Armchair BEA: Blogging About Blogging

Dear Blog,

The last day of Armchair BEA (Alas). Today's the day of the Book Blogger Convention in New York, so the focus of the Armchair BEA posts today is focused on the blog part of book blog.

I thought today I would take a  few of the questions in the link-up post and answer them myself.
Note: I'm sat in an armchair today.  Whooo.

Oh, before I start: Sorry I missed out on yesterday's post.  I was kind of too busy to think about blogging yesterday, what with lots of Russian homework, various musical escapades and the fact that I was entirely engrossed in reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
So, anyway.

Create a "rule list" of things you should and shouldn't be doing on a book blog.  

• Be yourself.  That's the best thing you can do.  I'd rather read a blog where the writer sounds at ease with themselves and their audience than someone who tries to be overly uptight and takes themselves entirely seriously. Blogging is meant to be fun. 
• Don't feel like you have to post every day.  Post when you have something to say. Though it's true you should post regularly because otherwise you'll lose interest from your readers, I'm less inclined to read a blog that's updated every day when it doesn't really need to be. 
• When talking to other people in the literary and publishing worlds, be polite.  Bloggers/authors/publishers are friends. Not food. 
• As for blog design: I know I'm not the only blogger who dislikes music players on blogs.  I'm also not the only one who feels put off from things like glittery text and a black background with bright text.  Make sure your blog is easy to read in terms of layout and format as well as content.
• Be honest. Yes there is a way of being honest without being mean.
• Don't forget to be awesome.  There's no need to be shy (*cough*likeme*spluttercough*) when the blogosphere is such a fantastic place. 

What are your tips for balance life and blogging?    There are, alas, some things that take priority over blogging  for me (schoolwork, music practise, etc).  I try and do three book reviews a week, but it changes depending on what else I've got on that week and how much I've read.  One thing I would suggest, though, is to read a few books, write a review as usual and then just save it, so that you can just post at those times when you haven't read any new books.

What genre do you blog about and why? My blog's a bit of a weird mix at the moment; probably about 70% young adult fiction and 30% classics/literary fiction.  Doing the Foreign Language Friday series has really got me into some more adult books I might not have found otherwise if I hadn't been purposefully searching for some good translated fiction.

How do you keep your blog fresh and interesting to your readers & yourself? This is something I'm struggling with at the moment, actually, and I'd totally appreciate suggestions.  I don't feel bored with what I'm doing at the moment: I'm quite happy rambling on in my way talking about books as I do. After all, it's what I'm here for.  But it would be better, certainly, if my blogging life had more variety to it.

So, there you go.  What about you?  Have you got any essential blogging tips?  How do you manage to keep your blog consistently interesting? 

Armchair BEA Interview: Gwen @ Chew And Digest Books

Dear Blog,
Today's  Armchair BEA topic/event is interviewing:  I interviewed  Gwen over at  Chew And Digest Books. 
She mostly reviews nonfiction on her blog, and says that she dreams that "one day, people would stop turning up their nose at nonfiction and finally embrace the goodness that those treasured pages contain."
I've only ever interviewed one other blogger before, and that was for last year's interview, so forgive me for being slightly nervous.

What originally drew you to book blogging, and what are your favourite things about it? I started blogging about relationships in 2006 and I was already reviewing books on other more general sites and a couple of print publications. One day in 2008, it hit me, wouldn't it be nice to have just one place where I could find all of my reviews? I didn't even know there were other book bloggers out there for quite a while.
Once I found the whole book blogging community I was amazed. There were other people out there, just like me, who still read constantly and liked to talk about books! Even better, they were really involved in building a community. In my off-line life, I just never came across people that read for pleasure and I felt like I finally found my people.

What book are you reading at the moment? Thoughts so far? I am reading a biography of Fredrick Law Olmsted by Justin Martin, called Genius of Place. Most people know that Olmsted is the man that designed Central Park, but he did so much more! He was a sailor and went to China, a farmer, a reporter that chronicled life in the south before the Civil War, etc. I get excited when a biography really immerses me in the period that a person lived, not just their life in it. Justin Martin has already made me look at the pre-war South in a whole new way and I am not even halfway through yet.

