Follow Friday (3) & TGIF (2)
Feature & Follow is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read. It’s a great way to find new blogs to follow and allow others to find your blog! Find out how to participate here!
Here’s this week’s question:
Q: Have you ever looked at a book’s cover and thought, This is going to be horrible? But, was instead pleasantly surprised? Show us the cover and tell us about the book.
Well, I didn’t really think it was a bad cover, or that the book was going to be horrible, but I wasn’t so sure about Finder by Terri-Lynne DeFino when it was chosen by one of the girls in my book club for us to read last year. I mean, it’s not a bad cover at all, but it was so different than what I was used to that I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it. But I ended up LOVING the book! It was exciting and had plenty of the twists and turns that I love, with some great complex characters! If you enjoy fantasy, you should totally check it out!
TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads, where bloggers can recap their week and answer a blogging/bookish question.
Here’s this weeks question:
Promote An Author: Is there a particular author you wish got more recognition? Pick one author & tell us why we should read their work.
Hmm, this one is a hard one. I’d probably say Scott Westerfeld. I know he’s not an unknown author by any means, but it seems like a lot of people have read Uglies and then didn’t like the second book in the series, Pretties, as well, and they stopped reading the series right there. I loved the whole series, but Pretties was probably my least favorite. I just went out on Tuesday and bought the Uglies manga, Shay’s Story, and I’m really excited to read it! I also want to read all the other books he has written. If you like Sci-Fi you should definitely check out Uglies, and although I haven’t yet read Leviathan, I’ve heard it’s a great one for fans of Steampunk.
Did you participate in Feature & Follow Friday or TGIF? Leave your link in the comments, and I’ll be sure to stop by your blog! Happy Friday!
The Overstuffed Bookcase: This Week’s Recap
Related Posts
pagesunbound
March 9, 2012 at 6:49 amReally? People don't like Pretties? I was going insane because I didn't own Specials at the time I finished it, and there was a huge cliffhanger!
I have read Leviathan (just the first one), and it was pretty good. Not as exciting as Uglies, but well-written. It was the first steampunk I read, as well, and I liked that it was more had more realistic and science fiction elements than fantasy. Also, it's a teen book I think guys would like! (Though I think they would like Uglies, too. It's just that a lot of YA seems to be all princessy.)
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 3:02 pmI just remember, when I was reading the series, I saw a lot of reviews on Goodreads about people who liked Uglies and then really didn't like Pretties so they stopped reading. But maybe it was only a few people. Pretties was my least favorite of the series, but I still loved it!
One of these days I'll read Leviathan. I know that series has a solid following. I've talked at length to my husband about Uglies. He doesn't read as much as I do, but occasionally he'll go over to my book shelves and say, "What should I read next?" I think next time he does that I'm going to tell him to read Uglies!
Thanks for stopping by!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 3:20 pmAlso, have you read Extras? I know the series was originally a trilogy and Extras is kind of considered to be a companion novel by some people, but I LOVED Extras, and I totally consider it to be a part of the Uglies series.
pagesunbound
March 9, 2012 at 7:23 pmI guess you can argue Pretties isn't the most exciting since it's in the middle of the series so it's a lot of movement toward the exciting conclusion. And there's more of Zane and less of David, which could be a downside for some readers.
Yes! I really liked Extras! I was skeptical because I was adamant that the story was over and should stay over, and was worried it was an "Oh, look. The series sold well. I'll write something related!" book, but it was really great on its own. I loved that it moved so far away from Tally to a new protagonist and culture, and the focus on fame instead of beauty was interesting, too.
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 8:52 pmYes, I think some of why I didn't like it as much was that there was less of David, but I did end up liking Zane as well. And second books often have that kind of setup for the conclusion, so there's something lacking there.
I'm glad you liked Extras. I loved the focus on the fame as well, and I loved the whole twist! I need to re-read those books! And then I can review them on my blog! One of these days…
fakesteph
March 9, 2012 at 7:07 amHave you read Peeps??? it's my favorite vampire book!!!!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 3:13 pmI haven't read Peeps, but I own it. (You can just barely see it on the very left of that picture!) Hopefully I'll be able to get to it soon!
Sophie
March 9, 2012 at 8:11 amI have not read Finder, but yeah, the books you don't think you'll like and you end up loving are kind of special <3
I haven't read the series by Scott Westerfeld but I do own the book and I hope to get to it someday LOL I'll have that in mind, then :)
Have a nice Friday! <3
My FF
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 3:23 pmI really enjoyed the whole Uglies series. It kind of started off a little iffy, but once I got to the part when Tally is going along the railroad tracks, I was hooked!
Thanks for stopping by – I'm off to check out your FF!
Beth D.
March 9, 2012 at 2:50 pmFinder looks like awesome sauce to me. It is always great to join book groups that get a reader to read something they haven't tried before.
New Follower!
