Annette's Book Spot: blogging

Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts

Monday, January 13, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 13

You guys, I haven't ever told anyone this. I'm so embarrassed. Here goes, my Blogger Horror Story...

In 2011, I read and reviewed Between Shades of Grey, by Ruta Sepetys. In early 2013, I read and reviewed Out of the Easy by the same author. I loved both of these books. Shortly after I posted my Out of the Easy review, I was reading about the book somewhere else, and noticed the blogger had used the name "Ruta." I thought it was a typo. You see, in both my reviews, the entire time I read these books, I thought the author's name was RUTH. I put it in my reviews. I put it in my archives. It's in the URL for my review!!! Imagine my horror, when I realized I didn't even get the AUTHOR'S NAME correct. How embarrassing. I went back and changed what I could, but links and "you might also likes" still come up with my original posting...that says "Ruth." How could I be so unobservant?

So, I apologize, Ms. Sepetys. Your name is in pretty BIG letters on the books. I have no excuse. I'm embarrassed that I made a mistake, when your books are so brilliant. Well, I'd feel bad even if her books weren't brilliant, but they are!

How about you? Any horror stories? Make sure you visit Parajunkee and all the participating blogs.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 12

Followers? When I started blogging, I really didn't think I'd get ANY followers. Well, maybe a handful. That was never my goal, and still isn't. If you enjoy what I write (mostly book reviews) then feel free to follow, or just stop by occasionally. If you don't read YA, or would rather read author interviews, book spotlights, book tours, or lots of memes, then your probably won't enjoy my blog. And that's OK.

I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. Having fun reading and writing about what I've read. Trying to get some ARCs. Participating in a few memes, and reading a lot of reviews on other blogs. I love the book blogging community, and I really appreciate what YOU all do. It makes me better at my job and provides a lot of entertainment. Thanks for joining me today! Make sure you visit Parajunkee, our host, and see all the other participating blogs.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 11

Ugh. The dreaded TBR pile. Right now, I have about 25 books "to review." I have about 25 books sitting on my desk, wanting to be read. I have a folder on my Kindle with 44 books to read "someday."

And, I work in a school library, so really my TBR shelves are limitless...(It's not a bad problem to have!)

How about you? Are you buried in books too? Leave me a link, and be sure to visit Parajunkee and all the other participating blogs! Enjoy your weekend!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Feature & Follow Friday: Blogging Resolutions

So, today's question from Alison & Parajunkee is one many of us have probably answered.

Resolutions: Put together your blogger resolution list for all of us to see!

One place I have already discussed this is Day 1 of Parajunkee's Book Blogger New Year's Challenge. So I'll just repeat that here in case you missed it!

Nothing fancy here. I'd like to keep the reading pace that I've had for the past two years. Almost 56,000 pages and around 170 books. I don't think I can do much more than that, so I won't even go for that.

I also REALLY REALLY need to do something about my blog design. It's old, and simple, and I'm really bored with it. I have ideas about what I want, but haven't yet decided to give up the time (and money) and hassle to get it done. Maybe I'll just go for something simple that I can do myself again. I just need a change. I've never been about winning prizes or maximizing hits on my site, so that's why design is not my top priority. But it's time to DO something.

As always, and just like most people, I'd like to read and comment on more blogs every day. I'll keep working at getting better at this. Some days are better than others...

How about you? What are your Blogger Resolutions? Leave me a link!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 9

I don't get to attend a lot of cons or events. But, I attend the Illinois School Library Media Association Annual Conference every year. I've actually been on the planning committee for this event several times. It's an opportunity to network with people like me, learn some new things about being a school librarian, and get to see some authors. Mostly local, but this year we had Sharon Draper and Tim Green -- not too shabby.

How about you? What are your travelling goals for 2014? Make sure to visit the host of the challenge, Parajunkee, and see all the participating blogs.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 8

What is my favorite book blogger moment? Probably the same as many of you. I love when authors comment or tweet about my review! The first time this ever happened, it was A. S. King, who left a LONG comment on my blog about a review of Please Ignore Vera Dietz. I was a pretty new blogger, and I was STUNNED. I was showing everyone!

