Busting the Newbie Blues!

The awesome blog Small Review is hosting a cool event to help new bloggers get established in the book blogging community! This event runs from December 3-31. If you want to join up you can here.

When did you start your blog?
I started my blog about 2 months ago. My first post was on October 2nd! I had entertained the thought of having one for about 6 months before I actually made one though! I even sat down at the computer several times trying to think of a name for my blog. Haha. It wasn't until September that I thought of the name That Hapa Chick. Then I didn't actually make the blog until I was able to make a cool header graphic. I know lame, but I wanted to make sure my blog looked all professional before I posted it to the world. Haha.

Why did you start your blog?
Well I have wanted to have a book blog for a long time now. My mom was the first person to suggest it to me. I love to read and she can only withstand so much book talk from me! Haha. I drive my family crazy with my book talk. So I started this blog so I could share my love of reading with others. I've also found its a great way for me to keep track of what books I have read, since I read so much that sometimes I forget.


What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Well I guess the biggest challenge was when I first started and I was trying to find out how to get people to read my blog. Then I found things like the Waiting on Wednesday meme and most importantly the Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday. These things were what made me discover the wonderful book blogging community!

What do you find most discouraging about being a new blogger?
Probably looking at all the other really successful book blogs and thinking "Gosh I don't think I'll ever have as many readers as them." I know I shouldn't compare myself to them because I've just started, but its hard not to.

What do you find most encouraging?
How welcoming the whole book blogging community is! Just the fact that they have things like the Book Blogger Hop where its especially for people to find new readers and get established is really cool. Everyone is so nice! Getting a nice comment from someone on one of my reviews brightens my day. I love it!


What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog? 
I love book reviews where the person reviewing the book doesn't just give you a rundown of the plot and the characters. They tell you what they enjoyed about the book. What their favorite elements were. What they didn't like. I think that makes a review more interesting and it also helps me because then I get a better idea of why I might like or dislike the book. I've tried to replicate this by just writing something that I would want to read. If I think its interesting or funny then I'll post it!

What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this?
People who post reviews that are kind of just lists of facts about the book and less about their own opinion on it. Or they do post about their opinion but I have to wade through the facts before I can find it. I also don't like really short reviews. Just a person saying "This book was awesome you should read it!" is great, but it doesn't help me decide whether I really want to read it or not. WHY was it awesome? WHY should I read it? So I try not to post short reviews or generic reviews. I try to really give my opinion.

Any advice for other new bloggers?
Try not to compare yourself to other book bloggers. Quality is way more important than quanitity. And let your personality shine through! People want to know YOUR opinion! They want to know what YOU think! And most importantly don't be so worried about how many followers you have and stuff like that. Of course thats an important part about blogging (having readers) but the most important thing is posting quality stuff. If you write quality reviews and really try hard to make your blog the best it can be, then the readers will come!


Anything else you’d like to share about your experience? 
Its been great so far! I love each and every follower I have, especially the ones who take the time to leave a thoughtful comment! You guys are the best!


Is there anything you’d like to tell us about your blog?
Ummm... Well I just got a Twitter account for it! So if you're reading this you should follow me! There's a link to it on the left.

Julia :)

 

Book Review: Freefall

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend, Isaac, alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time when Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn't wake up. Convinced that his own actions led to his friend's death, Seth is torn between turning his life around... or losing himself completely. Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything he's ever known. But Rosette has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn't the only one who needs saving....

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I LOVED the themes in this book. Moving past hardship, overcoming obstacles, and forgiveness are all things that I everyone faces in life. I know I have multiple times. This book definitely helped me to see things in a new light. That sometimes, I may be afraid of something, but I just have to take the leap, and the freefall may be scary at first, but in the end its worth it.

Seth and Rosetta were both great characters. Their relationship was really great, because both of them were able to learn something from each other. They didn't just sit around and make out all the time. They talked about their problems. They opened up to each other. And most of all they helped each other heal. Seth and Rosetta were able to push each other to become the best people they could be. It was nice to see such a healthy relationship in a YA novel.

So far my review makes this book sound kind of serious. Haha. But it definitely had its funny moments! This was my personal favorite in the book:

Tara and Brittany started dancing together right beside me, and, I have to say, I probably would have thought it was super-hot if I couldn't see Rosetta a few feet away, talking to Xander. Compared with her, they were only mildly hot.
"You know what I heard?" Brittany asked, leaning toward me again. "Cat pee glows when you shine a strobe light on it."
Okay. Not hot at all now.
"You mean a black light!" Tara yelled, "Black lights make cat pee glow, not strobe lights!"
Then they started arguing about it. About piss, for Christ's sake.

I couldn't help but laugh at this! I mean glowing cat pee? Yeah I know what you're thinking "Julia! Laughing about cat pee is so immature!" but I'm a teenager so what can I say? Haha.

Freefall was a thought-provoking novel. It made me think, and I love books that make me think! I give it 4 out of 5 cupcakes!

This was the first book I read as part of the Contemps Challenge! Yay! One down, only 17 more to go!

Julia :)

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday [6]

Its time for the weekly Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy For Books and Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee




The Book Blogger Hop is an opportunity to connect with other book bloggers, to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read! Want to join the Hop? Head on over to Crazy For Books and start hopping!

What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?

