First off, this is my
797th post! That is a lot for a year I think... Just a WEE bit - almost 800!!
Ready for a few more stats?:- I have 986 Google Friend followers (WOW)
- I have written exactly 200 review posts thusfar. That means only 25% of my blog is reviews, which is so-so, I'm only human after all.
- I have also interviewed 97 bloggers on my Blogger Spotlight feature! ! !
And how about some firsts for my first year!?- My first post was a review of Need by Carrie Jones.
- My first commenter was Kristi from The Story Siren on my first IMM post, isn't that insane? I've met her now a few times in person so that's really quite cool.
- My first contest was for an ARC of Candleman and it was to celebrate reaching 50 followers a little less than a month after I started my blog.
- Speaking of ARCs, Candleman was the first one I actually received from a publisher via a contact on Goodreads.
- I also participated in the very first Bloggiesta in June - that first month of blogging and boy am I glad I did. I learned so much and am still learning a ton each time I participate. If you didn't know, there's one coming up - this weekend!
- My first author interview was with Jack W. Regan, author of T'Aragam.
- The first blog award I was given was the Kreativ Blogger Award from Bloody Bookaholic!
- The first author event I went to (besides ALA) was for Julia Hoban, author of Willow and I met Andrea from Book Blather, Erica from The Book Cellar and Kristi from The Story Siren. I actually met Andrea and Kristi at ALA my first summer of blogging so this was our second meeting. (Click on Julia's name to see the post about it).
More personally...
During my first year of blogging, I've gotten married and started my first real career job. I posted a
great slideshow of my husband and I throughout our relationship and, if you haven't seen them yet, here's my post of
wedding pictures.
I love sharing my love of books and my life on this blog and I can't wait for another full year of books, posts, and bloggy friendships. :)
And so, a few more questions I haven't answered and then I will have a post with the giveaway up next! :)
How do you balance blogging/reading/real life? I pretend dishes do themselves... Lol. Actually, blogging and reading are sort of my little gateway into peace from real life. It's a break. My husband is a gamer so he understands needing some down time to relax after a work day. Also, as a librarian I feel like I need to keep reading, no matter how crazy things get and how late I stay at work just to get things done. Blogging is the social aspect of that.
Also, a lot of my real life social aspects are taken up by family. I meet some of my girlfriends for lunch every once in a while but we all have families and most of us are teachers, so things get a little crazy. So, I sort of count blogging a bit as my social time during the week - at least I'm talking to someone (besides myself) and can feel a little less crazy. :) As for physically getting blog work in - weekends.. I have weekly meetings with Kate from
The Neverending Shelf that involves a lot of whining about working on our blogs and then we get down to it. :-D
Where's your favorite place to read? I am totally a couch reader. I sometimes read on my bed, but it has to be before 9 pm or I inevitably fall asleep. I grab a cup of tea and a snack and sit on the couch when I want to get real reading done.
Alright, this next question(s) has a long answer, so bear with me, you are basically getting the story of how I came to be a blogger...
My question is how did you come up with your blog name? What gave you the idea to start a book blog? Alright, so let's take it back a few years. I'm home from my one semester in NY of college (where I got mono, stomach ulcers, and a serious mind to change my major from psychology to ANYTHING else) and I don't have a job. Always having loved the library, my mother comes home one day with an application, telling me that there's a circulation desk position open. So, being the bibliophile I am, I fill it out that day and run two blocks over to turn it in. A month later the job is mine.
Fast forward a bit.. I'm loving my job, going to school - probably at this point decided to major in some sort of computer degree and shifting yet again to maybe elementary education - and enter my new coworker Lindsay. Lindsay is addicted to the same kinds of books as me - young adult, graphic novels, manga and many more. Also, she shows me this great website. "It's like Myspace for books!!" (back when ppl used Myspace... lol). This website... is called... Goodreads.
Okay, fast forward again. I finally figure out that there's more to Goodreads than just adding, reviewing and drooling over books. There's this great thing called Discussion Groups! Wow, exciting! I must find YA groups or manga groups or any groups! I join a bunch and start spending hours upon hours chatting books, doing challenges, etc.
Until.. one day.. this girl named Emma was like "Hey guys, I have this blog and you should check it out!" and I was like WOW this is really cool! Her blog..
Booking Through 365 made me all green with jealousy. "I want a shiny blog!" I say to myself.
