Book Blogger Hop – Wicked Witch's Blog

Book Blogger Hop August 12

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, it was relaunched on February 15, 2013 by Billy @ the Ramblings of a coffee addict. . Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

This weeks question is: What are some of your favourite books? (Julie @ Stepping Stone Book Reviews)

This is a lovely question and I’m looking forward to reading people’s answers. I’ll keep my list to ten. They aren’t in any particular order though.

Magician – Raymond Feist

The Goblin Emperor – Katharine Addison

Winter’s Orbit – Everina Maxwell

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Picture of Dorian Grey – Oscar Wilde

The Heron’s Call – Ann Cleeves

Arabella = Georgette Heyer

Magic’s Promise – Mercedes Lackey

Dragonflight – Anne McCaffery

Lord of the Rings – J R R Tolkein

I could go on as there are so many books that I have loved recently. These have mainly all stayed in my mind for over a year though.

What would be on your list?

Book Blogger Hop August 5

This weeks question is: Have you ever switched reading genres? If so, why?(submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I constantly switch my reading between genres as anyone who reads my WWW Wednesday or Stacking the Shelves posts will already know. So far this week I’ve read a thriller, a Science fiction, a fantasy/romance and a non fiction book so definitely switching between genres.

My first love I think is fantasy and that is what I buy most of and reread. I love crime fiction too but generally get them from the library. I don’t usually reread crime novels as once you know who did it, the story becomes less appealing.

Generally though, I’m happy to read most things and that’s probably why I’ve never had a reading slump. I can get tired of a particular genre but then there are plenty of others to choose from.

Do you switch genres or do you tend to stick to what you love best?

Book Blogger Hop July 29

This weeks question is: If you are listening to an audiobook, do you follow along with the print version? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)

I don’t listen to audiobooks so I don’t really have an answer to this one. 😃

However………,,,,,,,,,,,,,…. if I did listen to audiobooks, I suspect that it would be when I was doing something else such as walking or driving so I can’t imagine that I would ever follow along with the print version. I can see that it would be nice to have the print version too so that you could swap between the two.

Book Blogger Hop July 22

My answer to this question has to be no. To be honest, I’m not that fussed by the editions of books that I own and I’ve never really gone down the route of searching for first editions. Most of the books I buy are paperbacks although I do have a couple of hardbacks that are first editions. They definitely aren’t hard-to-find though.

I do love beautiful books though so if there was any first edition that I would love to own it would be Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake so that I could look at the gorgeous art work.

What I would love to own, more than a first edition of the published novel would be an actual author’s manuscript. Imagine having Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre written in the author’s own hand with their own notes. Having that connection with an author would be amazing.

Is there a first edition that you would love to own?

Book Blogger Hop July 15

This weeks question is: Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, do you prefer listening instead of reading? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)

I don’t listen to audio books at all. I read either physical books or ebooks and it’s a relaxation activity for me.

I know a lot of people listen to audio books while they are driving or exercising but I will generally listen to music at those times instead.

One thing that puts me off audiobooks is how long they are. The library sent me an audiobook by mistake once and I think it was something like 10 hours long.

I do like the idea of having the story read to me and I’ve heard great things about some audio versions so it might well be something that I will come to at some point.

Book Blogger Hop July 8

This weeks question is: How many books do you buy per month? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Generally I don’t buy that many books. Between getting 4 or 5 every week from my library and reading a couple of Net Galley ARCs, I don’t really need to buy any books. It’s never stopped me yet though!

I usually buy a couple of books every month on my kindle as we’ve been trying to stop physical books taking over our house. However, now that we have our lovely new book room, we have extra shelf space so my book buying has obviously increased and I’m probably buying a couple of physical books as well as some on my kindle.

It does vary if it’s holiday time too as I will always stock up on reading for my holidays so last month I bought 4 kindle books and two actual books.

How does that compare to you. I know that because I use my library so much, my actual book buying is quite low compared to some people.

Book Blogger Hop June 24

This week ‘s question is:

This weeks question is: What is your reading preference – fiction or nonfiction? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer

My reading preference is definitely fiction. I love the way authors transport you to different places and introduce you to characters and situations you would never otherwise meet.

I do enjoy non fiction though. When I was teaching full time, I spent hours reading books about teaching but before I became a teacher I used to read a wider range of non fiction regularly. I’ve tried to pick up the habit again this year and I’ve joined the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Bookd out to help keep my resolution. So far this year, I’ve read 6 non fiction and I’ve just picked up another one from the library so I feel I’m achieving challenge.

What’s your reading preference?

Book Blogger Hop June 17

This week ‘s question is:
Do you post your reviews before publication day or wait until close to or on publication date?

(submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)

I guess my answer to this question is that it depends which platform I’m posting on. It will also depend on what type of book I’m reading.

I always review my ARCs as soon as possible after I’ve read them and these reviews get published on GoodReads too so I guess I mostly post quite a while before publication date

However, on my blog, I wait until publication date or maybe one or two days before it to publish reviews. These reviews might not be quite the same as my Net Galley reviews as I will probably go into more detail in my blog posts and might make more references to other books.

If I review my library books or books that I have physically bought then these will maybe reviewed a long while after publication date. Sometimes, they’re the reviews that get the most response.

Does anyone else do this?

Book Blogger Hop June 10

This week ‘s question is:
Have you ever forgotten to post a review? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I can safely say that I have never forgotten to post a review. That’s probably because I only review a very small proportion of the books that I read on my blog. The only books that I always review are those on my Net Galley shelf and it’s hard to forget to do those as they sit there on the shelf until you have posted your review. Those reviews always get posted to Goodreads and I try to remember to post them on Amazon as well once the publication date has arrived.

The books that I review on my blog are generally the books that I have strong feelings about or just feel that I’ve managed to write a reasonable review. Or they are books that I need to review to take part in a challenge so this year I am posting reviews for the non fiction books and the historical fiction books that I read as part of those two challenges.

I know that many people review every book that they read but I think that if I felt I had to do that, it would begin to affect my enjoyment of my reading.

Book Blogger Hop June 3

This week ‘s question is:
What is your method for writing reviews – do you write immediately after reading, wait a few days, or write as you are reading? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)

Ummmm, I’m not sure that I actually have a method.

I often finish reading books in the evening so generally the earliest that I will write a review will be the next day. However, it all depends on what I’m doing that day. If I’m working , then the review might have to wait a while.

I don’t take notes as I read so I do try to get my reviews written as soon as I can while the book is fresh in my memory. Sometimes though, I have conflicting thoughts about a book and I might write a review and then leave it for a couple of days to see if my ideas change.

I don’t find it that easy to write reviews and my Net Galley reviews are often quite short. As a result of that, I will then go back and extend the reviews that I publish on my blog. I’m trying to be more organised about how I do this as I sometimes feel that my reviews aren’t as thorough as I would like.

What method do you use for writing reviews. What tips would you give to someone who finds them quite hard to write?

This week’s question:Is there a hard-to-find first-edition that you would love to own? If so, why? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

This week’s question:
Is there a hard-to-find first-edition that you would love to own? If so, why? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)