I’m Kimberly. I’m 21, a student at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and an intern with the Air Force. I am also a hopeless bibliophile. My love for books is what led me to the College Students group on Goodreads, and when the idea of a book blog came up, I jumped at the chance. The opportunity to write about books I’ve read and share it with others? Heck yes! It’s been a great year! I had never blogged before so it was all new to me. I’ve had so much fun sharing what I’ve read with everyone!
Ok, so Jamie gave us a few questions we could choose to answer…
Strangest Encounter While Reading a Book: Ok, I wasn’t actually sitting there reading the book at the time, but I did get a job because of what book I was reading. Or at least it helped me to get my job. I went to interview at a bookstore, a place I’d been dying to work. I was fresh out of high school and needed a job to start saving for college in the fall. When I went for my interview the manager asked me to tell him about a book I was currently reading. I started talking about the book and how much I was enjoying it and why. Turns out that not only was he reading the same book, it was also a book that the store was trying to sell a lot of. (They had a list each month of certain books and the number they needed to sell.) I got the job offer a week later. :) It was a good job too! I worked there for 2 ½ years until I got my full time job with the Air Force. I worked both jobs for a while but school full time, work full time and a part time job as well was just too much.
What is Your Dream Bookish Job?: Ah. This one is easy to answer. Here in Ogden we have the famous Historical 25th street. During WWII and up to about the late 70’s, 25th street was notorious. The Union Pacific Train Station is at the bottom of the street, and it brought in a… unique group. 25th was known for its brothels, bars, and other not-so-pleasant types of shops. There is also a rumor (that is mostly likely true) that there are tunnels running underneath the street. They run under the road from the train station to the old Ben Lomond Hotel (which is haunted, by the way. Cool, huh?). These were most likely used during the Prohibition, although there apparently used to be a lot of opium dens there, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that the tunnels were used for that as well. It was popularly known as “Two-Bit Street” (my Grandparents referred to it that way). The area obtained such a seedy reputation that Al Capone is rumored to have said that Ogden was too wild a town for him.
Now however, the street has been restored. It is lined with buildings that are over a hundred years old mixed in with some newer ones. There are tiny little antique shops, restaurants, a bakery, fudge shop, ice cream, boutiques, art galleries… So many fun things to explore. I could spend hours on that street poking in and out of the various shops. My dream is to buy one of the old buildings that is still sitting empty. I would have it restored so that it looked like it originally did. High ceilings, lots of brick, old fashioned. Just the way I like it. (I’m a history geek, can you tell?) Anyway, I want to buy one of those old buildings and turn it into a used bookstore. You should see these buildings! Most of them are two stories tall from the street, with a basement as well. (And some of them have doors that lead into the store next to them!) It would be perfect for a used bookstore. And working on 25th street? That would be amazing!
How Do You Organize Your Bookshelves?: I used to be super picky about my books. They were organized first by size, then by genre, then by series/author. Then I started running out of room… Now I put them wherever they fit. I still keep all of my series together though. I hate looking for one book and finding the 3rd book in the series and I find the 1st on a different shelf. I’m also picky about the way my books look. I like them to be in as good condition as possible and they all have to be in the same format. I’m picky enough that I have duplicates of my favorite books so I can lend one out and keep the other in good condition. I’m also a huge cover shopper. If I like a different cover more than the one that I own, I buy the other one. So far I’ve bought books from Canada, the UK, and Australia. Oh, and one thing does remain of my pickiness about organizing. All of my B&N special editions sit on the top of my bookshelf. They look pretty. Oh, and just to show how many books I have, every one of those shelves except for the bottom is doubled. So you can actually only see half of my books. I have more too, mostly children's books, that are packed away in a box. (Sorry about the not so great pictures, it was hard to get a picture of my shelves, my dresser is in the way.)
Do any of your friends, family, or significant other share your passion?: Kinda. My mom reads, and several of my friends enjoy reading. (One of them is even a published author! Check out my review for Cupidity.) A few of my cousins read as well. That’s about it though, I’m definitely the biggest book geek in the family. I’m the one they call when they need a new book to read. Or when a movie comes out that is based on a book, they call me and ask if it’s good, because of course… I’ve already read it and probably own it. (Another of my quirks. Can’t see the movie without reading the book.)
