Armchair BEA - Introductions

It's my first time taking part in Armchair BEA. Unfortunately living in Nottingham means that New York City and the amazingness that the BEA seems to be is very far away from me. But thankfully the internet is amazing and we can all connect anyway! About a week ago they posted a list of introductory questions, of which they recommended to pick five, so that's what I have done. Find the list here, in case you haven't found it yet.


Perhaps the most obvious one:
Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from? 

I'm Juliane, Juli for short, and I'm half-Dutch, half-German and currently living in the UK. I've been seriously blogging for almost 3.5 years now. I always loved the idea of blogging but somehow didn't seem to have enough motivation for it. Then an English Lit teacher suggested to the class we start a book blog and rather than following the assignments she set I fell absolutely in love with the book blogosphere and I haven't left since. I'm currently blogging from Nottingham, where I'm studying English Literature which makes for great blogging stuff every once in a while!

What genre do you read the most? I love to read because ___________________ . 
The Classics Club

Perhaps this doesn't really count as a genre but I spend most of my time reading Classics. It's partially because I am studying English Lit at the moment and most of the reading lists include a lot of classics, but I also simply love reading books that have survived the years. Because of this I'm also a part of The Classics Club. There is something really special about most of them, although there's also a lot of them (such as most of Dickens' novels) which I simply don't enjoy. 


I also tend to read a lot of Fantasy. I blame my childhood, which I largely spent making up stories and then acting them out. I am a sucker for some good world building and if there's dragons and magic I'm bound to fall in love with your book! It goes without saying I absolutely The Lord of the Rings

Share your favorite book or reading related quote. 


“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” - Charles William Eliot

Although it might seem a slightly stuffy quote, and I'm not quite sure it's my favourite since there are so many amazing quotes out there, I love the idea of it. Books really are the best way to learn about all the things in the world you might never see. Books are always there for you and you can always revisit them.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 books would you bring? Why? What 3 non-book items would you bring? Why?

I feel like saying I would bring How To Get of a Deserted Island would be cheating, so I think I would bring Pride & Prejudice, Shakespeare's Collected Plays (is that cheating as well?) and The Lord of the Rings. It feels like a good mix of books to me and then when I go crazy because I'm alone on an island I could stage Shakespeare plays, all characters played by me. 


Next to that I would bring matches, a tent and maybe seeds so I could plant my own vegetable garden? The only thing preventing this scenario from being ideal is the restriction to three books. If I could have unlimited access to books then I'd love to be alone on a deserted island with a tent, vegetables and never ending time to read to my heart's content.

and finally:
What book would you love to see as a movie?

I think the question should be what movie wouldn't I want to see as a movie. Although, there are definitely instances where the director and script writer just completely lost the message and feel of a book. I remember seeing The Neverending Story and being incredibly upset because they had changed the luck dragon into something that looked like a massive wet Dachshund! I would really like to see The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon being made into movies. Zafon himself once wrote scripts so who knows, maybe we will!

I also just posted by thoughts on today's second theme, literature and how I personally define it.

That's it for my five introductory questions! Leave a link to your questions in the comments, can't wait to meet everyone! :)

Comments

  1. Oohhhh, The Shadow of the Wind has so much potential for an awesome movie!! I loved that book and I really need to get to the others in the series.

    I don't read as many classics as I would like, but I do try to read at least one a year. This year, I discovered Wilkie Collins and fell in love! I can't wait to read more!!

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    1. I have Collins' 'The Moonstone' waiting for me on my TBR list, can't wait to get to it!

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  2. A Shadow of the Wind fan? Fabulous! I adore that book. And you're right. In the hands of the right screenwriter and director, it would be an amazing adaptation.

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  3. No shame in Classics love! That is where my heart lies as well.

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  4. Hi from brummie land! Am taking part in abea too. am sure i have read Shadow but cant remember it..

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  5. LOL! We both though of survival guide type things for that deserted island question. Hilarious. And thanks so much for the shout out to the Classics Club. I did the same. :) Welcome to Armchair BEA! This is my third or fourth year, I can't remember. I always meet some really cool & interesting people.

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    1. Having just survived my first Twitter party I can definitely say ABEA is amazing!

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  6. Classics are amazing, having stood the test of time. I don't read them very often, probably because I read a lot of them during college....but I still have some favorites that I hope to reread someday. Thanks for visiting my blog, and enjoy the week.

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    1. Having to read them in college does sometimes spoil the reading pleasure but being able to visit them again later and maybe understand them better is also a gift!

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  7. Oh, I read loads of fantasy, and while I don't read many classics these days, I did major in English lit, so I know them and LOVE them. I have an entire bookshelf devoted to Norton Anthologies that I refused to sell back to the booksellers ;) Great to meet you, Juli!

    Jessica @ Rabid Reads

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    1. I am also slowly but surely collecting Norton Anthologies! I'm thinking about starting to use them as weights in the gym!

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  8. Ohhhh, yeah, Shadow of the Wind would be a good one! I just read it a few months ago and LOVED it so much. What a wonderful book!

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  9. Great learning more about you Juli.

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  10. Classics were never my strong suit except for Pride and Prejudice. Must be the Colin Firth wet-shirt image. XD

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  11. Even though the Neverending Story had a wet dog dragon, I still think they did a pretty good job considering the technology of the day! That movie still creeps me out. :-)
    --Brenda @DailyMayo

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  12. Lovely getting to know you better Juli via this post.
    Happy Armchair BEA :-)

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  13. So nice to get to know you better, Juli! Studying English Lit sounds like so much fun! Although I love reading and literature and loved my high school English classes, my college major was Chemical Engineering, so there was no literature past my required freshman lit class!

    I'm with you - a desert island with plenty of books sounds like heaven!

    Sue

    2014 Big Book Summer Challenge

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  14. I'm really looking forward to making some headway on my Classics Club list this summer. I love Dickens but I can see he might not be everyone's cup of tea. Have you read Elizabeth Gaskell? I discovered her only after college when I was traveling in England and bought a paperback copy of Wives and Daughters, which is wonderful. Enjoy Armchair BEA!
    Visit my blog at Emerald City Book Review

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  15. Really cool that your started your blog as a sort of class assignment. You must have had an awesome teacher. So youre actually studying English Lit in England? That is epic. I think when it comes to the classics, there's something for everyone, and everyone has at least one they can't stand. And Dickens was paid by the word, so I can see how his writing can put some people off. I don't think the quote is stuffy. :)

    "and then when I go crazy because I'm alone on an island I could stage Shakespeare plays, all characters played by me." - now that's planning ahead!

    I agree. Every book should be turned into a movie. That way I could see all of my favorite stories come to life. I'm pretty forgiving about adaptations - I enjoy seeing the scenes they get right, and kind of just disregard the others.

    My Armchair BEA Day 1 Post.

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  16. Oh, I also like the idea of bringing a survival guide onto the island. Hmm, why didn't I think to bring Shakespeare too? I'm bringing War & Peace, but only because I don't think I'll ever finish it. :)

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