All Things Irish Blog Hop: Giveaway

Welcome to the All Things Irish Blog Hop hosted by Candace's Book Blog and Gin's Book Notes! This hop runs from March 17th to the 24th with the winner announced shortly thereafter. There are a number of blogs participating in the hop, so be sure and check out any one of the host's blogs for full details.

As you can guess by the title of the hop, it's in honor of St. Patrick's Day and though it wasn't required to give away Irish/faerie/leprechaun-themed books, I thought it would be fun to do so. Below are recently released or upcoming books that focus on Irish lore (except for Stolen Songbird which is about trolls, but the cover is beautiful and green and I added it this list because it was EPIC), all of which I've read and absolutely loved.

Darkfever is a bit of an exception in terms of release date, and it's also more adult in nature whereas the other three are young adult, but it's the start of my all-time favorite series and is absolutely fitting for the parameters of this hop, so I had to include it. The winner may choose any book in the Fever series should they have already read Darkfever.

To enter, please just fill out the Rafflecopter form. This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY as long as The Book Depository delivers to your country. You can check the list of countries here. Good luck everyone!

BOOK PRIZES

See Me by Wendy Higgins
The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Stolen Songbird by Danielle Jensen
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget to check out the full list of participating blogs:

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop!

This giveaway hop is hosted by Eve's Fan Garden and I Am a Reader, Not a Writer so check out either of their sites for details on the hop itself!

One winner will be selected and they will have their choice of one of the above titles. The books shown and listed are either some of my favorites or ones that I'm greatly looking forward to when they release. There are books from all my favorite genres: Paranormal Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance, so hopefully there's a little something for everyone!

Since this is a blog hop and you'll all likely be entering numerous giveaways, I'm going to keep things really simple. No complicated extra entries, just follow the blog and fill out the form with your name and email address so I can contact you if you win. If for some reason the form doesn't work, feel free to email me at supernaturalsnark@gmail.com with SPRING FLING GIVEAWAY in the subject line and I'll make sure you're entered. This giveaway will end at 12:01am (EST) on Tuesday, May 8th after which time a winner will be chosen, emailed, and announced on the blog.

This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY as long as The Book Depository delivers to your country. You can check the list of countries here.

Book prizes:
Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting
Underworld by Meg Cabot
Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward
A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare
A Perfect Storm by Lori Foster
Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost





There are over 150 blogs participating in this event, so be sure to check out the other giveaways! All participating blogs are listed below, good luck everyone!

Blog Hop December 2-5

This week's question: What do you do besides reading/reviewing as a hobby?

Hm. Reading is such a predominant hobby for me that I really don't do much else! That's kind of sad really, but reading makes me happy and there's nothing better than being able to read a good book while the husband watches some strange television show or plays Final Fantasy! Outside of books, I love movies. I actually majored in film in college so movies are a big passion of mine and love to go whenever I get a chance!



This week's question: What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?

Hm, this is a surprisingly difficult question to answer! Most recently I had trouble getting through Ellen Schreiber's Once in a Full Moon. I don' t know that it's overly hyped or popular in the YA world, but I just couldn't connect with the characters and the story wasn't quite as strong as a lot of the paranormal YA books I've read recently. I haven't posted the review yet, it will go up the week after next, but I always try to be really diplomatic in my reviews and point out both positives and negatives for each book, so I never get too nervous about the review going up. I don't think anyone really enjoys writing less than flattering reviews because we know it's someone's hard work, but I want to be honest in my opinions as well so I try to find a nice balance in my writing.

Blog Hop November 19-21

This week's question: How long have you been book blogging?

I've had the book review blog for just under 6 months and I've loved every minute of it. I'm still figuring things out in terms of writing reviews that people hopefully find interesting, and it's been a blast getting to "meet" other bloggers who share the same passion!

A big thanks to Parajunkee for hosting the Follow Friday!


This week's prompt: Since Thanksgiving is coming up next week, let's use this week's hop to share what we are most thankful for and what our holiday traditions are!

Like probably everyone else, I'm extremely thankful for my friends and family and their good health. I'm especially thankful to have a husband who supports my book buying addiction, and doesn't care that I frequent the bookstore multiple times a week even though I have a stack of books waiting to be read at home:) We live very close to my in laws, so Thanksgiving is typically spent with them enjoying eating way more than we should and watching football!

Thanks so much to Crazy for Books for hosting the hop each week!

Blog Hop November 5-8, 2010

This week's question: What are your feelings on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?

I would say I'm always a little disappointed to lose a follower, but ultimately book blogging is about expressing our opinions on different books and we all have a unique reviewing style that makes things fun and interesting. I'm sure my writing style and the types of books I review aren't for everyone, so I try to remember that when it happens. I review books because it makes me happy, having fabulous followers who appreciate my reviews and like to comment, to be cliche, is icing on the cake.

