'Bout This Blogger

I've seen this mini-questionnaire doing the rounds recently, and so now it's my turn.

The 'Bout This Blogger tag comes from Cait at her newly-reinvented blog Paper Fury. I've just discovered Cait thanks to this meme, and she is brilliant. You guys must check out her blog if you haven't done already.

1. Why did you start blogging? Because of Anne of Green Gables. I tried to find online forums to discuss my favourite book series, but the comments just didn't go into enough depth for my liking, and were mostly about the adaptations anyway. So I set up my own space to witter at great length and depth and hope that it might prompt a discussion or two somewhere along the way.

2. What’s the story behind your blog’s name? When I was a kid, before I'd even started primary school, I had already got myself a reputation - somehow - among the teachers as "Katie Who Can Read." I could read, I can read, I've never really stopped reading since I was three years old.

3. How many designs have you been through since you started blogging? (Pictures! We demand pictures!) I'm on my second blog design, one of the Blogger templates customised a bit, because my web design skills are non-existent. Windows Live Writer (which I only really use if my internet connection is playing up, because it messes up the formatting when I come to publish) has kept my old background. I started off with this rather ugly, old-timey brown wallpaper look which made me think of a Victorian study (or maybe 221B Baker Street) but later decided to brighten it up with some cheerful peachy-orange stripes. Pretty and girly without being too pink. 

4. Have you ever switched blog platforms? What made you move? If you haven’t ever changed…why?
Many moons ago I had a personal blog on Xanga (does anyone remember that?) but for the book blog I'm happy with Blogger. I used to have a separate blog for TV and movie reviews, but I didn't give that enough attention so I brought those posts over to join the book reviews.

5. How long does it take you to write a post? What’s your postly process like?
As I read or watch things, I make notes in a notebook. I plan my posts rather like I used to plan academic essays: I make a list of bullet points, then expand them into paragraphs. Usually I'll open my post, stare at the screen, check Twitter, check Tumblr, try to come up with a first sentence, check Twitter... check Tumblr... Often I start in the middle, when the bullet point notes get longer and ramblier and turn into full sentences. Beginnings and endings are always hardest. How long it takes depends on how much I have to say and how much I procrastinate. It doesn't take that long once I settle down to actually do the writing.

6. Have you ever been super nervous about a post? Why?! What was it?
Most recently, my review of Kindred was a bit nervewracking. This is an amazing, thought-provoking book that will linger for a long time. I had many thoughts and feelings about Kindred, but as a white girl living in a probably 95+% white part of England, I worry that I don't have much authority to write about issues of race, and I don't want to say anything ignorant or insensitive. Similarly, any book about other Very Serious Issues that I have no personal experience with, but which can be painful to other people who might land on my blog. I'd hate to inadvertantly belittle or trample over anyone's personal experiences.

7. Do you have a blogging schedule?
Hahahaha no. Lately my blogging has been far too infrequent. I write my Sunday Summaries quite regularly, and occasionally take part in Top Ten Tuesday, and I try to balance out book reviews, TV or film reviews, personal updates and meme or list posts,

8. Do you tell people In-Real-Life about your blog? Their reactions? Occasionally, but not often. They might read it!

9. Top ten blogs you read/comment on the most! Go! Go! I don't always comment - one of my blogging resolutions for next year will be to comment more - but I read every post from the following:

Ellie @ Book Addicted Blonde
Hanna @ Booking in Heels
Laura @ Devouring Texts
Bex @ An Armchair By The Sea
Charlotte @ Lit Addicted Brit
Melbourne On My Mind
Ellie @ Lit Nerd
Alley @ What Red Read
Sarah Says Read
Ellie (yes, another Ellie) @ Curiosity Killed The Bookworm

10. If you could change/improve things about your blog, what would they be?
I'd like to write more often, at least twice a week and aim for three: at least one review and one personal or meme post.

Signing up for another read-a-thon

Well, winter is definitely upon us. I'm writing this wearing two jumpers, fingerless gloves and fluffy slipper boots. It's cold, it's dark, it's gloomy - what better than to lose myself in books? Dana and Jenny seem to be in agreement, as they have scheduled a monster two-week read-a-thon for December, a last chance to get through as many books on the 2013 to-read pile as possible. Count me in!

The End of the Year read-a-thon will be taking place between 9th and 22nd of December, which means that even though it's a busy time of year with work and Christmas preparations, I should still have plenty of time to devour a few books - hurrah!

