Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,
hosted by Billy @
This Week's Question
When meeting with friends, do
your discussions usually
turn to books?
(Submitted by Maria @
My Answer
Alas, no......I don't have any bookish friends, at least none in "the real world". :( In fact, I really don't have that many friends in that world. I do have a few female friends, and they're very nice people. However, they're not into books. So, when we get together, we talk about other things. As long as they don't try to discuss cooking and sewing with me, I'm good. Lol.
I do have bookish friends, but they're ALL online! They have WONDERFUL blogs, too! So I'm glad that I can discuss books with THEM. I just wish we all lived closer to each other, so we could actually get together in "the real world", and get going on our favorite topic! We could go to a nice Italian restaurant, for example, and discuss books over pasta and garlic rolls. Or maybe have sushi and sake at a cozy Japanese restaurant. Or, if we could all meet in Miami, we could enjoy Cuban cuisine and "cafecito" afterward! Lol.
Here are my bookish online friends and their MUST-VISIT blogs, in no particular order!
Brian @ Babbling Books: Brian posts about literary fiction, as well as nonfiction. His posts are SO interesting, intellectually stimulating, and informative! Although I read a lot of YA, I also LOVE the types of books he reviews! And he's a fellow Trekkie!! "Live long and prosper," says Mr. Spock!!
Wendy @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty: Wendy is just as eclectic as I am! Plus she's always mentioning her cute daughter, who is nicknamed "Mouse". I enjoy reading her detailed posts, too! And her love of cats is so touching.....
Stephanie @ Bookfever: Steph is also a very eclectic blogger! She features fiction, whether YA or adult, and her nonfiction choices are very interesting, too! And she's such a sweet person, as well! She lives in Belgium, and blogs in English.
Greg @ Book Haven: Greg is a VERY visually oriented person, just like me! He fills his interesting, upbeat posts with AWESOME images, whether of book covers or other images he's found online. And he's very partial to SF, although he's also eclectic.
Barb @ Booker T's Farm: Books and Nails and Puppy Dog Tales: Barb is very devoted to her cute "pups" -- one of whom is nicknamed "Book". She loves the horror genre, but she also tends toward the eclectic, and frequently picks wacky, quirky books, which delights me!
Daniela @ Nocturnal Devices: Daniela is a recent friend. She reviews mostly paranormal romance and urban fantasy, as well as YA. So we're pretty much on the same wavelength! Plus she's SO bubbly and fun!! Her post titles grab one right away, too!! Last but definitely NOT least, Daniela is a feminist, like me!!
SJ Higbee @ Brainfluff: Sarah is a British SF writer who's recently also become a friend. I LOVE her blog, which features mostly fantasy and SF reviews. She also reviews mysteries and thrillers, though. And her cover features just blow me away!!
Antonela @ Forest of a Thousand Books: Antonela is my Argentinian friend! She's such a sweet person, too! Her blog posts are all in Spanish, in spite of her blog's English title. (I'm fluent in Spanish, so I can read them.) She mostly reviews YA. And she writes the most WONDERFUL comments!! (She's fluent in English, as well.) Wish I could fly down to Buenos Aires to visit her......
Verushka @ Pop.Edit.Lit.: (This blog has to be accessed by going to Google first. For some weird reason, I am unable to link to it here.) Verushka is from India, and lives in Australia. She's an eclectic reviewer, as well as a freelance editor. She's eclectic, too, although I've seen that she mostly reviews mysteries and thrillers. Her reviews are always an interesting read!
Amy @ A Magical World of Words: Amy is also a very sweet friend! She reviews movies as well as books, and, although she's a bit eclectic, she does focus most on YA, fantasy, and paranormal fiction. She's also a Christian feminist, just like me!
Michelle & Mckenzie @ A Belle's Tales: I call these two "The Dynamic Duo of the Internet"! Lol. They're a mother and daughter team, and they have very upbeat reviews!! Although they do cover a lot of YA, they also review mysteries and thrillers. Sadly, though, their blog is on hiatus right now. I hope they'll be back VERY soon!!
Sue @ The Great Raven: Sue reviews mostly adult science fiction, but includes afantasy, . She's been visiting my blog on a pretty regular basis, and is by now a new friend, as well.
So these are the people I enjoy discussing books with. They're all online! I'm glad we have the Internet, because I might as well be on a desert island, as far as bookish friends go, in my immediate vicinity. Lol. Again, I wish we could all have a HUGE get-together!! It would be such a BLAST!!
I do have bookish friends, but they're ALL online! They have WONDERFUL blogs, too! So I'm glad that I can discuss books with THEM. I just wish we all lived closer to each other, so we could actually get together in "the real world", and get going on our favorite topic! We could go to a nice Italian restaurant, for example, and discuss books over pasta and garlic rolls. Or maybe have sushi and sake at a cozy Japanese restaurant. Or, if we could all meet in Miami, we could enjoy Cuban cuisine and "cafecito" afterward! Lol.
