Blog Name: Playing by the book
Blog URL: http://www.playingbythebook.net/
Twitter Name: @playbythebook
Goodreads: Playing by the book

When did you start your blog and why? Give us a little info about your blog too.

I started Playing by the book in July 2009. I wanted to find a way to both read and play more with my children, and to be in contact with more adults who were also interested in creativity and children’s literature. It seemed like a blog might give me the structure I needed to achieve these goals. I don’t keep a diary but I did want to find a way to treasure the good times – I’ve a terrible memory and didn’t want to forget all the funny moments or sparks of imagination that fill my kids’ days – and my blog has also helped with this. Playing by the book is now a place where I review the kids’ books we’re reading as a family and share the crazy, fun stuff those books inspire us to get up to!

Tell us a little about yourself outside of your interest in books.

My favourite space in our house is my spice cupboard – I love to cook and opening the spice cupboard doors is always an invitation to travel the world!

If I could live anywhere at any time I would love to travel back to the very early 1900s in Budapest – I happen to speak Hungarian and Budapest is a beautiful city, full of amazing architecture and coffee houses to linger in. If I couldn’t make it to Hungary, then I’d accept time traveling to Skara Brae 5000 years ago instead.

I was once offered a job which would have involved traveling the world and learning how to shoot to kill (if only I were making this up…). On days when being stuck at home with two poorly children in a rather uninspiring part of the world I ponder how differently my life could have turned out. But in the end I always know I made the right choice.

Your favorite book from your youth and the story behind it.

I was born in Zambia and we didn’t have access to many books at all until we moved to the UK. However, one of my favourite books from my early childhood there was Tiger Flower by Robert Vavra with wonderful paintings of tigers and butterflies by Fleur Cowles. I have vivid memories of losing track of time reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books in the playground at primary school – and when my second daughter was born I kept myself awake during night feeds by re-reading her books – it was such a treat! Later I couldn’t get enough of The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper and now I can’t wait to read these with my own daughters.

“I adore Zoe’s site! She is always involved in sharing her love of reading with her own children in such creative ways and in that way, getting them ‘hooked’ on books. It’s hard not to find something in every post she writes to use in your own home, from activities to new books, it’s wonderful!

“She’s also hosting a great giveaway right now for a signed copy of Wake Up! by Katie Cleminson! It’s also an international giveaway, so there’s no reason to miss out on this fabulous book. The giveaway closes at 6am UK time on the 3rd of August, so don’t miss out! And make sure to subscribe to her blog while you’re there, you won’t want to miss a post for sure!

“Thank you again to Zoe and her site Playing by the Book for participating in When I Was Young!”

Interested in participating in the When I Was Young feature? Read about it here.

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Blog Name: Stiletto Storytime
Blog URL: http://www.stilettostorytime.wordpress.com
Twitter Name: @Stiletostrytime
LibraryThing: Stilettostorytime

When did you start your blog and why? Give us a little info about your blog too.

I started my blog in December of 2007. I was in my first year as a children’s librarian. It was great platform for me to review books, talk about library related subjects and even express opinions on other topics of personal interest. I read so much back then to be acquainted with my collection that it seemed a shame not to review and keep track of what I was doing. And so my blog was born and bred at the children’s reference desk of a public library.

My blog is called Stiletto Storytime, which may seem a little odd but as always there is a story behind it. I graduated from library school at the age of 25, I didn’t exactly fit the profile of what people expected of a “librarian”. I was young and refused to act old before my time. I was innovative and always trying a fresh approach to old school library practices. Instead of clogs, I still dressed in stilettos and heels. I did storytime, dancing and shaking my sillies out dressed to the nines. My colleagues all joked I should have a “Stiletto Storytime” since I was always creating new themes and dressing fashionable. From then on…the name stuck! Stiletto Storytime is a blog devoted to helping readers find that perfect book! I review everything from board books to classic literature. There is also a large amount of Jane Austen related material since I am a devoted Janeite.

Tell us a little about yourself outside of your interest in books.

I am a twenty something wife and mother to a one year old son. Little man and his Daddy are my world. We also have a dog Zoe who is a cocker/westie mix that rounds out our family. I graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Masters in Library Science. I am now a SAHM and am working on my first book, which is the first in a middle grade series for girls. I am a southerner born and bred. I love to read more than anything and carry a book everywhere I go. Reading is my escape from the busy world around me. When I pick up a book all my stress and worries float away and it is simply the story and I.

Your favorite book from your youth and the story behind it.

