Book Blogger Hop No. 90: Visiting Blogs That Participate In Memes

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,

hosted by Billy @

Ramblings of a Coffee-Addicted Writer!

For more information, and 

to find out the topic of next week's question, click HERE.

This Week's Question

Do you visit every blog listed in

the Linky list when you 

are participating in a meme?

(Submitted  by Elizabeth @ 

Silver's Reviews)

My Answer

For me, this really depends on a couple of determining factors. 

The number of participating blogs is very important. If there are a lot of them involved, then I know I won't be able to visit every single one. I'm specifically referring to memes that have anywhere from 50 to 100 (or even more) participants.

An example of such a meme is "Waiting On Wednesday", which used to be hosted by Jill @ Breaking The Spine. 

Of course, if I'm participating in a smaller meme, it's far easier for me to visit each and every blog. One such meme is "Can't Wait Wednesday", which is hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. This meme serves the same purpose as "Waiting On Wednesday", and has actually replaced it. It only has about 12 to 13 participating blogs linking up to the hosting blog. However, I still don't visit all the blogs. 

Another meme I participate in is the Book Blogger Hop, which has roughly the same number of blogs linking up every Friday. Yet, I don't visit all of the blogs participating in this one, either.

Why don't I visit all the blogs linking up to these two memes? Well, here's the thing: in the past, I've made sure to visit each and every blog that has linked up, including the hosting blog, naturally. And I always comment on the day's meme post when I visit a blog. I no longer visit all of the blogs because, from my experience, I've noticed that certain bloggers just don't comment back. Nor do they reply to my comments on their own blogs. 

I've mentioned this in another BBH post, in reference to reading challenges, which also have bloggers linking up to a hosting blog.

Now, I understand that other bloggers are just as busy as I am. However, if someone goes to the trouble to comment on your blog, the courteous thing to do is to comment back on their blog, at the very least.

So, what I've been doing is waiting to see who comments on my post first. I will then comment back on those blogs. This is not the ideal situation, I know, but I just don't want to waste my time visiting and commenting on blogs whose creators are not willing to interact with me. 

Blogging is supposed to be a community effort, and this involves interaction. Blog hops, which encompass book memes and reading challenges, make it possible for bloggers to meet each other, and perhaps become friends. But how can friendships even get started if bloggers don't comment back? 

I know which blogs will ALWAYS comment back on mine, so those are the blogs I visit. Sometimes I do visit these bloggers before they visit me. Bottom line: I can always expect interaction from these bloggers. We don't have to agree on certain topics, which is just fine. However, we DO react to each other's posts.

Another point is that I am not the type of blogger to leave a "one-liner". I like to leave meaningful comments. So I don't see why I'm not getting the same back, even if the comment is shorter. (Mine tend to be a bit long, lol.) I greatly appreciate a thoughtful comment back, and it doesn't have to be a long one, either.

I realize that perhaps some bloggers never comment back on certain blogs because they might not like the books being reviewed at that blog. Maybe they read different genres. Heck, maybe they don't even like the blog design. However, with a book meme like this one, which involves mutual discussion, I do feel some effort should be made to exchange viewpoints with each other, whether or not we review the same genres. These discussion posts don't necessarily deal with specific genres, after all.

In conclusion, I want to state that I do enjoy participating in blog hops and book memes. In an ideal world, I would get comments back from every blogger whose post I have initially commented on. Although this is not the case, I do enjoy interacting with those who are willing to interact with me. 

Happy Hopping -- and Interacting -- to all!  



                       

What are your thoughts on

this topic?

Please leave a comment!

If you're participating in this meme,

I'll go comment on your 

own BBH post.

If not, I will then comment on one 

of your blog posts!

Thanks for visiting!!! 

Can't Wait Wednesday No. 10: Want, by Cindy Pon

Welcome to "Can't Wait Wednesday"!

   

This is a weekly event hosted by

Tressa @ Wishful Endings, and inspired by "Waiting On Wednesday", which used to be hosted by

 Jill @ Breaking the Spine.

For more information, please click HERE.

As in the previous meme, this one showcases future releases  we book  bloggers 
are eagerly anticipating!!
There's also a Linky widget, so participating blogs can link up!

Here's my choice for this week!

 Want 

Cindy Pon

Hardcover,  336 pages

Simon Pulse 

June 13, 2017 

Diverse Reads, Dystopian Fiction, 

Science Fiction, Thriller,  

Young Adult Fiction

  

 

From critically acclaimed author Cindy Pon comes an edge-of-your-seat sci-fi thriller, set in a near-future Taipei plagued by pollution, about a group of teens who risk everything to save their city.

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits, protecting them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.

With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is, or destroying his own heart?

Why I can't wait for this one!

This novel certainly has some pretty breathtaking and highly fascinating elements! I love the combination! It has it all -- a great extrapolation from our current environmental and economic concerns, political and class intrigue, and even romance!! Another huge plus is that it's a male protagonist who finds himself torn between love and duty. It's about time we saw this conflict in a guy's life portrayed in YA fiction! And, since it's also SF, I just NEED to get this book!!! (P.S. -- The author is an Ursula K. LeGuin fan....'nuff said!)

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association's Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in April 2011. Serpentine and Sacrifice, her second duology novels,were published in 2015 and 2016 by Month9books. Want, a near-future thriller set in Taipei releases June 13th, 2017 (Simon Pulse). 

She is the co-founder of Diversity in YA with Malinda Lo and on the advisory board of We Need Diverse Books. Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade.

Website/Goodreads 

Amazon Author Page/Twitter 

Facebook/Tumblr/Etsy
Instagram  

What do you think of my choice?