If you could have dinner with any four people, living or dead, who would they be?Tough question and I am sure if you asked me tomorrow, I would give you another answer....
Edgar Allan Poe. He was the man when I was a teenager and his work and life story continues to touch me so many years later. Most likely, because we dealt with/deal with depression.
Ronald Reagan. He was the President of my childhood and later, he was suffering from Alzheimer's, the disease that took my grandfather from me. I would love to have an unscripted conversation with him. There are times that it was hard to know if he really felt what he was saying or if he just thought it was the right thing to say at the time.
Erik Larson. The author of The Devil in the White City, Issac's Storm, Thunderstruck, and now In the Garden of Beasts. I cannot think of one other non-fiction author that has the ability to tell a factual story in such a way that you lose yourself in it. Every time I read his work, I am amazed to find myself unable to put the book down because I want to know how it turns out. The thing is, since it is non-fiction, we already know how it turns out, but he has a way of making it come alive.
Frank Lloyd Wright. The architect of some of my favorite buildings. Much that I have read about him makes me seem like a great man ahead of his time or a completely unlikeable selfish person, or both. I find myself wondering if I would have had the "right stuff" to work under him as I walk around his homes and buildings. Last year, walking around Taleisin West, I pondered applying for their Masters program, but the thought of living in a tent in the Arizona heat was a bit much for me.

What are your three favourite fictional novels? Last year, I bought 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, so I have been on a classics kick as I trudge through that list. I loved the emotions I felt when I read Howard's End by E.M. Forster and Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. In both, I just wanted to shake the main characters and say take control of your lives, say what you really think!

What are your three favourite non-fiction books?
Anything by Erik Larson and I read a great memoir by Emily Plaicdo last year called Julita's Sands. Total tear-jerker about her relationship with her mother later in life. Think The Notebook, but about a mother-daughter relationship.

Pancakes or Waffles?
If I am not the cook? Waffles with strawberries and Cool Whip.

Do you read much poetry? If you do, what's your favourite poem?
I don't read current poetry, but do find solace in some of the old poems. Poe stand out with Alone.   I have often felt like an outsider.
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.

When you're not reading, what are some of your other hobbies?  Currently, I am going through a major health issue, so most of my hobbies have taken a back seat to ovarian cancer. I like to paint, garden, cook, sew, and refinish furniture when I am running at 100%. This year it has been about keeping my proverbial head above water with freelance writing assignments, school, and two blogs when I am up to it.


Well, there you go.  Thank you, Gwen! 

Armchair BEA: Best of 2011 [so far]

Dear Blog,

so, today's Armchair BEA topic is your favourite books read in 2011 so far.

A lot of the books I've read in the last few months have been pretty awesome, so this hasn't  been a very easy list to make.  I tried my best.

Oh, and another slightly-relevant note: I have access to wi-fi today, which means I am in fact spending day two of Armchair BEA sat on a sofa.  Not quite an armchair, alas, but the power lead to my laptop won't stretch to the armchair. 

 This is All by Aidan Chambers

Even though I'm not making this list in any kind of order, I believe it should go at the top.  This book.... I have no words. I love it I love it I love it.  All of you have to go and buy a copy this very instant and sit down and read it all in one go even though it's insanely long. That's why it's so good.   *flails*

After Dark or South of The Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami is turning out to be one of my favourite authors.  He just creates characters that are so real and ordinary and throws them into the surreal, and the results are absolutely fantastic. 

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Yeah, I know, Ayn Rand was pretentious and  her characters are varying degrees of hero depending on how much they comply with her beliefs, but philosophy intrigues me and dammit she does tell a good story.   I came about Anthem because it's set in a dystopian-type world à la We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, and original perceptions of the future of humankind make me a very happy bookworm.  Speaking of which; We holds a similar place on this list. 

