The Friday Six 17

Happy Friday!

Today I'm participating in six blog hops.  You can click on the host links below to find the blogs of others who are participating in each blog hop. If you're a blogger, feel free to join through the host links.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP, hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Question: What is your typical process for writing a book review, from reading the book to publishing the review on your blog?

My response: If I'm reading it on my Kindle, I highlight points I want to write about in my review. Sometimes I add a note with the highlight. This is one reason I love my Kindle device. I can highlight and jot down notes directly on the page without marking up a physical book. The Kindle gives a list of highlights and notes in each book, so it's easy to find them when I'm done. If I'm reading a physical book, I take pictures of the sections with my phone. If it's an audiobook, then I jot down notes in the list app on my phone as I'm listening.

After finishing the book, I skim reviews to see what other people thought of it. It rarely changes my opinion of a book, but it does help me know if there are points I may have missed when I took notes. It could be something that, while reading the book, I thought of mentioning, but for whatever reason, didn't highlight it. Note that I don't read reviews until AFTER I've finished the book (unless it's a book that is very different than what I usually read - then I skim reviews before reading it). I usually wait until after I've read it because I don't want to go into it being swayed by someone else's opinion or risk reading spoilers. If I'm interested in reading a book, I'm going to read it no matter what the reviews say (especially if it's a cozy mystery).

When I write my review on my blog after reading or listening to the book, I start by sharing a very brief summary. I may also write about why I chose to read the book. I try to avoid spoilers. I usually don't even mention who the victim was. I try to give just enough information so readers get a general idea of what the book is about.

After that, I focus my review on characters, setting, and the mystery (since most of what I review are cozy mysteries). I write about how much I liked (or didn't like) the characters and setting (and why), and I write about how strong the mystery was for me. If romance is involved, then I write about that without giving away any spoilers. Then I focus on other elements that might be unique to that book.

Finally, I write about whether or not I recommend the book. For blog reviews, I usually focus on books I like, so I've never not recommended a book on a blog review. I then go through my notes and make sure I've covered everything I wanted to. The next steps are to proofread it, post a picture of the cover, and see how it looks in the preview on my blog. Once I'm satisfied with it, I publish it or set it to publish on a certain date. After my review is published, I copy and paste it on sites such as Goodreads, Amazon, The StoryGraph, BookBub, Barnes & Noble, etc.

If it's a review that I'm only posting on sites like Goodreads and Amazon, and not on my blog, then I just write a few sentences about why I did or didn't enjoy the book.

FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower

FRIDAY 56, hosted by My Head is Full of Books

BOOK BEGINNINGS, hosted by Rose City Reader

Today's excerpts are from the Kindle format of Chocolate Bunny Betrayal (Holiday Cozy Mystery 5), by Tonya Kappes.

Here is the beginning:

"This is all wrong." Mama scraped the side of the big pot that sat atop one of the many stoves in the Incubator, a kitchen that amateur chefs and bakers used in the back of the Freedom Diner.

And here is an excerpt from 56%:

"Thank you. I took the mug and turned back to the whiteboard. "I wonder if our intruder saw the board? In any case, I'm going to take the cookies the Village Council ordered from Brewing Beans to the bunny tryouts this morning.

I'm almost finished listening to this book, so I'm planning to post my review next week. I'll also give a very brief review on my Sunday Post this weekend.

FELINE FRIDAY, hosted my messymimi's meanderings

The girls celebrated their third birthday yesterday. They're growing up so fast!

NATURE FRIDAY, hosted by Living the LLB Life

This is Roxie. She's one of four goats that were born on my birthday. Two sets of twins were born at the local farm up the road on my birthday this year! I got to hold Roxie's sister, Opal. 

Fun fact: When Fiona was at the shelter, her name was Roxie. (Bell's name was Rosie.). I changed their names because I wanted them to be named after two specific fairies.