BBAW Interview Swap is one of the features which I most look forward to but for some reasons I didn't get to hear from my partner. Needless to say, I was disappointed and I was prepared to post one or two of my previous BBAW Interview Swaps for today's post but Julia, a dear friend, offered to be my swap partner just yesterday so here you go.
Melody: What made you decided to start a book blog and what are your opinions of a good book review?
Julia: In my other reading group, we were doing the 50 Books Challenge. We challenge ourselves to see if we can read 50 books before the end of the year. It then became our tradition to do it every year. I had to find a place where I can record all the books I have read for each month and I thought the blog would be great place to start. I also want to remember details for each book I read, otherwise I won't remember what the books are about and that when I started to review books, but I did it for my own personal use only. Then later I decided to review books for bloggers. Most of the books I reviewed are bought from me. I never get them from publishers. My opinions of a good book review is a well thought out written reviews with good writing depth that gives me ideas and lay down of the story without spoilers (sometime spoilers help) and good judgment; or one that can make me sway and see someone’s opinion in another light and perspective.
M: What is your policy when reviewing books? And would you review every book you have read?
J: I really don't have a policy on reviewing books except that I review books that I bought mostly. And I try to write my thoughts in a positive but nicest way as I can. If at anytime I know that there something in a book that have bothered me or made me mad, I will try to explain it in a positive way. Or I just don't review it at all. I don't mind getting books from authors for review but I would like to be able to write my own reviews the way I want to. I don't want to boo boo my words unless I think it is necessarily to. I don’t always review all the books I read but I do review most of them. I'm slow in posting my reviews these days so sometimes a book I read last month (or few months ago) will be reviewed later; and some of my older reviews are in draft stage that I have yet to post it on my blog but I do try my best to post my reviews as fast as I can. *grin*
M: I noticed you read many romantic suspense and contemporary/erotic romance; could you tell us what are your top 5 favourite books of all times?
J: Romantic Suspense is my favorite genres. I read that genre the most, more than I would read contemporary romance/erotic romance now these days. Even though I am more open to read other genes, it always comes down to these three genes which I read more of. If anyone knows me, then they would know it is hard for me to choose a top 5 favorite books of all time from one genre. I have favorites from different genres. So if it is okay, I would give you my top favorite books of all times from different genres. Below are my list but most are first book from the series or the first book I read by that author. There are a lot more, but these are my favorite books of all times: :)
- All the Queen Men by Linda Howard
- Black Ice by Anne Stuart
- Naked in Death by JD Robb
- Sanctuary by Nora Roberts
- Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
- Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
- Behind Closed Door by Shannon Mckenna
- Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Claire
M: Onto a non-bookish issue, what do you most enjoy besides reading?
J: Listening to music and singing/dancing. I know I may not have the talent but I just love to do these things, because it relaxes me. I also enjoy taking pictures and scrapbook them. I have one scrapbook album done of my two darling nieces but there are also plenty of other unfinished albums to do. And if I am not reading I would be watching TV of my favorite shows or movies. I can count how many repeat movies/Asian drama movie I had watched over the years *grin*. And last but not least, I love to go book shopping with a nice drink from Starbucks! Can't live without books in my life *grin*.
M: And finally, just out of fun, would you read a badly written book but is highly entertaining, or a well written book with a boring theme?
J: I think I would rather read a badly written but a highly entertaining book because I read books to be entertained and for pleasure. I want to be invested in entertaining characters and plots to keep me interested in the story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you, Julia, for these great questions and not to mention being my swap partner at the last minute! I really appreciate them all! Finally, thanks for being a wonderful friend to me!
To read my answers to Julia’s questions, please hop over to Julia's site here. Happy BBAW!
Related post:
BBAW: Community (Day 1)
Posts
I'm glad to be able to help a great friend like you :) And it was a fun interview swap, learning new things about you, too. Happy BBAW to you and everyone whose participates :)
I'm glad this worked out otherwise we would have missed another good interview swap. I've seen Julia's comments on your blog before and have also explored her blog one time. Since she reads a lot of romance, I would love to get to know her blog better.
I always love hearing about how people came to blogging! And though I'm not very good at it, I enjoy scrapbooking, too. Nice interview!
Melody, that really irritates me that your partner signed up for a swap then didn't follow through! Grrr. I'm so glad you found Julia. This was a great interview..nice job ladies!
I'm glad the swap worked out Mel. Nice post :) I like that last question about the entertaining badly written book versus the well written boring book.
I can't sing either, but I sure do put on a serious concert when I'm driving! :)
Hi Melody, sorry to know that your interview partner bailed out. I'm glad Julia stood in for you. Go, Julia! Great interview, this. I am really slow with my book reviews too and not exactly proud of that. Haha!