Book Blogger Appreciation Week Day 2

It's day 2 of BBAW! Today we're interviewing bloggers. I signed up to interview another blogger to get to know someone new. Then I got the email with the name of the blogger I'd be interviewing. Wouldn't you know it...It was my good, IRL friend Suey! We had a laugh over this but decided to just go ahead and interview each other anyway. Enjoy!


 I actually know you pretty well but tell me something about you that I don't know. 

Um... what don't you know? I think you truly know it all! Let's see:
* I recently sent a DNA test into Ancestry.com to learn where I come from
* I tried to play Skyrim once, but it didn't go over well
* I drive past your house probably six times a day at least. (I think you know that one!)
* I want to learn archery and also how to box.

(Besides you driving by my house I didn't know any of these things! How fun! I want to learn archery too but I already know I'm quite awful at it.) 

2 Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?

I always list The Book Thief as my favorite book, though there are so many that could be named. But this one seems to have it all. I love its uniqueness, its message, its characters, the writing style, the power of the words and the setting. It's truly an amazing book.

3 What's your favorite book to film adaption?

There are so many! I can't list a favorite! Probably the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice. Also, Lord of the Rings. Also, Holes. Also, The Hunger Games. I'll stop there...

4 I know you like TV. Is there a book you wish would become a TV series?

My first thought is the Starbound trilogy, but not sure if that would work as a TV show. Some long drawn out saga would be fun to do as a TV show, but I haven't read something like that for a long time it seems. Gah! I can't think of a good answer here! What do YOU want to see as a TV show?

(Well, look at what they did with The Vampire Diaries. I read the books and, wow, they weren't at all like the series. So maybe they could make it work. I'd like the Mathew Swift Series to be a TV show. I think it might be a movie one day but a TV show would work better.)

5 How long have you been blogging and what does the future of your blogging life look like?

Next month it will be nine years of book blogging. (I blogged for a year before that on Yahoo's 360 thing, which was awesome at the time. So in fact, it's been ten years this month since I actually started writing blog posts. Wow.) And my future is... steady. I think I will perhaps not be posting as often as I have been, but will probably never quit intentionally. My blogging may shift to have more of a writing spin then a reading spin. But that remains to be seen too. Here's hoping I can just ride the wave of change and keep up with it all!

Thanks for the fun interview, Suey! I learned things about you that I didn't know! 

Be sure to check out Suey's blog for my interview. Thanks for stopping by! 

Author Interview!

Hey, guys! Today in honor of Utah Book Month I have the great pleasure to interview author Becca Wilhite. I'm so excited because I loved both her books. Thank goodness, right? ;) I tease, I tease! Becca is the author of Bright Blue Miracle and My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions which I reviewed just last week here.
Now on to the interview, shall we?

I have to ask. What are some of your favorite books?
 I am a compulsive re-reader. If I love a book, I'll read it over and over. This year's favorite is, hands down, John Green's "THE FAULT IN OUR STARS" which I've already read twice in six months and talked about obsessively. It's gorgeous. Every sentence I read makes me (think I'm getting) smarter. I breathe in his words and live in envy of his brilliance. And his humor. And the romance, the pathos, the tragedy. (Are you convinced that you should try it?) Other books I've read till pages fell out and I had to buy new copies? "THE BOOK THIEF," "THE POISONWOOD BIBLE," "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE," "PEACE LIKE A RIVER," "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD," and "LES MISERABLES."


I was very excited to discover that My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions was about a college student, not a high school student. It's hard to find books with college aged characters. Was there a reason you chose to make Sarah older?
I wanted to write something for the kid I once was - the girl ready to move toward the next step. In this case, college. I had heard about "new adult" books (not much since I wrote this one, though) -- books aimed at the age group between YA and adult fiction. I love that age. I loved being that age. But I remember (all too well) the angst of insecurity. (Incidentally, editors apparently say there's not a market for this age group. They may be right, but I'm not sorry to have put Sarah and Ben in college.)

I really love the covers of your books! I know authors don't often have a say on what their covers look like. Did you? And what do you think of the covers?
I cried when I saw them. Tears of worry. I got over it, both times. :) With "Bright Blue Miracle" I wondered who would ever pick up a book with feet on the cover. I mean, FEET? Come on. But I did get over it before too long. About the time I bought all the blue OPI nail polish I could find.

And with MRRO, I gasped at that beautiful, thin, long-necked redhead. In my head, Sarah is ... rounder. A lot. And she has wicked black curls. But then this willowy Sarah started to grow on me. So even though I'm not actually a fan of humans on covers, I have come to love it. Both of them.

I didn't have any say in the covers, but the publisher did send me digital mock-ups a few months before the books were printed. It was perfect -- just enough time for me to learn to LOVE them. :)

When you're not writing what else do you enjoy doing?
I have a really great husband. And 4 kids. So I do a whole lot of family-ness. I have a part-time job. I teach writing classes. I love to cook. And eat. And read books. I take walks and mow the lawn and clean a fishbowl (because I don't do furry pets. Or furry-green glass fishbowls.)

What's next? Are you working on anything new?
I signed with an agent (Meredith Kaffel with DeFiore & Co) this spring. She's terrific. She's very editorial, and is holding my hand through a rash of revisions. Hopefully I'll be ready to submit this YA fantasy masterpiece this fall. :) (I'll let you know.)

Thank you so much, Becca. I'm so excited to hear more about this new book coming out. 

My Ridiculous, Romantic Obsessions

Sarah Howard's first year at the university is everything and nothing she expected especially when a very cute boy named Ben in her Art History class starts to show interest in her.

