Monday, July 15, 2013

15-Day Book Blogger Challenge - Day 8

It's day 8 of April's Book Blogger Challenge.  If you're interesting in joining or just want to know more about it, visit her blog, Good Books and Good Wine.


Day 8 - Things that appeal to me on blogs

So I know some of this stuff is going to sound hypocritical, because I don't actually have some of these things that I've listed here (such as a search bar or video blogs).  But I do hope/plan to... someday.

  1. A creative title and custom artwork  -  I love fun blog names and custom layouts and artwork.  It catches my attention immediately.
  2. Lists, challenges, and surveys  -  Lists are my favorite!  They're just so much fun to read.  Challenges and surveys are great too, both to read and participate in.
  3. Reviews with ratings  -  I prefer it when people include a rating with their reviews.  Sometimes a person's review can border between "Liked it" and "Loved it," so the rating just makes it clearer.
  4. Pictures and GIFs  -  I just started using GIFs because they're so much fun.  You can learn a lot about someone based on which GIFs they choose, such as what TV shows or actors they prefer.  Also, I like blog posts with pictures, even if it's just a picture of the cover.
  5. Videos/Vlogs  -  I only discovered vlogging recently, thanks to Hank and John Green (the Vlogbrothers).  Now I'm always on the lookout for posts that include videos.
  6. Humor and sarcasm  -  I love sarcasm and witty humor.  I'm drawn to books and people that get sarcasm, so it's only natural that I like to read it in blogs too.
  7. Quotes  -  Quotes are just awesome because they're another way of getting some insight into the blogger.  The quotes you love and post say something about you.
  8. Non book-review posts  -  It's so much fun getting to know the person behind the blog, and personal posts or even bookish posts that aren't reviews are some of my favorites to read.
  9. Themes  -  I think it's great when a blogger comes up with a theme and carries it through the whole blog.
  10. Features, but not too many  -  It's fun to see features such as Top Ten Tuesday or Stacking the Shelves on people's blogs, but on the other hand, if a blog is nothing but memes & features, it gets kind of old.
  11. Fun fonts and colors  -  I'm all about color.  I didn't used to be, but over the past year, I've really fallen in love with things that are bright and colorful.  And I also love fonts that are out of the ordinary.  I want them to be readable too, of course, but a fun font will always catch my interest.
  12. Review indexes and/or search bar  -  I used to have a search bar, but it didn't always work, so now I have a review index.  It's really helpful for people to have some way to find your past posts.
  13. Spoiler-Free reviews  -  This is such a pet peeve of mine.  I know I'm not perfect, but I do try to be really careful when writing my posts or at least including a warning, because I don't want to ruin the book for anyone.  So please don't ruin the book for me!
  14. Full posts without "Read More Here" links  -  I know a lot of people are the opposite.  They'd rather have the posts shortened so they can scroll through more, but I'm not really a fan.  Maybe I'm just too lazy, but I prefer to see the whole post at once.
  15. Links to goodreads.com  -  If I think a book sounds interesting, I want to be able to look up more info on goodreads.com, or add it to my To-Read list.  I know I'm constantly forgetting to do this myself, but this is just another thing that's on my blogging to-do list.

6 comments:

  1. #5 <--- never seen those but I think I'm totally gonna look out for those! I think that's gonna be fun hehe

    Oh oh and #15! Totally agree with you! I hate going back to goodreads just to find a book to put on my TBR list and it takes so long!

    Awesome list!

    http://spicedlatte.blogspot.com/2013/07/15-days-challenge-day-8-what-appeals.html

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    1. Thanks! I especially find the links to goodreads helpful on Tuesdays, when I'm looking through everyone's Top Ten lists.

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  2. #5 I'm not a fan of vlogs mainly because I don't always have my headset on. If you do have a vlog, its nice to have at least a brief summary of what's in the vlog so I know if it's worth coming back to later.

    #10 Features can make you popular, but they can also kill your current readers, so I agree that moderation is key.

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    1. I definitely agree about the vlog summary. Most of the bloggers I know who've done vlogs are pretty good at including a summary. I can't always watch because I do most of my blogging at work, so the summary helps me decide if I should save it or risk watching it anyway (with the volume low of course).

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  3. Ashling I really like your list, I really love lists too LOL

    Day 8 Book Blogger Challenge

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    1. Lists are the best! I think that's one of the reasons why Top Ten Tuesday is my favorite meme.

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Thank you so much for commenting! I always appreciate reading what you have to say.