Pink by Lili Wilkinson

There's lots of LGBTQ fiction about characters who are in the process of coming out, and while I still think it's entirely awesome that fiction with gay protagonists is more available these days, it's kind of refreshing to read a book like Pink, where the main character has a long-term girlfriend and is actually wondering whether they're not gay. This probably sounds really corny, but it's a celebration of identity and love and being yourself.  Proper review to come.

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

I have much, much love for Ellen Hopkins. There are a lot of writers aspire to write books that are entirely *edgy* in a forceful way, like that's the only way a YA writer could sell. And it's entirely true that her books, of which I've read four, are entirely dark and not for the faint-hearted, she seems to write about them in such an effortless, flowing way. Impulse is no different.  It's dark and twisted but in an utterly compelling sort of way, and the voices of her characters could totally resonate with anyone.

So, there you go.  They're among the best books I've read in the last five months; We'll see about the rest of the year.



Armchair BEA: So Who Am I, Anyway?

Dear blog,*

So, like last year, for all the bloggers who can't make it to New York City for the Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention, Armchair BEA exists. Alas live in England, I'm entirely poor and am legally a minor, which means my chances of going to New York in the near future are as big as, uh, something very small. 

Still, that doesn't mean I can't join in the fun to be had in cyberspace. 

 The question/post theme for today is "Who are you and how do you Armchair?"   So I guess I'll tell you a bit about myself, but be warned: I find talking about myself entirely awkward.

My name's Tesni.  I live in south-west England, where I spend my days driving tractors, shouting at trespassers and talking like Samwise Gamgee. 

If that isn't a good enough explanation, if perhaps you find it too stereotyped or suspect it's possibly not true, here are ten facts about me:

1. As you might expect, I read a lot. Young Adult fiction is mostly my thing, as long as there are no vampires/werewolves/angels or anything.  But at the moment I read a lot of literary fiction, and books by people like Irène Némirovsky, Anaïs Nin, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Ayn Rand etc.
2. I play the classical guitar and double bass.  And sing.
3. I'm also a laughable attempt at a pianist.

4. I'm trying to finish a novel at the moment.  Described by someone on Inkpop as "Bookception.", id est, a story within a story O.o 

5. Я изучаю русский и также немецкий.

6. I like photography.
7. I'm so bad at maths it's not even funny.
8. I love watching films, even though I haven't seen one in English for a couple of months. Most of the films I watch are subtitled, black and white or best of all both.
9. I will love you forever if you can name all five of the Moguchaya Kuchka.
10. I have run out of interesting things to say about myself.

As for How Do You Armchair,  I'll mostly be spending Armchair BEA sat on a hard dining-table chair at a desk, alas, unless I can access wi-fi,  at which point I shall be hiding in my evil cave  bedroom. And as I blog I'll be listening to everything from Edward Elgar to Seabear to Hoven Droven.
  Let the fun begin.

*note for Armchair BEA newcomers to the blog: Yeah, I always start posts like this.  It's something I first started doing on my first ever blog a few years ago, and it's kind of stuck ever since. 

Armchair BEA: Literary Blues

Dear Blog,

Armchair BEA continues.  I think I shall miss it when it dissapears on Saturday night. Anyway, my Thursday entry will be all about books that have blue covers.  Hence the title.

I don't know why this seems a good idea.  But no other blogger seems to be talking about book covers, especially not blue ones.   

Why blue?  Well, blue is a cool colour.  And there cool books with blue covers.  For example:

River Secrets by Shannon Hale-sorry the picture is so rubbish.  The Books of Bayern have some of the most beautiful UK covers ever, to my mind, and no picture does them justice.  As I've said before, they're so pretty you don't want to read them.  I'm not too keen on the US covers because, well, they're not as pretty.  And they have models on the front.  I don't know why, but I don't like it when books have models on the front.  Probably because they destroy how I imagine the character to look.  Anyway.  The prose in River Secrets is as beautiful as the cover, and all the Bayern novels are well worth a read. (I think River Secrets is my favourite). One thing: Bayern is actually the German name for Bavaria.  Perhaps Shannon Hale could have thought something up herself instead of stealing a region in another country with another language across the Atlantic.  This is meant to be a fantasy novel.

