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#BookTubeAThon Day 1

It's BookTubeAThon time again!



Book Vloggers are joining together this week for the reading frenzy that is BookTubeAThon. The challenge runs from 30th July through to 5th August. 

I love this readathon! I'm not sure I'll be able to take part in all the daily challenges as we're in the middle of decorating at the moment but I'll be doing the ones I can as they're always a lot of fun to do.

The main challenges this year are:


1) Let a coin toss decide your 1st book to read
2) Read a book about something you've always wanted to do
3) Read and watch a book/film adaption
4) Read a book with green on the cover
5) Read a book whilst wearing the same hat the whole time
6) Read a book with a beautiful spine
7) Read 7 books

I got a bit behind and so I'm late posting my TBR for this challenge but better late than never right? ;) 

Here's my TBR video:



Books mentioned:

Remembering What I Forgot 

Joining the Dots

Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Letters From Alice

The Alien Mind

My Cake


My Day 1 Vlog:


As you can see, I'm off to a great start:)

Are you doing BookTubeAThon this year? How did your day 1 go? What books are on your TBR for this week?


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A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: New Beginnings/Starting Over

Bookish Blog Hops


A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: New Beginnings/Starting Over


This post may contain affiliate links. Meaning, I get a commission if you purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Read the full disclosure here.

Welcome back for another stop on the A Bookish Summer Blog Hop!

Today's topic is New Beginnings/Starting Over. 

The first book that came to mind for this was Starting Over by Sheri Levy (check out my review of the book here). This book is teen/YA and part of the A Trina Ryan Novel series. It touches on building new friendships, and also letting go and being able to move on. 

What my book blogger buddies had to say:


A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: New Beginnings/Starting Over
Leslie Conzatti
www.upstreamwriter.blogspot.com

I mentioned it earlier, but when I think of starting over--albeit in a kind of darkly comedic, ironic fashion--I think of the series that has long been my favorite, the Grave Report novels by R. R. Virdi. The series features Vince Graves, a soul whose body died an undetermined amount of time ago, but he’s been selected by the Powers-That-Be to get constantly reincarnated in the body of supernatural-related circumstances, whether somebody cracked the wrong ancient seal, or awakened a dark entity from the netherworld. Chock-full of gallows humor, cynical sarcasm, and a great deal of heart (I mean, it would take a lot of heart to have to live someone else’s life to give their soul and their loved ones closure!) all the way through--and every book is essentially a “new beginning” so I think it counts!

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: New Beginnings/Starting Over
Brandy Potter
www.brandypotterbooks.com

I have a toss up, same author, three different books. Nora Roberts. Montana Sky - three sisters who have never met have to discover each other and rediscover themselves.  The Liar is about a woman whose husband dies, only she finds out he was a conman. The Witness is about a woman who witnesses a murder as a teenager and has to go into hiding.

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: New Beginnings/Starting Over
Casia Schreyer
www.casiaschreyer.wordpress.com


Traitor’s Hope by Virginia McClain. This is the sequel to Blade’s Edge. At the end of book 1 the main characters achieve their goal and overthrow a manipulative, lying government. Book 2 is about the new beginning for all of them, as individuals and as a country.


Have you read any of these books? Do you know of a great book about new beginnings/starting over? Tell us about it in the comments below

Want to join in future blog hops with us? Join the Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/127759384464964/

You might also like:

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Where Do You Buy Your Books? 

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Bookmarks or Dog Ears? 

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Currently Reading 

30 Book Blogs To Follow

Top 5 Places for Free Books





Interview with Rae from A New Look On Books #BookBlogger #BookBlogging #Interview


For today's interview with a book blogger, join me in giving a warm welcome to Rae from A New Look On Books


Mr Bean Wave GIF from Mrbean GIFs



Introduce yourself. Who are you? Where are you from? and Where do you blog?

Hi everyone! I’m Rae. I’m a PA girl, college graduate, Wordpress blog user, newbie freelance editor, and all time fangirl that originally hated reading. After a challenge from my grandmother to read a book a day the summer before I started high school, I found my love of reading and later a need to write. From there my book blog and now freelance editing business was inevitable. My longer, more wordier bio, can be found on my blog’s “The Girl Behind The Pages.”

