Really Random Tuesday #34: The Gap Year Winner, and BBAW 2011

Congratulations to Tiffany Drew, the winner of The Gap Year, a new novel by Sarah Bird that I thoroughly enjoyed. My daughter (who chose the winning name from a hat) is reading the book now, and she seems to really like it as well.

If you didn't win this book giveaway, don't despair! I have other book giveaways listed on the right side of my blog, and many more on the way.

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Two, four, six, eight
Who do we appreciate?

You may have noticed the banners on various book blogs recently. Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW) is almost here! Created in 2008 by Amy Riley from My Friend Amy, this year it will be held from September 12 - September 16. BBAW is a chance to meet other book bloggers who share a love of books and the joy of reading. It only takes a few moments to register for BBAW, and there are numerous activities planned, such as giveaways, interviews, guest posts, awards, and more. It should be a lot of fun.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of. If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to copy the button and use it on your own blog. For other recent Really Random Tuesday (and Thursday) posts, please visit Vivienne's blog, Serendipity Reviews, Avis' blog, she reads and reads, Naida's blog, the bookworm, and Leslie's blog, Under My Apple Tree. Please leave a link in the comments if you’re participating and I'll add it to this post.

Thanks for reading! Your comments are welcomed.

Really Random Tuesday #6: BBAW and a Giveaway Winner

Welcome again to Really Random Tuesday!

Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes--any blogging and book-related things you can think of. If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to copy the button and use it on your own blog. Please leave a link in the comments if you’re participating. Last week, Naida from the bookworm made my Tuesday! And Veens from Giving Reading a Chance beat me to the punch again this week!

Often I announce the winners of my book giveaways in this meme. Today, congratulations go to Margie for winning Free to a Good Home by Eve Marie Mont. Margie, I'll send the book out to you as soon as I get your address. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds like a book we'll both enjoy. If you didn't win this time, why not enter one of the other numerous book giveaways I have posted on the right side of my blog? Some of them are international.

Last year, during Book Blogger Appreciation Week I hosted a giveaway, and interviewed a then new-to-me book blogger, Amanda from The Zen Leaf. In return, she interviewed me, and we have gotten to know each other better since then. Although our reading interests are different in many respects, Amanda's blog continues to be interesting to me because it's honest and thoughtful. During BBAW 2009, I "met" a lot of book bloggers, and for the first time felt part of a large and supportive community. Book bloggers are the nicest people!

This year, I did not register for BBAW. I started to, but as I didn't wish to nominate myself for any awards, I stopped registering mid-stream. I thought I'd return and try to register, without nominating my blog for anything, but when I did return, it was too late. Registration was closed. So officially I am not registered this year. But I think BBAW is a wonderful idea, and will participate in some of the activities. Did you register for BBAW? What does BBAW mean to you?

An Interview with Amanda from The Zen Leaf

1) Welcome, Amanda! You have an intriguing blog and I'm honored to have been paired with you for interviews during BBAW. The Zen Leaf has a striking design, and it's a pleasure to interview you. Please tell us a bit about your background, and why you decided to blog.

Amanda: First off, thank you for the welcome. I'm glad to get to know you better! As for my background, I'm a stay at home mom of three little boys. I've been blogging for about three years now in various places. I started on my MySpace profile, and moved to Blogger in February of 2008. The blog I created, The Ramblings of a Hopeful Artist, was more of a personal and writing blog. Periodically, I'd do a book review. When the book reviews grew too many, I started a group review blog called 5-Squared. Over the next year, 5-Squared grew much bigger than I ever expected. By then, I'd discovered the book blogging community and gotten much more active in it. In May of this year, I decided to move my reviews off 5-Squared to my own book blog, and thus The Zen Leaf was born. I like blogging because it gives me an opportunity to socialize with like-minded people. As a stay at home mom, that opportunity is greatly appreciated.

2) This blog is named after your short story, The Zen Leaf. Tell us a bit about that story. How can we read your work?

Amanda: Ooh, hard to describe...Hmm. My short story, The Zen Leaf, is a surreal, dream-like romance involving a teashop with no customers except a cat, a baby, and four characters at a single table. It juxtaposes a past event with the present, and goes over the idea that two people can dance around each other all their lives without ever realizing the other person is dancing. As of right now, The Zen Leaf is unpublished. I'm very young in my publishing career. I've published two short stories and one poem, the latest of which went into a national literary journal called Whiskey Island. I'm currently shopping for an agent for my dystopian novel, MatchMakers Incorporated, and hope one day everyone will have to chance to read that. :)

3) Among other genres, you like to read and review YA fiction--which I also find enjoyable. In fact, I think a lot of adults today are reading YA fiction. Who are some of your favorite authors of YA? Do you aspire to write YA fiction?

