A Book Blogger is Born: What made you decide to start your very own book blog?

I’ll try to keep it short, but that’s probably not going to work.. This is another side of the story, one I haven’t shared before, so.. psshht!

So, I started blogging when I was a teenager. My head was full of stuff and I was kind of the attention-whore, too. Most of all, though, I wanted to have an outlet and see things from different perspectives. Blogging helped with that, helped me reevaluate. - Then I got sicker and things changed, and I spend most of my time at home, taking meds and feeling sorry for myself.

After I rewatched Season Six of Buffy for the 600th time I realized that I needed to do something.  See, there wasn’t lots to do and most of my friends were busy studying or fighting or doing teenage stuff, while I was depressed and emotion-hungry. So I started reading more than I usually did. And while many things about me had changed over the years, the want to talk about things that mattered to me was still there. So a year later I started bookblogging and lived happily ever since. ;)

To par­tic­i­pate, fol­low Para­jun­kee & Ali­son Can Read, the hosts of this meme, and the two fea­tured blogs this week. Grab the but­ton and ques­tion, answer and link back. : )

Q: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

I’m more of an indoor type of person. While I enjoy to spend some of my time outside, reading is something I either do on the balcony or in bed. Reading or relaxing in general is something personal to me – I make faces, I moan in frustration (and glee) and spending time outside where people could ‘intrude’ does the opposite of what most vacations are there for: It makes me tense up. *scratches head*

Just realized that I’m probably the most boring person on earth this time. o.o And look at that explanation. Goood.. XD But what about you? I’m curious. Maybe I should just try to read something somewhere else, outside, again?

Some­thing About You by Julie James

• Berkley Paperback: 336 pages (March 2nd, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 0425233383 · ISBN-13: 978–0425233382
• Rating: VERY GOOD ·  Excerpt

Buy: Amazon.de · BookDepository.com · BookDepository.co.uk

There’s some­thing about Julie James…

Stay­ing overnight in a lux­ury hotel, Assis­tant U.S. Attor­ney Cameron Lynde over­hears a high-profile mur­der involv­ing a U.S. Sen­a­tor. Spe­cial Agent Jack Pal­las is assigned to the investigation-the same Jack Pal­las who still blames her for nearly ruin­ing his career three years ago.

Now the pair will have to put their rocky past behind them, focus on the case at hand-and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sex­ual tension.

A Lot Like Love by Julie James

• Berkley Paper­back: 304 pages  (March 1^st 2011)
• ISBN-10: 9780425240168 · ISBN-13: 978–0425240168
• Rating: VERY GOOD · Excerpt

Buy: Amazon.de · BookDepository.com · BookDepository.co.uk

The FBI wants her cooporation.

As the daugh­ter of a bil­lion­aire and the owner of the city’s top wine store, Jor­dan Rhodes is invited to the most exclu­sive par­ties in Chicago. But there’s only one party the FBI wants to crash: the char­ity fund-raiser of a famous restau­ra­teur, who also hap­pens to laun­der money for the mob. In exchange for her brother’s release from prison, Jor­dan is going to be there – with a date sup­plied by the Bureau.

Agent McCall just wants her.

As the top under­cover agent in Chicago, Nick McCall has one rule: never get per­sonal. This “date” with Jor­dan Rhodes is merely an assign­ment – one they’re both deter­mined to pull off even if they can’t be together for five min­utes before the sar­casm and sparks begin to fly. But when Nick’s inves­ti­ga­tion is com­pro­mised, he and Jor­dan have no choice but to pre­tend they’re a cou­ple, and what starts out as a sim­ple assign­ment begins to feel a lot like some­thing more…

Letter/Memo to my Future Self

Dear Patricia,

the first book you read by Julie James was A Lot Like Love, which is set after the events that took place in Something About You. Therefore you -well, I.. argh you know what I mean– therefore I already knew that Agent Pallas and Cameron, the protagonists of SAY had history and were a couple. I was so curious about them both and instantly ordered the book, paying an extra fee to get it delivered faster.

So.. Something About You: As the blurb suggests, Pallas and Cameron have history. After an incident Pallas had to move and he blamed (still blames, actually, when the story begins) Cameron. Three years later they both have to work on a case together and there are some serious sparks. While SAY wasn’t the best Julie James novel (JTSMA is) it’s one of the best Contemporary Romance novels I came across last year, when I read it for the first time. Future Self, these protagonists, they are real, they are funny, they have a life and flaws, and they are not annoying. THANK YOU, Mrs. James!

