Ti from Book Chatter

Please welcome Tina, aka Ti, who blogs at Book Chatter. Tina's blog is known for literary fiction reviews and posts about her crazy, fun life.

Questions:


1.      NAME OF MY BOOK BLOG(S):



Book Chatter - http://bookchatter.net



2.      I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING SINCE:



January 2008



3.      GENRES COVERED MOST ON MY BLOG:



Literary Fiction, General Fiction, Speculative Fiction and some Sci-Fi Dystopian mash-ups.



4.      MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF READING:



Age 4, sitting at a very large table at the Central Library in Los Angeles. Next to me, a gigantic stack of books. Me, holding my book upside down ;)





5.      FIRST BOOK I READ OVER AND OVER:



As a kid, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

As an adult, A Separate Peace by John Knowles.



6.      THE BOOK I HAVE RE-READ THE MOST TIMES:



A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (great book, funny as hell, soon to be a movie)



7.      MY FAVORITE PLACE TO READ:



Too many to list but my absolute fave is probably in bed, with the door closed. Usually my daughter has gone to bed. the teen is doing his thing and the Hub is parked in front of the TV. This gives me a good hour before bed to settle in with a good read. Bliss.



8.      MY MUST-HAVE READING ACCESSORIES:



My smartphone (to take notes or to look up a word)

A bookmark



9.      MY BOOKSHELVES ARE:



Neat, and arranged in the order I plan to read them. Books I keep, are kept separately and not arranged any particular way.





10.   MY TBR LIST/PILE IS:



My TBR pile is mostly in the form of e-galleys so my Kindle handles that for me. I have very few galleys in print. My TBR list is also virtual, in the form of Goodreads. There, I list the books I want to read and that list is well over 300 titles long. My physical TBR list probably has about 25 titles on it.





11.   A BOOK THAT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE IN SOME WAY:



I've never been naive about anything but when I read A Separate Peace by John Knowles in college, it struck me that people aren't perfect. Being a perfectionist, I often killed myself trying to be perfect so seeing a protagonist who was less than that and quite possibly even more human that I ever could have imagined him to be... well, that was an eye opener for me.





12.   A BOOK I LIKE THAT NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO:



Good question. I'll go with American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis. It was a gruesome book to read. Extremely graphic and disturbing and at times, utterly offensive yet I could not look away! It's twisted and dark and all over the place but I loved it and thought parts of it were even funny!





13.   A BOOK I DON’T LIKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO LOVE:



Easy. Wild by Cheryl Strayed. If I told you how many angry emails I get over my review of her book, you probably wouldn't believe it. I actually had to remove email notifications from Amazon because of it.





14.   A BOOK THAT INTIMIDATES ME:



A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess



I know it's not long but another blogger told me it was a complete mind trip and hard to read because of some strange language used when writing it. Made-up slang to be exact. Plus, I saw a clip of the movie (the rape scene) and got sick to my stomach. I want to read it because I am very curious but at the same time, I just can't bring myself to pick it up.





15.   IF I COULD GO TO ANY LITERARY DESTINATION I WOULD CHOOSE:



Honestly, if I were fit and not a total pansy, I'd hike the Appalachian Trail. Ever since I read Bryson's A Walk in the Woods (soon to be a movie with Robert Redford!) I've wanted to hike that trail. If you haven't read the book, I implore you to do so. It's a funny, funny book. I loved it.





16.   MY FAVORITE NON-BOOKISH ACTIVITY:



Sleeping. No kidding.





17.   MY FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION:



I have a few. Atonement was pretty good as was The Shining. Both good, for different reasons. My fave? JAWS!





18.   MY BOOK BLOG STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD BECAUSE:



This is a tough question to answer. I have been told that it's because the interaction is high. I do try to respond on a regular basis to the comments that come in and I do feel as if I know my readers but I hate to call them that. They have all become friends of mine. I know about their heartaches, their problems, all about their beautiful kids (if they have any), their loving pets, what they are reading, what they are doing, where they are going and so on. I feel that I am a good listener and usually can listen without judgement. I think people appreciate that the most.





19.   MY MUST-READ BLOGS (PLEASE LIMIT TO 3):



I have at least 20 must read blogs but if I can only choose 3, then here they are and why:



Most Like Me - You've Gotta Read This (we live very similar lives)



Funny & Honest - Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity (God, love her. So fun.)



Most Diverse in Content - Still Unfinished (music, books, movies, always has plenty to say)





MY READING PERSONALITY (http://www.bookbrowse.com/quiz/) IS:

Eclectic Reader!

"You read for entertainment but also to expand your mind. You're open to new ideas and new writers, and are not wedded to a particular genre or limited range of authors."

Pretty darn accurate!