Hey everyone! Meet Lisa, today's featured Better Know A Blogger.Introduce yourself! Hello everyone, I'm Lisa. I'm in my late 20s and still in school studying for my doctorate in Chemistry. I'm not quite sure what I want to do when I graduate...maybe work as a chemist at a vineyard and winery! Wouldn't that be awesome? But I'll probably end up teaching since I enjoy my students so much. Other than school and reading, I love hanging out with my family and friends.
What is the name of your blog? How did you pick your blog’s name? My blog is called The Garden of Books. For the name of my blog I was really at a loss, but then I walked into a bookstore to find a new book to read and realized a bookstore or library is much like a garden but instead of all the different flowers and plants they have different types of books. So that how I came up with The Garden of Books.
Karen: What a perfect comparison!
How long have you been blogging? I'm still kinda of a newbie to the whole blogging scene. I've been blogging for about 8 months and loving every minute of it.
How do you measure blogging success? Is it strictly number of followers or something more? I mostly review YA, but I also read a lot of adult fiction too. For YA I'm not picky--I read paranormal, contemporary, dystopian, mystery, romance, historical fiction, adventure, fantasy, etc. I read these same genres in adult fiction too. I like each genre for different reasons and I like to mix it up and give myself some variety.
What are you reading right now? I'm usually reading more than one novel at once. The ones I'm reading now are Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Clean by Amy Reed and Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr.
Do you use social media to promote your blog or discuss reading/blogging? Not as much as I should. I do use Goodreads regularly but not Facebook and twitter on a consistent basis...maybe that will be a 2012 blogging goal.
Where is your favorite place to read? Outside with the sun shining, a light breeze blowing, the gurgling of a stream and some birds chirping (I realize I just described the forest from Sleeping Beauty, but you get my drift). During these freezing Wisconsin winters I'm not much of an outside reader (snowsuits and mittens make for difficult reading attire), then my favorite place to read is curled up in a comfy chair by the fireplace.
What are your ideal reading conditions? Mostly quiet. I like a little background noise, but no talking. I don't understand the need for people to feel like they need to talk to a person when that person's nose is in a book. Does this happen to anyone else?
What are the top 5 books in your TBR (To Be read) pile? Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Obligatory controversial question: Love triangles! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, and why? Love, Love, Love them. I know I'm probably the only one, but I think they are wonderful. I'm sure it's some weird psychological thing were they sounds scandalous and fun (which I'm sure they are not in real life). I do wish however that there would be more two girls, one guy love triangles...does anyone have recommendations for that?
Karen - You are in fact the only person who answered that you loved them! Please show me how to love the triangle too. It would make my reading life so much easier. LOL Good point about the two girl - one boy love triangle. I don't know of any.
What has been the best thing about blogging and reviewing books? The people! I love hearing others' thoughts and opinions on books. It has opened me up to new books and new authors I never would have found before. So thank you to everyone who has contributed to my wonderful experience so far.
What has been the best thing about blogging and reviewing books? The people! I love hearing others' thoughts and opinions on books. It has opened me up to new books and new authors I never would have found before. So thank you to everyone who has contributed to my wonderful experience so far.
Karen: Thanks so much for stopping by Lisa. Loved your answers. Stop by and visit The Garden of Books and check out Lisa's review of Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter.
Better Know a Blogger is a feature of The Ultimate Reviewer's Challenge. Keep linking those reviews for a chance to win a YA prize pack!
Hi, Lisa! Ooh, I have a theory about the 2-girl-1-guy love triangles--they happen in "guy genres" like quest fantasy and certain types of crime or military thrillers. In YA and Urban Fantasy, we get tons of guys fighting over 1 girl because these genres are written by and read by 95% females.
ReplyDeleteBut in the guy-centered books? There's often 2 or 3 beautiful women vying for the affection of the main guy. My first and only Conan the Barbarian book read just like this--the ladies can't stay away from Conan!