Julie James has a very memorable voice for some reasons. I wouldn’t have thought so, but when I reread the novels I noticed for the first time that there are lines that simply scream her name. :)

As mentioned, I read A Lot Like Love first. It was actually the first book I read written by James and possible also the first Contemporary Romance novel that I really liked, all because of a recommendation from steflite.

I don’t even know if what I did with ALLL and other James novels can be considered reading, since that implies some sort of inner piece and taking the time to enjoy the plot. I basically ran through the whole novel, and that is something I hadn’t expected, after all I usually read PNR novels, like it darker and associated Contemporary with cheesy³. But Julie James wrote some cute, yet not overly and annoyingly so, stuff. I liked the pac­ing, the story and the light atmos­phere. James has a great voice and I like her humor, which is why I’ve ordered her other  novels as soon as I was finished with ALLL. *grin*

There were several lines and scenes that I simply loved, several including Nick thinking about his bad-ass-face, or her telling him that she really needed some company after what had just happened. (I won’t tell you what, don’t worry!) Or this one:

She opened her eyes and saw Nick star­ing at her.

“I feel like I need a cig­a­rette and a shower after watch­ing that.” His eyes seemed warmer than usual. “Tell me whatever it is you would nor­mally say after drink­ing that wine.”

“I’d talk about how it felt in my mouth and what it tastes like,” she said.

His gaze fell to her lips. “And?”

“It felt large and smooth. A real mouthful.”

“Are you kid­ding me with this?”

I can’t say much about the con­tent and I don’t intend to. Yep, it’s more like a read­ing com­ment, but you really should just check her novel out to see what I’m talk­ing about!

The char­ac­ters are all very lik­able and the thing is that although James used some typ­i­cal tropes, I still enjoyed the book and am sad to say good­bye to them. I wish there were more than four pub­lished books. *sigh*

Nick, Jor­dan, her friends and his col­legues all are very fun to read about. Actu­ally so much fun that I want to read the next book instantly. Which, now that I am writing this review is still a few months to go. ; )

The only negative thing I can say about James’ novels right now is that you start reading them and three seconds later are already finished. *grin* That isn’t really negative, though.. Erm.. what else? Wait, I’ll come up with something..

*ten minutes later* (Seriously, I was making some food and thought about negative things)

Okay, no, I have no idea. They aren’t perfect, but there is nothing negative I can come up with. Definitely recommend them! So, future self, if you ever read this and there is one book written by James that you do not own yet, download it as a Kindle ebook instantly and order it on tbd.com, too. These novels are just worth it!

 Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh

Adria, wolf changeling soldier, has made a break with a past as
unpredictable in love as it was in war. Now comes a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer whose lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It’s primal. And it consumes them as completely as the impending cataclysmic Psy war—a battle that may alter the very fate of the world.

Expected publication: May 29th 2012 by Berkley

Preorder: Amazon.de or .com · Bookdepository US or UK

My thoughts

I am a member of the Nalini Singh forum and those who are not will never understand my need to read this book. Last year Nalini graciously gave me an ARC, but this year, like almost everyone, I had to wait.. and cry.. and..

This is a scheduled post, but I just checked back to add that I reread the series AGAIN this month. Darn! And one of the forum-ladies also just told us that she got herself an ARC. THAT WITCH! XD God..

Genre: Erotic Romance
Source: Publisher
Rating: MHE · MA

• Kindle Edition: 147KB (approx. 41 pages)
• Publisher: Harlequin Spice Briefs (April 6th, 2012)
• ASIN: B007D5UASC

Buy: Amazon · BookDepository · BookDepository UK

Blurb

The Manhattan Mermaids: Believed to be the most beautiful women in the city, they entertain wealthy, powerful men in an exclusive club called Fathoms….and are all virgins. Derek Prince doesn’t believe they really exist, until he meets the stunningly sensual Xenia. She drives him wild with desire, but giving in to temptation means losing her position at Fathoms. Derek is incredibly turned on by the thought of being Xenia’s first…but will he be willing to wait for her?

Memo to my Future Self

Dear Patricia,

I’m not sure what to say about this novel. It is about the Manhatten Mermaids. God knows, I still have no idea if this whole mermaid thing is meant as a joke, an euphemism or as actual supernatural beings. It is supposed to be Erotic Romance or Erotica, but it neither had real erotic content, nor romance. It lacked background-story and lots of pages.

I think this novella would have been great if it had been, well, a full novel. The author should have been given more room to explore the setting, the rules of the world, and the reader, or at least I, would have needed that even more.

