Wanted: Blogs for my Google Reader

I want your blog to be part of my Google Reader!!

Recently, I cleaned out my Google Reader. Mostly, I stopped subscribing or following blogs that haven't had a new post in more than three months. So now I want to fill my reader with all new blogs to check out. That's where you come in!

I am looking for blogs that:

(1) have new posts regularly
(2) have book reviews
(3) cover mostly contemporary and women's fiction (I don't mind a little chick-lit or YA too).

If your blog meets the above criteria, then I would love to follow your blog! Please leave the name of your blog as well as the URL in the comments section. Thanks so much for your help and HAPPY BLOGGING!!

Do you use Google Analytics?

I feel very behind the times. A few weeks ago, I (finally) installed Google Analytics on my blog. It only took me three times to figure it out (and I strangely consider myself tech savvy). So now the results come in everyday and I wonder how to use the information that it gathers.

How do you use the information from Google Analytics? Have you set goals based on the data? If so, what are they?

Right now the only thing I really understand is how many visitors I receive on a daily basis and the average amount of time a visitor stays. That's pretty much it. Oh, and I like the feature that shows which content is viewed the most.

As a reviewer do you use this information to receive review copies? Do you report this information to anyone -- publishers, publicists, or your own readers?

Let me know in the comments section or send me an email at jedziedz(at)hotmail(dot)com.

What is your all time favorite book?

I know, I know -- It's like asking a mom to pick a favorite kid. It's really hard. Yet, once I sat and thought for a minute or two, it easily came to me. I guess you could break it down by genre. What is your favorite classic? Favorite historical romance or literary fiction? But that would take a long time and I am quite sure I wouldn't have a book for every genre.

So my pick? It is definitely Persuasion by Jane Austen. I could read Persuasion time and time again (in fact I have) and never get bored with it. I absolutely love Anne. She is the perfect heroine (okay, okay maybe not perfect -- she can be a bit of a doormat) who picks the perfect gentleman in Captain Wentworth (okay, okay he is not perfect either -- but very close). I love the family running away from the collectors, the hypochondriac sister and her sweet country in-laws. I love all the talk about the Navy and their trip to Lyme. I love the scandal in Bath and (of course) the perfect ending.

All right! Enough gushing! What is your all time favorite book?

When do you throw in the towel?

I am currently reading a book that is HUGE, very buzz worthy, and most bloggers are raving about it. Yet, I am struggling to get through this massive tome and am only 1/3 of the way through. When do I throw in the towel? When do you make the decision to stop reading?

Normally if a book doesn't catch me in the first 100 pages, I call it quits. There are two exceptions to this rule: 1. the book is for book club and 2. I accepted the book for review. I feel that I need to make a concerted effort to read the novel a book club member picked out because I would want them to make the same effort for a book I chose. With review books, I feel they should be read cover to cover because I made a commitment to read and review a particular novel.

When do you say enough is enough? Do you have any reading rules?

Did Everybody Get This Email?

I received an email from one of the publicists over at Viking/Penguin Publicity. Have you seen this?

COME MEET BESTSELLING MYSTERY AUTHOR
TANA FRENCH

. . . WELL, AT LEAST MEET HER VIRTUALLY VIA
A LIVE ONLINE CHAT ON JULY 2O AT 1:30 PM ET

Penguin Books invites you and your readers to join the celebrated mystery author, Tana French, for a chat at the Penguin Water Cooler on Tuesday, July 20th at 1:30 PM ET, hosted here on the Penguin USA website!

I won't be participating because I will be at work (and I haven't read her new book). Will you be there?

Are you an organized blogger?

What kind of blogger are you: do you schedule your posts ahead of time or do you fly by the seat of your pants?

Personally, I post on the days when I can. I very rarely schedule posts ahead of time, unless I have extra time during the day to crank out a few extra posts for days I don't blog (like the weekend). I have a tentative organized schedule in my head: Tuesdays/Thursdays I post reviews if I am done with a book and Monday/Wednesday/Fridays I do memes. On the weekends I post interesting books I have found around the web or in magazines or sometimes a discussion post (but I rarely post on the weekends).

So what about you? What is your blogging organizational style like?

Disliking the Main Character?

As readers we all come across it -- a main character that we dislike or even avidly hate. So what do you do then? Do you give up on the book or do you push through in the hope of finding something about the character that is redeemable?

Personally, I am more of a plot driven reader. If you can give me a solid plot that moves along, then I am a happy reader no matter how awful the characters are. There are characters that I have disliked or even been indifferent too, but still enjoyed the book. Case in point, A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick -- horrible characters that do horrible things. I absolutely loved it. Another case in point, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld -- doormat of a woman marries a ridiculous man who becomes president. I enjoyed this book as well. (Huh, I just noticed that the word 'wife' is in both titles. How interesting.)

Is there a book where you dislike the characters but still enjoy the book? Do you stop reading a book if you do not like the main character?