Well I haven't really been in the blogosphere long enough for there to be a lot of hyped about books. Just Matched, which I thoroughly enjoyed so yeah can't say this has happened to me yet. If and when this does happen I wouldn't feel to bad about my review being negative. Everyone has their own opinion about things. I would just state mine in a polite way and say why I did not enjoy it. Sometimes things that work for one person just don't work for another and I think that is totally okay!

Follow Friday is an opportunity to discover and follow other book related blogs! Want to join? Check it out at Parajunkee. 

What do you do besides reading/review as a hobby?

I do musical theatre! I LOVE singing and acting! Dancing is okay too but not my strongest point. Haha. I also do a lot of volunteer work. I volunteer at the Library and I'm a ZooTeen at the Phoenix Zoo. I spend practically every Saturday at the Zoo! I love the Zoo. Its such an awesome place!

If you're a new follower be sure to comment on this post so I can follow you back!

Julia :)

I feel so LOVED!!!! :)

This past week I was given another award!!!

The Life is Good award was given to me by Jude at Its Like a Whirlwind Inside of my Head and The Mad Scientist at Steampunkery and Book Reviews! Thanks so much you guys!!! Be sure to check out their blogs because they are AWESOME. And the Mad Scientist has a really cool book challenge that she is hosting called The Bucket List Challenge! You should all go sign up! :)

To accept this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave this award.
2. Answer the 10 survey questions.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic.
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked to let them know about the award!

Now for the questions!

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this; if you are not anonymous, do you wish that you had started out anonymously so that you could be anonymous now?

• Haha well my Dad wishes I was anonymous!!! He still thinks that everyone on the internet is secretly out to stalk you. But no, I'm not anonymous. I mean I kind of am because I don't use my full name. But I don't go by an alias. I really don't mind using my real name.  

2. Describe on incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

•  Well there are LOTS of examples. Hehe. But the first thing that comes to mind is when I was Jasmine in Aladdin and they wanted me and the Aladdin actor to kiss. Well I want my first kiss to be on my wedding day so I refused to do the kiss. I pretty much said either I don't have to kiss or I'm not going to be able to do the show. People thought I was a little crazy because of it but they took out the kiss and the show still turned out fine!

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

• Well it changes on any given day. Sometimes I think "gosh I look hideous" and other times I'm like "Wow I'm gorgeous!" so yeah it all depends. Most of the time I think I look pretty cute. :)

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

• Lipton peach iced tea. The kind thats powder and then you add water to it. The only problem is that its soooo bad for you! Theres like tons of high fructose corn syrup and all that nastiness in it. So I don't drink it anymore but I wish I did! Haha. :/

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

• Sit in the bath tub and read!!! Haha. Pretty much read. And read some more. I just LOVE reading!

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?

• Oh gosh the list is endless! Here are a few of the top things:

1. Travel the world! I really want to go to New Zealand, Australia, England, France and China!!!
2. Be in a movie or on a TV show. I don't think this will ever happen but it would be soooo cool! Just to be a movie extra or something would be awesome.
3. Invent something! I don't know what yet but it would be so cool to be able to say "Hey I invented that!"
4. Get published. Maybe a childrens book or poetry? I don't know if I actually have the necessary patience to write a whole novel.
5. Hopefully graduate from college! Haha. :)

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

• Well I'm still in high school. Haha. But I would have to say that I'm kind of the overachiever. Lets just say that I took the SAT twice just because I wanted to get a good score even though I'm not applying to a 4 year university. Yeah kind of sad huh?

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?

• A poignant moment? Wow no idea. Please excuse me while I go look up the exact definition of poignant in the Dictionary....... Oh okay interesting to it says something evoking sadness or regret. Moving from California to Arizona in the 7th grade. Worst time to move EVER. Not to mention the fact that Arizona is a hot wasteland. Not the nicest place to live. Egh. :/

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

• I think its easy to show my true self! Personally, that is what draws me to a blog in the first place. When the blogger really lets their personality shine through in their posts.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

• Definitely read a book!!! I'm not a big phone talker. I've never liked the phone. It just feels so awkward to me talking with someone I don't know. Or if I'm calling someone I do know then I'm always afraid of getting the wrong number! I should probably work on this...... Hehe.

The 15 blogs I am giving this award to are:


1. I Like These Books
2. Books and the Universe
3. Books of Amber
4. Can't Find a Bookmark
5. Epic Book Nerd
6. Erika Breathes Books
7. Extreme Reader Book Reviews
8. Holes in My Brain
9. I Was a Teenage Book Geek
10. Irresistible Reads
11. Ivy Reads
12. Live...Love...Laugh...and READ
13. Owl Review a Book
14. Stories and Sweeties
15. Words and Whispers


Be sure to check out these blogs. They are all amazing!


Julia :)

Words Wednesday [6]

A chance for me to highlight some of my favorite book quotes! This week's quote is from Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye.

"It may be a dangerous and confusing job. But it’s mine to do…"

Sometimes that happens in life. We are faced with something that's difficult or scary but we have to do it anyway. And we almost always become stronger because of it.

I really like the Hermux Tantamoq adventures. I found these back in 8th grade at the height of my love for rodents stage. Yeah I love rodents. They're cute. Anyway mysteries plus mice??? Totally awesome! If you haven't read any of these you should. They are quite good.

Julia :)