I would like to explain how this came to fruition. Hubby and I were having a discussion about the old days, (for the young’ens reading this..a little history lesson) but before the dark age. When Sundays were special and had traditions and rituals. Sunday mornings Church, come home to a big gravy (sauce) cooking on the stove, a big Sunday dinner, then either off to visit relatives/friends or wait for relatives/friends to drop by. We would spend the afternoon sitting around the table, talking, catching up, having coffee, pizza, calzones, etc etc, dessert. And now, how sad, all those traditions are gone. And then I got to thinking, why not have something similar here on my blog. This past year, I have met so many amazing and wonderful people (some I now call friends) through blogging, and how I am in awe of what they do and accomplish. How much respect I have for them, for their honesty, integrity, credibility and so enjoy when a bit of their personality shines through. So every Sunday, here at my place, the coffee will be on, the dessert is on the table and friends will be stopping by. And I will be rolling out the red carpet for my Sunday Shining Star Blogger guest.

I was told when I first found this community of book blogging that “book bloggers were the nicest bloggers there are” and I have never forgotten those words. And over the past year, I have truly met the nicest people. I also believe, even though we live behind a screen, a bit of our personality shines through. That is one of the reasons I am having so much fun with this weekly event, and hoping you are too, because we are getting to know those “nicest bloggers” around and about bloggyland a little bit better.

Ladies, we are on our own today.  Seeing that it is Father’s Day, Jeff and Steve (Lori aka Dollycas’s Thoughts hubby and mine) have requested today off….Men!!  Any excuse not to attend our “gab sessions” lol.

I am quite excited about today’s guest.  She is a relatively new blogger but it seems like she has been at it for years.  I will be very surprised if you haven’t seen her around bloggyland, because it appears she does a lot of visiting.  I can’t wait to get to know her better, I hope you do too.  Today’s guest is MARY ANN from TRIBUTE BOOKS MAMA

*When and why did you start blogging?
I started blogging in October 2010 in order to help my daughter promote her business, Tribute Books (http://www.tribute-books.com).

*How and what made you decide on the name of your blog?
Answered in question 1

*What would you say is the main content of your blog?
The main content of my blog is reviews of books, movies and tv shows.

*If books, what genres do you mostly read?
Historical fiction, paranormal & young adult

*How often do you post?
I post everyday.

*What are some of the things that you love about blogging?
Being in touch with other bloggers.

*What are some of the negatives?
Having a lot of people enter my book giveaways – I’d like to have more than 4 or 5 people enter them on a regular basis.

*Name 1-3 favorite items/postings that you have/do on your blog?
(1) My book review of Laney: The Brookhaven Vampires
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/01/giveaway-laney-brookehaven-vampires-by.html

(2) My movie review of The King’s Speech
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/01/kings-speech-movie.html

(3) My tv show review of Dexter
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2010/12/dexter.html

*Any advice you would give to new bloggers?
Keep doing it as often as you can. Stick with it!

*What draws you to follow someone’s blog?
Quality content and frequent updates. GIveaways are a plus too.

*Do you have any “pet peeves” that other bloggers do?
Leaving a copy/paste repetitive comment during a blog hop. I’m guilty of it too from time to time.

*Would you please share 5-7 things about the person behind the screen so that we get to know the “real” you!!
1. My favorite book is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I gave my childhood copy from the 1950s to my daughter when she was a girl.

2. No movie made me laugh harder in a public theater than Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson in Anger Management.

3. My favorite Broadway play of all-time is Les Miserables. I saw it in 1996 with fourth row orchestra seats with Ricky Martin as Marius.