I have stopped following a couple blogs, but only because those individuals decided to quit blogging and were no longer updating their sites. I love to hop around to all the blogs on my list and while I don't always make it to every single one, I try to get to as many different ones as possible!



This week's question: Who are your favorite authors?

Oh my gosh, this is going to be a really long list but here we go: J.R. Ward, Jeaniene Frost, Karen Marie Moning, Chloe Neill, Cassandra Clare, Suzanne Collins, Rachel Vincent, Jennifer Estep, Carolyn Crane, Ilona Andrews, J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts), Richelle Mead and so many more!

Blog Hop October 22-25

This week's question: Where is your favorite place to read? Curled up on the sofa, in bed, in the garden?

I'm a sofa girl. Every time I try to read in bed I end up falling asleep which is counterproductive. I'm able to read with the TV on, so I like to just sit on the couch, ignore whatever my husband is watching;) and get lost in my book!

Thanks as always to Crazy For Books for hosting the hop! If you get a moment, be sure and check out The Crossroads Blog Tour for your chance to win all sorts of fun books and swag. There are 16 blogs having giveaways at the end of the tour on the 31st so stop back and enter!

Friday Blog Hop!

This week's question: What's your favorite beverage while reading or blogging, if any?

Hm. I'm a big fan of pop (or soda, or soda pop, or coke depending on where you're from). I try not to drink too much of it day to day since I can't stomach diet pop and regular isn't overly good for you, so it's like a little treat for me when I get to have it. That seems lame, but it's true:)

Thanks to Crazy For Books for hosting the hop!

Friday Hopping!

This week's question: How do you spread the word about your blog (e.g. social networking sites, book blog directories, comments on other blogs, etc.)?

I haven't been blogging that long so it's definitely been a learn-as-I-go type of process. Mostly, I like to hop around to other sites and leave comments, not just "great review" comments but ones that are honest and a little more in depth. I think everyone likes getting comments on the reviews we spend so much time writing, so that's been my main way of both finding great blogs and getting great followers in return. I also use Twitter quite a bit, it's been the best way outside of the hops to meet new bloggers and keep up to date on happenings in the book world!

Thanks as always to Crazy for Books for hosting the hop!

Yay Blog Hop!

In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, we have been asked as part of the blog hop to take time to honor our favorite book bloggers and why we love them!

To be honest and cliched, there are so many fantastic bloggers out there that I don't even think I could narrow it down to a shortlist. I know it sounds like a cop out, but I follow a lot of blogs and there are things I love about each of them or I wouldn't bother to follow. Some have really thorough and well-written reviews, some have humorous takes on the books they've read, and some have great weekly posts that give me a glimpse into their individual personalities. Sometimes I agree with the reviews and sometimes I don't, but I respect each and every one of my fellow book bloggers and I'm so excited to be involved in such a fun community of people. Much love to all my favorite bloggers and happy Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

Blog Hop!

This weeks question: Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Why yes, yes I do. I can't help it! Part of it is the graphic designer in me, if the cover is just spectacularly awful, I can't bring myself to spend money on it. I know I should read the blurb, see if it has an interesting premise, but sometimes I just can't get past the design. It works the opposite way sometimes too, where if the book has a gorgeous cover I buy it just because it grabbed my attention. So, in that way at least, I'm an equal-opportunity cover critiquer;)

Time to Hop!

Question: Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

Yes, I use a standard 5 star rating system for my reviews basically just to provide a bottom line. I do sometimes feel limited by having to assign each book a number, but I like having something concrete at the end of my thought process to give my final opinion. Sometimes in my reviews I can head off on an unrelated tangent, and having that number tends to focus me and bring me back on course in explaining what I liked and didn't like about a particular read.

Question: What's the first book you remember reading?

The first one I have a really solid memory of is Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. I love all his books, but this one has always stood out for me. I'm sure I read lots of things prior to it, but I know I read that book over and over again when I was younger.

Blog Hop!

Question of the week: How many blogs do you follow?
Well, I follow quite a few. If I had to guess, I would say at least 450 blogs are on my list. There are some I read on a daily basis and some I check in with weekly, but I do like to hop around every other day and see what's happening at the blogs I follow. It's fun to see what everyone else is up to, what their favorite book of the week is, and what new releases they're looking forward to the most. Everyone enjoys comments, so I try to comment as much as possible!

As always a huge thanks to Crazy for Books and Parajunkee for hosting the hops!

Hopping on the 13th!

First off, Happy Friday the 13th to everyone!

This weeks question: How many books do you have on your "to be read" shelf?
I think I have somewhere in the vicinity of 30 which actually doesn't seem to be that many! I'm pretty good at plowing through my books and I *try* not to buy too many extras week to week, but sometimes that doesn't always work out:) Coupons are my downfall. I have to use every one that crosses my path. Basically I love buying books, I can't help it. There's something relaxing about walking into a bookstore, looking at all the fun covers, and knowing I'm going to walk out with a few!

Thanks to Crazy for Books and Parajunkee for hosting the hops!