Armchair BEA 2016 – Day 1 – Intros & Diversity in Books #ArmchairBEA

Posted May 11, 2016 by Julie S. in ArmchairBEA / 12 Comments


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Armchair BEA Introductions

 

Julie Review Avatar   Julie:

What is the name you prefer to use? I prefer “Julie” or “Julie S.” online. I try to avoid using my last name, though with monetizing my family lifestyle blog, my full name is more out there a lot. For this book blog, I’ll stick with Julie.

How long have you been a book blogger? Well, we just celebrated our 3rd blogoversary, so 3 years as a book blogger!

Have you participated in ABEA before? I sure have 🙂 This is my third time participating.

What is your favorite genre and why? I love anything paranormal, urban fantasy, dystopian, YA, etc. I love a good world building and exciting plot and these subgenres lend themselves to that very well.

If you could recommend one other book blogger, who would it be and why? I would love to recommend Terri from Second Run Reviews. We love co-hosting our #ShelfLove challenge with her for the second time this year, plus her Sunday photos are awesome 🙂

Which day of ABEA are you looking forward to the most? I think I’m looking forward to the Beyond day. There’s so much more than just books and blogs 🙂

How do you arrange your bookshelves? Is there a rhyme or reason? Or not at all? (#ABEAShelfie) I arrange my books in my library like a library or bookstore – by genre, then by author. And if you insist, I’ll show it again 😉

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What book are you most excited for on your TBR? What are you most intimidated by? Oh my! My TBR is out of control. I’m working my way through the Sookies, and am looking forward to getting to the end of that series. It is a long one, and it will be nice to be done with the series. I have some other series on my to-read and they kind of intimidate me to get started (or if I’ve only read the first book).

 

Lynnpic avatar Lynn:

What is the name you prefer to use? Lynn is just fine. So many people mispronounce my last name that I’ve given up on correcting them. It’s pronounced Pop-pee. Like the flower!

How long have you been a book blogger? I’ve been blogging a year plus 4 months. I volunteered to help out for a few months, and I’m still here!

Have you participated in ABEA before? Yep. Second time!

Do you have a favorite book? If you cannot choose a favorite book of all time, pick your favorite book today – just this second. Remember that favorites are allowed to change if something affects you deeply enough. I don’t have just one favorite book. And I am not sure I understand people who do! How can you pick just one? But when people ask me for a recommendation, I usually go with Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. It has everything I look for in a book. Romance. Laughing. Crying. Fantasy. The audio is excellent, too, if you are into audio books.

What is your favorite genre and why? Favorite genre is like favorite book. It all depends on my mood. Though I tend to read a lot of fantasy. High, Urban, paranormal. Especially if it has a historical bent. And some romance. I’m all over those books.

If you could choose three characters to have lunch with, who would they be and why? Karou from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. I miss her since I’ve finished reading these books, and just want to catch up with her! Lady Kiera Darby from the Lady Darby series. She’s intelligent, witty, and not too overly concerned with society. Plus, Sebastian Gage always seems to show up whenever Kiera is around. And I would find an extra place for him any day. I’d round out the group with Tink from Wicked. He’s just hilarious. With no filter. I imagine he’d keep any conversation going.

Which day of ABEA are you looking forward to the most? I’m looking forward to Surviving Fictional Worlds day. I’ve had a similar post idea ruminating for a while. I’m hoping this will be an excellent prompt to sit down and write that post.

What book are you most excited for on your TBR? What are you most intimidated by? Right now, I’m excited for Truthwitch. I met author Susan Dennard at a signing a few months ago. She really sold her book.  I’m ready for a new fantasy world. I’m most intimidated by the pile of books I own sitting on the shelf, waiting to be read. Like Julie, my TBR list is out of control. And staring at me from the book shelf on a daily basis.

Diversity in books and the publishing industry.
Whose voices do we see? Whose voices do we need more of? Where do we find representation lacking and what can we as bloggers do to address that? What about negative or stereotypical representation?

 

Julie Review Avatar   Julie:

I can honestly, and maybe a bit sadly, say that my reading list isn’t very unique. I tend to stick to genre fiction, so the characters do not tend to be specifically diverse often (though you can consider these characters diverse because so many are non-human). I tend to shy away from the fiction novels with people’s struggles and hardships, and that is the genre where the really diverse books hang out. I suppose I do need to branch out my reading more, but I certainly don’t go out of my way seeking specific diverse types of reads. I can’t speak to missing representations or negative representations for that reason, but I have some friends (fellow book club ladies and book bloggers actually) who are really promoting the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, and I enjoy following their posts.

Lynnpic avatar Lynn:

Like Julie, I could do with some more diversity in my book selection. I routinely pick books that reflect my world view. More out of habit than anything else. I don’t tend to think about reading diverse authors. But more because I’d rather read something that’s interesting than something written to fill a diversity quota. I don’t care if a character has white or green skin. I want characters who are engaging. We, as readers and bloggers, need to be better at promoting diverse authors, be they independent or mainstream. And the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign is probably an excellent place to start.
What are your thoughts on diversity in books?

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Posted May 11, 2016 by Julie S. in ArmchairBEA / 12 Comments

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12 responses to “Armchair BEA 2016 – Day 1 – Intros & Diversity in Books #ArmchairBEA”

    • Julie

      So true, maybe we need to add more “Diverse books” squares to the bingo card.

  3. Lexie

    O.O Julie I love your bookshelves! Can I move in? I cook and clean! I’m very quiet! I’ll just set up a little cot nearby…?

    Lynn I’m excited for Truthwitch too. I met her at a signing a couple months ago and YES she TOTALLY sold me on it.

  4. Greg

    Nice post! I tend to stick to genre fiction too although I occasionally branch out (I read YA contemps which I never used to do). It’s always nice to get to know bloggers through ABEA. I think Fangirl is a great recommendation too. 🙂
    Greg recently posted…12 Monkeys S2x04

    • Julie

      Yea I also do read some contemps, but those are mostly due to book club selections or a friend recommendation/better read this or else haha.