May 28, 2013

Armchair BEA 2013 Introductions.

Today is the first day of the Armchair BEA, and it is introduction time.

Who are you?  How long have you been blogging? Where did you get into blogging?
I am Kathryn, and I have always loved reading.  Growing up in the '50's in a small town there was no library and few books at the school I attended.  I was always hungering for a book!  Probably why I have so many of them now.  Mostly I enjoy women's fiction, some romance and romantic suspense.  

I have been blogging on this blog since the beginning of the year.  I have a class blog and teacher blog as well and have been blogging there for four or five years.  I find the teacher bloggers very generous and willing to share so much of what they know.  I admit I have neglected my teacher blog since I started this blog!  I can't keep all the balls in the air!  I am looking forward to moving more in the book blogging world now that I am nearing retirement.

Where in the world are you blogging from?  Tell a random fact or something special about your location.
I am blogging from New Zealand in a town about 40 km north of our capital city Wellington.  Most of New Zealand is near the seaside and I live in a place that certainly does. I live about 6 km from the sea.  On our coast is Kapiti Island a nature reserve.  It is a bird sanctuary and is beautiful to visit.  I have lived most of my life here.  I have spent time living in other parts but always love to come back to the place that feels like home.


What drew you to participate in Armchair BEA?
Being new to the book blogging world I hadn't heard of BEA or Armchair BEA.  But obviously as the time draws near the hype begins to grow and I first heard of BEA and then Armchair BEA just last weekend through a book hop.  When I went to the Armchair BEA site, it sounded like fun and something I would enjoy participating in.

What is your favourite book of 2013?
This is the first book in a new series by Susan Wiggs.   You can read my review here.

Name your favourite blogs and explain why they are your favourites? 
Book Blogging at it's finest!
This blog is a favourite because the writer Rachel, has an amazing blog and writes tips for blogging. Very savvy and wise.  She also has a great design website - she designed my blog.  
This blog is run by Jen and Kellee, they read many children's and YA books and share their reviews.  As a teacher it is a wonderful resource and keeps me up to date in both the mentioned areas. I sometimesjoin in their It's Monday What Are You Reading? on my teacher blog.
 Always With a Book
As I began book blogging this year, this was the first blog I came across where the blogger has a similar taste in books as myself.   She reads more than me which is great so I have enjoyed reading her reviews and marking books for my TBR pile.  

Lastly I enjoy Wendy's The Misadventures of a Super Librarian Blog.  She runs the TBR challenge that I am taking part in this year.  As I went around the blogs taking part this month, I found blogs that again have  a taste in books somewhat similar to my own.

As I am only starting out, I am still watching out for blogs that I might want to follow.  I want them to be similar in taste to myself, but with a stretch - ones that have me considering books I may not have heard about or thought about reading.

Attribution:  Kapiti Island by Simone M (a student in my class) and used with her permission.

36 comments:

  1. You live in a wonderful place, just as I would imagine New Zealand. One day, I want to visit your country.

    I also follow Parajunkee's blog - I love her blogging advice posts.

    Have a wonderful ArmchairBEA and good luck with your blog.

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    1. Yes Parajunkee does write really well and her tips are well worth reading.

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  2. Hi Kathryn, thanks for visiting my blog, I'm a new follower of yours :)
    You live in a beautiful place, I'd love to walk around that nature reserve for a few hours.

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    1. Sam
      Thanks for following. Yes the bird sanctuary is a wonderful place to walk and you get a great view from the top of the island.

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  3. What a gorgeous view! Welcome to ArmchairBEA, Kathryn :)

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  4. Hello!

    I'm just a hop, skip and a jump away over in Australia, it's always nice to meet a blogger from this side of the globe!

    Looking forward to reading the rest of your posts!

    my intro post

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    1. Kayleigh
      At last someone from down under! Must visit your blog.

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  5. What a beautiful photograph! You lucky thing. But then growing up with no library and few books in school. What a thought! And so far removed from today's world, eh, where the Internet brings everything to us. Thankfully! Technology at its best :0) Have a good BEA!

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    1. Yes I always had a empty feel inside me, hunting around for the next book when I was growing up!

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  6. Ah, must visit New Zealand one day!
    That's a lot of blogs to keep up with--I'm impressed!

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    1. I don't think I keep up with many blogs really, it is a matter of finding ones that are 'real' to me. Ones that are similar and ones that stretch me!

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  7. I love your blog design! The colors are so vibrant and cheerful. Parajunkee is awesome. I love that picture of your home. It looks so beautiful there! I definitely want to visit a place like that some day. Hope you're enjoying Armchair BEA so far!

