Blog Hop (15) & Follow Friday (15)

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"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: This one's tough. I'm not the prankster type, but I've had some epic pranks pulled on me over the years by my older (and younger) brothers. I'd probably have to go with the time my oldest brother forged my report card at the end of 8th grade and put that I'd gotten all D's. I freaked out so bad that he actually told me before I had it figured out. It seemed horrible then, but really it was hilarious, especially since he's signed his own name at the bottom. I was just too freaked out to notice the first time.

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Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajukee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's: 

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

 My answer: Probably the Vampire Academy series. Not because it's a bad series at all, just because the name sounds so lame. Vampires have a bad rep, and Vampire Academy sounds like the epitome of those bad reputations.

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Make sure to leave links in the comments so I can check out y'alls blogs. Happy reading.

Blog Hop (14) & Follow Friday (14)

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?"
My answer: I'd most definitely choose to live in the Mortal Instruments' world. I love the characters, and even more so, I love the beautiful way Clare described the other worlds and dimensions they travel too. The creatures were crazy and beautiful too. Everything was so perfect and fantasy-like and I could just re-read those books just for the world-building itself. Plus, there were tons of hot guys.

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajukee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's: 

"Tell us five book related silly facts about you."

 My answer: 1. I invest in way too many series. I'm currently somewhere in the thirties, I think.

2. I fall in love with a character a book, at least.

3. I'm crazy about my book covers. I've spent over twenty dollars just to get a cover from a different country that I like better.

4. I love reading while listening to music. I usually tend to relate the songs and the books together, so when I hear that song later, I'm like, "I know what book I was reading when I heard that first!"

5. I can't read in a lot of places. My room, my living room, my backyard, and occasionally the car (when I'm not driving) are pretty much the only places I can read comfortably.

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Make sure to leave links in the comments so I can check out y'alls blogs. Happy reading.

Blog Hop (13) & Follow Friday (13)

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"Do you ever wish you would have named your blog something different?"
My answer: All the time, honestly. I see other blogs with way more creative and original names and I wish I had thought of them. But I still like my blog name, and I think it's fitting.

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajukee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's: 

"Share your current fav television show! Tell us a bit about it"

 My answer: My favorite show has gotta be Dexter. It's about a blood splatter analyst/murderer who only kills the bad guys (murderers, rapists, child abusers). He's a cop, so it's extra suspenseful. I don't wanna ruin anything for anyone who hasn't seen the show up to the last season, so I'll just leave it at that. It's the perfect amount of creepy and surprising. Plus, Michael C. Hall is amazing in it as Dexter. Every season I get more and more hooked. The story is original and creepy (which I already said) and I just love it!

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Make sure to leave links in the comments so I can check out y'alls blogs. Happy reading, y'all.

Blog Hop (12) & Friday Follow (12)

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I'm currently not in school. (Yay for Independent Studies) because I'm in Germany with my brothers (two of them live in Munich). And I was super-sad because I found out yesterday that Molching, Germany (from The Book Thief) isn't a real place. But it's still been amazing and I'm loving reconnecting with my brothers since I haven't seen them in forever. Enough of my boring talking. Onto the blog hopping!

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!"

My answer: Okay, so this week I read an incredible book named Delirium by Lauren Oliver and here's my review. And just in case you don't feel like reading the whole thing, I'll just summarize: if you don't already own this book (insanity, I know) go buy it immediately. And if you do own it, you shouldn't be reading this post, you should be reading the book. And if you own it and you've already read it, wasn't it freaking fantastic?! I know y'alls are now thinking 'What. Is with. The scary enthusiasm?' (and twenty billion brownie points for anyone who knows what other awesome book I'm quoting.) Okay, I'm done talking, I swear.

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Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajukee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's: 

"What is your favorite romance hero-type? Stereotype wise. Do you like the strong silent type or the brute macho man?"

 My answer: This question is just much too hard for me to answer. But if I have to, have to, have to choose, I'd go with the brute macho man. Except one whose secretly a poet and super-sensitive. That wasn't really an answer, but oh well. I like my guys sarcastic, but protective; sweet, but masculine. The type of guy that teases you and isn't afraid to be honest with you, but that would punch a guy's face in if he insulted you. That about sums it up.

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I hope all of you are a having great, lovely week like I am. Don't forget to leave links so I can follow y'all back or stop by if I'm already stalking ya. Oh! And go check out the giveaways I've got going (because we all love free books) on the top of the sidebar! :)

Blog Hop (11) & Follow Friday (11)

Gah, I've been having site problems with the comments and whatnot lately. Sorry for any problems it causes to anybody.

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"What are you reading now and why are you reading it?"

My answer: I'm currently reading Once was Lost by Sara Zarr and Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. I'm reading OWL because I'm a fan of Zarr's writing style and the premise sounded really intriguing. I've been re-reading the Narnia series because I love it and because, of course, it's a classic.

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Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajukee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's:

"What is the book you are currently 'pushing'? (Pushing meaning trying to get people to read it)"
My answer: Well, since I'm currently re-reading it for the third time, I'd say The Book Thief by Markus Zusak because it is such an amazing book and I think everyone who loves books should read it.