Alright, pause for a minute here. Last summer was my first summer not working three jobs and taking 2 classes - I was working 1 part time job and taking 0 classes and I knew I had a lot of time on my hands.
Okay, unpause.
Now, I started a blog on blogger - figuring out that is what she was using. And I was like crap.. I need a NAME for my blog. *big huge sigh* So I looked at Emma's blog name and went hmmm... Booking.. Bookworming.. Bookworm.. no, too simple.. Bookworming in... the... ooo ooo let's be all MODERN like.. 21st Century.. woot!
Yeah, I know my awesome blog name was sort of a spin off and created in literally 2 minutes of random thoughts. And yes, everyone complains and teases me on how bloody long it is. So yeah, my path to blogging. Excuse the format, I really wanted you to get into my head on this answer.
Do your friends and family know about/read your blog? If they didn't... well... I can't keep secrets.. especially something silly like keeping my blog from my family. Okay, so they know about it... they get the updates on facebook... my mom even stops in once in a while and comments (it's been a while, but it did happen once or twice). They're not all like "How's the blog going?" or anything, but they know. Oh, I was over at my older sister's place and she had the bookmark for my blog on her fridge.. so maybe she will be checking it out? *shrug* They're my family, they love and support whatever hobbies I pick up. They just think I now have too many books that it is ridiculous (free or not.. lol).
Alright, more history questions... :-D
Do you remember the first book that really made you go "wow" and keep reading or have you been a reader for as long as you can remember?
I always read. My mom read to me, we lived at the library. I think I read every single Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley Twins, and Babysitters books I could get my hands on. I spent hot summer days at the library (my family didn't get AC for a long time) and just read and read. But there are some moments where I went back to reading after a short break. In high school, I basically did required reading only and maybe some extra classics here and there. My friend was writing a fantasy novel at the time and I loved it so much, I read the whole thing through and then begged her for more. Instead, she lent me a copy of The Golden Compass - which ultimately turned me into a Fantasy junkie.
I also wasn't reading a lot until I worked at the public library when I was 19 and haven't turned back since. I can't stand not reading at least a book a week (if not quite a few more..) and not sure I'll ever stop.
Okay, I'm going to go through the last few questions a bit quicker, promise. :-D
How long does it usually take for you to finish a book? I'm a pretty fast reader and so I'll break it down..
I can read a 200 page book in about 2 hours
I can read a 300 page book in about 3 hours
But, it also depends on spacing. As I read mainly YA and MG, you find more chapter breaks, white space and what not. If I read adult, those stats would be quite a bit different.
Who are your favorite bloggers and what are your favorite bookish sites?Alright, I am totally biased on this, but the people who I love and visit the most are the ones I talk to constantly online. So - Kate from
The Neverending Shelf, April from
Good Books and Good Wine, Misty from
Book Rat, Sara from
The Hiding Spot, Erica from
The Book Cellar, Drea from
Book Blather, Jenn from
Book Crazy, Jenn from
Books at Midnight, my girl Emma at
Booking Through 365, Natalie at
Mindful Musings, Eleni at
La Femme Readers, Emily from
Red House Books, Alethea from
Read Now Sleep Later, Elie from
Ellz Readz, Monica from
The Bibliophilic Book Blog, Briana from
The Book Pixie, and a new personal fave for me is
Pepper Ink.
Also, for a question about you, what is your favorite thing about where you live and what movies are you looking forward to this year? The great thing about where I live is that Andersons Bookshop is near me - that is the main reason why I get to see so many great authors. There's also this evil place called Half-Priced Books, which you can guess - is where you can buy used books for half the list price. Also, our apartment complex is awesome - we have tennis courts, swimming pools, parks, ponds and even a sand volleyball net. Lots of stuff to do this summer!
Ooo movies - I am totally an action girl - so I cannot wait to see The A-Team, Eclipse, Harry Potter, Jonah Hex, The Last Airbender, Predators, Inception, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Salt, Beastly, The Other Guys, The Expendables, and many more. Obviously, I love my movies! :-D
To end on a bookish and light note, I will answer the last question... Feel free to ask more if you want to know something! :)
Okay I have a question, if you could spend the day in any author's world, who would you choose?
Philip Pullman's world. I know it's a bit dangerous, but seriously.. how cool to travel to other worlds. (Talking about His Dark Materials trilogy here, The Golden Compass, etc.)
Okay, check back in a few for the contest of the day!