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    1. Thank you. Parajunkee did do a great job. She is so creative, and what I liked was she could also do a conservative design for someone older like myself!

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  8. I always wanted to visit New Zealand. Love the pic! I really like you blogging picture on the top. Looks like a nice, comfy chair.

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    1. A comfy chair is a must when reading! I love the NZ pic too, one of my students snapped it on her ipod 5. I begged for it!

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  9. New Zealand <3 How I envy you for living in such a beautiful country! :D

      Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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    1. Thank you, although I do believe every country has its beauty!

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  10. First off, your blog is so cute! I LOVE the color purple, and the teal color goes really well with it :) Oooh, New Zealand! I'd love to visit, the photos always look SO beautiful there! ArmchairBEA is GREAT for those new to book blogging - it helps you make friends fast :)

    Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier! I left a reply to your comment here.

    Have a great week!

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    1. Yes Rachelia purple is a favourite colour of mine!! Yes I hope to visit heaps of blogs this Armchair BEA although the numbers to visit are overwhelming!

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  11. I had the same problem when I was a kid, no library in my town. Argh, that was the worst! Now I practically live at my local library, lol.

    The picture you've shared is beautiful. What a gorgeous place to live :)

    I hope you are having a fantastic ABEA! This is my first time participating as well. I'm also fairly new to the book blog world.

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    1. Jennifer
      Thank you for visiting. No library is just so..............bad. Bless all libraries!
      I notice there are few of us new to this world of book blogging so that is great to meet up with others just beginning out.

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  12. I am totally jealous! I would love to live somewhere as beautiful as New Zealand. I have never been off the east coast of the US. And I absolutely adore Parajunkee too. Definitely one of my favorites.

    Lisa @ Just Another Rabid Reader

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    1. Lisa
      Thank you. I am sure east coast of US has some spots I would totally love to visit.

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  13. Welcome to Armchair BEA. I always find it interesting when I come across people who blog on multiple sites. I can't imagine trying to do another blog on top of the one I already have. Yes, Parajunkee does do great tips and tricks posts. Good luck with the rest of Armchair BEA.

    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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    1. Sandy
      As you will note my professional blog has suffered!! Impossible to do all.

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  15. I see we've both survived all the anticipation of this starting! I see that New Zealand really is as beautiful as I've imagined. I would love to visit there one day. We have another thing in common! I started out with a regular blog just talking about the regular day in a college student's life with lots of funny pictures. I then made my book blog and haven't looked back at the other one since. The book blogging world is just way too much fun. I love connecting with people around the world! The person who created your layout did a fantastic job. As you've noticed, I'm quite the purple fan, as well :)

    Christine @ The Bookish Daydreamer

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    1. Christine
      Thanks for dropping by, and yes we have both survived the anticipation and great to meet up with you on Twitter too.
      NZ is beautiful as are many spots around the world. I always love flying home though, I see yellow gorse flower and I think I'm home!
      Kathryn

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  16. It is so nice to meet you! I love meeting bloggers from other countries than mine. We read similar books, I look forward to getting to know you better.

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  17. OOh! Similar books.... I will be chasing you up! For me this is one of the aspects I am hoping for, to meet readers with close to similar tastes will even do!

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  18. Gorgeous photo! It looks like such a beautiful place to live! My cousin and I were only starting out with our blog this time last year, and we missed out on Armchair BEA; this is our first time participating, too. Hope you're enjoying the event!

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    1. Thanks, it was totally by luck that I came across Armchair BEA when another blogger mentioned it!

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  19. First, your blog design really is amazing! Rachel did an incredible job! Second, it is near impossible not to hear about BEA! When I first started blogging I was completely clueless to book conventions and such! I haven't been to BEA yet but hope to one day. However, I have been to RT which is another great convention.

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  20. Love your blog :) I'm a first timer and having fun going to all the blogs and finding new people to follow :)

    http://bookgoodies.com/all-about-bookgoodies-intro-for-armchairbea/

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  21. Oh...I'm so touched that you listed my blog as one of your favorites...thank you so much! While I've been blogging for just over 3 years, I still consider myself a newbie...there's just so much I still want to learn about all this.

    I'm so glad to get to know you a little better. I don't know what I would have done with no library near me while growing up. Ours was close enough that we could ride our bikes or even walk, which we did many a summer day!

    I love the design and color scheme of your blog - purple is also my favorite color!

    I hope you are enjoying ArmchairBEA...it really is a great event!
    ~Kristin @ Always With a Book

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