It’s time!! Book Blogger Appreciation Week is back, and it’s finally time to dive into the festivities!
Day 1: Introduce yourself by telling us about five books that represent you as a person or your interests/lifestyle.
First off, let me take a quick moment to say hello! I’m Amanda, and I’ve been blogging now for eight years (as of yesterday!). I’m the sort of person who takes a prompt like today’s as a challenge, and I will attempt to tell you all about me and my interests using just five books!
1. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: I read adult books and love fantasy, especially when it involves heavy character development, great world-building, lots of philosophy, and dynamic friendships. Additionally, I’m a writer who discovered Sanderson through National Novel Writing Month. As an author, he speaks about writing the same way I think of it, and does the same sort of cross-book referencing that I do, which I love! Furthermore, I’m interested in theology and psychology (especially related to trauma), both explored in the Mistborn series.
2. The Painted Veil by William Somerset Maugham: Classics are my first love and what drew me into bookwormhood. This one is filled with some of my favorites: travel, world cultures, self-discovery, theology, and psychology. Plus, I feel deeply connected to a very Slytherin-like character, as I am a fellow Slytherin!
3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: I also love to read YA, especially when there are fantasy elements involved. I’ve always enjoyed occult-related things, and have been reading tarot since long before I discovered this series. Plus, this is a book I became obsessed with, and read many times in a row (something I’ve termed “multi-reading,” and which appeals to me greatly!).
4. All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior: Only about 10% of my reading is made up of nonfiction, but I still enjoy it in moderate quantities. I especially like nonfiction I can related to on a personal level, like this psychological and sociological look at the struggles of modern parenthood. Being a mother of three and stay at home mom who couldn’t be further from the norm in either of those roles, I particularly connected with this book.
5. Firstborn by Lorie Ann Grover: Last but not least, I love to read books related to gender and sexuality. Being bisexual and agender myself makes both of these topics of particular interest to me, in addition to having many friends and family all along the gender/sexuality spectrum. I’ve been an LGBTQ-rights activist for most of my life, and used to run the LGBTQ reading challenge, back when reading challenges were a thing.
There you have it…and let’s just hope the rest of this week’s posts will be a bit more concise!! Ha! I’m a talker…
The Zen Leaf 
The Raven Boys is the only one I knew would be on this list, after reading your blog for 8 years!
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I think it was pretty obvious, haha!
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I really liked the Raven Boys too. I raced through that series.
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I can’t wait for the fourth to come out!
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The Painted Veil is so good!
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So very good!
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LOVED The Painted Veil! I just read it in January, I think. Did you approve of the film adaption?
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I enjoyed it. It was different, of course, but I did like it. Of course, when I saw it, I thought it had cut off the ending I remembered. Then I went back and reread the book and discovered I remember an end that was completely not the end…
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The Raven Boys! I am positively salivating for the conclusion.
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Me too!!!
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I have never heard of Firstborn before, I’m intrigued. I chose Transister Radio for a book club, such amazing discussion, you should check it out.
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Ooh, thanks for the suggestion!
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I really want to read The Raven Boys. So many have praised it and the whole series. And even though my daughter is grown, I want to read All Joy and No Fun. Parenting these days seems so much more intense. Enjoyed your list!
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All Joy is a fantastic read even after parenting is up, I think, because it’s more a look at the parents than the parenting. Really great read!
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Wonderful list Amanda! Belated Happy Bloggy-Birthday for yesterday! 🙂
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Thansk Darren! Happy to see you. 🙂
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I loved Mistborn but still haven’t read the others in the series. Also loved Painted Veil. I’ve been away from blogging for a while but it’s fun to visit your blog again!
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The rest of the series is so very good! And as I said on your blog yesterday, it’s sooooo good to see you again! *hugs*
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Argh the Raven Boys, I am dying of wanting the final book to come out. April still seems so far away! And hey, happy belated blogging birthday!!
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I KNOW!!!!! I wish it had been last fall still, the anticipation is killing me!
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Yep. These seem right for you. 🙂
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Ha! 😀 You know me well.
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Hi Amanda, I’m Michelle! 🙂
I couldn’t imagine more perfect books to describe you. On a different note, I adore The Painted Veil too!
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Hi Michelle! Nice to meet you! (hahahahah!)
The Painted Veil is one of my very favorites of all time. And despite the fact that he’s kinda a monster, I adore Walter…
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Raven Boys!!! <3<3<3
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Yes yes yes!!
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I knew Sanderson and Stiefvater would be on your list! And to think, you and I used to talk about how you weren’t big on fantasy, way back in the day. 🙂
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I know! I was crazy back then, or just hadn’t been introduced to the right things. I credit both Diana Wynne Jones and Brandon Sanderson for converting me!
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Ahh, I still haven’t read The Raven Boys! I need to do that at some point.
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It is sooooo good and the audio version is fantastic!
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All Joy and No Fun was such a validating book for me. I hope the author writes another book parenting book that isn’t a parenting book (if you know what I mean). Great list!
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Agreed! I can’t wait to see what she writes next, even if it’s NOT about parenting.
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I could really relate to the baby and toddler sections of All Joy and No Fun–how does the adolescent section fit with life with teenage boys? I’m thinking I’ll need to revisit the book again in a few years!
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The adolescent and preteen sections were SPOT ON and they helped me to understand a lot about why I was having conflicts with my oldest son and with Jason, especially as I grew up NOT in a middle class family and the conflicts I experience now were unheard of in my fairly poor family growing up. I became a much more flexible and fluid parent after reading this, and it’s helped in those relationships a lot.
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I’m childless, but I still want to read All Joy and No Fun! I think it would help me continue to weigh the question of whether I want to eventually bring kids into the picture. 🙂
Also, knew Mistborn and Raven Boys would be on here! 😀
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That is a REALLY fantastic idea. I wish I’d had a book to read to give me perspective before having kids!
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