BBAW 2011: Blogger Interview with Alysa of everead

The BBAW Interview Swaps are some of my favorite things to read during Book Blogger Appreciation Week. In 2010 I interviewed Donna of Holocaust Resources and in 2009 I met Michelle of GalleySmith during the interviews.

This year I interviewed another new-t0-me blogger, Alysa at everead. Although it looks like we read pretty different books, Alysa did just recently post a review of Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, a book I also read and reviewed awhile back.

For the interview, Alysa and I decided to come up with a list of common questions and both answer them. So if you head over to her blog today, you’ll see my answers. Below is what Alysa had to say!

How long have you been blogging?

I started blogging in June 2007.

Why do you blog?

I blog because I love the social side of reading — it’s not enough for me to love a book, I have to talk about it with other people. Simply put, I can’t shut up about books! The first blogs that interested me were author blogs and review blogs, so blogging felt like a natural way to run my mouth about books.

If you could meet any author, which one would you want to meet and why?

Ooh, I don’t know! I’ve already met my favorite living author, Shannon Hale, many times. Maybe Gene Stratton-Porter. No wait. Jane Austen? Ok c’mon let’s be practical, they’re dead. It would be awesome to meet J.K. Rowling. But I have no idea what we would talk about. I definitely hope to meet Laini Taylor someday, since she already feels like a friend.

Where is your favorite place to read?

In the waiting room. When I was pregnant last year, books transformed the time that I spent sitting in the clinic from an annoyance to a luxury. Plus whatever book I brought in gave me and the doc more to talk about than my body. More than once I had to ask the front desk if I missed my name, since I was so absorbed in my reading.

What is one challenge you frequently face when blogging? How have you tried to overcome it?

Fitting blogging into my schedule. Though, as a full time mom, my schedule is very flexible, it is also very full. I’ve got two boys, ages 1 and 3, who keep me busy from morning till night. Once they’re in bed, blogging is only one of the million things that I didn’t get to during the day. I combat this by jotting down blogging ideas during the day. If I’ve got a little slip of paper with a starter on it, I am much more likely to 1. remember to blog, 2. feel like I have something worthwhile to blog about, and 3. think of blogging as fun.

What is one book you wish everyone would read?

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale. I credit this retelling of a Grimm fairy tale with turning me back on to reading.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what three books would you want with you?

• A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter, because it would remind me to pull myself up by my bootstraps, and help me embrace the native fauna.
• Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt, because I love it and want to study it in depth. So crisp! Not a word wasted.
• Lastly, one of the 21 fully intact originals of The Gutenberg Bible. Those (big) babies are worth 25-35 million. Even if nobody’s looking for me, someone’s gonna be missing the book.