Tagged by Lashaan. Feel free to riot and mob, as long as you do it at his place, not mine!
1) WHERE DO YOU TYPICALLY WRITE YOUR BLOG POSTS?
Sitting on our couch, looking out at the gray and drab weather! If that view doesn’t cheer you up, you’re obviously not a good enough pessimist.
2) HOW LONG DOES IT GENERALLY TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK REVIEW?
About an hour, maybe 2 if I get distracted. Either I’ll go down a rabbit trail of blogs or start paying attention to whatever I have playing on the tv in the background.
3) WHEN DID YOU START YOUR BOOK BLOG?
This particular one I started back in ’13 when Goodreads started hiding or deleting reviews that didn’t meet their intentionally vague and pro-author/pro-selling guidelines, that they introduced without actually telling anyone.
My original book review blog is at Bookstooge.blogspot.com and that was started in 2005. However, even that blog underwent a name change to the Bookstooge brand and honestly, I can’t remember what it USED to be.
4) WHAT IS THE WORST THING ABOUT HAVING A BOOK BLOG IN YOUR OPINION?
The Invisible Reader. It depresses me more than some jackass writer expecting me to be his editor because I agreed to review his indie book. I simply don’t understand those who follow but won’t interact.
5) WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT HAVING A BOOK BLOG IN YOUR OPINION?
The countless horde of followers that I can unleash at a moments notice to wreak havoc across the ENTIRE INTERNET! Fear me, Internet, you have met your doom.
6) WHAT BLOG POST HAVE YOU HAD THE MOST FUN WRITING SO FAR?
Definitely the Bookstooge Confessional and follow up Saint Bookstooge Gives Answer. How can you resist a post that ends with such a horrifying gif?
7) WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TYPE OF BLOG POST TO WRITE?
Probably my reviews. They aren’t necessarily as fun or exciting to write as Tag posts or the misc posts I manage to spew out, but I couldn’t write misc posts 3 times a week, every week. I just couldn’t do it. This kind of post is icing ON the cake but my review posts are THE cake for me.
8) WHEN DO YOU TYPICALLY WRITE?
Saturdays and Sundays and whenever inspiration or desire strikes during the week.
10) HOW DO YOU WRITE YOUR BOOK REVIEWS? WITH A CUP OF COFFEE OR TEA? WITH NETFLIX? CUDDLED WITH YOUR FUR BABY?
Usually with the tv going in the background playing something from Prime. If it’s a Saturday, there will probably be a Bang next to me. Caffeine helps my brain run more efficiently you know.
11) WHEN DO YOU WRITE YOUR BOOK REVIEWS? RIGHT AFTER FINISHING THE BOOKS? TWO WEEKS AFTER FINISHING THE BOOK?
Usually within 3 days of finishing the book. It might not post for 2-3 weeks, but if a review isn’t written within 5 days, all the salient details are GONE from my mind, just like the wind.
12) HOW OFTEN DO YOU POST?
3-5 times a week. Pretty regularly unless Life happens, then it’s anyone’s guess.
And that about wraps everything up. Cheers!
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
Oh, yes, I really enjoyed the “Saint Bookstooge Gives Answer” post. It was absolutely hilarious. And I’m with you about the invisible reader thing. Blogs are meant to generate a tonne of interaction but that often doesn’t happen.
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Yeah, it is real bummer when all is quiet.
That is part of why I try to comment as much as I can. Not all the time obviously, because not every post interests me. And I realize that not every post of mine will interest all my readers all the time, but come on, when someone has been following me for a year and hasn’t left a like or a comment? Makes me wonder if they’re a bot or one of those scammers who just want me to visit their site.
Ahhh, the social aspect of blogging 😀
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LOL, I loved the “Gorn with the Wind” pic. I’m impressed that you can remember all those salient details for as long as 3-5 days. Aside from possible bathroom breaks or kitchen runs, writing a review is usually the next thing I do in life after I finish a book. If I finish too close to bedtime, then I’ll quickly type up some general thoughts to get them out of my head and write the review as soon as I can the next day. If I don’t at least write down my thoughts before bed, sometimes I start composing the review in my head when I’m trying to fall asleep and I can’t get myself to shut up. If I throw some thoughts down in writing, then those thoughts are more likely to leave me in peace.
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I find that I have to add character names to the LT common knowledge as I read or they disappear immediately.
But usually enough plot sticks in my head for about a week. Once that amount of time starts shrinking, maybe I’ll have to change my modus operandi.
I think that how my job goes during the week affects things too. Sometimes I’m just too tired to type out paragraphs. So then on the weekend I bang out like 3-5 reviews. THAT has only happened 3 times though. 3 seems to be my upper limit for one day.
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That makes sense. I often doubt myself as to the spelling of character names, especially the secondary ones, so I often have to go back and check myself. I hadn’t thought of using LT common knowledge for it. Sometimes I’ll highlight a character name in my Kindle so I can find the spelling quickly later, if I know I’m going to want to write something about them in my review..
If there’s a conversation about a book I recently finished, I can usually remember the details well enough to participate in the conversation even if it’s a few days later. So I could probably wait longer on my reviews if I really wanted to, but it’s become kind of a post-book tradition at this point.
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I tried using the highlight feature for character names. I found I forgot to look at it afterwards 🙂
There is a lot to be said for Tradition. And if it works for you, keep on doing it. A review plan is just as important as a reading plan and once you find that groove that works, don’t mess with success 😀
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If I do not post semi directly after a finnished book all is lost… I do not keep notes as I am not the multitasking sorta man… I do also dislike ghost followers, but theres a fine line with liking my posts and then in the comments trying to sell me penis enlargement ads through some dodgy website… This happens too often…
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Oh man, spam accounts. Yeah, those are definitely worse than ghost followers. I ended up changing my settings so any comment with 2 or more links had to be manually approved by me. Thankfully, while it means I do have to check my spam comment area, it has taken care of most of the spammers.