That is not to say this novella was in any way a bad story – But it was lacking, and I’m pretty sure that’s because the story should have been ‘bigger’. As a Spicebrief it didn’t make sense, because it wasn’t very spicy. There was lots of nudity, some deflowering and all, but that really is it. I like that the story’s been told from a male perspective, but even that felt a little.. detached. It lacked a real connection.

In short, I’m sure this author can do better if she’s given more pages and I’m looking forward to reading a full novel written by her.

Sincerely,

Patricia

So far I have added almost every book Steffie and Melanie enjoyed, but when it comes to tv-shows there are few people I trust. While I listen to Tascha, Rushi, Crini, Lisa, Meike, Mira and Kix, the only person who’ll make me really watch anything* she wants me to watch is my best friend.

The problem? I’m a huge manga fan and stayed sober for almost a year because of my lack of money. Now Rushi and her Manga-mania is bad enough, but my best friend (who is kinda tumblr-famous, bitch that she is! I’m happy if I get 200 notes. 2000 is a Tuesday for her.) loves Conan and the gifs she reblogs make me delirious. I just needed to watch the anime, too. And then I realized that I also need to read the Manga.

But then, while I was searching for them on ebay, I realized that there are other manga I really want to read. I made a list. And then I thought.. Hey, they have to be included somewhere on the blog – I won’t mention them in my regular posts or feed, so don’t worry, but I’ll use one of my custom post types to talk about them anyway. – So, here I am. I have finally used the custom post type “Manga” for the first time last night and will work on a nice custom template for them.

This means that if you are not interested in manga, you will never get to see any of them. I swear! While I might participate in the Manga Monday meme, you’ll never see those posts unless you know where to look. ;D But I’ll have them here and thought I should let you know. ;)

I have two questions, though.

1. Are there Manga and Anime you recommend?

2. Do you have an idea about the templates? (Plus, I wonder what are the important things I should include (ISBN? Number of pages? Synopsis and cover? Genre? If it’s a One-Shot or not? If it’s a Manga, Manhwa or Manhua?)) I thought about doing it similiar to how I did the timeline.

I hope you are all having a splendid week and that if you celebrated Mothers Day yesterday, it was wonderful!

*including porn, O.C., California and the Twilight Saga (not that there is anything wrong with any of those, I just don’t usually watch ‘em.)

Alas, this week. I had all the posts scheduled already (Thank God!) so it wasn’t that much stress. Most of June is covered now, too, and I am working with the guest and co-bloggers to find good dates for their posts or a standard-date for those who are (awesome) interested in contributing several posts over a longer period, i.e. one or two posts a month or even more. (Which is all simply so incredible!!) I have also been interviewed, so if you’re interested in getting to know the most embarrassing story of my life etc, hop over? As always, I bribe you with a giveaway! ;D

I posted

• Promise and Apology: On Rants and Reviews and How I’ll Try To Do Better
• Question: SEO Settings (Answered by Sarah!)
• Commentathon #3
• My 2012 Challenge Progress
• Review: Matched by Ally Condie
• Waiting on Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent
• Review: Nightshade and Bloodlust by Michelle Rowen
• Friday Memes: Supporting Characters & Fictional Mother-Child Relationships

I read

I really enjoyed Being Friends With Boys, but since I don’t read many YA Contemps I’m not sure if I’d recommend it – I’m not used to reading any books of this genre so I’m not as critical, either. IMO it was very enjoyable. Afterwards I was still so much in the YA Contemp mood that I finally picked up Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour and loved it to pieces. It’s such a great novel! Again, I don’t usually read those books, but I think they are good. For different reasons, definitely, but still.

 City of Lost Souls which was surprisingly better than I had expected. I mean.. Yep, after the epic fail that was COFA I shouldn’t be too surprised, but I am. It wasn’t mindblowing, but it was good enough. An Unexpected Date is the second (free) story I have read that has been written by Susan Hatler. Unfortunately it was even shorter than My Last Blind. About the length of most authors tidbits and extras. It wasn’t bad, but too straight-forward for me to give it a rating.

 I am not surprised that I enjoyed this novel, though I think it could have been better. The author managed to not make any too harsh judgements and pointed out the good and bad in the Twilight series etc. That was good. I think she should have cut certain parts and instead talked a little more about other aspects, but that’s just my opinion and I’m biased: I wanted something ‘deeper’, whereas this was about the whole series in general.. so.. Yeah.

Stacking the Shelves | My haul this week [x]

I am a little too lazy to post all the freebies and such, but those are some of the books I got the last few weeks:

 .  . .  .  .  .  .  .  . 

