Friday, June 13, 2014

Feature Friday: Shauna from I Love to Read and Review Books


Hi everyone and welcome to Feature Friday.

I’m doing something a little different with my feature today. Shauna from I Love to Read and Review Books and I are doing a blog swap. I’m interviewing Shauna here, and you can learn 10 Fun Fact about Me by bouncing over to her blog. But before you do that, stick around and get to know Shauna.


I’ve been following I Love to Read and Review Books for some time now. Shauna’s reviews are always helpful and she has a ton of giveaways. Just check out her sidebar to see all the amazing prizes you can win.

Please help me welcome Shauna.

Cherie: How did you get started in blogging about books?
Shauna: For me it was a line-upon-line process. I first started with a Facebook group about my family history. Then I learned about blogging so I did a blog about my family history. After that my friend encouraged me to post reviews of the books I was reading on GoodReads. And because I already loved blogging I added a blog for my book reviews.

Cherie: I like how your blogging experience grew into reviewing books. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
Shauna: I wanted my name to literally say what I do. SO...I love to read and review books. And I love emoticons so I added the " :)" to the end. And there you have it...I Love to Read and Review Books :)

Cherie: What is your favorite part about blogging?
Shauna: The authors I get to meet and correspond with AND my followers. My blog wouldn't be what it is without all of them!

Cherie: So true! What type of books do you enjoy?
Shauna: I read and enjoy a wide variety of genres.

Cherie: How many books do you read in a year?
Shauna: I really do "love to read" and so I read A LOT. Now that I have my blog I read even more than ever before. Last year I actually kept track and I read 280 books. This year I have already read 113. We will see if I can beat last years total.

Cherie: That’s amazing! Has blogging about books become a 'job' for you or is it still fun?
Shauna: I get asked this question a lot. Sometimes I take on more books than I really should in a given month and sometimes life gets a little busy with other things...so my family has to be patient as I try to meet all the "deadlines". But over all I am at a point where I read what I want to read and when I want to read it...so it is still REALLY FUN!

Cherie: That’s awesome. When you love to do something, it should never feel like a job. Do you read the whole book or do you skim parts of it?
Shauna: I choose to read every word often including the front and back of the book, the jacket flaps, the acknowledgments, the introduction, etc. I want to be able to stand by the book and not have any surprise words or scenes show up that I didn’t preview. This takes time, but I feel I owe it to the author and my followers.

Cherie: I’m sure that’s one reason your reviews are so helpful to readers. I know I enjoy them. Do you ever give negative reviews?
Shauna: I have chosen to only post positive reviews. If I start a book and find that it just isn't for me I will simply not review it on my blog.


Try to answer the following questions in five words or less:

Cherie: If you start a book that isn't grabbing your attention, how far into the book will you read before you put it down?
Shauna: A couple of chapters.

Cherie: Secret crush?
Shauna: My husband of 32 years started out as a secret crush.

Cherie: If you had all the money and time in the world, where would your dream vacation be?
Shauna: Hawaii..I LOVE it there.

Cherie: Are you a morning person or an evening person?
Shauna: Morning all the way.

Cherie: Favorite place to read?
Shauna: Curled up on the couch.

Cherie: Do you have any hobbies besides reading and family history?
Shauna: Crocheting.

Cherie: Favorite color?
Shauna: Purple.

Cherie: Do you prefer ebooks, paperbacks or hardcover?
Shauna: I am loving ebooks...didn't think I would.

Cherie: Have you written a book yourself or are you planning to in the future?
Shauna: I am only a blogger, not a book author.

Cherie: Do you read the comments on your blog?
Shauna: Yes and I try to answer them too.

Cherie: What advice would you give to new bloggers?
Shauna: Just start posting.


Shauna, thanks for being here with us today!

Connect with Shauna

Don't forget to bounce over to Shauna's blog to learn 10 Fun Fact about Me.

2 comments:

  1. If I were a faster reader, (and not an author myself) I could see being tempted to have a book-review blog. Thank you for this interview.

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  2. Wow, 280 books in a year is impressive! I'm envious because I'm a slow reader. It's great knowing more about Shauna here.

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