This post is part of the Blog Friends Forever Tour, first developed by Fiction Fare and Swoony Boys podcast aka Erin, Jaime, Kassiah and Meg to spread some blogger love. The tour consists of posts by bloggers active in the blogosphere including Podcaster Love and Favourite Newbies to Why I Love Being A Blogger and Blogger Interviews. Today I am grabbing one of my favourite bloggers (who just happens to be my sister) and grilling her in a Blogger to Blogger Interview.
CHRISSI READS INTERVIEW
I’d like to welcome Chrissi Reads to bibliobeth today and thank her for her time in giving this interview.
1.) You have been blogging now for nearly three years and were short-listed at the UK YA blog awards for Champion Newcomer. What did the nomination mean to you?
The nomination meant a lot to me because I never expected to be recognised for the first UK YA awards. It was a complete shock. It felt like recognition of all of the work I put into the blog. It certainly felt like (and still feels like) there are many more great blogs out there, so I was incredibly flattered to be recognised and nominated.
2.) What is your favourite and dare I say, least favourite part of being a blogger?
My favourite part of book blogging is definitely finding out about many books that I wouldn’t have read otherwise. My tastes have evolved so much over the past three years. I’ve definitely become more open to trying new genres. As you know, I used to be only a chick-lit reader. I’ve certainly expanded my horizons. I also love the community in the book blogging blogosphere. I’ve been blogging overall for nearly six years now and the book community are much more welcoming. I don’t know if I do have a least favourite part. I guess sometimes I feel pressure to read ‘current’ books, but I think I’ve got past that now and I’m happy to do a mix of older books and newer. Book love is book love after all.
3.) This year you completed your teacher training and wrote a post every Sunday entitled A Week In The Life Of A Primary PGCE Student. Do you find personal posts harder to write than book reviews and why?
At first I did mainly because I wondered if anyone would actually be interested in my posts. My confidence grew as the weeks progressed and I could tell that people were enjoying reading them. The blog posts became almost cathartic and it’s amazing to look back at them and think about how far I’ve come.
4.) One of your favourite genres to blog about is YA. Have you seen any changes in the YA fiction market since you have been a blogger?
I’ve noticed that YA authors are writing about a much wider range of topics than when I first started reading YA. Don’t get me wrong, there was a range of topics out there, but for me it feels like there’s less fear now in being raw and real. YA readers want a raw read. They want honest, true reads and I think the YA authors are totally running with that right now.
5.) If you could recommend one book that everyone should turn off their computer and go read right now, which would it be?
ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes. One of my favourites.
Now for some quick fire questions!!
E book or real book?
REAL. I love the smell and feel of a real book.
Series or stand alone?
Hmmm…at the moment stand alone. I don’t have a lot of time for series at the moment.
Fiction or non-fiction?
Fiction.
Online shopping or bookshop trawling?
Bookshop trawling. Harder on my bank balance, but I can actually touch the pretties. I like to support bookshops too.
Bookmarking or dog-earing?
Definitely not dog-earing. I’m not a huge bookmark lover, but if I had to pick one it would be bookmarking!
A big thank you once again to Chrissi Reads and a big thank you also to
Fiction Fare and
Swoony Boys podcast for developing this blog tour. Click on their names to visit their websites!
Why not also enter the big blog tour giveaway below? There will be 3 winners. We are giving away $75, $50, and $25 gift cards to the winner’s choice of book retailer. Enter below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
As well as that, I’m hosting a separate giveaway right here to win a £20 (or US equivalent) Amazon gift card or that amount of books from the Book Depository. Enter below
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Why not enter both?
Finally, please check out the other amazing bloggers posting today!:
Literary, Etc – Blogger RAK – http://literaryetc.com
The Fox’s Hideaway – Why I Love Being A Blogger – http://skizzles22hu.blogspot.com
Carpe Librum – Blog Besties – http://ccarpelibrum.blogspot.com/
I’ve really loved being a part of this blog tour, lets all carry on spreading that blogger love!
