Yvonne asks:

What do you look for when reading a book blog? Does the blogger have to read the same genre? Do you like reviews? Personal posts? Memes? Giveaways? What attracts you to a book blog?

I have to admit, I don’t read a lot of book blogs. I think book blogs are great, but I have trouble keeping up with them, so I don’t usually follow book blogs the way I follow writing blogs. That said, I think book blogs are GREAT. The book blogs I run across without actually following them (and that’s a lot of them) keep me pretty well-informed about what’s happening in the publishing world. I do usually read YA-focused blogs, since it’s what I write, though.

What really brings me back to a blog are things like dissections of trends going on in the Young Adult publishing world, and posts that talk about the issues in books. Posts that try to be aware of not just how good a book is, but also the effect of popular books on teens, as well as on the genre and the publishing industry. I feel like book bloggers get such a great view of this—they’re not nearly as pinholed as I am in my reading usually, so they get a wider view of how the Young Adult genre is growing and maturing. I like the extra perspective.

Check out my article on the DOJO today! How to Warm Up when You’re Stucker than Stuck!

The Zombie Song by Stephanie Mabey

Are you one of those people who thought they could never like anything zombie related whatsoever? I was like that. For the most part, I still am. Undead people all desiccated and walking? Not my thing. But I have to admit, this was the cutest zombie-related thing I have ever seen. I hope you like it.

P.S. I have to admit, I have gotten this song stuck in my head for days.

Pepca asks
Have you every written any fan-fiction? If yes, why and for which book(s)? If no, would you like to and for which books(s)?

For that matter, do you ever READ fan-fiction??

Yes, I’ve written fanfiction… I’m not going to divulge for what here, because I think I’ve gotten to the point where I’m going to plead plausible deniability. I will say that it wasn’t a book, though… it was for a TV show.

Do I ever read fan-fiction…. not anymore. I used to read a lot for the show that I wrote for, and then I went through a period when I read some Harry Potter. But now I don’t really have time to read all the books I want, so that doesn’t leave any time at all for fanfic.

I will admit, though, that I have a dream of someday having written something that will inspire fanfic. I don’t expect to inspire legions of it… but I’d love for there to be enough to support a fanfiction.net page. Even if I never liked that site, particularly.

That is Book People. It is huge and full of books and other glorious knickknacks, and lovably Indie.

This is me, taking advantage of one of their quirkier chairs. There are chairs everywhere. And nooks for chairs to be in. And books for you to browse… I could have stayed there all day. They even (believe it or not) had literary scrawlings on the bathroom wall, including a long list of various patrons’ favorite books.

I mentioned awesome knickknacks, right?

Here’s an example of their way-cool teen lit section. These cards are handwritten/drawn descriptions of the books they’re displayed with, and are EVERYWHERE. The shelves are lined with them. It is so cool.

The Mr. and I were both going to buy a book, but he couldn’t decide what he wanted, so he let me have his book choice, so I walked home with these:

I loved Tiger’s Curse, and the friend that recommended it told me I’d love Quest as well, which I don’t doubt! And I’ve heard such great things about The Mysterious Benedict Society that I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. That and, well, if I’m working on a Middle Grade novel, I might as well read some of the better ones on the market, yes? Yes.

All in all, a great day! Book People was a whole experience and everything I could have asked for in a bookstore. So much more than I was expecting, truly. It was like a college bookstore with all the fun gadgets, only none of them have acronyms on them and there were a LOT more books. I wish I didn’t live so far away, because if I didn’t, I’d probably be in that place every day.

At the very least, I think this is my new Valentine’s Day tradition. I even had amazing sushi and beef katsu for dinner. Yum.

Don’t forget to let me know what book you got if you participated in Books are for Lovers! You might win a handmade bookmark.

What did you do for V-Day? Or Singles’ Awareness, if you’d rather?

Happy Valentine’s Day, lovelies! First of all, can I say a big THANK YOU to the people who’ve decided to take up this mini crusade with me? Between facebook, ravelry and twitter, I had about a hundred people tell me that they were going to buy a book today to support their local bookstore. I’m hoping that this means that there were others who saw this and decided to participate but didn’t feel like leaving a comment. It may seem like a small number when you think about the internet, but it was more than I could have hoped for being an unpublished writer with limited influence. Thank you so much for all of you that heard my idea, got excited about it and took action. It means more to me than I can say.

Okay, now on to the fun. Time to report!

I’d love it if you could tell me in the comments:

1) What book you bought today.

2) Where you bought it.

3) Why you chose that book.

And anything else you’d like to share!

I want to scrape together a giveaway for someone who participated, but funds are tight right now, so how about a few handmade bookmarks?

Leave a comment about the books you bought either here or on facebook, and I’ll send a hand-crocheted or hand-knit bookmark to three people who participated.

And again, thank you, thank you, thank you.

C’est tout.

1) To support your local bookstore. Here’s a fantastic list on why you should buy books locally.

2) YOU GET A BOOK! You get to slip inside a whole new little world for a while, and maybe learn something new.

3) You get to SEE other books that you might want… browsing is one of my absolute favorite things about bookstores!

4) You’d be supporting your local economy… and times are tough, what goes around comes around.

5) A lot of other people are doing it. Okay, that doesn’t look like a lot… but if you and your friends join, maybe it will!

What reasons do you have?

1) Today is my first post at the Dojo! Go read about my love of the Pomodoro Technique!

2) This is my 100th post on this blog! Woohoo!

And now, back to today’s originally scheduled BTT question:

If you had to pick only 5 books to read ever again, what would they be and why?’

I’m not going to mention my LDS quad in this, because that’s a given and the reasons therefore should also be fairly obvious, though if I really were given only five books, this would of course be one of them, as I try to read a little every day. On to the more objectionable stuff… I’m going to make two seperate lists here:

Cheater List

1) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Because I want brilliance, and I want a lot of it.

2) The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson - Because no other poet has satisfied me as much, as consistently.

3) The Complete Works of Jane Austin - (See reason for #1)

4) The Complete Works of Ray Bradbury - I’m not totally married to this, but I’ve really loved a lot of Bradbury shorts, and I think I’d need something short and diverse.

5) The Complete Harry Potter - Okay, I know this isn’t a volume yet… but you know it will be someday.

Non-Cheater List

Five awesome links for you!

1) My newest story is up on Tales From the Hollow Tree. It’s called “The King’s Knight,” and involves a woman, a king, and (as you might guess) a knight. You’re probably familiar with the story.

2) I’m now a Dojo Leader! I’m so excited to be a regular poster at Ali Cross’ Dojo, Alif is the genius behind Writing Ninjas and will be hosting NiNoCon (Ninja Novel Conference) TOMORROW! Don’t miss out, it’s a totally free online writer’s conference, all you have to do is show up!

3) Books are For Lovers was mentioned on YA Highway today! Thank you YA Highway! If you want to read about supporting your local brick-and-mortar store this Valentine’s Day, check out what it’s all about!

4) Amanda Thomson also blogged about Books are for Lovers on her blog, Maybe Mandie! Thank you, Amanda!

5) And Cheri Chesley blogged about it on Mormon Mommy Writers! Thank you, Cheri!

I’m so excited that this is reaching other people! Books are for Lovers now has an Events page on Facebook. If you want to participate, come by and let us know! And invite your book-loving friends!

DON’T FORGET NINOCON TOMORROW!

Have a great weekend, everybody!