Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read & Parajunkee.This week's question is:

Q: Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then “broke up” with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

The character that I recently fell 'in and out of love with' would have to be Gabriel from The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Wither & Fever by Lauren DeStefano. He comes to mind because I just finished reading Fever (read my review here) In Wither he comes across as kind and gentle, and very naive which made him very endearing. But in Fever he isn't that endearing at all. Instead of going after the woman he is supposedly in love with and fighting for her like guy in love would do, he stays locked away in his mansion with his other wife! And he leaves his evil, sadistic father to go out and capture her once again! I'm crossing my fingers that maybe he will redeem himself in the last book because, I do still have a soft spot for him. Gabriel, man up and fight for your lady! 

Reading Blues: We all get them from time to time. What helps you over come those reading slumps when nothing seems to grab your attention?
There has to be nothing worse than reading slumps. I hate them! I don't really have a set method on how to get rid of them but, like G mentioned in her post, they happen to occur always after I've finished an absolutely, down-right amazing book. Sometimes I just have to give myself a day to process the fantastic book I just read, come to terms with the story ending and then I push myself into another book that I've been excited to start reading. Once I'm in the middle of another book that I'm really enjoying, that's the end of my reading slump. If you have a remedy that you find works really well, please share it. I would love to get some new ideas as to what to do the next time I find myself in a slump. 

Thanks for stopping by and, if you're a new follower, welcome! Leave links in the comments and I'll follow back!

 Have a wonderful weekend!

Follow Friday & TGIF

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read & Parajunkee.This week's question is:

Q: Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kickass heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?

My favorite books have one main thing in common and it is that each main character is a very strong minded individual who stands up for what they believe in and isn't afraid to fight for the people they love. Their situations are all very different (because I don't like to stick to one main plot theme in books) but they are all characters that I respect and admire, and they are good role models and provide inspiration to the readers. Here are some of my favorite characters: Rhine from Wither by Lauren DeStefano; Isabella Swan from The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer; Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins; Jackson Meyer from Tempest by Julie Cross and Karo from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

TGIF is hosted by GReadsBooks. This week's question is:

Book Appeal: When you're browsing Goodreads, the library, or another blogger's reviews, what grabs your attention to make you want to read it?

I hate to admit it but the first thing that grabs my attention is (of course!) the cover. If the covers is eye catching or different to the ones next to (if on a shelf in a bookstore) then I will gravitate towards it. But even if the cover doesn't appeal to me I will still check out the synopsis to see what the story is about and if it is interesting. I also like to read other people's reviews to get an idea of what people thought of the book as a whole. But I will still buy a book that has a plot line that I'm interested in, even if it has one or two not so great reviews. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Leave a link in comments & I'll follow back! Have a wonderful weekend! 

Follow Friday & TGIF

What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to books? Maybe you don't like love triangles or thin plots? Tell us about it!
My pet peeves would have to include: 

• thin, under developed characters. It irritates me when a character is placed as in a certain role in a story and then they aren't fully explored or developed. It always makes me think of what could have been.
• love stories that happen over night. Come on, you can't fall head over heels in love with someone in two days and have it be real and meaningful.
• whenever I pick up a book and the story line begins like this: Girl moves to new town, girl starts new school, girls spots mysterious yet alluring boy from across the hallway, boy avoids girl for a week, next thing you know, girl & boy are completely & hopelessly in love with each other and are ready to stake their lives upon their relationship. This story line has been explored and done before countless times, and yes it has worked over the years, but now it's just plain boring. Any book that starts out like this you can skip to about halfway through and then you'll get to the interesting part of the story. Books like this, I avoid like the plague.

What are some of your pet peeves?

TGIF is hosted by Greadsbooks.com

Writing Reviews 101: What's your process for writing book reviews? 

My process of reviewing begins as soon as I pick up a book I know I'm going to be reviewing for the blog. I pride myself on taking time to read my books. I find that it helps in getting to know the characters really well and, it gives me a chance to really visualize the story and what's happening in each scenario. It's very rare for me to finish a book in two days. Once I've read the book I normally like to gather my thoughts and opinions on it, so I won't rush to my computer to write up a review. 

When writing I like to be as meticulous as I can with my grammar and spelling (although some mistakes can slip through. I'm only human). I can't have music or too much noise around me, so I make sure everything is quiet. I also like to check out Goodreads to see what other people had to say about the book. Maybe there is a thought shared that I hadn't considered or a different opinion on something that happened. I like to try and keep my reviews completely spoiler free but sometimes you can't share a thought without divulging a certain scene or plot line. I always keep my review honest and if I don't like something then I going to say I don't like it. 

Once I have finished my review I always double and sometimes triple check it. When I happy with everything, I post it. 

What is your method for reviewing books? Share your thoughts in the comments. I love hearing from fellow bloggers!

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy whatever book you're reading!

 

Follow Friday & TGIF

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read!This week's question:

In light of 11.11.11 and Veteran's Day tell us about your favorite soldier and how he or she is saving the world. (Fictional or real life):

I don't know any real life soldiers so I'm going to go fiction on this one. My favorite solider has Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. I consider a soldier considering everything she goes through to fight for the freedom of her family and the people around her. She exposed the corruption and greed amongst the people in power and she fought to stop it. She is brave, selfless and very admirable. I loved reading her story and I can't wait to see how the movie turns out!

TGIF is hosted by GReadsBooks. This week's question is:

Love-Hate Relationship: Which characters from a book do you love to hate?

There aren't many characters that I would say I hate but one character the recently had me really annoyed was Four aka Tobias from Divergent by Veronica Roth. I hated the way he was so mean all the time. The guy was like an impenetrable wall. He does redeem himself in the end and, when the whole truth about his past is discovered, you can understand why he is the way he is. But still he had me really annoyed all the while I was reading Divergent. I am excited to see how his character changes in Insurgent though.

So Happy Friday everyone! Don't forget to check out and enter my International Giveaway I'm hosting at the moment, and share your answers in the comments!

Have a great weekend readers!

TGIF #1

This is my first TGIF post! It's hosted by GReads

To-Be-Read's: How big is your pile? Which book keeps getting pushed down the stack, but you keep meaning to read it?

Here are some of the book in my To-Read Pile:

If I had to put pictures up of all the books on my to-read pile the bog post would probably reach the end of the blog. So this is just a sampling of the top 6 books I'm trying my best to get to. But then in between there are some really awesome books I'm getting to review soon so these will just have to wait a little bit longer. 

How big is your to-read pile? What books are you dying to get into? Let me know in the comments!

P.S: Bloggers...I follow back!