This or That? #100 … The Finale!

This or That? #100

This is the final instalment to the awesome’s Bookmark Chronicles questions for This or That? So let’s make it a good one!

This week Bookmark Chronicles (and myself) would like to know?:

What do you value most in a novel?

Quality writing ~ Character development ~ World building ~ Logical endings ~ Relatable characters ~ Real life situations ~ Storytelling

Something else?

(You must pick one)

This is such a hard question, and yet such a good question at the same time. Sometimes a lot of all of those ingredients makes for a great story and can also make for a bad story if they don’t all *mesh*

I am going to have to go with though, the character development. A good character can pull anyone in and it shows at the same time good writing skills. I think that no matter how bad a plot may be or even a bad story-line. A good character who develops over time and can be shown to “human” and relatable, can sometimes all you need to have. How else could you explain stories like Twilight and 50 shades. They have some terrible plots and endings (Twilight is my most hated type ending, where it’s “like a dream” and people just ‘wake up’).

Although it probably sounds like relatable characters, I don’t know how many people can relate to characters all the time, especially Vampires. However I feel like when people grow and change, and it’s written well in a story, people will relate better. Not everyone relate to a “Vampire” but they can relate to the feelings and how they change and how people change with different situations (for example).

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This or That? #92

This or That? #92

This week Bookmark Chronicles (and myself) would like to know:

If you’re in the bookstore looking for a new book to read, which of these would play the biggest role in whether or not you purchase a book:

Cover ~ Description ~ Author

(must choose just one)

Too be honest what would bring me over would probably be the author or the cover and if it catches my eyes…BUT…saying that, it would be the description for me whether or not I would purchase a book. A book can be pretty and the author might possibly be a favourite of mine, but if the description doesn’t catch me or bores me for one reason or another, I am probably not going to buy it.

This or That? #91

This or That? #91

This week Bookmark Chronicles would like to know:

If your favorite author released a surprise novel today, how likely are you to buy it?

Buying it for sure ~ Very likely ~ Somewhat likely ~ Not likely – Not buying it

I am totally buying it!

Especially at the moment, I was sooooooo lucky this Christmas and my brother bought me a Dymocks $100 gift certificate. I’ve already bought a couple of books with it, and I couldn’t definitely afford another one. Since it’s already been my birthday and it’s not close enough to ask for it for Christmas, I would definitely be getting it when it comes out. I don’t think that I could not buy it to be honest,lol

This or That? #90

This or That? #90

This week Bookmark Chronicles would like to know:

This week I want to know if you have ever read books by any of the following authors:

• Danielle Steele
• Harlan Coben
• James Patterson
• Nora Roberts
• John Grisham
• David Baldacci

I have to be honest I have never really read a Danielle Steele book, I’m just not that into pure romance novels. I can completely respect though that she has done really well for herself though, it’s fantastic. I am just personally not interested in romance type novels.

I have mainly read James Patterson novels, as crime and how people think really do intrigue me and why someone may commit the crimes that they do. Which probably makes me sound a little creepy. If you read James Patterson books you can probably guess that I am mostly interested in his Alex Cross books/series, and that series of books includes “Along Came a Spider”. Which you might have heard of since it was then made into a movie which has starred Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry as the detective, in different films.

This or That? #85

This or That? #85

This week Bookmark Chronicles (and myself) would like to know:

Would you recommend the book that you are currently reading? (Or the one that you most recently finished if you haven’t picked up a new one).

Let me know what it is and why or why not.

I am actually currently reading two book at the same time. Which I know is a really bad thing to do and I will probably end up reading one over the other, because it’ll get too complicated and annoying otherwise.

I’ll go with the one that I am mainly reading at the moment and will probably be getting through it quicker.

Hindsight by Melanie Casey

I would highly recommend this book if you like the supernatural with a bit of the crime thrown in, just for good measure, like I do. The main character feels what the victims felt, all of the emotions, when they were killed. So she has become a recluse, but she does help the police out from time to time. Of course this is a journey of not only Cassandra, the main character, but also it seem to be a journey for the police officer/detective that is working with her.  The other thing I like about it is at the moment, there haven’t been any real “dull” moments so far”. The book just keeps going.

