My posts for BBAW, and Other Updates...

So, I've been shortlisted for Best Romance Blog (and got a nifty button for it!), and for all the newcomers and regular readers, I thought I'd provide the five romance-related posts I sent to the panel that ended up with me on the short lists:

The Secret Pearl Review
The Year in Review - My Best and Worst of 2008
For My Lady's Heart Review
The Price of Desire Review
Just the Sexiest Man Alive Review

In other news - yes, my blog does look slightly different. I decided to find a new template, yes. Partly on a whim, and partly because while searching the shortlists of BBAW nominees I came across Rebecca's Reads and discovered she had the SAME template! I guess I just wanted to find a new style.

I like my new template, in general. The pros:

• Bigger font, centred posts - clearer to read, doesn't evoke frightening "wall of text" as much, makes reviews look nicer
  
• Pretty, pretty colours - to be honest, I wasn't a big fan of orange, maroon, or beige (my blog's old colours) so this was an easy choice
• It doesn't match any blogs I know
• It still looks artsy and has three columns for Widgets

Unfortunately, there are some things to adjust to:

• Smaller columns - lots of stuff has to be trimmed or has its edges nibbled off by smaller margins, thereby looking silly (but I don't know how to change - I used the "shrink to fit" option but that does bupkiss). I wish I could widen my columns
  
• Can't change the title font - gaaah, if anyone here is a master of font and HTML, do you know a code to make my title Georgia font instead of the whatever-it-is square font, without offsetting all the tags, etc?

I mean, my blog looks great but it doesn't look perfect. There is a part of me that whispers, "maaaaaybe you were a little hasty in changing your blog template, especially during awards week" but an equal part that likes what I've done differently. Maybe I just need a little computer help. Anyone with any knowledge of coding and computers know how to fix and edit my template? Let me know!

EDIT: This just in - fiddling with HTML for an hour does bring results! Hurrah!

I've Been Shortlisted! Vote for Me!

It's September 7th, and the voting has officially begun for those shortlisted in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards. And GUESS WHAT?

*~I'VE BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR BEST ROMANCE REVIEW BLOG!~*

Whoo hoo! Happy dance! Happy dance! First of all, THANK YOU to the people who nominated me! THANK YOU to the panel who read my first posts and shortlisted me!

And THANK YOU in advance (wink, wink) to the people who will vote for me here, yesssssss?

For those of you who are only now discovering this blog thanks to the BBAW shortlists, I'm AnimeJune and I review romance. While my blog's been up for five years, it's only been a romance blog for about 2 (if you want to read personal posts about my writing progress and fun and games in university, my employment misadventures, informal movie reviews and occasional rants against my parents' supreme unfairness then by all means read the earlier posts, *lol*).

I tend to read mostly historicals, with some contemporary and increasing amounts of paranormal. I try to make my reviews funny as well as in-depth, analytical and illuminating. As my regular readers doubtless already know, I have a particular format in which I review which divides the book into the barebone facts before I go in-depth so if a wall of text isn't your thing you can get the gist from the first part. Feel free to check out my tags, where I've arranged my reviews according to letter grade.

My reading taste can be rather eclectic - sometimes I review newer books (especially after coming home with all that loot from RWA Nationals) and sometimes I review older books that I picked up in Used Book Stores and library sales because I am poor and cheap. All I can say is that I review every romance I read, regardless of where I get it from.

Also, yes, a caveat - I sometimes do reveal spoilers in my reviews. I have a general warning at the top of my blog but for reaaaaally big spoilers I do give some advance warning. Sometimes to express my particular reaction to a book I have to detail it and provide specific examples, so you have been warned.

So....like my blog? Then VOTE VOTE VOTE!

"Aaah," some of you will say, however, "but what about your competitors for the award?" My lovely, darling, and totally not-evil-ho-bag running mates are as follows. What? Highlight these entries? WhyEVER would you want to do that? What a silly idea:

Babbling About Books and More run by Katiebabs. This is SUCH a good romance blog. Katiebabs hasn't said she eats babies, but she's never come out and officially said she DOESN'T eat babies. Her reviews are great, and she's got cute sheep and kittens! Maybe that's because she's too busy - EATING BABIES. King MhoPho, her sheep mascot is hilarious! and the spawn of the devil! THE SHEEP DEVIL! The DEVILIEST OF ALL DEVILS!

Racy Romance Reviews, run by Jessica. Wow, this is a romance blog written by a philosophy professor who happens to like romance novels and is proud of it! A big poo-poo-head smarty-pants professor. Whenever she reviews romance, she always digs deep to see that, hey, underneath that torn bodice is compelling feminist cultural commentary! See, smarty-pants professor? I can use big words too! It's always a treat to read an intellectual's take on the romance genre. I've already got MY doctorate - a PH.D in ASS-KICKOLOGY. That's DOCTOR Kick-Ass to YOU, smarty-pants.