4. I am a Vera Bradley fanatic. I must have close to 10 purses in the Betsy style.

5. I like to watch QVC although it gets my credit card in trouble. Lisa Robertson is my favorite host.

6. I like Philosophy skin care/bath products. Cinnamon Buns 3-in-1 shower creme is the best.

7. I am thankful I was able to buy myself a new car this year – a white 2010 Chevy Cobalt.

Thank you Mary Ann for being my guest today and sharing a little bit of yourself with all of us.  As all of you can see she is a very proud and dedicated Mother in assisting her daughter, Nicole, with her business.  And as passionate as she is about books, she is with movies and TV.  I am not a big TV watcher, but at times may turn into American Idol or shows of that nature.  If I miss a show, I know where to get the scoop!!!  Passing her copy of Little Women to her daughter!!!  That surely makes her a Shining Star!!!!  Congratulations and Good Luck with your new car!!!!!

I would like to explain how this came to fruition. Hubby and I were having a discussion about the old days, (for the young’ens reading this..a little history lesson) but before the dark age. When Sundays were special and had traditions and rituals. Sunday mornings Church, come home to a big gravy (sauce) cooking on the stove, a big Sunday dinner, then either off to visit relatives/friends or wait for relatives/friends to drop by. We would spend the afternoon sitting around the table, talking, catching up, having coffee, pizza, calzones, etc etc, dessert. And now, how sad, all those traditions are gone. And then I got to thinking, why not have something similar here on my blog. This past year, I have met so many amazing and wonderful people (some I now call friends) through blogging, and how I am in awe of what they do and accomplish. How much respect I have for them, for their honesty, integrity, credibility and so enjoy when a bit of their personality shines through. So every Sunday, here at my place, the coffee will be on, the dessert is on the table and friends will be stopping by. And I will be rolling out the red carpet for my Sunday Shining Star Blogger guest.

I was told when I first found this community of book blogging that “book bloggers were the nicest bloggers there are” and I have never forgotten those words. And over the past year, I have truly met the nicest people. I also believe, even though we live behind a screen, a bit of our personality shines through. That is one of the reasons I am having so much fun with this weekly event, and hoping you are too, because we are getting to know those “nicest bloggers” around and about bloggyland a little bit better.

Ladies, we are on our own today.  Seeing that it is Father’s Day, Jeff and Steve (Lori aka Dollycas’s Thoughts hubby and mine) have requested today off….Men!!  Any excuse not to attend our “gab sessions” lol.

I am quite excited about today’s guest.  She is a relatively new blogger but it seems like she has been at it for years.  I will be very surprised if you haven’t seen her around bloggyland, because it appears she does a lot of visiting.  I can’t wait to get to know her better, I hope you do too.  Today’s guest is MARY ANN from TRIBUTE BOOKS MAMA

*When and why did you start blogging?
I started blogging in October 2010 in order to help my daughter promote her business, Tribute Books (http://www.tribute-books.com).

*How and what made you decide on the name of your blog?
Answered in question 1

*What would you say is the main content of your blog?
The main content of my blog is reviews of books, movies and tv shows.

*If books, what genres do you mostly read?
Historical fiction, paranormal & young adult

*How often do you post?
I post everyday.

*What are some of the things that you love about blogging?
Being in touch with other bloggers.

*What are some of the negatives?
Having a lot of people enter my book giveaways – I’d like to have more than 4 or 5 people enter them on a regular basis.

*Name 1-3 favorite items/postings that you have/do on your blog?
(1) My book review of Laney: The Brookhaven Vampires
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/01/giveaway-laney-brookehaven-vampires-by.html

(2) My movie review of The King’s Speech
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/01/kings-speech-movie.html

(3) My tv show review of Dexter
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2010/12/dexter.html

*Any advice you would give to new bloggers?
Keep doing it as often as you can. Stick with it!

*What draws you to follow someone’s blog?
Quality content and frequent updates. GIveaways are a plus too.

*Do you have any “pet peeves” that other bloggers do?
Leaving a copy/paste repetitive comment during a blog hop. I’m guilty of it too from time to time.

*Would you please share 5-7 things about the person behind the screen so that we get to know the “real” you!!
1. My favorite book is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I gave my childhood copy from the 1950s to my daughter when she was a girl.