Sarah feels like she's an average, normal, everyday girl. So, when Ben (to whom she secretly refers as Adonis because she thinks he could be a Greek god) begins to take interest in her, Sarah is in denial. For one thing, last year she was deeply crushed and humiliated by Jesse James a guy who she thought liked her.

She's determined not to get burned again. But in her heart of hearts, what she really wants is a Jane Austen kind of romance. Ridiculous, right? That kind of romance doesn t exist anymore . . . or does it? Sarah is smart and fun to be around and even pretty, despite her Medusa-like red curls. She even plays the guitar. (So does Ben!) Yes, Sarah is everything Ben has wanted. He's crazy for her, but Sarah is just not getting it. She's playing hard to get, and if she s not careful, she s going to lose a real hot gentleman -- her 21st-century Mr. Darcy. (From Goodreads)

Bright Blue Miracle

Seventeen-year-old Leigh Mason is not sure she's ready to share her mom, her bedroom, and her little sisters with her new stepsister, Betsy. And she's definitely not ready to share her best friend, who happens to be a boy! Coping with a blended family is not easy for either Leigh or Betsy, especially during their senior year in high school. Each step brings them nearer to a crisis that will either send them running in different directions or bind them firmly together (which, let's face it, would take a miracle).Bright Blue Miracle is a new young adult novel that has everything a girl wants: a hero (more specifically, a really cute boy), a villain (who happens to be a stepsister), comedy, despair, pedicures, ice cream, love, hate, tennis, revenge, and, of course, a couple of surprises that might send you for some tissues. (From Goodreads)

Blogger Interview!

Hey, everyone! As part of Utah Book Month we Utah bloggers got the opportunity to interview each other. It's been quite fun as both my interviewer and interviewee were both strangers to me. So I got to meet two new bloggers from my very own state. Fun, huh? Anywho, I was interviewed by Krista at Cubicle Blindness (in case you missed it) and today I get to interview Shanda from LDS Women's Book Review! Enjoy.

Hey, Shanda Welcome to my blog! Let's get started, shall we?

Hi! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a wife, mother of four children (3 daughters, 1 son), and lover of good books.

I have always loved to read. My mom told me I was reading the TV Guide before I started kindergarten. The first “grown-up” book I read was Shadow’s Song by Dorothy Keddington. My best friend, Hillary, loaned me her mother’s copy in junior high. I loved it, reading the rest of Dorothy Keddington’s books shortly after. I was hooked on the “good story.” I’ve spent the last 15+ years looking for and finding it. I love fiction, especially stories that are so well written you can’t stop thinking about the characters as if they were real people you know. It helps if there’s a good romance, too.

I also enjoy scrapbooking, photography, movies, walking, being in the mountains, crocheting, instrumental music (especially Celtic music) and dark mint chocolate. Happy reading.

How long have you been blogging and why did you start?

I actually started reviewing books and interviewing authors on the LDS Women's Book Review podcast before starting the blog. We've been podcasting for 6 1/2 years so the LDSWBR blog is just a little younger than the podcast.

I founded LDS Women's Book Review because I had started reading again (my kids were getting older and less demanding) and I had no one to talk to about the books I was reading. My hubby told me about podcasts and I knew what I wanted to do. What started as three women talking about books on a podcast turned into author interviews and book reviews promoting good clean reads and a lot of local and LDS authors. I love it!

What has been your favorite or most memorable moment blogging?
Oh, wow. It's hard to choose just one.

LDSWBR has been able to present a Whitney Award each year for the last four years and that is a huge honor for us. Rob Wells was the first author we ever interviewed on the blog, and now that he has been published nationally with VARIANT it's nice to have that claim to fame. And James Dashner has been to my house. We podcasted with James Dashner and J. Scott Savage while James was working on Maze Runner and now both are national authors.

The best part of what we do is watching all of the local authors we have interviewed and met over the years find success after all of their hard work. We love to promote and support local authors.

What else do you do besides read and blog? Other hobbies, etc.
Is there anything else besides reading and blogging? Just kidding. :)

I like photography and scrapbooking, but can't tell you the last time I finished a scrapbook layout. I have been known to crochet on occasion. I've recently started writing, but I'm not sure how that will end up. Taking the kids to the park to play volleyball, baseball, frisbee, etc, and snuggling on the couch with my hubby is how I've spent most of my not-reading-or-blogging time lately. Thinking about this question has made me realize how boring I am. :)


What's been your favorite read of 2012? And why?
I had to cheat and go look on Goodreads to remember the 70+ books I've read so far this year. If I could only pick one, it would be I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells. I loved I Am Not a Serial Killer and Mr. Monster, and IDWTKY was the perfect wrap up to this fascinating, brilliant series. I did not expect to cry, but cry I did. On a side note, Dan Well's Night of Blacker Darkness is hilarious and I highly recommend it. I laughed out loud so many times my hubby didn't know whether to be annoyed or jealous.

 If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
IRELAND. I really don't like flying but I would get on a plane to go to Ireland. (Valium, anyone?) I love the countryside, the culture, the history, the castles, the music, the people, the accent. Not sure about the food. My ancestry says I am mostly German but that drop of Irish in my blood overtakes everything else. My two littlest are redheads and the youngest, my 3 year-old daughter, has naturally curly red hair. They even have Irish names that I chose before I ever knew they would be redheads. So, yeah, Ireland.

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Thank you, Shanda. I love your answers! I too love Dan Wells' books. I've yet to read Night Of Blacker Darkness because it's only on audio book right now but soon I'll get my hands on it. I also loved learning I wasn't the only one with an obsession with Ireland. I really want to go there too. I have a strong Irish streak in my blood and a strong English streak too. You can imagine the confusion that causes. ;) We seem to have a lot in common. It's been fun getting to know you better.