This or That? #83

This or That? #38

This week Bookmark Chronicles would like to know (and I would like to know as well)

Where do you get most of your books from?

Physical bookstores – Online – Secondhand book sales – Gifts – Book subscription boxes

(Can only give one answer!)

These days I buy a lot of my books online. I like to read the reviews of the book, all good and bad and then head online and buy them. I always feel so guilty though about it, because in my town, we don’t have the best economy in the world and over the last few years, we have had SO many book stores just close down. It is one of my goals though, this year, too actually get out and buy from actual bookstores…It would save a lot on shipping and postage!

I would love to know as well though where you all get your books from. See the different options out there.

This or That? #82

This or That? #82

This week Bookmark Chronicles would like to know:

Have you ever heard of/read steampunk?

I have most definitely heard of Steampunk and I have even actually read a couple of Steampunk books…I think they have comics as well, in that genre?….I think?

I had a hard time getting into the books that I read, I kept reading them novels, but I don’t think Steampunk is the theme for me…I’ll leave it too the younger generation. I think it is definitely for people who are interested in that type of genre. The books that I read were not badly written or anything, I was just not interested in that particular theme.

23 Best Steampunk Book…Best Sci Fi books . com

This or That? #81

This or That? #81

This week Bookmark Chronicles would like to know:

Do you reread books often?

(By often, I mean are there multiple books that you have read more than twice)

I am SO guilty of this, I am constantly doing this. I guess that’s why I don’t always buy a lot of books, but one of my Christmas presents from my brother was a $100 Dymocks vouchers. I’ve already bought a couple of new books that I’m reading now. It’s funny really because I am being really careful, making a new wishlist for myself. I haven’t spent it all in one go.

At the same though the reason I reread these books is because I love them and with some of them I find, you always see something new or different. Sometimes as well though, depending on what you’re going through at the same time you reread the book, you may find that you see the book or character from a different point of view.

Sometimes though it’s just nice to reread a familiar book that you just know you are going to enjoy. You don’t have to worry whether or not you’ll enjoy it and if you don’t and you spent money on it, then you don’t feel like it was a waste of money. Then you don’t feel like your day or relaxation time was wasted. Which is why a lot of the time if I’m interested I’ll go to the Library first and check it out.

This or That? #78

This or That? #78

I nearly didn’t end up doing this at all this week, we’re going through our first busy period of the year this whole month and I am exhausted. I don’t like writing a post if I don’t think it will be of any substantial wording. I like to try and give my readers something interesting to read, instead of me writing googly gook.

SO…Saying all of that Bookmark Chronicles would like to know this week:

Have you ever given a book a one star (out of 5) rating?

If so, give the title and why didn’t you like it (or them if it’s happened more than once).

I haven’t physically given a book on Goodreads or anything like that a one star rating, however, there have been books from my past and Genre’s in particular where I just can’t read them anymore. I have read a few of the Mills and Boons and I just do not get the appeal, to be far too them though, they are definitely written better than 50 Shades. For this reason I tend to stay away from that “Romance” type genre. I wont read a book where the main plot line is romance. Most books will have some kind of romance in it, but usually there is some kind of other story line going on.

I think the thing I have with reading, is that I tend to read books that I want to read or am interested in reading. I very rarely read something I know that I am not going to enjoy, but I would hate to read things “just because”. These days I very rarely give books a 1 star rating because I just try and stay away from books that I know I am not going to enjoy. If you’re not interested, you’re not going to going keep reading.

I can’t even honestly remember the names of the Mills and Boons books that I’ve read because they just all had the same theme, so they kind of melted into one, for me anyways.

This or That? #77

This or That? #77

This week Bookmark Chronicles would like to know:

When reading a series are you more likely to read each book upon release or wait until the entire series is complete?

*”It depends” is not an option*

Most of the time I will wait for the whole series to come out and then read it all in one go. Also though I usually will only get the first book of a series and THEN decide if I want to continue on. I try not to listen to the band wagon anymore, as I found in the past that I get swept up in it all and then go back later and realised I didn’t actually enjoy it that much. Then I’ve spent all this money on a series I don’t actually enjoy and can’t afford to the series I do want!

So now I make sure that I only get the first series in a book and then if I really enjoy it, I will then get the rest of the series in one way or another!