Thursday, July 21, 2011

Feature & Follow Friday #55

Welcome to Feature & Follow Friday (err Thursday) on Parajunkee.com

If you are new to the #FF fun, Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Rachel of Parajunkee 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!

*Thanks so much to Rachel for allowing me to be part of the Follow Friday fun. Parajunkee is one of the best blogs out there and FF is a highlight of the blogging community. The FF has been one of my favorite parts of my week for over a year and I'm so excited to help my fellow book bloggers get to know each other better.

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you! Now to make this #FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger. If you are interested in becoming a Feature click on the drop down link above FEATURES > Feature & Follow Friday and get on the waiting list! It is also required, that if you participate you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) and the two Feature blogs.

Our Feature - The Bloggers of: A Novella's Tale

Lauren is my name :) I started blogging because I needed a way to somehow drain all my book wormish-ness. Probably my first 'serious' read was, like many others, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. When I was the toddler though, I'd see bits and pieces of Potter merchandise everywhere and be like: "Ew! No way will I EVER like Harry Potter!" I certainly proved myself wrong, though. Why I hated H.P. is still a mystery yet to be solved...

These days though, I do explore other universes apart from the wonderful world of Harry Potter. I naturally find it difficult to pick and choose favourites, but if I had to decide on my three favourite books, they would be 'Before I Fall', 'The Hunger Games' and 'Wintergirls'. I mostly read young-adult fiction, but what I really love about this genre is the wide variety of themes that fall into it. For example, my three favourite books of all time are about time travel, a dystopian world and anorexia, respectively.

On my currently reading shelf is 'Divergent'. I do understand that I'm considerably late to reading it, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Here's a bit of trivia: if I belonged to a faction in the Divergent-world, I think I would be in Amity. Anyway, I hope they make a movie adaption of it!

Finally, I'm really looking forward to life later on (and I've still got ages to go, I can tell you that!) and not only future book releases, but EVERYTHING in general. There's so much to look forward to in one day, that you almost forget that there are many, many other ones there for you to spend later on.

Happy reading, and happy Friday!

Q. Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

Two of my answers are going to be boring: Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. I desperately want to meet both of them. They've inspired me so much as a reader and a writer. I'd want to get a few writing tips from them. But mostly I'd just want to know secrets. I'd probably spend the entire meal grilling Stephenie about all the nitty gritty details about the Cullens. As great as the Twilight Guide is, most of my questions were left unanswered...Grrr... I also have lots of little questions about the wizarding world that I desperately want to know. My meal, no matter how tasty looking, would definitely go untouched.

I'm going to try to be somewhat unique for my third author and answer Jennifer Donnelly. Revolution was one of the best books I've read so far in 2011. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction. I loved how Jennifer combined contemporary and historical fiction into her book. Plus, her writing is both beautiful and readable - a perfect combination. I'd love to learn how she researches her stories and get some writing tips.




Now for the Follow Fun!






RULES To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

  1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
  2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - We Fancy Books & Unrequited Desire
  3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
  5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
  7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
Happy Follow Friday! Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!
*********

92 comments:

  1. Happy Friday, Alison, and what a great feature - love the authors picked :)

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  2. Hopping through! I totally understand wanting to meet Stephenie Meyer....I too would grill her about the Cullens. And werewolves hehehe.

    My FF here: The Bawdy Book Blog

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  3. Hi, Alison. Congrats on being the new co-host! I, too, would like to meet J.K., though I have no idea how on earth such an event would come about. LOL!

    Marla @ Starting the Next Chapter

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  4. Just hopping through. I love your blog layout. So pretty.

    Danielle @
    Ramblings From This Chick

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  5. I haven't read Revolution yet but I think that Jennifer Donnelly would be a fantastic author to sit down with! Have a wonderful weekend girl!

