Book Blogger Hop (15)

Since we are getting back into the swing of things we thought it would be fun to start doing the book blogger hop again over at Crazy For Books in order to connect with some other book blogs.

This week's question is:

Highlight one of your favorite reviews from the past month!

One of my favorite reviews this past month was by Amanda for Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler. Amanda, Shelbie, and I actually got to meet Elle and Blair last weekend which was really fun and part of the reason I like that review. I also liked how Amanda discussed the use of a writing partner and their effect on the book.

That's my answer, and I would love to hear what your favorite review from the past month is on our blog!

XOXO,

Jenni

Book Blogger Hop (14)

It's time for book blogger hop again! So go ahead and go to Crazy For Books and get to hoppin!

This week's question is...

“Highlight one book you have received this week (for review, from the library, purchased at the store, etc.) that you can’t wait to dig into!”
Amanda's Answer: This one's an easy question. Most definitely Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton. I went to her and Maggie Stiefvater's signing on Monday, and I can't wait to read her book. I've heard wonderful things about it.

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
Release Date: May 24, 2011
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 416

For Nick Pardee and Silla Kennicot, the cemetery is the center of everything.

Nick is a city boy angry at being forced to move back to the nowhere town of Yaleylah, Missouri where he grew up. He can’t help remembering his mom and the blood magic she practiced – memories he’s tried for five years to escape. Silla, though, doesn’t want to forget; her parents’ apparent murder-suicide left her numb and needing answers. When a book of magic spells in her dad’s handwriting appears on her doorstep, she sees her chance to unravel the mystery of their deaths.

Together they plunge into the world of dark magic, but when a hundred-year-old blood witch comes hunting for the bones of Silla’s parents and the spell book, Nick and Silla will have to let go of everything they believe about who they are, the nature of life and death, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood.

That's my answer, what's yours?

Book Blogger Hop (14)

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy For Books where bloggers can get together and discuss what they love: books! Check out the rest of this week's blogger hop posts here.

Ok, on to the question!

What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?

Amanda's Answer: That would definitely have to be historical fiction. I don't know what it is, but I just can't get into it. I don't like reading about Victorian era girls going to parties and meeting bachelors. I just don't. I like steampunk, especially when it's urban fantasy too, but I don't like straight up historical fiction or period fiction. Shelbie loves them, but I hate them. It's just the way it is I guess.

That's my answer, make sure to go link yours and check out everybody else's!

Book Blogger Hop (13)

It's Friday.... so it's time for the Book Blogger Hop!

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy For Books and is a fun chance to get to know your fellow bloggers!

This week's question from Sue at Cookie's Book Club:

“What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?“

Amanda's answer: For me, it's all about the characters. I want characters that are interesting, driven. and hopefully a little snarky. If the characters don't have a good reason for being in the book and motivation for the things they do then I either will dislike the book or just stop reading it and put it back on the shelf.

Have fun hopping, and if you're in the U.S., have a great 4th of July weekend!

Love always,

Amanda

Book Blogger Hop 12

It's time for another meme! This one is one I love because we get to go see a whole bunch of new blogs that I never knew existed added to all of our wonderful followers that comment too :)

If you want to sign up go to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ and sign the linky then answer the question in a post on your own blog! Don't forget to link here too, in case I accidently skip over your link on the website :)

Question:

What book(s) would you like to seen turn into a movie?

Shelbie's Answer:

I have so many to add to this list. First, I saw I Am Number Four yesterday and it was AWESOME (I haven't read the book yet so please don't comment about how it doesn't live up to the book unless you want my rant about how the movie isn't supposed to be like the book) and I'm trying to rope someone into going with me again today :)

I absolutely can not wait for the City of Bones movie. That movie is going to be beyond epic.

Okay, now to actually answer the question. I think it would be super awesome to see Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick as a movie (can you imaging those action scenes? OMG). Or The DUFF by Kody Keplinger.

What do you think? Put your answer in the comments below!

