Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2011 Badge

Welcome to day 2 of Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Interview day is always a favorite. It’s so much fun to meet new bloggers as well as learn something new about bloggers you’ve been reading for a long time.

I’ve been reading Lit and Life for close to a year, and though I always enjoy Lisa’s insights, I never knew much about the blogger behind the blog, making Lisa a perfect BBAW interview partner!

Before we get to my questions, here’s a bit about Lisa, in her own words:

I’m a lifelong Nebraskan and will proudly tell you that I love it here (except for a couple of months in the winter!). My favorite genre is literary fiction but I’m pretty open to anything, I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction this year. Besides reading, I love watching football, volleyball and swimming and cooking/baking for my family and anyone else who wants to pull up a chair. You don’t even need a reservation at Cafe Shepp!

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I have to start with the classic question: how did you come to be a book blogger?

My friend, who was at the time the leader of our book club, started doing a blog about 8 months before I did to track her own books and to try to develop connections to help us connect with great books and authors. I started following her blog and then discovered the wide world of book blogs. It looked like so much fun and I thought it would be a great way to record my thoughts on books for my own records. It has turned out to be so much more!

I think it’s safe to say you enjoy participating in challenges. Why do you think you are drawn to them? What are some of your favorites?

I’m kind of a challenge junkie when it comes time to sign up but I’m getting worse and worse about completing them! One of the reasons they appeal to me is that they give me the incentive to read books I already own, books I already own or have an interest in reading. I always enjoy the challenges that have me reading more classics; I love the classics but sometimes, particularly as a blogger, it’s easy to get caught up in reading just the most current books.

One feature of Lit and Life that I particularly enjoy is Fairy Tale Fridays. Can you explain a bit about what Fairy Tale Fridays is and how it came to be?

Fairy Tale Fridays came about after I attended the Omaha Lit Fest last year, the theme of which was fairy tales. The fairy tales that I read my kids growing up were nothing like what the panelists were talking about and I became fascinated with what fairy tales had been and how they have changed over time. When I decided to do Fairy Tale Fridays, it really was just something I was doing for myself; I’m so excited that so many other people really seem to enjoy it!

Do you have any odd or quirky bookish habits you’d like to share?

I don’t think so–not that I don’t want to share but I don’t think I have any. My family just thinks it’s odd that I read so much and that I keep a dish next to both of my favorite reading places that have sticky notes, note cards, book marks, pens and my reading glasses. But we all do that, right? I am seriously considering adding one of those setups on my kitchen counter for when I’m reading while I eat breakfast. Would that be odd?

What books do you find yourself recommending again and again?

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, City of Thieves by David Benioff, all of Jane Austen but only to those readers I know like the classics, and The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar.

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Thank you, Lisa, for sharing a bit about yourself! To anyone who hasn’t yet seen Lisa’s blog, I highly recommend you head over and check it out. Perhaps you’ll learn something new about me while you’re at it!

In the spirit of getting to know one another, what fun or interesting things might I not yet know about you?

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44 Comments

  1. Fairy Tale Friday sounds very intriguing – are they a mix of fairy tales for children and adults (thinking there seem to be a number of authors reworking the fairy tales in new ways for adults)? Nice introduction to a new-to-me blog and blogger.
    Happy BBAW to you both!

    1. She’s definitely focused on some adult stuff, some of which can get rather creepy, it seems! Lisa is a great blogger and one I’d definitely recommend checking out. Happy BBAW to you as well!

    1. I know, clever, right? I have pen cups around the apartment, but I might have to upgrade to a reading paraphernalia dish!

    1. Definitely! Personally, I tend to avoid them just because the one time I tried them, I got overwhelmed and stressed so fast! Lisa seems to love them, though, like so many other bloggers out there. I like watching other people do them, but I tend to steer clear myself.

  2. Lisa is such an amazing person, and I just love her and love her blog. I also really have been learning a lot on Fairy Tale Friday’s and we have shared quite a few conversations about our perceptions of fairy tales with each other. Erin, this was a really great interview, and I hope that more people get to become exposed to Lisa and her particular brand of brilliance. Thanks for sharing this with us today!

    1. She is wonderful, isn’t she? I’m hoping more people head Lisa’s way as well. I know many people already read her blog, but the more, the merrier!

  3. Fairy Tale Fridays sounds interesting…I read the Grimm stories a few years ago and I’m in progress of reading Hans Christian Andersen now! Will have to go check it out. Thanks, Erin, for introducing me to this interesting blogger!

    1. I think you would enjoy Fairy Tale Fridays, Rebecca. It’s a mix, and I don’t know you super well, I realize, but it seems like something you might like! I hope you enjoy the rest of Lisa’s blog as well. She’s definitely a keeper 🙂

  4. I love Lisa and her blog and try to visit several times a week. She writes fantastic reviews and other posts and her Fairytale Fridays is brilliant. She’s also a nutty fan of football which is terrific.

    I don’t have a dish with all my reading accessories next to the different places I read but I think it’s a fntastic idea and might have to copy it!

    This was a great interview, Erin! Thank you!

    1. Yay for football nuts! Tis the season again… 🙂 I really enjoy Lisa’s blog as well and was so excited to have her assigned as my interview partner. As for reading accessories, I keep cups of pens around, but I’m thinking I’ll have to upgrade to a dish!

  5. Oh I love Lisa! She has such a warm heart and spirit. 🙂 I didn’t realize that’s how she started blogging though–I’m always curious to see how others got into the game. I have to admit that I never confessed in my book club that I wrote a blog!

    1. She does, doesn’t she? I love these BBAW interviews because there’s always something new I learn about bloggers, even those I’ve been reading for what feels like a long time. I love hearing how people got into blogging/reading, too. I tend to be reticent about my blog to other people, too — I’ve never been much of a self-promoter!

  6. Lisa’s blog is a regular stop for me. I love the idea of gathering all my reading paraphernalia in a pretty dish, and having a separate dish for both my reading spots is even better! Off to check my cupboards now…

    1. Hehe, I hope you found some good dishes, JoAnn! I have pen cups around, but the idea of special dishes is rather irresistible. Next time I come across a particularly lovely one, I have the perfect excuse to acquire it!

    1. Haha, then maybe you need tiny safes near your favorite reading spots, with secret combinations only you know!

    1. I am a bit in awe of so-called challenge junkies. I signed up for one challenge and abandoned it mid-year because it was too much for me to think about. I get so stressed when I have too rigid a reading schedule!

  7. Lisa is great, isn’t she? I love her Fairy Tale Fridays, and no, I don’t think it odd she has a little dish filled with book reading essentials. In fact, I need to get one of those myself! Thanks for a great interview!

    1. She’s wonderful! And I don’t think the little dish of supplies is odd either…nor does anyone else who’s commented so far. Rather, I think she’s inspired a new trend!

  8. I love meeting new bloggers through these interviews. Lisa’s a another new blogger to me. I’m definitely going to have to have a look at her Fairy Tale Fridays.

    Great interview!

    1. Thanks! I hope you enjoy Lisa’s blog! I love meeting new bloggers, too, though my feed reader gets a little overwhelmed 🙂

  9. I love Lisa’s blog, and I enjoyed getting to know more about her. My reading stuff has taken over the end table near the couch…much to my husband’s dismay. 😉

    1. Hehe, spouses have so many hardships to deal with when they’re married to one of us reading types, don’t they? 🙂

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