One of my favorite books as a child was The Chimney Witches by Victoria Whitehead. It was this magical book about a girl who finds a way into the world of witches through her chimney. In fact it had a lot in common with Harry Potter in some ways now that I think about it. I have no idea where that book came from. The author was British and I remember the cover was solid blue with gold lettering. I so loved that book though and the idea of going to another world. I also loved The Little House on the Prairie series, Anne of Green Gables and oddly enough I was obsessed with R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series. By fifth grade I had every one lined up in perfect order on my bookshelves. I wish I had kept them. I now collect them and am always on the hunt for a new one at yard sales or library book sales. In all honesty as a child I was such a voracious reader, I read anything and everything I could get my  on. I just loved and still love books!

“Courtney is fabulous! I just love her to pieces and her site always has something I’m interested in reading. I’ve been reading her site for some time now, but I think I really caught on during the last Dewey’s Read-a-Thon when she read through an entire stack of Charlaine Harris Sookie books. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a huge fan. Not to mention she also loves Sarah Addison Allen (another favorite), she loves children’s books and she’s a mom!

“Stiletto Storytime absolutely has something for everyone and if you haven’t stopped by yet, what are you waiting for? A must read for book lovers!

“Thank you so much, Courtney, for visiting There’s A Book today!”

Blog Name: SMS Book Reviews
Blog URL: http://smsbookreviews.blogspot.com
Twitter Name: callista83
Goodreads (and/or others): callista83

When did you start your blog and why?
It all started with book reviews on my geocities webpage, and then moved to amazon.com so more people would see them. Them amazon made the rule that you couldn’t submit reviews unless you had purchased from them so I need somewhere else for my reviews. I found blogger and created a blog in 2003 and added my reviews back to 2001. From 2003 to 2007 I added reviews when I found the time, which wasn’t very often. In 2007 I discovered a few book blogs and realized I could post more reviews and talk about books more regularly and actually get a following of people who would read my blog. I also found blog challenges. Now it focus on non-fiction for all ages and children’s books.

Tell us a little about yourself outside of your interest in books.
I’m a mom of two girls and I’m a Girl Guide Leader. I also run another blog that is for parents and women in Canada and is about typical SAHM type topics.

Your favorite book from your youth and the story behind it. Also, you can include a short review of the book if you have time.
My absolute favourite book from childhood is The Giver by Lois Lowry. I know a lot of people have read it but if you haven’t, I highly recommend it. It’s Dystopian for older kids. There are two more books that come after it but I haven’t gotten around to read them yet. I’ve read The Giver at least 3 times which is a lot for me as I don’t normally reread books. You can read my review of The Giver here: http://smsbookreviews.blogspot.com/2007/10/giver-by-lois-lowry.html

“I’m so happy to have Callista on today!The Giver was my very first attempt at Dystopian fiction and I’d have to agree with her on this, I highly recommend it!

“Callista’s site is packed full of great books for kids and adults alike, especially if you’re a fan of non-fiction. She’s also extremely active in the book blogging community, which is a huge plus in my eyes. Make sure to stop by and say hello, you may just find the next great read!”

Interested in participating in the When I Was Young feature? Read about it here.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with IndieBound.

Blog Name: The Lost Entwife
Blog URL: http://thelostentwife.net
Twitter Name: @lrpresley
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/50581

When did you start your blog and why? Give us a little info about your blog too.

I technically started my blog in November of 2006. When I started the blog I intended to just write about my day-to-day life.. but as time progressed my life started to change and I never had time to write. Then I started up on GoodReads and discovered that I loved reviewing books – it helped cement the books in my memory (I have a horrible time remembering names!), and it gave me something to send my friends and family to when they were looking for a good book to read.

Then one day last December I thought.. why aren’t I posting these to my blog? I considered starting up a new blog but couldn’t come up with any names that were unique and fit me as much as The Lost Entwife did. And.. being as an Entwife is a literary character written about by the great J.R.R. Tolkien.. I decided to stay put and I’ve been blogging since.

Tell us a little about yourself outside of your interest in books.

I’m a family girl. I’m the eldest of nine children, all from the same two parents. I’ve been playing piano since I was four years old and even went to college in pursuit of a piano performance degree. I also game quite a bit and have love exploring the lore behind some of my favorite games. Right now I get plenty of time to read because I am a full-time caregiver to my 7 year old nephew, Cole and my 5 year old niece, Grace. Since I’ve been living with them I’ve watched them grow from pre-schoolers to Grace now entering Kindergarten and Cole 2nd grade. My love of reading has always been apparent to them and I am having a blast introducing them to some of my favorite literature.

