Puss Reboots: Blog: September 2011: BBAW: Interview with Glorified Love Letters

BBAW: Interview with Glorified Love Letters: 09/12/11

1) How did you get into book blogging?

The entertainment site Pajiba started this challenge called the "Cannonball Read," in which the participants aim to read and review a certain amount of books within a year (the longer explanation for which can be found here). When I first started reviewing in late 2009, the goal was 52 books, and I made it to a soul-crushing 51. So this round, I'm aiming for 53. A Baker's Cannonball, if you will.

I wanted to participate because I felt like it would make me a better writer to more seriously consider the books I was reading, and also, the challenge would just get me to read more books overall. I feel a certain responsibility to give each book a honest shake because it's what I would want if it were my own book. Not every review is positive, of course, but I still think I'm fair with any critiques I have. I have no patience for people who just want to turn reviews into intellectual snark-and-wank-fests.

2) Which blog post best represents your blog as a whole?

It used to be that I talked about music more often than books, and now the books have taken over for the most part. I suppose where they intersected in the most me-like way is when I interviewed Tony McCarroll, the first drummer from Oasis. He has a book about his days with the band called THE TRUTH.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an unabashed devotee to Oasis' music, and in particular, anything that Noel Gallagher writes or sings. That's not to take away from Liam Gallagher's talents, of course, but Noel's where it's at for me. The review/interview is probably one of the longer posts on my site (I want to say it clocked in at around 4000 words), but I really wanted to get it right and to be honest with my thoughts. I was tough on him, but I don't think I was out of line.

3) What is "music commentary?"

I don't talk about music in an overtly intellectual way. When I talk about what I like, it is an emotional response. I am all about owning up to your tastes, and I don't really believe in "guilty pleasures." So when I talk about music, it usually happens in two ways:

I relate it to my personal life and how the song coincides with some notable moment in my history.
I gush about whatever bits make all the right parts of my brain light up, and usually that makes me want to get to work on my own writing.

My "music commentary" is basically a hybrid of analyzation and personal essay. I don't labor over it too much — What you read on the site hasn't undergone a lot of editing. That can be good and bad, but it's honest.

4) What is/are your favorite genre(s) and why?

I'm mainly a literary fiction gal. Love, lust and loneliness are what I respond to the most. I've read a lot of memoirs, and I read some graphic novels and a few other things. I'm not really into reading sci-fi or fantasy (with some exceptions, of course), which is strange, since I'll watch it in movie/TV-form all the time. I suppose if someone wrote a really good novel about Captain Jack Harkness from Torchwood, I'd be ALL over it, ha!

I'm interested in people — how they tic, their bad behavior, the way they love. Write interesting people, and I'm interested in reading.

5) How has book blogging influenced the way you read?

I read a lot more current books, and I'm a bit more widely read than I used to be. Since I took up this reviewing venture, publishers have been kind enough to send me many books. I don't love everything they send, of course, but there have been some fantastic gems.

Usually, my habit is to binge out on authors. I latch onto a new one and exhaust the back catalog before I can really move on. I'm fighting the urge to do this with David Mitchell and Tessa Hadley for the moment because I have so many other books I'd like to get to first.

6) What was your favorite read this year?

Without a doubt, EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL BEGAN AFTER by Simon Van Booy. I loved it. It is everything I could ask for in a novel, really. Love, lust, and loneliness — and excellent writing. I cannot speak highly enough of it. I'm also trying to not binge out on his other books until I get further into my to-read pile.

Honorable Mention goes to JUST KIDS by Patti Smith. That woman is a legend, and she wrote such a beautiful book about a great period in her life. She deserves all the accolades she's received for it. I hope she writes another.

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BBAW: Interview with Glorified Love Letters: 09/12/11