Beth ^_^
http://sweetbooksnstuff.blogspot.com/
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 3:30 pmYeah, it really opened me up to something that I didn't realize I would enjoy! My book club used to draw genres out of a hat, that way we would always have something different to read, but we stopped doing that and now we just kind of pick whatever we want. I kind of liked when we had the different genres. Now it seems like most of the picks will be YA, because most of the group reads a lot of YA. But that's okay with me, too, because I read a lot of YA!
Thanks so much for stopping by and for following! I'm off to check out your blog!
Kah Cherub
March 9, 2012 at 2:54 pmThat is one boring cover, indeed. LOL
I’m a new gfc follower.
http://notjustnonsense.blogspot.com/2012/03/feature-13.html
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 3:55 pmThanks so much for stopping by and for following! I'm off to check out your blog!
Jessica Lee
March 9, 2012 at 3:09 pmI've never heard of Finder, but I agree with you on the fact that the cover is a tad lackluster! As for the Uglies series, my master's thesis actually has a chapter dedicated to dissecting the social commentary of Westerfeld's series…so I don't know how people couldn't like it!
New follower!
http://amidnightsummersread.blogspot.com/2012/03/follow-friday_09.html
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 4:03 pmI just remember seeing a lot of negative reviews of the Uglies series, especially for Pretties, on Goodreads when I was reading the series. I love it, though! And that's awesome that you're mentioning it in your master's thesis!
Thanks so much for stopping by and for following! I'm off to check out your blog!
Nimue
March 9, 2012 at 3:50 pmI love the Uglies series and I did read all of them :)
But I'm not sure I will read Shay's story as I absolutely hated her in the books. One of the few characters I just couldn't stand.
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 4:17 pmYeah, I really didn't like Shay at all, either. But I'm excited to read Shay's Story because it's a manga, and I'm interested in seeing the world of the books. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Bittner
March 9, 2012 at 5:54 pmI hate it when I can't think of a good answer for the weekly question! It is so frustrating! I was thinking about maybe using the book Alana but Ugh! I don't know! it wasn't that bad!
I agree with you that the cover for Finder isn't that bad, but I will say that the guy on the cover is not how I picture the characters in the book, so I would like the cover better if he wasn't on it.
Also, I'm in the process of listening to the audio version of Leviathan and I am planning on finishing it up tomorrow!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 9, 2012 at 7:07 pmIt was really hard for me to think of an answer to that, too. I know there are a few books on my TBR list that have kinda bad covers, but friends loved them, or I've read great reviews or whatever so I still want to read them. But as far as books I've read, this one was the only one that came to mind, and the cover really isn't that bad.
I'm interested to hear what you think about Leviathan!
Fall Into Books
March 10, 2012 at 5:18 amHey, thanks for stopping by! :) Old follower via Networked Blogs. Have a great weekend!
Amber @ Fall Into Books
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 10, 2012 at 5:28 amAnd thanks for stopping by here! ;)
Jenni
March 10, 2012 at 6:57 amI haven't read the Uglies series yet but I definitely plan to sometime! It's been recommended by quite a few people :) I haven't heard of the book Finder but I agree with you on the cover- it's not really the sort I'd usually go for!
New follower ♥
– Jenni (my FF)
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 10, 2012 at 5:44 pmThanks so much for commenting and for following! I'm off to check out your FF!
Debbie
March 10, 2012 at 10:15 amFinder sounds amazing! I've added it to my TBR list, and I really want to read Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series :)
Thanks for stopping by and for the follow!
New follower :)
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 10, 2012 at 5:53 pmAnd thanks for stopping by here and for following! ;)
Agnieszka Nashi
March 10, 2012 at 12:49 pmI'm one of the few people who hated Uglies. xD But I loooove the way the manga version looks!
Thanks for stopping by!
Agnieszka @ Nook of Books
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 10, 2012 at 5:54 pmAwww, darn. Well, that's okay, we all have our own tastes! Thanks for stopping by here! ;)
Sarah@Catching Books
March 10, 2012 at 2:44 pmGreat post..and interesting cover!!
Happy reading and thanks for stopping by..I am following you back :)
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 10, 2012 at 5:57 pmAnd thanks for stopping by here and for following! ;)
Ashley R
March 11, 2012 at 10:42 amI keep forgetting to finish the Uglies series! I've read both Uglies and Pretties and quite liked both of them, but for some reason the series just keeps getting pushed aside. I am really curious to find out what happens to them all though, so thanks for the reminder to get this back on my to-read list!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 11, 2012 at 4:40 pmYes, you should read them! I loved the series. I'm glad I helped put them back on your radar! Thanks for stopping by!
Nocturne Romance Reads
March 12, 2012 at 3:05 amfollowing you!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 12, 2012 at 8:32 pmThanks so much for stopping by and for the follow! I'm following you in return! ;)
Erica Nicholas
March 12, 2012 at 4:01 amThanks for stopping by! :) Following you back!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
March 12, 2012 at 8:33 pmAnd thanks so much for stopping by and for following! ;)
avry15
March 15, 2012 at 7:26 amI agree, this cover is not that appealing- but maybe to younger children
new follower
My FF