Friday 1 July 2011

Half the year down...

Wow, I can't believe it's July already and I imagine I'm not the only one who is wondering where the first half of the year went! To everyone in the US and Canada, enjoy your holiday weekend, must be a good way to mark what to me always feels like the start of the summer. This month is shaping up to be a busy one for me, lots of trips away planned and I can't wait.

This past week on the blog I reviewed:

Fezariu's Epiphany by David M. Brown

Clutter-free Home Living: The How-to Guide by Eugenia Orr and

Cold Hillside by Martin Cooper

A bit of a mix, but that's reflective of my tastes!

Earlier today I took the monkey to the library for Stories and Songs, she loved it and I came away with a couple of books - The Accidental Father by Greg Williams, which is apparently in the Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons vein, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich which I've been meaning to read for years. I love supporting our local library, I'd hate for there not to be one when little 'un gets bigger, and I need to keep up with the Borrowed Book Challenge I signed up for over at Book'd Out.

I've finally had reason to put Amazon's customer services to the test. I've heard glowing reports about how great they are, so when the elasticated strap on my kindle cover came unstuck at one end (despite hubby telling me to just use an elastic band instead) I pinged them an email. It was pretty late so I was impressed to log on this morning to a reply saying usually they'd have already sent a replacement, but as the black cover was out of stock they were asking me to order a new one in another colour or order and wait for the black one, and they will refund the money in full. Result! I didn't tell my husband when he bought me the cover as a present that I really wanted the steel blue one, not the black, so I'm now getting a new cover and the one I was really after!

And finally before I move onto the Blog Hop and Follow Friday, author Sarah Yoffa has started a Friday feature on her blog, Freebie Fridays. She is providing a list of a select few free e-books for your delectation. They are available from Smashwords and some are free for one day only. Take a look at this week's list right here. 

Book Blogger HopCourtesy of Jennifer at crazy-for-books the question for the hop is:

What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?

It's very rare I don't finish a book, so it doesn't take a lot to keep me reading beyond the first few pages. For me to put it down it would have to either be a case of mistaken identity, picking up a genre I don't normally touch, or absolutely full of spelling and grammar errors.

And over at parajunkee.com the question is:

ACK! Your favorite book/movie character (example Hermione Granger played by the Emma chick) just walked into the room! Who is it and what would be your first reaction? You get extra points if you include visual stimulation.

Oh, I'm rubbish at these fave character questions. If it was a character who has appeared in a film, like one of the HP gang I would probably be stood trying to look cool and trying to think of an original opening line to engage them in conversation. I'm not the type to get starstruck, but I'd hate to walk up and ask the same question or say the same thing they've heard a million times.

If you're read this essay thanks for persevering and thanks for stopping on by. As I'm edging ever closer to 200 followers look out for an announcement on a giveaway to celebrate! Have a great weekend all. x TC

10 comments:

Anja K. said...

I always have a hard time thinking of a favorite character type thing too! I also try to finish all books, but once in a while I just can't manage.

Anja @ http://reading2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-blogger-hopfollow-friday.html

Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic said...

I don't come across many books with spelling/grammar issues. I'm a person who finishes every book I start soo...I wont' stop but I won't like it.

Webbiegrrl Writer said...

Thanks, Tracy! I posted my Freebie Friday this morning before you were awake, I think *LOL*

@Alexis, I *wish* I didn't often run across published books with myriads of typos. I'm reading one right now--book 3 in a 4-book series--that is sooooo ridden with them, I nearly destroyed the book out of frustration when I first read it on paper.

This time through I'm reading it on my iPad in the Kindle Reader and would never abuse my iPad for the sake of some author (and publisher's copy editor) lacksadaisical attitude. It's aggravating but far, far too common in publishing, I'm afraid. As an author myself, I'm amazed at how hard it is to FIND all of the typos but it's definitely NOT impossible. It just takes time and effort - like all good things in life *g*

Webbiegrrl Writer said...

Oh, and has everyone here heard of the month-long sale going on at Smashwords? I hadn't until one of my fellow SW authors mentioned it to me :)

Not all of the books I post about on my Freebie Friday posts are always from Smashwords, but given this month's promotion, I suspect most or all of them will be from now until August!

TC said...

Anja, glad I'm not alone on picking faves.

Alexis, sadly it seems to be a bigger issue with indie books and I do read a lot of those. I can only remember 2 or 3 books I didn't finish.

Sarah, no I hadn't heard about their sale, and I also noticed Amazon.co.uk have just started a summer sale promo.

Sophie said...

Hey TC, thanks for visiting my blog earlier! Just wanted to let you know that I've put up my 'Hop Post' now.

The HP gang would be a cool meet, but like you said I would struggle to come up with an original question. Would definitely require advanced planning! :)

Jennifer Wells said...

I'm just stopping in to say hi!
I also had a great experience with Amazon customer support. My Kindle was acting up (me: "what?? Nooooo!!") and I called them in a frenzy. Result: they sent me a new Kindle which I received the next day for free! Love love love ereaders!

Kristina said...

Good answers! I would love to meet any of the HP characters!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm following you now!

Kristina
http://ladybugstorytime.blogspot.com/

Brooke said...

I'm not very good at choosing favorite characters, either. I love so many of them!!!

Thanks for hopping by my blog last week, btw!

~Brooke
http://brookesboxofbooks.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I can scarcely believe half the year has gone by myself!

Thanks for stopping by Book'd Out earlier!

Shelleyrae