Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Featuring Kristen of BookNAround

Today please welcome Kristen, who blogs at BookNAround.

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What's the meaning behind the name of your book blog?

I quit working a lot of years ago now to stay home with my kids but quickly discovered that stay-at-home mom is a complete misnomer. Even now that my kids are older and much more independent (one's even driving!!), I still find myself out and about, or booking around, much more than I ever expected. Plus I like plays on words so it seemed perfect.

How long have you been blogging?

6 1/2 years now.

Tell us a bit about your book blog. What makes it unique?

The blog is mostly book reviews although occasionally I throw in posts from my chaotic life. Sometimes I might even over-share. But even in my book reviews, I try to incorporate a little about me, to make it personal. Oh, and I'm appallingly long-winded. :-)

What genres do you write about most, and why?

Fiction of all types because that's what I've always read the most of in my reading life. Now that I do reviews as well as writing up books I've chosen on my own, review books are pretty heavily weighted to fiction as well, or at least those that are offered to me are.

What's your earliest memory of reading?

I was three and I ran downstairs to read my mom The B Book by Stan and Jan Berenstain. She was on the phone talking to someone (and she can talk for hours given half a chance) and she thought I'd just memorized the book so she sort of waved me off. Stubborn even then, I read it to her anyway. I'm not sure if it was then or later that she realized I actually was reading and not just parroting memorized words.

What was the first book you read over and over, or the book you've reread the most?

I've had several through the years. As a peanut I read The B Book over and over obsessively (and I still have a copy). As a child, I went back through The Fabulous Flight by Robert Lawson again and again (and I still have my copy). As a young teen, read and re-read Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman weeping all the while (and I still have my copy). And as an adult, I have gone back to Pride and Prejudice many times because it is so perfectly balanced between social criticism and romance. And yes, I still have my copy.

Writing in books: Yes or hell to the no?

Are you trying to cause me to have a stroke? Never!

What's your favorite place to read?

In front of a fire crackling away in the fireplace at the lake cottage that has been in my family for almost 100 years. Barring that, I'll be boring and say snuggled into the sagging end of the couch.

Finish the sentence: My bookshelves are...

bowed under the weight of my treasures.

My TBR pile is...

more like Mount Everest than a mere pile.

What's a book that's changed your life?

They all do to one extent or another, right? That's why we read. But I think that James Michener's Hawaii, which I read when I was 12, was really the first big book that showed me how addictive a fictional world could be, sucking you in for days and making you not care to rejoin the real world until after the last page was turned.

One book you like that no one else seems to, or vice versa?

I have a surprising number really. I tend to be the curmudgeon at my book club. One of these days they're going to kick me to the curb for my grumpiness.

To DNF or not to DNF?

I'm obsessive compulsive. Finishing is a must.

How about non-book related hobbies? What do you do when you don't feel like reading?

I play tennis several times a week and I used to run and need to get back into that. I also did needlepoint for a long time and scrapbooked and quilted for a while but it's been too long to claim those as ongoing hobbies at this point. Mostly all of my non-reading time lately is still book-related.

What's your favorite book to movie adaptation?

I thought Age of Innocence was very well done. And of course, how can you not mention the BBC's Pride and Prejudice?!

What are 3 of your must-read blog posts?

Sunday Salon: The New Year Edition
Sunday Salon: Books my native habitat
Sunday Salon: Themed Reading

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Thank you for joining us today, Kristen! 
Remember to check out Kristen's blog, BookNAround
and leave a comment or question.

2 comments :

  1. I liked Age of Innocence too and thought it was one of the better adaptations. Thanks for reminding me about that, Kristen.

    I'm usually on the sagging end of the couch too. :)

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  2. Thanks for stopping by Kristen!! I loved reading your interview!! And, reading in front of that crackling fire sounds like a dream! I want to do that too, especially with all this snow and cold outside these days!

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