And I hear you about taking notes. Names are the only thing I note, as I’m absolutely terrible with names.
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Im not too bad with names. Its just that ive done it before, but by the time i get to physically typing my post everything i mightve written down changed so much, i might as well not have taken notes
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That pig gif thing kind of freaks me out! Book Reviews-ugh, my nemisis. They can take between 30 minutes and two hours!
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Yeah, it freaked me out really badly when I originally put it up. Funny thing is, I didn’t realize it was a gif when I posted it the first time 🙂
I remember you posting about how hard reviews are for you. Sending encouragement your way!
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That pig GIF at answer nr. 6 was beyond weird (and not good-weird, at that!) but I quickly forgot it once I reached Gorn with the Wind: that was quite masterful! And I’m still laughing… 🙂
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Yeah, the vampire pig was pretty bad.
I was looking for gone with the wind pix but that Gorn one kept popping up. Ijust had to use it 🙂 Glad that gave you a good laugh…
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No, not the pig gif again 😉 On the other hand – a chance to learn more about the mysterious Bookstooge, boardgames he plays, bookmarks in his web browser… a look into this great bakery that keeps us on a regular diet of tasty cakes 🙂
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I’d like to promise that I’ll never use it again, but something so horrific just cries out to be shown to the public 😉
Information is power. that’s why I lie about EVERYTHING in every post of mine 😉
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I don’t have a book blog but do review and sympathise with point 4. I have reviewed indies out of support and empathy as well as genuine interest, but have had several writers respond as if I am acting as beta reader rather than reviewer and seeking screeds of feedback.
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Sometimes I think that the words “review” get lost in translation with indie authors. 5 minutes on a reviewers site will tell said author what they can expect.
Oh well 😀
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Gorn with the Wind rules, and almost made me forget that awful pig gif 😛 Glad for the full-of-lies peek into your review laboratory 😉 Surprised there’s no snow out there!
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Snow is coming 😦
12cm this coming saturday and potentially another 30 on Sunday. If that happens, work is going to slow down like I hit a brick wall. Of course, that’ll mean more time for reading, so overall I’d say it balances out…
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You can go into your bear cave and hibernate through winter with books 😀
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If your house looks anything like the one through your window in that first picture, then.. wow. You live in a castle. Why didn’t I think of that.
No wonder some of us love tagging you for these posts. Your answers are priceless! 😛 Love the throwbacks to some of your most epic posts too!
Almost 14+ years of blogging (at various frequencies, but still). That’s pretty awesome. 😮
Thanks for the doing this as well! I appreciate it. 😀
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Yeah, all 3 condo buildings look the same. Sadly, I only own 1 unit instead of the whole building. If I did own the whole building, I’d kick everyone else out, pronto!
I have a lot of fun ranting through tags. I actually just got done doing one for next month. I’m almost tempted to edit it because I really let go. 😉
Yep, been journalling since ’97 and blogging since ’05’ish. Writing is just one of those things I have to do 🙂 If it wasn’t for the internet, I’d probably be writing to my local paper every week, hahahaha.
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Oh i love your view from the window!
… 😀
I can’t really look at my slice of grey sky, cuz too many trees. Meh
Love how that drink specifies “natural and artificial flavoures”. It cracks me up and i don’t even know why. But take all small laughs while i’m at work 😀
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Sometimes small laughs are the only thing keeping me sane, so I hear you…
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I don’t have a window where I typically write my blogs. Probably a good thing; staring out the window would be a huge distraction for me.
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For me, it is a good way to give my eyes a rest from looking at a computer screen and to let them focus on something farther away. Even a glance up really helps I find 🙂
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Same! I’d be like a cat 😀 And my mind would start wandering.. whenever I see something happening outside.^^
We have really big windows in every room, but where I blog, I only see our veg garden and the most interesting thing that’s happening is our chickens trying to jump in and eat the greens
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Thankfully, not much goes on. this place was built in ’86 and a lot of the owners are original. So it is kind of a low budget elderly community condo thing. It is great! Nice and quiet…
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What’s a ‘bang’? I’ve never seen it before! But the flavour sounds cool!
‘Bookstooge Army’, huh? 😉
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Bang is an energy drink produced by VPX that also pushes out other “health supplements”. It has 300mg of caffeine per can. Most websites state that 500mg a day is the high limit of what a person should take 😉
Well, more like faceless minions I can throw into a fray. All the people I interact with can be my Lieutenants or something 😀
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At least you’ve got a nice house across the street to look at. Maybe too nice……
And kudos for MtG card use.
Also – the Farming Game? Man that caught my eye. Now I have to look it up.
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Eh, it looks exactly like my building, so we’re all equal 😀
Yeah, I’m trying to use mtg pictures whenever possible now. Gotta spread the love!
The Farming Game is like Monopoly on steroids. I played it back in highschool with friends all weekend long. Haven’t even attempted to play it as a “grown up” with time commitments. I remember it being wicked fun though.
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Dang, I would play the hell out of that if I could find people to join me. “You landed on my eggplant, pay up jackass!”
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Well, not QUITE like that 😉
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hehe I’ll have you know I’m an excellent pessimist 😉 Yeah your point about GR is one of the many, many reasons why I don’t review on there- seems a bit pointless (and ominous). hahaha ONWARDS FACELESS HOARDS! (you’re right, that is fun to say 😉 ) Ahhh that gif!! Great answers!
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Glad you enjoyed this. It was fun to write.
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