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Armchair BEA 2013 | Keeping It Real, Fresh, and Fun

6/1/2013

10 Comments

 
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Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads
PicturePhoto credit: thegeekwhisperer.com
Hi again Airmchair BEA bloggers! 

Today's topic is all about how to keep your blog fresh and fun! Just like the photo says, I tend to think that most of us are in a "permanent state of re-invention" at least where our blogs are concerned!

So far it seems like I've been changing the design of my blog every 6 months. I really do it for me, because I want to look at something new. Ironically, I actually change the design yesterday and I hadn't even seen what today's topics were!!  I think when I'd like to see something fresh, the readers and bloggers who frequent by blog also wouldn't mind seeing a new page.  I don't really mess with the layout, just the design.

I also try to think up new and exciting features. For example, I'm doing a Summer of Indie Author Features event this summer.  By the way, it starts tomorrow!!  I haven't really read much Indie, so I thought it would be fun not only for me, but for my blog subscribers to meet some Indie and self published authors.  In my personal opinion, I think that introducing different features once in a while mixes thing up and keeps it fun for everyone!

Lastly, I read all kinds of books. Thanks to my wide variety of reviews, I think that also contributes to keeping my blog fresh.  It's always fun to read about something out of your comfort zone, and again, I think that my blog readers enjoy being introduced to something different.

What helps you keep your blog fresh? Please share!

Happy Reading, 
~Tamara

Check out my previous Armchair BEA posts! 
Genre: From Picture Books to Young Adult | Genre: Literary Fiction | Paths To Becoming a Better Blogger | Genre: Genre Fiction | Introductions

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Armchair BEA 2013 | Genre: From Picture Books to Young Adult

6/1/2013

4 Comments

 
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Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads
PicturePhoto credit: xojane.com
Good morning blogger friends!

This topic is about children's picture books to middle grade to young adult novels. I must admit, I don't read children or MG books. I might if I had a child to read to, but I don't. Though I read many books in my youth, I guess I didn't really have any picture book favorites. None that I remember anyways. I recall really loving the Anne of Green Gable books in grade school and V.C . Andrews books in middle school, but that's about it.

I enjoy reading some young adult books.  I've noticed that in the YA world, I tend to lean toward Fantasy, Urban Fantasy and Dystopian.  Even though I wouldn't classify Shelf Addiction as a YA blog, I do tend to read a good amount of it. Diversity on my book shelf is always a good thing!

I noticed that with in YA literature, there are two levels.  Books geared toward younger teens, like 13-15 years old, and books geared toward older teens, more like 16-18 years old. I find that I enjoy the books geared toward the older teens best. In my opinion, with YA series and trilogies, the characters in the start out around 16 and grow up a little more in each book.  Usually, along with their progressing age, usually the subject matter gets more serious or more adult sounding with each book. Some of the YA books seem to come very close to New Adult books at some point.

If you're new to YA lit or are looking for some recommendation, I suggest any of the books listed below. 

A few of my favorite YA series include (in no particular order):
The Vampire Academy series, by Richelle Mead
The Hunger Game trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare
Divergent trilogy, by Veronica Roth

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Here are a few of the YA books that I've enjoyed so far this year. Click on each photo to check out my review!
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Do you read children's picture books, middle grade or young adult novels? If so, please share with me some of your favorites!

Happy Reading,
~Tamara

Check out my previous Armchair BEA posts! 
Genre: Literary Fiction | Paths To Becoming a Better Blogger | Genre: Genre Fiction | Introductions
4 Comments

Armchair BEA 2013 | Genre: Literary Fiction

5/30/2013

6 Comments

 
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Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads
PicturePhoto credit: estellasrevenge.blogspot.com
Hey again Armchair BEA friends!

I mentioned briefly yesterday in my Genre fiction post that I didn't much care for reading Literary fiction. Yep, that's still true. But since I'm in a book club that votes on what we read, sometimes I lose that battle.  I have read my share of Literary fiction books in the last couple years thanks to book club!  I know for sure in the next 6 months I may very well be reading a book or two in this category. If nothing else, I know that my reading is well rounded. 

 I have nothing against the genre.  I think that many of the Literary Fiction books would make really good movies, but it's just not my preference. It reminds me of sitting in my college English Lit class trying to stay awake! Lol, I know that doesn't sound too good, but it's true!  

Here are a few books often considered Literary Fiction that I've written reviews for. Click on each photo to check out my review!

