Alice from ofBooks

Please welcome Alice, who blogs at ofBooks!

Questions:


NAME OF MY BOOK BLOG(S):
ofBooks – http://ofbooks.org

I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING SINCE:
January 2012.


GENRES COVERED MOST ON MY BLOG:
Literary Fiction/Classics, Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction,  Poetry, General Fiction, Fantasy and Dystopians.


MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF READING:
I didn't read much as a child, most of my memories are of me in my early twenties guzzling book after book rather than anything specific.
I do remember a period in my early teens when I loved Louisa May Alcott books – Little Women and Eight Cousins – I really craved that sort of upbringing, no idea why.


THE BOOK I HAVE RE-READ THE MOST TIMES:
I tend not to re-read books, I have never felt the desire; I am always after the next adventure, always wanting to crawl into the next world. I would say that Harry Potter series is probably the only occasion where I have re-read anything – my sister and I used to re-read the series before each book came out to remind ourselves of the plot. Once we devoured the newest book in a matter of days, the prospect of years ahead of us before we could revisit Harry, Hermione and Ron again was devastating.

MY MUST-HAVE READING ACCESSORIES:
A bookmark, a pen and my laptop.

This may horrify the majority of you, but I am a book scribbler. I should invest in some post-it notes  to jot on, but currently I will write notes all over a book. You should see my copy of 1984, angry and 'huzzah!' scribbles all over it.

My laptop is always at hand too, so I can get down thoughts which surpass scribbling length.

MY BOOKSHELVES ARE:
Overflowing! They are split into three sections; books to read, favourite books read, and  everything else. I do not organise by any method; author, alphabetically, colour, height – for convenience sake I probably should.

MY TBR LIST/PILE IS:
Huge! I recently did an internship with a publishing house in London and came away with two boxes of books, all of which have been piled op top of an already towering TBR pile – the three I have out at the moment are:

Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
Soldaten by Sonke Neitzel and Harald Welzer


A BOOK THAT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE IN SOME WAY:
The Reader by Bernard Schlink
It taught me to think outside the box – it is easy to herd a population under the title of 'extremist', 'fascist' or 'Nazi', when life is more complicated. Should blame be placed on people who have little understanding of what they have done? Can we punish the individual for a group's crime?
It blew my mind; now I consider all factors of an event, not just the winner's.


A BOOK I LIKE THAT NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO:
I can't really think of one. Not to say that I have marvellous taste; I find it tends to be a friend or two that disagrees with my opinion, as opposed to a group of people – I have never been in a situation where I appear to be the only advocate.


A BOOK I DON’T LIKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO LOVE:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak– it was okay, but did not move me in the same way it did for anyone else I have spoken to about it.

A BOOK THAT INTIMIDATES ME:
Most of Shakespeare – I feel like there is constantly something I am not understanding, and the language, though beautiful, is lost on me.


IF I COULD GO TO ANY LITERARY DESTINATION I WOULD CHOOSE:
Any location Poirot visits, Agatha Christie gave her sleuths the best adventures. I would particularly love to travel down the Nile in the 20s/30s, oh the glamour!

MY FAVORITE NON-BOOKISH ACTIVITY:
I really would love to list something here that would imply that I am in some way active, but really, aside from reading I just enjoy seeing friends and having a natter. Books are my introvert tool of joy, however, on occasion I need human interaction. Seeing, or speaking to, some of my favourite people occupies my spare time and keeps me happy.


MY MUST-READ BLOGS (PLEASE LIMIT TO 3):
Charlie @ The Worm Hole [http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/]; because we have similar tastes in books, and sometimes I think she can read my mind.
Emily @ Emily Books [https://emilybooks.wordpress.com/]; because we have utterly different tastes in books, and her blog introduces me to books I would never find on my own.
Manda @ Break the Sky [http://breakthesky.net/]; because she is one of the most interesting 'life' bloggers I know.


Thank you for joining us today, Alice! Remember to check out Alices's blog, ofBooks, and leave a comment or question.