Armchair BEA: Ask The Experts!

Armchair BEA is an opportunity for those of us that aren't fortunate enough to be at BEA to connect with one another, and have a little fun of our own, all from the comfort of our favourite chair!


I missed yesterday's post (insert sad face), but I'm back at it today (insert happy face)!

Armchair BEA has been amazing and I'm so happy about all the networking I've done this week, as well as the opportunity to learn from some of the best!

So, I'm keeping today's post sweet and simple, and posing a question to all of my fellow book bloggers out there...

If you could go back in time to when you first started blogging, and tell yourself one thing, what would you say?

Much love, Samantha

Armchair BEA: Networking

Armchair BEA is an opportunity for those of us that aren't fortunate enough to be at BEA to connect with one another, and have a little fun of our own, all from the comfort of our favourite chair!

My blog is nearly a month old!  Oh my gosh, I have no idea where that time has gone!

As a newbie to the blogging world networking is still a challenge for me, and something I continue to work on.  It's something every book blogger had to deal with early on, and a road I'm still trying to travel.

So in honour of "networking", these are some or the barriers I have faced in my blog's young life.

There are so many amazing book blogs out there, it ends up being rather intimidating for us newbies.  How do I get my name out there among this sea of already amazing, well established blogs?

I live in a crappy location.  Don't get me wrong, I love my farm town, but I have to drive 40 minutes just to get to the bookstore.  It's a bit easier when I'm not living at home, as a go to school in a fair-sized city.  On the bright side, in both cases, Toronto is about 1.5 hours away, which isn't bad.  Does anyone else deal with living in the middle of nowhere?  How do you network?

I also feel very young compared to a lot of bloggers.  I'm (almost) 20, while everyone else seems to be older with kids and lives and such.  How old were you guys when you started?

The book blogging community is much bigger, and much more diverse, than I imagined when I started.  It's amazing to see so many great people out there sharing the magic that books have brought to their lives.  I am so incredibly thankful of everyone who has welcomed me to this community.  Y'all are truly amazing!

Much love, Samantha

Armchair BEA: Best of 2012 (so far!)

Yesterday's book haul!  

Is it just me, or is anyone in disbelief that it is already June?!?!

Where has 2012 gone!

This year I've really gotten back into reading, after a horrendous fall 2011 at school.  I feel like part of that is because I wasn't reading as much as I would have liked to.

Armchair BEA is an opportunity for those of us that aren't fortunate enough to be at BEA to connect with one another, and have a little fun of our own, all from the comfort of our favourite chair!

According to GoodReads, I have read 40 books so far this year, which seems kind of crazy to me!  So I have sorted through those 40, and chosen the top five books I have read in 2012!

1. Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian: Did I say Deeper than Midnight in yesterday's post?  Okay, they're all fantastic.  But what an ending!  I'm so excited for the next instalment in this series!
2. Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward:  I love Tohr, so this book was just a beauty.  And another amazing ending!
3. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris: For a book that just kept getting weirder and weirder, it was an amazing change from everything else coming out recently.
4. The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa:  Any of the Iron Fey series could have made this list. I read this whole series around the same time as my midterms.  I couldn't help myself.  They were way to good to allow anything close to studying.
5. Black Dawn by Rachel Caine: I hope Rachel Caine writes 300 more books in this series.  They never seem to get old.

Honourable mentions go out to Insurgent by Veronica Roth, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, and If I Die by Rachel Vincent.  I have a strong feeling that Richelle Mead's The Golden Lily will likely belong on here as soon as I finish it.

Much love, Samantha

ARMCHAIR BEA !!!!!

I am so excited!  I posted on my twitter a couple days ago that next year I REALLY want to go to BEA.  So this kinda has me stoked right now!  I am so excited to connect with some other newbies to the book blogging world!


(Edit: I just realized that I forgot to link the Airchair BEA homepage!)

So here we go... INTRODUCTION TIME!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you?  How long have you been blogging?  Why did you get into blogging?

I have a whole Coffee Talk dedicated to this, but I'll summarize it again.  I'm Samantha, and I will be 20 this coming Saturday.  I started this blog only about 3 weeks ago, but I have had other blogs in the past.  I have been an avid reader my entire life (thanks Mom) and thought this would be a good way to connect and rant and share opinions, without driving my friends completely insane.

What are you currently reading, or what is your favourite book you have read so far in 2012?

Currently, I am (almost finished) reading Paranormalcy by Keirsten White, but I also have a couple other books on the go.  My favourite read so far in 2012 would likely be Deeper than Midnight by Lara Adrian.  That being said, I've read a bunch of awesome books already this year!

Tell us one non-book related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I am a sports freak.  I love sports.  It's likely the one trait I didn't get from my Mom.  Hockey and Baseball are my favourites (Leafs and Jays, baby!), but I will literally watch any sport that TSN or SportsNet is showing.

What is your favourite feature on you blog?

As I said, I'm still getting started.  I've been looking out for fun memes to participate in and ways to get my blog going.  Right now, I participate in Top Ten Tuesday, as well as Coffee Talk, which is basically where I just talk about something non-book related within my life.  Personally, I love getting to know the person behind the blog!

Where do you see your blog in five years?

Hopefully still going strong!  It's not like I'm going to stop reading within the next five years (or ever!), so why not blog along the way?

Which is your favourite post you have written that you want everyone to read?

This review (I loved this book!) or this coffee talk (which is an important part of who I am).

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?

Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy.  Seriously, she is just 100% amazing.  Or Cassandra Clare.  I follow her Tumblr and she seems like one of the most interesting people ever.

What literary location would you most like to visit?

The London Institute.  Or just St. Petersburg, Russia.  Yes, I'm cheating on that one, but I have just always wanted to go to Russia.

What is your favourite book blogging community?  Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming year?

The people!  You are all so amazing and wonderful and downright spectacular!  As for the second question, ask me again a year from now, when I'm not such a newbie.

Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging?  How?

Not yet, but I read a wide variety of books anyways.  I read mostly YA books, but I've also been into adult paranormal romance for about a year now.  I'm even trying to tackle some classics (A Tale of Two Cities is my current challenge).  I am truly open to reading anything!

I LOVE AIRCHAIR BEA ALREADY!

Leave me a comment below so that I can check out your blog!  I have to go run some errands, but when I return, I am going to do some blog browsing myself!  :-)

Much love, Samantha