More Blog Love to share with you, and this is another of my favourites. I spend a lot of time talking to Bree on Twitter when I should be working so I was really interested to get her profile back and learn a little more about All The Books I Can Read.
I can not wait to check out more of these blogs, my only concern is finding the time to keep up with them all once I get attached to them.
Welcome to Beauty and Lace Bree and thanks for participating.
How did you get started as a book blogger?
In 2010 I really wanted to get back into reading. I’d had a baby in August of 2008 and had pretty much not read anything since other than skimming a few old favourites, so I challenged myself to read 50 books I’d never read before throughout the year. In May of 2010 I decided I wanted to go a step further and start noting down my opinions and feelings on each novel so I decided to start a blog. I didn’t realise book blogging was a ‘thing’ – after I started mine, I popped the search term into google and literally got thousands of hits. I began wading through some and getting recommendations.
What is your background?
I’ve always been an avid reader – from the time I was 6 or 7 and old enough to read my first chapter books alone, I’ve had a book in my hands more often than not. My grandmother is an avid reader and was my greatest supporter growing up, buying me book after book when I was younger and then passing on her own books to me when I graduated to reading ‘adult’ books. Her tastes are quite narrow though and mostly I was the same in my reading as well. Originally I wanted to work in publishing but I ended up deciding on something else and I ended up with one of those degrees that doesn’t actually get you anywhere after graduating when really, I should have stuck to my original plan. I moved interstate after university, away from all my family and friends and dived into my future husband’s book collection with enthusiasm. He introduced me to literary fiction and also had a lot to do with me starting the blog.
Tell us about your blog?
My aim for the blog has always been (and always will be) to primarily blog for myself. Ultimately I read a lot of books and I love being able to flick back and recall thoughts and reactions to books I’ve read so easily, especially series’ books where there are long gaps between titles. I aim to review everything I read so long as I finish it. I read quite widely so I’m not a niche blog – I don’t focus on YA or on crime or any specific genre. You’ll find reviews for most types of fiction there, but I rarely read non-fiction.
Is blogging a hobby or a job for you?
It’s a hobby in that it doesn’t earn me any money but I probably spend as much time on reading, writing reviews, reading other blogs, chatting to people about books and commenting as I would on an average job! I’m a stay at home mother so it gives me something to do where I feel I’m still using my brain.
What is your favourite book of all time?
I find this a very hard question to answer because I’ve read a lot of books and I have a lot of favourites. But I think my favourite book ever would be To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I first read it at 15 in year 10 for school and it remains the only book I’ve read because I had to, that I loved. I’ve re-read it as an adult and it never loses its power for me.
What are you currently reading?
I’m actually currently “in between” books as I just finished my most recent read, My Kind Of Christmas by Robyn Carr. However my next book will be San Miguel by T.C. Boyle.
Which author would you most like to meet and why?
Isobelle Carmody, author of the Obernewtyn Chronicles. I have so many questions and so many things I’d love to talk to her about. I’ve been reading her books since I was 14.
What book would you like to see made into a movie?
I’d really like to see Helene Young’s Border Watch trilogy made into movies. Great storylines and some gorgeous scenery.
What future plans do you have for your blog?
At the moment the plan is to just keep on going the way I am – reading books and getting my thoughts down about them and using that as a way to connect with other people who love reading as much as I do.
Name 3 of your favourite blogs?
The three blogs I probably tend to refer back to the most often are Marg over at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader, Shelleyrae at Book’dOut and Mandee at Vegan YA Nerds. Marg has expanded my reading horizons incredibly and always has a dozen books up her sleeve that she thinks I must read, Shelleyrae for the sheer number of reviews she manages to get through which always has me adding to my TBR pile and Mandee because she helps me keep up with all of the fabulous YA being released, in particular, Australian YA. Having mentioned those 3 though, there’s close to 100 other blogs that I follow religiously!
What does being a book blogger mean to you?
I think book blogging is a way for me to still feel like a functioning adult at times! It’s very easy to get bogged down in being all about your kids but through reading, blogging and the social media that can come with it, I feel like I can still participate and interact with other adults. It is something that I do to support my passion for reading and it’s led me to meeting a lot of wonderful people. I don’t have many friends from before blogging who like to read – almost none in fact. Blogging satisfies the urge I have to discuss something very important to me that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.
You can find Bree on Twitter, All The Books I Can Read Blog and Goodreads
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Absolutely fabulous interview. REally interesting to learn a bit more about the girl behind the blog!
I’m probably just behind with the times, but I have never heard of a Book Blog before, but I think its an excellent idea! Great blog! 🙂
I love your blog Bree! It’s good to learn a bit more about you and how you formed your blog.
Jayne
It was great reading about how you got started. When I was a SAHM, I completed my uni degree (because blogging probably wasn’t invented then) because, like you, I needed to keep my mind functioning apart from “Wow, you do have a big dirty nappy”.
Thanks so much for the shout out Bree!
Awesome interview!
I really enjoyed this interview and learning more about Bree, even if it is from so long ago 🙂