Book Blogger Hop (14) + Follow Friday (13) + Week In Review

It's Follow Friday!

This is Follow My Blog Friday, a weekly meme hosted by hosted by Parajunkee's View!

Follow Friday Question:

What books have you discovered lately from someone's blog?

Actually, Ladybird Ladybird by Abra Ebner over at GReads!  There were more... a whole browser tabs full but it seems as if when I tried switching through it decided to freeze up and *x* out before I could add them on goodreads.  hmph! But, def, Ladybird Ladybird stuck out to me

Also, it is the Book Blogger Hop, a weekly meme hosted by Crazy-For-Books . 

Book Blogger Hop Question:

What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence/change you?


I think this is a hard question.  There are SO MANY books out there that have just one line that strums a chord with me... brings back a familiar or lost emotions, opens my eyes to something else, or makes me grateful for what I had.  If I Stay by Gayle Forman is an intense book and it really gives you a look into how easily you can lose everything you know and that your world centered around.  That book reminds you that each moment is really precious.   Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison is pretty intense as well, another book that makes you appreciate every moment you have.

How About You?  

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What is new this week? 

Whatcha Think 'Bout Wednesday (1)

Thought I would try something new.  I've always been one for discussions and user interaction and thought with the new year I would add a new level of blogger-ness to my blog.  Join in, read it, comment... whatever.  It's just one of my many "whatcha think about" moments.

Whatcha Think About Wednesday.
[button to come.  maybe.  eventually.]


How do you think HYPE and REVIEWS affect you and your book buying, book reading, and book preferences? 

When you see a book that not only the publisher and author really promote but you also have a ton of readers going Fan-Girl/Fan-Boy status does that sway you one way or another?  When person after person rave on and on about an *IT* book do you find that you are adding that to the top of your list or are you picking one that isn't so out there or for one with reviews that go all over the board? I'm talking new releases and those that are already seasoned.
How does Hype (and the reviews) to go with it affect you?



The Short(er) Answer:  I will admit HYPE scares me and can and usually does put me off.  There are many books that seem to make everyone's Top Five of All Time book lists, giving it ten stars when their scale only goes up to five, and they are practically tattooing the characters name on their bodies and I am sitting there completely stunned and left feeling a huge empty spot in my soul after I read the book. 

I know everyone has different preferences but I sometimes really feel mislead. Sometime, I don't believe that some of these Hype Books are receiving HONEST FULL reviews. When I come across this kind of Hype spilling over into reviews I set out to find that ONE Not-So-Great review where the person keeps it real with me and tells me what no one else does.  Am I the only one who does this?


The Extended Version: I won't lie, I am completely Fan-Girl status over several books/series and my reviews for those books obviously show it but I try to make sure that I touch base on the major aspects of the book from my point of view. Meaning, I try to relate to you WHY I loved the book so much.  Perhaps you don't swoon over what I do BUT I try to give you that option to see that.  My reviews are far from perfect but I do try- sometimes I feel like others are more concerned with more then giving a fair review.

 Here is a good example I found that Anna did on her blog, Anna Reads. 
Anna reviewed Love on the Lifts by Rachel Hawthorne.  I, too, have read this and I know this isn't a Hype Book, but this review really stuck out to me. Anna gave this book a 3 Star Rating and said,
"Do I expect them to be Oscar-winning? Nope. But will there be cute boys and romance and will it end exactly the way I want it to? YOU BET IT WILL!"
Had I not already read Love on the Lifts, Anna's (full) review would have told me exactly when I needed to pick up that book... when I wanted a cup of hot cocoa, needed something fun, light and quick. I would have known I wasn't getting a masterpiece but I wouldn't have picked it up if that was what I was expecting.

Is this making any sense?  I'd totally pick up these Hype books sooner if I felt I was getting a real feel for them... but sadly sometimes I'm not.


On another note, there are several books and series that I completely protested because of the HYPE surrounding them but I found myself completely in love with them once I read them.  The Hunger Games series was one I totally snubbed until I there was commenting going on with Jenny from Supernatural Snark and she said something that made me go out and get the books to read.  She said something real beyond "Team Peeta/Team Gayle."

And on one more, negative reviews and reviews pointing out the not-so-cool-to-you points about a book aren't always bad either.  I found a lot of not-so-great reviews about Illyria by Elizabeth Hand because of the darker themes BUT that is why I chose that book and that is why I absolutely loved it.  I got the essence of the book and those themes didn't bother me.  So those DETAILED not-so-great reviews actually are what helped me make the leap to buy the book.  

ARC Review: Timeless

Timeless by Alexandra Monir
Release Date: January 11, 2011

Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Pages: Hardcover, 288 pages

Young Adult
Source: Different Area Code Book Tour

Overall:

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist.And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.  Synopsis via Goodreads