First of all:

~MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!~

Wheeeee, I’m one of the two features this week!!

You should totally check out Maria’s blog, this week’s other feature, as well! Edit: turns out I’m the only feature this week due to communication errors, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still check out her blog!

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Here are the answers to my feature questions:

~WHEN DID YOU START BLOGGING?~

I’m still relatively new at this. I started my blog on the 15th of August this year but didn’t get to the point of being as active as I am now since half October-ish. A wedding needed to be planned in between; my own wedding, so that put a bit of a damper on things…;).

~WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF BOOK BLOGGING?~

Does reading count? I’ve always been an active reader, but heck yeah, this really bumped my reading stats! And it feels sooooo good. I also do a little happy dance every time I get a request approval from Netgalley…

~WHAT TYPE OF BOOKS DO YOU MAINLY BLOG ABOUT?~

I don’t stick to a particular genre and alternate between books that have been on my physical shelves for 84 years, and newly acquired books/ARC’s. I do have a tendency to lean towards Fantasy, YA and Children’s Books a lot, though. Plus I hardly ever blog about non-fiction books. Which doesn’t mean I’m not open to reviewing them!

~WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS?~

I’m glad this question is referring to books in plural because I could never pick ONE favourite. Keeping it short here and mentioning several favourite books is also quite hard, but I’ll give it a go, already feeling guilt-ridden towards books that I’m bound to forget about.

• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
•  A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson (see, non-fiction there)
•  David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
•  Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck (again, non-fiction, although not everyone agrees on that here)
•  Nobody’s Boy by Hector Malot
•  The ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series by George R.R. Martin
•  All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

~WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR BOOK BLOGGING?~

Meeting people who are absolutely AWESOME and with whom I can talk Book Madness instead of having to pester my husband and non-book-loving friends with it every day (okay, I still do that, but to a lesser extent than before). This includes authors who are willing to work together with me, Mary Sue, to get some extra PR out there for their books. I’m puffing up my chest every time I tell someone about these kinds of things.

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The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts: Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

How does this work?

The goal is to increase blog followers and make friends! Every Friday, the two hosts will each showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas, and pose a question for other participating bloggers to answer. It’s a chance to find some new blogs to visit, and gain some new followers in return: win/win!

This week’s question is: What was the best Christmas (or other holiday) gift you ever received? – Suggested by Alison Can Read

Three things spring to mind:

1.

I didn’t get the original Teddy Ruxpin one, but it was basically the same:

I got it for St.Nicholas and I think you can imagine why this was considered one of my top notch presents EVER. It came with an English cassette tape telling the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which was definitely interesting for an 8ish-year-old Dutch girl.

2. A VHS tape of Disney’s Snow White. They were pretty expensive back in the day and I ‘accidentally’ *coughs* found the tape in one of my parents’ underwear drawers before they had a chance to wrap it.

3. My husband gave me a new laptop for Christmas 4 years ago. I believe the new Star Wars MMORPG came out back then and the video card on my old laptop was completely fried, so I wouldn’t be able to play it together with him. Hence, a new laptop! I think that was secretly the moment where I decided to marry him should he ever ask me to.

Edit: Oh my god, my husband just reminded me that we bought our dog 2 Christmases ago and he paid for him. So screw the other gifts: MY DOG’S THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT I EVER RECEIVED!

So what about you?!

If you also feel like participating in this Blog Hop, here are the rules for the #FF:

1. Follow the two hosts (this is a requirement)
2. Follow the featured blog (also required)
3. Put your blog name and URL in the linky thing (you’ll know once you check the post on the hosts’ blogs)
3. Grab the button up here/there and place it in your post. This will give people a place to say ‘hi’ in your comments and let you know that they are following you.
4. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC, (Google Friend Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
5. Follow, Follow, Follow! As many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow: comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say ‘HI’.
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love…and the followers~!
7. If you’re new to the FF hop, comment on one of the hosts’ blogs and let them know, so they can stop by and check out your blog!

I have a slight preference for followers via WordPress, email and Facebook, but if it’s easier to use Bloglovin’, that’s fine with me as well, of course. Any type of follower = ❤

 

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