BBAW Interview swap - Welcome Bonjour, Cass!

Today it is Interview Swap day and I am thrilled to welcome Cass from Bonjour, Cass! to my little corner of the blogosphere!


Your blog name is Bonjour, Cass, but you are not French! What was the inspiration behind your blog title? (I am currently a bit obsessed with all things French!)

I once had a pet unicorn who was French, and all she could say was "Bonjour, Cass!" (Even when we said goodbye. It was all very confusing.) I decided to honor her memory by calling my blog Bonjour, Cass!

Okayyyy, maybe that's not all true. The real reason is that I couldn't think of anything else to call my blog, and Bonjour, Cass! was the first thing that came to mind. It took me two weeks to think of THAT, so imagine how long a title that actually made since would have taken!

My story about the unicorn is way better. Lets go with that one.

What's the best book you have read recently and why should we all read it?

I'm a big non fiction reader, and I tend to get into these “I must know everything about ____” kicks where I have to read about one thing until I know everything I could possibly know about the topic. Earlier this year I was really into biographies and cultural histories about Old Hollywood. Currently I’m really into former US President Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. So, the best book I’ve read recently is Nixonland by Rick Perlstein, but it’s like 900 pages of political historical goodness and I really doubt I could convince most folks to read the book, despite how UTTERLY AWESOME it is.

The best book I’ve read recently that won’t put non-US Presidential history nerdis to sleep is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, a dystopian novel about a time in the future where everyone avoids the harsh reality of every day life by entering a virtual reality world called OASIS. It’s an adventure story with amazing world building and lively characters and jokes that made me laugh out loud.

You have been shortlisted for Best GLBT Lit blog. Congratulations! What was your reaction when you got the news?

Thank you! I’m incredibly excited and honored to have been nominated. My instant reaction was: HOW CAN I FIND GLITTERLY UNICORNS TO GIVE TO EVERYONE SO THEY’LL VOTE FOR ME?? My next reaction was: wow this is great! AND TERRIFYING.

You are involved in a number of events in the blogging world (NerdsHeartYA, Indie Lit Awards as a couple of examples). What is the best thing about events like this?

I really like lists, so I’m going to write a list in answer to this question:

1. I get to have an excuse to chat with some of my favorite bloggers
2. There are tons of new-to-me books I discover through nominations for the awards
3. Sometimes people refer to me as Director or Judge and it makes me really happy. Much easier than changing my name.

When you are not reading or blogging what else do you like to do?

I’m trying to convince my cat to roll over on command. We already mastered “sit,” so I think it’s just a matter of time.

Beyond this, I’m brushing up on my trivia, marathoning some show or another on Netflix (right now it’s Buffy), searching for the perfect pair of vintage shoes (I guess all the women with good shoe sense were a size 7 back then?), and hitting the streets of Boston on a quest for the perfect strawberry martini.