Amanda: I just started reading YA fiction this year. Back when I was a teen, YA just wasn't very good, but in the last decade or so, it's gotten so much better. So far, my favorite authors are Scott Westerfeld, Deb Caletti, and Maureen Johnson. I've read several of each of their books and they've been consistently good. So far, I have not written any YA, but I imagine I might at some point in the future.


4) You seem to love reading challenges and have taken on quite a few! What have you enjoyed most about these challenges? I recently joined my first two challenges, so I'm very interested in hearing about your experiences.

Amanda: Really, my challenge obsession marks me as a complete dork. My favorite part about challenges is making the lists. I love lists. I love finding the most efficient way to complete my challenges. Most of the time, I don't even stick with my original list because I love remaking them...yeah. Total dork. Seriously, though, I really joined too many challenges this year. It was my first year for challenges and I just got overexcited. I haven't failed any, but I've taken them way too seriously. Instead of spreading them out for their entire time period, I finish them as fast as possible. With smaller challenges, that's okay, but I joined some pretty large ones, and that put me into a bit of a reading slump for awhile. I'm determined to be more moderate with challenges in the future!

(You've inspired me to sign up for some challenges--thank you!)


5) What have been some of the highlights of your blogging career?

Amanda: I really love when an author contacts me to tell me they loved my review of their work. I've gotten several of those emails, and they always brighten my day. It's also been nice to connect to so many new friends. Recently, I even got to meet one of them in person - Eva from A Striped Armchair. I hope I get to meet more of my fellow bloggers in the future.


6) Your posts get a lot of comments! What advice would you give to someone just starting a blog who wants to get comments? Do you have any blogging secrets to share?

Amanda: Thank you! Honestly, I'm pretty surprised at how many comments I get sometimes! I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing to get them. It probably helps that I love going out to other peoples' blogs and leaving comments. I love having conversations with people, either on their blogs or on mine. I'm not into blogging for any sort of popularity, but for friendship and connection, so it's important to me to get to know the bloggers who visit me, and to keep talking to the ones whose blogs I love. That's probably the advice I would give a beginning blogger, too - just go out and participate in the community. Go figure out which blogs you love and make sure their owners know you love them. Friendship breeds comments? ;)


7) I was astonished by the number of books you read, Amanda. Obviously, you love reading! Were you always an avid reader, or did this passion develop later in life?

Amanda: I was an avid reader as a child, but stopped reading early in my teenage years because I was disappointed with all the books I found. When I got married and had my first son, I spent a year reading the classics in my husband's library, and that rekindled my love for reading. Once I started book-blogging, my reading numbers went way up. I wouldn't read anywhere near this much if it weren't for blogging, but I'm okay with that. I love doing this.


8) Do you have specific goals for this blog, just "go with the flow", or a combination of both?

Amanda: It's very go with the flow. My only desires are to socialize, talk about what I read, and finish my challenges. More recently, I became a little more serious and goal-oriented in starting the GLBT Challenge. I couldn't believe there was nothing out there like that, and had to do something about the gap. I hope to continue to host that annually.


9) If you were "stranded on a desert island", and could bring only three books with you, what would they be?

Amanda: Ah! I don't think I can answer this question! I don't know how I could possibly narrow it down to three. Sorry!!

I couldn't choose only three books, either. Thank you so much, Amanda. I enjoyed interviewing you for BBAW. Your blog is thought-provoking and I've already learned a lot from you in a short time!

You can read Amanda's interview with me at The Zen Leaf. Comments are welcomed!

More Miscellaneous Musings

Book Blogger Appreciation Week begins! Why not leave some appreciative comments on other book blogs and let them know how much you enjoy their blogs? I know I will!

Many book bloggers are listing the book blogs they enjoy which didn't make the official BBAW shortlist. My own "shortlist" would probably be my blogroll, which includes the blogs I visit regularly and leave comments on, although some of these blogs are on the BBAW shortlist. I know that there are many more excellent book blogs out there that I haven't discovered.

Mel from The Reading Life honored me with some very kind words. Thank you, Mel! What's special about his own blog is that it focuses on reading and books within books themselves, a unique and intriguing angle for a book blog. And I can't read it without adding more books to my TBR stacks!



Cathy from One eyed stuffed bunny and... gave me another award. Thank you, Cathy! (Bloggers, please feel free to "steal" this award and spread the love!)




Here's my version of Mailbox Monday: I'm getting more books in the mail to review! As if that weren't enough, I won another book, The Heretic Queen from Giving...Reading- A Chance...!!! Thank you very much!

