Blog Name: Lale on Lit
Blog URL: http://thelifeoflale.blogspot.com
Twitter Name: lale_g
Goodreads (and/or others): http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3328128
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/lale-photos

When did you start your blog and why? Give us a little info about your blog too.
Officially speaking, I started my blog in June 2009- back then, I posted very sporadically and only shared pieces of writing. That all changed this January when I made the decision to change it to a blog devoted primarily to books. Why? Because there are so many incredible books I’ve read and loved that absolutely no-one seems to know about, and I want to show them to the world. So many of my friends can count the number of books they’ve read on one hand, which seems plain wrong to me! I firmly believe that sparking a love of reading is just a question of finding the right book. It’s my goal to get the right books out there. That’s why I review a whole slew of genres as well as some non fiction.

Tell us a little about yourself outside of your interest in books.
I’m a Turkish-American-British teen (with the passports to prove it!) splitting time between Turkey and the United Kingdom. Although I’ll always choose to snuggle with a book over anything else, I also love creative writing and photography. Career-wise, I’ve had a passion for genetics ever since I was eight and read ‘The Future: An Owner’s Manual’ which mentioned scientists engineering bananas to contain the TB vaccine. Instead of getting jabbed, you’d just eat a banana! For someone who’d try to jump out the doctor’s office window rather than have a shot, that sounded pretty epic. In terms of extracurriculars, I’ve taken singing lessons since I was three and am in a gospel choir, and I’ve been fencing epee for five years. (You’ll find out why below.)

Your favorite book from your youth and the story behind it.
Well, there have been many, but if I had to pick one I’d definitely go for ‘Alanna: The First Adventure‘ by Tamora Pierce. My older cousin first lent me a copy when I was probably about eight (although the later books in the series are definitely not appropriate for an eight year old!) and I’ve been a Tammy P devotee ever since. It’s about twins who are being sent away from home- Thom to the palace to become a knight and Alanna to the convent to become a lady. Needless to say, neither is very happy with this arrangement, and they swap places!

The story follows Alanna through her years as a page when she’s pretending to be a boy, and though there are (of course) funny moments, what I loved most about it is that Alanna never, ever gives up– she’s always training training training, proving that she’s just as good as any boy, going above and beyond the norm. I still adore the idea of a female knight as well as Pierce’s brand of magic and the characters. In fact, I love them so much that I took up fencing. Even though I’ll never be quite as good as Alanna, I content myself with reading all of Tamora Pierce’s books over and over- there are four series set in Alanna’s Tortall Universe, and another three in the Winding Circle universe (which has some very cool ambient magic!). Her books are a definite must read for anyone who’s into girl power.

“First I just need to say what Lale said above is exactly what I hope to be helping with everyday that I blog, ‘I firmly believe that sparking a love of reading is just a question of finding the right book.’ Isn’t it perfect? Honestly, I think that most of us who share our love of books with others do it with this intention, but I love how Lale put it! Reading is all about finding that one book, the one that changes us.

“Lale is relatively new to the blogging community, but has an incredible passion for the books she reviews. She reviews just the way she feels about the books and every one of them is meaningful in their own way. She’s also a fantastic photographer! I’d highly recommend taking a minute to stop by and find your next favorite book and quite possibly another fabulous book blogger to learn from!

“Thank you so much Lale for stopping by There’s A Book!”

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