TGIF ~ FF ~ BBH ~ 6/22/12

This post is where I combine 3 different Friday bookish blog hops and the questions posed by each.  I just couldn't leave any out!

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Q: If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

First, if a book is THAT bad, I usually don't finish reading it.  I don't like to waste precious reading time on a book that I can't get into.

So, now, I have to think of what book I would like to "unread" so that I could have the pleasure of experiencing it anew.  Hmmm.....

OK, I have one.  I read it not that long ago and I completely devoured it.  I wasn't expecting the book to capture me like it did.  And that book is:

"Before Ever After" by Samantha Sotto

Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max -- same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose -- he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.

As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem -- how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up? -- Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down -- if it is really Max -- and along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to.

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Q. Do you immediately write a review upon finishing a book or do you wait and write multiple reviews at once?

I had gotten out of writing full reviews early in the year because I was getting backed up on reviews I hadn't written.  (I know, BAD, BAD)  So, for a while, I just gave the book a rating in my WWW Wednesday post with a short blurb.

I just recently (like yesterday, lol) started back to writing a review for each book I read.  My goal is to stay up to-date and review each book as I read it and not get behind.  That's the goal.

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Q. Authors Are Our Celebrities: Have you ever contacted an author you admired? How did that experience go? If not, which author would you love to have a chat with?

I have contacted authors before.  Sometimes to tell them how much I love their book or to ask a question.  I was even sent some bookmarks afterward.

I remember one series I loved so much but I wanted another book telling one of the semi-main character's story that hadn't been told in the series.  So I emailed the author to ask if she was going to be writing that story.  She kindly replied and let me know that it wasn't planned.

So, I've had great experiences with contacting authors and have even had some contact me to thank me for a review I had written.  Granted, it might have been an assistant that replied.  Mostly likely.  But it was just as fun!

I would love to someday go to a conference or book-signing of some sort and meet a ton of my favorite authors!

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Happy Friday!

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