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini - I actually enjoyed this one.
The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides - This one was a miss for me.
Room, by Emma Donoghue - I thought this was good.

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I want to briefly back track for just a moment because I didn't get a chance to post on the Classic Fiction genre topic. I feel somewhat the same way about Classics as I do about Literary fiction.  Literary fiction books and Classic fiction books are somewhat similar to me, mainly because they both seem to be character driven instead of plot driven.  Check out the popular book lists below, you will see that many books appear on both lists.  Even thought I don't read Classics often, I've enjoyed a few of the them, especially books that take place in Great Britain.

Here are a few Classics that I've enjoyed.

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen 
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë 
1984, by George Orwell
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
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Here's a bit more info on Classic, Genre and Literary fiction. 
What some reading suggestions?  Popular Classic Fiction Books | Popular Literary Fiction Books

What's your take on Literary fiction? Please share!

Happy Reading,
~Tamara

Check out my other previous Armchair BEA posts! 
Paths To Becoming a Better Blogger | Genre: Genre Fiction | Introductions
6 Comments

Armchair BEA 2013 | Paths to Becoming a Better Blogger

5/29/2013

6 Comments

 
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Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads
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Photo credit: mollermarketing.com
"With the right stage and the right voice 
there's no limit to the size of your audience."

Visit and comment on other blogs

This is a win-win because you'll be opening the door for conversation and possibly starting a relationship.  Also this will allow others viewing that blog to see you and possibly lead them to check out your blog.  Commenting particularly is very hard for me to keep up with because I work all day then have many tasks to do when I get home in the evenings. I've found a few blogs that I really like and I try my best to keep up on commenting on those at the very least. I keep trying to improve in this area!

Team up with other bloggers 

I want to interact more with local book bloggers so I thought up the GLBBA! Great Lakes Book Blogger Alliance. This group is for book bloggers in the Great Lakes regions! I have two wonderful blogger co-chairs, Meagan and Stephanie, helping me develop this group and get the ball rolling!

As a result of making connections with the GLBBA,  I was invited to co-host a read-a-thon!  I was introduced to a wonderful group of ladies by Meagan, one of the GLBBA co-chairs.  I do believe I've made blogger friends for life!  Want to know more about the Summer Lovin read-a-thon? Check out the details at Read-A-Thon Central!

The Summer Lovin’ Readathon is a week-long readathon event hosted by seven independent bloggers! (Oh, Chrys!, Tumbling Books, Effortlessly Reading, Love Life Read, Shelf Addiction, Read Sleep Repeat, and Reviewing Wonderland)

Sign-ups will be open through July 6th. I’m in, are you?!

This post is all about blog development and what approaches we have taken or will take to improve our blogs.  I'm looking forward to reading many others thoughts on this subject because even though I've been blogging for 3-4 years on various topics, there is still so much to learn!   Especially since my book blog is only 1 1/2 years old.  I'm taking positive steps in the right direction to end up where I'd like to be.  Here are the things that I've done so far and that I recommend.

Create your own unique feature

Create your own unique feature that will help get your name out there.   For example, I thought up my Summer of Indie Author Features event. Preparing for this event has introduced me to authors I wouldn't have known before, and hopefully new readers who love Indie books will find my blog as a result. 

Particpate in MEMEs

Personally I haven't had much success participating in MEME's, but others have had great results.  Try it out!  What to create your own MEME? Go for it!  Besides MEMEs you can participate in read-a-thons, read-a-longs and other group type events. You're already making a great start by participating in Armchair BEA!

Become a social media maven! 

Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.  Again, this also take a pretty large time commitment, but the more you do it, the easier it will become.    It's difficult at first to dive in and begin talking with strangers, but there is no easy way. Just do it! You'll meet some very cool people and be glad that you did. Remember you must go further than just posting your reviews. Really try to interact with others. Yes, some of the bloggers seem to be a bit clicky, but keep chatting and before long you'll find blogger friends!

Also, be apart of Twitter parties! It may take you a try or two to get used to the flow of it, but they are always fun and informative. 

Join blogger & reader groups

These can be on Facebook, Goodreads, Google + or whatever you enjoy using best.  The goal is to develop relationships with more people in the community. For example, I am a member of 2 live in person book clubs and several online book clubs. These are great opportunities to find out about new books and authors and allow me to make even more connections!

