Tuesday 28 May 2013

Armchair BEA Day 1 - Introductions!

 

Today is the first day of Armchair BEA. Every year I am jealous as various bloggers head off to BEA and every year I wish I was American or that it was easier to get to America. This year I decided that at least I could sign up for Armchair BEA and participate slightly in the fun :-)

Here are my introduction questions. For those of you who already know a lot of this stuff, sorry, and for those who are new, hi!

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

I'm Bex, although I've recently realised that only my family and people on the internet call me that. Everybody else I know calls me Bekah or Rebekah. Anyway. I've been blogging about two and a half years and I got into blogging when my husband and I moved to another part of the country, away from all my family and friends and I thought it would be a good idea to have somewhere to keep track of my reading so that I would be better at giving people recommendations. I quickly realised how much I love having a place to voice my opinions and ramble about all the bookish things my long suffering family and friends really don't want to hear about!

2. Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location. Feel free to share pictures. 

I'm blogging from the coast of Kent, UK and down the road is the house where Charles Dickens Aunt's house, where he used to spend his summers. I used to have a picture, but I have no idea where it's gone, sorry!


3.Have you previously participated in Armchair BEA? What brought you back for another year? If you have not previously participated, what drew you to the event? 

I've never participated before, but I love the idea of it because BEA itself always seems awesome and so much fun for bloggers who go.

4. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?

I'm currently reading a few things; A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (which is great), The Second - Last Woman to Die by Maggie Joel, which is really interesting, and How To Make Money Using Etsy by Timothy Adam, which is also really interesting and useful.  

5. Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I learned piano for ten years and really want to take lessons again so I can get my Grade 8 certificate.

6. Name your favorite blog(s) and explain why they are your favorite(s). 

Oh, I feel like I do this so much that any regular readers will just be rolling their eyes going 'oh my god not this AGAIN!', but since you asked, I have three absolute favourites. Musings of a Bookshop Girl is written by lovely Ellie and reading it feels like sitting down at your kitchen table on a sunny afternoon when you've got nothing to do except either curl up with a great book or have a long chat with a friend you've not seen for ages over tea and a warm scone. Laura is in charge of Devouring Texts and she is hilarious. She has a lot of the same interests as me and reads a lot of the stuff I want to read and it's my go-to blog for cheering myself up. Finally Hanna my book twin at Booking in Heels. I'm pretty much guaranteed that everything she reviews will either be something I love, have on my TBR, or really want to read. If she says something is good and it's not already on my list it will immediately go on it, no further questions needed. All three of them are generally lovely people and I now class them all as good friends as well as keepers of awesome blogs, which is a definite bonus  :-)

Obviously I have a lot of other blogs I really enjoy, but I'll limit myself to those three for this post! My blog roll is down the right hand side, in case you're interested.

7.Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read? 

My little rant about libraries and why they are essential to society and the survival of life in general is pretty much the only post I've ever written that I would really love everyone to read.

8.If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why? 

Neil Gaiman, because he's just awesome. But in all honesty, I don't meet authors for a reason, which is that I mostly can hardly communicate with everyday strangers in social situations. If I were to meet an author I really loved I would probably end up in a corner in the foetal position, whimpering. An attractive image, I know.

9. What literary location would you most like to visit? Why? 

Haworth again, because last time we went we didn't go walking on the moors and I feel like I missed out. Also Bath because I want to go to the Jane Austen Centre which seems amazing, and the Lake District, because Swallows and Amazons.

10. What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? 

The people! And the recommendations, and the events, obviously.

11. Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming years?

Not really. I know some people say it can be quite bitchy and stuff, but I honestly have no experience of that. From where I'm sitting it's all sunshine and roses :-)

17 comments:

  1. Hi Bex, it's nice to meet you! Don't feel too bad about not being able to go to BEA. I'm American, and it's really hard for me to get there too, seeing as how it's 2,187 miles away from me in Utah. Hopefully we can both go someday!

    - Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl

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  2. Awwww, I get such a lovely mention! *blushes and makes a note to try to make the blog more cheerful this week* Tea and cookies all round! :)

    I actually signed up for Armchair BEA but I really don't think I'll be able to keep it up at the moment so I haven't even STARTED an intro post. Serves me right, if I'd planned ahead more I might just have scraped through. HAPPILY I can now stalk your posts instead, which is probably better than doing my own. Up the British non-BEA going ladies! Looking forward to reading everything to come this week... x

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  3. Hiya Bex!

    I can't believe you live so close to a literary landmark (you can call it a landmark right?!) - see this is why it sucks to be a reader in Australia, we have barely anything like that.

    Looking forward to the rest of your posts.

    my intro post

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  4. Neil Gaiman rocks. That is all :-)

    Tanya Patrice
    Girlxoxo.com

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  5. One day I will get to BEA, I keep trying to save money and it never happens. You are probably closer to NYC than I am! I am all the way in Alaska! Neil Gaiman would be my choice too. I used to hang out with Amanda when she was a street performer and it would be so cool to see her now with Neil, oh that is bad, he keeps saying people call him Mr. Palmer! LOL I LOVE him though!
    Come over and meet me today! My #ArmChairBEA

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  6. Hawoooorth, let's gooo! (I'm only just barely kidding, man!)

    Also, I've done Armchair BEA for the last two years, but this year I have become SO jealous that I'm pretending it's not even happening because there are going to be actual people there that I KNOW and everything and booooo.

    But I'll be reading all your posts, of course. Vicarious fun and all that.

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  7. Hi Bex! It's so nice to meet. This is my first time as well. I'm really excited to meet some amazing bloggers.

    Kendal
    Kinx's Book Nook
    http://www.kinxsbooknook.com/armchair-bea-day-1-introductions-classics/

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  8. This is my first ABEA as well :)

    I started blogging for a similar reason. My friends were tired of hearing about books so I had to seek out people that WANTED to hear my thoughts ;)

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  9. Answer snap - Haworth was my answer too! Really, neither of us have an excuse for not visiting yet as we both live in the UK....

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  10. Hi Bex, it's nice to learn more about you. I have to say it's amazing that you live right by Charles Dickens aunt's house! I would definitely go by there everyday. Hope you enjoy participating in Armchair BEA

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  11. Hi Bex,

    It's nice to meet you. I chose Neil Gaiman as my author to have dinner with too! I have a tendency to panic and forget how to talk around strangers - especially people I admire and Neil Gaiman seems like he would be a forgiving person (and he's awesome).

    LLM - ABookGeek

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  12. I've been to Kent (Maidstone in particular). Visited the Jane Austen Centre on the same trip. Neil Gaiman is fantastic, I would also love to see him in person. I hear this last book tour was his last (or it's possibly upcoming).

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  13. Hi Bex: It's nice to meet you! I read "A Homemade Life" and really enjoyed it!

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  14. Great intro! And since I have a special love of Dickens, I'm really envious of your location! ;)

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  15. I remember your post on libraries. It was very good!! I love my library!

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  16. *squishes her Book Twin*

    I love our little group of friends! I missed my Blog Birthday this year, so I'm going to do a late post in a week or so. That made me realise how I wouldn't have got this far without You Lot. Why yes, that does deserve a capital letter.

    I really should have done Armchair BEA, but as always, I didn't realise until it was too late. Guess I'll just have to stalk your posts instead! :D

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  17. Great posts for Armchair BEA. I listened to the audiobook for Tina Fey's Bossypants because I thought it would be the ultimate experience if she was reading the book. It's very funny! I think you will enjoy it.

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