Today’s the first official day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week! The purpose of this post is to recognize a few of  my favorite blogs. Now, I have waaay too many favorites to list in one post, so I’m just going to list three blogs that I love.  And, obviously,  used a very selective method to select these blogs (I closed my eyes, scrolled, and whichever blog the or landed on, wins!).

It just so happens that the first blog I landed on was also the very first blog I followed: No More Grumpy Bookseller. Becky and both have a love of the horror genre. Not the gory horror, but the “chills down the back of your neck” horror. If Becky recommends a book, I know I’ll enjoy it.

The next blog is The Book Lady’s Blog. Rebecca has quite the eclectic reading taste!  Her posts are witty and humorous.  She is a true bibliophile; she got married in a library!  She’s also a book seller and details some of her most interesting experiences in her Adventures in Bookselling posts.  These posts literally leave me laughing out loud, with tears rolling down my face!

And the final blog is A High and Hidden Place: Tales of A Capricious Reader. Heather is an incredibly creative woman; she created my header!  She and I have very similar tastes in book, she always seems to be reading a book I have on my TBR shelf.  We both switched to self-hosted blogs around the same time and it was nice to have someone experiencing the same frustrations/challenges I was facing, at the same time!

So, those are just a few of my favorite blogs!  Please be sure to check them out!

Thanks to Julie from Booking Mama for this suggestion to a follow-up from yesterday’s post Are You An Aggressive Bookseller?

Yesterday, many commented that they do recommend books to complete strangers.  As a follow up to that post, which book or series of books, are you passionate about “hand selling?”

Like I’m sure it is for many, it’s hard for me to come up with just one suggestion.  The series I find myself recommending the most is the  Horrid Henry Series-I recommend these books to parents of reluctant readers. My son can’t get enough of them!  We recently purchased a set for his school library so other children could experience the witty fun and humor (and important lessons!) my son enjoyed.

So…which book (ok, list a few if you can’ t  just think of one) would hand sell to a complete stranger?

I love how ideas for posts just pop into my head!

I was chatting on Twitter about two instances this weekend when I “sold” two books in the kids section of Barnes & Noble. Let it be known: I am not a paid bookstore employee. In case number one, three mothers were looking at 14 Cows for America, which B&N had displayed right on the main shelves in the children’s section. The mothers were flipping through the book and discussing how wonderful the book sounded. So, in a flash, (I think I need a superhero costume!) I flew right in and gave them several reasons why they should buy that particular book.  They walked (no, they didn’t run!) away  and I presume they purchased the book and weren’t just trying to find an escape route.

Situation 2, same bookstore (we were there for a while!): A boy, age 11, was looking for a book along the lines of Harry Potter.  It was just his luck! I just recently finished a book that fits that criteria: Bran Hambric by Kaleb Nation! I know for a fact he purchased that book, because just a few minutes later I spotted him outside in the mall, sitting in an armchair, absorbed in that very book.

If I see someone picking up a book that I loved, I have no problem in rushing over and commenting about the book. I find I do this more often with children’s books.  I, admittedly, get very excited about great kids books. Perhaps this is due to my son’s reluctance with reading (and his new-found love of reading!).

So, are you an aggressive bookseller? And when I say agressive, I don’t mean physically.  Perhaps it should say “enthusiastic/extroverted”? Do you walk up to complete strangers and recommend a book to them? Do employees at certain bookstores give you the evil eye when you enter a bookstore because they know your “history?” Or would you just prefer to be left alone when browsing through the stacks?

Head over to the BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week) site to see the shortlists and vote for your favorite blogs!

Voting closes Saturday September 12 at 11:59 PM EST. Good luck to everyone who made the short lists!

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from Alex Cross’s TRIAL by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo:

“July was wide-open summer in South Mississippi, featuring a sun that rose early and stayed at the otp of the sky all afternoon. The air near the Gulf is so humid at all times of year that you have to put your shoes near the stove at night to keep them from turning white with mildew.”

What’s your teaser this week?

Is….

Carol has been notified and her book is packed up to be mailed tomorrow!  Thank you to all who entered!