IRL Book Experiences

Today's Armchair BEA topic about real life bookish experiences. And I suppose book reading doesn't count. Or maybe it does although that would be a boring post. And now I'm trying to figure out how you would read not in real life? Do eBooks counts? I think I'm getting off-topic.

Their examples are meeting up with fellow book bloggers in real life or attending book signings. I haven't met any fellow book bloggers in real life (yet but this should be remedied!!) but I HAVE been to a couple book signings. Oh, have I mentioned them? I have? Ad nauseam you say? Well, are you judgy. Fine, I'll keep this brief (and link to my original post) because I don't really have any other IRL book experiences/networking to share*.

I was lucky enough that in one month, in one week, both Jenny Lawson and Christopher Moore a) had new books out and b) were coming to NYC for book signings. Both events and books were amazing and I was outstandingly awkward when talking to both authors. At least with Lawson she was awkward too so it was cool. With Moore he was still cool about it, even when I mumbled "heyIreallylikeyourstuffpleasesignthis". It was still great and I would do it again. I hope to do it again. MOAR BOOK SIGNINGS.

What about you? What bookish networking/experience things have you done?

*I used to do a book club when I lived in Boston, but as I recently learned the club was renamed Wine club which is most accurate. We all read (or at least meant to read) a specific book but a lot of us only saw each other once a month so we spent most of the time catching up.

I didn't forget about Armchair BEA, I'm fashionably late

Oh so hey, did you guys know there's this BEA thing going on? You did? Oh everyone in the book blogging world knows because they understand how calendars work? Got it.

So BEA and the Book Blog Uncon are both happening near me. Because I'm in NYC. (Well I'm physically in NYC now and other times I live NEAR the place). You'd think I would have signed up because it is all the awesomeness. But I couldn't commit to actually signing up for one or both and instead I ended up doing neither because that's how I roll. BUT I was convinced to take part in Armchair BEA because I still want to play!

So post one, let me introduce myself:
Tell us about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you start this in the first place?
Hi, I'm Alley. Or Red. Either name. I'll answer to both. I've been blogging for 2 years this past May! Perhaps you noticed my post where I talked about forgetting my blogging birthday. Again. Missing events is sort of a theme. I started this because I was whining to Boyfriend one day (or several days) about how I wasn't really doing anything with this English degree I went through all of this trouble to acquire. He said I should start a blog and talk about books because then I could get back into writing and I could talk about something I love. The subtext was I could also quit whining to him about it, but he really should have known better than to think this would stop me from whining.

What are you currently reading OR what is your favorite book of 2012 so far?
I am currently reading Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers by Alissa Quart and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. And cos all the cool kids are doing it, I'll answer the other part of this as well. My favorite book so far is hard cos whenever I have to pick a favorite anything I get stressed out and my mind goes blank. So there's a good chance I'll have to change my answer but for now I'm going to go with Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson and Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore.

Tell us one non-book related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about
I like stupid reality shows. Not Jersey Shore style but more like Hoarders, Parking Wars, and now On The Fly (which used to be Airline but whatever, same show). I guess I like schadenfreude shows, which now that I've realized that sort of makes me an awful person. I also really like dogs. Does that even me out?

What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)?
Umm what now? I guess the only feature thing I do is my monthly reading stats each month. But that's not my favorite thing. So I guess my sporadic rambly posts? I like those.

Where do you see your blog in five years?
When did this become a job interview? Also I have no idea. I'd like to say it will only get better and more awesome and will make me lots of money without me having to do anything extra but that seems unlikely.

Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?
I may come back and fill in this question later, but for now I have NO idea and this will require me to look at past posts, which will take time. So for now, let's just say all of my posts are gems and you should probably commit them all to memory.

OK so Laura reminded me of this gem of a post about plot holes in Beauty and the Beast. It's not actually book related but it's full of important stuff people need to know.

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?
I want to say Christopher Moore because I think that dinner would be hilarious if I could just stop stuttering for a few seconds. But given how the book signing went, that is unlikely. Also as people have pointed out I sort of gush about Christopher Moore a lot and I'm afraid that if I keep doing that I'm going to move into the Annie Wilkes realm of fandom. So instead I will go with fictional Thursday Next because she is also awesome AND she can talk about knowing all kinds of other book people.

What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?
Like in the real world? Or location in literature? Eh, I'll answer both.
Real world, can I go to Shakespeare-land? Shakespeare-land being Stratford-upon-Avon and also visiting the recreation of the Globe theater.
Literature, BookWorld! It's a world populated by all of literature and the fictional characters. Plus this way I can cheat and visit all of the literature locations. It's like meeting a genie and wishing for more wishes (or more genies if you need to get around any wish-related rules).

What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming years?
The community part. I love that it is a community and you get to "meet" lots of new people who understand a love of books and reading. I know I wouldn't have kept blogging as frequently as I currently do (if at all) if it wasn't for the community around it. In terms of things changing, maybe people could not get so up in arms about every bit of bookish drama (even if I enjoy reading those).

Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?
They've expanded. Books I would have passed by without a second glance are now on my reading list. I learn about new books that are coming out and get to feel superior when non-book people mention them. Even though I don't actually seem to read books during the hype, because I'm a rebel like that. And by "rebel" I mean "too cheap to pick up the new book because the hyped stuff isn't on sale yet".