Here are my bookish online friends and their MUST-VISIT blogs, in no particular order!
Brian @ Babbling Books: Brian posts about literary fiction, as well as nonfiction. His posts are SO interesting, intellectually stimulating, and informative! Although I read a lot of YA, I also LOVE the types of books he reviews! And he's a fellow Trekkie!! "Live long and prosper," says Mr. Spock!!
Wendy @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty: Wendy is just as eclectic as I am! Plus she's always mentioning her cute daughter, who is nicknamed "Mouse". I enjoy reading her detailed posts, too! And her love of cats is so touching.....
Stephanie @ Bookfever: Steph is also a very eclectic blogger! She features fiction, whether YA or adult, and her nonfiction choices are very interesting, too! And she's such a sweet person, as well! She lives in Belgium, and blogs in English.
Greg @ Book Haven: Greg is a VERY visually oriented person, just like me! He fills his interesting, upbeat posts with AWESOME images, whether of book covers or other images he's found online. And he's very partial to SF, although he's also eclectic.
Barb @ Booker T's Farm: Books and Nails and Puppy Dog Tales: Barb is very devoted to her cute "pups" -- one of whom is nicknamed "Book". She loves the horror genre, but she also tends toward the eclectic, and frequently picks wacky, quirky books, which delights me!
Daniela @ Nocturnal Devices: Daniela is a recent friend. She reviews mostly paranormal romance and urban fantasy, as well as YA. So we're pretty much on the same wavelength! Plus she's SO bubbly and fun!! Her post titles grab one right away, too!! Last but definitely NOT least, Daniela is a feminist, like me!!
SJ Higbee @ Brainfluff: Sarah is a British SF writer who's recently also become a friend. I LOVE her blog, which features mostly fantasy and SF reviews. She also reviews mysteries and thrillers, though. And her cover features just blow me away!!
Antonela @ Forest of a Thousand Books: Antonela is my Argentinian friend! She's such a sweet person, too! Her blog posts are all in Spanish, in spite of her blog's English title. (I'm fluent in Spanish, so I can read them.) She mostly reviews YA. And she writes the most WONDERFUL comments!! (She's fluent in English, as well.) Wish I could fly down to Buenos Aires to visit her......
Verushka @ Pop.Edit.Lit.: (This blog has to be accessed by going to Google first. For some weird reason, I am unable to link to it here.) Verushka is from India, and lives in Australia. She's an eclectic reviewer, as well as a freelance editor. She's eclectic, too, although I've seen that she mostly reviews mysteries and thrillers. Her reviews are always an interesting read!
Amy @ A Magical World of Words: Amy is also a very sweet friend! She reviews movies as well as books, and, although she's a bit eclectic, she does focus most on YA, fantasy, and paranormal fiction. She's also a Christian feminist, just like me!
Michelle & Mckenzie @ A Belle's Tales: I call these two "The Dynamic Duo of the Internet"! Lol. They're a mother and daughter team, and they have very upbeat reviews!! Although they do cover a lot of YA, they also review mysteries and thrillers. Sadly, though, their blog is on hiatus right now. I hope they'll be back VERY soon!!
Sue @ The Great Raven: Sue reviews mostly adult science fiction, but includes afantasy, . She's been visiting my blog on a pretty regular basis, and is by now a new friend, as well.
So these are the people I enjoy discussing books with. They're all online! I'm glad we have the Internet, because I might as well be on a desert island, as far as bookish friends go, in my immediate vicinity. Lol. Again, I wish we could all have a HUGE get-together!! It would be such a BLAST!!
What are your thoughts on
this topic?
If you're participating in this hop,
I'll go comment on your
own BBH post.
If not, I will then comment on one
of your blog posts!
Thanks for visiting!!!
Thanks for the mention Maria!
ReplyDeleteI have a few in person friends who like books. Yet it is still few and far between that we read books that we have common interests in. One of the reasons that I started a book blog was to connect with other bookish people. I also think that the inline experience has been super.
I also wish that we all lived closer. A bookish get together would be awesome!
Hi, Brian!
DeleteYou're very welcome for the mention! :) :)
Well, I do know a fellow ESOL teacher who likes to read. But I only see her at school. It's not like we hang out as friends on the weekends. But I now remember her mentioning a Ken Follett novel to me once -- "World Without End". She gave me the book when she was done reading it, but I'm not going to keep it. It's pretty beat up. I will start it to see if I like it, then buy myself a pristine copy if I do! Lol.
