Survey Results Part Two: (Free Response)

Onto the free responses, my reaction in blue once again, overall in red. Sorry to be posting twice in a row, but I split the posts so it wouldn't be too long.

Q: What do you like/dislike about my reviews?

Let's hear from a few fives:

A: "They're extremely thorough, and I love how your personality shines through. I can easily relate to them, and they don't even feel like I'm reading a review! Very emotionally based, but I like it that way. :)"

A: "What I like about your reviews is that they are very detailed. You really go in depth about what you like and dislike about a book. I get a good feel about a book based on your reviews."

I'm so glad that you guys like them and find them relatable and detailed! Other 5s also mentioned that they liked how in-depth I go as well as that they're fun to read.

From a few fours:

A: "I like that you have a synopsis, then your opinion, then a rating. I also really, really like that you include who you would recommend this book to. I haven't seen this on anyone else's blog and so I really like you including it."

A: "They are perfect the include just the right amount of information. Just a suggestion maybe add a link or two to the authors website at the bottom."

Awesome, other 4s also mentioned that they liked the way my reviews were set up, especially the "teenage ignormaus comments" haha. I will definitely take the suggestion to include a link to the author's website, that's an awesome idea!

From a few threes:

A: "I think you give really good opinions about books but to me the reviews are a bit long.

A: "I honestly haven't read one of your reviews recently, so I wouldn't be able to say."

Haha, I do write long reviews, (especially for Literature Week, I'm sorry!). I'll keep that in mind and try to not get to carried away. And a few other 3s mentioned not having read my reviews lately or having just started following.

OVERALL: The majority of you seemed to like my reviews, consistently calling them "honest", "real", "helpful" and "detailed." Which really makes me happy, since this is a after all a book REVIEW blog. I try to make sure my reviews are the best they can be and I'm glad that you guys are enjoying them.

Q: Why or why don't you comment? (I'm including a lot of responses here, because I think this will help ALL bloggers, just not me :))

"I usually only comment on books I'm interested in reading."

Ah, I see. Maybe I should start polling for what reviews people would be most interested in reading?

"I don't really have anything to contribute"

Oh no. I'm sure you do!

"Coz I wuv you"

Hahahaha! <333 you to :D

"No time. I have a super-slow internet connection and three other people nagging me for the computer."

I totally understand, my internet connection used to be horrible as well and then I'd be fighting my siblings and parents to get on. Thankfully those days are behind me.

"Because I want to let you know that I read and enjoy your posts. I try to comment everytime I see an update, but I occasionally miss some, sorry! (At least I think I do.)"

Awesome, this makes me very happy :)

"I definitely need to comment more on all blogs that I visit. I just have to put more of an effort to comment. Most of the books that are reviewed I haven't read them or heard of them so sometimes I just don't have anything to say."

I try to comment on most of the blogs I visit, but I agree sometimes it's hard because I don't know what to say either.

"If I don't comment it's either because I'm either too lazy or just don't have the time, usually the latter. "

Haha. I get lazy as well, and then busy-lazy :p

I'm very new to this whole blogging thing. But I'm very happy I found out about these wonderful blogs and plus I love to read. My hope is to participate and comment as much as a I can.

Awesome! And good luck with blogging :)

My words of wisdom don't seem very wise. :(

Oh no. *huggles* You don't have to be wise to comment (I wouldn't be allowed to comment on any blog if that was the case, haha).

I'm more of a lurker than a commenter. I read posts, but unless I have something new to say, or I'm the first on the scene, I don't tend to comment much.

Come out of your lurkedom! I swear it's much funner once you've delurked, I used to do A LOT of lurking.

OVERALL: I got quite a wide variety of responses here, but most people said they either didn't have enough time, or their internet/computer sucks, or they're too lazy, or they don't have anything to say. Which I totally understand, I feel the same way myself sometimes.

Q: What's the thing that you DISLIKE most about the blog?

"I am not crazy about the header. I think its a little boring and blah."

Oh no. I think you guys are split, because some people tell me they like the header and others that they don't. Hmm.

"I really can't find anything. If you insist on me finding something, I think you should review more books!"

I agree. I read way faster than I review, so I have this HUGE backlog of reviews I haven't done. I really need to catch up on them.

"A little too much in the sidebars. Maybe create a slideshow for your blog awards?"

Ooh, good idea. I think I'll try that :)

"To tell you the truth, there is really nothing that I don't like. As long as there are reviews, memes, and some contests, its a great blog."

Awesome!

I don't really care for memes like In My Mailbox. Sometimes there are interesting titles, but for the most part they are similar to the dozens of other blogs I read.

I sort of agree, sometimes I feel like doing so many memes get repetitive. But I think I have to keep IMM, since a lot of people enjoy it.

Um... I REALLY can't think of anything!

Haha.

OVERALL: Most of you guys said that you couldn't think of anything. Which is awesome, I guess. And then most of you others either mentioned my sidebar or my header. So I definitely will think on making it more prettiful!

What do you think of my blog layout?

"I like the background, but I think your header could be a bit smaller. I LOVE the labels that are at the top, very easy to maneuver. I also LOVE that you have a rating system. All in all it's quite lovely!"

Awesome!

"It's bright and organized."

Yay!

