Yearly Archives:: 2016

Friday, February 12, 2016

On Blog Tours

Posted by 14 Comments

There has been a lot of discussion in the community about blog tours and I am here today to add my two cents to the conversation.

So. Blog tours. I really like them, but I understand what people mean when they say blog tours are filler posts. The thing is though, it really isn’t as simple as that (or at least in my opinion.) I think blog tours can also be really creative especially when hosts are allowed to have a bigger part in their posts.

Also, a lot of my blog tour posts tend to be review posts (especially in my experience) so in that way, they really aren’t that much different from regular blog posts and are just a way of getting a large amount of reviews for promotion purposes.

But admittedly, after being asked to do review after review for blog tours I get tired because I like being able to express my creativity when sharing blog tour posts. A while ago, I got to do a “Would You Rather” post with an author and it was so much fun because I got the chance to come up with questions that didn’t just make me laugh but ones I really wanted to know the answer to. It was so much fun to do and let me engage with the author in such a fun way. I have also seen blog tour posts where people get to come up with cool mood boards and fun text message conversations with characters from the books AND THOSE ARE SO AWESOME TOO.

I think the key to having fantastic blog tour posts is allowing the person who is posting to become involved in the process. I know one time, I was asked to do a guest post and didn’t even have the chance to come up with a question. I had one assigned to me and that made me a little upset because that made the blog tour post I took so much time and effort to set up feel like a generic filler post, something I couldn’t personalize and really make my own.

That’s basically where I think blog tours could be better. I think blog tours are such a fantastic opportunity for all of us to creatively showcase/promote a book in ways that aren’t reviews. I think they should be FUN instead of an obligation and just another fun way for book pushing. 

How do you feel about blog tours? Do you think they can be good? What different things would you like to see in terms of blog tours?

Review: Titans by Victoria Scott

Posted by on 02/11/2016 • 10 Comments

You know when you start reading a book and you are just pulled into it and want to devour it? Yeah, this was one of those. I loved just about everything about it. The underlying story is sad and bleak, but the main part of it is thrilling and full of adventure. This book is fast paced and keeps your heart racing along with the characters. And the best part is, there’s not really romance in it. There’s no need for it and it would have taken away from the story and I am glad that the author didn’t feel the need to throw it in there. The characters are fabulous and I really enjoyed getting to know them. The Titans were so interesting and I couldn’t help but want…

Fresh Batch (February 7th – 13th)

Fresh Batch (February 7th – 13th)

Posted by on 02/06/2016 • 4 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Blackhearts Nicole Castroman Publication date: February 9th 2016by Simon Pulse

Goodreads Purchase

Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands. Nothing could stop him—until he met the one girl who would change everything.

Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of one of Bristol’s richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high…

Female Leads That Influenced Me When I Was Growing Up

Posted by on 02/04/2016 • 11 Comments

I am of the opinion that books are amazing (DUH.) Over the years, I have gained so much knowledge from books and learned so much about the world. Reading hasn’t just been a form of escapism but a way of filling all the gaps in my knowledge. Today, I wanted to dedicate a post to all the amazing female leads who inspired me growing up and who have helped define the person I want to be.

 

You might know Madeleine L’Engle as my no.1 hero because her books changed my life but it was Vicky in specific from the Austin Family series that really helped me out during my awkward pre-teen phase. In A Ring of Endless Lights (one of the best books I’ve ever read, FYI) Vicky is surrounded…

Fresh Batch (Jan 31st – Feb 6th)

Fresh Batch (Jan 31st – Feb 6th)

Posted by on 01/31/2016 • 6 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Starflight Melissa Landers Series: Starflight #1 Publication date: February 2nd 2016 by Disney-Hyperion

Goodreads Purchase

Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She’s so desperate to reach the realm that she’s willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When…

Blog Tour: Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum – Review

Posted by on 01/30/2016 • 4 Comments

Hello and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Tell Me Three Things!! I adored this book. It was just one of those books that makes you feel good. It’s not all fluff and rainbows and all that cute stuff though. There is a lot of depth to it, and things that aren’t quite so easy for the characters, but in the end it’s a book that just made me happy. I loved Jessie getting to know Somebody Nobody. I had a pretty good idea of who it was from the start, but I did keep wondering throughout if I was right. And man did it throw me for a loop at times. Anyways, I liked the honesty in the messages that they sent to each other and…

Diverse Picture Books

Posted by on 01/25/2016 • 5 Comments

So, picture books. A lot of you might not read them yourselves but if I might say so, there are some fabulous picture books out there and yes, picture books that are ‘diverse.’ I am currently taking a Queer Lit class at my college and one of my classmates mentioned that she wished picture books weren’t so generic. She mentioned how nice it would be if she could read some pictures books aloud to her kids that weren’t based on heteronormative ideals and I wanted to shout that there ARE some amazing pictures books out there. AND HERE WE ARE. With me recommending some diverse picture books to you guys. ENJOY.

 

Goodreads Links

My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis

Last Stop On Market Street by…

Fresh Batch (January 24th – 30th)

Fresh Batch (January 24th – 30th)

Posted by on 01/23/2016 • 4 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

The Dark Days Club Alison Goodman Series: Lady Helen #1 Publication date: January 26th 2016by Viking Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Purchase

New York Times bestseller Alison Goodman’s eagerly awaited new project: a Regency adventure starring a stylish and intrepid demon-hunter!

London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation…