Feature and Follow Friday #121

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

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Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

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How To Become a Featured Blog?

We pick our featured blogs randomly each week from the blogs who participated the week before.

Please be sure to feature your e-mail address clearly on your blog. Either on the main blog, on a Contact page, or on an About Me page. If I can't find your email easily, I will choose a different blog to feature.

Our Feature -Love, Literature, Art & Reason

1. When did you start blogging?

I started book blogging January of 2012. I had a blog before that, but I really wasn't doing much of anything with it. I had no idea there was such a thing as book blogging until I started to look into sharing my book reviews on my blog!

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

Being able to discover and share books and bookish thoughts with other people. I'm lucky enough to have friends that love to read, but now I'm part of a community of readers and I really enjoy it.

3. What is your favorite book(s)?

My tastes are all over the place and my favorites change frequently. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury are some old favorites and my new current favorite is The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

4. What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

Besides the initial awesomeness of finding out there was such a thing, I would say having friends wait for me to review a book before buying it. It makes me feel good that my opinion matters a lot to them and they trust my reviews. But book blogging has opened me up to a community of readers and authors and enriched my own reading so much, it's hard to pick the absolutely best thing that has happened to me because of it.

Q: What is a deal breaker for you in a book? For example, do you abhor love triangles? Or can't deal with bad editing?

The only deal-breaker I have is horrific grammar. That almost never happens in a book that is published by a reputable publisher. Granted, there are still plenty of books with grammar issues, such as overuse of certain words, but these problems aren't usually serious enough to make me give up on the book. They're just annoying.

There are plenty of other things that I don't like - insta-love, love triangles, etc. But all of these can work if the author puts a unique spin on them. Also, if the rest of the book is good enough, I will usually forgive the annoying elements.

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Now for the Follow Fun!

With GFC going the way of the dodo bird for many bloggers, there is no better time to start following blogs via RSS feed. If you use a reader, it would be great if you followed my RSS directly.

We have a new button, so update your blogs if you are used to doing this meme!

<a href="http://parajunkee.com/category/ff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4710921228_e3140444bf_o.png" /></a>

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
5. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
6. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
7. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
8. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

CAPTCHA:

If you have CAPTCHA word verification enabled on your blog, please take it off. It makes it much more difficult for readers to comment. Please look at my CAPTCHA Eradication Post to learn how to get rid of it.

Happy Follow Friday! Come back at midnight CST for the Facebook & Twitter hop!!