[ArmchairBEA2012] Introductory Interview

It's that time of the year again. A great number of book bloggers is in NYC for BEA. And I have to admit, I'm jealous. I would love to be there, like in 2010, but BEA always takes place in the middle of the semester, and I don't dare skip a week just like that. Not this close to being (hopefully, finally!) done with university.

But we have ArmchairBEA for all of us that can't go and still want to get together, if "only" virtually. For this weeklong occasion, we will all start out with an introductory interview, so let's get started!

Q: Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?
A: "Hello, my name is Kathrin and I'm a book addict!" That's what I keep thinking almost every day and actually it has been several times a day for the past weeks. It is true - and luckily I am not alone, although it can feel very lonely when I'm walking outside of the blogging world.
It feels lonely even though I major in American Studies with a minor in English Studies. You'd think all those literature classes I took so far would help me feel less lonely. The truth is, I feel it is frowned upon to read contemporary literature of (almost) any kind. I won't even go into the treatment of novels for young adults, romance novels, or the paranormal genre. It makes me sad that there is this a brandishing of a whole group of genres. There is a reason why these genres exist, they have a right to exist and my love for them does not make me a lesser person, within or outside of the academic setting. But tell that to the lecturers or even my fellow students!
I have been blogging for quite a number of years now. I believe I had my first blog in the early 2000s when I was still at school as I felt the need to have some place where I could keep track of what I was reading and a handwritten notebook never made me happy. (My handwriting kept getting sloppier the longer I wrote.) I doubt I will stop blogging any time soon because even though I have been scarce here, it will forever be my place to escape to when I want to tell someone, anyone, about the books I read. To me, my blog is now a place where I can express my feelings about books I read, whether I enjoy them or not. I don't mind telling what I didn't like about a book really, only, I tend to ditch them before I've finished...

Q: What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?
A: Right now I'm reading Susan Mallery's Summer Days, which I am admittedly not enjoying as much as I had hoped. My second book is Meljean Brook's The Iron Duke, which I enjoy a lot more, but it's huge!
My favorite booka so far in 2012 are Veronica Roth's Divergent, Meg Cabot's Underworld and Jennifer Bernard's The Fireman who Loved Me (reviews to follow later this month).

Q: Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.
A: My books may be the biggest "collection" of mine, but DVDs are a close second. I don't have a TV at my place, but I watch DVDs a lot and also collect them. There are no good DVD rentals around here unless I want to go online. So I have separate shelves for all my DVDs. They are sorted by movies vs. series and then alphabetically! Is that too much geekery going on?

Q: If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?
A: It's a close call between Jill Shalvis because she is the most fun person I have ever encountered online (Really, check out her blog (link above)!) and Mr. Darcy because it's Mr. Darcy!

Q: Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?
A: Absolutely! When I first started keeping track of my books, I read almost exclusively mysteries and some thrillers. Then this phase stopped completely and I was hooked on young adult novels of (almost) all genres with some category romance over the summers.
Nowadays, I read what fits my mood without excuses. This usually means romance novels, novels for young adults (yes, they've stuck with me), but also chick lit and mysteries, paranormal and urban fiction, as well as books I would consider classics even though they might not fit the bill of popular classics.