armchair BEA: interview

With me! Hello everyone :)
   As part of this event, I'm to choose out of ten questions, five to answer. I reckon I'll bore you all with my answers. I'll keep them as concise as I can :D

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

I'm Kirthi, an introverted teenage book blogger. I've been blogging for nearly four years now! How did it all start, you ask? My friend Nathan and I were global warming activists in our own, young way. We thought that we could bring awareness by starting a global warming blog, which we did. First, we went to the obvious: blog.com, and realised it was a failure. So we moved to blogspot. And after blogging quite a lot on global warming issues, I thought that I should make my own blog, but about something I enjoy personally: reading. I wanted, at first, to just log and keep record of the books I read and whether I enjoyed them or not. Then I realised there was a whole community of bloggers, hundreds! And then joined into that community. 

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

I really enjoy my topic posts. They're posts in which I pick a book related topic and just discuss it. Like "series or sequels" and "unbearable books" and "vampires" I post them to bring to light certain subjects that are not often discussed in the book blogging community. These topic posts allow me the opportunity to show readers a problem, my views on this problem, and then allow other opinions through comments. It's something that's only on my blog, though other blogs may do something similar with different titles or concepts.

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

Dead or alive? I'm only joking! It's be J.K. Rowling, for the author dinner. She's my inspiration to write. With her origins in a coffee shop writing on the backs of flyers to becoming a successful, world renowned author: she's brilliant. J.K. Rowling  believed in her writing, and it got her far. Just speaking with her for five minutes would be enough for me, haha :)

What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?

It may sound ridiculous compared to other fantastical locations, but I'd visit Oxford. The campus is BEAUTIFUL, with old buildings and a uni where many great writers attended. And close to Oxford is the city of London, which is beautiful as well, in it's misty, rainy weather and classical locations, like Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes) and Foyles Bookshop (London's oldest bookshop) There are hundreds of other locations I'd go to afterwards, but I'd start of with Oxford and London!

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

random happy reading giraffe :)

My favourite part is the sense of...community! The way that bloggers support each other and come together with a love of books. It's a place where people who share a common interest immerse themselves in a passion for reading. I like to compare it to a network support group, where someone has always got another's back, in a sense. 

I've witnessed many changes in this community. The abrupt rise of affiliates, the button crazy moment where it was all about getting others to post one's blog button on the other's blog. The extravagent giveaways era where ridiculously incredible giveaways were hosted (I guess it's died down with people not having so much money as they once had). As to what I'd like to see changed? The communication.

 There are some blogs where comments are abundant, and others where there are none. And comments have got to be meaningful to me, to show me that someone has actually read my post, and has contributed is or hers own opinion. I want discussions and thoughts in comments, not just "Great review!" and such. For those whose blog's I have commented on, you'll know how much thought I like putting into comments. Yes, so that's what I would want to see change! It's like that follower concept. I was never really into getting more followers, but put my energy in making quality posts for my existing followers. Anyway :)

I believe that's the end of my five questions. I hope you've enjoyed your visit here :) Happy reading and enjoy visiting other blogs: I know I will!