In this series, guest bloggers spill all about their roles as gatekeepers between the two sides of the book world. They review books on blogs, websites, podcasts or booksellers’ webpages, influence buyers and connect with authors. My guest today is Kate, owner of Home.Love.Books.
Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Kate’s.
Hi everyone. My name is Kate and I am the owner of Home.Love.Books., a book review site, as well as a freelance book editor. I spend most of my days curled up on the couch reading books, hanging out with my six rescue dogs, or doing DIY projects on my husband and I’s new house. I have been a reader since before I can remember (thanks Mom), and thankfully my love of books only got stronger as I got older.
Home.Love.Books. (www.homelovebooks.com) is a review site that primarily reviews romance, new adult, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and the occasional mystery book. You will find mostly traditionally published books on the site, but I do accept indie books, so you will find a few indies in the mix as well. I hope you will check it out, it’s one of my favorite endeavors I have embarked on.
I want to thank Carmen for inviting me to be a guest on her site, I’m happy to be here, so without further ado, here are my answers to some fantastic questions.
1. Why did you start a book review site?
So Home.Love.Books. (HLB) is not my first book review site. My first site was Urban Fantasy Reviews, and I loved that site so much. It was my baby. I started the site because I was graduating from college with my bachelors degree in English Literature, and since I was going to have more time to read than I had in the past (college does tend to load you up on textbook reading assignments) and I knew I was going to miss writing about the things I was reading, a book review site seemed like the perfect fit for me. At the time I was basically an exclusive reader of urban fantasy and paranormal romance books, so I made a very genre-specific site. After two years with Urban Fantasy Reviews I realized how much I was missing out on by only reading one genre, so I needed to branch out, but my blog title kind of locked me in. And the need for a new site was born.
I decided on Home.Love.Books. as a title because those are the three most important things in my life, and I think a lot of people can relate to that. It’s a much more genre-open site than my old site, but I have to admit that lately I have been on a romance kick. Anything with romance in it is my cup of tea.
2. What’s the best aspect of owning a book review site?
This question is hard! I do absolutely love the free books. With the amount of books I read I can’t imagine how much money it would be to keep my book habit fed. But really I love talking about books and connecting with authors. And more than that I love helping authors find an audience. Even if I don’t like a book, I always try and include a potential audience for the book at the end of the review. I have such respect for authors, and the time and effort that goes into producing a book, that I honestly believe it’s part of my job to help them find an audience for their books, and nothing makes me happier.
3. What’s the worst aspect?
Giving bad reviews. Hands down the worst part. When I come across a book I genuinely don’t like and I know I am going to write a bad review, I feel so bad about it. I know how hard it is to write books. I work with authors every day as an editor, and I feel so bad when it’s time to write a bad review about a book. Also I think authors believe if their book didn’t get a 4 or 5 star review then it is a bad review, which isn’t accurate. A 3 star review is still a positive review.
I have really only had one truly bad experience with my review sites. I once wrote a review, I believe it was a 3 star review, and the author was so upset she started e-mailing me. A lot. And let’s just say she was not writing to say how much she liked me. It went on for a long time, and I was unbelievable happy when it stopped.
4. Why should readers check out your website?
You should check out my site (www.homelovebooks.com) because I do my best to write honest and upfront reviews, as often as possible. It’s a place where you can go and you know you will come across at least a couple of books you want to read. Also if you don’t have time to read every review, my menu makes it easy to click on reviews based on the rating they got, so if you want to see all my five star reviews, all you have to do is click “Loved It” and you will be taken to the books I completely fell in love with, so if you are short on time check it out.
5. Out of all the books you’ve read, which two are your top must-read recommendations?
My must-read recommendations are constantly changing. I like to update them with my most recent books that I loved. So that’s why this question is so easy! I have completely fallen in love with two books lately, One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker and Whisper to Me by Christina Lee. They are both new adult books, which is easily becoming one of my favorite genres, and the authors both have such amazing voices that it felt like I was having a conversation with an old friend as opposed to reading a book. You have to check them out if new adult is your cup of tea.