I won't be setting myself any specific goals for this read-a-thon. My to-read pile has doubled since the end of 2012, and I'd like to clear some of my books off in order to make room for new ones in the new year. Which these will be, however, depends on my mood when I finish the previous book. I've got all genres to choose from: crime and thriller, science fiction, horror and fantasy, general adult fiction, teen and children's books too. I've even got a couple of non-fiction books waiting to be read. (You can see my books in the side panel of my blog.) As it's coming up to Christmas, I may well also revisit some old favourite seasonal reads as well.

Readathon discussions will take place on Twitter under the tag of #readingcram, and Dana and Jenny have some awesome challenges and post prompts scheduled to inspire our blogging creativity. Bring it on!

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Days fourteen and fifteen

Day 14: What are your deal breakers?

What will make me put a book straight back on the shelf without a second glance?

• Stories about adultery/affairs. Especially if the book is from the point of view of the person having the affair. I'd find it very difficult to respect such a protagonist or have any sympathy for them.
• Narrators describing their appearance in the mirror. "I stare into the glass, and a twenty-something year old woman looks back at me, her brown straight hair framing a round face with an overlarge nose, and eyes that were somewhere between blue and grey." Bleugh! No one thinks like that. It's lazy writing, and it shows that the first thing the writer wants you to know about your heroine (and it's always a woman) is every last detail of what she looks like, because that's the most important thing about a female lead. Don't ever do that. Ever.
• Telling, not showing. I have a thing called the "Danielle Steel test," where I pick up a book, open it at random, and see how far I can read without wanting to hurl it across the room. Generally this is due to descriptions such as: "Jane thought that Kevin was being very unfair." "Sarah might not show it but really she was very fond of her sister." "James wished he could control his temper." Show me, then. Make me believe it.
• Multi-volume novels. Trilogies are in vogue at the moment, particularly in the teen fantasy genre, but I wonder how many are necessary, and how many could, with a bit of editing, be condensed into a single book. If I begin a story, I want to see it through to the end - but if I'm not sure whether I'll like it or not, and if I have to wait three years to reach the end, I'll think twice about whether I'm prepared to commit to the story. I'd prefer series which are one book = one story; related and in order, sure, but which work as stand-alone novels. This one is a difficult thing to categorise, though, because there are some really engrossing series out there, which are worth the years of commitment. (Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Hunger Games.) But if I've read a hundred books since the last installment of the Fairypocolypse Chronicles, will I still care enough to carry on with book 2?
• Books with grey and black minimalist covers, usually featuring ribbons, jewellery, rippling fabric or the like.  You know the ones. It's not prudishness on my part - it's boredom. Less is more.

Day 15: Who are your book blogging mentors?

Anna, Ginger and Smash have been very influential when I found myself becoming involved in the book blogging community, in particular as adult readers of YA fiction. They have run some great regular features, discussion posts and memes, and inspired me to think up new ideas for the blog aside from just the book reviews. (I hadn't actually visited Smash Attack Reads in a while: it now appears to be a collaborative blog with not one but FOUR fantastic bloggers.) Meanwhile, Ellie and Hanna have a more informal approach to blogging, with eclectic mixtures of book reviews and personal posts, which have encouraged me to be more relaxed about blogging even if I don't feel inspired to write a structured review. Rants and reading-journal-format posts also make great blogging. And I've only recently started following Laura and Sarah, whose reviews have inspired me to want to take out my credit card and buy ALL the books.

15 Day Book Blogging Challenge: Days Nine and Ten

Day 9: Why do you blog about books?

Quite honestly, I blog about books, because most people get tired of me talking about my latest read long before I'm finished with the topic. My English Literature degree taught me how to analyse books, take them apart and study the bits, and believe it or not, this actually enhanced my enjoyment of reading, rather than destroying it. But if I try talking about symbolism, symmetry, foreshadowing, themes, tropes and archetypes as an answer to "what are you reading?" my average acquaintance's eyes start to glaze over. I think fondly of the summer after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was published, talking for hours with my friend Hannah (another English major) analysing Snape's every action and searching the text with a fine-tooth comb to try to puzzle out the mystery of his motives. But such friends, such conversations, are quite few and far-between, here on the Isle of Wight.

I used to haunt the Lord of the Rings forums, which were great for discussing the works of J R R Tolkien, but less so for Anne of Green Gables or Enid Blyton. I'd find forums, but the posts might be one sentence long, updated maybe once a month. I wanted to talk in depth about Rilla of Ingleside but also Twilight, and also about Neil Gaiman; I had my feet in many fanbases that did not overlap. So I set up the blog, in the hope that other people would find my posts and contribute to the discussion. And when writing blog posts, I can edit my thoughts as I write and so, I hope, my reviews make a bit more sense than my incoherent and rambling fangirling.

