Thursday, June 13, 2013

Ti from Book Chatter

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!

22 comments :

  1. How dare you not like a book that the world likes?? ;) Ha ha! Keep being honest, I love that!

    I think it's great how interactive you are with your readers. Isn't that what it's all about? Well, it's all about the books but other than that it's about this community. At least in my humble opinion.

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    Replies
    1. I swear. The comments for Wild were out of control. Almost abusive, even. I told one guy off and then disabled notifications. He had posted numerous comments going on and on and I was like, what? Are you her father or brother or something? Geesh, get a life! LOL.

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  2. GREAT interview! I'm not sure how I have not been following via a reader, but I am fixing that right now!!

    Just curious ... which version of The Shining did you like best - the one with Nicholson or the made-for-TV version?!? (Personally, I think the TV version was closer to the book, but Nicholson's performance was more memorable!)

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    Replies
    1. Tif, I never saw the TV version! I was told by some other bloggers that it was closer to the book. I loved Nicholson's performance but I COULD NOT STAND Duvall!!!

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    2. I completely agree with you about Duvall!!! If you get a chance, you should check out the TV version. I would love to hear what you think!

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  3. I included the links to my must-read blogs but they are not linked up :(

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    Replies
    1. If you send me the links really quick, I think I can fix it for you! :)

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  4. I'm going to have go back and reread A Separate Peace. Even though I joked about it with you on my blog, it was one of my favorites in high school. I really do need to revisit. Also I didn't realize A Walk in the Woods was being made into a movie...hmmm, interesting. Oh, yes, thanks for including me. I'm honored to be in such good company as Trish and Sandy.

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    Replies
    1. I need to pull out my old copy of Separate Peace and re-read it. It's been a few years. I wrote a screenplay for it. Did I tell you that when we talked? It was bad timing as the Parker Stevenson version came out right when I finished mine!

      On the blog mention. Sure thing. You guys break up my day (in a good way).

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  5. You didn't mention the screenplay. I don't know if I knew it had been made into a movie.

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    Replies
    1. It was made into a movie twice. Crap. I hope that 2004 version wasn't my screenplay. It made the rounds so it's possible.

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  6. I thought A Separate Peace was very good - I read it for the first time when I first started blogging. It got me back to classics. I don't remember if I ever got around to watching the movie - I should fix that... If you do a re-read-along, I'll join.

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    Replies
    1. Funny. I was thinking of a read-along too.

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    2. There is also a sequel to the book but I thought it sucked.

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  7. Ti, loved this interview! I've never read A Separate Peace, but I'm thinking I need to now :) And, I definitely think your blog rocks because you are so accessible in your writing and communication with us (your readers aka friends). Keep on rocking your blog!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Nadia! I am so glad I "met" you through blogging.

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  8. I'm totally 100% with you on A Clockwork Orange and SLEEP!!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Clockwork totally scares me. And I know I am older now because I get excited about going to bed. I mean, like really excited. LOL.

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  9. I loveeee American Psycho! If you dig twisted and haven't read The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock...don't say I didn't warn you about the twisted.

    I had no idea that A Walk in the Woods was being made into a movie, but that's crazy exciting!

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    Replies
    1. I am writing that title down now!

      Wanna hear something funny/weird? I read American Psycho as part of a readalong. After one of my Tweets about the book, a Patrick Bateman began following me on Twitter! Let me tell you, that chilled me to the bone. I guess he is a fan but um, hello! You creep me out Patrick Bateman!

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  10. A Separate Peace by John Knowles is one my favorites from high school...I had the same reaction...that no one is perfect...I am still a perfectionist however. :)

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