Armchair BEA Day One: Introductions

As much as I love reading I only discovered this wonderful world of book blogging a few years ago (I know, what took me so long?!). Since then I have become a reviewing collaborator on two blogs: Luxury Reading and, most recently, the history-drenched goodness that is Historical Tapestry. Now that I am a full-fledged blogger I am so excited to be able to participate in blogging events such as Armchair BEA. So, without further ado, my Introduction post to kick off the week:




Designed by Amber of Shelf Notes



Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from? 

Me in front of my largest bookcase

As a huge book nerd I loved the idea of not only getting to share great reads with others but getting to get recommendations as well. Where else can you find so many like-minded people in one place other than on the internet? Unnerved to actually start my own blog I have really enjoyed being a reviewer on various blogs and getting to slowly acclimate to the various roles and responsibilities of blogging. And I love it!

As to who I am, I am a wife, mother to one rambunctious almost 9 year old boy and a grumpy 3 year old Peekapoo Chihuahua and a Student Service Representative at a University. I live and work in Tampa, Florida and spend every possible minute of my free time either reading, spending time with my family or doing both at the same time.

What genre do you read the most? I love to read because ___________________ . 

By far my favorite genres are Historical Fiction and Historical Nonfiction. Through these sorts of stories I get to be transported to places and times I could never possibly get to in my real life. For me, reading is an adventure and entertainment away from the stresses of day-to-day life. What better way to do this than by diving into the past? Also, it seems to really help when playing Jeopardy as well!

 

What was your favorite book read last year? What’s your favorite book so far this year? 

Okay, this is a hard one for me because I have read a lot of really great books in the last two years! If I had to just pick one from last year it would have to be The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley. Ms. Kearsley has an uncanny ability to weave back and forth in time, braiding together different
characters and storylines in such an exciting way that you don't want to stop reading! Another author that does this so well is Kate Morton, and I also read and loved her book The Secret Keeper last year.

This year my favorite read so far has been Daughter of the Gods by Stephanie Thornton. If you like kick-ass women in history who refuse to be just another side note to the powerful men surrounding them pick up her books, she has fast become one of my favorite authors.

What does your favorite/ideal reading space look like?

Oh, what a fun thing to think about! My ideal reading space would be some quiet little book nook with lots of pillows and shelves for all the books I want to read (it would look something like this, found on Pinterest here):

What book would you love to see as a movie? 

This is another great/hard question as I always seem to create movie versions of the books I'm reading in my head as I'm reading them and often I think they would just be visually stunning. At the top of the list would have to be Kate Quinn's two books in her Borgia Chronicles, The Serpent and the Pearl and The Lion and the Rose. Her characters - especially the main characters Guilia Farnese, Leonello and Carmelina - are so complex, humorous yet tragic, that I would just love to see actors attempt to breath even more life into them on the screen.


So that's it! I can't wait to travel the blogosphere to read everyone else's introductions and the other posts throughout this Armchair BEA week. Is anyone else participating or are there any lucky ducky's out there actually traveling to BEA this year?