Do you have any authors whose books you'd put on an "auto-read" list...no matter what they wrote?:
Not to copy too many of my fellow TB&TB authors, but J.K. Rowling is a must read. No matter what she writes, I will read it (I'm am so excited about this 'Pottermore' thing!! No matter what it ends up being, J.K. is behind it, so I'm all for it!). Maria V. Snyder is another author that I will read anything by. I’ve read everything she’s published and every short story that she’s written and put on her website.
Ok, so here are a few facts about me:
1.I am a Thespian (theatre geek) through and through. (You may remember one of my posts, Where Bookishness and Thespianism Collide) Part of my degree is in theatre. A major part of my music collection consists of show tunes and soundtracks. The musical I was in closed just a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing. It’s called Shelter, it’s an original musical, never been performed before. I was lucky enough to be part of the incredibly talented cast. I was even on live tv with some of my cast mates! We performed a number from the show. It still amazes me to think I was on tv, doing what I love. Singing and dancing. The show was a fundraiser for the homeless in Salt Lake City. And guess what? We raised over $10,000!!!!! We were also in the local newspaper and the host of ‘Showtunes Tonight’ (it’s a radio program that plays Saturday nights and plays showtunes only) anyway the host mentioned our show and put all of the information about our show on her website, and then she played a song in dedication to the amazing playwright. She played “Thank you for the music” from Mamma Mia. (Below is a picture of the amazing cast of 'Shelter'!)
2.I love anything that will keep me outdoors and in the sun. I go camping at least 3 or 4 times each summer and we always find the best hikes. My favorite places are Zion Nation Park (Angels Landing and The Narrows are incredible!) and Yellowstone National Park. I also will go on hikes with my friends. I’m lucky enough that where I live I’m only about 15 minutes away from some great hikes. I love boating! We used to own a boat but it was old and ended up costing too much to maintain. ( I swear we had more problems with that boat than was normal.) I’ve also recently gotten into Archery. I go out to the outdoor range near where I live 2 or 3 times a week.
3.LOVE quotes. Quotes about friendship, theatre, literature. Anything. My list of favorite quotes on Goodreads is HUGE. Here is one of my newest favorites. It was said by James Earl Jones at the Tony’s this year. "The house lights dim, the curtain opens and the stage begins to glow. Theaters are shrines. They are mysterious temples brimming with magic. The floorboards are worn down by generations of players. The curtains are imbued with secrets of days gone by. The actors in their quest to create wonder and ignite debate dwell among the great spirits of the past."
4. I love animals. Just about all of them. I own two dogs and spoil my relatives and friends pets silly. I was going to be a vet, until I did a job shadow with a vet and I had to watch a surgery...Anyway, you know how you always see on tv or in the movies where a dog will follow the kid home? That really happened to me. Except I was in college at the time. Long story made short, I saw her running in the middle of a very busy road, pulled over and picked her up and put her on the sidewalk just to have her follow me to my car and proceed to fall asleep in my lap. We already had two dogs and couldn’t have another. My grandparents ended up adopting her. She’s the cutest thing ever! Although she can be a bit of a pain, she likes to steal stuff, like hair ties and kids toys, wallets etc… We’ve learned to keep stuff out of the way.
5. Although I have very little time to watch tv, I have a couple of shows that I love. NCIS, The Mentalist, and my newest obsession… LOST. I almost hate to admit it because so many people are obsessed with the show. I just started watching it and I can see why people were so into it. It just sucks you in...
So I think I'm the only reviewer that included this, but I thought it would be fun to share who I consider to be my 'hero'. Especially since having him in my life is what helped make me, me! That would be Keith E. Whittaker, my Grandpa or Gramps, as we called him. He was one of the greatest men I've ever known. He was a Wyoming cowboy, he served in the Air Force, and knew everything about anything. Ask him a question and he knew the answer. My cousins and I all have a healthy sense of hero worship for him. He taught us how to tie knots, shoot guns safely (target shooting) , he told us stories about growing up on a ranch and about the war that would leave us wide-eyed for hours afterwords. No one can possibly be more amazing than Gramps. Something my cousin said about him sums it up rather well. "I find it hard to believe there was a cooler cowboy in existence." Gramps died when I was 17, in honor of him my cousins got matching tattoos. They have combat books, a gun, helmet, and the years that he lived. Love you, Gramps. : )
Ok, enough about me! Thank you for reading through this entire post!
