BBAW Interview: Suey from It’s All About Books

I had the pleasure of interviewing Suey from It’s All About Books as a BBAW event! She also interviewed me; you can read her interview of me on her site.

How did you get into book blogging? How long have you been doing it?

I started my blog after joining a Yahoo group connected with the TBR Challenge. Everyone kept talking about putting stuff on your blog. At the time I had a personal blog (not on Blogger) , but it didn’t seem the place to do book stuff too, so finally one day, I created the book blog. That was about 1 1/2 years ago.

Who are some of your favourite authors?

Markus Zusak tops the list right now and I really wish he’d come out with more books! I also like Stephenie Meyer, Shannon Hale, Khaled Hosseini, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, John Green, Christopher Paolini, Cornelia Funke, Orson Scott Card, Brandon Sanderson, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Alexandre Dumas…. perhaps I should stop now……

Are there any genres that you refuse to read?

I won’t read erotica stuff, and I don’t read the Harlequin romance type stuff. (But I do like romances of the YA type and Jane Austen type, etc.) I also don’t like NF about subjects boring to me (politics comes to mind, though I’m sure there’s some books on that subject I’d find very interesting… Glenn Beck’s book probably). I’m not especially into mystery, westerns or horror, though for sure I’d not refuse to read them.

Do you do reading challenges?

I do a few, but I find that doing too many makes me feel “pressure” and like I can’t just pick up and read whatever I want whenever I want. So, I have to leave time to still do that. So far, I haven’t finished a challenge yet! Last year I came up one short on the TBR Challenge and the others I joined I completely bombed. But this year, I know I’ll finish at least one because the YA Romance Challenge will be a cinch, and I’m doing Carl’s RIP Challenge, Peril the Third, which is to read ONE book! I can do that!

What do you do in real life — besides read and blog?

Mostly mom stuff: laundry, cooking, cleaning, hauling kids, homework, etc. I also do the book fair as part of my PTA volunteering at the school, and also lots of church volunteering. BUT… recently I just got a part-time job, so I’m just now trying to adjust to adding that to my schedule. I’m working 12 hours a week in the adminstrative office of our local library. I also like to quilt when the mood hits, scrapbook a bit, sometimes look for a geocach, fiddle with movie making software, watch TV and movies and go to any muisc concerts and plays that I can afford!

What’s the best book you read in the last month?

I didn’t read much in August! I enjoyed Breaking Dawn the most… just because. But The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was the better book, even though it took me forever to read.

Do you market your blog, or just let the traffic come to you?

I try to a little, not a lot. I don’t have a lot of traffic and sometimes that’s okay and sometimes I wish there was more. But I do like to participate in stuff like BBAW and Weekly Geeks, and Booking Through Thursday etc. so people know I’m out here. Recently I’ve started doing blog tours, so that will be interesting.

Where else can you be found on the internet? BookMooch? LibraryThing? Other blogs?

I did join Library Thing, but I’m not doing much there. I’m finding I like Goodreads much better. I’m also at Paperbackswap, and the Book Blogger Ning.

What has been the most challenging thing about blogging for you? What has been the most exciting?

The challenge about blogging is time for the most part. Also, creativity. Sometimes seeing what every one else is doing and how cool they are doing it gets depressing and makes me think my blog is total crap. But, then there’s those days where it’s very rewarding and fun and I feel like it’s all worth it. The most exciting thing about blogging is just connecting with other book and reading fanatics. And sometimes having an author comment, or want you to review their book!

If you were trapped on a desert island, what books would you be most likely to not take with you?

I would NOT take The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All! (The ladies in my F2F book clubs will understand!) Hmmmm… I really can’t think of any! Boring political books? School textbooks (though some of those would be interesting in a bind!) I probably wouldn’t take any Hemingway either.

How many books are in your TBR pile right now?

Without actually counting, I’d say about 150 books that I have right here at my house waiting a turn. There’s many more in my head and on my library list and Goodreads list, etc.