Sunday 24 February 2013

Brook Cottage Books is very proud to have the lovely Kirsty Maclennan from I HEART BOOKS as the featured Reviewer in the Spotlight.
 
 
JB: Tell me a little about your blog
 
Kirsty: I Heart Books is for lovers of Chick Lit, Romance and Adult Reads. It hosts reviews, interviews, guest post and giveaways.


JB: How did you come up with the name for your blog?
Kirsty: I love books; I love how they can change your emotions and take you away to different places, I Heart Books.
JB: What sort of books do you like to read?
Kirsty: I like Chick Lit, Romance, Adult Reads, and Biographies. In all honesty if the blurb sounds interesting I will give it a read.
JB: Why did you decide to blog?
Kirsty: I won a competition last year to meet Lindsey Kelk at a bloggers tea party; it was great meeting Lindsey and everyone else at the afternoon tea. Whilst there I got talking to Amanda (One More Page) and a few weeks later Amanda mentioned on Twitter that she was looking for some guest reviewers to help out whilst she was on holiday. I explained this was something I had never done before but would love to have a go. I had only ever reviewed books on Amazon before so was really nervous typing my first review especially for such an established blog. I kept going back and re-reading it and finally after countless checking I sent it off to Amanda. My first review was for Lucy Lord’s Revelry. I reviewed a couple more books for One More Page and then an author approached me to review her book explaining that One More Page already had a review copy but they wanted me to review it as well, from that request I Heart Books was born.
JB: How long have you been blogging?
Kirsty: I Heart books went live on the 7th of July 2012.
JB: Do you have any other blogs?
Kirsty: No. I used to write a gluten free blog about life as a coeliac, but although this is my everyday life it doesn’t ignite the same passion that books do. My gluten free blog went off line early 2012.
JB: Do you have an all-time favourite book?
Kirsty: There are so many great books out there that I find it hard to pick a favourite. I have many books that I will pick up and re-read. I can tell you that my favourite book as a child was the Jolly Postman, this is the book that I credit with my love of reading and as a teenager I would constantly re-read Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.
JB: What was your favourite book of 2012?
Kirsty: That’s a tricky one. When I was doing my favourites list for I Heart Books at the end of the year, I kept thinking of different books and reasons why I loved them, it took me days to get the list sorted. In the end I managed to get it down to this http://iheartsbooks.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/i-heart-book-favourite-reads-2012/
JB: How many books are on your TBR pile for 2013?
Kirsty: So far my TBR pile comprises of about 15 paperback and 5 kindle reads. I have books on pre-order throughout the year and some books that I’ve already flagged as interested in with the publishers.
JB: Which book on your TBR pile are you most looking forward to reading?
Kirsty: There are so many, I am really excited to read the last in the 666 Park Avenue series by Gabriella Pierce, it’s called ‘The Lost Soul’ and I have been eagerly awaiting it since ‘The Dark Glamour’ ended at such a gripping point. And I know it’s not released yet but I am really looking forward to reading ‘Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns’ by Lauren Weisberger. And of course there are also the new releases by Lindsey Kelk, Belinda Jones, Ellen Sussman, Abby Clements, Scarlett Bailey...... the list is endless.
JB: What book surprised you the most? (In other words what book did you read that was not your usual genre and you found yourself enjoying?)
Kirsty: I read ‘Sworn Secret’ by Amanda Jennings, normally I read books that I class as light hearted, pure escapism or things that I couldn’t imagine happening in real life.’ Sworn Secret’ however is about a family coping with the loss of their daughter, the impact it has on her parents and sister. Something in the blurb gripped me instantly and I am so glad it did. I loved that book and would highly recommend it.
JB: Do you have a favourite author?
Kirsty: As with books I find it hard to pick just one: Lindsey Kelk, Cecelia Ahern, Belinda Jones and authors I discovered in 2012 Abby Clements, Amanda Jennings, Lucy Lord, Nicola Doherty, Rebecca Chance and Scarlett Bailey.
JB: Give 3 book recommendations for the readers of Brook Cottage Books.
Kirsty:
1)      The loveliest book I read in 2012 was ‘French Lessons’ by Ellen Sussman,  It has such beautifully written characters and idyllic descriptions of Paris that I found even when I wasn’t reading it my thoughts strayed to what might happen next.
 
2)      In November 2012 Belinda Jones released ‘Winter Wonderland’, I have been a fan of Belinda’s books for 8 years and I was excited to read ‘Winter Wonderland’ it has such wonderful characters, scenic views and descriptive writing ‘Winter Wonderland’ really is pure escapism.
 
3)      For those with E-Readers I recommend ‘Kismetology’ by Jaimie Admans. Dealing with love and family issues, Kismetology really is a feel good read.

Thank you for featuring me on Brook Cottage Books, I now know what it feels like to be on the other end of the interview process and at times the questions really had me stumped.

Thanks so much to Kirsty for a really interesting interview. I hope everyone will pop over to her blog and check out some great reviews!
Links:
http://iheartsbooks.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @kinks26
Email:  iheartsbooks@gmail.com
 

One Response so far.

  1. Lovely to see this interview JB! Whaat comes through with you both is your love of books and between you, you have inspired so many people to read new authors. You are two amazing ladies! Lxx

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