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Hope y'all are having great weeks and getting some reading done. Make sure to enter the Valentine's Day Romantic Reads Giveaway if you haven't already.

Blog Hop (10) & Follow Friday (10)

On Tuesday I dyed my hair brown, and my friends keep making fun of the fact that I'm no longer a blond (like I should be, as my friends say). I feel like I should have something clever to say here. But I don't. So, I guess I'll just get to the hopping.

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011?  Why are you anticipating that book?"
My answer: Gah! I'm looking forward to so many books this year. But I'll have to go with Where She Went (Goodreads) by Gayle Forman. I'm so anxious about this one because it not only looks amazing, but I loved If I Stay so much and because it's written from Adam's perspective (in case you didn't know, Adam was like my #1 fictional crush throughout '09).

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's:

"What is/was your favorite subject in school?"

My answer: My favorite subject is, surprisingly, considering that I'm such a bookworm, history. I just love hearing stories about the past and about how it influences our present. Plus, you get to hear stories during the whole period.

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Happy Friday everyone, and happy reading. Don't forget to link to your own Blog Hop and Friday Follow posts in the comments!

Follow Friday (9)

In the midst of all my VlogBrothers video watching I did this week, I noticed something: I'm at 230 followers. I recognize that I've been talking a lot in my posts about how many followers I have. I swear, it's not because I'm bragging, it's because holy crap, I have over 200 friggin' followers! Seriously, when I started this blog back in October, I thought I'd get like, 10 followers after my year of a review a day was done (sorry about my procrastination, by the way). And I have 230 followers! Thanks guys! *Insert girlish scream* Anyways...

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View (click the button above, since I'm lazy tonight). This week's question is:

"Who do you cheer for?"

My answer: I root for teams Peeta, Shay (please don't get me started on Ren), Damon, zombie, Dimitri, Ash, and Edward. Oh, you mean sports? Well, er, I'm a San Fransisco Giants fan (World Champions, baby!) but that's pretty much it.

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Lastly, I just finished reading Across the Universe by Beth Revis (I swear, I swear, I swear I'll put up some reviews tomorrow!), and let me just say, I thought it was utterly amazing! Like, if you haven't picked this one up yet, go do so now. Like right now. Go. I'll wait.

Blog Hop (9) & Follow Friday (8)

Seriously, dude, Friday? Already? I seriously need to get caught up on my reading this weekend. 4 books a week is already too much for me to handle; I've barely got one down so far. Eeek! And oh, yeah, I'm at 199 followers! Oh.My.God! It was just a month ago that I hit 100--thank you so much, guys! You're all amazing, awesome, outstanding, fantastic, bookish people and I love all of y'all! Onto the hopping:

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"Why do you read the genre that you do? What draws you to it?"

My answer: Well, I read mostly YA and being a young adult myself, its fairly easy to judge why I like this genre. But what I really love about YA novels is the way that they're so diverse; there aren't many other genres that encompass everything from angels to schizophrenia to sizzling romances. Plus, its easier to relate to characters that are close to you in age; and most YA books have characters that are teens themselves.

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's:

"What makes up your non-human family?"

My answer: I have three golden retrievers (John, Paul, George), one Jack Russel terrier (Ringo), two parakeets (Miss Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy - I named them right after I read Pride & Prejudice - can you tell?), and turtle (Dexter). Our house is full of chirps, barks, and well, a turtle.

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Don't forget to leave me a comment with links to your own posts. And I follow back too, so let me know if you're a new follower. Have a great, bookish weekend y'alls!

Blog Hop (8) & Follow Friday (7)

This week's been crazy with finals coming up. Sorry I haven't been very good with putting a review up a day lately. Next week I'll be blogging more, definitely. And hopefully I can get caught up on my reviews this weekend.

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books and every week we get a question. This week's is:

"What book changed or influenced your life? How did it influence/change you?"

My answer: Woah, I love this question. I'd have to say The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I've re-read this novel a lot, and each time it really affected me in a lot of ways, and it made me realize how difficult life can be. It me grateful for simple things that I'd never really notice before around me. And if I could cheat a little, and add another book; Looking for Alaska by John Green was also a book that changed my life. I read this book when I was going through a hard time and it was really eye-opening and it helped me get through that time.

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View and it also has a weekly question. This week's:

"What book(s) have you discovered lately from someone's blog?"

My answer: There are way too many books I've discovered from people's blogs lately. The question should be, what books haven't I been discovering from other people's blogs, ha.

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So that's it for the blog hopping today. Make sure to leave links back to your blogs so I can check out your blogs. Have a great (and bookish) weekend, y'all.

Blog Hop (7) & Follow Friday (6)

I just keep posting these things earlier and earlier. But this week I at least have a good excuse this time, other than the fact I'll probably forget tomorrow; my sister-in-law just had her baby and my sister and I'll be traveling home to California for the weekend. So, sadly, there will be no posts over the weekend, most likely. Maybe I could steal some internet time on my dad's iPhone.. But anyways, my weekend reviews will go up on Monday. How amazing is it that it's already winter vacation? Onto the hopping.

