Feature & Follow Friday

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post. This post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
5. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friend Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
6. Follow follow follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow; comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI."
7. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love...and the followers
8. If you're new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

The question for this week is:

What is a book you didn't like that all your friends raved about,
or what book did you love that wasn't popular?

Okay, so please don't hate me for this, but I didn't care for Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Having heard nothing but good things about the series, I started it and got about halfway through the first book before I set it aside. It wasn't bad by any means. I just couldn't get into it.

Another book I couldn't get into, which may not count because I love the series like most who have read it, is A Dance With Dragons by G.R.R. Martin. I appreciate gritty and bitter and hopeless, but sadly, Martin is taking some of my favorite characters into "I-can't-stand-you-and-your-story" territory. I couldn't finish the book, though I plan to when the next one comes out (probably four years from now if Martin continues on his current writing schedule).

On the other hand, one of my favorite books that isn't popular and seems to get mixed reviews leaning more toward the don't-like is We The Living by Ayn Rand. Taking place in the U.S.S.R., it's bleak and more character-driven than plot-driven, making it seem slow, depressing, and purposeless, but it's realistic. Something about it affected me profoundly and made me grateful and care more about the country we live in today. A story about communism would do that to anyone, I suppose, though I guess one just has to be in the mood to be slapped with the be-humble hand.

What about you? What books did not live up to the hype or should've gotten more in your opinion?
Let us know in a comment below. We enjoy hearing from you! And feel free to leave us a link to your F&F Friday.
We love discovering new blogs. Thanks for stopping by!

You certainly don't have to follow, but if you'd like to,
our GFC can be found at the bottom of the blog. We've added a Linky, too!