BBAW Interview: Proust Questionnaire starring Amy from Amy Reads Good Books

 

 

 

“Since July 1993, the back page of Vanity Fair has been devoted Proust Questionnaire, in which a noteworthy person answers a series of personal questions.  The questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust (1871-1922), the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature.” —Vanity Fair magazine

To spice up our BBAW interview swap, Amy and I decided to use Vanity Fair’s format.  Amy’s interview is below and you can read all about me at Amy Reads Good Books.  Enjoy!

Amy from Amy Reads Good Books by Gina (Nat's sister-in-law)

Meet Amy of Amy Reads Good Books.  She’s an English professor at a small college in Ohio and enjoys memoirs, women’s fiction, and books about food and travel.

What is your most marked characteristic?

I can get just a wee bit obsessed about learning something new

Which talent would you most like to have?

I’d love to be able to sing well

What do you most value in your friends?

Ready smiles and ready comfort

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

A cozy dinner with people I love, candles, and a nice wine

Which living person do you most admire?

My mom

Where would you like to live?

In the woods, near a nice hiking trail, with a cozy studio for reading and writing

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Procrastination

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Grief, experienced alone

Who are your favorite writers?

Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, L.M. Montgomery, Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

Nick Carraway

Who is your favorite heroine of fiction?

Emma Woodhouse

Who are your favorite poets?

Elizabeth Bishop, Louise Gluck, Wallace Stevens, Sylvia Plath

How would you like to die?

Unaware

What is your motto?

Okay, I confess that I don’t have one.  After a little googling, however, I was charmed by this one: Amor tussisque non celantur–Love, and a cough, are not concealed. (Ovid)

Thanks to the organizers of BBAW for putting together such a wonderful opportunity for book bloggers to meet and greet.  Amy and I hope you liked our spin on the book blogger interview swap.

For more information on Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire, or to review the complete list of questions and answer them yourself, visit Vanity Fair.  If you’re a fan of Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire, look for the coffee table collection, coming in October.

BBAW: Gratitude is My Attitude

Thank you so much for the warm welcome into the book blogging community.  The last six months have flown by and I never knew just how rewarding niche blogging could be.  I was thrilled to be nominated (Mom, did YOU submit my name?!) for several categories and was over the moon to be shortlisted in two.  I appreciate the recognition but know that no matter how comprehensive, there’s no way BBAW could shine light onto every book blog out there.  That said, I’d like to add a few of my favorite book blogs that didn’t make the shortlists.  A visit to these blogs would be time well spent!

Amy Reads Good Books: Not only is Amy my BBAW interview partner, but she’s also a talented writer and lover of books.

Heather at Book Addiction:  Heather is at the top of my feed reader for alphabetical reasons AND she’s always one of my favorite go-to blogs for reviews that are honest and concise.

Lisa at Books on the Brain: Lisa was the first person to ever leave me a comment on my life blog, nearly two years ago.  For that reason alone–the encouragement to keep blogging when NO ONE was reading my ramblings–is enough for me to highlight her.  But Lisa also has great discussions, is cohost of TLC Book Tours, and has a real-life book club that I’d love to join–just a few more reasons to love her!

Jennifer at Literate Housewife: Not only do I adore Jennifer’s layout but I also enjoy her posts and reviews.  Learning that she started her blog to help give her life some balance was also impressive to me!

Vivienne at Serendipity: My go-to blog when I need a hearty dose of England!  V always has great pictures–of her books, scrapbooking pages, and tourist sites she visits.  She’s always quick with a comment and very friendly!

Steph & Tony Investigate: Not a books-only blog but worth a visit if only to read the wonderfully erudite book reviews. 

Write Meg! I love Meg’s blog–she and I have really similar tastes in books so this might be why I enjoy stopping by so much…but to be honest I think it’s really because she’s so friendly and nice–always leaving funny comments! 

And here are a few of the over 85 book blogs on my reader–I’m only sorry I couldn’t include them all!  I hope you’ll enjoy these blogs as much as I do. 

Thank you to everyone who visits, comments, or links Book, Line, and Sinker.  You help to make this blog what it is!

Review: The Collector by John Fowles

I was recently invited to write a guest review for Pattinase’s blog feature ‘Friday’s Forgotten Books’.  I selected John Fowles’s 1963 debut novel The Collector.  If you’ve never read this novel, it really is a forgotten classic–maybe even a forerunner of the psycho-thriller genre– but often overshadowed by Fowles’s later novel ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’.

Take a peek: Pattinase’s ‘Friday’s Forgotten Books’.       

Books and Beyond: What else or where else do you review?

One of my favorite aspects of book blogging is writing book reviews.  Maybe it speaks to my background as an educator–constantly evaluating and analyzing.  Whatever it is, I love to write reviews and with the advent of the internet have gone beyond reviewing solely books.  In addition to posting my  reviews here, I also submit them to Amazon.com.

Last year I joined Trip Advisor (nat-n-ant) and have since published a few reviews of the hundreds of places we’ve traveled to during our annual summer road trips.  Though Trip Advisor has been recently criticized for review integrity, I love the site and have found many wonderful places to visit and restaurants to try that I might have otherwise missed.  I have notes on so many great places (pictures, too!) and fully intend to post more reviews when I have some free time.   

I also write short book reviews and recommendations for my local library.  Brevity is the key to those mini-reviews–written on an index card–something that can be elusive to a chatterbox such as myself!  I love suggesting great books to other people and recently got some great feedback from a teen volunteer who read Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty at my recommendation.  She told me that she loved the book and read the remaining books in the series to find out what happened to the characters.

At restaurants, I always fill out comment cards complimenting on the good and noting the not-so-good.  When given constructively, feedback is a valuable tool for any company that deals with the public.

So, how about you?  Are you a reviewer of books or other things on sites beyond your blog?  Do you write for Yelp! or some of the others that offer public opinion?