Thursday, February 2, 2012

Feature and Follow Friday (23)




Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Parajunkee’s View and Alison at Alison Can Read. It is a great way for bloggers to make new friends and find new blogs to follow. Go to either blog, and check out the featured blog of the week.  Follow ALL the instructions and add your link to the list. It’s just that easy!

This week's question:

"Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kickass heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?"


My favorite books don't really have definitive characteristics. I am an equal-opportunity book lover. There are books that I never in a million years would have thought I would enjoy that have become some of my favorite books (Game of Thrones series, Water for Elephants). I love a story that grabs my attention and holds it and characters that are interesting and dynamic. For me, those two things are an integral part of any story and must be present to even begin to hold my interest.  And I don't want a recycled, formulaic story. Give me some originality, please. 

This isn't to say that I don't love a gorgeous male character or a strong female lead. But I don't base what I read on those factors. Besides, what I find gorgeous might be ugly to someone else and what I consider strong in a female character might seem wishy-washy to another reader.

So, do your favorite books have certain characteristics in common?  Leave a link in the comment section and I will hop by!

13 comments:

  1. Nice answer. There are some books I have ended up reading that didnt have what I was looking for but I ended up LOVING what was between the covers. Never hurts to have some favorites, but sometimes its so nice to read something new. Great FF!
    You can check out my Follow Friday here.
    [:
    ShawnaLeAnn
    Dreaming In The Pages Enter My Giveaway

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  2. I think books have to have a strong story to start with--that strength and uniqueness is the backbone holding everything else up. Happy Friday! Reading to Penguins

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  3. Hopping through. I'm with you on an original story. I'm willing to put up with flaws if it's interesting.
    My Hop

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  4. The story is just as important as the characters. The storyline has to motivate the characters and then we get to see them and fall in love with their quirks or not!

    Great answer!

    Here's my Friday Hops

    Have a GREAT weekend!

    Old Follower :)

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  5. Thanks for stopping by - always happy to return the visit (and the follow).

    I agree, a great character can make or break a book, but I need a solid story first & foremost. If the plot doesn't engage me, I don't care how awesome the character is . . . eventually I'll lose interest.

    Here's my FF

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  6. Equal-opportunity book lover. :) Great statement, I totally agree.

    Thanks for visiting! :D

    Bonnie @ Sweet Tidbits

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  7. you"re right, I don"r base my reads on the heroine but I like to read some with strong heroines.

    old follower

    here is mine

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  8. Yes! I totally agree - I love a refreshing, original storyline. I don't choose a book for the main character, but for the story instead. Great answer!

    Here's my FF post!

    Stephanie @ SOOTP

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  9. I love the last part about how what one person considers kick ass might be wishy washy to another reader. It happened in the last few months that I read reviews where the heroines where praised as strong and Kick-Ass, but when I read them they just came across as annoying to me. Like.. They allegedly were strong, but they.. weren't. They did too many mistakes, they didn't have the strength to do what they had to and were to proud or stupid to ask for help. There's a fine line between Too Stupid To Live and Kick Ass for me, and lately I don't trust the Kick Ass label anymore. At all. It's horrible. XD

    Anyway, great answer! Happy Friday! : )

    Patricia

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  10. You said it quite well and I agree with you. However, I *do* see a pattern in the charateristics in my books, which probably isn't coincidental anymore ;)
    Love how you're saying that you read what your daughters/kids read and how that opens up new doors... Good to be on top of it, and get lost in it ;)

    New follower!

    Here's My F&F Friday post!

    happy reading! :)

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  11. I don't think I typically read strong heroine type books either. Definitely not a reason why I read a series or not. Love your answer!! Our reading interests sound very similar. I'm a new follower. I'm a marching band mom too!!

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  12. Interesting characters are awesome. And I totally agree, if a book holds my attention, even if it isn't the kind of thing I would normally read, I'll definitely enjoy it. Great answer!

    New follower! :)
    Andie
    My Friday Hops

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