Virtual Walking Tour: Serena and Margaret

 

Serena from Saavy Verse and Wit
and
Margaret from BooksPlease

 

Serena

Explain the title of your blog: I toyed with a lot of different names for my blog.

I wanted the blog name to signify its content, which I hoped would be writing, reading, and a bit of humor.

Being a poet, I always loved verse and I love the word Savvy, so all that was left was Wit. It is really not that great of a story to tell. Kind of lame, right?!

How did you get into blogging? Blogging happened for me on a couple of sites a few years ago, mostly personal stuff, but then I noticed I started talking about books more and more.  Then, I moved over to blogger to create a book review site, which started with poems I found in magazines at first and then slowly progressed from there to include poems, short stories, collections in both those genres, fiction of all types, and even some nonfiction.  I've also been known to review an occasional audiobook and local event.

What do you like best about blogging? IWhat I like best about blogging is formulating my thoughts into cohesive paragraphs about books. It keeps my analytical mind fresh, but I also enjoy the communication that goes on when commentators have read the same book or are looking forward to reading a certain book.

The reading challenges and other fun activities and the free books are just a bonus.

What are the five books you would recommend to anyone?
The five books I would recommend to anyone are these:

1. If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O'Brien---this is one of the most eye-opening and harrowing books I've read depicting the Vietnam War and the atrocity of the My Lai massacre. This book will haunt readers.

2. There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury--this is a short story about the aftermath of a nuclear war will stick with readers long after they read it. I read this in middle school or high school, and I've always remembered that robotic house.

3. Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly--this generational novel about Irish immigrants during the potato famine has stuck with me long after reading it and it is the first multigenerational novel that I did not want to end and that I finished in its entirety without being bored.

4. Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which is a collection of poems from this Beat Generation poet. Even while protesting something or shedding light on injustice, these poems have wit and humor.

5. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen--Anyone who knows me should have realized this recommendation was coming. Austen has a subtle way of pointing out the errors in human character and Regency English society, which delights readers. Her female protagonists are strong, but often work within the confines of societal norms and never fail to see the errors of their ways in one way or another. Beyond the romance in this novel, Austen portrays the limitations of society, but within those limitations her characters flourish into independent-minded women.

 

Margaret

Explain the title of your blog: When I was little and was asked what I wanted for a present I always said, “books please”. I still love books as presents and I thought it was quite a good title for a blog, because of that and also because books do please me.

How did you get into blogging? In 2005 I’d been reading Pinkerton’s Sister by Peter Rushforth. I’d loved it and wanted to read more about it. If you love books about books this is well worth the effort of reading its 700 pages. A Google Search led me to Book World’s Blog where Sandra had written a post about it. From there I went to look at the blogs on her blogroll and so I began to read book blogs. Later on I began to want to write one myself mainly to keep a record of what I’d read and what I thought about them.

What do you like best about blogging? I like the immediacy of blogging – I write something and then publish it and it’s there for everyone to see. I like the fact that I have contact with other booklovers in different parts of the world, and feel part of a blogging community. I’ve been surprised at how much I enjoy it. At first I thought I would just write about books but lately I’ve found I love taking photos and regularly take part in “Wordless Wednesday”.

What are the five books that you would recommend to anyone?
This is difficult because I can never decide – there are so many to choose from. If you ask me another day I expect I’d come up with five different books. Here’s today’s choice (in author A-Z order):

• Amazing Grace by Margaret Atwood
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
• The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

 

 

Thanks, Serena and Margaret, for letting me visit with you!