On My Wishlist [x]

 I found this when I was stalking reading the blog of one of my absolute favorite German bookbloggers. Steflite wrote a post about self-help-guides hereand mentioned books like All my friends are dead, Zombies for Zombies: Advice and Etiquette for the Living Dead, Compliment & Cuddle: The Beta Male Method To Getting Laid and so on. You may very well read her post, because the blurbs and titles are all in English, and I am quite certain that there might be a book for you, too. ;D

Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation is not one of those traditional, all-too-earnest parenting guides that, for generations, have sucked all the fun out of child rearing. The foundation of Elizabeth Beckwith’s Guilt and Manipulation family philosophy is simple: We do things a certain way, and everyone else is an a**hole. Is that something you should put on a bumper sticker and slap on your minivan? Of course not—that would be trashy. But in the privacy of your own home, you can employ these essential components of Guilt and Manipulation to mold the little runts ruthlessly yet effectively into children you won’t be embarrassed to admit are yours:

• Creating a Team: “Us” vs. “Them”
• How to Scare the Crap Out of Your Child (in a Positive Way)
• Don’t Be Afraid to Raise a Nerd
• Mind Control: Why It’s a Good Thing

I found, read, liked, saw, sniffed out, danced to, screamed, played, wanted..

I got myself a 1buck-calendar/personal organizer for the blog, and wouldn’t you believe it, it helps more than the Windows Calender thing does! Suggest you all get yourself one, too, if you haven’t already. Oh and guys, there is the Archangel’s Storm Excerpt. There has NEVER been an excerpt as good as this one. The ladies (and gentlemen) over at the Nalini Forum and I were going crazy over it. A forum thread has been created just because of this excerpt. XD

Belle wrote a very great article (with lots of great comments below) about why she loves stories and why she questioned herself for enjoying stories as much as she does. OH! And! There is a great post about WordPress Plugins and good examples, too, over at Pure Imagination. Since I love plugins and regularely write posts about them or update my old ones (here) it shouldn’t be a big surprise. ;D

And this time: Search terms!

• is it worth buying the playbook by matt kuhn – Not really. Read my review here.
• whisper of sin nalini singh – Not bad, but I liked her other two Psy Changeling novellas more. (It’s good enough to make me reread it now that I have read this query, though. Heh.)
• the lady is a vamp lynsay sands spoilers – They fall in love, but pssst!
• whats the hunger games musical with the “you spin my head right round” for cato killing someone – It’s brilliant and horrible.. and I first saw it on tumblr. He kills the boy from District 3 by snapping his neck, so Right Round is their song.
• fifty shades of grey tampon scene – Wasn’t as bad as people would think. I’d quote the scene, but I’m too lazy to search for it.
• most annoying characters of 2011 – That’s a little late, but well: Zoey Redbird? (Here’s my post)

I hope you’re all having a great time! Let me know what you are reading, loving and hating (and feeling neutral towards) at the moment!

ABC Challenge (x)

The goal is to read either 13 books which titles start with different letters or 13 books written by 13 different authors and every author’s family name starts with another letter. Since I am hosting this Challenge (and hey, don’t forget that you can win books the more books you read!) I try to do both.

Historical Fiction Challenge (x)

Easy enough this Challenge is about reading historical fiction. Who would have thought. My goal is to read at least 15 historicals.

New Authors Challenge (x)

As the title suggests this challenge is about reading novels written by (not Debut) authors we do not know yet. It’s something I’m struggling with, so I thought the Challenge might motivate me to finally pick up some of my unread books. My goal is to read novels written by at least 15 new authors.

TBR Challenges (x)

This is about reading novels that have been on your to be read shelf. Since mine is FULL, I participated. The German TBR Challenge is so impressive and hard that I didn’t have the balls to participate in it, though. (Seriously. Crini and Tascha are evil!)

I won’t put all the books/authors here, but I have apparently read VERY few of the books I wanted to read this year. v_v I fear this’ll be the Challenge I might lose. Problem is that I don’t know anymore which books I owned before Jan 1st 2012. Argh!

LYX and MIRA Challenges (x · x)

Two German Challenges about reading novels that have been published by either LYX or Mira. I am not sure if I can continue those two Challenges because I don’t appear to read any German novels anymore. I have finished the LYX Challenge, though, so there is that. *sigh*

TV Addict Reading Challenge (x)

The lovely Belle came up with this Challenge. It is about reading novels that have been adapted to tv shows. While I am not sure about the level I should pick, but I plan to read (reread) the Sookie Stackhouse, Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Secret Circle, Gossip Girl, Dexter and Bones novels. Maybe also the Castle novels, even though they are a special case.. aren’t they?

* * *

Which challenges are you participating in and how are you doing? Any challenges you are struggling with?