Tuesday 28 May 2013

Armchair BEA: Introductions


I participated in Armchair BEA last year and had a great time, so I'm looking forward to this year's event.  Happily, it coincides with a week off work for me, so I should have lots of time to post and meet new bloggers.  The task for today is to introduce ourselves.

(I'm the girl!)

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? 

My name is Sam, I'm 27 and I live in the UK.  I work as a primary school teacher and I've been blogging for almost three years.  I've always loved to read and I was getting to a point in my life where my job was starting to completely take over and I needed to do something unrelated, just for me.  Book blogging seemed like a natural choice and in the last three years I've met some great people and never regretted starting.

Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location. Feel free to share pictures. 

My husband and I just bought our first house, in Brentwood.  It's a great place but unfortunately it's known for being the home of The Only Way is Essex, an extremely tacky reality TV show!  It has a bit of a cult following and every Saturday night the town is full of Notherners who have come down for the 'Essex experience'; spray tan, blonde extensions and clubbing in the Sugar Hut.   We live in the more rural part, and this is five minutes walk from our back garden:


What literary location would you most like to visit? Why? 

I'd love to visit Haworth, home of the Brontes.  As far as classics go, the Brontes are my favourites with Villette probably being my favourite book, EVER.  I WILL make this visit happen one day!

What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? 

Definitely connecting with other bloggers.  I love getting recommendations of new books to read and seeing what people make of my reviews, but the best part is just meeting lots of new people, who like books just as much as I do!  Ever since I've been on Twitter, I've got to know my blogging buddies a lot better :)

Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I wish I had an obscure talent or wild past to reveal, but sadly I am extremely ordinary.  I dream of packing up everything and moving to New Orleans, where my husband and I had the most amazing honeymoon two years ago.  We could open up a little bookshop / cafe in the French Quarter and soak up the atmosphere....

Link me to your posts!

30 comments:

  1. I love connecting with other book bloggers too - the community is so welcoming!

    Tanya Patrice
    Girlxoxo.com

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    1. That's true, every one I have come across so far has been friendly and welcoming.

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  2. Well I am at the opposite end of the world and I'm a primary school teacher too! I read and blog to de stress, so the reading isn't heavy and the blogging is as I can fit it in!

    I am looking forward to visiting many blogs over the next few days from my armchair!

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    1. I wonder how your job is different to mine? I think we share trying to blog whenever we can fit it in!

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  3. Hi Sam! You live in a lovely place! That's a really pretty picture. :) I used to live in a suburb of New Orleans, before moving to Utah. I can't say I love it there as much as you did, but I'm very glad you enjoyed your time there! I can agree that the French Quarter is fun, especially Cafe Du Monde, with those amazing beignets. Hope you have fun this week! Yay for time off work!

    - Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl

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    1. It is a lovely place to live, great for walks and bike rides :)
      I think I loved New Orleans so much as it is so completely different from the English countryside!

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  4. That looks lovely! I wish I had something like that at a 5 minute walk from my place!
    And Twitter is awesome, I love how much more connected I feel to everyone because of it! You're right, it's a good place to get to know other bloggers better.
    Having your own little bookshop sounds kinda perfect :)

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    1. It's nice, I don't take advantage of the countryside often enough!
      You can come and work in my bookshop if you get sick of being a doctor :P

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  5. This is my second year doing armchairBEA, I'm so excited. Last year I had only just started blogging and it really helped me get to know the community. This year I hope to meet more people. I already follow your blog, but I wanted to comment and say happy ArmchairBEA week

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    1. It is a great event, I met lots of new bloggers last time (I think that's when I started following your blog?)

      Happy ABEA!

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  6. Oh man, I caught a snippet of 'The Only Way is Essex', it must be horrific to see that madness on a regular basis! But wow, that picture that's only 5 minutes from where you live? More than makes up for all the spray tan and extensions!!

    Looking forward to the rest of your posts.

    my intro post

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    1. It's an awful show, truly. We avoid going into town on Sat nights!

      Happy ABEA :)

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  7. I'm so glad that you pointed out that you were the girl. If you had said that you were the one wearing glasses I would have been so confused ;)

    I'm so wicked jealous of anyone who lives in the UK. Why? I'm not quite sure. Maybe America feels too NEW to me. I'm an old soul ;)

    That photo is gorgeous!

    Nice to learn more about you my dear, happy BEA!

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    1. Haha, there have been times where I've put on the wrong glasses as I am BLIND AS A BAT without them!

      I loved America when I visited, I could have stayed for so much longer :)

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  8. How did I miss this? Every year! I'm signing up (late) now!

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    1. I only signed up yesterday, I was late to the party too :P

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  9. Hi Sam! My dream is to open my own bookshop as well. You live in a beautiful place. I love England.

    Kendal
    Kinx's Book Nook
    http://www.kinxsbooknook.com/armchair-bea-day-1-introductions-classics/

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    1. I think a lot of us have a secret dream to open a bookshop, think of the amount of books we'd be able to buy then :)

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  10. Aaaaagggghhhh! Singing the praises of this post and the fact that you're Armchair BEAing it. Looking forward to whatever else you give us to mentally munch on this week, Sam!

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    1. 'Mentally munch' - what a great phrase! I am going to steal it...

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  11. I love your dream of opening a bookstore in New Orleans! That sounds lovely. Enjoy the week! I'm really looking forward to it!

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    1. It's totally unrealistic, but then dreams are allowed to be :)

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  12. Oh, I also hate tacky reality shows! My friend visited the areas where the Bronte's lived, she said it's beautiful up there. I've only been in the southern part of England, London and south of. Love to go back!

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    1. One day, I will definitely make it to Haworth.

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  13. A bookstore/cafe in New Orleans sounds amazing! Can I be your first customer? :)

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  14. It's very nice to meet you. I've never seen TOWIE but I read quite a few British entertainment sites (I'm a huge Corrie fan) so I've seen all the stars and I can see why you would want to distance yourself from it. Hope you have a lovely Armchair BEA.

    Shan @ Curled Up with a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

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  15. YES! So glad the peer pressure worked.
    Um, living five minutes from that picture is so far from ordinary. And so is having crazy reality TV weirdos poking through your town.

    I totally feel the same way about book blogging being an escape. If this ever starts to feel like a job, I'll know I need to take a detour...because right now it is exactly what I need to help me decompress from all the craziness of work.

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  16. Hello Sam! I taught elementary school (9-11 year olds, in my case) for several years before my kids were born. I can completely understand how the job takes over! Even staying at home with my kids, blogging is my lifeline to the world outside of my short little darlings ;)

    And I love the view from your back garden (or nearly)!

    Have a wonderful week!

    Maria @novalibrarymom.com

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  17. Every picture from the UK I've seen this week has been gorgeous! I wish I had a view like that here. I dream of opening my own bookstore or comic shop too. Maybe one day it'll come true for both of us. :)

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  18. It's lovely to get to know more about you! Youare so pretty, and so is that view you posted *dreams of living in the UK*

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