    My FF Post: http://www.handsandhome.ca/2011/07/follow-friday-fun-3.html

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  6. Hi, Alison! I'm so happy that you're now one of the hosts of this awesome blog hop! I'm just an old follower who wanted to stop by to say that you definitely deserve it! :)

    Your blog design is as pretty as ever!

    Hope you have an awesome weekend! :)

    http://diminutivemimi.blogspot.com/2011/07/follow-friday-8.html

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  7. Old follower hopping through. Haha I think everybody's picking JK Rowling. An excellent choice. I loved Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly; I definitely wouldn't mind chatting with her.

    Hope you have a good weekend! :)

    Reader's Refuge

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  8. huh... how long have you been hosting? I guess I've been not paying attention to FF for a long time o_0

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  9. Whoo-hoo, Alison, way to go on co-hosting with Rachel! I think you're a great choice!

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  10. How awesome that you're co-hosting FF with Rachel! Congratulations! :)

    Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling are two of my answers too. I don't think they're boring in the least.

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  11. So I thought about Stephenie Meyer but decided against her. It's a great choice though.

    Here's my FF http://www.stuckinbooks.com/2011/07/follow-friday-7-22-11.html

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  12. Well JK Rowling is definitely an incredibly famous/rich/recognized/idolized writer. We can only hope, right? so it'd be cool if she could pass some tips ;)

    old follower ;)
    my follow friday

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  13. Hey Alison,
    Congrats on being a FF host! J.K Rowling is def one of my favourite authors.

    Thanks for stopping by again :) Have stuck your button on my blog!

    Have a great weekend.

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  14. Hey Alison!
    Congrats on being co-host of FF! :)
    And J.K. Rowling was on my list, too. :P
    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

    <3
    Pixie
    http://the-bookaholic.blogspot.com

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  15. Ohhh. Is Revolution that good? I've had an ARC of it hanging around for months and months, just waiting. Apparently I should read it!

    -Rachel
    Paper Cuts

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  16. Hi its been awhile since I stopped thru, I would love to meet Stephanie Meyer and JK Rowling too.

    My Follow Friday

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  17. I think everyone would like to sit with JK Rowling; she is beyond inspirational. GREAT choice.

    Thanks for stopping by, Alison! :]

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  18. Hi there, thanks for stopping by.
    Have a great weekend!

    Holjo @ Pedantic Phooka
    www.pedanticphooka.com

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  19. Hi Alison,
    Just returning the hop.
    Love your pick of J.K. Rowling. She's such a fabulous author that even my old Latin professor gushed about her Classics background during class while we were translating A Werewolf Story in the Satyricon.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a great weekend.

    Kristy
    http://rantsofaucg.blogspot.com/

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  20. Ooh, I'm so happy for you that you are hosting this now! Even though I haven't participated in FF since I first started blogging, it was a great way to meet new bloggers!

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  21. Thanks for stopping by the blog!

    That's a great answer, and I'm super excited to see that we both chose J.K. Rowling. She is simply remarkable.
    Also, I highly recommend starting with Sarah Dessen's The Truth about Forever. It never fails, I promise. (:

    My Follow Friday Post.

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  22. Congrats on being the new co-host.

    I think J.K Rowling and Stephanie meyers would be fun to meet as well. Just to be able to tell them that because of them I've become more of a reader.

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  23. I can't imagine meeting JKR. I'd be too nervous to ask her anything. :-)

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  24. Stephanie Myer,,thats a good one,
    Happy Friday,,old follower
    Jennifer

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  25. Yay for becoming a host on this awesome meme! This is only my second time doing it, but I think it is such a wonderful idea!

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  26. I picked J.K. Rowling as well. I have so many questions to ask her. Most concerning Snape and why he had to go out like that.

    I'm an old follower and I love your blog.

    Grace @ Books Like Breathing

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  27. Congratulations on being the new co-host!

