This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you reply to comments on your blog or do you figure folks won’t be stopping back to read your reply so you don’t bother?

I try to reply to comments consistently and in a timely fashion…but rather like my blog reading, it actually tends to happen in bunches when I carve out some time. And I miss comments sometimes too. I tell myself it’s a good exercise in letting go of perfection to allow that to happen…yeah, that’s still something of an internal argument!

But in general I’m pro-comment replies. I know not everyone will see the response, but some of you do—because some of you reply to my replies! I know WordPress helpfully tells WordPress users about comment-replies on other WordPress blogs, so while I don’t keep track of which comments are coming from WordPress users, I do know some replies are being seen that way. Besides, if someone asks a question, even if they don’t see the answer, maybe a later reader will, and will find it valuable!

And I feel like a practice (even imperfect) of replying to comments adds a lot to the feeling that a blog is a conversation, not just a broadcast—and conversation is certainly what I am aiming for!

Thoughts? Comments? I promise I’ll (try to) respond!

This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you have a pet peeve about when someone posts a comment on your blog? For example, no link back to their blog.

Aww, I don’t have any pet peeves about commenters. I love comments! Well, if they’re from real people—I do get annoyed by spam comments that sneak past the spam filter, especially the ones that look almost like real comments and are only given away by their general vagueness and poor grammar. That’s my only comment pet peeve.

So I thought I’d flip this around and mention a couple of favorite things about comments. I love it when commenters…

• …talk to each other. Replies to other people’s comments are so much fun, especially when someone answers another reader’s question (often with better information than I have!)
• …tell me something interesting about the book or author I didn’t know. All the better if it’s an insight that addresses something I mentioned in the review as bothering me.
• …write virtual blog posts in response. I’m pretty sure there’s no length-limit to comments, and there really shouldn’t be!
• …give me a new book suggestion, or tell me they’re going to read something on my suggestion.
• …agree with me about a book—or argue with me! As long as it stays friendly and respectful all around, of course.

Bloggers out there, do you have pet peeves—or favorite things—about comments? Feel free to write a blog post, answer each other’s questions, or volunteer a book suggestion, but spammers are not welcome. 🙂

This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: How many bookcases do you have, and how do you organize the shelves?

My primary goal in organizing my apartment, when I moved in, was to fit in plenty of bookcases! I still feel short of space sometimes, but I make do… I have three large bookcases (six feet high)—one for children’s fiction, one for scifi/fantasy, and one for general fiction (which should give you a not-unexpected sense of the balance of my reading…) I have two much smaller bookcases, one for classic children’s fantasy, and one with nothing but L. M. Montgomery books.

My books are in fact meticulously organized, although they might not look it. Books are arranged alphabetically by author, within the aforementioned subject matter divisions. It looks more haphazard because several authors have their own shelves—J. M. Barrie, William Shakespeare, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tamora Pierce and all Star Trek titles. Multiple titles by one author are usually in series-order or alphabetical if that’s not relevant. The Star Trek books are loosely in order by internal chronology. Montgomery, who did not write all of her series books consecutively or even in order, is the most organized but looks the least, because I put her books in chronological order by original publishing date.

It all makes sense to me. 🙂 And I can find any title quickly, which is really the end-goal, right? Do you have an organizing system, and does it make sense to other people, or just to you?

This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you like to read books with a theme such as Halloween, Christmas, etc?

I definitely d0–in theory, but I don’t think I’m all that good at actually reading themed-books at the relevant time!  For example, I spent most of spring listening to the audiobooks of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  Never occurred to me that maybe four books set over four summers would make sense as summer reading… 😉  Maybe next time!

I think I focus themes more when I reread books.  I don’t pay all that much attention to themes/seasons when I pick a new book up, but if I read it and observe the theme, I’m more likely to reread it during the proper time of year.  I read Mischief of the Mistletoe for the first time in spring (although that was because of a long hold list at the library…) but now I try to reread it near Christmas.  Valente’s Fairyland series feel like very autumnal books to me (the main character is named September!) so even once they’re all out and I’m not rereading in anticipation of October release dates, I could see myself rereading them in the fall.

I tend to do better on holidays/themes with movies.  I like to watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for the Fourth of July, I try to always watch V for Vendetta on Guy Fawkes Day, and I have several favorite Christmas movies.

Do you read many theme books?  Do you have particular ones you reread in certain seasons or for certain holidays?

This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do covers pull you in?

Definitely!  I don’t agree with the old cliche about not judging a book by its cover.  Yes, in principle, sometimes good books have terrible covers (and terrible books have good covers), but more often than not, a cover at the least reflects the style of a book.  I don’t expect a cover to necessarily tell me if I will like a book–but I do tend to judge whether it’s in a genre I might like by the cover.

Covers make less of a difference now, when I mostly find new books based on other blogs’ reviews.  When I found most books by browsing at the library, covers were huge.  I’d see interesting titles (and sometimes judge by the font of the spine!) then look at the cover–and very often never open the book because the cover would be enough to clarify that this was not what I was looking for.  Like…to invent a title, say I saw a book called The Time of Stars.  Could be sci fi, maybe fantasy, so I’d pull it from the shelf.  And if the cover showed a teenage girl with an iPod, or maybe someone walking on a red carpet (you know, celebrity stars!) then that’s a no.

So much for covers dissuading me–for pulling me in, well, I do have a weakness for covers with girls in sweeping dresses, or girls staring defiantly at the viewer.  And dragons are always a good sign.  Or cats.

Do covers pull you in?  What cover features will grab your interest?