Virtual Chair #17: Marianne & Jennifer from Boricuan Bookworms

Today sitting on the Virtual Chair are two of my new favorite bloggers, Marianne & Jennifer! I love how honest and entertaining their reviews are. Don't forget to visit their blog Boricuan Bookworms and follow them on Bloglovin.

• Can you explain your blog’s name?

When we first started the blog, we went through tons of names before landing on "Boricuan Bookworms"; we wanted a name that basically explained our blog, but wasn't terribly overused. We finally landed on Boricuan Bookworms after a really long time debating! "Boricuan" means from Puerto Rico or Puerto Rican descent. And well, we're Bookworms, so... :) 

• How long have you been blogging?

The Blog has been live since June 5, 2013, but we've been actively reading and reviewing much more time before that in Goodreads. 

• What language, besides English, would you like to learn?

Marianne: I know a little bit of Portuguese, so I'd really love to know more of that. And I'd also love to learn Italian, French, or Russian (or all three!).

Jennifer: A year or so ago I was learning Italian but left it incomplete after too many books to read. I get sidetracked easily when it comes to books. I'd like to continue this year, and also learn French, Portuguese, British English (that accent...), German, and maybe even more if I've got the time! 

• Have you ever bought a book just for its title?

Marianne: *sighs* Yes. I've bought tons of books for its title just because everyone keeps raving about them. I've sometimes been disappointed by the hype. 

Jennifer: If you haven't you're lying. A title is a fundamental part of a book as much as the cover, summary, and the story itself. Some times I've bought them by how attractive they sounds, the relations it might have to things I like, plus suggestions. 

• What’s your favorite sound?

Marianne: I love hearing nature. (Sounds cheesy, I know!) It's just like when it's really late at night, and you go out to your backyard and all you hear is the trees and the wind and the occasional animals... I like it :) 

Jennifer: I love the sound of the school bell at 3pm :D That's heaven... But I also like the sound of nature, to experience the same sounds people before me have heard, and hopefully others after me will too. My most favorite, like Marianne, is at night. The silence of the city going to sleep, the night animals going about, the coquies doing their nightly song, it's amazing. By the way, coquies are animals, like tiny frogs, only found in Puerto Rico. 

• Do you prefer reading long or short reviews?

Marianne: I love reading long, ranty reviews. But I also love reading short, praising reviews. I think that when you hate a book you have more to say than when you love a book. 

Jennifer: Short and simple, straight to the point are good, sometimes I don't have much time to read reviews. But long, ranty ones are good too since they can convey more points if they like or dislike a book. Also, I've noticed that the longer they are, the surer it is that you'll laugh at the ridiculousness in a book, or the swoony and great things too. 

• Do you ever read the ending of a book before finishing it?

Marianne: NO! I used to do that and ruined so many AWESOME surprises.

Jennifer: In 2009 I did. I read the last sentence of Breaking Dawn while barely reading Twilight the first time. Now I don't. I might know a few spoilers, but I always incline more to being surprised with the whole tension building of the book. 

• Name a book you didn’t expect to like but did.

Marianne: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (Didn't sound like something I would like, but it was great!) 

Jennifer: The Hunger Games. I expected the worse about some random bread-throwing blonde boy but it turned out to be much, much more than that and way better. 

• How far into a book can you tell if you are going to like it or not?

Marianne: I usually give a book about 40-50% before I decide if I am going to like it or not. I rarely leave books unfinished, but I usually know what rating I'm going to give it half-way through. 

Jennifer: 10% most of the time. If I don't like it I try to give it more time. if I reach 40-60% and don't like it still, I might leave it unfinished. It all depends. I don't like doing that, but time is precious and sometimes I just feel like I shouldn't torture myself. 

• What’s your favorite time of the day?

Marianne: When it ends. Haha! That sounds really cryptic. It's just that I'm a night person, so I love it when the sun goes down. Also, everything seems calmer at night. 

Jennifer: Night. I can be alone in my room, without noises, family bothering, just myself in my fortress of solitude, a good book, Netflix, or a story on the making. Guess why I'm usually sleeping during the day... 

• Bad book habit?

Marianne: I dog-ear pages! I can't help it! If I really love a part, I can't highlight it (because that is a horrible thing to do to your books!), so I make a small (almost invisible) little crease at the corner of that page. I love going back to my books and seeing what pages I marked.

Jennifer: Not making a single mark or scratch on it. Way past that, now I dog-ear and mark with a pencil. I still can't get into pens, and probably won't either. If I'm staying with these books, might as well mark what I loved most of them. I 'm too perfectionist and that's a way of coping with it, being kinda destructive with them. My bad habit is now being under controlled with another one that has it's perks too :)

Thank you girls for answering my questions and being awesome!!