BBAW: Interviewing Eva from A Striped Armchair!

It's day two of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and that means the time-honored tradition of book blogger interview swap day. On my third time out for BBAW book blogger interviews, I've finally gotten an interview partner whose blog isn't new to me. In fact, I've been reading Eva's blog, A Striped Armchair for at least as long as I've been blogging myself. As the years have gone on, I've become more and more of a huge fan of Eva's fantastic blog where I can always find a book recommendation to feed my hunger for anything from world lit to popular science. I'd be lost without Eva in my feed reader, so it's a particular joy and privilege to be interviewing her for BBAW today. So, without further ado...



How did you get started book blogging?

Over Christmas break of my senior year of college, I was surfing the
web and came across Iliana's book blog. I knew about blogs before as personal journals (I kept one for friends & family when I studied abroad), but I hadn't realised there were book blogs! I checked out her blogroll and was delighted to see that there were all these wonderful people on the internet who were happily nerding out about books together. Pretty soon, I decided I had to join in the fun, so I waited until January 1, 2007 and then started my own blog. I couldn't think of a good title, but I was too impatient to wait until perfect inspiration struck, so I just named my blog after my then-favourite chair.

You've been book blogging for quite a while now - longer than me and I feel like I've been book blogging for quite a while! I know there are times when it's been tough to keep at it, so what drives you to *keep* book blogging even when the going gets tough?

Not that much longer than you! :) But yes, it'll be five years come next January, which is insane to me: I'm not usually known for my follow through. What makes me stick with it are the friendships I've made with other book bloggers: they're such an important part of my life. They celebrate my triumphs and share my setbacks and in between fill up my wish list with the most wonderful sounding books. I also love having a more examined reading life, but really it's the people and sense of community that I can't live without.

What's the biggest change you've seen in the book blogosphere since you started blogging? What's the most the same?

Ohhh: so much has changed! Publishers and review copies are a much bigger deal, memes have become weekly events instead of one-time survey/questionnaire things, challenges have gone from shorter time periods to mainly annual and now seem to be going back to shorter 'events', feed readers are ubiquitous, read-a-longs have supplanted challenges in popularity, and of course the blogosphere has grown exponentially, which has led to more 'subgroups' of bloggers. But the love of books and reading is still what drives us: that combination of unabashed nerdiness and passionate bibliophilia still defines the book blogosphere to me.

What's one super-excellent book you probably would not have read if not for a book blogger (or few)?

If I think about this too hard, I'll be here all day, so I'm just going to say the first one that sprung to mind: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. I'd never heard of Jansson before other bloggers mentioned her (in fact, I thought she was a man for the longest time), and I just loved that book! Definitely one I'll be rereading often in the future whenever I'm in need of some comforting.

Is there one book that you believe everyone should read? Which one and why?

Oh dear…too many possibilities, especially for someone as interested in social justice as myself! Too bad I can't think of one book that includes feminism, antiracism, environmentalism, and global awareness, hehe. See: I let myself think about this one, and now I'm just paralysed with indecision. But I'm going to go with Food Matters by Mark Bittman: it's a book that lays out the health and environmental reasons for cutting back on the animal products in your diet without mentioning the horrors of how animals are treated (Bittman assumes you already know that), and lays out smart ways of doing just that. Bittman himself eats vegan before 6pm, then whatever he wants for dinner and dessert. I often feel frustrated that vegetarian and vegan diets are seen as an either/or issue, and Bittman neatly solves that problem. He also includes a number of delicious recipes, and the book is just very inspiring! I think if everyone read it, we'd see a huge change in eating habits that could help solve the nastier aspects of factory farming. Or at least, a more rational discussion of the issues.

Lastly, what's the best piece of blogging advice you've ever given or been given?

Blogging is a hobby, "an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure": keep it guilt free! :D

Thanks, Eva!