Life as we Knew It by Susan Pfeffer-is just made of pure awesome and is what got me into dystopic/(post)apocalyptic fiction.  The UK cover is purple, but the US one has blue elements.  Anyway, I'll review Life As We Knew It soon.

I was 11 or 12 when I first read it and since then I've read many, many such novels.  Some are better.  Some are worse  But, well, I'll always look at it and think, "how awesome!"  I shall forever be glad I read it, even though I'm always worried now about how much food we have, etc. We had a powercut yesterday afternoon and you really would think an asteroid had hit the moon.  It was only off for an hour, but when it came back on I yelled, "THE LIGHTS! THE INTERNEEEEET!"

Related to my shallowness surrounding book covers, I'm spending 8 or 9 quid on the US edition of This World We Live In because I think the UK one looks like a poster for a B-movie horror film.

Lirael by Garth Nix-If you haven't read the Old Kingdom Trilogy, then where've you been?  You cannot claim to be a YA fantasy fan without having read at least some Nix. 

I think Lirael is my favourite of all the Old Kingdom books.   Epic huge-ness?  Check.  Necromancers? Check.  Talking dog, aka most awesome sidekick ever?  check.  Fantasy kingdom?  check. Steampunk-type nation?  Check.  Big mysterious, magical wall dividing aforementioned fantasy kingdom and Steampunk-type nation?  check.  Evil crow spies?  check. Misfit, unlikely heroine?  check.  Fantastically evil villain, who you can practically hear yelling, "BWAHAHAHAHA!" off the page?  check.  Armies of corpses aforementioned evil villain is trying to raise from the dead?  check...

Fearless by Tim Lott- Best.  Book.  Ever.  Simple as.  End of.  Seriously. 
This is a kind of dystopic novel, even though I didn't realise it at the time.  But it's wonderfully thought up and everything seems to be perfect and harmonious-much like The Other Side of the Island, but perhaps not as post-apocalyptic.  Still, it's there: Corporations (as every good dystopia must have), who hide the truth from the public and spread fear and corruption.
It's truly a touching book.  The first time I read it, I wept buckets at the end, but once I dried my eyes and blew my nose I smiled in that tragic sort of smile you smile when you read tragic books and something uplifting happens at the end.

The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder-although it is very much a book about oranges, the cover is blue and it deserves a mention.  I'm a huuuuuuuge fan of Jostein Gaarder.  I love the way his books open your eyes to the world and you discover things you've never even thought about before.  While much of the world critically acclaims Sophie's World, The Orange Girl is my favourite of the Gaarder books I've read. I really should talk about him one Foreign Language Friday (which, by the way, I'm not expecting to do this week with all the Armchair BEA everythings). 

Anyway.  It's wonderfully simplistic, romantic and dreamy.  It makes for a great summer read without being trashy, and will make you wish that there were trams still running in (insert tram-lacking country here), except by the seaside towns for tourists.  It is truly, quote the quote on the back from a magazine which escapes my mind, "a modern fairy tale."

Voices by Ursula Le Guin (sorry about the rubbish picture quality again)-is the second book in the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, and my favourite of all Le Guin's books.  Why?  Well, Orrec and Gry  (from Gifts) make an appearance, it has some cool new characters, a war-torn city, and books.  Lots of books.  Hidden books. People giving their lives to protect the books. And so on. The city is fantastically imagined: one of those books that really opens your eyes and makes you go "wow!" as every good fantasy novel should. 

