Feature and Follow Friday #205

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

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 ayou 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.

---

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 - Awesome Book Assessment

1. When did you start blogging?

I started book blogging last summer. I didn't even know book blogging existed until I saw a Goodreads review link to a blog and that opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me. Before that, I had a clay sculpting blog and a baking blog, neither of which I use much now.

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

I just love getting to talk to people about the books I read. In real life, not many of my friends read, so blogging is the only way to discuss books I love. I also get to discover new books. And of course, getting free ARCs is also a perk. (unless you request too many!)

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

I say that I'm a YA blogger, but the truth is I read and blog about everything. I blog about middle grade books, YA, adult, poetry, historical fiction, romance, and many others.

4. What are your favorite books?

I have about 6 or 7 favorites. I love the Harry Potter series, but the 7th is my favorite book (while the 6th is my favorite movie). I love books by Kristin Cashore, so Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue make the list. I love The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. My all-time favorite, though, has to be Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I have an almost unnatural obsession with the books and the movies.

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

I hate to be typical here, but I have to say meeting the people who are now my friends through blogging. It's nice to have friends who actually like reading. I also like winning giveaways and getting ARCs. But I have to say that just book blogging in general has changed my life. I now know what I want to do with my life, and it has to involve books. I didn't realize that before, but now there is no other option. It's the best.

Question of the Week: Armchair Travel! Tell us about your favorite book in a setting you’d like to visit (a real place for this question).

*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.

For non-fiction, I highly recommend anything by Bill Bryson. He's my favorite travel writer. I think my favorite is his book about Australia: In a Sunburned Country.

For fiction...let's see...I read Sekret by Lindsay Smith recently. It's set in Cold War era Moscow, a city, time, and culture that fascinates me. Definitely Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door for Paris and San Francisco. Must reads. Miranda Kenneally's books around really focused on place, but they're so infused with the culture of a Tennessee town that I feel like I'm traveling as I read them.

That's what I can think of for now. I'll add more as I think of them.

---

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:

Post a photo of your favorite coffee mug (or mugs if you can’t choose just one).

CAPTCHA:

I have an updated CAPTCHA post!

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.