Interview with Rae from A New Look On Books #BookBlogger #BookBlogging #Interview
Why and how do you blog? What made you start?

It took me forever to start blogging and when I did I was eyeball deep in my senior thesis project and portfolio work. That was an experience for sure. Anyway, I took the leap to create my blog after meeting with local author Holly Bush. She is a wonderful woman and after talking with her I went home, sat down, and BAM my blog was born.

How long have you been blogging?

I’ve been blogging for three years now. 😊

What advice do you wish you'd had when you started?

I wish I would’ve been reassured that it isn’t a competition and warned how hard it is not to feel like an imposter. While I’m one of many bloggers I need to stay true to myself. I can’t take an unlike or unfollow to heart and some people won’t like what I have to say in my reviews. This isn’t personal. I am not an imposter.

How much time do you devote to blogging each day/week/month?

I’ve narrowed down my blogging days to two a week. Those days I sit down an answer emails, prep interview questions, brainstorm guest post topics, and anything else bloggie related. Of course I check my emails daily and never quite know what the day will bring.

How often do you post to your blog?

I post weekly if not daily. Sometimes I have two posts a day! It all depends on the month’s schedule and what tours I’ve signed up with or what guest reviews I’ve received.

What motivates you to keep blogging about books?

My love of books is my motivating factor for everything I do from blogging to editing to fangirling. The moment I connect with a character, cry over a scene, or get swept away in a plot is just another way for me to continue enjoying a world that I love. Plus, one can never have too many book boyfriends or book besties. I’ll keep reading regardless of where I am at in life.

Is there something you wish authors knew about your blog or blogging?

Every author I meet, whether it is in person or online, matters to me and my blog and influences me as I grow as a reader, blogger, and editor. I want to do what I can to share with my followers the work that you do through guest posts, reviews, excerpts, and more. Keep writing!

Interview with Rae from A New Look On Books


What's your most popular blog post?

My interview with kc Dryer, author of Finding Fraser, was my most popular blog post with 435 views. If you love Scotland, Outlander, and a finding yourself novel… you must try Finding Fraser! This book is one of my favs and I reread it when I need inspiration or a good laugh.

Do you write reviews for every book you read?

No but I wish I could. I would love to review every book I read – whether it is good or bad.

How many book reviews do you normally do a week?

With everything going on, I generally don’t review per week. I actually had a plan of monthly reviews that has become more sporadic as adulting gets in the way. I’m hoping to do mini reviews to post on my blog and media outlets in the near future.

What genres are your favourites?

I’ve affectionately been with YA for years now. I adore fantasy. However, I am trying to expand from YA into Adult fiction and have taken the tentative steps to do so. But YA will always be a go-to and hold a special place in my heart.

What are you currently reading and why did you choose to read it?

Between editing projects, I’m reading Raven’s Cry by Dana Fraedrich. It is my new book to review for July’s read. So far – loving it!

Do you have any plans for your blog in the future?

Yes! I foresee a name change in the future. A New Look On Books has been my blog’s name for three years now but with my freelance editing business becoming official, and therefore taking over the name of A New Look On Books, I must transition into something newer. There will be a complete website makeover along with graphics. I cannot wait to see what everyone thinks! 😊

Follow A New Look On Books on social media at:
Website - https://anewlookonbooks.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/anewlookonbooks
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anewlookonbooks/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/anewlookonbooks/

You might also like:

Interview with Megan from Ginger Mom and the Kindle Quest 

Book Review: Pressure by Betsy Reavley

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Bookmarks or Dog Ears? 

30 Book Blogs To Follow

Top 5 Places for Free Books



Book Mail Unboxing #BookBlogger #Booktuber


I got book mail! 

Today I'm sharing with you my unboxing of some book mail I received this week. 

One is a book, and the other is book related...

Watch the video for the unboxing


 

A huge thanks to Nikki at Saturday Nite Reader, and to Petrina Banfield and Harper Collins Publishers for these awesome bookish packages. 


Blog Audit Challenge: Links #BookBlogging #Blogging #BlogAuditChallenge2018


Blog Audit Challenge 2018 


It's Saturday and that means it's time for another installment of our blog audit challenge. How are you doing with the challenge so far? Have you noticed changes in traffic to your own book blog since starting the challenge? Is the challenge helping to motivate you to become a better blogger? I'd love to hear your feedback.

