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: 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!
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!
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