BBAW: Impromptu blogger interviews - Part (iv)

This is the final instalment in the impromptu blogger interviewThank you to everyone who volunteered for this! I had a load of fun doing it!
First up is Alibird from Flirting with Fiction. Alibird said in her comment that she spent all morning reading the interviews and wishing she had signed up! I am a big Fforde fan myself, and think her secret is very cute!

What is your blog called? What was the inspiration behind the name?

Flirting with Fiction-- I like to think that I build relationships with the books I read. We come to understand each other, give gifts, play with emotions, and then there's that warm fuzzy feeling I get when I think about a book I really cared about... I call my blog a 'Flirtation' because I don't 'fall in love' with books terribly easily-- they have to be really remarkably special to get to that point. I do, however, have multiple book-'flirtations' going on at any given time.

What kind of books do you like to read?

All kinds? I'm a grad student in Post-Colonial Literature so my 'long-term, formal relationships' tend to be with African and Middle Eastern lit. When those relationships get too stressful, however, I have guilty 'affairs' with YA lit, literary detective fiction, and even romance novels.

What is your favourite recent read?

I came across Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series a couple weeks ago and just went crazy over it. I ran out and got all 5 books and gobbled them up in a week. So much fun!!

Where is your favourite place to read?

There's an adorable coffee shop a couple blocks from my house. They have a front-porch swing that is absolutely covered in cushy pillows. I like to grab a mocha, bury myself in the pillows and swing away.

Share one thing about yourself or your blog that your readers might not know.

I'm a former ballroom and Latin dance instructor. Sometimes, when I get bored, I use my fingers to create little people and have them practice their dance steps across the table.

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Next up is Zee from Notes from the North - the north in question being Sweden! I always enjoy chatting with her when we happen to be on Twitter at the same time!

What is your blog called? What was the inspiration behind the name?

Notes from the North. I live in northern Europe and I make notes :D

What kind of books do you like to read?

A lot of everything really but right now mostly classics and mysteries, with the occasional non-fiction book (primarily biographies)

What is your favourite recent read?

Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

Where is your favourite place to read?

My rockingchair or my friends hammock

Share one thing about yourself or your blog that your readers might not know.

I'm quite shy in person but I hide it by talking incessantly which I know sounds contradictory but it is the truth

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And now one of my favourite people in the blogging world! Eva from A Striped Armchair

What is your blog called? What was the inspiration behind the name?

A Striped Armchair: I like the blog name formula a/the + adjective + noun (it's what I used for my study abroad blog too), and when I made it my favourite reading chair was in fact striped. Kind of random, and sometimes I wish I'd put more thought into it, but I was just too impatient to start! lol

What kind of books do you like to read?

Fiction: classics, mysteries, fantasy, international
Nonfiction: international studies/culture, women's studies, science, travel (just getting into reading more about religion too)

What is your favourite recent read?

I just finished Small Island by Andrea Levy yesterday, and it blew me away. But if we go back a month, Diana Wynne Jones' Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. One has me head-over-heels in love.

Where is your favourite place to read?

In my new (to me, got it used) overstuffed grey reclining armchair!

Share one thing about yourself or your blog that your readers might not know.

Ohh...this one's tricky. Maybe that I watch quite a bit of TV? And I'm a total fangirl about certain series!

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And now for a fellow historical fiction lover! Amy from Just Book Reading

What is your blog called? What was the inspiration behind the name?

The name of my blog is Just Book Reading. I noted this is another post earlier this week so I’m going to do a little cut and paste job --- When I decided to stake my blog claim I picked the name — Just a Book Reader — which I was very happy with. It left me a bit of anonymity and I felt it described me pretty well. After all, I was just a book reader…well, one with lots of opinions but one just the same. A day later, and a Google search later, it turns out that there was another blog out there with that name. It was defunct but I still felt weird about it so I shortened the name to Just Book Reading because it was close to the original name and easy enough to change without jumping through too many hoops. And, thus, that is how I became Just Book Reading. What I learned was to get my Google fu on before setting my heart on a name without a more thorough search. Will not happen again. So there you have it, true confessions.

What kind of books do you like to read?

I read a lot of historical fiction but I’m also a big fantasy fan. I haven’t been reading much of it lately and I want to get back into it.

What is your favourite recent read?

This is easy. The Road my Cormac McCarthy and The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America by Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith.

Where is your favourite place to read?
I can read almost anywhere but I like to curl up on the couch.

Share one thing about yourself or your blog that your readers might not know.

Well, readers probably don’t know a lot about me since I tend to keep personal info out of most of my posts but I can offer this one up --- I grew up in Pennsylvania and I make excellent pizza.

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And my final mini-interview is with Serena from Savvy Verse and Wit, who among other things, co-hosts a totally awesome challenge called War Through the Generations!

What is your blog called? What was the inspiration behind the name?

Savvy Verse & Wit and the inspiration was just the poetry I love the read, the humor I hope to impart, and my love of the word Savvy.

What kind of books do you like to read?

I like reading all kinds, especially poetry, but I'm really not into westerns, self-help, or cheesy romance.

What is your favourite recent read?

Favorite recent read would have to be Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran. That book has stayed with me for months.

Where is your favourite place to read?

I love reading on the subway and outside on the porch (well what the apt. complex calls a patio).

Share one thing about yourself or your blog that your readers might not know.

I adore photography and I'm crazy in love with my dog!