Behind the Blog: Jessi at The Book Cove

Greetings to Jessi from The Book Cove!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Jessi. I am a 25-year-old full-time graduate student. I enjoy running and anything outdoorsy, and you can almost always find me with some kind of book in my hand.

How did you end up here in the world of book blogging?

I’ve been writing reviews on books for about 5 years. I started out on sites like Amazon and then about 2 years ago I decided to start more of a consistent blog type deal on various book sites. Eventually I got involved with a blog, and a short time later that went on the way side. So I started my own blog. That was a year ago and I’m hitting my 1 year blogiversary on the 10th of June! When I first started my blog I focused on reviews as I was not familiar with much else of the book blogging world. I had NO IDEA all of the contests, memes, giveaways, interviews, blog tours, etc that came with review blogging! Now I do it all and I love every minute of it!

What types of books do you enjoy reading?

I jumped on the New Adult bandwagon about a year and a half ago and I haven’t looked back! I’m so hooked on the ever-so-popular star-crossed contemporary romances and 20-something book smut that it’s a bit ridiculous (I’d never show anyone my kindle! haha) But I love it and I get to share my shameful thoughts with other smut lovers so it’s great 😉 My other favorite type is paranormal with intertwining romance in both the YA and NA age groups. Some of my favorites include Colleen Gleason (The Gardella Vampire Chronicles), Jessica Sorenson (Ember X and Fallen Star series), and Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy).

What do you bring to the world of book blogging? What’s unique about your perspective of books?

I like to think that I can write both sides of a review pretty well. Part of the reason I started reviewing was because I was tired of the “It was good” or “It sucked. Don’t bother” reviews posted everywhere. It told a reader absolutely nothing and it sometimes felt like the reviews were too biased (stacking and down voting). Very rarely do I not have an opposing granted view – be it likable or not so much. Because of this I admittedly get a bit of a sassy cynical attitude towards a book sometimes. But my readers seem to enjoy my little side-bar rants 😉

Do you have any helpful hints about blogging?

If it’s not your full job, don’t let it bog you down. This is especially true when first starting out. It’s really easy to get lost in the stress of trying to promote your blog and reach out to as many book friends as possible. Sometimes you need to take a step back and remind yourself that you started this for the fun of it. Even people that have done this for a while can get lost in it all. Especially when there’s a ton of email promotions, blog tours, book and blog challenges, etc. that you’d love to take part in. Sometimes learning the word “No” is the best thing you can do.

What type of things always grab your attention in books?

First off (if I’m in a bookstore or browsing online) is the cover. If it looks like another cookie-cutter Photoshop from the copyright free image pages then I can’t help but think that it’s another cookie-cutter book. Which is fine, I do enjoy reading books that have familiar story lines — but not ALL of the time.

As for content, I’m a sucker for star-crossed lovers. Any time there’s a hint about “the bad boy from across town” or supernatural/human relationships I’m sucked right in. I especially love books where the roles aren’t so cliche. For example, the girl is the athlete and the boy is the book worm, or the characters come from middle class backgrounds with no huge deaths/divorces that start the book.

When you go to the library (or bookstore), do you bring a list of books to get or do you browse to find your next book?

I’m a browser. If I do go in looking for something particular it will just be that one book and if I go in to browse I may come out with 1 or 5.

What book trends do you hope to see more of?

I love when authors are able to take something that people didn’t know existed (or just thought they were too cool for) and turn it into an awesome story line. Colleen Hoover’s Slammed is a great example. I’d heard of slam poetry before but I’d never read about it. Colleen did a great job with incorporating that and opened readers up to a whole new world. Another is Magan Vernon’s The Only Exception which mixes Liberal/Conservative politics and romance with 20-somethings in a college setting. It’s one of the most unbiased books with a political underlay that I’ve read and have been able to really enjoy.

What books do you constantly recommend to other people?

Those that have a really good moral of the story at the end. The books that affect me the most and leave me thinking are those that get you thinking about your life and others’ lives. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a completely serious life altering book. But it’s a captivating story dealing with some life matter that I think other’s can really relate to, then I tend to highly recommend to about everyone who asks for a good book to read.

Any exciting blog things happening in the future?

Well, as I said I’m hitting my 1 year blogiversary. So to celebrate I’m having a drawing for a blog takeover. An author will gain one week of unfettered access to my blog and will be able to post whatever their heart desires. I’m also in the search for a permanent co-blogger. So there could be some pretty big changes coming soon!

Anything else you’d like to add?

The Book Cove is a “community” blog. We love having other readers, reviewers, authors, marketers, etc. showcase their work and thoughts so we have many guest posting and guest reviewing opportunities available. This has been one of the most successful parts of our blog to-date as everyone loves getting the chance to try their hand at reviewing and the “Book Talk” discussions by authors/bloggers are always great!

Thanks Jessi!

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