Feature and Follow Friday #132

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 - On Starships and Dragonwings

1. When did you start blogging?

I briefly started a book blog back in 2011, but didn't know about the awesome community that was out there, so ended up giving up on that first try. However, when I stumbled across the book blogging community, I knew I had to try again in March 2012 and it has been much more successful so far and so much more fun with friends!

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

I have to choose just one?? Well, then it'll have to be reading what everyone else thinks about new (and old!) books and finding out about books I would have never noticed otherwise. It has helped me expand my reading and also find so many more books that I absolutely love!

3. What type of books do you mainly blog about?

Science-fiction and fantasy all the way! This includes adult and YA in fairly equal amounts though :). 4. What is your favorite book(s)?

I'm going to sneak in two here since I have two main categories of books. For the older and more sci-fi category Robert Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset. It helped me through all the angsty teen years ;-). In the newer and more fantasy focused category (I don't know why the categories are organized by age and genre that way, just happened to work out, haha), I have to say Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. That book is some ridiculously epic fantasy and I wish he would make a sequel!!

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

I partially eluded to this already, but I have found out about and read so many books that I would never have been exposed to if I hadn't joined in the book blogging community. In addition though, those recommendations come from all the awesome people I have met that make this so much more fun! Blogging adds this whole new dimension to reading, it's freaking awesome.

Q: Who is your favorite villain from a book?

I'm still on a Harry Potter kick, so I'd say Voldemort. Although I think that Umbridge and Bellatrix are just as evil, if not moreso than Voldemort. Umbridge and Bellatrix both seem to get turned on by causing other people pain. Voldie is perfectly happy to kill loads of people to accomplish his goals, but it's more like a means to an end.

One instance where I liked the villain more than the hero was Warner in Shatter Me. I found Adam boring. Warner is twisted, but a much more fascinating character. And then there's a certain person in Shadow and Bone who I loved, but I won't identify him because that's part of the book's surprise.

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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.

**Cross fingers - I hope the Linky is working this week! So sorry about the problems. We've been trying to figure out the problem