Book Blogger Confessions # 5

Book Blogger Confessions is a new blog meme hosted by Tiger of All Consuming Books and Karen of For What It's Worth. It is a weekly meme in which bloggers can vent share about their blogging "problems" and experiences.

Question of the Week:
Memes. Love em or hate em? 
How many do you participate in? Which kinds do you like best? 
Do you feel like there are too many?

To be honest, when I started blogging last November, I did not know memes exist much less know what they stand for or mean. But in the short months that followed, I could honestly say these weekly features on hundreds of blogs, made the blogging world much more exciting and  it provided a lot of ways to interact with fellow bloggers.

Case in point, Follow Friday, a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This has been so successful that even fairly new bloggers get noticed. It's like a rite of passage or something. I, for one, benefited on these awesome meme.  I increased my blog stats and meet new bloggers and friends. It's a win-win situation, folks.

Another meme I'm doing is this, Book Blogger Confessions. I just love doing this every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month because I could speak out about something that is relevant to what I'm doing here in the first place. It's a meaningful experience because I talked with other bloggers and learn from their posts.

But there are a lot of other memes out there. I love to do them all but these memes, while flashy and fun, can sort of pull you down. For starters, I do believe that a blog is first and foremost, a place to review books. So if your blog is 80% memes and only 20% book reviews, then that's really something to think about. Like always, there's got to be some balance.

How about you? What memes do you participate in? Which kinds do you enjoy best? 

Share your thoughts down below, I'd love to know!

Happy Monday!

Don't forget to check out my Comeback Giveaway! :)

Book Blogger Confessions # 4

Book Blogger Confessions is a new blog meme hosted by Tiger of All Consuming Books and Karen of For What It's Worth. It is a weekly meme in which bloggers can vent share about their blogging "problems" and experiences.

Question of the week: 
Comments. The holy grail of blogging success!
What type of posts do you leave comments on?
How do you try to encourage more comments on your blog?
Do you respond to people who leave comments on your posts?
How do you handle negative/spam comments?
Do you use captcha?

I think I am speaking for all bloggers when I say that comments are like being given a Wonka golden ticket in our own versions of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It always makes our day because it means that not only someone bothered reading our painstakingly thought-out and edited blog posts but we also managed to get you to think and comment.

There are blogs that I regularly read and comment on. One of their styles was at the end of the post, they always leave questions for thought. I think that really works in getting people to think and share their minds. I especially love commenting on TBR piles and WoW's posts.

I also have favorite blogs I always visit. Have you been to Cuddlebuggery? Because if you haven't then you're missing some of the funniest, wackiest, bluntest, snarkiest, most brilliant posts I've ever read. I bow to these 2 genius ladies. Their author interviews are so original and to die for.  They can be brutal but when they give the heads-up in a review, you just gotta take their word for it and go wild with anticipation.

How about The Midnight Garden? i swim for oceans? The Nocturnal Library? These guys are amazing reviewers. I always read their opinions on books because their reviews just blew me away.


I hope you do get to visit those blogs, because if not, you're missing out big time. Now back to the topic. I always respond to comments when I can. That's why I really wish Blogger has the same comment features that Wordpress has so that when I respond, the commenter can get a notification about it.

How to encourage comments? Reach out first. You can't just expect people to flock into your blog without even trying to exist somewhere. For instance, I always visit the blogs those who comment and visit my blog. I think it's just common etiquette. Also, try to be more interactive. Involve your readers, talk to them, ask questions and their opinions, and I think it really helps if you sound sincere and/or really excited in your blog posts.


Quick fact: I never received a spam nor a negative comment in life. Or at least ever since I started blogging. It could be because no one really cares about my opinion or they are scared away by my intensity or my honesty. Honestly, I do think it's the former. Even the most-loved reviewer gets them. I actually want a troll experience just for kicks.

Kidding aside, one way to turn off commenters is having your Captcha on.  I really like to teach you how to turn it off, but as of now I still couldn't get the hang of this new Blogger interface, so I might just make it worst.


