Portobello Book Blog

Today my Blogger in the Spotlight is Karen from My Reading Corner. You can find her blog here: http://myreading-corner.blogspot.co.uk/

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

I’m Karen, I’ve been a legal secretary for over 30 years and blog at http://myreading-corner.blogspot.co.uk/ I’ve always loved reading from childhood and my love of books has continued as an adult. I have a huge home library of books and although I have several bookshelves around the house, it would be lovely to have a dedicated room where I could keep all my books in one place. I mainly read fiction, any non-fiction books on my reading list are likely to be autobiographies. I love travelling, when time and money allow, and over the last ten years have become hooked on cruise holidays, (my friends call me ‘The Cruise Queen’). I love the relaxation they offer and waking up in a different port/country each day.

What books/authors did you enjoy as a child?

I loved Enid Blyton – Famous Five, Secret Seven. The What Katy Did books, Heidi and many others. I’m not sure where my love of books came from as neither of my parents read a huge amount. My earliest book memory is playing with my collection of the Ladybird books. Sadly I no longer have any of my early childhood books, these have been lost over the years. I then went on to read Agatha Christie and I can credit Agatha for giving me a lifelong love of crime stories. I still have the entire set of Agatha Christie books in my loft, I think there were over 70 of them. They are now about 40 years old but I will never part with them.

What made you want to start blogging?

I had been posting book reviews on various sites for some time and in 2013 decided that I would like to have all my reviews in one place and under my control. I hope that my reviews are fair and honest. I won’t post negative reviews on my blog, it has always been my intention to only blog about books that I enjoy and want to recommend to others.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

I love being able to recommend books to others and perhaps introduce someone to a new author. The biggest thrill for me is when someone tells me that they have a bought a book after reading my review.

Tell me about your blog – sell yourself!

Oh no, I’ve never been good at self-promotion! I believe that I have a wide reading interest in genres. My blog has a mixture of crime, psychological thrillers, romantic comedy, historical fiction, and women’s/male contemporary fiction. I hope that whatever someone’s reading taste they would find something of interest amongst my reviews.

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

I hate this question. I have read so many fabulous reads this year and it so difficult to choose three let alone one. Oh well, here goes – in no particular order, A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale, Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey and most recently The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies. At the end of each year on my blog I draw up a list of my favourite books and I have already compiled a list of those likely to be included.

What are you reading just now?

I have a couple of books on the go. Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly MacMillan and The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley.

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

I read both paper books and Kindle reads. I have quite a long daily train commute to work so most of my daily reading is done then. I also read in the evening and always try to read a few chapters in bed at night. I never read in the bath, I’m so clumsy, I would be likely to drop the book or Kindle in the water.

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

This is my blog page http://myreading-corner.blogspot.co.uk/. I’m on Twitter as @karendennise. I also have a blog Facebook page where I post links to reviews, book promotions, giveaways and other bookish things – https://www.facebook.com/myreadingcornerblog and I’m on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1119019-karen

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

This is such a difficult question. Although I’m not yet old enough (!), I think I would like to be Miss Marple. I quite like the idea of people dismissing me as just a nosy eccentric old lady, but not realising that actually I’ve got my beady eyes on them.