Feature and Follow Friday #196

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 - My Thoughts...Literally

1. When did you start blogging?

Originally four years ago but very irregularly. I would stop back maybe a few times a year and update and tell myself I would keep it up but never did. This most recent foray happened about six months ago and it seems to be sticking.

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

I think the best part so far has just been learning about amazing new books and being able to join in on the conversation with like-minded people about books that I enjoyed. I have found some new favorites through recommendations from fellow bloggers.

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

I have pretty eclectic taste in books. I try to mix in Classics with recent fiction and YA. In terms of genre mostly fantasy, historical fiction, and paranormal.

4. What are your favorite books?

There are so many to list. My current five favorite standalone books are The Historian, The Alchemist, Wuthering Heights, The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, and new fave Attachments. My five favorite series are Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Wicked Years, The Luxe Series, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

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

The best and most tangible thing that has happened to me since blogging is probably that my reading has become much more critical, and it has has become much more frequent. I feel like I'm reading a lot more and I'm pushing myself to read a lot more. Maybe it's just my competitive nature and the need to keep up with everyone else in the community.

Question of the Week: Tell us about a book that you didn’t like and why we shouldn’t read it (as nicely and respectfully as possible)

*First thing:  A reminder that if you want to be chosen as the Feature for #FF, please have your email address somewhere on your blog. I know there are other ways to contact people including Twitter and contact forms, but I've set up my #FF system in such a way that I need an email address. So for better or worse, that's the requirement for now.

Reaching back to the classics for this answer. I studied abroad one summer in the UK. We spent two weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland (a delightful city, by the way). One of the books we read for our class was Waverly by Sir Walter Scott. This book was universally hated by everyone in our class - myself included. Not only was the writing overwrought and wordy, but we all hated the main character who was supposed to be the "hero" but was more of a pansy.

When we finished the course, we took our copies of Waverly to the Sir Walter Scott monument in Edinburgh, left them at the foot of the big statue, and said "Take it back, Walter, take it back!"

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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.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

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

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!

Next Week's Question:

Spring Break. Where would be your favorite destination spot if you could join the Spring Break festivities?

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