Monday, June 4, 2012

Getting to Know Library Girl #ArmchairBEA Interview

Design credit: Emily of Emily's Reading Room
Hi, I'm Angela also known as Library Girl. This is my first year participating in Armchair BEA. I'm excited to check in with the main events and to visit as many of the other participating blogs as the kids will let me. Today is interview day and I'm answering a few of the questions from the Armchair BEA site to let you know a little more about me...

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

I'm a former librarian now stay at home mom to my two girls. Elizabeth is 3 1/2 and Victoria is 3 1/2 months so they keep me pretty busy! I've always been a reader but I started blogging about one month before Elizabeth was born. I stopped working shortly after I became pregnant so I had lots of time to read and be online. I discovered the book blogging community and decided that I wanted to share my thoughts on the books I was reading with others. Although, I have less time to read these days I still love connecting with other book bloggers and authors.

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

I'm currently reading The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. I got an advance copy from LibraryThing and I'm really enjoying it so far. It officially comes out on June 16.

I think my favorite book that I've read so far this year is Overseas by Beatriz Williams (link to my review). It is a wonderful romance with great characters and a bit of time travel.

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

I think I'd like to meet Rachel Morgan and Ivy Tamwood from The Hollows series by Kim Harrison. This is one of my favorite series of books in part because of the evolution of the relationship between Rachel and Ivy. It would also just be interesting to have dinner with a witch/demon and a vampire. Of course I'm not sure that dinner with Rachel and Ivy would be possible without including Jenks the pixie to add some comic relief.

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

My favorite part of the book blogging community is the support for authors. We all love to read and share our opinions about books and by doing that we show support for our favorite authors and spread the word about new authors. I recently joined a group called the Book Bloggers' Collaborative which strongly supports indie authors with sponsored giveaways, guest posts, author interviews, and other materials. To me, this is the essence of what the book blogging community should be - bloggers supporting authors and authors supporting bloggers in return.

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

My reading tastes have definitely changed since I began blogging! I was reading a pretty limited selection of authors and genres before I started working in a public library and then book blogging. I have been exposed to a much wider selection of fiction both by reading reviews on other blogs and by finding new sources of books including early reviewer programs and offers from publicists. Although I'm thrilled to have more variety in my reading, my list of books that I want to read is now completely out of control! With my limited reading time these days I am pretty picky about what I'm going to spend my time on so I rely heavily on other bloggers' reviews.

Thanks so much for stopping by and getting to know me a little more! I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs and seeing your answers to the interview questions.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.
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23 comments:

  1. Nice to meet you Angela!! I haven't heard of Book Bloggers Collaborative so you've given me something to look into this afternoon. My daughter's name is Elizabeth as well. :)

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  2. I agree with you that one of the best advantages of book blogging is exposure to books and genres you wouldn't have known of otherwise. My reading list is out of control, too - lol.

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  3. Hi, Angela! Dropping by from the Armchair BEA. :) It's nice to know that you can still continue your love for reading and books online.

    See you around,

    -Len of Musings of a Reader Happy

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  4. I love finding other fans of The Hollows series!!! I did not even think of them for that question but I think it is a great answer! I Love Jenks too! I really think he is one of the best secondary characters around!!

    So nice to "meet" you!

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  5. It's nice to meet you! I'm coming in from Armchair BEA. It must be hard to read a lot when you have two children at home but I'm happy to hear you still are able to make some time for it :) I was a lot like you when I started blogging with very limited tastes in books, I'm happy to see myself finding more books that are different!

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  6. Hi Angela! You picked such pretty names for your daughters :-) I've seen a lot of good things about Overseas, I'll have to give it a try.

    Happy ABEA!

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  7. Nice to meet you. You can probably guess from my name that I like that your youngest is a Victoria ;)

    Lovely post and I'm with you, my reading list is too long!

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  8. Nice to meet you! It's interesting how many people are saying the community is the best part of book blogging ... and they're so right! I think book blogging is a great community. I had tried networking online as a musician, but it was so hard to find the right place to comment. With book blogging, it's easy to find friends, and blogs!

    Thanks for mentioning Book Bloggers' Collaborative! I've never heard of it, so I'll have to check it out. :)

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  9. Like you, I am willing to try so many different books now that I blog about books. That, the people, and the authors are truly the best parts about book blogging!

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  10. I agree with you about the relationships between authors and bloggers! It really does rock to have those supportive relationships. It's like nothing I've ever been part of.

    I'm a teacher and my students are always so excited when I tell them I know the author of the book their reading. It's huge.

    Thanks for participating!

    Here's my intro

    Valerie
    StuckInBooks

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  11. Hi Angela - great post! So nice to learn more about you & to become connected through the BBColl.. and I agree the support between book bloggers and authors is amazing. It's so great to have so much encouragement and camaraderie.

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  12. Oh you make me want to finish reading the Hollows! I didn't stop for disinterest, as much as for lack of time. I'm also a sahm, with three little ones, and I only wish I were a former librarian.

    My bea intro post is here:http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com/2012/06/armchair-bea-introduction-lisa-books.html

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  13. I have both Age of Miracles and Overseas on my TBR for June, so I'm delighted that you've enjoyed them -- this makes me especially excited for them!

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  14. Afternoon Angela!

    Would you ever go back to the library if you could? And yeah I feel you on running after little ones. I need to go find my five year old, she's in the yard again . . . probably with no shoes. :( Kindergarten is coming! (yay!) Oh she's back in now, yay! (no running necessary) Love that you love the support the community gives to authors, I personally love it, and wish there was more of it happening. :)

    Nice to meet you, read you soon!

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  15. When I first started blogging, I had no idea what to expect. I just wanted a place to share my thoughts on books. I absolutely love the community of book bloggers - they are so welcoming and helpful. And I love the exposure to so many different books/authors.

    Here's my Armchair BEA Intro Post.

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  16. Great to get to know you better Angela! Have a fantastic Armchair BEA!

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  17. Hi Angela {waves},

    I think I have read the first book in the Hollows series, I didn't realize there were so many books in it :)

    My Introduction - http://obsessionwithbooks.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/armchair-bea-introduction.html

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  18. I am laughing, being exposed to so many books definitely puts our Wishlist out of control :-)

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  19. I'm also a former librarian and I agree that being in the library every day greatly expanded my reading choices. Blogging is a great way to not loose touch with that.
    Glad to find your blog through ArmchairBEA.

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  20. I love your blog and your answers! Hope you have fun during Armchair BEA!

    Debz @ Debz Bookshelf

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  21. So nice to meet you, Angela. I've been reposting your posts for months on Triberr, but I don't know if I've ever been by your blog previously. Blogging has definitely expanded my reading horizons and it's a great thing! It was great getting to know you. Thanks so much for visiting my blog too. =O)

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  22. I love how everyone's reading tastes have seemed to change. :)

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I love hearing from you! Please share your thoughts with me :-)