Mini Interview: About Me

This meme has been going around for a good week or so now.  I asked Alea at Pop Culture Junkie to interview me.  Here are the questions she asked:

1. Are the books always better than the movie adaptations?

In my experience, yes.  I love some movies based on books, like Pride and Prejudice (you all know the one!) or Gone with the Wind, but I enjoy reading books more, so I’ll probably always like the books better.  In general I sometimes struggle to compare them because they cut so much out.  Those two are probably my favorites because they are so long and the storylines are very similar to the books.  Well, for P&P at least.

2. What is the most you ever paid for a book?

I don’t think I’ve ever paid too much for books.  I have some nice editions, but usually they were gifts.  Overall, I’m pretty cheap.  I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $20, usually on Amazon for hardcover copies to support my favorite authors.

3. What is one book you love that has next to no words in it?

I’m not sure I own any books with next to no words in them!  Wait, I can think of two.  I have a coffee table book of Chanel gowns which is very lovely, but I also have a National Geographic book of famous photographs.  That one is stunning and while it has explanations, the photos can speak for themselves.

4. Who is your favorite author?

This question could almost be easier if it was “who isn’t your favorite author?” because it’s very difficult to pick one.  For an author to make my favorites list in general, I must love at least two of their books.  I will copy my LT list, which I think is fairly accurate:

Jane Austen, Jacqueline Carey, Bernard Cornwell, Robin Hobb, Kazuo Ishiguro, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Michelle Moran, Sharon Kay Penman, Brandon Sanderson, Leo Tolstoy, Edith Wharton

Oh, except I have to add Robin McKinley to the list.  You’ll see when my Deerskin review gets published, should be soon.

5. What is your favorite thing about blogging? Least favorite?

I love the community.  I’m a lurker at heart and I have a difficult time getting involved with established groups of people.  Book bloggers are always kind, friendly, and welcoming.  I feel comfortable leaving comments on everyone’s blogs or chatting on Twitter and LT and I do my best to make all feel welcome on mine too and in my conversations.  Thank you all for being awesome!

My least favorite part is probably the work I put into it.  This is definitely a labor of love, but it can be hard to sit at the computer and tease out words to accurately convey how I feel about certain books.  Making the site look nice, going out and finding new blog friends, and sometimes even being taken away from my own TBR pile can be negatives, but I love the sense of accomplishment I feel when I find a new awesome blogger and potential friend, look at my site, or write a review that I think really captures how I felt about a book.  It just takes a lot of time and I worry how I’ll maintain it when I no longer have the time that I do now.  But I have many worries to get over before that happens, so we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!

—

Thanks for the questions, Alea!  And now I extend the offer to all of you reading.  Do you want me to send you 5 interview questions?  Just leave me a comment saying so and I’ll send an email your way.