Book Blogger Hop and Odd Tidbits

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books, to help book bloggers interact, and to find new blogs. Every week, a question is posted for participants to answer.

Question:

"What is the thing you like the most about reading book blogs? Is it the reviews, author guest posts, articles, giveaways, or something else entirely?"

Answer:

As someone relatively new to the blogosphere, I'd have to say that I honestly don't know. Perhaps, if I were to pick one, though, it might be articles. There's just something compelling about the articles, especially when reading a book blog. It's so out of the norm that it becomes more of a way to get to know the blogger than reviews themselves.


In other news, I've found a great new author. Well, he's not new, really, and he's been dead for twenty-eight years. But I'm loving his books. The one I'm reading right now is post-apocalyptic sci-fi, and sports a rather odd (so I thought) title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

For those who like to know these things, the above-mentioned author is Philip K. Dick, and the book is now also published under the title Blade Runner. Yes, you read that right. The movie we all know and love (those of us who are geeky sci-fi fanatics, anyway) was originally based on a book with a very strange title. So far, it's proven to be a very good book, too, with all the glory of an older science fiction novel.

Hoppy happing!

International News Tidbits

I realize how long it's been. But I've begun another project--or rather, the same project, but with a different method. More on that later.

In the meantime, I've recently been inspired to write a little something about current events that might just pertain to some seemingly random things. I would appreciate any reactions you might have to hearing these things, but please keep it polite. No one needs flaming trolls, while I do encourage discussion, if anyone begins trolling their comments will be deleted.

1.) The United States government is allowing the emergency unemployment benefits enacted in 2009 to expire. This means that thousands of unemployed people will not only be without jobs, but without money.

2.) On November 23, North Korea bombed the South Korean island of Yeongpyeong. This was the first organized attack since the official ending of the Korean War in 1953.

3.) In response to the attack on South Korea, the United States requested that China help stop the aggression of North Korea. The problem: while China may is an ally of the United States, it is still a close ally of North Korea, and so does not want to provoke hostilities with either of them. The United States, on the other hand, has declared that they will support South Korea in any way they can.

4.) On October 4, 2010, reservoirs on an aluminum plant in Hungary broke, releasing almost two hundred-million gallons of toxic red mud.

5.) Scientists in the United States have trained a bacterium taken from Mono Lake, California, to eat arsenic.

6.) Testing for HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, has reached an all-time high in the United States.


I'm looking for reactions. How do you feel about hearing these things? Is any of this information surprising or shocking to you? Was any of it new information, or had you heard it before? Which of these news tidbits do you consider to be the most important, or the most relevant to your life? Do any of them make you want to know more about the subject?

Please remember that there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. I'm looking for honest responses to international news--yes, I'm aware that a good portion has to do with the United States, but I'm working on fixing that in future posts.