How about you? Leave me a link, and be sure to visit Parajunkee to see all the participating blogs.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 7

Today's assignment from Parajunkee is to list book blogger pet peeves. I'm not sure if I can think of ten book blogger pet peeves, but here are a few:

Silly typos. Not proofreading. I know that everyone makes the occasional mistake, but at least use spell check to catch the obvious ones! It's hard to take a review seriously if it is rife with mistakes.
When book reviews mention this is a book in a series, but don't list the other books in that series.
When a blog posts only spotlights, memes, books tours, etc. and very few reviews. Nothing makes me stop following more quickly.
When reviewers summarize the entire book in great detail, but don't give any personal opinion except "it was good." I need to know if you liked it or not, and WHY.
When reviewers quote from ARCs. I've never received an ARC that didn't ask me NOT to quote from it. Only quote from the original. I see this violated all the time! (And I am SOOOO tempted sometimes.)
CAPTCHA. Try removing it. Just TRY it. You'll see -- it's not that bad! Use comment moderation, if you are that worried about it. And for heaven's sake, why would you use BOTH?

That's all I can come up with now. For the most part, I think bloggers are great people who try to do what is correct, have fun, and help each other out.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 6

No one can pick just ONE favorite for the whole year, right? I've read 167 books and gave 28 books a "5 hat" rating, and it's impossible to pick just one. So here goes:

I guess my absolute favorite is Ready Player One. I just loved that book.

To add to the dystopian list, I also have to mention The 5th Wave and The Trap.

Simply amazing books...

I also wanted to mention a contemporary by one of my favorite authors, Ask the Passengers.

And as far as adult novels are concerned, you can't beat The Light Between Oceans.

What a year! So many great books. How about you? What are your favorites? Don't forget to visit Parajunkee to see the other participants. It's not to late to join up!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge -- Day 3

There just isn't time to read every book that I want to, so of course, there are many books that could be on the list of "The Books of 2013 You are Sad You Missed."

The first book that comes to mind is Champion. But I intend to remedy that situation SOON!

Some other books still on my TBR:

This is What Happy Looks Like

The Golem and the Jinni

Clockwork Princess

A Million Suns and Shades of Earth

Oh, I could go on...there are many more. I'm sure reading all of your answers will just add to my list! Leave me a link. Also, make sure you visit Parajunkee, our host, and see all the participating blogs.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Book Bloggers New Year's Challenge - Day 2

Hosted by Parajunkee!

Pros and Cons of Blogging

Pros:

1. I enjoy it

2. It helps me remember the books I've read

3. I learn about a lot of books I never would have heard of

4. I get free books before publication

Cons:

1. It takes a lot of time

2. There's always pressure to increase followers, whether I think that's important or not

3. Sometimes I don't get to read what I want when I want to

4. I have too many books on my TBR because of #3 in "Pros!"

The pros have always outweighed the cons for me. I've never had a reading or blogging slump in over 3 years. *knocks on wood* I think if the cons took over, I would quit. I hope that doesn't happen...

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Parajunkee's Book Bloggers New Year's Challenge - Day 1

Happy New Year! I'm trying to participate in Parajunkee's New Year's Challenge. I'm not sure I'll make it every day, but I'll do my best!

Today: Your Blogger Resolutions

Nothing fancy here. I'd like to keep the reading pace that I've had for the past two years. Almost 56,000 pages and around 170 books. I don't think I can do much more than that, so I won't even go for that.

I also REALLY REALLY need to do something about my blog design. It's old, and simple, and I'm really bored with it. I have ideas about what I want, but haven't yet decided to give up the time (and money) and hassle to get it done. Maybe I'll just go for something simple that I can do myself again. I just need a change. I've never been about winning prizes or maximizing hits on my site, so that's why design is not my top priority. But it's time to DO something.

As always, and just like most people, I'd like to read and comment on more blogs every day. I'll keep working at getting better at this. Some days are better than others...

How about you? What are your Blogger Resolutions? Be sure to stop by Parajunkee's and participate!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Do I have Anyrthing to Discuss? I Need to "Back Off"

I've been re-evaluating my reading and blogging. I still love them both, but a couple of things happened that have made me reconsider my blogging habits. First of all, I read this post at Tiny Library about reading very long books. Then a few minutes later, I read a review of For Darkness Shows the Stars, and she talked about how it was a retelling of Persuasion, which I've never read. Then, I started stressing because I was going my state school librarian conference for the weekend, and WHEN was I going to have time to read and blog??? I was really looking forward to that conference. And, I shouldn't have the stress of blogging ruining my conference experience.