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The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books (click the button above to visit) and this week's question is:

"What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?"

My answer: This is a hard question to answer; the part of a book I remember mostly are the characters, but the plot is what draws me in. As to what's more important to the story, I'm not sure. It just depends on which is stronger.

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Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View (click the button above to visit) and the weekly question this week is:

"Carmel is studying web design... What did you study in college, or are currently studying and did it lead to your current 9 to 5 or are you doing something totally different?"
My answer: Ach-hem. Well, seeing as I'm a junior, I'm not even in college yet. But my dream major would be something in medicine.

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Well, that's it for this week. Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend and happy reading!

Blog Hop (6) & Follow Friday (5)

Friday already? This week flew by. And with it the most anticipated release of Last Sacrifice. Is it weird that I'm on book three and I bought it (while jumping up and down) on Tuesday? I've already got the rest of the series and I'm hoping the books get better as they progress. But enough of my strangeness. Follow Friday is here and I'm pumped. Or maybe I just had too much sugar earlier..




Follow My Book Blog Friday is another weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View. It's a great and easy way to meet other book bloggers and find out more about them through the weekly question. This week's is:

Do you have an under-noticed author that you think we should all know about?

My answer: Hmmmm. I like the question, but I'm not sure I do. Most of the authors I read are already well-known. But I'll throw something out there just so I don't feel bad. One of my favorite authors is Ray Bradbury, and even though (obviously) he's definitely well-known, I sometimes feel like he's not well-known with my generation. It's sad how many of my friends don't even recognize his name. So while I think most every avid reader knows about Bradbury, I think more should actually go and read his novels. Their amazing, at least in my opinion.
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The Book Blogger Hop is hosted over at Crazy for Books. It's a great way to meet up and find new book bloggers and one of the best memes out there too. We get a question each week and this week's is:

"What is the thing you like most about reading book blogs?  Is it the reviews, author guest posts, articles, giveaways, or something else entirely?"

My answer: This is another hard question to answer. I love all of the above, and I love seeing a person's personality come through in their posts. It's nice to see a personal touch added, so everything doesn't seem like a job as much as just having fun on their blog.

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Well, I know there's probably a bunch of ya'll who don't know it, but i have a giveaway going on, and just in case you haven't signed up yet, here's the button (click on it and it'll take you to the blog post about it). It's open internationally, so go check it out! Or don't. Then I can keep the books for myself. *Insert diabolical laugh*




Have a great week and happy reading!

Blog Hop (5) & Follow Friday (4)

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted over at Crazy for Books. It's a great way to meet up and find new book bloggers and one of the best memes out there. We get a question each week and this week's is:

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

My answer: Okay, so I know some people are going to want to shoot me for this, but the most recent hyped-up book I didn't enjoy was Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan. Okay, so I love John Green and though I haven't read all of David Levithan's book, I really enjoyed the ones I have. This book just annoyed me and a little melodramatic for me. I know some people who raved about it for days on end and I couldn't help but think, "But what was so special about it?" But I respect people's opinions and if you loved it, I'm happy for ya.--Follow My Book Blog Friday is another weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View. It's another great meme where we get to meet more fellow bloggers. We get a weekly question on here too, and this week's is: "

What other hobbies do you have besides reading/writing reviews??"

My first response to this question was to stare blankly at the screen. Other hobbies? What kind of blasphemy is that!? But then I realized that I do in fact spend some time outside of fictional worlds (and ranting about them). My other hobbies would include writing fiction, losing board games to my younger brother, helping my mom cook, studying, and pining for more books. I love this question 'cause it let's us see what other bloggers do outside of the blogosphere.

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In other news and events (I always wished I could say that. I probably just sound like a dork) my Secret Santa presents got here today! And I'm thrilled with what I got! If I was supposed to wait until Christmas to open them, my apologies, but can you really blame me? New books were involved! Of course I had no self-control. So here's a shot at my new babies. She even sent a bookmark! Yay for book goodies!

Sorry for the blurriness, my camera has been acting suspicious for a while. But I got The Maze Runner by James Dashner and Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers, both of which I've been dying to get. And then I got a cute bookmark that says "I <3 to Read" and is adorable. So thanks, Secret Santa. When I got the package I think I shrieked loud enough that my neighbors got concerned. But what else is new? Happy reading and happy blogging, y'all!

Blog Hop (4) & Follow Friday (3)

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted over at Crazy for Books. It's a great oppurtunity for book bloggers to find one another and get some more visitors. Every week we get a question and this week's is:
"What is your favorite book cover?"
Oy vei. I have thousands of favorite covers, but for the sake of not taking hours to answer, I'll say Betwixt by Tara Bray Smith:

It's not beautiful or anything, but I just got finished re-reading this one and the cover is so simple and yet complicated. Once you've read the story, the use of nature for the face makes more sense, but even on my first time reading this I found myself staring at it. Totally sets the tone of the story. So this is probably my current favorite.

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Follow My Book Blog Friday is another weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View. It's also an awesome way to connect with book bloggers. Have a great week y'alls. Hope you had lots of turkey and mashed potatoes and yams and... Okay, I'll stop drooling now.