    Great choices as to who to want to meet! Meyer would definitely be fun to chat with.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  28. I picked JK Rowling too! Though I think a lot of people picked her too, haha. She's a great author. This is my first time doing this meme. It just sounded like fun. And congrats on being the new co-host!

    Pepa @
    http://anonymous-reads.blogspot.com/

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  29. Im your newest follower - FF Friday feature is such a neat thing. Interesting question about 3 authors. I was wondering what it would be like to get both Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling to chat with you AT THE SAME TIME? I wonder if they would get along? Hmmm. Reminds me of Stephen King's (infamous) dissing of Meyer as nowhere near as good a writer as JK lol. Ok enough digressing - my 3...Laura Ingalls Wilder ( alive and not a zombie preferably), C.S Lewis (again, no zombies allowed) and Suzanne Collins. Hunger Games is my newest addiction.
    Looking fwd to lots of good reading on yr site.

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  30. Excellent question! Congratulations on co-hosting FF!

    Dianne
    The Immortal Realm

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  31. I think Jennifer Donnelly is a great answer. She's definitely an author I'd love to sit down and talk to. My interest in the French Revolution was already there. After I read her book, I got really interested and started reading a lot about it. I'd love to talk to her about it and Revolution.

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  32. Hi Alison - great to see you in your new co-host position. :)

    This is another great question and I enjoyed reading your answer and reasoning behind your choices.

    Have a great weekend!

    Shelagh (Old Follower)
    The Word Fiend

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  33. I'd love to meet Stephanie Meyer! The Twilight Saga is awesome. Still haven't read The Host, but it's on my list. :D

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  34. HI Alison, I am a new follower and also new to this meme, hopefully I did it right lol, I entered my link in that form but this is the link anyway FOLLOW FRIDAY @ Laine's Ficbookreviews

    Thanks so much for this and we have the same author that wed love to hang out with :) thats good to know.

    More power,
    Lalaine gfc: snaffles

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  35. Hi and thanks for stopping by. Great picks. I had a hard time with the question this week. Congratulations on being co-host. Your amazing:) Happy Friday.
    ~Rebecca
    http://www.bendingthespine.blogspot.com

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  36. Hi New follower! I think JKR is going to be a popular answer. Have a good weekend.

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  37. Old follower hopping through! I love Jennifer Donnelly and have since A Gathering Light which was amazing and beautiful and eeee! Wordtacular!

    Check out my FF!

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  38. Ooooh I am new to the follow me Friday action, therefore a new follower of your blog too! It's all rather exciting! Glad I hoped on the bandwagon, you have a beautiful blog.

    Here's my FF post for the week.

    http://can-duu.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-first-follow-me-friday.html

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  39. Congrats on the new hosting gig! :) So fun.

    Good author choices! Picking only three felt like picking favorites from among my kids...

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  40. Congrats on co-hosting Feature & Follow Friday! :)

    I have J.K. Rowling as one of my picks too, I think it would be amazing to meet her :)

    Old follower hopping by :)

    <3
    Taylor

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  41. You might be the first one so far today to say Stephenie Meyer! Seen a lot of Rowlings already though! I avoided Rowling originally since she was such a "big league"! Although still would love to meet her!

    Here's my Friday Hops

    Have a GREAT weekend!

    Old Follower :)

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  42. Wow, that's awesome you're co-hosting FF! YAY! :)

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  43. Hey Alison! Happy Friday! I hope you have a great weekend!

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  44. I also picked J. K. Rowling. I think many did because she and Harry Potter are such a phenomenon everyone wants to know the secret.
    Here's my Blog Hop

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  45. JK Rowling would be awesome. I also have tons of questions that I would bother her with.
    Happy weekend.

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  46. Hey Alison, Thanks for stopping by. I would be awesome to meet Stephenie Meyer, Twilight is the book that got me back into reading books like crazy when I was younger. I haven't heard of Jennifer Donnelly but I'm heading over to Goodreads to check her out. Happy FF ;)
    Tristan @Reads With Wreckless Abandon

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  47. Jennifer Donnelly is a great pick-love her YA!