This teacher recently finished an ebook copy of "Fire and Fury". As you know, this is the recent Michael Wolff expose of the goings on in the Trump White House. She told me it was EXCELLENT, so I gotta get to it!! I have a print copy sitting on one of my shelves.
We haven't really discussed books in depth. Besides, it looks like her reading tastes are very different from mine. However, I do want to read "Fire and Fury"!
All of my bookish friends are online. I guess I could have mentioned this teacher, but we just see each other at school. Well, my online bookish friends have been AWESOME!! It really would be TERRIFIC if we could all get together at a restaurant in order to discuss books!! :) :)
Have a GREAT weekend, Brian, and thanks for ALWAYS leaving such GREAT comments on my posts!! <3 :)
Maria! You almost made me cry by featuring me. *sobs* I'm glad my eclectic taste doesn't scare you off because I feel like not everyone appreciates it when I post nonfiction reviews. And I don't have any bookish friends in real life either, except one person but she only reads books in Dutch and she reads a whole lot less than me. Other than that all my bookish friends are online too from all over the world. It would be so nice to talk about books in RL, though. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Steph!
DeleteAwwww.....you're so sweet! OF COURSE I had to mention you!! :) :)
I'm very eclectic myself, so your blog would NEVER "scare me off", lol. I used to feature nonfiction here, too, but now I save it for my (sadly neglected....:( ) other blog, "MindSpirit Book Journeys". People who read mostly YA -- although I do feature other genres, too -- don't usually read nonfiction. I do, though, but I worry that I won't get any comments on nonfiction reviews.... I'm SUPER HAPPY you feature nonfiction yourself! :) :)
Yeah....it would be SO, SO NICE to get all of our bookish friendss together in one place, at one time, and have a MARATHON discussion about books!!! Lol.
Thanks for the GREAT comment!! HUGS!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
That's great that you can chat about books with friends online!
ReplyDeleteHi, Nicki!
DeleteYeah!! If it weren't for my online friends, I wouldn't have ANYBODY to talk books with!! Lol.
Thanks for commenting!! <3 :)
Thank you for the kind words and mention, Maria! That's so very nice of you. I don't often talk about books with offline friends. Sometimes, but it is rare. My darling husband patiently listens to me talk about the books I read, even without any interest in reading them himself--I often use him as a sounding board for my bookish rants. LOL Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteHi, Wendy!
DeleteYou're very welcome!! I enjoy visiting and commenting on your blog, and would like others to do the same! <3 :)
It's GREAT that you have your hubby as a sounding board! Well, he's a reader himself, so, even though your reading tastes might be very different, at least he can relate to the reading experience!
It would be SO nice, though, to have friends in "the real world" we could discuss books with. There's a fellow teacher at my school that has mentioned a book she's been reading from time to time. I don't really consider her "a friend", though, because we don't hang out on weekends or anything. However, she told me the other day that she had just finished "Fire and Fury", by Michael Wolff, and REALLY enjoyed it! She read it as an ebook, too. Hmmmm....seems to me we should discuss books more often when we run into each other at school. Lol. Her reading tastes are not similar to mine, though. I don't think she reads YA or paranormal fiction and urban fantasy, for example. But I should still steer the conversation more toward books. I usually sit in the office lounge and have dinner around 6:00 PM, and she comes in around 6:10 PM. She then joins me, although she's already had dinner by then. Since my class begins at 7:00, we do have some time to chat. Next time I see her (we're on Spring Break now), I'll make sure to ask her what she's reading. Who knows? Maybe I'll be interested in it!
Thanks for the nice comment!! HUGS TO YOU, YOUR MOM, AND NOUSE!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
My comment seems to have been wiped when the page auto-refreshed, so again...
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Maria! Though, actually, my blog is more for reviewing children’s and YA books. Some adult SFF, yes, but not much.
My post was about book clubs and literature circles at my school. I do have bookish friends in the real world, but we never get that formal.
Hi, Sue!
DeleteYou're very welcome!! <3 :)
I thought your blog was mostly for SF reviews, since that's what the description under the blog title says. Well, anyway, I think your blog has GREAT posts!! And I thank you for all the interesting comments you've been leaving on my posts lately!
How nice that your school has book clubs and literature circles! Maybe the school where I teach has those, too, but I wouldn't know, since I teach adults ESOL at night. The day school staff might have organized these types of things.
I'm glad you do have bookish friends in the real world! I do know a fellow teacher at my school who occasionally mentions a book to me when we sit together and chat during my dinner hour. I really should draw her out on what she likes to read! I didn't remember her when I wrote this post, since I consider her just an acquaintance. After all, we don't hang out on weekends or anything. Lol.
I do have quite a few online "book buddies", though (such as you!), and it's such FUN to interac with them!!