2. No movie made me laugh harder in a public theater than Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson in Anger Management.

3. My favorite Broadway play of all-time is Les Miserables. I saw it in 1996 with fourth row orchestra seats with Ricky Martin as Marius.

4. I am a Vera Bradley fanatic. I must have close to 10 purses in the Betsy style.

5. I like to watch QVC although it gets my credit card in trouble. Lisa Robertson is my favorite host.

6. I like Philosophy skin care/bath products. Cinnamon Buns 3-in-1 shower creme is the best.

7. I am thankful I was able to buy myself a new car this year – a white 2010 Chevy Cobalt.

Thank you Mary Ann for being my guest today and sharing a little bit of yourself with all of us.  As all of you can see she is a very proud and dedicated Mother in assisting her daughter, Nicole, with her business.  And as passionate as she is about books, she is with movies and TV.  I am not a big TV watcher, but at times may turn into American Idol or shows of that nature.  If I miss a show, I know where to get the scoop!!!  Passing her copy of Little Women to her daughter!!!  That surely makes her a Shining Star!!!!  Congratulations and Good Luck with your new car!!!!!

From Danielle’s blog:
We all leave our “footprint” on the world, in one way or another. We each, individually, do something or are someone that makes the world a little better just by being here. I created this weekly meme to get to know the blogging community I love just a bit better. To know what makes them tick, outside of books, that is. Each week I will post a question to be answered in the following week’s “A Bit of Me(Me)”. Check back each Saturday to get the info for next week’s post and link up with your current post right here.
This week’s question:  What outdoor activities do you like to do?
Read more: http://www.theresabook.com/2011/06/a-bit-of-meme-a-wiggle-of-the-nose/#ixzz1OxiZSMwq

From Danielle’s blog:
We all leave our “footprint” on the world, in one way or another. We each, individually, do something or are someone that makes the world a little better just by being here. I created this weekly meme to get to know the blogging community I love just a bit better. To know what makes them tick, outside of books, that is. Each week I will post a question to be answered in the following week’s “A Bit of Me(Me)”. Check back each Saturday to get the info for next week’s post and link up with your current post right here.
This week’s question:  What outdoor activities do you like to do?
Read more: http://www.theresabook.com/2011/06/a-bit-of-meme-a-wiggle-of-the-nose/#ixzz1OxiZSMwq

From An Island Life:
 In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

MY QUESTION:

Since Sunday is Father’s Day, how would you describe your Dad?

MY ANSWER:

Unfortunately I lost my Dad when I was 16 years old but have so many

wonderful memories.  He was a hard working, family oriented and a very generous man.

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

This week’s question:

“How many books are currently in your To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile?”

My answer:

Too many to count.  I have a large 5 shelf bookcase in my “reading room /library /office”.  The top shelf is just for tbr requested reviews, plus what books I have in my Kindle and Sony Ereaders waiting to be read.  The remaining 4 shelves of my bookcase are my personal tbr books along with what are the books that I have downloaded into both EReaders.  That is why I have renamed my list to my “personal tbr bucket list” because at my age, I wonder if I will ever get to read all that are waiting their turn to be read.  

From An Island Life:
 In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

MY QUESTION:

Since Sunday is Father’s Day, how would you describe your Dad?

MY ANSWER:

Unfortunately I lost my Dad when I was 16 years old but have so many

wonderful memories.  He was a hard working, family oriented and a very generous man.

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

This week’s question:

“How many books are currently in your To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile?”

My answer:

Too many to count.  I have a large 5 shelf bookcase in my “reading room /library /office”.  The top shelf is just for tbr requested reviews, plus what books I have in my Kindle and Sony Ereaders waiting to be read.  The remaining 4 shelves of my bookcase are my personal tbr books along with what are the books that I have downloaded into both EReaders.  That is why I have renamed my list to my “personal tbr bucket list” because at my age, I wonder if I will ever get to read all that are waiting their turn to be read.