Presenting a Blogger: Lauren @ Love is not a triangle

I realized when I started blogging that I like to do two things: interview and meet/introduce bloggers. Interviewing allows us to get to know a person better and I don't think anyone can meet too many bloggers. In addition, when I love a blogger and their work, I want to treat them like a book by showcasing them whenever I can. So today, I have the pleasure of interviewing a great blogger, Lauren from Love is not a triangle. 

Hey Lauren! I'm so happy that you're here. Please introduce yourself and your blog.

Hi Sunny! Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog. I feel incredibly honored. 

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I don't do crafts. I read. (I feel like I'm in a support group, with that intro). My blog name is Love is not a triangle, because while I love to read, I do not like love triangles. At all. However, I do have friends who like them. Triangle dislike is not a requirement to be my friend or read my blog. I do include a Love Triangle Factor and a Cliffhanger Scale in my reviews, though. Just in case you're like me and what to know whether a book has a triangle or a cliffy before you start it. 

Can I add in here how I love that? I think bloggers should have a support group! I also love your Love Triangle Factor and Cliffhanger Scale. 

Why or how did you decide to start blogging? 

I've always been a reader and have been active on Goodreads for several years, though I didn't start officially blogging until the end of July last year. I like that writing a review is a way for me to physically track my reaction to a book. I read so much that sometimes I forget the details. Reviewing books also allows me to keep up with my analytical and critical thinking skills in a way that I don't get in my daily life.

[Note: Book blogging group hug!]

It wasn't until I participated in a read-along for the book Outlander by Diana Gabaldon last summer that I actually made blogging happen. To join the read-along, you were supposed to be a blogger, because of weekly questions posts. Thankfully, the kind and generous Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books allowed me to post mine on her site. Through the event, I met so many other bloggers who like to read and discuss the same types of books that I do. And who read as much as I do. It was an exciting and refreshing experience to find people out there just like me. I really wanted to become an active member of that community. 10 months later, I'm loving being a part of the awesomeness that is book blogging. I'm even going to BEA this year. 

Yes! It's amazing how great this community is. BEA! *sniff*

[Note: BEA has started and I am looking at every tweet, living vicariously through you all]

What genres do you love reading and/or reviewing the most? 

Hmmm. I'm not sure if I have a favorite genre. Also, sometimes I read a book and compose a review in my head as I'm reading, and then I write it very fast. But sometimes I finish a book and think "I have no idea what to say!" But it's not genre based. I can't read too much of one genre at a time. If I read a lot of contemporaries, I need to throw in fantasy or paranormal to balance myself out (and vice versa). Also, I'm terrible at categorizing book genres. I get contemporary, but everything else sits in one big lump o' speculative fiction in my head. And now authors like to mix up genres, which confuses me more.  

That doesn't actually answer your question. I read mostly young adult fiction of all genres, but I'm pretty flexible and willing to try new types of books. I do have trouble with alternate realities/parallel worlds for some reason. They don't always work for me. But maybe I'll find a book that I LOVE that fits within that category, and change my mind completely. 

Top three favorite authors? 

I am not very good at these top questions, so I'm going to give you four of my favorites: Melina Marchetta, Maggie Stiefvater, Jane Austen and Harper Lee. I love that Harper Lee wrote one book and was like "this is everything I wanted to say, and now I'm done."And it's still a masterpiece, and my favorite book!

Rebel. 

Who is your favorite YA couple? 

Another question I have such trouble answering. This changes a lot, but today I'll say Jonah Griggs and Taylor Markham from Jellicoe Road or Perry and Aria from the Under the Never Sky series. 

Perrrrry! 

Obviously, you hate love triangles (who doesn't nowadays?), but what would be some of your other bookish pet peeves? 

First I will say that my love triangle quirkiness is so huge and massive that I try not to have too many other pet peeves when I read. Because whether or not a book has a love triangle, and the severity of it, greatly affects my reaction to books. 

I prefer slow burn romances to insta-love. But I don't mind instant attraction if it's realistic, and as long as the characters don't jump immediately to "I love you." I've found with me, a lot of pet peeves are more about how an individual author approaches a topic, than an across the board turn-off. Sometimes a character will do something in one book that I think is incredibly annoying and off putting. But I'll read a different book with a a different character who does something similar, and it doesn't bug me as much, because it wasn't handled the same. Does that make any sense? I can't think of an example at this moment.  

The other thing that causes me a lot of problems is seeing the same storyline or plot flow in multiple books. If I start to notice a pattern, it makes the individual stories feel less real, and more contrived. For instance, I went through this whole period with contemporaries where I couldn't stand that almost all of them seemed to have this chaotic moment around 80% where the couple would have a massive falling out, and there would be tons of drama and stress for a while, before the happy conclusion. It happens in a lot of books, though recently it hasn't been bugging me as much, so maybe it's going away, or I'm not freaked out by it as much. 

