Monday, May 26, 2014

Armchair BEA: Introductions

Good morning, all!  I thought a little bit about the week that starts today and reconsidered my verdict that I'd be too busy to participate in Armchair BEA.  I probably won't have a post for every day or anything, but I'm excited to use the time that I do have to meet some new bloggers and reconnect with some old ones, especially since I've been so lax in my blogging for quite a while up until recently.  I'd sure like to make a go of this (more serious) blogging thing again, but it gets to be awful boring if you're not hanging out with the best part of book blogging - book bloggers.  Anyway, today is for introductions, so without further ado...



1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from?

Hi, I'm Megan, and I've been blogging here at Leafing Through Life for almost seven years now.  I got into blogging because, in the fall of 2007, I'd just returned home to Pennsylvania from Boston where the best-paying steady job I could get was at a Borders bookstore (RIP).  When I got back, I had no job, and I missed spending my days in the company of books and bookish people.  I wondered if I could review every book I read just for kicks, and I saw a handful (back in the very olden days of book blogging - LOL!) of bloggers were doing just that.  So, here I still am, except now I have a decent job in healthcare that monopolizes more of my time than I'd like, but I'm still blogging it out here in Bloomsburg, PA.

2. Describe your blog in just one sentence. Then, list your social details -- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. -- so we can connect more online. 

Leafing Though Life is a collection of the honest book reviews and laughable life-related ramblings of a busy thirty-something who buys many more books than she reads.

Now, for shameless social media self-promotion, here's my...

Twitter
Goodreads
LibraryThing
Instagram

I'm always look for new friends.  LT is the more comprehensive listing of my library.  I'm a late-comer to Goodreads, but I'm trying to be more social.  And I just luff Instagram, even though I forget and neglect it too often.

4. What was your favorite book read last year? What’s your favorite book so far this year?

This is the hardest question, I read so many great books last year.  In adult fiction?  Brewster by Mark Slouka or Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden.  In YA?  I finally read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green last year and loved them as much as the hype would suggest.  This year? Honors go to Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen. 

8. Share your favorite book or reading related quote.

Well, I really love the one that's in my blog header:

"She has spent most of the day reading and is feeling rather out of touch with reality, as if her own life has become insubstantial in the face of the fiction she's been absorbed in."

After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell

Have you ever felt that way?

9. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 books would you bring? Why? What 3 non-book items would you bring? Why? 

Books: 

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, because then I'd finally have to buckle down and read it, right? 
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, because I've been meaning to read it for sooo long.
The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen, because I'm not a re-reader, but I'd like to revisit this one.

On the practical side:

Food and water, for obvious reasons.  And a gigantic vat of sunblock to protect my pale Irish skin from that big desert island sun.



(P.S. Yes, I'm a "word person," but really, I can count.  I was supposed to pick 5 out of 10 questions, and I used ArmchairBEA's numbers, of course!)

16 comments:

  1. I'm also hoping that Armchair BEA will help reconnect me with blogging and my blogging friends. Hope you have a great week!

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  2. Interesting book choices. I haven't read any of them. I too worked for Borders. Miss it and the people. Small world and all that. Hope you have a good week! Thanks for coming by my blog.

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  3. The Night Circus is really lovely, I hope you have a chance to tackle it soon :).

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  4. Hello! I'm glad you chose to participate this year. I've been blogging since 2010. This is my first time participating in the ArmchairBEA event. It's been a great day. I hope you have a wonderful week.

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  5. Another former Borders employee here. LOL Enjoyed reading your post. Have a great week.

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  6. 7 years of blogging is quite impressive!

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  7. 7 years! That's amazing :D Congrats!

    I probably won't post every day either but this is a great event and a great way to meet new people :D

    Have a great week!

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  8. Yup, totally remember when there were just a handful of us and everyone knew everyone. Sometimes I miss those good old days!

    I can't believe you just read The Book Thief this year! :P Glad you loved it.

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  9. So can I tell you right now to put everything down and read the Night Circus? TOtally adored that book. It is in my top 10 all time favorites.

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  10. I LOVE the quote you have! I hadn't heard it before but it rings true for me. I often feel that way after reading a really great book! Thanks for stopping by my post!

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  11. Oooh, I love Lesley Kagen. Glad you finally read her as well as THE BOOK THIEF and TFIOS. Some of my favorite books right there!

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  12. What a thought-provoking quote, love that! Have a wonderful Armchair BEA. :)

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  13. I saw a survey recently and most of the bloggers who'd answered had been blogging for under four years, so I'm always impressed when someone has been writing for longer! Very cool. I really love Anna Karenina, so I'm hoping I can find time for War and Peace without stranding myself on an island to do it :)

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  14. I started blogging back in 2007 as well; isn't it amazing how much things have changed since then. In some ways for the better, but sometimes I do miss the smaller community.

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  15. I would probably add The Night Circus to my desert reading too. ;-)

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  16. Great to meet you, hope you had a happy ABEA!

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