a mmini-vacation!

    Hope you're getting ready for the weekend!! : )

    Maria @ http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/

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  5. P.S. Please excuse the typos! : )

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