Book Blogger Hop 8

It's time for another meme! This one is one I love because we get to go see a whole bunch of new blogs that I never knew existed added to all of our wonderful followers that comment too :)


If you want to sign up go to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ and sign the linky then answer the question in a post on your own blog! Don't forget to link here too, in case I accidently skip over your link on the website :)

Question:

"What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

Shelbie's Answer:

Alright, I might get some crap for this, but I didn't like Mockingjay, the third book in The Hunger Games trilogy very much. I felt like the story that I loved from the first two books changed too drastically for my liking. My review was really vague about the whole thing, which I really didn't like, but for those books I wanted people to decide things for themselves, you know?

What about you? Comment below with your answer to the question!

Book Blogger Hop 7

It's time for another meme! This one is one I love because we get to go see a whole bunch of new blogs that I never knew existed added to all of our wonderful followers that comment too :)

If you want to sign up go to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ and sign the linky then answer the question in a post on your own blog! Don't forget to link here too, in case I accidently skip over your link on the website :)

Question:

What is your favourite book cover?

Shelbie's Answer:

Oh god, I have a whole bunch of them. One of my absolute favourites are the covers of Hush, Hush, and Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick. Oh my GOSH those covers are beautiful. I love how it's black and white, and the only color comes from the red in the feather. I also love the storm in the background. It's just beautiful!

What is your favourite book cover?

xoxo,
Shelbie

Blog Hop 6!

So it's already the weekend. This week went by FAST!! But it's time for another blog hop!

Wanna join? Go to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ and sign the Mr. Linky there with your answer to the question below. Don't forget to comment here!! I look forward to seeing your posts ;)

Question:

"Where is your favorite place to read? Curled up on the sofa, in bed, in the garden?"

Shelbie's Answer: Hmm... I'm pretty adaptable when it comes to reading areas but I'd usually opt for sofa or bed just because they are both comfy and you don't have to worry about being uncomfortable while you read. I wish I could say the garden one but here in Minnesota you usually get either mosquitoes or too cold to really be comfy, some days though have very nice reading weather :)

Amanda's Answer: Well... I can read pretty much anywhere. But there is one place in my house that I LOVE to read. It's the couch in our living room because it's huge and has tons of pillows, and the back is so high that my family can only see me from a few directions, which means I'm not being nagged to do something that often.


Where do you read? Make sure to let us know in the comments!

xoxo and love always,
Shelbie and Amanda

Blog Hop 5

I lost count of the Blog Hops we've done so I'm gonna call this number five :)

Be super sure to post links to your post below so I don't accidentally miss them because I love reading these!! And if you want to do it, just go to THIS website and join in on the action!

Question:

"When you read a book that you just can't get into, do you stick it out and keep reading or move to your next title?"

Shelbie's Answer: Um... it sort of depends on how much I can't get into it and how bad I want it to be good. I know that sounds weird to say, but if I really want a book to be good, I can kind of fake it and be like 'oh this really isn't so bad' and then by the time I finish the book I'll realize, oh that kind of sucked... But majority of the time I skip over it... I think...

Amanda's Answer: Well... usually I will finish the book. But it definitely depends on a lot of things. 1) If it was super duper hyped up and I was really looking forward to it, I'll probably finish. Because I obviously had high hopes and want to give the book a chance. 2) It also depends on if I have a long (and exciting) TBR list. If I really want to start a different book, I'll stop the lame book I'm reading and start the new and exciting book. 3) It also depends on my... blogger obligations I guess you could call them. If it's a book tour book, I'll try to finish it so I can post the review. Anyways... most of the time I'll finish the book even if it is lame. Because a) every book deserves a chance and b) someone has to write that review telling you not to read the book!

Be super sure you commented linking to your post and keep checking back because we're trying to hop (get it?) back on the blogging bandwagon this week!

Thanks for sticking through our slum!

xoxo and love always,

Shelbie and Amanda

Book Blogger Hop 5

It's Friday again! Time for another Blog Hop! Wanna join? It's all at Crazy-for-books.com

Question this Week:

Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Shelbie's Answer:

Yes, I do. A lot. More than I probably should. I think it's only ever failed me once. Some of my favourite books also have my favourite covers. ie. Hush, Hush and Crescendo. Amazing covers and amazing books, no? But if a book has a really interesting sounding plot and a eh cover I'll still read it. So its not like it greatly effects my overall decision that much.

