Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read:
Gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! This week's features are Ramblings of a Coffee Adicted Writer & Paranormal Romance.

Q: Do you mind books with similar ideas to other books? Similar concepts, backgrounds, retellings or pulled-to-publish fanfic?

I guess it really depends. If a book directly lifts off another book's plot, character characteristics, and has no twists or at least some original qualities, then I mind very, very much. But if a book inspires another one and the author creates their own worlds and rules enough for the "original" (so to speak) to be just a thing in the background, then okay, cool. Especially if it's a part of a series that the author can expand on with their own original material as they keep writing. Retellings -- fairy tales in particular -- are some of my favourites... if done well. On the flip side, stuff pulled directly from fanfics isn't something high on my radar. Fifty Shades of Grey? Reeked of fanfic in the way it was written, then I found out it actually was a fanfic with the names changed (even the character descriptions were so obvious!) and there was some major side-eye going on. Not a fan.

Let's face it, though. If I wanted to avoid all the YA books out right now that had similar concepts to other ones, then I'd have nothing to read. How many books have we read about a heroine involved in a love triangle with a boy (or two) who's some form of supernatural creature? So, so many.

What about you guys? Thoughts? Let me know, and happy Friday. :)

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read:
Gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! This week's features are The Y.A. Bookworm Blogger & Carmen Jenner.

Q: What writing device or trick most irritates you when reading a book? For example, if an author employs an omnipotent narrator that is sometimes considered bad form.

Well, let's see... love triangles, love triangles, and love triangles. It works for some books. The Infernal Devices? For some reason, it works for me. Twilight? Ehh, why not. But love triangles involving two brothers and a girl? Rarely ever works for me. Here's looking at you, Vampire Diaries (seriously, Bonnie is the only reason I continue to read). I just, I really can't. When the brothers are completely different and the girl is being pushed and pulled because "Oh, one brother is so sweet and lovely and everyone loves him and he makes me feel safe!" -- but -- "Oh, his brother is so broody and angsty and ~dangerous, let me love him so I can change him and make him a better person!" It's especially annoying when the brothers loathe each other then the girl tries to mend their relationship. Because of that, the guys obviously still hate each other but worship how nice she is for trying, as if the sun shines out of her ass. I also hate self-important heriones, so imagine how annoying it is when the girl is all, "My life sucks because I have two hot brothers fighting over me". Cringeworthy.

Love triangles obviously lead to "Team [Boy #1]" and "Team [Boy #2]". Then if authors are writing it for a series, that's pretty much all everyone thinks about is who the girl will end up with. Sometimes, authors even use that as central focuses: "This book in the series will be all about 'Girl/Boy #1', and the next book will shift focus onto 'Girl/Boy #2'... who will she choose in the conclusion?!?" I've been in enough online fandom communities to know that it never ends in lovely tea parties and cupcakes. Claws will come out, "Team" t-shirts will be made, and words will be said. It's frightening sometimes.

I got all riled up just thinking about that one! Lol. Negativity aside, have an amazing weekend everyone!

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read:
Gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! This week's features are Kinxs Book Nook & Shelf Addiction.

Q: When you step out of your USUAL genre what do you like to read? Best books in that genre?

I'm normally a paranormal/urban fantasy reader, but when I do step out of that genre, I tend to go for the general/contemporary YA books. I'm literally glancing back and forth between my laptop and my bookshelves right now, and I'm noticing quite a lot of books about suicide, depression, self-harm and recovery... things like that. I'm not quite sure why; it's not like I have those kinds of tendencies. I don't think that just because one reads about a particular subject a lot, it automatically means they go through the same things. Some do, some don't (although I'm sure a lot of us would love to experience what it's like to be demon-hunters and/or have hot vampire boys fall for us or something). In my case, it's the character's journey that draws me in. I've never been depressed or strongly contemplated suicide, though when I was a teen and even now, I have moments of vulnerability that makes me think of the occasional "what if". But I value my life and those close to me too much. Still, these stories are real for some people out there, and I've heard of instances where these books have helped them through tough times or helped other people understand these situations more, especially if they know someone who is going through it. What's not to like about that kind of personal connection? Here are some of my favourites:


Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I hope everyone has a great weekend. If you're a new follower, please let me know and I'll follow back!

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read:
Gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! This week's features are Reese's Reviews & Bookfever.

Q: What book do you think would make a great Halloween movie? Please explain in graphic detail of goriness...

I just read this one a while ago. I haven't posted a review of it, but I'd have to go with The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle. Because, guys: Amish... and vampires. I know, right? It sounded so WTF to me that I had to pick it up, but trust me. It's a good book. People living in isolation away from the rest of the world? Perfect setting, if you ask me. Plus, the vampires are actually scary; I'm talking Stephen King scary. Don't get me wrong, I love a sexy vampire boy as much as the next girl, but it's nice to take it way back to when people feared them. I won't go into all the details about what the book is about -- click the cover to go to Goodreads if you're interested. Spine-chilling. I can't watch horror movies for the life of me, but would make an exception for this if it was made into one.

Happy reading, and have a great weekend!

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read:
Gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! This week's features are Book Liason & Angela's Anxious Life.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Is it to one day become an author yourself, just for fun, maybe get some online attention, or maybe something very different?

This is pretty tough to answer, because it's a number of things. I've always wanted to start a book blog just for fun, because it's a way to share my love of books with others who have the same interests. I also love learning about new books from all the blogs that I visit. It's a place that I can escape to and have fun talking about my favourite books; Lord knows I can go on and on actually talking someone's ear off about plots and characters that I love or hate to random people who probably don't care, so it's good to have a place where I can do that and have people appreciate, lol. I've also recently decided, after being stuck in a rut with my current degree, to take my education further and get into Communications with a Publishing minor; there's a school that I have my eye on that has this program, and I think having this blog and being involved and updated can definitely help me expand my knowledge and learn a few things within the book industry. But I'm mostly in this for the enjoyment it brings, and hope to be for a long time.

I hope you all have a great weekend!