GIVEAWAY TIME!
I’m giving away two books. The first is Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson.
The other is The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
(The Help was the first book I ever reviewed for TB&TB!)
+ You are not required to be a follower, but we'd sure love it if you were!
+ This giveaway is open internationally.
+ Ends on July 4th.
I love the story of how you got your first job. Those little coincidences that can change so much are fascinating. Also, that Historical 25th street sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. I would love to work in a bookstore.
ReplyDeleteAnn
You just made me want to visit Ogden after that history lesson! Also have fun with LOST. I always get a bit jealous when I hear someone is watching the series for the first time.
ReplyDelete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteMy favourite part of this post is your tribute to your grandfather. Great idea to break out of the interview box to tell us about him!
You have a fabulous blog! I’m an author and illustrator and I made some awards to give to fellow bloggers whose sites I enjoy. I want to award you with the Best Books Blog Award for all the hard work you do!
ReplyDeleteI invite you to follow me, if you haven’t already done so, since we have a lot in common, but no pressure. I’m not giving you the award just so you will follow me. You really do deserve it!
Take care:-)
Go to http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html and pick up your award.
~Deirdra
P.S.
Since you are an avid reader I was wondering if I could interview you and get your insights into the books you enjoy.
Let me know if you are interested in being interviewed and I will send over the questions you can fill out at your leisure. My email address is Guidedhope (at)gmail(dot)com.
Your dream bookstore sounds awesome :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's TOO COOL that you're into archery. That sounds like so much fun!
And I have to ask... what book were you reading that helped you get that job?
Nice to learn more about you, Kimberly!
Thanks Caro! I love coincidences and weird happenings like that too, I love hearing about them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cozy!
Short Story Slore- lol, I'm glad you liked the little history blurb about 25th street, I just couldn't help myself. And LOST, oh my. That series! I just don't know who to trust or what the heck is going on, I LOVE that. Charlie is my favorite character, hands down.
Enbrethiliel- thank you so much! I was actually a little worried about throwing that in, thinking that people may not find it interesting. But I just had to keep it. : ) Gave me a chance to brag about him.
Deirdra- Thank you for the compliments.I would be happy to do an interview with you, however, this is a collaborative blog, so I may not be the only reviewer at TB&TB you want to interview.
Sarah- Thanks! Archery is a blast, I have so much fun with it. As for the book. It was a Christian romance/mystery/action novel. ( I know, of all the genres for a male bookstore manager to be reading.) Anyway, it's called... Counting Stars. By Michelle Paige Holmes.
Thank you to all that read through my entire post! And a special thanks to those who took the time to comment on it! Made my day! : )
ReplyDeleteLove this! I had no idea 25th street was so shady! I'm picky about my books too. I have dreams about turning one corner of my basement into a reading nook. I'll have to get you to help me. :)
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me think that, of all the bloggers here, you probably have the most similar tastes to mine. Both the books in your giveaway are books I've been meaning to read for a long time, first of all, especially Mistborn, which my husband, brothers, and dad are all in love with. I've read a couple other Brandon Sandersons and really enjoyed them (especially what he's doing with the Wheel of Time series!) so I'm looking forward to when I finally get to that one.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it was a funny surprise that you live in Ogden! My sister-in-law and her husband live in Ogden, and the rest of my in-laws live in Orem.
I also really love the section about your grandpa. I actually just learned last night that my aunts and uncles are starting to get my grandmother's things ready (she's not dying yet, but they're preparing in advance) and that has put her on my mind a lot. I've always kind of idolized her the way you do with your grandpa.
Anyway... I could actually keep talking about things in your post, but I think I will stop now. :)
Erin- Thanks! And yes, I would LOVE to help you organize a little library nook.:)
ReplyDeleteMiri- Thank you so much for your comment! How funny that your realtives live in Ogden! You must read Mistborn. Best epic fantasy I've read. Are you on Goodreads? If you are, add me. We can share book recommendations!
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1330074-kimberly
Also, I'm so sorry about your Grandma!