What's in the Shelf Addiction blogs future?  I'd love to take on one or two reviewers. I'm not sure how I'll incorporate that quite yet, but I'd love to bring on reviewers that read the genres that I don't, which will allow for more diversity. In addition to adding more diversity, I will strive to keep my content fresh and interesting.

My advice? First figure out what your blogging goals are. Once you know where you want to end up, you can draft the road to get there. Stay true to yourself. Be genuine and don't worry what others think. Remember that it's impossible to please all of the people all of the time. Just be you and the like minded readers and bloggers will find you!

Find what you like and stick to it.  Just consider that while it's great to be comfortable with what you're doing, you'll be even greater if you step outside of your comfort zone and try new things! You may discover something awesome!

What's your take on blogger development? I'd love to hear your ideas! 

Happy Reading, 
~Tamara
6 Comments

Armchair BEA 2013 | Genre: Genre Fiction

5/29/2013

2 Comments

 
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Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads
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I adore genre fiction, for mostly one reason. I read for fun! In my humble opinion, I don't find many literary fiction books very entertaining to read. I may like them in movie adaptations, but reading them? Not so much.  On the other had I find genre fiction very fun and easy to read.  Genre fiction allows me to escape my life for a little while to live vicariously through the characters on the pages!

My favorite genres seem to go in spurts. Years ago, for a bit I was reading mostly African American Lit, then I was all about Romance, in between I dabbled in a little Chick Lit, Horror.and Suspense   I've been really into Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/Fantasy for a few years now with a stint in Dystopian...I tend to like a wide range of genres.  I do like to mix things up here and there by throwing in different genres into the reading list.  I don't want to get bored by reading only one type of book.  

The genres I tend to shy away from are traditional Science Fiction, Historical Fiction and Mystery. I'm not sure why, I just don't pick those books up.

I have several favorite authors right now. I find that my favorites change over time depending on what genre I'm into at the moment.  Starting with the author I mentioned in my post yesterday, L.A. Banks. Her books introduced me to the world of Urban Fantasy. I hadn't read much of it before that, but after reading her Vampire Huntress series, I was addicted!  A few of my current favorite authors include Jeanine Frost, Richelle Mead, J.R. Ward, Lara Adrian, Cassandra Clare, Jennifer Estep and Veronica Roth.

What about you? What's are your thoughts on genre fiction? Who are your favorites?

Happy Reading, 
~Tamara

Check out my previous Armchair BEA post! 
Introductions
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The Vampire Huntress Legend ~ The series that unleashed my love of Urban Fantasy!
2 Comments

Armchair BEA 2013 | Introductions

5/28/2013

15 Comments

 
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Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads
PictureDesign credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots
Hey fellow bloggers, 

Here are my five questions! I'm glad you stopped in!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?  I'm Tamara and I love books!  I've been blogging off and on for 3-4 years. When I started  my book blog about a year and half ago, blogging finally stuck! I guess I found the perfect outlet that allowed me to be consistent with blogging.  I started Shelf Addiction because I LOVE books and LOVE talking about them!  I've actually reviewed books for a long while before I started blogging. You can can find out more about me by watching my YouTube intro video here!  You can also check out my bio here!

I'm also co-hosting my first read-a-thon with 6 other blogger friends! Check it out here! Sign up for our Summer Lovin Read-A-Thon!


Have you previously participated in Armchair BEA? What brought you back for another year? If you have not previously participated, what drew you to the event?  This is my second year participating with BEA.  I hope to be a little more involved than last year.  I'm always so busy and it's hard to participate during the day due to my work schedule, but I'll give it a go!  I'm looking forward to meeting even more book blogger friends.

What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?  Right now I'm reading Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep.  I'm really enjoying this series.  I don't really have any favorites so far this year, but recently I read The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa and really loved them. They're so different from many of the other YA vampire books, which is why they've stuck with me. In case your curious, the links to the reviews are below.

Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.  I love cooking and making jewelry! Check out my food blog here and my online jewelry boutique here!

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?  I would love to have dinner with L.A.Banks! Ms.Banks died a few years ago, but she will always be remembered by her fans.  Her Vampire Huntress Legend series turned me on to my love of Urban Fantasy/Fantasy/Paranormal Romance. I was addicted to her books and read all 12 book with reckless abandon! Ever since then, I jumped into the UF world never looked back!


Tell me about you! Share your post and I'll stop by!

Happy Reading,
~Tamara

The Immortal Rules Review | The Eternity Cure Review

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