Reading Adventures, run by Marg. I wasn't aware of this blog before, so I'm only checking it out now. She does a lot of commentary, and even has a weekly event called Library Loot. *GASP!* She steals from LIBRARIES! Quick! Call the police! And she doesn't only review romance - she also reads a lot of historical fiction, mysteries, and YA. Funny how she's nominated for best ROMANCE review blog. Which is it, Marg? Can't keep your stories straight? It looks pretty interesting - and wow! Look at her blogger links! What? Gossamer Obsessions isn't linked? What's wrong with MY blog? Waaaaaaah.....

The Book Binge, run by Casee, Holly, and Rowena. These three women read like madwomen, with new romance reviews up everyday! Binge, eh? Does that mean there's a Book Purge blog out there? I can always depend on the Binge, they do so much I don't know how they can maintain regular lives. Ladies, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Not to mention they have lots of giveaways. Bookarexia's a dangerous disorder, ladies - here, let me give you to the address to this treatment facility located in Siberia. No, they don't allow internet access there - why do you ask?

Wow, what a great group of competitors! Still, I hope you guys enjoy reading my blog - I have a review for Meljean Brook's Demon Angel coming up pretty soon. Be sure to keep an eye out for it.

And, don't forget:

VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Another Award!

I've been having a pretty good week over all, entering contests, doing lots of writing - and Shaymeless Aymless put the cherry on the sundae by nominating me for The Lemonade Award! The information is as follows:

The Lemonade Award is a feel good award which shows great attitude or gratitude.

Here are the rules:

* Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
* Link your nominees within your post.
* Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

Ten blogs, huh? Here we go (in no particular order):
1. Lusty Reader
2. Rip My Bodice - just discovered thanks to checking out the Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2008 awards winners page.
3. Janicu's Book Blog
4. The Booksmugglers - always the Booksmugglers. ^_^
5. Lurv a la Mode. Her blog design is gorgeous.
6. Racy Romance Reviews. Holy well-written academic reviews, Batman! I'm so intimidated!
7. The Thrillionth Page - also discovered thanks to BBAW.
8. The Misadventures of Super-Librarian - thanks for the Big Western Drive!
9. Romance Book Wyrm
10. The Julie James Blog. Pretty self-explanatory.

I will be contacting you all very soon, but I have to run - it's my parents' 25th wedding anniversary today!

You like me! You really like me!

The book-blogosphere has been heating up this week with the distribution of nominations for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards! I nominated a bunch of my friends and fellow bloggers, but nothing surprised and delighted me more when I found myself nominated in FOUR categories:

-Best General Review Blog
"This blog doesn’t specialize in any one book genre, but it’s still excellent. Their book reviews usually cause you to add one more book to the TBR pile." Before I started writing reviews, my posts on my blog were personal and sporadic. Reviewing books, however, has changed the way I write and changed the way I read, as well!

-Best Romance Blog
"This blog is hot! And it reviews romance books in a way that keeps you coming back for more." Aaaaaaw yeah!

-Most Humorous/Funniest Blog
"This blog cracks you up. You make sure you’re never drinking anything while reading this blog for fear you may snort it out of your nose. You’ve been known to forward the posts from this blogger to friends, saying, “This is so funny! You have to read this!” Sometimes it can be incredibly difficult to come up with funny things to say about romance novels, but the difficulty also helps me to assess and analyse what I read more than I used to. And hell, I love being funny. Or being thought of as funny, I should say.

-Best Writing
"It’s not just what they say, it’s how they say it. This blog is almost as enjoyable to read as the books (and anything else) it talks about." Okay, okay, I'm enormously honoured to have received ALL my nominations, but it's this one that gets me all warm and fuzzy. Best writing? Really? Me? Someone actually nominated me for that? I mean, wow. Considering my nomination I should be coming up with something more articulate to say... but people like my writing! Yippee!

This Just In (edited August 20th): Best Reviews. "Book reviews are the heart and soul of book blogging, and this blog is the cream of the crop - consistently well-written, entertaining and informative reviews are a staple on this blog." HELL YEAH! I love writing reviews, love it, so it's AWESOME to be honoured for it. Even reading a bad novel, I know I can look forward to the unique pleasure of writing a scathing bad review, and with a good novel, I can promote it to my readers and spread the love.

THANK YOU FOR NOMINATING ME, YOU GUYS!

Congratulations to all the other nominees, and don't forget to participate in Book Blogger Appreciation Week from September 14th-18th!