Your Name/Blog's Name: My name is Kristen and my blog is called The Book Monsters, my blog partner Kate helps me run it.Genre: I mostly review graphic novels, middle grade and young adult books. I tend to read more fantasy/science fiction than anything else along with the subgenres within. I do enjoy historical fiction as well and will dip into realistic fiction when I feel the urge.
Blog Established: Our combo blog The Book Monsters has existed for a little over two years. Before that I was blogging on my own for two years on a blog called Bookworming in the 21st Century.
Inspiration: Blogging was starting to wear on me as my life started to get busier with work and starting my masters degree, so Kate and I decided it was finally time to combine our blogging efforts and become a brand new blog. Kate formerly blogged at The Neverending Shelf. We decided to start fresh and just transfer our old reviews to the new blog and abandon our old ones. I first started blogging two years previously on a whim after seeing more book blogs talked about on Goodreads.
Coffee or Tea: Both! I prefer Coffee in the morning and Tea in the afternoon. :)
1. What book do you find yourself recommending to people over and over again, why?
This one is easy for me. I often recommend Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, one of my favorite fantasy series for 4th grade and up. This one is easy to pitch to both boys and girls alike because of the brother/sister main characters. The fantasy elements really draw readers to check this one out. To older readers, I'm often pitching Bloody Jack as a series, possibly one of my favorite adventure series set during the British-French war and involving lots of high seas adventures. I love Jacky's character especially as narrated by the actress Katherine Kellgren.
2. What is one distraction that you always face when trying to read?
My laptop is often too close to where I am reading. I tend to be a couch or a bed reader and my laptop is always perched on the coffee table in our living room. Sometimes I switch to reading in bed to keep away from the internet.
3. You have two minutes to go in your house before it burns down, what five books would you save?
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block, The Spiderwick Chronicles complete edition by Toni DiTerlizzi & Holly Black, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, and Fire by Kristin Cashore.
4. Name one book you didn’t think you would enjoy, but ended up loving it.
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. I thought I would like it, but not fall in love with it the way I did. I had heard buzz but I'm sort of "meh" sometimes when it comes to realistic, especially when it seems to be more romancey, but it was a shock in a good way. I found myself tearing up quite a bit during this book and really loved it.
Divergent by Veronica Roth, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, The Painted Boy by Charles DeLint, The Diviners by Libba Bray, and Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick (not to mention hundreds more...).
6. About how many books have you read since you created your blog?
Almost 1,000. I try to read 300 a year but never seem to make it, so I average in the 230s -250s in a year. I've been blogging for 4 years, so I'd say that's a decent amount.
7. What is the most recent book you’ve read, describe it in ten words!
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell - unique, historical, orphan girl, caring guardian, lost mother, cello, rooftops
8. Name one book that made you shed a tear, why?
I believe I went through a whole box of tissues with See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles. This book had me from the beginning with the brother struggling with his homosexuality and then a terrible accident happens and someone in the family dies. The rest of the book just tears you apart as the reader.
9. If you won ten million dollars, what would you do with it?
Buy a house big enough to fit a library, open a bookstore, and donate to charity.
Kristen's Links:
Blog
Goodreads
Bloglovin'
Nice interview. Loved Kristen's last answer, spoken like a true book lover! :)
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