TGIF {26} How my blog was born

Source: Ginger

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question
A Book Blogger is Born: What made you decide to start your very own book blog?


My blog was born because I needed something more in my life.


Around last June I started to feel a little antsy with my reading. Reading has always been my one constant passion but about a year ago I just kind of started feeling like "what's the point?" I'd read a book, finish it, set it aside, and forget about it. It was neither fulfilling or fun anymore. I like having goals and reading just started feeling like something I could never make a goal out of in any way and I was really frustrated. 

This basically sums up how I felt before my blog started.
My blog helped provide a balance :]
Source

At some point last year I stumbled across a YA book blog and would check up on it every now and then. At that point I had no idea that there were other blogs like it. I just kind of thought it was a fluke or something. Eventually I discovered their blogroll and started clicking around. I was amazed to discover there was a lot of people out there who were just as passionate about reading as I was! 


I went back and forth for a few days trying to decide if a blog was something I would want to or even could do. My husband finally convinced me to start one and it's grown from there.


I'm so lucky to have found a community that shares my love for all things books, not to mention people that read the same TYPE of books as me. My blog has not only given my reading a purpose but it's also given me a purpose. I love running my blog and being part of such a fantastic community :D

TGIF {25} Literary Vacations

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question
Literary Vacations: If you could take a trip this summer to any place within a fictional book, where would you go? Tell us about your summer dream vacation!

You normally wouldn't want to live in any sort of dystopian world, but I recently read The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann and I have to say that I'd really love to live in Artime. Though I've never felt I have a creative bone in my body, maybe being in a place like that would help bring it out in me. It's beautiful and vibrant and has such animals as squirellicorns and platyparrots. 


Plus, there's magic AND technology. Let's start with the magic. The magic in Artime goes along with whatever your creative talent is. Writers can quote passages that stun people and artists can paint themselves invisible among  many other things. How seriously cool is that?! Then there's the technology. There are tubes that transport you places and blackboards that not only tell whatever you wish to know, but have their own personalities!


I would be in my own little paradise at this place. I could have everything from the great outdoors complete with an ocean, a jungle, and fantastical creatures to magical talents to top of the line technology. Yes please :D

TGIF {24} Reading Slump

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question
Reading Blues: We all get them from time to time. What helps you overcome those reading slumps when nothing seems to grab your attention?


If I'm in a serious slump then sometimes I'll just cold-turkey it and not read anything for a little while. Instead I'll spend hours upon hours playing video games :P It works for me. Sometimes I just spend 3 days or so straight on whatever game is my current obsession.


Sometimes I'll just go ahead and read a book, but I likely won't spend a lot of times on it because when I'm in a slump just about everything distracts me. I like to keep reading when I'm in a slump, but I'm also afraid of not giving a book a fair chance. Sometimes when I'm slumpy nothing is good enough.

TGIF {23} TBR Influencers

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question

Book Blogger Influences: Has there been a particular book blogger who's influenced what you read? Share with us a review/book blog that convinced you to pick up a certain book.


Usually it takes a combination of people to convince me I should really read a book I'd already decided against, but lately Lauren from 365 Days of Reading has been making me add lots of books to my list. She recently started doing "Pick of the Week" vlogs where she actually reads an excerpt out of a book. And let me tell you, that's probably the best way to get a person to pick up a book. I've put a book on my TBR nearly every week she's put up a new video :P I've put her most recent video below, so if you like it, you should definitely drop by her blog and let her know!

TGIF {22} Series Finales

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question: Book Series Finales: Which book, from any series has been your favorite ending? What about your least favorite ending?

Best

Percy Jackson
This was an absolutely fantastic end to an epic journey. There were some sad bits, yes, but I think it all ended it a rather satisfying way.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth
This one is a little different than others since none of the books were really a continuation of the others. I was a little sad there was no worldly resolution, but thinking about it now, I'm not even sure it could have ended any other way. This entire series is heart-wrenching and beautiful and the final book was no different.

The Hunger Games
Okay, I'm not actually sure I'd say this is my favorite ever or anything, but it fit and left me satisfied.

Maze Runner
Oh man. I know some people weren't satisfied because it didn't answer all their questions, but it answered enough to satisfy me. It also made me cry and as we all learned from HP it's almost necessary to cry during the last book in a series.


Least Favorite

Private
I spent YEARS reading these books! Then the final just left me feeling decidedly unsatisfied. It just felt so...anticlimactic. I mean, there are about 14 books or something like that in the series and then the last one was just kind of a dud, in my opinion.

Wolves of Mercy Falls
I wanted so badly to love this. I adored Shiver and Linger. They made me feel ALL the feelings, but Forever just...didn't. I didn't connect to Forever in the same why I did to the first two and is just made me so sad :[

TGIF {21} (Book Blogger Retreat)

 TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question: Book Blogger Retreat: If you could gather up a handful of book blogger friends to spend a weekend away talking books, where would you go? Tell us about it.


This sounds like an absolutely AMAzing weekend! I don't even know where to begin! Especially since my imagination is kind of lame :P


I don't like the woods or anything that resembles camping, so those things are definitely out of the question for a destination. Maybe some fancy shmancy resort somewhere nice and warm. Or better yet, Disneyland/world! Paris and London are also viable options. Heck, I'm just going to throw in Chicago and New York too. I know, I'm decisionally challenged :P Which option do you guys like best?


As for what we would do? Well, there would be lots of lazing around. Hopefully in the sun around a swimming pool. If we were somewhere awesome, there would certainly be sightseeing. And food. There would be lots and LOTS of eating food. What can I say, I really love food ;]
And we all know there would be plenty of book talk, of course. That kind of goes without saying. Somehow, I kind of doubt there will be lots of reading going on, though...

