Blogger interview: Candace's Book Blog

Today come and meet Candace from Candace's Book Blog. Check out her blog - you won't be sorry!  But first let's get to the interview :)

Candace, please tell us a little about your blog.
My blog is a bit eclectic.  A large portion is young adult, but I usually do one children's book a week and I have adult books thrown in occasionally as well.  I love paranormal and urban fantasy and have several adult series I'm working my way through.

How did it all start?   And how long has it been?
It started as a place to keep track of what I'm reading.  That was two years ago December 4th!  I started it right before I had my baby and once I had him I was too busy to blog for his first year of life.  Then once he turned one I started again and it's since then that I've been completely obsessed.

Happy blogoversary!! 

How much time and energy do you put into your blog?
Too much! LOL.  I usually have 1-2 posts everyday.  I have a panic attack if I don't have something to post.  I'm also constantly coming up with ideas for features and activities and don't really have enough time to even do half of them.

Do you enjoy doing memes and if so, which ones can be found on your blog?
I love memes!  I do In My Mailbox every Sunday and I often do Teaser Tuesday.  I used to do It's Monday!  What are you reading?  Just to have a plan for my reading.  But I never seem to have time to prepare the post so it hasn't been happening much.  I also do Saturday Situation, which isn't a meme but Lori from Pure Imagination and I do it as a place for people to link their neglected posts and their giveaways.  It works great for me because I feel like I can find more reviews of books I've been curious about.

How would you describe your review style and how do you handle reviews when you didn't enjoy the book?
My style...  Hmmm... I seem to change up things every little bit, but mostly I want people to know how a book made me feel.  That's the most important thing.  I want my reviews to show my personality so people really feel like they are getting an honest and heartfelt review, as well.  Once in awhile a book comes along that I just can't seem to write a good review for.  Sometimes it's even for books I really liked.  I just don't find the right words that show how it made me feel.  I hate that.  When I review a book I didn't really care for I usually procrastinate in writing it.  But I just try to not criticize the author, everyone has a different writing style and everyone has a different taste.  What I like others may hate and vice versa.  I do usually review everything I read though. 

What can we expect from you in the future?
Well, more review of course!  But the beginning of December is my 2 year blogiversary  and I'm having a massive giveaway.  I'm trying to get people to donate to Pine Ridge Reservation (books, gift cards and cash-via paypal) so I'll be giving lots of extra entries to those who do that.  You can find out more about Pine Ridge and their lack of libraries and books here.   I'm also thinking of doing more weeks or months focused on specific subjects.  Like faery week, etc.  Still not sure about that though.  I also have monthly giveaways from Southwest Sky Jewelry and book giveaways, of course.

What advise would you give new book bloggers out there?
Figure out what works for you and do it!  You don't have to blog everyday, but I know I prefer to follow, and read, a blog that has regular reviews.  If I go to a blog and I see that a person is only doing memes and no book reviews then I'm not likely to follow them.  But to each their own, I know that's what I prefer.  Also, get rid of word verification unless you actually have a spam problem AND please make your comments a pop up window!  This makes it so I can visit a blog and go through the entire page of posts and commenting on each one, without having to have the page load over and over.  I hate that!  And I will usually only comment once on blogs like that.  Wordpress might be different, but I know blogger has it that way.  Oh, and make sure your blog loads quickly.  If there are too many widgets and whatnot your blog may load too slowly. 

Thank you for your time today, Candace - and thank you for your advise.  Surely something to think about!

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