As I commented on the Tiny Library post, I have always wanted to read Pillars of the Earth. And there are several other "mammoth" books that I would like to read. I'd also like to read both Persuasion and For Darkness Shows the Stars. I work in a library. Lately I have AVOIDED browsing the shelves, because there are so many books that I wish I could read.

Whaaaaattt?? Why can't I read books I "want" to read? Well, I have this "list" of review books that I "need' to read. Why? Because of some stupid parameters I've set for myself about reading and reviewing new releases.

So. Why did I start to blog? I'm not one of those people that did a lot of research and checked out a lot of other book blogs to figure out how to best design and market my blog. I just did it. I had another blog about my hobbies, and decided I wanted a blog dedicated to books. For me. Because if I write about books, I remember them. And I like reading what others have to say about books. (And, I like being able to read some books before they are released.) But that isn't the main reason I blog. Lately, I've found myself obsessively checking my page views each day. Ugghh. I never wanted to be like that.

There is a happy medium, and I"m going to work harder to find it. I still enjoy reading some ARCs, but it can't be at the expense of reading books I really WANT to read, even classics. I have to stop worrying about posting 6 days a week. Most weeks I post at least 3 reviews, and I really strive for 4. That LIMITS my reading in a way that I don't want it to. So, I have to BACK OFF. I'm going to read and blog. But I'm going to make sure I don't give up reading older books or longer books because of an artificial schedule. So, I'm sure I'll post a lot. But I may skip some days (The horror!!)

I hope you all hang in there with me, and enjoy what I DO post, even if it's not daily. Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Follow Friday - Blogging Goals

Happy Friday everyone! I really like this week's question:

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Is it to one day become an author yourself, just for fun, maybe get some online attention, or maybe something very different?

I could NEVER be a writer. I'm fascinated by the process. I don't understand how anyone can do that, and I really admire authors. Annette's Book Spot is mostly for fun. I really didn't intend for anyone to pay attention to my blog -- although I appreciate that people do. I really wanted a way to remember what I've read, and to write and discuss what I've read. I can never get enough of talking about books. I'm a librarian and I have so much fun discussing books with teens, but sometimes that isn't enough. So that's why this blog was created.

How about you? I'll be looking forward to you answers. Please leave a link so I can visit you! Thanks again to Parajunkee and Alison for providing this opportunity to discuss.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Loving the "Next" Button

I learned about this during Armchair BEA. I'm sorry I can't give credit, but it was just one of those many posts I read, and I thought "I'll try this." Not realizing how MUCH I was going to appreciate this tip. If you are the one that posted about this, please leave a comment, and thank you!

Why I like it? If you put this button in you bookmark bar, you can use it to go through your Google Reader posts. It opens up the actual blog page. You aren't just reading the posts in a reader. Therefore, there's no extra clicking to leave a comment. You can appreciate all the beautiful blog designs (although, I can't reiterate enough -- as so many others have -- that white text on black background is very difficult for some of us to read. Just sayin'.)

You get to see the formatting the way the author intended. I didn't realize what a difference this makes. One thing I found annoying about some blogs is that they present a "Summary" which is labeled, then it runs right into their review -- so it's difficult to tell where the summary ends and the review begins. On many of these blogs, if you see the original formatting, there is some sort of break or indication other than the word "Review" that makes it easy to tell.

I notice blog buttons to add to my own blog. I notice buttons to follow on twitter. And...the bloggers are getting a "hit" on their blog for my visit, unlike using a reader, where the blogger has no way of knowing you read their post. (If there's a way to track this, let me know, but I've asked before and I think that is correct.) It's just a win-win, as far as I can tell.

How do I get this button? In Google Reader, go to Reader Settings (click on the little wheel thing at the upper right of the screen.) Click on the "Goodies" tab. Under "Put Reader in a Bookmark," click on the "next" button and drag it into your bookmark bar.

That's it. It's easy, and now every time you want to read a new blog post, just click on that button. You should give this a try. I've been commenting a lot more since using this feature. I feel like I "know" your blogs better since I see the whole thing every time I read a post. Let me know what you think.