Today’s Armchair Book Expo topic is Dining With the Authors. “Every year at Book Expo, children and adult authors are featured during breakfast. Who would you dream of enjoying a meal with? Would it be breakfast, lunch, dinner, or simply coffee? What would your meal be? What would you discuss?” I’d have a giant literary […]
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was planning to go to Book Expo this year but then changed my mind. However, I’m happy to participate in the “Armchair” version, which I discovered in my first year of blogging and have enjoyed ever since! I’m completing three of this year’s prompts for a quick […]
Today’s Armchair BEA topic is “Beyond the Books” — What are your favorite alternative forms for experiencing literature? I think the focus is supposed to be on webcomics, graphic novels, and so on, but this question got me thinking about some of the great theater productions I have seen over the years, several of which […]
Today’s Armchair BEA topic is about aesthetics: what we think about the purely visual qualities of books, and also of our blogs. To what extent do looks matter to us? How do they affect our reading experience? Although I can look past the drawbacks of an ugly or poorly designed book if the content is […]
This week, many lucky bloggers are heading to Book Expo America, held in Chicago this year. Those of us who can’t make it to this bookish mecca get to share a conference from our favorite armchairs, with discussions, giveaways, updates from the real BEA, and more. Today is the day to introduce ourselves, so here […]
It’s the day everyone’s been waiting for, Armchair BEA giveaway day! In the wake of my recent Elizabeth Goudge Reading Week, I have an extra copy of The Dean’s Watch to give away. Thanks are due to Hendrickson Publishers, which is bringing many of this wonderful British author’s books back into print. If you like […]
Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad Today’s Armchair BEA topic is Character Chatter. Here are my thoughts on a book that reimagines some of the most famous characters in literature. The Penelopiad is a decidedly odd little book. It’s a riff on the story of faithful Penelope from the Odyssey, who waited twenty years for her […]
It’s time once again for Armchair BEA, an online event for all of us poor bloggers who can’t make it to the real Book Expo America in New York City, due to trivial concerns like work, family, distance and cost. I enjoyed this event last year and am glad to join in again, if only […]
This was my first year participating in Armchair BEA and I really enjoyed it. While I didn’t take home as much swag as from the actual BEA, do I really need more books? (Don’t answer that.) What I did take home was many more interactions with other booklovers, and I think that was actually easier […]
Sylvia Louise Engdahl, Enchantress from the Stars (1970). Today’s Armchair BEA theme is middle-grade/YA fiction, so I’m taking a second look at a YA science fiction classic. This was the recipient of the 1990 Phoenix Award and has been praised by the likes of Madeleine L’Engle, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Lois Lowry, so it quickly […]