Thanks for the interesting comment!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
Thanks for the nice comment!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
PS If you really want to talk books with your online friends, there are various ways. Late last year I was part of a Twitter discussion if Susan Cooper’s children’s classic The Dark Is Rising. I’ve also found free chat rooms you can set up for a discussion, though they delete themselves after a few hours or a few days. I don’t do Facebook, but plenty of others do.
ReplyDeleteHi, again!
DeleteActually, I do belong to some book clubs on Goodreads, but I just never have the time to participate! Lol.
I might join a Facebook group in the future. But I probably won't have the time for that, either...... :(
Thanks for commenting again!! <3 <3 :) :)
All my bookish friends are online as well....
ReplyDeleteAnd now I have a huge list of blogs to go visit! *^-^*
Hi, Shannon!
DeleteYeah, that's probably the case for most of us bookworms.....:( I do know someone at my school who's into books, but she's an acquaintance, not a friend. I really should get to know her better, and then maybe we could have some great book discussions!
Yeah, you do have a huge list of blogs to visit now!! LOL.
Thanks for the cute comment!! <3 :)
Thanks so much for the mention and lovely words. I agree with you - most of my bookish friends are on-line but we are quite an awesome community. I can't wait to discuss Dread Nation with you!
ReplyDeleteHi, Barb!
DeleteYou're very welcome!! Both are well deserved!! :) :)
Yeah.....I wish I had more "real world" people whom I could discuss books with.....but I also agree with YOU that the book blogging community is awesome!!
I can't wait to discuss this book with you, either!! :) :)
Thanks for the nice comment!! HUGS TO YOU AND THE BOYS, AND WOOF, WOOF TO THEM!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
OMG I came to visit and I find this beautiful post where you mention me AND I AM SO HAPPY I CAN'T EVEN! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE your blog too and how unique and passionate your posts are!
And your descriptions of the bloggers you listed here that I know are SPOT ON! :) I'll be visiting the ones I don;t know yet since you like them so much!
And looking at your About Page I just learned that you are a writer too! How fantastic! I'll be reading all your fan fiction!
I totally agree we are on the same wavelength [even our debates are xoxo] Since you threw a Spanish word there I was wondering if you speak Spanish too???????
MANY ABRAZOS Y BESOS
Hi, Daniela!
DeleteYou're SO welcome for the mention!! :) :) I LOVE your enthusiasm!! I think that's why we've hit it off SO well, too!! HUGS!!!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
Thank you for praising my blog!! I am very proud of it, and yes, passionate about my posts, as well!!
I'm glad I nailed the descriptions of the bloggers you know! Thanks for this compliment, too!!! :) :)
As for the bloggers you don't know, yes, by all means go visit them! I'm sure you'll get to love their blogs, as well!!
Another "thank you" for visiting my fan page and telling me that you'll read my fan fiction!! YOU ARE SO SWEET!!!! <3 <3 <3 I have been wanting to write a novel with my own characters, but somehow haven't gotten up the courage to do so..... Lol.
Yeah, it's actually UNCANNY how much we're on the SAME wavelength!! But I forgot to mention one thing in my description of you and your blog -- and that is that, like me, you're a feminist!! So I'm heading over to the post editor to add that very important fact!!
Yes, I'm fluent in Spanish! I was born in Havana, Cuba, and came to the States at the age of nine. If I had the time I'd write a blog in Spanish..... :( It would be a hassle, though, because I have an English alphabet keyboard. So I'd have to put in all the accents. Lol.
THANK YOU for such a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, SWEET COMMENT!!! MANY ABRAZOS Y BESOS TO YOU, AS WELL!! It looks like you know Spanish yourself!! Well, your first name is a Spanish one, after all!!
((((((((((((HUGS!!!!!!)))))))))))) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Great post! I'll have to check out these bloggers!
ReplyDeleteHi, Chrissy!
DeleteThank you SO much!! Yes, by all means, do so!! I'm sure you'll enjoy their blogs as much as I do!!
Thanks for the nice comment!! <3 :)
What a lovely, lovely post - thank you for the mention. I love talking about books online - sorry I'm so very behind this week! But I'm also extremely lucky - I'm married to someone who is far more of an avid reader than I am so we regularly chat about books at home together. One of the reasons I love him so much...
ReplyDeleteHi, Sara!
DeleteTHANK YOU SO MUCH!! <3 <3 And you're VERY welcome for the mention! :) :) I LOVE your blog!! It's SO GREAT to talk about books online!!
You are indeed lucky to have a husband with whom you can share your passion for books!! Not all of us bookworm/bloggers/writers have that.... And of COURSE you would love him all the more for it! :)
Thanks for this lovely comment!! HUGS!!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)