BBAW Interview

As many of you know, this week is Book Blogger appreciation week. In celebration of that, many book bloggers have been interviewing one another and getting to know each other a little bit better. I had the pleasure of swapping interviews with Justice Jennifer Reads. What follows are her questions and my answers. Mostly, I was curious to know what drives her to blogging about the books that she reads and what makes her feel passionately about reading. Anyway, you can check out her answers here:

Q: I'm curious to know why you started blogging about books. What motivated or inspired you to do that?

A: It's not a super exciting story. One of my favorite authors, Megan McCafferty was advertising some positive reviews of her newest book, Perfect Fifths, and I was clicking around and checking them out. Needless to say I came around some awesome blog. After seeing Julie and Julia, I was becoming really interested in the world of blogging and books seemed like the perfect thing for me to blog about. I LOVE READING and this community just encourages that passion so much.


Q: How did you choose your blog name?

Justice Jennifer is a screen name I have been using for a while now. It all started when I was a senior in high school and became absolutely enamored and obsessed with the Supreme Court. We had a week where we learned about all the Justices. I immediately fell in love with the idea of becoming a judge and studying and interpreting the law. Since then, I've partially given up on my dream of becoming a lawyer in favor of becoming a teacher or going into publishing or journalism (there are so many things an English major can do!) Still, the screen name Justice Jennifer stuck. I loved the sound of it. Plus, it wasn't totally obscure and embarrassing so I created Justice Jennifer Reads - since the blog is about what I read.

Carrie: I found this answer fun, especially because I went to law school for a year myself. And I agree that Justice Jennifer has a particular ring to it!

Q: On average, how many books a month would you say that you find the time to read?

A: It all depends on the time of year. When school is in session, I'm lucky if I can finish a book a week. I do a lot of reading for my classes - I'm an English major, political science minor so I'd say that during the school year I read between 3 to 5 books a month. During the summer, I probably read twice as much so I'd say between 6 and 10 books a month. Still, this all depends on what is going on in my life. There are some really busy times in the year where it's really difficult for me to find any time for reading.

Q: I think a person's favorite book is very telling in who they are as a person. So, no pressure or anything, but what is your favorite book, or author?

A: My favorite author is Margaret Atwood. Her books are really thought provoking and incredibly well written. I've read many in my classes at school and a few on my own and I've loved every single one. Favorite book though? I'm not sure I have an answer for that one. I always feel like I don't have enough reading experience to answer this question accurately. That's a total cop out I know, but I'm going to stick with that for an answer for now.

Q: I noticed you keep a grading system for your books (e.g., A, B, B+). I have yet to start a grading system on my site and so I'm particularly curious as to why you decided to do that and what type of book would receive an A+ rating from you?

A: When I read book reviews or movie reviews I love that they have a rating system of some sort. I don't skip the review and go straight to the rating, but I do enjoy having a rating to sum up the reviewer's thoughts. I'm not very creative so I decided to go with a grading system. Exactly what grade a book gets is extremely subjective. I am usually really generous when grading a book because I know that what might be a horrible book to me will be a great book to someone else. So although I have a grading system I wouldn't say that it is the grade that matters in my reviews - it's the process I take to get to that grade (the discussion, the quotes, the comments, ect.).

Q: What is your fundamental motivation to read?

A: I enjoy reading. At the end of the day, I look forward to delving into the magical world that books provide. It's a wonderful escape and it helps me slow down after a hectic day. I couldn't imagine my life without reading as a major staple.

Thank you, Justice Jennifer, for answering my questions.

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You can see my answers to her questions by visiting her site.

Also, yesterday I was interviewed by Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers on the subject of being a home schooled graduate. Curious? You can read that interview HERE.