Armchair BEA – Introduction

Hi everyone!  This is Lydia here, updating from the comfort of my home and trying not to be upset that I did not get to attend BEA in NYC this year.  I had plans to do so, but last year life took a turn for the worse and all the money I had hoped to have saved just did not happen.  That said, I’m so grateful to those hosting the Armchair BEA event so that us book bloggers who couldn’t make it can participate in our own way!

Today is the first day of scheduled posts with a BEA theme and we’re supposed to introduce ourselves so here goes:

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

My name is Lydia – I’m a 35 year old “non-traditional” student at Eureka College in Illinois.  I’m a double major in both English Literature and Music Performance and have one year of school before I graduate.  I started blogging late 2009 as a way to keep track of the books I read.. as I read quickly and tend to burn through them and decided that the best way to keep everything in order was to write about them.    Since then it’s become a way of centering myself, keeping myself interested in the trends and meeting fantastic people as I find the time to network through the community of amazing book blogs out there.

2. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

I’m currently finishing up The Unseen by Katherine Webb and have plans to move on to Family Graces by Kathryn Magendie.  I’ve read quite a few fantastic books this year, but those that stand out in my mind are Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood, and Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.  They are all different, but equally amazing and have I read them at times when I needed a reminder of why it is I love to read.

3. Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

In October I’ll be an Aunt again! My sister Candace and her new husband are expecting a little boy on October 8, 2012.  This will make my third nephew (and two nieces).

4. What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)?

I actually don’t do a lot of memes, because I go through such a large number of books, but I really love the It’s Monday, what are you reading? meme.  I’m a list person and like to have my week scheduled out for me and as I check off each book on the list I get a great feeling of accomishment.  Up until last year, I hosted read-alongs, but unfortunately with the start of school, I had no time to host them any longer.

5. Where do you see your blog in five years?

I’d love to get back into read-alongs again, but mostly I’m hoping I can just keep up my pace.  Once I graduate, I plan to branch out a little bit and explore classics with literary theory a bit more in a separate page.

6. Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?

One of my favorite reviews is of The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood.

7. If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?

Anne, from Anne of Green Gables.  This is a no-brainer for me – I grew up with her and love that character so much.

8. What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?

Time and place would be Paris, 1920′s. I would love to just hang out with the lost generation.

9. What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming years?

How supportive the community is – as far as changes go, the only thing I would like to see is blogging platforms making it less time consuming to post comments on the blogs I visit.

10. Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

Very much – I’ve noticed over the last five years my tastes have drastically changed.  I used to primarily just read romances and mystery, and those are two genres I rarely touch anymore.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment and a link to have me come and visit, as I really want to spend some time getting to know you all this week.