Portobello Book Blog

I’m really pleased to welcome Sarah as my Blogger in the Spotlight today. Sarah was one of the first bloggers I discovered when I started and she has been so helpful and encouraging to me. You can find her award-winning blog here: https://bytheletterbookreviews.wordpress.com/

Thanks for agreeing to be part of my Blogger in the Spotlight feature. First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?

Many thanks Joanne for having me on your blog today as part of your Blogger in the Spotlight feature, am very honoured to be asked and to be able to take part. My name is Sarah, I am a wife, a mother of two children and I also have a small carpet shop which I run on my own as my husband does all the measuring and fitting. Originally born in Durham, I have lived in a few different parts of England and Scotland but after meeting my husband I am now settled down and living in Leeds. My biggest love apart from my family has to be books.

What books/authors did you enjoy as a child?

As a child the first book that always comes to mind as one of the first I can ever remember reading is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As I grew older an obvious author is Enid Blyton, I loved all of her books and am pretty sure I read everyone of them. I also loved Judy Blume and Sue Townsend and later on in my teens it had to be Stephen King.

What made you want to start blogging?

I have to admit I had never really taken much notice of blogs in the past but after joining an on line book club I started to notice many posts by bloggers with links to their blogs and their book reviews. Also I don’t think I had really ever given much thought to how important reviews are to authors. I had always given a star rating to books on Goodreads but never really wrote an actual review. Being part of the club and seeing so many great blogs and how talented a lot of the bloggers are and over all really enjoying their honest reviews, I thought it would be good idea to set up a blog of my own so I could share my love of reading as well as my thoughts with other readers.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

There are lots of reasons why I enjoy blogging. Being part of the whole blogging environment is brilliant. Bloggers are some of the nicest bunch of people you can come across. They are really supportive and I have made some great friends in the short time that I have been doing it. From blogging I have been approached by authors who I would probably never have come across and whose books I would sadly have never read. There is so much talent out there and I love that with my blog I can hopefully help get their book noticed by a wider audience.

Tell me about your blog – sell yourself

My blog is called bytheletterbookreviews. I read a variety of books so hopefully readers of most genres will find books on my blog that they are interested in or maybe already read. The only books I sadly don’t really read is Sci-Fi and some fanatsy. I read a lot and I mean a lot, so you will certainly see plenty of posts from me each week. My reviews are entirely honest and there are plenty of books in the archives for everyone if your needing help choosing your next read. 

What’s your favourite book you’ve reviewed so far this year? Or favourite three if you really can’t choose.

This is really a tough one as I have read so many great books this year and it is really hard to pin it down to one or even three for that matter. I will go with the ones that first spring to mind. In no particular order:

Out of the darkness by Katy Hogan

An Impossible Dilemma by Netta Newbound

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

What are you reading just now?

At the moment I am reading One by One by a new author to me Robert Enright.

Tell me about your reading habits:  book or kindle, bed or bath, morning or evening?

Having sworn that I would never use a kindle, my husband bought me one as a Christmas present and I have been hooked to it ever since. I still read the odd physical book but I admit to being totally in love with my kindle and it goes absolutely everywhere with me. As for my reading habits I literally read whenever I can. If the shops quiet I will utilise my time by reading, when I’m at home when all the house chores are done I will seat and read now rather than watch television though will admit to still watching my soaps. I also go to bed about nine and then will spend an hour to maybe three hours also reading. As you can probably tell I am a bit of a book addict which, for anyone that has seen my Goodreads challenge and seen how many books I have read so far this year may want to send me to a rehab for book addiction!

How can people follow your blog or connect with you on social media?

People can follow me on my blog,  https://bytheletterbookreviews.wordpress.com/on there you will find links to the blogs Facebook page, Twitter, Bloglovin and also Pinterest.

And finally, if you could be a character in any book you have read, who would it be and why?

This is another tough one as there is so many great characters that I would love to be. The one that always comes to mind though is Hermoine from Harry Potter. I mean how cool would it be to go to Hogwarts and to be able to put spells on people? I loved the books as well as the films and it’s the type of story that never grows old and I could re read and watch the films again and again and again.