Blogger Spotlight Tour

Today I am participating in the Blogger Spotlight Tour, hosted by The Closet Library and This Girl Reads A Lot! I am thrilled to be interviewing Carmen from Shelf Space Needed!! Check out the interview below, then swing by her page! You can follow her on Facebook HERE or on Twitter with the username @Butterfly_Ghost!

1.                   Tell us about yourself and what your blog is all about!

Hi there! My name is Carmen and I’m an English literature major from Switzerland who should be working on her master thesis and is reading way too many books instead 😉 I read mostly YA but also the occasional adult book. On the blog, I share my reviews and occasional discussion or other bookish posts.

2.                   What made you want to be a blogger?

I lurked around blogs for more than a year before I started blogging myself! I loved what I saw of the community and wanted to be part of it, to exchange my thoughts about books with other people. Also (not going to lie) I love having to privilege to sometimes get to read a book before it comes out 😉

3.                   How long have you been blogging?

It’s been about a year and 3 months. Wow, it doesn’t feel that long at all o.O

4.                   Favorite and least favorite genre and book.

Favorite genres: fantasy, paranormal, steampunk, historical (especially with fantasy), some horror/creepy stuff, the occasional contemporary

Least favorite genres: crime, romance (romance as the main plot, not mixed with something else like paranormal), memoir, most non-fiction unless it’s for my studies

Favorite book: Oh god how could I choose only one?! Um. I really love The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins and The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. But there are tons and tons more! Like Melissa Marr and Rachel Vincent’s books.

 Least favorite book: this is actually hard because I tend to only read books I’m sure I’ll enjoy. But one that I won and turned out to pretty much hate was Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. Don’t kill me, Travis fangirls!

5.                   What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

One that had a huge impact on me was Divergent by Veronica Roth. I know, I’m late to the party… A less well-known choice that I also really enjoyed was In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters.

6.                   What’s the best advice you could give to new bloggers?

Be honest with your reviews and write them in the way that is right for you. Pick a few memes to participate in, then comment on as many blogs as possible – they’ll return the favor and you’ll gain your first followers. Also, always be nice and professional to other bloggers, authors and publishers. Make your blog easy to navigate and don’t clutter the sidebars. Make it easy for others to find your email/twitter/facebook/goodreads accounts.

7.                   Name the book you are dying to read next.

Unhinged by A.G. Howard. Why is January so far away?!

8.                   Ebook or hardcopy? Kindle or Nook?

I still prefer hardcopy, but I have a kindle fire and I buy quite a bunch of ebooks. All my ARCs are usually digital, and I also buy books buy indie authors as ebooks. Also, it’s hard to resist freebies.

9.                   Name one book that you didn’t think you’d like, but were surprised by how much you ended up liking it.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Because of the topic I was very reluctant to read it. I’d bought it secondhand and let it collect dust on my shelf for about half a year. Then I read Gayle’s novel Just One Day and loved her writing! I read the rest of her books within the week.

10.               What is the first thing that draws you to a book? (i.e. cover, jacket blurb, notable author, reviews, etc)

Covers get my attention, but the description on the back is what makes me buy or not buy it. Of course if I’ve loved the authors’ other books, I’m more likely to take a chance. Same if it got great reviews. But the description is what makes or breaks it for me.