Yes! Insta-love is blech as well as repetitive plots. 

What is one book that you recently read and loved? 

I LOVED The 5th Wave, though I'm not sure what I think about the last two pages. I also really liked Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith, which is a little out there, and won't appeal to everyone. But I thought it was an amazingly accurate picture of mental illness and had a fantastic romance. I'm currently reading The Bitter Kingdom, the final book in Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns series, and I can already tell that it is going to be epic and amazing!

You're killing me. All books that I'm DYING to read! 

Anything else you would like to add?

I'll probably think of something important to write here, once you publish this...Oh I know, I'm hosting a Summer Series Challenge with some blogging friends this June - August. It's to encourage people to finish the series they've already started, or read through some from start to finish. Stop by my blog if you're interested in learning more about it. It's going to be easy and stress free, and we want everyone to join! (I apologize for the shameless promotion.) 

No apologies needed! I'm glad you mentioned it because I forgot to ask! To go sign up or learn more, click here. 

This or That: 

Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla always.

Ebook or paperback? I switch between these a lot. Ebooks are better on the go, but I'd prefer to own a paperback that I can hold in my hands or lend to friends. 

Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars definitely. Or maybe it's just Harrison Ford, definitely. 

Brunette or blonde? (of the boy variety) Brunette for sure! I'm a blonde though.

Winter or Summer? SUMMER! I get so depressed about where I live in the winter, but love the summers and falls here. 

~*~

There you have it, folks. Now do me proud by hopping on over to say hi to Lauren on her blog, sign up for the Summer Series Challenge, and love her blog like I do. 

Blog: http://www.loveisnotatriangle.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurayjames

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1714237-lauren

The Regrets of Blogger Me

We all have regrets. It's human nature. But once I became a blogger, I found new regrets from my pre-blogging days. It's not as if I knew I would have a blog. How would I have known that? I was just reading, blog-stalking, and entering giveaways!

My one main regret is that I read so many books (GOOD books) and I don't remember too much about them. Oh, I remember if it was good or not. I remember the characters and a couple scenes. But enough to write a review? Nope. I guess I could go back and write a review for them, but I've already read them. My TBR is growing as we speak. So here are books (in no particular order) I've read that I wish I had been a blogger when reading:

1) The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzab. This was a good book. I won it in a giveaway where I was sent a box full of ARCs. My naive self thought they were older books since I never heard of it. Oh, pre-blogger Sunny, why did you think that? I held it off and when I did finally read it, I devoured it up. I loved the relationships. I didn't like the cursing, but the pros outweighed the cons at least.

2) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Everyone basically has read this book. At least, I hope they have. This is in my top all-time favorite series. I own the box set and have read every book in the series at the minimum of 7 times. I refuse to read the book again until the 2nd movie comes out though. It gives me more intense heartaches each time I read them.

3) Underworld by Meg Cabot. I LOVE Meg Cabot. She's so funny and creates such relatable characters. This book was the start of something new for me. I read it and thought the whole time, "An underworld? This is so different!" I understand now that it's not too different in some people's minds. But I really liked this book. I cannot wait until the 3rd.

4) The Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter. I ADORE ALLY CARTER. You know how I just said I love Meg Cabot? Times that love by about ten and you won't even close to my love for Ally Carter. Seriously, I love her. I own this whole series and Heist Society. I've read these books multiple times and I still get shivers in the 5th book. I will probably bawl when the 6th comes out.

5) Little Women and Me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted. So, I remember the main character annoyed me a bit. But I also remember liking it. I know I was excited because while I haven't read the real book, I have watched the movie. Gosh, I love the movie. This is definitely a book I wouldn't be able to write a review from memory.

6) The Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita. I have a lot of favorite authors. Jen Calonita is also on that list. I have this horrible fascination with celebrities. I really don't know why and I don't think it's good either. I like to know what they do and all this background information in the Hollywood world. So reading this filled that appetite. I get to hear about secrets and read about a fictional celebrity who I connect with SO easily. The last book was also awesome because it's a parallel universe. Parallel universe = WIN.

7) While He Was Away by Karen Schreck. This and Little Women and Me would probably be considered the bottom of my liking pole. Really, I regret this book being in my pre-blogging days is because I see it EVERYWHERE. I do this blog for me, but I also like to be with the times. So I would've been able to give my thoughts on it more if I read it while I'm a blogger, instead of...not. All I really remember is the characters and the ending being frustrating.

There are probably WAY more. I mean, come on, I've been a pre-blogger my whole life and now I'm a blogger for a couple months. That's a lot of books I've read without writing a review for them. Maybe someday (soon or not) I'll go back and review the books I've mentioned or the other books I haven't. You just never know.

For bloggers: have you read a book in your pre-blogging days that you wish you would've read and reviewed now? What is it?

For everyone else: have you read the books I mentioned? What are some of your book-related regrets?