Book Blogger Appreciation Week - Interview Time!

It's Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and in celebration, book bloggers all over the web are doing interviews to introduce other bloggers and get them out from 'behind the blog' so to speak.

I got paired up with the lovely and awesome Lynn from Bringing the Epic, and this was an inspired pairing because we got along like a house afire (even though real life kept getting in the way of the actual interview!).  I'm so happy I got to meet her and get to know her blog - especially since we share interests like sports, Vampire Academy, kick ass books like Playing Hurt, and lovely boys like Dimitri Belikov and Zachary Moore.  Possibly boys with accents too?

So below is a set of questions that Lynn answered.  The answers are awesome though the questions are admittedly dorky (I wrote them - except for the ones she wrote which aren't dorky at all, what do you expect?)

1. Favourite thing to do that's NOT reading/blogging/associated with books at all!
WRESTLING! WWE - Style!! I'm a trained wrestler but I also manage a wrestler or two as well!

2. There's a debate going on about sequels v standalones in YA lit - where do you fall and what are some of your favourites from each category?

OK. Contemporary books - I like Stand Alone's most of the time. Exception definitely being the Summer Series by Jenny Hahn. Elizabeth Scott is my "go-to" contemp author. I love everything she's written and I can always count on her books to pull me from a slump!! Paranormal Romance I want sequels for sure! The more swoon the better!! Shade/Shift/Shine by Jeri Smith Ready, the Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa and The Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray are among my faves!

3.  My new job (eeek) involves Youth Services at a library - what YA books should I absolutely make sure we have on hand and what do I tell the lady who does the ordering to justify it?

I think the titles really depend on the age of the youth! When I was younger I read books like "Sisters Long Ago" and "The Beast" - they were fun reads with lessons that I didn't really "notice" ya know? For the older kids I think definitely books like XVI by Julia Karr that show what our society is becoming and how you need to think for yourself to stay safe (IMO at least!)! I'd also recommend a book like Pegasus by Robin McKinley. It's huge, but there's a lot of history and tolerance that go with it! I'd also pick up spins on the classics like Prom and Prejudice and Epic Fail that are basically retellings of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice and the Russian Folklore of Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble!

4. Back atcha - What is you absolute favourite sport and why?

Track and Field! I love to run. I mean, I hate it when I'm thinking about having to do it and sometimes while I'm doing it, but there's no better feeling of self accomplishment when you're done! And it offers a lot of time to sort through your thoughts and kind of escape! I say "And Field" because I used to dabble in shot put, discus and high jump! They were mega fun!

5. Vampire Academy v. Bloodlines: DEATH MATCH...orrr just which you like better and why? (Dimitri is an acceptable answer!)

Lol! I haven't read Bloodlines yet but I can say without a doubt - Dimitri is the way to go, no if ands or buts about it!! DimitriFTW!

6. Why did you start blogging?  Is there anything you know now that you wish you could tell pre-blogging you?

Jen from Makeshift Bookmark has been my BFF for like, 13 years and she kept telling me to do it! And then she got her blogger friends to put the pressure on and I caved! SO glad I did! I would tell pre-blogging me that bookish people truly are the best people in the world and I needed to meet them as fast as I can!!

7.  You're stuck on a desert island and only can bring 5 books (series count as 1 cause I'm not mean).  Which five and why?1- Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray - The real world/Magic world that she creates helped me create an escape from reality, plus there's Kartik and Gemma and the SWOON. Holy cow.
2- The Vespertine and I would BEG Saundra Mitchell for an advanced copy of The Springsweet so I could have it on my island with me too! This book is my favorite book of the year. So beautiful!
3- Shatter Me by Taheereh Mafi because the beauty of her language would remind me to find the beauty of where I was, no matter how bad the situation could seem!
4- The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott so I could remember how awesome it is to crush and WIN! Woot!
5- The Jane Austen Complete Collection. Because where would I be as a woman or a hopeful author without Miss Austen?

8. Did you read as a kid?  What were your favourite books then?

I read Thumbelina by myself for the first time in Kindergarten! My mom used to curl up in bed with my sister and me and we would each pick like 3 books, we'd read all night! Then I (of course) became obsessed with Goosebumps and any kind of paranormal story. If it had ghosts or past selves in it, I was game! My other fave series wasn't Babysitters Club like so many, it was The Gymnast Series! I was in gymnastics for 7 years, so I looooved those!

9. Are you in school? What grade and how does reading/blogging effect that part of your life?

Unfortunately, I'm old. lol! No more school for me, although I could go back for a Masters degree... Now I read purely for the fun of it!

10:  Anything else we should know?

BOOKISH PEOPLE ARE THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! lol!

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See how excellent Lynn is?  Go check out her blog at Bringing the Epic and enjoy her posts and reviews!  Thank you, Lynn for trading interviews with me!