"HEADER MUST DIE. Jk, but I wish you had a different one."

"I really like your header!"

The above two really confuse me, lol because some of you don't like it and some of you like it. Hmm.

OVERALL: Most of you described my layout as being "easy to navigate" and "great". So that's wonderful. :)

Is there anything you're DYING to see on my blog?

"YES. Do a video blog showing off your bookcase/book collection."

I'll think about it. It's just, my room is a PIGSTY, I don't want to be sued for burning someone's eyes out. And..., my book collection is just heaps of books strategically scattered around my house, so it'd be more like a house tour, Lol. I guess it'd be interesting in the I-can't-actually-believe-she-keeps-her-books-like-that-way. Maybe :)

"What about some half naked pics of Jude Law or Mark Walburg?"

LOL! I'm afraid not at this time :)

Yeah! International contests/giveaways! And things that internationals like me... I mean, I was thinking about you guys from US and CA, who have most blogs, do something to approach the internationals bloggers.

I'll definitely try to host an international giveaway in the future. I actually feel bad about not having the current giveaway open internationally, it's just the shipping costs frightened me. But I'll hopefully hold one soon.

"Maybe you should have a blog button."

Good idea. I just don't know how to make one, haha.

"More rants/ "investigation" stuff haha. Cover reviews!"

Ooh, I quite like rants and investigation stuff so I'll do more posts on those. And definitely with the covers.

"I just love reading your entries, so I'm always dying for a new post--lol!"

This makes me smile :)

"Reviews on more current books. Like books that JUST come out. If possible. Please. =]"

I'll try, but a lot of the times the book I read aren't recent releases. But I get what you mean, lately I've haven't done that many reviews in the way of new releases.

"author interviews. maybe you could solicit some questions from your followers."

Yep, I'll definitely try author interviews. And soliciting questions from followers...that'd be pretty cool! So they get some input :)

Q: Any further suggestions, complaints, concerns, etc. or ANYTHING you'd like me to know? Any burning questions about the blog or something else?

I want to know where your header is from. Is it a famous painting or is it you?

This makes me LAUGH because so many of you guys asked me if the header was me. No, it isn't, I just found it by googling.

Do you look like that girl in the header? What do you look like?

No, not at all. She's blonde, I'm a brunette. Er...I don't know what I look like. Maybe I'll put up a pic some day. This makes me laugh as well because a few of you guys asked me what I looked like as well. I PROMISE I'M NOT A SPAM BOT OR A FIFTY YEAR OLD MAN. Pinky promise.

When did you start blogging and why? Do you look at it as a chore or a pleasure? How do you fit it into your schedule?

I started blogging in late August, but not seriously until September-October. It's definitely a pleasure, I love doing it. I guess it's a bit of a strain on my schedule with school and all, but it makes me happy. I usually come home and spend a few hours commenting on or writing blog posts (while doing other things online or my homework), because I've decided blogging is important to me. Once I've decided I want to focus on something I dedicate a lot of time to it. Of course, when things in real life get too hectic I take a break or I let up on the frequency of my posts a bit. I wish I had more time! When I don't have time for the blog, book reviews are the first things that suffer because they take up the most time to write.

"I would like to be able to receive your posts by email."

Awesome idea, I'll definitely look into it :)

"Nope, you do a great job! I quit really following the book blogging world awhile ago, but yours is one of the blogs good enough for me to continue to read, anyway."

Awesome, this makes me happy :)

I like the footnotes =D

I'm quite fond of them myself. :D

"I just noticed your Daily Puppy and think it's cute! Um. Seriously, I really really like how your sidebars are set up. "

Haha, I lurve puppies. And once again, the differing opinions strike! Several people told me they didn't like my sidebars.

"where do you get the time to post so regulalry? :P"

I don't know really. Blogging does take up A LOT of the time I spend on things other than school--I guess it's like I said earlier because I decided I want to spend a lot of my extra time on blogging. But I do feel the need for more time.

"Your top commenter thing hates me. HAHAHA Ok I'll stop complaining about that now."

Lol. I'm really, really sorry to everyone who comments regularly on this blog and is not on the top commenters widget as they should be. I've noticed people have like 20 comments, and then they just drop out of sight after a week or so, or the number of comments they have goes down significantly. I don't know why this is. I've tried fixing it, but I think the widget is just a BIG MEANIE.

Your blog is very informative and I appreciated bloggers that take their time to make surveys and then read them. :)

Thanks! I'm glad you like the survey.

That I love you and want you to be my blogging friend forever?! If you can guess who I am, super props to you. :D

Aww, thanks <333 you to :) I'm pretty sure I know who you are :p

I love the fact that you have a questionaire. Very forward thinking.

Thanks. I figured it'd be pretty helpful for improvements. I saw a few other blogs do it within the last month or so and thought it was a great idea :)

Keep up the great work! Yours is one of the best blogs I've subscribed to!

Thanks a lot!

And that concludes the survey posts! Hope it was interesting, and perhaps it'll help you with your blog as well. I'm really glad I did this, I got some wonderful feedback and suggestions and now I can improve the blog.

I know I only picked a few of the questions/comments to include here so if I didn't answer your question, I'm sorry. If you'd still like an answer comment below and I'll respond. :)