Why start a book blog?
I’m a seeker of new hobbies and came across some really good book blogs (still do!) on my typical web-surfing adventures, so I thought: Hey, I read! And write, too! That, and I wanted to up my reading prowess and share ideas with people who have read the same books or are interested in similar ones. Blogger is easy to use and free, so voila!
Review Policy
Generally, I review what I read simply for my own pleasure & what I have picked up at the bookstore or (it’s been a while but it happens occasionally) the library.
I don’t get paid to review books, nor am I a professional reviewer nor do I get reimbursed in any way from Amazon, Google, wherever. Look Ma, no ads! This is simply a book blog of reviews, comments & other “bookie” tidbits by a reader for readers, all for fun.
If you’d like to recommend a book for me to read & (possibly) review, send a comment on the blog & I’ll try my best, but no guarantees. I’m casual about reviewing in this respect, so please don’t be offended or put off if I take a while to post about it.
Authors & publishers: I'm not actively seeking review copies of books but thank you for visiting!
I have a big list to go off of right now, so I am not actively seeking recommendations at the moment. I’ll keep you “posted” on this…ha ha, baaaad joke.
What will your reviews include?
I’ll review any books I attempt, even if I don’t finish them. See Rating System below.
I’ll give a short synopsis of the book without any spoilers (if I think something might be a spoiler you'll see this just above it: **SPOILER ALERT**) and briefly give some insights about the book I really connected with, such as a description of an event, but instead of giving away an obvious spoiler, such as “The character dies,” I will simply use a phrase like “a shocking climax,” much like professional reviews.
Most reviews will be kept short and include these details:
*Cover picture, Title, Author (duh?)
*Published year, length, ISBN, genre
*Links to Amazon and Chapters
*Start date, finish date (just to show how slow a reader I am!)
*Where From (library, Chapters, course reading, gift…)
*Why Read (reason for reading it)
*Summary (synopsis without spoilers)
*Review (thoughts, comments, grumbles...)
*Rank
All books I review will be listed alphabetically by title under Books I’ve Reviewed on the right side of the page & will be linked.
What genres do you review?
My favourite genres to read & review are (in no particular order):
*Literary fiction
*Modern classics—you name it, I’ll probably have read it or want to read it!
*Mystery/suspense/thriller
*Memoir/autobiography/biography
*Fantasy
*Action/adventure
*Humour
*Women’s/“chick” lit
*Science fiction—I’m limited in this regard, but always looking!
*Historical fiction—same as above
*Children’s books—I’m a teacher, so I like keeping current
I read nearly anything that strikes my fancy, but I will list here, for those looking...
What don't you read & review?
*Cookbooks—don’t get me wrong: I love to cook and LOVE to eat, but it’s not my type of genre to review
*Reference—not quite your first warm & fuzzy curl-up book!
*Self-help books—unless they are in the form of a novel :)
*Religious books—Obviously, I don’t mind if novels have characters going on a spiritual journey or practice a specific religion, but I don’t like to read books that come across as preachy, evangelical, “fire & brimstone” or have religion as a central theme—it’s just not my taste
*Romance/erotica—i.e. Danielle Steel-type books—of course, a little romance never hurt anyone, just not the specific, bodice-ripping type, thanks!
*Horror lit—very few exceptions (classics are okay)—I’m not much for vampires, werewolves, etc.
Who reviews these books?
All book reviews on this blog are written by yours truly, Teacher/Learner.
How are books chosen?
How much time do you have? He he...I have an ongoing list of titles that I’ve come across from word of mouth, media, and book blogs that I compiled into my Lifetime Must-Read List.
I have a short list from that one for my next trip to the bookstore or library, and the books on my nightstand are in my cute widdle Goodreads widget, as are my current reads (probably just 1; that’s right, I’m a slow reader). I do accept recommendations through people’s comments & will add to the list on my little Notepad doc on my desktop, because I’m too lazy to organize them into my Lifetime Reads list. So there :P
What is your Rating System?
I’ve been thinking & rethinking about this, and while I started out with a simple 3 criterion system: Recommend, Just Okay, Don’t Recommend, I’m going to use a more specific letter grade system (just a letter with no + or -, except for the highest honour). Heck, I’m a teacher, I might as well do it this way! But, I'll still keep those colours in (plus 2 more) so that a quick glance can tell you immediately how I liked or didn't like a book.
DNF= Did Not Finish, Don't Recommend
D= Didn’t Like, Don’t Recommend
C= Average, Just Okay
B= Good, Enjoyable, Interesting, Recommend
A= Very Good, Really Liked It, A Page-Turner, Highly recommend
A+= Excellent, Instant Favourite, A Must-Read!
Hey, you gave a D to my favourite book! What gives?
Sorry, but it happens. I’m entitled to my opinion, as are you, but that doesn’t mean you have to agree with me or vice versa. Maybe you can convince me it’s worth a retry. You never know…it could have been my mood or my level of patience that made me stick a fork in it.
How can I contribute?
COMMENTS, PLEASE! Sorry, didn’t mean to shout there :D I really enjoy getting a discussion started & hearing from visitors, even if you don’t follow the blog regularly (no offense taken).
Follow the blog on Google FriendConnect. Blogger’s Dashboard shows the most current updates so you can see my latest postings.
Add my blog to your Blog Roll or a list of links on your own blog. Or grab my button.
Stop by during a Blog Hop (Friday-Sunday) or through other memes—I try to keep up but I may miss some.
I link to any blogs that I follow on my Blog Roll. If you'd like to link to mine, thanks!
Where's your e-mail address?
I don't really see a need to post it because you can contact me via the comments field for every blog post and make recommendations through there. I'm also not interested in getting unsolicited e-mail (a.k.a. spam) and whatnot. So, there you go.
Where’s your Facebook, Twitter, [insert more social networking sites here]?
Don’t waste your time trying to find me there. I’m not on them. Simply put, I’m having enough fun updating the blog & following others that I’m not up for more updating & following on multiple networks. Plus, my life just isn’t that interesting to be put out there for all to see :D That, and I have so little time to work on keeping it up to date. I am on Goodreads, and my library is catalogued there, but all my reviews are solely posted here on the blog.
Where do you get your books?
I get most of my books at Chapters-Indigo (great site!) and Book Depot (their web site is a bit scatterbrained--often doesn't match store inventory).
I spend a portion of holiday & birthday money on them (yes, I still get those...whee!), plus I budget it in for the spring/summer (sometimes one splurge snowballs into two, three…you get the picture).
I’m still paying off student loans and work can be sporadic as I haven’t gotten a permanent job yet, so I’m trying to watch my funds, but I justify it this way:
There are worse things I could spend my money on than books.
Like it? Feel free to make it a bumper sticker…just pass on some residuals my way :D
You haven’t read [insert popular title here] yet?!? Where do you live…under a rock?
Yes, yes…I live under a rock *rolls eyes*. It’s the same old story: too many books, too little time. I try to read what’s currently of interest to me, not necessarily what’s new & hot off the press. I’m the same with TV shows & movies. I tend to get into the popular ones a few years too late :D If you recommend titles or authors to me, I will make note of them & see what I can do, but I make no guarantees that I’ll read them right away. That’s the great thing about a good book: it should be just as good no matter when it’s read. Anything else is just a flash in the pan or ages badly, I’m afraid.
Any other questions?
Post a comment on this page & I’ll answer them. Thanks for stopping by!