Well, there you go. Sorry I only mentioned  a few  books, but I've not been sleeping very well and I need to catch some zzzzzs before I faint with tiredness. I forgot to do a whole piece of Russian homework, and only remembered it existed when my tutor asked why I hadn't done it.  And my music theory...don't ask.  I know I've only been going for five weeks but I've been singing for six years and playing the classical guitar for a year and a half.  I should know the difference between tied notes and slurs.  Anyway, I believe it's overtiredness, which explains me not wanting to do anything vaguely extra-curricular that takes up my valuable reading/thinking about sleeping time (I don't sleep very well at all at night.  I'm just not tired at 12:45 am.  Perhaps I should become nocturnal instead).

Armchair BEA Interview: Mary Elizabeth of A Novel Idea

Dear Blog,
Day 2 of Armchair BEA.  AKA, Interview Day.  I'm interviewing Mary Elizabeth of A Novel Idea and Ten Thousand Hugs.  In the former she reviews a multitude of childrens books, and in the latter she blogs about all things motherhood.  Everybody, parents and teachers particularly, should check her blogs out.
So, well, here's my interview conducted as follows:

Why did you want to blog about children's books in particular?

I have four small children, I taught elementary school for five years. I love teaching and sharing children's literature with others!

What are your five favourite children's books?
The Red Balloon; Little House on the Prairie; Ramona Quimby, Age 8; The Invention of Hugo Cabret; The Series of Unfortunate Events (all 13 books)

What are your five favourite adult books?
Angela's Ashes; Man's Search for Meaning; Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh; Watership Down; I Will Bear Witness.

Would you rather be attacked by 12 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?
Twelve duck-sized horses - how cute would that be??

What's the worst book you've ever read?
A Monk Swimming by Malachy McCourt, the brother of Frank McCourt. I read it because Frank McCourt is one of my favorite authors, and I discovered that Frank McCourt was definitely the writer in that family!

Have you been to the BEA before?
No. I hope to go someday, though!

What's your favourite thing about book blogging?
Sharing my love of books with others.

What was the last book you bought, borrowed from the library or got sent?
One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer's Craft by Susan M. Tiberghien. My husband gave it to me for Mother's Day.

If you could travel back to one point in history anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I would go to Paris on August 30, 1997, to stop Princess Diana from leaving her hotel and getting into that terrible car accident. The world lost one of the most incredible human beings when she died. One of my life's dreams was to meet her. She was a true princess.

Approximately how many books do you own?
Hundreds...maybe thousands.





Thanks muchly, Mary Elizabeth!  I've never interviewed anybody before so I'm very excited about this interview. I'm being interviewed by Felicia from Geeky Blogger's Book Blog (but at the time of posting she hasn't put it up yet). 

So, well, the Armchair BEA festivities continue.  Yay! 
I have to go and eat something resembling lunch now, alas.  Back later.

Armchair BEA: Read, re-read, re-re-read

Dear Blog,

I would expect that the book blogosphere is very quiet this week, with everybody flocking to the Book Expo America in New York.  I plan to go to the BEA in the future, but I'm a teenager and I'm skint.  I have enough trouble saving up for my next book, let alone going across the pond and back in an aeroplane. 

Anyway. To take my mind off the lack of New York, I'm participating in Armchair BEA.
One of the topics suggested is "Blast from the Past", which is described as:
Blast from the Past - During this time, a lot of new releases are going to be the focus. What if we also remembered some great books released in past years or even classics as an option? Tell us a little bit about books you've cherished, old or new.

So, well, I'll do a twist on that and just praise briefly a few of  the books I read to death, until they fall apart.

All the Stars in the Sky by Megan McDonald-is probably my favourite Dear America book.  I've lost count of all the times I've read it (and I'll probably review it at some point).  Florrie, the heroine, sounds like a thirteen-year-old, which is cool because in lots of historical fiction novels, in the author's attempt to write in a historical-type sort of language, they sort of forget that the person talking is a child. So, well, Florrie 's a great character.  The sort you pretend to talk to when you go on rambling walks across fields and paddocks by yourself.  Or is that just me?

Clarice Bean books by Lauren Child-I know I'm waaaaay to old for these books, but I love them to pieces anyway.  I read them when I can't sleep.  I used to be able to quote much of Utterly Me, Clarice Bean by heart.  There are picture books for younger kids, too, and I've read them but not with the same enthusiastic-ness. 

