Day 14, 15, 16 prompt #BookBLogwrimo2015

Prompt:

14 – What role do books play in your life?
15 – Author Buddies 
16 – Blog Tours, independent reviewing 

I'm playing catch up  as you can see, I had a very busy weekend and couldn't log in and write these so please excuse the clutter!

Day 14: Books make up a huge part of who I am. I learned to discover various topics: history, science, education, myths and legends through my reading as a young girl. My curiosity and love of education was really influenced by my local library and all the wonders it held. I learned about the world through these books and they became my teacher! I have lived many lives thanks to these books and have realized a lot about my likes and dislikes through what I read. 

Day 15: I currently do not have an author buddy! :( Not yet other than the usual J.K. Rowlings-Pottermore site!!!

Day 16: I have yet to participate in a blog tour. I tried earlier this year but for some reason the blog tour didn't come through. I am very excited to participate in one this December and am trying to become more involved in blog tours. I typically review books on my own schedule. Months ago I did too much and ended up burning out because I did not have a schedule for reading and reviewing. This time around I am taking my time and really respecting my limits. 

Book Review: The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician's First Year

Matt McCarthy

Blurb:

In medical school, Matt McCarthy dreamed of being a different kind of doctor—the sort of mythical, unflappable physician who could reach unreachable patients. But when a new admission to the critical care unit almost died his first night on call, he found himself scrambling. Visions of mastery quickly gave way to hopes of simply surviving hospital life, where confidence was hard to come by and no amount of med school training could dispel the terror of facing actual patients.

Overall:

I picked up this book because I love reading about health and all things medical. However I did not finish this book because I did get bored halfway in. I'm not saying this is a bad book in any way it was just not interesting to me. The book is well written and shows the very knowledgeable background that the author has. I'm sure other medical students would understand it better than a lay person.

The Bad:

I found the first few chapters alright however I found myself getting bored easily. It may have been all the extra details I didn't care much about but I couldn't find it in myself to finish it. 

The Good:

The overall account of an intern and the process of a student becoming a master at his art is interesting. I do feel that this book is very insightful and many people will appreciate the knowledge it gives readers. I like that the author did put a lot of extra details in it however to me it wasn't at all what I would have wanted. In a way it is understandable, a lot of other readers might truly appreciate this book more than me. I originally picked this book up without really looking at the description. 

★★☆☆☆

2 stars: It was OK

[Did not finish]

Recommend:
For readers who DO have and want a behind the scene look at the training of their doctors.
Have some knowledge of health and medical terms.

Day 13 prompt: #BookBLogwrimo2015

I can honestly say I have not written many negative reviews. I try to only review books I am interested in and only if it was absolutely horrid will I go on and abandon it. Thankfully many of the reviews I have done are not bad. I am very honest about my reviews however I understand once in a while you will come across a very bad book.

Day 13 

#FeistyFriday

I try to give a detailed explanation of why I wrote a bad review to the author beforehand. It can be a little scary because the book you've just read is their baby. Many authors feel very protective of their work and often are in complete denial that anything is wrong with their book. I try and highlight the positive points about the book and explain my recommendation on how to strengthen it. Thankfully like I said before I have not written many negative reviews however if I were to come across an angry author due to my review I may tweak my book reviewing policy to become more strict.

I think it is important for the reviewer to be honest because as a reader you don't want to be deceived into thinking that something is better than it really is. I also think it is important to keep the author in the loop don't surprise them with a horrid review and then not give an explanation as to why. Allow the author to explain a little about why things may be so bad. It could just be an older version, bad formatting etc. 

You never know until you cross that bridge I guess I will see what happens when I come across this situation more often.

Book review: The Bride Wore Brains

Blurb:

Claire's perfect wedding takes a horrific turn when her guests start turning into zombies. It's up to her best friend, Kat and a motley crew of wisecracking misfits to save the day

Overall:

I enjoyed this book, it was funny, interesting and was all about zombies which I love! I love the take on the setting, a wedding. This book reminded me of a scene from the video game Left for Dead-the passing in which the survivors come across a wedding ceremony interrupted by zombies. The bride is actually sobbing in the middle of the dance floor and if the survivors turn off the music she actually tries to attack them (she turned into a zombie witch). This book really made me think about that and think about what would happen if a zombie outbreak were to happen on a day meant to be one of the happiest days of your life.

The Bad:

The author did a good job with the overall story and tried to explain the scenes and characters as best as possible. However I would have liked to see a little more personality from the characters. It seemed like the characters were all the same stereotypical bunch: the douche, the queen bee, the people pleaser, the rebel, the pothead etc. Like many indie works there were a few typo errors and the format looked a little off. 

The Good: 

This was a good book, although it did have a few errors and formatting issues it is nothing major that a reader can't get passed by. The story is engaging and pulls the reader in. As the reader I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I was excited when reading and looking forward to when the actual outbreak started. I really liked the length of the book, it was short and sweet just how I like my stories and to the point. This book really sets itself up for a series, I personally would pick up any prequels or sequels. I also liked the prologue and the last scene of the book! This is most definitely a book I'd come back to.

Rating:

★★★★☆

4 stars: I really liked it

Recommend as/for: 

A fun read

Zombie lovers

Readers who don't want to read a long story

Amazon

Goodreads

Day 12 prompt: #BookBlogWriMo2015

Today's prompt was a little difficult to answer because many of my reviews are done in person after my small book blogging break. My absolute favorite book besides all the Harry Potter ones is East by Edith Pattou.

I always recommend this book to whoever asks for a new book. I love this story, it really helped my love of reading grow as a teenager. However if I had to choose on a review I enjoyed writing it would have to be my review for I Kill Monsters. It just so happens that the second book has come out this week and I am currently working on reading and reviewing the sequel.

Day 12:

#ThrowbackThursday

I really enjoyed reading this book and ended up choosing it after a massive blood of requests came pouring in. I really liked the story and the overall idea of monster hunters tracking down and having an entire guideline of what to do and not do with certain creatures. Like I mentioned before many of my reviews have been word of mouth and casual. I always recommend East because of the beauty of its story. The author of East put a lot of time and effort in the research behind it and the overall story is beautiful.

Book Bloggers Group

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I will add a list of bloggers here for others to see and check out!

For those that fill out the form I will add that information here too!

Day 11 prompt: #bookblogwrimo2015

I have set up my new Goodreads account and am connecting with other book bloggers. Let's make a network of fun and involved members who love books and writing! I actually thread bumped into one of the creators of #bookblogwrimo yesterday, it was nice to know that person uses Reddit too! ♥

Day 11:

The Mind of a Book Blogger

Interesting question, I stopped book blogging a few months ago to not only focus on my writing but to take a step back and really look at what I wanted for this blog. I made a few mistakes in the beginning and started to feel overwhelmed a bit. However although I wasn't putting up posts I was still reading and recommending books to friends and family. I decided to jump back into book blogging with a new plan and clear vision as to what I wanted out of this blog and its community of bloggers. 

What goes on in my mind? I am constantly thinking on and on about what to write next and often think back to a few ideas I would like to see written by other writers. In my mind goes a trail of ideas about what I want to do next whether it be in reading or writing. I have also been thinking a lot about #bookcon and heading over to Chicago next year for it. 

I am also thinking about ways to organize my posts, ideas, stories etc. The best way I can explain the mind of a book blogger is a bubble cloud filled with words and scribbles.