Rebecca from Algonquin Side Table

Today please welcome Rebecca, who blogs at Algonquin Side Table, http://www.algonquinsidetable.com.

Questions:


What's the meaning behind the name of your book blog?

The Algonquin Round Table was a regular lunch group of writers, critics, and all-around clever people (including my heart, Dorothy Parker) who met at the Algonquin Hotel, also known as The Gonk, in the 1920s.  ”Side Table” works for my kind of casual approach to reading and bibliophilia.  I was halfway through a book about female writers from the 1920s when I came up with it, needless to say.



How long have you been blogging?

Daily for almost four months.



Tell us a bit about your book blog. What makes it unique?

I wanted to create a non-judgmental, inviting place to just be people who love books.  A place to read and talk about books that was accessible to readers who wouldn't normally read book blogs-- a combination of genres, lists, links, photos, and fun discussion that also actually *explains* things like literary awards and local events.  I'd like to think I've succeeded at that :)


What genres do you write about most, and why?

I'd like to say a little of everything, really.  I guess it's mostly contemporary literary fiction and pop non-fiction, but I also cover graphic novels, some fantasy and sci-fi, some kids' and teen books...  I don't like to get too bogged down in one genre!



What's your earliest memory of reading?

My dad would sometimes come and read me to sleep at night (ALWAYS either a Dr. Seuss or Where The Wild Things Are,) but apparently had such a soothing voice that he would drift off mid-sentence.  I remember taking Oh, The Places You'll Go! out of his sleeping hands to finish reading it myself.  Definitely not my first time reading on my own, but the first that I remember.



What was the first book you read over and over, or the book you've re-read the most?

In childhood, I would reread Roald Dahl books over and over.  Lifetime most rereads? I'd say Boy and The Witches by Roald Dahl, Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster, and most of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (I've read some of them upwards of a dozen times.)



What's your favorite place to read?

In a deckchair at a cottage somewhere.  Failing that incredibly specific situation, I have an overstuffed chintz armchair that I got specifically for reading in.



Finish the sentence: My bookshelves are...

Obsessively organized in a shelving system only I seem to understand.



If you could go to any literary destination, where would you go?

I'm almost tempted to say Westeros (A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R R Martin) just to get a direwolf, but I expect that it wouldn't be worth it, being both a woman and poor in that context.



How about non-book related hobbies? What do you do when you don't feel like reading?

I also do some illustration, spend way too much time on the internet and money on food, and walking.  I sound like an unbelievable mega square, but I really like walking.



What's your favorite (or least-favorite) book to movie adaptation?

From a book I've read?  The 2006 Joe Wright Pride And Prejudice with Keira Knightley.  I'm not a Jane Austen fan, and I expected the movie to be too Hollywooded anyway, but I absolutely loved it.



What are 3 of your must-read blogs?

• Bella's Bookshelves
• The Relentless Reader
• The Worm Hole

Thank you for joining us today, Rebecca! Remember to check out Rebecca's blog, Algonquin Side Table, and leave a comment or question.