Anyway, what is it I like about these books, even though I first read them when I was seven or eight?  Clarice's ordinary but quirky family.   And the serious-but-side-achingly-entertaining way Clarice looks at the world.   In that sense she reminds me a bit of Karen on the TV show Outnumbered.  There are 3 of the novels so far.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak- READ.  THIS.  BOOK. I really ought to review it at some point.  Anyway, this fantastically epic novel is all about books, Nazi Germany, death, children, adults, and, most importantly, hope.  Ish.  It's one of those what-more-could-you-want? sort of books.  I think I've read it about four times (the first, in under 30 hours, which for a nearly 600-paged book is impressive).  They should really make it into a film.  

Anyway.  The book is narrated by Death, so you wouldn't think it would be much fun reading.  And, well, in truth it isn't exactly a barrel of laughs at the end.  However, Death's humour is black and sort of consoling, in a grim, twisted sort of way.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank-enough said.  Seriously.  This is absolutely the top book on all versions of the Books To Read Before You Die list.  Or, it should be.

I've read this enough times for about 20 people, though.  I borrowed a copy from the library and kept borrowing it until it literally fell apart, and they had to order in a new edition.  Having found two new copies, I both read those until they crumbled to dust as well.  I finally bought my own copy last year to read to my heart's content.  And the library hasn't ordered in any more copies since.  Never mind.

Voyage on the Great Titanic by Ellen Emerson White-as you will know if you read my blog regularly, I am completely obsessed with historical fiction in diary form. I first read this when I was about nine and I must have read it a squillion times since.  With reason! Of course, we all know how it's going to end.  With  much heartbreak and bad things, but, well, the heroine is still alive at the end and that's good enough.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett-absolutely.   I first saw the 1995 film when I was seven or so and absolutely adored it.  I read the book when I was eleven, while my family and I were travelling around Europe (I bought it in Madrid). I couldn't believe it was even better than the film, in which her dad only suffers from amnesia, the time period skips forward about a decade to the first world war and what was London is in the film New York.  I don't think reading the book has changed my impression of the film but, well, the book is the greatest. 

Anyway, there you go.  Six books I love to pieces, sometimes quite literally.  I have to go now to answer the call of my Russian homework, so all for now.

Armchair BEA!

Dear Blog,

Alas, alack, not all of us can go to the Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention in New York City next week.  That's why Armchair BEA exists! It's not too late to participate (except if you want to interview another blogger, in which case it is too late) in the various events going on.

Quoting from the website, which explains things more than I do:

As May approaches, the excitement level builds among people who live and work with books - publishers, authors, booksellers, and the media, including book bloggers. Book Expo America (BEA) happens in late May every year. This year, it's taking place from Tuesday, May 25 through Thursday, May 27 in New York City, the center of the publishing world, and will be capped on Friday, May 28 by the very first (annual?) Book Blogger Convention (BBC).

If you were going to be part of all that, wouldn't you be blogging and chatting and tweeting about it too? And if you weren't going, wouldn't all that blogging and chatting and tweeting leave you feeling like you were really missing out?

A few non-BEA/BBC participants were discussing that left-out feeling on Twitter when they were hit with the realization that they didn't have to feel that way. While they might not be in New York City, meeting bloggers and authors and collecting ARCs, they could try simulating the experience virtually - and thus Armchair BEA was born!

Considering that it was born just over a week ago on Twitter, Armchair BEA is growing up fast! Over 80 people have already signed up to participate in one way or another, and since this is a virtual gathering, it won't run out of room - if you won't be in New York City next week for the "real" Book Expo America and Book Blogger Convention, you can still join us!

So there you go.  Being a lowly teenager in England, I can only dream about going to the US in the near future so I'll be taking part.  You can expect many features and BEA-type things from Monday to Friday next week.  *nods*.
*publishes*
*goes to finish Russian homework at the last minute again*