Portobello Book Blog

I’m very pleased to welcome fellow Scottish blogger Dee-Cee from It’s All About the Books today. I don’t know about you but whenever I see that name I can’t get the Meghan Traynor song out my head! Thanks for agreeing to be part of my Blogger in the Spotlight feature. First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?

Thank so much for having me. My names Dee-Cee and I live in bonny Scotland with my fiancé (we’ve been engaged for 17 years), 3 kids, 3 cats and our new puppy. I’ve always loved books and never go anywhere without my kindle and I even have some books in the boot of the car just in case.

What books/authors did you enjoy as a child?

I remember being read Enid Blyton books when I was very little, my mum or granny would read a chapter every night at bedtime and I loved them. When I was old enough to go to the library by myself I was hooked on The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin then in my teens it was Virginia Andrews.

What made you want to start blogging?

I lost my youngest daughter Lucie (aged 7) in Feb 2014 from a brain tumour and my reading intensified afterwards as a way to escape the grief. I seemed to be ploughing through the books and kept loosing track of what I’d read so decided to start a blog for my reviews, it was really at the time just for myself but I soon realised I wanted to tell everyone about these fabulous books I was reading without boring my non-reader friends which I seemed to be doing often.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

I love being able to tell people about the fabulous books I’m reading, the interaction from other bloggers and authors is great too. It’s really opened up my mind to different genres as well and there’s nothing more exciting than an author or publisher asking if you’d like to read and review their book. I still get goose bumps.

Tell me about your blog – sell yourself!

My blog is called It’s all about the books and I post my reviews and author interviews. I’ve been really lucky in the fact I do a collaboration with Bloodhound Books, it’s fairly new but they have some wonderful authors so I’ll hopefully get the chance to do some more interviews, I’m so nosey I love it. I’m also going to be revamping my blog a bit soon and will hopefully have a few giveaways to hold in the near future.

What’s your favourite book you’ve reviewed in the past year? Or favourite three if you really can’t choose.

Oh gosh that is so hard, there have been so many but off the top of my head and in no particular order,

1 – CXVI the Trilogy by Angie Smith.  Is that cheating? I loved all three books so can’t just pick one.

2 – I See You by Clare Mackintosh

3 – The Theseus Paradox by David Videcette

What are you reading just now? (August 2016)

Just now I’m reading Lazy Blood by Ross Greenwood, I only have about 10% left so will be on to A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart this evening and I’m also listening to Liar Liar by M J Arlidge on Audible.

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

I tend to read mainly in the evenings and I’ll slope off to my bed to hide and try and get some peace. A lot of the time it’s my kindle I read on but I do love physical books. I’ll read anywhere and if I’m totally engrossed in a book I’ll be cooking the dinner with my kindle in my hand. My son plays rugby so when I have to take him to training I always just stay until it finishes and read my book in the car. We’re in the process of changing the playroom since the kids are all a bit older now and my intention is to have it as my library/office/reading room so I’ll have a huge comfy seat to snuggle up in and read hopefully.

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

People can find me at my blog here https://itsallaboutthebooksblog.wordpress.com/

Facebook you can find me at https://www.facebook.com/itsallaboutthebooks2/ and twitter https://twitter.com/DeeCee334 . I’m always dotting about on social media so feel free to say hello J

I’m also on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13890398-dee-cee-it-s-all-about-the-books and Instagram @itsallaboutthebooks but it’s just new so I only have one post on there so far.

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

Oh another tough question an after thinking about it for a couple of days I keep going back to the same character and that’s Matilda. I absolutely loved this book when I was younger and I think I was about 10 or 11 when it came out and I’ve read it to all my kids since. Matilda loves books and has the power of telekinesis, I would love to play practical jokes on people by moving things but knowing me I’d get in a lot of trouble.