Do you judge books by their covers? Let me know, and if you did by doing a blog hop post link to it. I always love reading them!

Blog Hop 4

It's time for another weekend blog hop! I love the hop and I was really sad when I woke up on Monday and was like "Oh yeah I just missed the whole weekend. Dang" I must have just been checked out last weekend. I don't know what was up with me :)

The Blog Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books, and if doing the hop is something you think you would like to do go click the link and check it out! Also, leave a comment below this post with links to your post because sometimes I can't get to every blog hop link or I'll accidentally skip one or something.... sooo yeah, now that I've done my sufficient rambling.....

This weeks question:

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

Yes, we use one. We have an overall rating out of five stars for the overall enjoyment of the book and then we have a rating of out of five stars for four different categories, Cover, Characters, Plot, Writing and Ending. Why do we use it? I think just because it sort of evolved into what it is now, we used to only show the overall and then we just had Characters, Plot and Writing and then we added Cover and now we just added Ending, who knows maybe in a couple months we'll add something else. This is just what works for us at the moment :)

Like i said leave a comment with your posts I would love to read them!

Have an awesome weekend and make sure to put in your last entries for the CSN Giveaway which ends tomorrow. Don't forget about the Ultimate Swag Bag Giveaway either! Remember it ends at 11:59 on the 31st!

xoxo

Shelbie

Book Blogger Hop (4)

Hey guys it's time again for another blog hop! I love the hop because I love looking at everyone's different websites and answers and stuff. It's tons of fun! Hosted by Crazy for Books if you wanna become a part of the hop, click the link sign the linky and comment here linking to your post because I love reading them!

This week's question:

How many books do you have on your 'to be read shelf’?

Shelbie's Answer:

Well, too many to count. But to give you more of an exact answer, according to Goodreads I have 63 books on my to read list, but there are some that I want to read that I didn't add or havent discovered that I want to read them yet :). The list is always changing too, like Amanda will find a random book at the B&N and I'll add it to my pile if it looks good. Books are also always being moved from TBR to Currently Reading to Read, because I am rarely caught not reading anything. So yeah, a long story short, apparently 63.

Amanda's Answer:

Well, in a few words, too many. It depends. There are the books I actually own
that need to be read, and then there are the ones that I've been lusting after
that I don't own because I don't want to go broke from buying books. The ones
that are actually on my shelf probably amount to about 15. And then there are
the ones I get from ARC tours, which move it up to about 17 or 18. And then
there are all the ones I lust after. I'd say that I'm lusting after about 25
books. So overall... that makes it about 42 books, give or take a few. And then
there are all the classics on my Nook that I'm saving for a rainy day, but I
won't even begin to count up those, because there's a lot. Again, all in all,
way too many. That's what happens when you're obsessed with books, and I am
totally okay with that.

Like I said comment with links to your post especially if you didn't sign up for the hop because I love reading them and have an awesome weekend everyone!

ps. if you wanna friend me on goodreads and see what exactly is on my TBR list go ahead! I would love to see what's on yours too! You can do that HERE

xoxo and Love Always,

Shelbie and Amanda

Book Blogger Hop(3?)

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer from Crazy for Books. It's an oppurtunity to check out new blogs, follow new blogs, and get new followers!

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This week's question comes from Chelle from The Prairie Library!

Do you listen to music when you read? If so, what are your favorite reading tunes?

Yes and no. It depends on what I'm reading and the situation. I listen to music when I'm reading a text book, because it actually helps me concentrate. But I don't listen to music when I'm reading a good book. It's just too distracting. I only listen to music while reading if I have to drown out other noises... like my 3 brothers and their rowdy friends. So.... if it is a calm and peaceful setting, I don't listen to music. If it is a NOT so calm and peaceful setting *cough* my house *cough* I listen to music.