TGIF {20}

 TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question: Social Networking: Do you use Twitter or Facebook to promote your blog?  How has it benefited your book blogging experience? If not, how do you promote your blog? Share your twitter handle and/or Facebook link!

I'll admit it, I was a firm non-believer in Twitter before I started blogging. I was set on never having one because I thought it was just a fad, and, yeah, I didn't really understand it either. Needless to say, everyone everywhere said I needed a Twitter account for my blog so I set one up and started to learn. And now? I am a Twitter addict. It's incredibly useful for both friend-making and just plain getting your blog out there. If you don't have one yet, I highly advise getting one. My Twitter handle his @ARoomWithBooks if you want to follow me :]

As for Facebook? I have a personal one which I rarely use, but I haven't made one for my blog. I don't really care for FB anymore so I don't know if it'd be useful for my blog. If you guys think I need one, though, try to convince me in the comments.

That's actually all that I use. Is there anything else out there that would be helpful to me and my blog? Convince me of these things! :P

TGIF {19}

 TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question: Book Moments: What has been your favorite moment (scene) in a book that you've read so far in 2012? Please be kind & not include spoilers.


I'm not going to lie, I don't have to best memory when it comes to books. I can remember my overall feelings about a book and sometimes I can even remember characters, but the details never really stick with me for very long. It's heartbreaking, I know, but it is what it is.


One scene from my recent reads does stick out, though. Born Wicked is probably my favorite read of the year thus far, so it's only natural that one of my favorite and most memorable scenes happens to come from it. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just leave it at "the feather scene" with Cate and Finn. Anybody know what I'm talking about? We can totally gush together if you do ;]

TGIF {18}

 TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question: Required Reading: Which book from your school days do you remember reading & enjoying? Is there a book published now that you'd like to see in today's curriculum for kids?

To address the first part of the question: I didn't actually have a lot of required reading throughout my school years. We had to read The Outsiders in 8th grade, and I'm not going to lie, I hated it. The other half of my class got to read Tuck Everlasting and I'm still jealous!


We read Romeo and Juliet in 10th and maybe I'm a major cynic, but I hated it too. I simply don't see how meeting, doing it, getting married, and killing themselves all in the span of a few short days constitutes the best love story of all time. I give you permission to throw tomatoes at me now, but I shan't retract my opinion.


To Kill a Mockingbird and Night were our 10th grade requirements. TKaM was probably my favorite out of all my required readings, but I guess you could say I'm not really a classics gal. I've heard plenty of amazing things about Night, but I wasn't exactly a fan. I think that's simply a case of it not being my style of book though.


After that, I left for Running Start and surprisingly, I never had any novel-esque required reading in college. The only thing of note was the play Death of a Salesman. I thought it was a bit odd, but actually enjoyed reading it.

To address the second part, there's actually quite a few books published now that I think would make fantastic required reading. Thirteen Reasons Why and Want To Go Private? are two major ones that come to mind when I think about required reading. They both have great lessons that would be much better for the kids of today to learn than a lot of the old literature (not that those don't have merits too) they still require.

TGIF {17}

 TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question: Book Blogger Pride: What do you take pride in when it comes to blogging?

TGIF {16}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question: Love Stories: What are some of your favorite fictional love stories?

TGIF {15}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]

This week's question: 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?

TGIF {14}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:
Friday, Jan. 27th - Buy or Borrow: Where do your books that you read come from? The bookstore? The library? Do you prefer to own a book, or have it on loan?

TGIF {13}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:
Recommend It: Which book from the last 10 you've read would you recommend to a friend?

TGIF {12}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger atGReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:

2012 Must Reads: Which books are at the top of your list to be read this year (new or old releases)?

TGIF {11}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger atGReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:
First & Last: What was the first book you read in 2011 and the last you finished in 2011? How do you feel about these books? Would you recommend them to other readers?

TGIF {10}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger atGReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:
Most Popular: What blog post has gotten the most comments/activity on your blog this year?

TGIF {9}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:
 Writing Reviews 101: What's your process for writing book reviews? Any tips or suggestions you would recommend to other bloggers?

TGIF {8}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:

When You're Not Reading: What occupies your time when your nose isn't stuck in a book?




Let me just warn you by saying I don't lead a very exciting life :P

Spinach "meat"balls

Something I've loved doing since I was young is cooking. I don't mind baking and I'll do it sometimes, but I definitely prefer cooking. I love to go in the kitchen and create something tasty out of these seemingly random things. I especially love to figure out how to vegetarianize things things to meet my fiance and I's eating habits. I actually planned to take up a career in cooking up until the beginning of this year. I was going culinary school when I suddenly realized that's not what I wanted to day every day for the rest of my life. I still love to do it at home, but I would much rather work with books as a full-time job :]

One of my recent favorites :]

The other thing you'd likely find me doing while not reading is playing video games. I love all things Nintendo :P I've never had a different game system brand/type. I love everything from Super Nintendo to Wii and everything in between. I'm a big fan of Marios, Donkey Kongs, and Zeldas. I also play a mean Tetris :P

The fiance and I

Other than that, I just enjoy spending time with my fiance and my adorable dog. We can be found watching movies and eating out (yes, this is a hobby) most nights :]

TGIF {7}

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Each week she poses a question and everyone is invited to join in and share their answers :]


This week's question:
Love-Hate Relationship: Which characters from a book do you love to hate?