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  48. Hi, this is my first FF as I'm a new blogger, it's an awesome idea!! Here's the link to my post: http://bookchowdown.blogspot.com/2011/07/q.html

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  49. Quite a few people picked JK Rowling - good choice!
    I don't know Jennifer Donnelly - I'll have to check her books out.
    Happy Friday!

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  50. I have not read anything by Jennifer Donnelly yet- I am going to have to read one of her books soon.

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  51. Whoa, this is a busy Friday post for you with already 50 comments! I would love to meet Stephanie Meyer or JK Rowling, can you even imagine? Best. Day. Ever. Have a great weekend Alison!

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  52. JK Rowling could well be an interesting one! There are so many, really.. Influences come from just about everywhere.

    Once Upon A Time

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  53. I'm a new blogger. This is my first Follow Friday. What a hard question!
    My answer is at http://alaskanbookcafe.blogspot.com

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  54. First time hopper here. Hi everyone. Looking forward to meeting some new people and discovering new blogs.
    http://shikiharu.blogspot.com

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  55. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I haven't read Revolution, but I know I need to. And I can't even imagine how great it would be to meet Stephenie Meyer!

    Have a great weekend!

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  56. New follower here! You are a very lucky lady to be able to help host FF!

    Http://nrheartdragonsden.blogspot.com

    I also think your site is awesome!

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  57. Thanks for stopping by our blog!

    That's awesome that you are co-hosting too!

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  58. This was only a tough decision for me because I had a hard time narrowing my list to three. Two of my three authors are dead, which will probably make eating dinner with them an unusual experience.

    Aaron (Dreaming About Other Worlds).

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  59. JK Rowling would definitely be my number four pick. She was my teenage years hands down besides Stephen King, haha.

    Happy Friday!

    Book Brats!

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  60. Congrats on becoming a FF co-host! I picked JK Rowling as my number one author as well. Jennifer Donnelly is a great choice, though I didn't think of her. I LOVED Revolution, and can't wait to delve into her adult historical novels as well. Happy Friday, and I hope you have a great weekend. :)

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  61. It really would be great to meet JK Rowling! I love your list! :)

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  62. Old follower :)

    I have JK Rowling on my list as well. Seems like she, along with Stephenie Meyer, are favourites on a lot of people's blogs :) Those two women have a lot of lunches to sit through!

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  63. I'm surprised Stephenie Meyer isn't popped up on many other lists, too! Thanks for hopping by!

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  64. I'd love to meet JKR too! She's my favourite author and has changed my life so much :P.

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  65. Congrats on being the new co-host!! :D I'd like to meet Stephanie Meyer one day, too!

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  66. Wow! How lucky you are to be able to go to signings for Andrea and Maggie! That would be so great! Thanks for following my blog and I now follow you!

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  67. Thanks for stopping by, I'm following back. :)

    J. K. Rowling FTW.

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  68. Congrats on co-hosting Alison - have a great weekend!

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  69. Great choices! I love SM and JKR. They wrote some amazing books. Thanks for the visit.
    Happy Friday :}
    Old Follower

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  70. Thanks for stopping by! :)
    Great choices, although I have yet to read anything from Jennifer Donnelly yet.. :)

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  71. Hey!

    Myeah, I was thinking Stephenie Meyer would be cool to chat with, too. God, it's hard picking just 3, I wanna talk to all of them xD~

    Butterfly-o-Meter Books

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  72. Stephanie Meyer seems like she'd be very friendly and easy to talk to.

    I just participated for the first time! Newish follower and new blogger.

    Dawn @Read Love

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  73. Hi, Alison! Thanks for commenting on my blog, and you're more than welcome for my compliment! It's very true -- your blog is both beautiful and interesting!