BBAW: Interview with Caitlin from Chaotic Compendiums

As part of the Book Blogger Appreciation Week festivities, we had the option of taking part in an interview exchange with another book blogger. I didn't manage to do it last year, but I'm excited to have the opportunity to try it this year. I'm extra excited because I got paired up with a blogger who is new to me, Caitlin from Chaotic Compendiums. She's got a great blog, and I'm sure I'll be adding a bunch of books to my wish list from her excellent reviews. I encourage you to get to know her a little bit better here, and then definitely head on over and check out her blog - you won't regret it! =)


First of all tell me about you. What's a a day in your life look like? What are you up to when you're not reading/blogging?

I am a transplanted Southerner living happily in the Bay Area. I work in Oakland for a very large not-for-profit healthcare provider where I have the privilege of managing various efforts related to quality of service. It's really nice to work for a progressive company & to do work that makes an actual difference to real people. I love my job & I love living here even though I can't get decent hush puppies.

What made you to decide to start blogging about books?

I've always been a voracious reader & I've off & on started writing down what I've been reading. I've always been sort of curious to know how many books I read in a year. I decided to try a book blog back in April this year & for whatever reason this time it took & I've been doing it ever since. It's been a lot of fun & has re-energized my reading in lots of different ways. I've also discovered scads of books I might not have read otherwise & have been happy to read many other book bloggers.

Has being a part of the book blogosphere changed what or even *how* you read?

As I said, this has in many ways re-energized my reading. I'd felt that I was in kind of a rut, reading a lot of the same stuff, but not finding new things that challenged me. Once I started blogging about books & reading other blogs I've found a lot of new authors & have expanded my reading considerably. It's been really fun!

Name me a book (or few?) that you've read (and enjoyed!) as a result of the the reviews or general chatter of other book bloggers:

Sophie's Choice, Empire Falls, & The Short Stories of Katherine Anne Porter - I read these as part of Rose City Reader's Sunshine Smackdown: The Battle of the Prizes Challenge. This was a challenge to read a National Book Award winner, a Pulitzer Prize winner, & a book that won both awards. Reviews are linked.

Another find was Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, a book I found recommended by Constance Reader's Guide to Throwing Books with Great Force.

Have you always been a (capital R) Reader? ;-) What book(s) do you have especially fond memories of from your childhood?

Absolutely. I have been reading voraciously since I learned to read at 3 or 4 years old. Favorite childhood books include: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (& making a movie of this book should be grounds for termination of life), Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Copper, & The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Reading & reading aloud to each other were a huge part of my growing up. I'm pleased to say that my son reads as much as I do & that most of our conversations start with, "So, I'm reading ..."


Tell me 5 "can't miss" book blogs that we should all be following:

Rose City Reader - She is list-obsessed & her blog is a great source for book lists of all kinds. She also reads a lot of really interesting books!
Constance Reader's Guide to Throwing Books with Great Force - Good writer, funny, interesting book list.
Stainless Steel Droppings - A beautiful blog with a quirky sensibility.
Serendipity - Vivienne's a British reader & scrapbooker & a faithful commenter on the blogs she reads.
Book Chase - Sam is an older gentlemen from Houston who reads a wide variety of books & reviews them, but who also writes on various topics about books & reading. I don't always agree with him, but his perspective is always refreshing.

Tell me 5 books you think everyone should read:

Just 5?! *grins*


Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak - A classic read about imagination!
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn - Another classic. Kuhn argues that scientific advancement is a revolutionary not evolutionary process. He coined the term "paradigm shift" & reading him will change how you look at most things in the world, including how you see the nature of problem-solving & interpretation.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - I read this book every spring, & when I was still living at home my mother & I read it aloud every spring. Aside from being a wonderful story filled with delightful characters it also contains one of the most beautiful chapters of a book ever written - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Andrew Lang's Coloured Fairy Books - Read these & you'll have a firm grounding in fairy tales & folklore that will illuminate most other things that you might read.
Sandman by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (& many other amazing illustrators) - Among the very best in storytelling & literature, an amazing comic (or graphic novel, if you prefer), & it's chock full of references to books Gaiman has read that are wonderfully fun to tease out.

Best book you've read this year thus far?

Best book this year is a tie: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver & The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. Each wonderful in its own way & very different from each other.


Worst book you've read this year thus far?

Worst is tied, too: Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (dreadful, if mildly entertaining) & Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry (which was just dreadful).