Day 10: How do you choose what to read next?

Quite simply, I read whatever I'm in the mood for at the time. My to-read pile has quite a variety of genres: non-fiction, romance, thriller, horror, science fiction and fantasy, as well as the hundreds of books on my shelves. If I have a library book due back, or if I've had a book borrowed from a friend for too long, I'll read that. I don't very often accept free books from authors or publishers, because I don't want reading to become a chore. I'd rather have the freedom to read what I want, when I want, and decide whether or not I have enough to say about it to make it worthwhile reviewing.

15-Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day Eight

Day 8: Quick! Write 15 bullet points of things that appeal to you on blogs.

1. Personal replies to comments. Always good to be listened to and have ongoing conversations
2. Discussion posts about themes, genres, characters, reading habits, etc. etc.
3. Wide variety of books reviewed - old, new, different genres, different age groups... surprise me.
4. Well-written content: correct spelling and grammar, and intelligent discussion of the books reviewed. I'm not asking for a thesis, just an idea of why you liked or didn't like a particular read.
5. Pictures! Give me something pretty to look at. 
6. Blogs that are quick to load and don't make my computer freeze up. My laptop, Ruby, needs to be treated gently, and so I won't visit your site if it crashes the internet every time I try to read it. 
7. Book-to-film comparisons. Is the book always better, or only nearly always?
8. Non-book-related posts, whether that be personal updates, film reviews, shoe collection analysis, crafty creations or beautiful baking. I like to get to know the blogger as well as their reading taste.
9. Rants - whether about feminism or web etiquette or whether the word "indescribable" should be banished from every writer's vocabulary, it's great that people are passionate about things, whether I agree or disagree with the points made.
10. Features, posts or styles that are unique to this particular blogger; not just the same memes and reviews that can be found on a hundred other blogs. (N.b. Memes are great starting points, and I particularly love the Top Ten Tuesdays, but I think your blog benefits from using them sparingly and mixing them with original content.)
11. Theme weeks or months: for example a week of Jane Austen posts, Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy, LGBT in teen literature or Round the World in Eighty Books. (Feel free to swipe any of these feature ideas for your own blogs.)
12. Geekery! Science fiction, fantasy, comic books... a well-placed Princess Bride, Firefly or Star Trek reference will go a long way in making me like you. Geekery combined with handcrafts, doubly so.
13. Likewise, a love of Anne of Green Gables will pretty much guarantee that I will love you forever. Especially if you mention the lesser-known, later books in the series. 
14. Twitter! It's certainly not essential, but it gives me another way to connect with a blogger and get to know them as a person.
15. Bloggers who don't take blogging too seriously. Who do it because they just can't shut up about books, and if anyone from the book industry takes an interest, then that's just a bonus. Book-lovers who want to connect with other book-lovers.

My Blog Takes A Holiday

Looking at my blog posts over the last few months I notice my reviews and even meme posts have become very few and far between. The autumn months at work are the most tiring of the year, as the "Christmas season" in retail begins as soon as the kids have gone back to school after the summer holiday. My inclination to read, and to write about what I've been reading, has slowed down. Books have taken me longer than usual to finish, and more often than not I haven't found anything to say about them - not enough to turn into a review, at any rate. I've been wanting to blog, but just haven't found the words.

The less I've been reviewing, the more I feel guilty. And the harder I scour books for something to write about, the less I actually enjoy reading them. That's not what blogging ought to be about. It's certainly not what reading should be about.

As November dawns, my workload gets heavier and I made the decision to compete in NaNoWriMo - to write a novel in a month, or, in my case, add another 50 000 words to an existing story. Seeing that the blog is likely to suffer even further from neglect, I've made the difficult decision to send it on holiday for a month, to give myself permission not to update. Knowing my contrary mind, and the creativity of NaNoWriMo procrastination, the chances are I may end up blogging anyway, with mini-updates or short thoughts. But I'm not going to force myself to do this.

I will still be reading other people's blogs and can be contacted through email at kae.bookworm at gmail dot com or found on Twitter under the name of KatieWhoCanRead.  I'll also be haunting the NaNoWriMo website and forums - finding endless ways of not writing my novel - where I'm ScribblerK80. (Fellow NaNo-ers feel free to say hi!)

Have a great November and I'll see you next month!