    Now, about your authors...NO WAY could I even remotely consider Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling "boring" picks! Maybe you think you'll get bashed by someone for picking them. Well, I can tell you that I LOVE THEM BOTH!! They're both great writers with wonderful imaginations, and I certainly support your choosing them! I'd love to sit with either one of them ALL DAY, talking about the terrific characters and worlds they've created!! (It would be absolutely HEAVENLY if I could spend an entire day with one of them, and then the very next day with the other...well, dreams are allowed, right?)

    I'm not familiar with Jennifer Donnelly at all, but if she's in the company of Stephenie and J.K., she must be great, so I'll just have to Google her!

    Thanks for sharing! : )

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  74. ooh, follow friday is here :)

    http://guiltlessreading.blogspot.com/

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  75. Thanks for stopping by my blog, and thanks for the follow! I'll agree with you about Stephanie M, but not JK - I gave up on her two books ago, when she lost it.

    Happy Follow Friday!

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  76. Hi...if I recall correctly, you posted on a blog asking about reply buttons for comments. Right? Hope my sleep deprivation isn't making me hallucinate. Anyway, I wondered the same thing. Couldn't sleep...and found this (on my smart phone, lying in bed...why wasn't I sleeping??) Anyway, check it out. It's a simple design, but sufficient. I've added it to my comments section. So, you can check it out on my blog if you'd like.

    ~andi @ http://andinovelista.blogspot.com

    WebSite: http://www.spiceupyourblog.com/2010/03/reply-button-option-blogger-comments.html

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  77. Hi Parajunkee & Alison...this is my 1st time joining #FF...thanks for hosting such a wonderful weekly event ;)

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  78. HI,

    thank you so much for stopping by my blog.
    Hopping back to wish you a wonderfull weekend!
    Kyanara

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  79. Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a great weekend!

    Bookgirl @ My Book Addiction

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  80. Hahaha, Lauren made me feel ancient saying she was a toddler seeing HP merchandise. There was me when it first came out thinking I was too old even then to be reading a kids book. Soon succumbed though!

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  81. Thanks for dropping by @ We Fancy Books *waves*

    Following you now :)

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  82. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Great answers to this week's question.

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  83. Great post hon!!! I would loooove to meet JK Rowling!!! I don't think I would ever get that opportunity but here's to dreaming! THank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  84. Stephenie Meyer is on mine too!! and thanks for commenting on my last weeks post, I keep haveing to switch to another computer to write comments on blogs and to answer your question, Young Leaders isn't like girl scouts its a course that is introduced to people around 15+ and it trians us to be leaders based around sport and then as we go through the course to teach children sport so we are kind of leading them.
    Have a great weekend!!

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  85. If you loved Revolution, you absolutely have to read Donnelly's Te Rose Trilogy. The books are really amazing, and the final one comes out next week!

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  86. Thanks for visiting my blog. I went camping over the week-end so I am just getting back to respond to participants of the Friday blog hops. I am also hosting a first-ever blogoversary give-a-way. Please visit my blog and participate. Thanks!

    http://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2011/07/blogoversary-giveaway-week-day-1.html

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  87. Hi Allison! Great choices, as always. I would love to have a chat with JK Rowling.

    Take care,
    Evie@Paromantasy

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  89. Hey Alison. A bit of a winging session. This is a great hop idea and I love it. problem! I've been following ppl for the last 3 weeks and they do not follow back. last week 3 out of 25 blogs I visited from FF came back. So I decided to declutter my blog because essentially the time I take to comment on their blogs, and I do religiously, takes away from time I could have spent on blog friends who actually care to follow and comment on what's happening on my blog. So I got rid of about 75 blogs I used to follow tonight. Perhaps its just me, maybe my blogs got a funny odour, smelly underarms or something...but then maybe its not...just an fyi _nothing any of us can do about it really. starting again with new new friends next week.

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  90. Hi I am new to all of this...where/what is the linky thing? so that I can put my link there.

    Patrice

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