Leave your link below, so I can
come check out your pick(s)!

Tour Mini-Review/Giveaway!! Dating The It Guy, by Krysten Lindsay Hager

Welcome to the blog tour for 
Dating The It Guy, 

sponsored by

YA Bound Book Tours!!

For my stop, I'm featuring an 
excerpt with mini-review.
There's also a 
tour-sponsored giveaway!!

Dating The It Guy

Trade Paperback/Digital Edition
266 pages

Clean Reads

March 21, 2017 

Contemporary Romance, 
Young Adult Fiction

Emme is a sophomore in high school who starts dating Brendon Agretti, the popular senior who happens to be a senator's son and well-known for his good looks. Emme feels out of her comfort zone in Brendon's world and it doesn't help that his picture perfect ex, Lauren, seems determined to get back into his life, along with every other girl who wants to be the future Mrs. Agretti. Emme is already conflicted due to the fact her last boyfriend cheated on her and her whole world is off-kilter with her family issues. Life suddenly seems easier keeping Brendon away and relying on her crystals and horoscopes to guide her. Emme soon starts to realize she needs to focus less on the stars and more on her senses. Can Emme get over her insecurities and make her relationship work? Life sure is complicated when you're dating the "it" guy. 

Although I've only read the excerpt below, this novel has just shown me, again, why I LOVE to read YA. I am reliving something I never even lived through.... I know that sounds very paradoxical, but it's completely true, alas! These are the types of conversations I can only WISH I could have had while I was in high school. My sister and I weren't even allowed to date until we were over 18. And we were sent to an ALL-GIRL Catholic school. As if things couldn't get any worse, the school was run by....NUNS. Groan....... So this is why I LOVE to devour YA books!!  I already LOVE these characters! The interaction between Emme and Kylie is so funny, as well as typical of this age. Hager has captured their world perfectly. And I want to go to the art fair, too! (My husband can take me, lol.) In short, this is a super cute, totally engaging read, and besides, that cover just ROCKS. This book is MINE. 
End. Of. Story.

He put the magazine between us, and when I moved forward to see it, he put his arm across the back of my chair. Now lots of guys did put their arms on chair backs; even Kirk did that with Rory, and he definitely wasn’t interested in her, but I couldn’t help but hope it meant something. I got this shivery feeling, and he asked if I was cold. I shook my head. I always got a feeling before something major was about to happen, and it has nothing to do with being cold, but I didn’t know why I got the feeling. Grandma used to do the same thing and always said, “Somebody just walked across my grave.” Somehow I didn’t think Brendon would understand if I told him I needed to move my future burial plot to a less high-traffic area.
“Are we still on for the art fair?” he asked.
I had only been circling it with hearts on my calendar since he asked.
“Sure, I think I’m still free,” I said.
We finished up our work, and he walked me out to meet Kylie.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up at three tomorrow,” he said, walking off.
“Can I ask a stupid question?” Kylie asked as soon as Brendon was out of earshot. “What’s he like? Because he’s so well-known, and I can’t imagine what it’d be like to grow up with your whole life under a microscope. I mean, my mom remembers his first birthday party pictures being shown on the news. And he’s hot, but he’s not like I-know-I’m-a-hottie hot, but more like a confident, ‘Yes, I am hot. Any questions?’ I mean, he has to have noticed there aren’t any guys who look like him walking around.”
“I should tell him what you said.”
“Don’t you dare,” Kylie said.
“I get what you mean—he’s grown up with everybody knowing his dad and watching him, but he’s pretty down to earth.”
“So what’s up with you two? You guys didn’t do any work last Saturday, and now you’re going to an art fair.”
“I dunno. He just asked me to go with him.”
“Asked you to go with him as his study buddy or asked you to go with him because he’s desperately in love with you?” she asked.
I said we were just friends, but she wouldn’t let it go.
“Okay, duh, obviously I like him, but let’s be honest. He’s out of my league. He’s out of most people’s league. It’s weird because normally if I like a guy then one of two things happens—either he likes me and asks for my number…or I find out he’s not into me and I cry in my pillow and listen to man-hating music for at least three days,” I said. “But this time’s different because he’s, I dunno, not just ‘some guy.’ I mean, I’m not putting up a shrine to him in my room, and I haven’t rooted though his garbage can, but I have as much chance of going out with him as Kirk does of getting an ‘A’ in this class.”
“You listen to man-hating music?” she asked, and I narrowed my eyes at her. “Whatever. Anyway, Em, he’s asked you out once already, and you are seeing him tomorrow. Plus, he’s always staring at you.”
I said he was probably just bored in class today, but she wouldn’t let it go.
“I’m not just talking about today. When we watched the movie on Monday, he watched you instead, and whenever I see you guys, he acts like there’s no one else in the room,” she said.
I couldn’t hold back the big, stupid smile spreading across my face. “He does? For real?”
She nodded. “You know, it’s weird. Here you were all upset you didn’t have a partner at the beginning of the semester, and then you ended up with like, Mr. Perfection, as your partner.”

Purchase Links

 Print Edition
Amazon

Digital Edition
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes/Kobo/Smashwords

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Krysten Lindsay Hager is an obsessive reader and has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and humor essayist, and writes for teens, tweens, and adults. She is also the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series (True Colors, Best Friends…Forever?, and the soon to be released, Landry in Like) and her work has been featured in USA Today and named as Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Values and Virtues Fiction and Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Children’s Books on Values. She’s originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and southwestern Ohio. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.


Website/Goodreads/Twitter
Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest




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