Anyway, for bloggers, please turn off your Captcha. It's really a pain. When I started blogging, my Captcha was on, and that's when they're so much easier to read and I never received a spam. But when they changed it to the "new" infuriating two-non meaningful codes, it raised a lot of eyebrows so I turned it off. Up till now, no spam incident. Nada. Nil. Zil. Trust me. If you want comments, let the commenting experience be stress-free. I, for one, will still comment even if it's on but I cannot speak for the others.

How about you? 

Do you have favorite bloggers you always comment on?

Do you have Captcha nightmares as well?

Comment down below and tell me what you think. 

Happy Monday!

Don't forget to check out my Comeback Giveaway! :)

Book Blogger Confessions # 3

Book Blogger Confessions is a new blog meme hosted by Tiger of All Consuming Books and Karen of For What It's Worth. It is a weekly meme in which bloggers can vent share about their blogging "problems" and experiences. 

Question of the Week:
Have you ever had reading/blogging slumps? 
How do you work through them or work around them?

I rarely get reading/blogging slumps. It was more like no-reading-time slumps, so when I finally get to have a free time to read a book, I devoured it like there's no tomorrow. If ever I have a reading slump, it could be because I have tons of books to be reviewed. For some reason, I can't truly enjoy a book knowing that I have gazillions of pending reviews to be done. So now I make it a point to at least make a book review draft of my latest finished read before I pick up another book and it did help a lot. 

What about you? Have you experienced the dreaded reading/blogging slumps? How did you handled it? Feel free to share in the comment section below or link up with your own Book Blogger Confessions.

Happy Monday!

Don't forget to check out my Giveaway Extravaganza!

Book Blogger Confessions # 1

Book Blogger Confession is a new blog meme hosted by Tiger of All Consuming Books and Karen of For What It's Worth. It is a weekly meme in which bloggers can vent share their blogging "problems".

Question of the Week:
How has the "job" of blogging changed your reading habits. 
Both pro and con.

From the moment I started blogging I knew it wouldn't be easy. For starters, you have to get your head around HTML and create at least an acceptable design before you introduce yourself into the blogging world. I can definitely say that my reading habits has changed because of blogging. For the better or for worse? Let's find out.

THE PRO: More reading buddies and discovering more books!

1. You get to meet new friends who are book lovers like you. I've never been surrounded with people who share the same passion for books. So I have to keep all this bookish ideas inside. They know I read but we never talk about it. I consider it a bliss that I have my own place now to share what I love and have others to appreciate it and talk with. And that's one of my motivation to read more.

2. I discover wonderful books because of blogging. I've got the chance to read books I may never find out on my own,  because book bloggers and friends recommended them. 

THE CONS: Reviewing problems and a case of OCD

I read lesser and slower  and it affected my over-all read last year which can be attributed to the following:

1. My inability to accept that nothing can be perfect. I spend an hour or two just to finish a single post because everything has to be uniform to my previous posts. Everything has to be aligned. No unwanted spaces. I'm learning now that it's OK not to be perfect all the time and it somehow alleviated my Type A personality tendencies.

2. I don't know if it's only me but reading a book knowing that I have to review it later, somehow dampens my reading mood.  I'm not really sure why but maybe it's the anxiousness that comes with reviewing.

3. I have to be a little bit professional here. I also have to take notes all the time so I can have a basis for my review.

4. I spend way more time ogling at my blog than reading. I don't know if it's because I just started and a little bit excited with all the comments popping up or it will become a trend. I seriously hope not.

So it's obvious that the negative effect outweighs the positive ones. But will I stop reviewing to get my old reading habits back? No. Seriously, I think that I just have to find the balance between blogging and reading. I love doing both of them and I wouldn't sacrifice the other one so I could continue doing the other.

What about you? How has this blogging business affected your reading habits? And is it in a good way or a bad way or both? Feel free to share in the comment section below or link up with your own Book Blogger Confessions.

Happy Monday!

Don't forget to check out my Giveaway Extravaganza!