Thursday, 3 September 2015
REVIEWER IN THE SPOTLIGHT
I am thrilled to welcome fellow book blogger and a fab Brook Cottage Books tour host - Anne Williams. Lets find out more about Anne and her blog.
What is your blog
called?
Being Anne
How did you come up
with the name?
I really agonised over
it. I didn’t want “book” or “reading” in the name, because I originally wanted
to make it more about what it was to be me, and not just book reviews. So I had
the name - Being Anne. And the blog is almost totally book related, and will
probably always stay that way. You live and learn!
What sort of books do
you review?
Anything and everything!
Well, nearly everything. I really enjoy women's contemporary fiction/popular
fiction, well-written chick lit and light romance, literary fiction, some
historical fiction (especially dual time or time slip, but not about kings and
queens!), and love a good psychological or crime thriller. I don’t read
anything about vampires/werewolves/the undead, formula romance, or what I think
of as man’s fiction (spies, war, cowboys...). I also very rarely read YA, new
adult or erotica. My most favourite thing of all is discovering new authors yet
to make their mark and help bring them to people’s attention.
Do you take part in
tours?
Yes, I do - I’ve been
touring for a good while now for some major publishers and a few smaller ones,
in addition to touring with Brook Cottage Books when the right book catches my
eye. I like running interviews (I write the questions separately for each
author) and have had some excellent guest posts over the years, and will do
straight promo if it’s a book I like the look of. But if I can manage it, I do
love reviewing most of all.
Why did you decide to
start a blog?
I’ve reviewed books for
years on various sites - I’m a Top 500 reviewer on Amazon, and I just want to
let people know about the books I’ve loved. Nothing gives me more pleasure than
an author tweeting their delight about a review, or a follower telling me
they’ve bought a book because they trust my recommendations.
List 3 great books
you have read lately
That’s such a difficult
question - I only read “great books”, because if I don’t like them I always
give up at 100 pages because life’s too short to read a bad book! I think my
favourite book this year is Letters To The Lost by Iona Grey. So many others I
loved, but if I have to pick two I’d really recommend Summertime by Vanessa
Lafaye and The Rest Of My Life by Sheryl Browne.
How many books are on
your TBR pile?
If I say this quickly,
it doesn’t sound as bad - over 2300, equally split between shelves and Kindle
library. It’d be so awful to have nothing to read, wouldn’t it?
How many books do you
read a week?
It varies a lot - I do
try and have a life too! Usually three or four…
List 3 interesting
facts about you.
Although a cat features
in the side-bar of my blog, I don’t have one of my own - but my neighbour’s 22
year old cat, Wally, spends his afternoons on my lap while I read.
I love my holidays. In
the last ten years I’ve travelled solo to both coasts of the USA, Canada,
China, Peru, Cuba, South Africa, Thailand, Cambodia And Vietnam - as well as a
few holidays in Goa with a friend. In October I’m off to Chile, Argentina and
Brazil.
Although I’ve lived in
Wetherby in Yorkshire for 25 years, and think of it as home, I’m actually from
Wales (near Bangor) - and yes, I do speak Welsh!
Tell us where we can
find your blog
My Twitter name is
@Williams13Anne, my Goodreads profile is https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2464996-anne and I’m also on Instagram as
anne.williams13.
My email details can be found on Being Anne, as can my
reviewing policy.
Cheers, Anne x
Thanks so much to Anne for taking the time to answer my interview questions. If you also want to be a Brook Cottage Books tour host then please email me at brookbooks@hotmail.co.uk
Great to find out a little more about you, Anne, and I love the fact the neighbour's cat spends time with you while you read :-)
Thank you for reading and reviewing, too - it really does make a huge difference.
I loved reading this Anne. I am in awe of your TBR pile and your travelling! Thank you so much for mentioning Letters to the Lost, and for your wonderful reviews. Keep reading! Xx
Anne, your review of The Rest of My Life totally, utterly delighted me - as do your reviews for others. I do tend to buy when I read a good honest review (my weakness. What can I say?). Your are responsible for my holiday reading! I got through four!!!! books - and loved them all. Ooops, I must post some reviews of my own. I'm thinking I might need a longer holiday to tackle your tbr list however. Eeek!
Thanks for sharing Anne, JB. :) xx