#ArmchairBEA 2012: Introductions!

Hello, and welcome! It’s the first day of Armchair BEA 2012 – the day for introductions! Even though I’ll be in NYC for Book Expo America (BEA), I couldn’t help but register for Armchair BEA as well. I had such a fantastic time armchair-ing it last year and met so many wonderful bloggers, authors, and publicist/publisher contacts. I hope to connect with the same people again –a few in NYC, in person–and meet new peeps!

This year, participants have been asked to choose five interview questions to answer about ourselves as an introduction. Here are mine:

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

Hi, I’m Jen :). I live in Colorado with my husband and pupdog Koda. I’ve been book blogging for just over a year; I celebrated A Book and a Latte‘s one year blogoversary on May 11th!

I decided to start my own book blog because after I embraced my love for the YA genre, I needed an outlet to gush about my favorite books and authors (at the time, The Hunger Games). My friends in real life weren’t reading the same books, or as many, and I found myself visiting more and more book blogs. I was very hesitant to start my own, but the book blogging community was so welcoming, helpful, and friendly… I’m so glad that I just went for it!

What is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is hands down my favorite book I’ve read so far this year, I absolutely loved this book! I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by Whil Wheaton (THE perfect narrator for his book) and it’s full of awesome. I believe it’s technically an adult book, but it’s easily a YA crossover title, at least for those that love 80’s pop culture, and references from the 70s to present day. There’s a quest, danger, a little romance, and nerdy-ness galore… so much to love! My review hasn’t posted yet; I’ve been saving it for June, since it’s audiobook month, but it will be up soon!

What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)?

I love featuring authors on my blog, especially debut authors! Interviews are my favorite way to feature an author. I really enjoy learning more about authors, and developing a bit of a relationship with them through the process. I’d really like to post more author interviews this year.

What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming years?

My favorite part about the book blogging community is the people. I’ve met so many fantastic readers, bloggers, authors, and publicists – online and in real life – through book blogging… Seriously, the people are what keep me blogging!

As far as changes I’d like to see… I’d like to eliminate the drama that occasionally occurs between bloggers and authors, but realistically I can’t control how others behave. I think if everyone would remember to treat others the way they’d like to be treated, a lot of the conflict could be avoided.

Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I love playing the piano. I don’t really like playing for other people, I play just for me. It’s an instant stress reliever and makes me feel at peace… I know that sounds cheesy but it’s true. Sadly, I’m not able to play by sight – meaning I can’t just sit down and play whatever sheet music is placed in front of me. I have to work at learning a new song, and practice a lot.

That’s all for me! I’m looking forward to hopping around to everyone else’s interviews! I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do while I’m in NYC but I’ll try, and I’ll be playing catch up once I’m back next week.

Today I’m attending the BEA Bloggers Conference, and then the Scholastic Live event in the evening! I hope to post about the day tonight… Sadly I don’t have a laptop with me so I’ll be attempting to blog from my iPhone. Ha! We’ll see how that works… I will definitely be posting recaps after BEA though, once I’m back home. Follow me on Twitter (@bookandlatte) for live BEA tweets!