June 4, 2012 / Leslie

Armchair BEA: Introduction

Welcome to Armchair BEA

Armchair BEA is an online networking event for bloggers that will not be attending Book Expo America in New York this week.

This year’s Armchair BEA theme is all about community. One of the goals is to encourage bloggers to get to know each other and visit other participating blogs. In previous years there would be an interview day where bloggers would ask another blogger a series of questions. This year, we have been asked to interview ourselves by answering a few questions.

An Introduction

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

I’ve been blogging for about six years. I started Under My Apple Tree years ago as a place to record thoughts and comments and due to a lack of much of either I let it lie dormant until 2009 when I converted it into a book blog. I had already been writing short reviews on goodreads where I discovered an entire community of book lovers. Blogging was the next step in connecting with that community.

I’m an eclectic reader and enjoy a wide variety of books. If the subject interests me, I'll give the book a chance. Favorites are science and speculative fiction, contemporary and historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers and narrative non-fiction. I love audiobooks and half of my reading is actually listening.

Until recently I worked as a Tax Consultant in downtown Chicago. The company was sold and now I am looking for a new job. In the meantime I'm going to enjoy the summer and read as much as I can.

What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

Today I am starting a new book today, The Age of Miracles and will be listening to The House of Velvet and Glass.

A favorite this year was The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani

What is your favorite feature on your blog?
Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

Regular visitors to Under My Apple Tree probably know that I am a nature lover, enjoy the outdoors, walking, hiking, and taking photographs. Most of all, I love birds.

This brings me to my favorite feature, Weekend Birding, which I post on Saturdays. I showcase my bird photos, feature a specific bird, a book about birds, or anything bird related.

Where do you see your blog in five years?

My immediate plans are to move Under My Apple Tree to self-hosting by the end of this year. Leaving the shared WordPress platform will give me much greater flexibility and in doing so I will have more options available.

It’s difficult to predict where the blog will be in five years. I hope to still be writing and involved in the book blogging community. Online media is growing exponentially and changing at a rapid pace. I’m sure it will be quite different than it is today.

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?

My early years of reading consisted of mostly science fiction so it’s no surprise that some of my favorite books and authors are from that genre. I would love to have meet the brilliant Isaac Asimov, author of my favorite science fiction books, The Foundation Trilogy.