Anyway, without further ado, let's get on to this week's topic. This week we're taking a closer look at links. 

This Week's Topic: Links


I'm going to break this post down into two parts; Backlinks, and internal links. 

Backlinks


Before we jump into this any further let's take a look at the different types of backlinks.

1) Natural backlinks. 

These are SEO gold and what we all hope for. This is when someone from another website finds your content useful and so they link their page to yours.

2) Manual backlinks.

This is when you ask other bloggers to link their website with yours by emailing them or submitting sites to directories.

3) Self created backlinks

These are created by you by blog commenting, forum signatures, etc...

High quality backlinks offer most value for SEO so you should be looking for highly authoritative sites that fall into your niche. 

Internal links


Internal linking is when you link one post to another post on site. 

Why add internal links?

1) Decreases your bounce rate
2) Increases user interaction time
3) Improves indexing
4) Increases SEO score

By adding internal links you increase Dwell time and CTR (Click Through Rate). Dwell time is the length of time a visitor spends on a page before returning to the SERPs. More time is what you're aiming for. So what you want to do is create content that hooks readers for a longer time.

We touched on longer posts when we discussed keywords and SEO, but internal links play an important role in Dwell time too. In a perfect world a reader would come to your blog, read a post, and then go on to click through to another post on site, and then another, etc...

Blog Audit Challenge: Links. How to build internal links #BookBloggers #Blogging


This Week's Task:

- Work on adding more manual and self created backlinks for your blog on highly authoritative sites in your niche. 
- Research to find out about any natural backlinks you might not be aware of. 


Missed a post? Here's a round up of what we've covered so far:

- The Blog Audit Challenge: Preparation
- Legal Disclaimers
- The About Page
- Contact Details
- Side Bar and Footer
- Keywords and SEO
- Graphics

Blog Audit Challenge: Links #BookBlogging #Blogging #BlogAuditChallenge2018



A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Where Do You Buy Your Books?


Today I'm hosting another stop on the A Bookish Summer Blog Hop. This time the question is "Where do you buy your books?"

I get a lot of books for free from publishers and authors. Some approach me directly requesting a review, others I get via Net Galley. I do a lot of reading on my kindle app on my ipad now and get a lot of books from Amazon. Whenever I go back to the UK for a visit I check out the charity and discount shops for bargain books. I have to limit myself though or my hubby moans about my books taking over our home. He prefers it when I get ebooks as our flat isn’t really big enough for a lot of bookshelves. My dream is to one day have a house with a big library like the one Belle had in Beauty and Beast ;)


DropBox GIF from Belle GIFs


What the gang had to say:



A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Where Do You Buy Your Books?
Kelli Quintos
www.tangledintext.com

I actually only buy maybe 2% of the books I own. I’m gifted a lot from publishers and indie authors who reach out to be through my blog, but the majority of books I read are through my library. The only flaw to that plan is when all ten of my holds at random times become available at once and I cry a little bit because I can’t possible read all of them in the two weeks they grace my presence. I usually end up buying books when I have already read them and I want to keep a copy to read again or in case any of my friends decide to enjoy reading miraculously, so I can share a copy with them. The library thing usually works out great though with a book or two coming in once a week and helps regulate and provide an incentive to keep up with my reading because of their due dates.

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Where Do You Buy Your Books?
Leslie Conzatti
www.upstreamwriter.blogspot.com

For the longest time, I would depend on the generosity of others to get books. Especially before I had a job, since that meant I also had no money. As I would review more and more books on my blog, I would get review copies from authors who wanted their books featured, or I would follow an author I was interested in until they posted a discount/giveaway, at which point I would swoop in and make off like a bandit! I have downloaded a lot of books from Amazon, and just recently I discovered the joys of buying books online from Barnes & Noble, so I’ve used that to try and round out my personal library. But the only books I actually buy are books I’ve read before, since I know they’re worth the money I’m spending! I don’t buy a lot of books sight-unseen; if a book looks interesting, I’ll check it out from the library first. If I like it, I buy it. If an author whose ebooks I’ve read and loved offers signed copies for a fair price, I’ll take them up on their offer!

