Introduction from My Armchair

Apparently in the book world there is this big thing happening this weekend called BEA (Book Expo America). Since there are many many book bloggers around the world who can't come to New York to participate in the expo, there is a wonderful thing called Armchair BEA -- "Book bloggers unable to attend the BEA Bloggers Conference or Book Expo America (BEA) in New York City, but would like to ‘meet’ other book bloggers and publishers to discuss books and book blogging can participate in this virtual event."

My intro post was supposed to happen yesterday, but hey better late than never right? :)


Introduction Questions

Tell us a bit about yourself: How long have you been blogging? Where are you from? How did you get into blogging? Hi everyone, I'm proud to be from Michigan all of my life. (As in the State of. Not the University of. Those of you from around here will understand.)

I've been blogging off and on since 2007. My old blog was a mish-mash of things as I tried to find my niche, from my favorite songs to gardening and cooking to random thoughts and life as a new mom. In 2013 I started my part-time job as a youth services parapro at our local library, so I started this here blog to document my storytime plans and other fun things I did. Then April 1st of this year I left the library to stay at home with my kids more, and so my posts have looked a little different recently!


Share your favorite blog post on your blog. (aka written by you!) Ooo this is a toughie. The majority of my posts over the last two years have been storytime plans so they're not all that exciting. But now I have the time to write more in-depth posts, and just in the last week I wrote a mini-series I've called Raising Readers, with literacy tips for preschoolers and babies and some fun pictures of me as a kid.

What is your favorite genre and why? I've gone through seasons of enjoying fantasy (Harry Potter, Eragon) and dystopian YA (Divergent, Legend), but what I fall back on and enjoy the most is historical fiction. See the next question...


What book are you reading right now? I'm in the middle of Lynn Austin's Keepers of the Covenant (Restoration Chronicles #2). This series is set in the ancient middle east, during the time when the Jewish exiles begin to return to Jerusalem. Austin is one of my all-time favorite fiction authors.

Take a picture of your bookshelf and share it with us! :) (#ABEAShelfie) How about my kids' shelves??

Do your kids shelves always look like this too?!

Library Love
Prompt: "Librarians are awesome. Not only are they helpful, they're very fun to talk to and give great recommendations. Show your library some love, and the wonderful men and women that run it. Why is your library fantastic? Got any funny stories? Feature your library on your blog? Do an interview with a librarian?"

I'm probably a little biased, since I got to work in the most beautiful library around for two years.

The main building was built in 1918, and the addition with the children's area came in 2007. It backs up to a river, and my desk faced the giant windows that overlook it.

It was really really hard to leave -- I loved what I did there -- but I came to the realization that my own kids needed me more during this stage of their lives. I can always go back to a library someday, but I can never return to my kids' childhood. In the meantime we're still patrons, though we don't stop in as frequently as the librarians would like. :)


Thanks for stopping by, sorry I arrived late! I hope to blog hop around others who are participating in ABEA this year!