i blog 4 books: Lisa, I'm so excited about today's interview swap! Tell me a little about your blog.
Captivated Reader: My book blog is called Captivated Reader, because I have been captivated by books and reading ever since I can remember. I started Captivated Reader on January 1st of this year and have been making posts daily ever since.
The following is the brief description of what Captivated Reader is all about:
My blog is about the books I'm reading, the independent bookstores I visit, the author and book events I attend, and any bookish related things I come across in the months to come!
ib4b: How did you get started as a book blogger?
CR: Starting a "blog" had simply been an idea that I had been toying around with for a couple of years. I didn't want to start a blog until I had enough time to devote to creating and maintaining one. Plus, believe it or not, I didn't know what I wanted to blog about, which may sound odd considering that I've been a life long, avid reader and book reader!
The idea of doing a book blog didn't come about until last November around Thanksgiving time. It was then that I decided to begin a book blog on January 1, 2012. I spent the last few weeks of 2011 coming up with a name for my blog, defining how often I would blog, and topics to discuss, etc. My blog is a work in progress, but so far, I've met my blogging goals and having fun along the way. :-)
ib4b: What’s your favorite aspect of book blogging?
CR: Connecting with other readers and book enthusiasts. It's fun, exciting and rewarding to read comments from those who post comments to my blog.
ib4b: What were some of your favorite books as a child?
CR: Babar books were my all time favorite books hands down as a toddler. I had the stories memorized and could virtually recite them word for word while my mom was reading them to me!
I had other favorite books growing up. I remember The Ghost of Windy Hill by Clyde Robert Bulla being one of the first books I read for pleasure in elementary school. I loved the book so much that I read it more than once. The story has a mystery element in it for kids. Perhaps this book was the start of my life long love of mystery novels.
I also loved reading Ultra-Violet Catastrophe!: Or, The Unexpected Walk with Great-Uncle Magnus Pringle by Margaret Mahy. This was a fun book to read as a child and the illustrations are fabulous too!
ib4b: Who encouraged your love for reading when you were younger?
CR: My mom was the most influential person in starting my love of reading and learning as a youngster. She read to me nightly at bedtime. It was my favorite part of bedtime and I usually never wanted it to end!
Many thanks to my loving mother for my love of reading.
The interesting thing to note here is that my mom is not an avid book reader herself, yet she was my biggest influence in becoming the avid reader that I am today.
ib4b: What are some of your favorites now: genres, books, authors?
CR: Favorite authors in no specific order of preference: Jerry Spinelli, John Steinbeck, Margaret Atwood, Geraldine Brooks, Mikhail Bulgakov, Agatha Christie, Diana Gabaldon and Maya Angelou.
Earlier this year, I listed my top ten favorite books of all time on my blog and they are as follows:
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov
- The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingolver
- Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
- Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice by Mark Plotkin, Ph.D.
- Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin
ib4b: What was the last must-read book that you read and would recommend?
CR: Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart. It's a work of nonfiction. It's filled with excellent illustrations of bugs as well as captivating/riveting information about various bugs found around the world.
What did I like most about Wicked Bugs? It's written for the layperson. I liked the content layout of Wicked Bugs as only a few pages are devoted to each bug and these pages are packed full of interesting information. Who knew the subject of bugs would be so interesting?
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. In fact, I wasn't sure I'd like it all as bugs creep me out big time... Especially ones that transmit diseases like ticks and mosquitoes. But this book came highly recommended and I'm glad I made the leap and read it.
Check out the following YouTube video about Wicked Bugs from the author herself.
ib4b: And, because my husband suggested this question and the responses are always interesting … write your memoir in six words or less.
CR: Can't describe myself in six words.
(Geez, what does that say about me when I can't describe myself in six words or less lol!?! Number 8 was the most difficult one for me to answer.)
ib4b: Lisa, thanks so much for stopping by. This was fun!
CR: Thank you so much for hosting me this year! I had a blast!! Best wishes to you in your continued success as a blogger.
The questions about your memoir is hilarious!!!!
ReplyDelete