Your favorite book from your youth and the story behind it.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have so many fond memories of this book. I’ve read it more than two dozen times in my lifetime and the first time the story was told to me was by my Dad. He said, and I believe this as well, that The Hobbit is a book to be read out loud and just this past year I read it to my nephew, Cole. More than once I found myself moved to tears watching his expression. To this day, he still talks about the story and talks about how he can’t wait to be able to read and understand it by himself.

“Lydia is one of my favorite book bloggers and just a fabulous person to chat with as well. Her reviews are awesome! I only wish I could read as much as she does in a week. One of the other fantastic things about Lydia is her obsession with Tolkien. Definitely a favorite in our home. His books were also my late Uncle’s absolute favorite.

“Also, at the end of this month, Lydia is starting a new feature called ‘Cross-Bloggination’. Each month a few of us book bloggers will be guest posting on other sites just to share something a little bit different than what we normally review to our audience. This month I will be posting on Lydia’s site and I can’t wait!

“If you’re a fiction fan of almost any variety you will definitely want to take a look at The Lost Entwife! There’s no doubt in my mind that you will find something fabulous to add to your growing list of books to read as well as a wonderful blog to subscribe to. Thank you so much to Lydia for stopping by and sharing her favorite childhood book!”

Interested in participating in the When I Was Young feature? Read about it here.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with IndieBound.

Blog Name: Amused By Books
Blog URL: http://amusedbybooks.blogspot.com/
Twitter Name: @amusedbybooks
LibraryThing: amusedbybooks

When did you start your blog and why? Give us a little info about your blog too.
I started my blog in September of 2009. I’ve always been an avid reader and I was getting a lot of my book recommendations from magazines and discovered that they were often leading me towards books that were not very good. This soon led me to searching the internet for recommendations which lead me to book blogs. A light bulb went off. What a wonderful idea! Cataloging and discussing your books online with like minded people! It sounded like so much fun and I am so glad I started my blog because everyone is so friendly and there are always so many wonderful events going on. I have learned so much since starting my blog and believe me, the book recommendations have vastly improved since reading blogs and I hope others have gotten a lot of great recommendations from reading mine!

Tell us a little about yourself outside of your interest in books.
Besides reading and blogging, I work full-time but nobody wants to hear about that, so in my off-time, I also love to cook and when that fails, head out and try one of the many delicious restaurants in the city. My boyfriend and I enjoy fixing up our house by visiting flea markets and plant indoor gardens in our small space. My green thumb is getting better but if you have any tips I will gladly take them because so far I have spent a lot of money on plants that I quickly throw out! In the summer time we love to bbq and make delicious cocktails.I also love to do a bootcamp near my house in the park – it kicks my butt but it’s totally worth it!

Your favorite book from your youth and the story behind it.
When I was little I absolutely loved the Berenstain Bears books. I had the full collection! I would make anyone and everyone read them to me. I remember sitting on my mom’s lap or having her get into bed with me and read them. Something about living in a tree really sparked my imagination. I think I also liked the fact that I had a dollhouse that had a bear family and the Berenstain Bears were bears, well you get the picture! As I grew older, I fell in love with ‘Little House on the Prairie’ by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I love history and always have. This probably sparked my love of it. I read the whole series but the first is the best. I even loved the TV show. The Pioneer spirit and the love that family had for each other was so wonderful to read about. It’s hard to imagine living in modern times, giving up everything you know to move to some unknown wilderness and having to only rely on each other and build your house on whatever was around you. I just found this book fascinating. How can you not?!

“So, I had the pleasure of meeting Leah at the LA Times Festival of Books this year and I’m so glad that I did. She reviews a lot of the type of books I love to read in my spare time, like Jill Mansel, Harriet Evans and tons of other great contemporary women’s fiction. Besides her fabulous taste in books, she’s also incredibly fun and so so helpful! Every time I am part of an event she’s always right there offering to help out however she can, even just for moral support.

“In addition to all of her wonderful character traits, Leah’s childhood favorites will no doubt strike many of us as some of our own favorites. I can’t even remember all the Berenstain Bears books we went through when I was very little, definitely classics that I hope to pass along to my own children as well. And we’ve already had a few mentions of Little House on the Prairie here on When I Was Young.

“Amused By Books is a book blog you don’t want to miss. She doesn’t only have reviews, but also some great conversation starters like her piece this last week titled ‘Magazines vs. Books‘ that you don’t want to miss. Make sure to stop by and take a look…you may find your next favorite book!

“Thank you so much to Leah for being on, I’m so happy you participated!”

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!”

Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with IndieBound.