I also received something else in the mail. Because they know I'm interested in health matters, Janny and Jeff from POM Wonderful sent me a care package of POMx Antioxidant Super Tea to try. Previously they sent me pomegranate juice, which I loved. This time, they sent me four varieties of iced tea: Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea, Pomegranate Blackberry Tea, Light Pomegranate Wildberry White Tea, and Light Pomegranate Hibiscus Tea. My daughter and I have been enjoying them a lot. Delicious on ice or straight from the bottle, I like them because they're aren't overly sweet; I don't like sugary tea (although I'll try sweet tea when I venture to the south someday). Not only do these teas taste good, but they also have numerous health benefits from the tea as well as the concentrated pomegranate extract. My favorite flavor is the Light Pomegranate Hibiscus Green Tea. Many of you already know that I love tea (formerly I was a coffee drinker), so this tea care package was perfect for me. Thanks, Janny and Jeff!

Please stop by tomorrow for my interview with Amanda from The Zen Leaf. Remember to enter my giveaway for a $25 Amazon.com gift card if you haven't yet done so. Here's to a great BBAW!

What I Love--and Hate--About Being a Book Blogger

It seems like an appropriate time to post my true thoughts about being a book blogger, because it's almost Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Sept. 14 - Sept. 18.



Here are twenty things I love--and hate--about being a book blogger, in no particular order. Many of these could apply to other types of blogging as well.

• I love to read and to write.
  
• I love to discover new books and blogs worth reading.
  
• I love the sense of community. In reality, it took me a long while to connect and link to other book bloggers, and to join reading challenges, but once I did, it made a tremendous difference. I now consider myself a real blogivert (one who connects to many other bloggers).
  
• I hate when I write a post, and then wait nervously for my first comment. Waiting for that first comment can be grueling. (Am I taking this too seriously? Perhaps.) When I am lucky enough to interview an author then I worry that the interview will not get many comments. That's the worst, because I worry about the feelings of the author. I guess I've been lucky in this regard so far.
  
• I love the surprises blogging brings, the free books and other perks, and the wonderful friends that I've made online. And they are friends. There's definitely a connection.
• I hate when people assume that every blog is narcissistic.
• I love when others link to my blog or specific posts, or tweet about my posts.
• I hate when I publish a post and then notice a typo, or two, or three. (Luckily it's possible and easy to edit after posting, and I take advantage of this.)
  
• I love when someone compliments or follows my blog, or does both.
• I love receiving awards.
• I hate Spam or mean comments, and delete them.
• I hate the fact that sometimes I blog so much that I don't spend enough time reading. I'm a book blogger, right? (Get thee to a bookery!)
• I hate when people don't take the time to carefully read my reviews or posts. I know some of them are long. I know there aren't enough hours in the day. But my ideal reader has some time, a cup of coffee or tea in hand, and wants to read. I try to make my writing worthwhile.
• I love that my blog's international. I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.
• I hate when the internet goes out and I can't check my email or blog.
• I hate when I spend too much time trying to fix the layout of a post, when I have problems arranging images and texts in posts. This takes up precious time. I wish the Blogger rectangle that I type into were a bit larger so I wouldn't have to preview my work as often.
• I love when others read the same books as me or want to. Or see the same movies, which are often based on books.
• I love the give and take of blogs, the spontaneity and interactivity.
• I hate when I simply waste too much time on my blog.
• I love questions and comments, consider them carefully, and am thankful for them.

What about you? Leave your comments about what you love and hate about being a book blogger. Or post your own list on your blog as a meme, and let me know.

BBAW Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Book Blogger Appreciation Week was created by My Friend Amy to recognize and celebrate the contributions of a large and diverse community of bloggers. In September the second annual BBAW will highlight the work of book bloggers through guest posts, giveaways, awards, and more. I've been nominated for three awards, best literary fiction blog, best reviews, and best writing. I'm thrilled by these nominations, and very grateful to those who nominated my blog.

In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Sept 14 - 18, I'm giving away one $25 Amazon.com gift card!

• To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment after this post.
• For an extra chance at winning, become a follower of my blog by clicking on "FOLLOW BLOG" in the silver bar above. I've just added a Followers widget to the right side of this blog, so you can join that way, too. If you're already a follower, please indicate that in your comment.
• For an additional chance, post about this giveaway on your blog or Twitter, and let me know.
• For yet another chance, suggest a good quote for my blog from a book or author. I have a few quotes on my blog already, so be sure to pick something that I don't have.

This giveaway ends on Sunday, Sept 20, at 5 PM PDT. The winner will be chosen randomly, and will be announced on Monday, Sept. 21. I will then contact the winner and send a $25 Amazon gift card via email. Good luck, and thanks for visiting my blog!