Blogoversary Day Five- Interview with Amy from Amy Bookworm

Amy’s Blog | Amy’s Twitter

Hi Amy! Can you introduce yourself and your blog?
I think I can… *waves* That’s it.
Haha, kidding. Amy Bookworm had no intention of just waving. So, my blog- it’s fairly small, new and all that stuff which doesn’t sound too great to say, but hey- I’m a teen and as such this is far from a career. I mean, I don’t post a ton (like 2-3x a week) but I love posting content to my blog & it doesn’t matter if it gets less comments than others as really, I haven’t just been posting what I think of as insignificant. I like remembering what I’ve written and having posts stand out to me. Obviously posts on other blogs, whether they have my input to me, can stand out but it’s not a reflective process as much- I’ve probably had less free reign or am reading a post with different opinions to mine. I understand that but this blog… Liking it. Even it’s just a stepping stone! I love posting elsewhere but as they say, “home is where the heart is”. You don’t forget your first blog (even if you might forget the first post & rearrange your blog… oops). Yes, it’s included post deletion, renaming, hyper posts, calm posts- you name it). Hopefully it’s getting better but it may go downhill. Hope not- as I’ve said, I love blogging, reviewing & reading. Oh, and you guys!

2. What inspired you to start your own book blog?
Ah. Vlogging has. I don’t mean I vlogged but I used to watch just vloggers until I stopped off at booktubers (yes, vloggers but bookish ones who basically video what I blog now). Lots had goodreads & I’d been a referral from google many a time. I always googled bookish things and it’d direct me there even for quotes! I didn’t realize much about it until I signed up, followed these vloggers, started reviewing, doing other stuff & ended up finding out about the non-video equivalent. I liked those reviews too and the blogs were a good idea so… hey, presto! I wish I could say a certain blogger did but really it was a journey which took months & eventually I blogged myself, not understanding quite the size of the community just knowing that I’d seen some pop up here & there. Now I know the truth 😉

3. If there was a book that you could re-read as many times as you want and it would be new every time, which book would it be and why?
I don’t really re-read lots. For me it’s just too easy to pick up a new book than pick up an old one thus not really cutting down any TBR. Not that it’s really my to-read pile that’s stopping me- before I really had one (the days when I was much more of an impulsive reader) had be hunting down new books & re-reading NEVER. It’s rare for me to think I’m going to get anything new out of it. I may forget little bits but I’d know how it ended soon after I’d started it & got into the mood of the book. If the plot isn’t the crucial bit, or the extreme and it’s really crucial, complex yet forgettable for this, then I may re-read. I’ve re-read some books and my next re-read shall be ‘The Iron Witch’. Need I tell you the reason is because it’s in a series? It sounds harsh but I can’t really remember what I got out of it so reading it again should be enjoyable- especially will the rest of the series! I mean, that’s really why I’m reading it not just because I can’t remember it (not a reader’s nightmare really) but because I’m excited about reading the whole trilogy. I rarely re-read standalones but if I did it’d be Perks. That is one book I didn’t expect to get as much out of as I did! Will it happen again? I care to see!

4. Your blog is called Spreading UKYA 2013. Is supporting the UKYA community important to you?
It wasn’t for a long time. When I found the British Book challenge I started thinking about what a good idea was. Turns out I’d have to re-name my blog as it was turning completely UKYA based. What had been a muse suddenly became a mission. There was so much in this genre & there still is- I like to spread the old, the new & everything in between. If the author was born or lives in Britain I suddenly feel a buzz. It’s a connection I hope will continue beyond 2013 but I’m not wishing to be entirely nationality-picky for long. It seemed sort of a challenge but in the end I realized I was a bit behind, and wrong about the challenge bit- it’s been surprisingly easy & fun. UK bloggers have been doing such challenges (and much more in the case of say, Fluttering Butterflies) for ages & hadn’t found reading books by British authors harder than any fiction. I don’t either now & I love supporting it as sometimes it doesn’t seem the ‘big deal’ it is in other countries. I understand we’re not the size of America but the authors deserve just as much recognition & the fact is, quite often I wonder how UKYA isn’t as known- it’s worthy competition!
The funny this when I divided my bookcases into ‘British author’ and ‘Other’ the British author one was already bigger (as in had no space left)… I swear I didn’t know! Only about 50% was YA then though, now it’s a lot more dominated by a genre I like a lot now, YA!

5. When you’re not blogging, what do you like to do?Go round telling people about my blog. Ha, kidding! My mother does keep telling people though (no link giving, I’d kill her) and I just explain that I love reading more. I think that’s true though the balance isn’t always easy. I like (and am forced to give about a third of my time to) Art (coursework). I like chilling a lot- if it’s not on Twitter or with books (mostly is though) it might be with friends, family, a TV remote, singing and/or listening to music (get me to accompany that with dancing/instrument playing & you’ll be rolling on the floor laughing like a hyena though), perhaps RPing (I used to be addicted) and such things. School doesn’t let me chill 24/7 & you’ve seen how much I tweet/read/blog so there’s not a massive range of things. I’m the Queen of surfing the internet & getting distracted. You better believe that.

6. Name your top ten favourite book blogs.
Ten? I follow over a hundred (blogs) but follow 108 on Twitter
I’m leaving so many out & I’ll probably decide I’ve missed out somebody I really love so that’s why I’ve linked that. Literally the ones I cannot miss (but this is still quite a random selection; it’s hard to choose) are:
From The Shadows I Review (http://shadowsireview.blogspot.com), Say It With Books (http://nuzsaysitwithbooks.blogspot.com), Between The Lines (http://betweenthelinesisanendlessstory.blogspot.com), Paper Fantasies (http://paper-fantasies.blogspot.com), Chasm of Books (http://chasmofbooks.blogspot.com), A Bookish Heart (http://abookishheart.com), Miss Fictional’s World of YA (http://missfictional.blogspot.com/), Feed Me Books Now (http://feedmebooksnow.blogspot.co.uk), Readiculously Peachy (http://readiculously-peachy.blogspot.co.uk) & obviously yours. Queen Of  Contemporary is a great blog, so glad you’re all here 😉 I adore so many book bloggers, UK or not, and visit so many blogs many times a week (even if they don’t post every day). I treasure so many & comment on a tiny amount of blog posts compared to how many I’ve seen! Now go check out all of them too; you should see my comments on some of their posts 😉 Those girls are amazing!

7. Do you have any tips to give to future book bloggers?
Get a bookish Twitter. Best decision I made after signing up for Goodreads. Yes, it was a choice that was better than setting up my blog. Obviously I did that and you will future book blogger J But y’know, one can’t thrive on blogging & Goodreads alone. Far from it. Get a Twitter. NOW.

Before you start your blog actually, OK? That’ll take more time is all 😉 Twitter FTW!