Book Blogger Appreciation Week : Interview with Marquette From Love2Read4Fun

Welcome To Day Two of Book Blogger Appreciation Week , a whole week of fun and festivities dedicated in appreciation to all those fantastic Book Bloggers out there.

Tuesday's Treasure is Titled New Treasure and for me this is my first year participating in BBAW and for Today's treasure it is an Interview Swap where we were matched up with other Bloggers to Interview them and vice versa.

Check out my Interview on www.lovetoreadforfun.com

Interview with A Fellow Book Blogger :

Hailing from the Land of Love to read for Fun , I have today featured on The Phantom Paragrapher - Blog Host and Book Extraodinaire Marquetta.

Bio:
I am an avid reader who used to want to be a writer but didn’t have the time to (or talent) to write so I blog instead. My two dreams in life were to either be a writer or a librarian. I’ve tried to write and have learned that it’s not as easy as I thought it would be. I want to be a librarian so that I can be surrounded by books and be paid for it. But instead of being surrounded by books, I am surrounded by spreadsheets and numbers. One of these days I will go back to school and get my Master’s in Library Science. Life and responsibility gets in the way sometimes so that dream is on the back-burner – for now. I haven’t given up. So to fuel my love of reading and all things bookish, I have a book blog. And I love it!




First of all, I’d like to welcome you to my site

Thanks for having me. This is my first time participating in BBAW and I’m excited.

1) How did you get into writing your own book blog and how long have you had it running?

It all started with my personal blog. I started following book blogs and signing up for reading challenges. Then I started writing reviews for books I had read. Soon my personal blog was becoming a book blog. So that’s when I decided to start a book blog. My book blog – Love To Read For Fun – is 10 months old. I will be celebrating my 1 year Blogoversary in November!

2) I noticed that you and I have very similar taste in authors and what we have read, if you had to pick one genre that you enjoy the most, what would it be?
My first love will always be romance. When I became an avid reader, contemporary romance was my genre of choice. This year I discovered paranormal romance and urban fantasy books and I absolutely love them! I’ve been reading a lot more PNR lately. There are so many great series out there that I’m trying to catch up on. I feel like I’m so behind!

3) Does your reading material reflect in your everyday life e.g. via what movies you watch, TV Shows?
Not really. I don’t watch as much TV as I used to now that I have a book blog. I spend most of my time reading. The shows I do watch are situational comedies so they are nowhere near like the books I read. No werewolves, vampires or witches.

4) What is the response for people wanting their books reviewed on your site and do you have a constant ever-growing TBR Pile?
Review requests have steadily increased over the last 2 months and I’m very happy about it! I’m participating in a couple of Blog and ARC Tours to market myself and my blog more. And I have received books for review without soliciting the author or publisher. Because of this, I am now forced to get organized! My TBR is constantly growing and I don’t mind (for now). I hope to stay on top of things and hope that it doesn’t get too out of control. Right now, I don’t have too long of a wait for a book review to be posted on my blog. Unfortunately, the books I want to read for pleasure are now being pushed down to the bottom of the TBR list.

5) Are you more a contemporary and modern reader rather than the classics and if you I know that many of us have a favourite classic writer that we secretly covet yet may never read their books but know the blurbs or themes off by heart , who do you side with in the favourite Classic Author question?I’m more of a contemporary/modern reader. When I think of the classics, I think of the books I was forced to read when I was in school. I tend to not visit those types of books as an adult. I love Edgar Allen Poe because his work is so dark. There are plenty of classics that I’ve never read, like Little Women, and probably never will. I feel like I may be missing out on some great books but right now I don’t feel the urgency to read them.

6) What do you do for a day job or in your spare time when you are not book blogging?
I work in Finance for a government contracting company. It’s a job that pays the bills. But I’d rather be home reading and blogging.

7) Have you ever participated in any Book Reading Challenges and if so what were they and how did you go?Yes. That’s how the book blogging mess got started! LOL! I signed up for 13 Reading Challenges for 2010 and I’ve only finished a 3 of them. I may finish 2 more by the end of the year but I don’t think I will be finishing all of them. I bit off more than I can chew but I was so excited! Lesson learned. I will not be repeating the same mistake in 2011.

8) I know that I read a lot of books in a month; I am a read-a-holic. How many books do you average a month?
I average around 10 books a month. My goal is to read 12-14 books a month but I’ve only managed to do that once. There’ve been a couple of months where I was in a serious reading drought. And with it being summer, I wasn’t in the reading mood so my numbers really dropped. I’m hoping my reading will pick back up this Fall.

9) I know that your quote on favourite books was: too many to name one, maybe that’s why we matched as my answer was also that. Can you list your top five books that you have read either in the past year or couple of months?That is so difficult. I’ve read some great books this year so I’m just going to list the top 5 I’ve read this summer. It would have to be the Night Huntress Series by Jeaniene Frost. I recently discovered the series and I read all 4 books plus the 2 spin-off books in 2 weeks. Halfway to the Grave, One Foot in the Grave, At Grave’s End, Destined for an Early Grave, First Drop of Crimson and Eternal Kiss of Darkness.

10) If a movie or TV Series was made and it was originally a book, do you ever read the book first or are you a I’ll watch it first and then maybe read the book?
I try to read the book first but if I haven’t then I’ll watch the movie and maybe read the book afterwards. I hate when books are made into movies because the movie version never matches the book 100%. And I always end up criticizing the movie and pointing out what’s missing, what was changed. I always end up saying “The book was so much better!”.

11) Do you have any other hidden talents?
I wish! No hidden talents.

12) How do you aim to get followers for your blog and do you belong to any networking groups?
I had a followers contest earlier this year to gain blog followers and it was a successful contest. But then it felt like I was buying followers. The contest helped a lot to garner interest in my blog initially. I’ve stopped making it a requirement that you have to be a follower to enter my contests. I want people to follow my blog because they like the content. On the other hand, I will be making it a requirement for BlogFest only because I’m giving away some bomb ass prizes!

I participate in the weekly Book Blog Hops and Follow and that has helped me gain followers. I’m on twitter a lot. I belong to the Book Blogs Ning Network but I’m hardly ever on it.

13) How do you keep up with the knowledge of new titles being released?
I keep track of new releases using Google Calendar. And thankfully I follow blogs that posts new book releases weekly so that helps me stay on top of things.

14) Are you a Judge by the cover girl or have you got another system in choosing books?
Yes I’m a ‘judge a book by the cover’ girl and sometimes that has bitten me in the butt! I’ve bought several books based on the cover alone and the books turned out to be awful! I do choose books based on reviews and friends’ recommendations. If a book has a lot of good buzz or if I’m familiar with the author, it’s an automatic buy for me.

15) Do you have a ratings system for your blog and why? What are your thoughts on rating books? Yes I have a rating system. I use a rating system for folks who don’t want to read the review in case the review contains spoilers or if they don’t want to taint their opinion by reading my thoughts. I think a visual of what I thought about a book helps me and my readers. I think having a rating system is a personal decision. Some people have complicated rating systems where they incorporate the cover, book title, etc. I try to keep my rating simple – on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best. I don’t think having is a bad thing. But not having one isn’t a bad thing either.

16) From one booklover to another, I have always been a quotes person. Do you have a favourite poem or quote that has stuck with you over the years? Yes I do. My favorite quote is: “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” I love To Kill a Mockingbird. It is one of my all time favorite books.

Thats All Folks , That was Marquetta From Love To Read For Fun Book Blog , Stop By and wish her a Happy BBAW and check out her awesome blog and if you enjoy it , why not become a follower and show her your appreciation.