Tag: book blogging

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday — July 7, 2017

Posted on by J.W. Martin

First Lines Fridays is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words.

What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

“Everyone my age remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the contest. I was sitting in my hideout watching cartoons when the news bulletin broke in on my video feed, announcing that James Halliday had died during the night.”

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I don’t remember where I originally heard about Ready Player One, but it was an instant classic for me, easily soaring to the top of all my all-time favourite books.

If you like video games and/or grew up in the 80s this book will feel like it was custom made for you. If you don’t like video games and didn’t grow up in the 80s… you’ll still probably love this book. It’s just that damn good.

Goodreads synopsis:

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the  OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

Writing

There Really are Readers Out There!

Posted on by J.W. Martin

I’ve had a blog for quite some time, but for most of that time it really had no direction. Most days I didn’t know what to post about, so a lot of days went by without posting anything.

Sure, there are plenty of topics in the world to post about, but I didn’t feel like I was qualified to run with any of them. Is starting something and then never finishing a topic? I could do that. Well, I could start it…

Then I discovered my cousin’s blog. The Bionic Bookworm. She’s always been one of the most voracious readers I know, so it wasn’t a complete surprise to see that she had made her blog a bookish one. And if you haven’t seen her blog, or don’t follow it, go now. Don’t even finish reading this, just go. (Okay, maybe finish this post, then go)

I fell into a rabbit hole of book blogs. The more I found, the more I looked for. It was stoking the flames of something that had dwindling recently, and that was my love of reading. I was getting boom recommendations by the truck load. My ‘To Be Read’ swelled up like a hotdog that’s been microwaved way too long.

Blogs like the aforementioned Bionic Book Worm, I Should Read That, My Bookish Life, Too Much of a Book Nerd, Sherlocked in a Tardis with Ron, and Kristin Kraves Books. Those are just a few. Really, there are just too many to list.

Truthfully, I don’t think my blog will ever be strictly a book blog. Compared to some of the blogs I’ve been following, I don’t read nearly enough, and I couldn’t do nearly as good a job reviewing books. Plus, I like to digress into movies, writing, or some long-winded post about Doctor Who that would serve as a cure for even the worst insomnia.

I will, however, plant one foot in the bookish blog world for as long as the true book bloggers will allow it.

At the end of this long-winded thought train is my original point to post. As a writer, I couldn’t be happier to find so many people out there reading. Reports claim that there has been a gradual, but consistent, decline in readership over the last five years or so.

With those numbers out there, it’s good to see book blogs out there doing their best to keep something so important alive. They aren’t just reading, they’re spreading it around and infecting others with the desire to read like little literary zombies. Go get ‘em.

Do you have a book blog? Plug it in the comments below, or tell us about your favorite book blog. I’m always looking to follow a few more!