#19 Follow Friday with book bloggers: Wanda's Book Reviews

2017-12-08 15:01

It's Follow Friday with book bloggers! Meet Wanda, a book lover who cherishes fantasy books and penguins! What? Read on to find out more!

Follow Wanda's blog on BookLikes: http://wandapedersen39.booklikes.com/

When did you discover that you’re a bookworm?

I guess I knew before I started school. Our small town didn’t have kindergarten, so the June before we were to start Grade One, we had to go do some tests to see if we were ready to start school. I came home from those tests outraged because they hadn’t taught me to read!

How did your blogging adventure start?

I’m all about projects. When I turned 50, I started reading the NPR List of Science Fiction and Fantasy Finalists (https://www.npr.org/2011/08/07/138938145/science-fiction-and-fantasy-finalists). I decided to start a blog to keep myself on track. I discovered that I enjoyed the process and I have just kept on blogging about all of my reading.

You’ve completed your 2017 reading challenge! Yay, congrats! Reveal your secret—how did you read 250 books in one year? It’s an amazing book total!

I don’t have as many demands on my time as other people. First off, I don’t have a spouse or children to take care of. But I also don’t own a TV and I don’t get the internet at home. I spend my workdays at a computer and don’t want to spend my evenings there too. I read, at least a little bit, every day. If my friends cancel plans, I always have a book waiting for me at home.

Wanda's reading chart month by month. Read more->

Wanda's reading challenges year by year. Read more->

You seem to be a fan of reading lists. You’re reading the NPR sci-fi & fantasy list—can you tell us more about your favourite books in the genre?

I have always been a fan of fantasy and over the last couple of years I have discovered urban fantasy. I adore any books that have Fae/Fairy characters! I love the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews, as well as their Kate Daniels and Innkeeper Chronicles series. I’m a big fan of Seanan McGuire, especially her October Daye and InCryptid series. I’d have to include Patricia Briggs and her Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega books. Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series. The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman. Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. Suzanne McLeod’s Spellcrackers.com series. I’m all about the magic, vampires, werewolves, fae, all that fun stuff.

Your bookshelf is very organized with the thematic shelves and yearly challenges. Does the shelf reflect your personality?

More that I’d actually like to admit! I don’t really believe in astrology, but I’m a Virgo and they are reputedly very organized, detail oriented, and practical. In Oriental astrology, I’m an Ox. Ox people are workers—we work for fun. Put those two together and I’m willing to work at being organized and efficient, even at my hobby of reading. Also, I have so many books that I’ve read or want to read that I have to maintain good shelves, or I couldn’t find them.

Wanda's reviewed books bookshelf

What are your three favourite book covers?

Aren’t these three pretty? I haven’t read them yet, but I will just because the covers are so gorgeous!

Which books are you most excited to recommend to your followers this winter?

In the year ahead, I’m looking forward exploring the work of Holly Black. She has a new book coming out called The Cruel Prince. Another book I’m anticipating is An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson. I’m also really excited to read Genevieve Cogman’s latest installment in the Invisible Library series, The Lost Plot.

There are also two new offerings in the Hogarth Shakespeare series, Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn and Macbeth by Jo Nesbø. There are so many exciting new books being published that it’s hard to choose.

What’s your reading spot? We’d love to see the photos.

I usually read in my living room, in a recliner where I can put my feet up. I have my trusty tray beside me for the cup of coffee or glass of wine necessary and I have my wonderful new blanket (but I have to be careful of it—it tends to put me right to sleep and I don’t get much reading done that way).

A paper book or an e-book?

So far, I just read paper books. But I can see where an e-book reader would be handy. One of these days I will have to learn how to deal with this technology!

Three titles for a boring social party?

If it’s boring, don’t linger there! Just head for home & your book nook!

A book that changed your life?

Would you believe that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson changed my life? I used to read a lot of books with my mom. We would both read them & discuss them, our own little book club. When she & my dad were killed in a car crash, I pretty much quit reading because I couldn’t talk books with her anymore. It was ten years later when a coworker lent me The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which I whipped through in 2 days) that I realized how much I missed reading. I lost a lot of reading time that I’m still making up for, but I am enjoying it even more now. Now I have BookLikes friends to discuss things with.

Favourite quote?

“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” - Mark Twain

If you could meet one literary character, who would it be?

Jane Jameson, the children’s librarian turned vampire, from Molly Harper’s Jane Jameson series. She has a snarky sense of humour, she owns a great bookstore, plus she has a great friend, another vampire called Dick Cheney, whose antics amuse me. I’d love to attend the book club meetings at her store.

Shelfie time! Please share your home library photos.

I didn’t get a picture taken before I decorated for Christmas. So you can also see my growing Christmas penguin colony!