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Where Do You Buy Your Books?
Brandy Potter
www.brandypotterbooks.com

I get most of my classics from yard sales and goodwill. The more contemporary stuff I get from Amazon. However I have the propensity to get them at the library or audible before I buy them. I used to just buy every book I wanted to read and I found that was a waste of books and money. However, I did find a great place to take those books. We have a place here called The Book Thing. It’s in the inner city and allows anyone to come in and take books for free. It burned down just before my wedding and I donated every book that I was keeping just because I can’t bear to part with books to them.

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Where Do You Buy Your Books?
Marcia Marques
https://trendysimplelife.blogspot.com/


I get a few free books from publishers and I’m always on the lookout for sales on Amazon to buy Kindle books.  This year I went to the BookCon in NYC and got a lot of free books there also!


A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Where Do You Buy Your Books?


Where do you buy most of your books? Let us know in the comments below.

Want to join in future blog hops organised by Bookish Blog Hops? Join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/127759384464964/

You might also like:

A Bookish Blog Hop: What Are You Currently Reading?

A Bookish Summer Blog Hop: Bookmarks or Dog Ears?

Interview with Clair from Always Need More Books 

My Local Library: A Behind The Scenes Tour




Interview with Clair from Always Need More Books



For this week's book blogger interview I'm joined by Clair from Always Need More Books. Let's give her a warm welcome

Weee GIF from Bethanymota GIFs



Interview with Clair from Always Need More Books


Who are you? Where are you from? and Where do you blog?

My name is Clair and I am a 45-year-old technical librarian from the South Coast of the UK.  I’m originally from the Midlands but have been down by the sea for almost 20 years and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.  My blog can be found here: (https://alwaysneedmorebooks.wordpress.com/)
Why and how do you blog? What made you start?

I started out on Instagram taking pictures of books (https://www.instagram.com/always_need_more_books/) , but not really posting many reviews.  As my account grew, I started getting a little interest from publishers (being sent copies of books and taking part in book tours) and I realised I wanted to take this further.  I always post reviews on Goodreads so it was a step up from that really.

Interview with Clair from Always Need More Books #BookBlogger #BookBlogging
How long have you been blogging?

My first post was 1 January 2018 (it was a New Year’s resolution) so just over 6 months

What advice do you wish you'd had when you started?

I certainly had no idea how much time it would take!  I really care about each review I write so it’s important for me to write a good review.  I also wish I had someone sitting with me as I set up the blog – I think it looks OK but it’s not that intuitive to work out how to create one!

Also, I hadn’t realised how many brilliant blogs there are out there and the time it takes to read posts!

How much time do you devote to blogging each day/week/month?

I reckon I spend a couple of evenings a week writing blog posts, so maybe 4 hrs a week?  But on top of this I take almost daily photos for Instagram and have started attending more bookish events.

How often do you post to your blog?

Whenever I finish a book, so usually twice a week

What motivates you to keep blogging about books?

The positive reaction my posts gets from the people who read them.  It’s cool to know I’m suggesting books to people and they say they want to read them.  I’m all about sharing book love!

Is there something you wish authors knew about your blog or blogging?

How conflicted I feel if I have to be negative about a book.  I always try and look for the positives too…but I hate the thought of an author being sad because of a review I’ve given.  Thankfully, this doesn’t happen often as I know the sort of books I like, and tend to steer clear of the ones I don’t!

What's your most popular blog post?

The most popular one has been about the Folio society’s summer book launch.

Do you write reviews for every book you read?

Yes!

How many book reviews do you normally do a week?

Usually 1 every 4 days – I wish I could read more but with a full-time job and a family, I think I do quite well!

Interview with Clair from Always Need More Books #BookBlogger #BookBlogging


What genres are your favourites?

I like young adult and historical fiction, but I will read most books.  Saying that, I’m not keen on classics and fantasy…

What are you currently reading and why did you choose to read it?

I’m about to start The Weight of aThousand Feathers by Brian Conaghan.  I’ve read another of his (We Come Apart) and this one came highly recommended by a friend.

Do you have any plans for your blog in the future?

I hope to be able to blog more about bookish events and maybe merchandise and I’d like to do the occasional wrap up if I can find the time!

You might also like:

Interview with Megan from Ginger Mom and the Kindle Quest

Interview with Stacey from Whispering Stories

30 Book Blogs To Follow

108 Book Blogs To Follow



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