Feature and Follow Friday #108

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

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Gain new 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!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) 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!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

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How To Become a Featured Blog?

We pick our featured blogs randomly each week from the blogs who participated the week before.

Please be sure to feature your e-mail address clearly on your blog. Either on the main blog, on a Contact page, or on an About Me page. If I can't find your email easily, I will choose a different blog to feature.

Our Feature -Read It, Read It, Loved It

1. When did you start blogging?

I started blogging back in October 2010 because I had so many books that I completely lost track of which books I had read and which books I hadn't. I also got really bad at remembering what actually happened in some books and I thought that book blogging would help.

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

I would have to say that my favourite part of book blogging is all the great people I get to meet through my blog and theirs. I especially love the memes, like Feature & Follow Friday, because it allows me to meet new bloggers every week.

3. What is your favorite book(s)?

My favourite books would have to be the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, and the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien. I am a huge fantasy/sci-fi fanatic and the Harry Potter series and the Lord of the Rings series were the ones that introduced me to the genre. They have stuck with me throughout my childhood and, even now, I still love picking them up and starting over. The Stephanie Plum series is a new venture that I actually picked up because of book blogging. Without book blogging, I would have never picked up the series and, right now, I can't picture my life without it.

4. What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

This is a really hard question for me to answer because there have been a lot of great things that have happened to me because of book blogging. I would have to say that the absolute BEST thing that has happened to me would be my connection with new authors and publishers who allow me advanced copies of their books for review. I love getting new books and I love that I can get a connected with authors, which may eventually give me the connections to publish my own books.

Q: Do your reading habits change based on your mood? Do you read a certain genre if you are feeling depressed or happy?

I don't usually change what I read based on my mood. Rather, my enjoyment of a book varies based on my mood. Ironically, I really enjoy reading depressing, angry books when I'm in a bad mood. It makes me feel better. Gets out the aggression, I suppose. Although sometimes when I'm in a down mood, I feel more like reading funny books. When I'm happy, it's easier to read almost anything. I suppose it's more tempting to focus on happy books, but sometimes a good cry is a lot of fun.

A book often changes my mood for better or worse. Things like Anna and the French Kiss put a spring in my step. I read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson on my birthday a few years ago. Bad idea. I spent the rest of the day on the verge of tears.

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Now for the Follow Fun!

With GFC going the way of the dodo bird for many bloggers, there is no better time to start following blogs via RSS feed. If you use a reader, it would be great if you followed my RSS directly.

We have a new button, so update your blogs if you are used to doing this meme!

<a href="http://parajunkee.com/category/ff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4710921228_e3140444bf_o.png" /></a>

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
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. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
6. 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"
7. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
8. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

CAPTCHA:

If you have CAPTCHA word verification enabled on your blog, please take it off. It makes it much more difficult for readers to comment. Please look at my CAPTCHA Eradication Post to learn how to get rid of it.

Happy Follow Friday! Come back at midnight CST for the Facebook & Twitter hop!!