Booklover of the Week presents… YA book blogger The Story Siren!

I kicked off the Booklover of the Week series with the first two of three YA book bloggers that I’ve been following since way back when. This week, I’m delighted to round out the trio by welcoming the wonderful…

Kristi
(aka The Story Siren)

I was lucky enough to be able to meet Kristi at the ALA conference a few weeks ago, and she is every bit as delightful in person as she is in her vlogs. Welcome, Kristi!

Booklover Basics

Name:   Kristi

Blog Name:   The Story Siren

Blog URL:   www.thestorysiren.com

Country:   USA

Teen or Adult?   Adult

Short Bio:

A Siren by definition is a device that makes a loud signal, or if you refer to Greek Mythology a siren can be referred to a mermaid or a winged creature whose singing lured sailors onto rocks. As a Story Siren, I’m not so much into the death by drowning, but I am interested in “singing” the praises of novels that deserve such a melody.

I’m a twenty something dental assistant, I’ve snagged my prince charming (who’s still currently being held hostage) and my only child is my rottweiler Xander.

The Story Siren is basically my outlet for my book addiction. My drug of choice Young Adult novels.


Questions About You 2.0

The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.

1.   PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?

One of my biggest dreams that I’ve accomplished was graduating from college. I’m one of the only people in my family that has actually gone to college and finished, so it was a big deal for me to do that. Education has always been important to me, so to accomplish that dream was completely fulfilling. I’d love to go back to school and pursue something literary related possibly, maybe someday. I’m one of those weird people that love learning. I think maybe that’s why I like to read.

2.   CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?

I’m such a cynical person at times, I mean honestly, can one person change the world? And it seems whenever I think that, there will be some news story about some 12 year old kid making a difference somehow, and it’s like fate is telling me: yes, one person can.

I don’t think I do enough to help make the world a better place. Sure I give donations every once in a while to a good cause, I recycle, carpool and buy green products. But even though I do a few things here or there, I don’t really feel that it adds up.

Personally I’d like to volunteer more. I’d like to volunteer at the library for the young literacy program they have, because I know how much joy reading brings me. I’d like to volunteer at my local humane society, because I know how much joy having my dog brings me. I like to volunteer at the nursing home, because I know how much I miss having the company of my grandparents.

I’m going to get on that changing the world thing. I might not change the world, but I think I’ll make a difference to someone.

3.   GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?

I have an AWESOME family. Not only my family, but my in-laws are even awesome. I’m very close to my parents. My dad is actually my step-dad, but he is the only father figure I’ve ever known. People actually tell me that I look like him all the time. I totally think people are a product of their environment. Have you ever heard the country song “He Didn’t Have to Be” by Brad Paisley, that’s what my dad and I danced to at my wedding. That’s my dad. He didn’t have to be my dad, but he did and I’m thankful for that. He married my mom when she already had a rugrat, lots of guys wouldn’t do that. So, my family is the epitome of my gratefulness.

I’m grateful that I have a very loving and understanding husband, who tolerates my book addiction, and lets me spend hours on the internet when I should be gazing intently into his eyes! I’m grateful that my husband cleans the house, he does dishes too. I really only do the laundry…. how bad of a Susy Homemaker am I!?

I have lots of things, too many things really, but the things I’m most grateful for aren’t things at all, they’re the people in my life.

4.   PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?

I believe in paying it forward in little ways. Like holding a door open for someone, smiling, giving your last five bucks to charity, letting a car in front of you in line. I really think that little things like that go a long way. You’d think something like that would be commonplace amongst everyone, but it’s not, at all. Truly sad.


Questions About You, The Book Blogger

5.   Why did you decide to start blogging about books?

I used to blog and read, but not together. I never thought people would be interested in what I thought about books and on top of that I didn’t even know there were book blogs. Ultimately I started blogging because I had a need. A need to find people like me, people that liked the same books as me. I found a book blog (The Page Flipper) and it was like I found an old friend! And I thought, hey I could do that, I should do that. I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into! But honestly I love it just as much today as I did then.

6.   What do you love most (and least) about being a YA book blogger?

Things I love:

Getting to meet other bloggers/non-bloggers/bookish people, having and belonging to a community of book lovers. That in itself is so fulfilling. My family thinks I’m crazy when I talk about my “friends on the internet” but I really feel like I know these people! It’s fantastic.

Getting to meet authors. Who would have thought that authors are regular people. Regular people that will even talk to you! That still to this day totally blows my mind.

Books. If I didn’t say that I love getting the books, I’d be lying. I mean free books are freaggin fantastic, because if I bought all the books I wanted there is no way I could pay my bills. I still buy a ton of books, because I want to give something back, obviously, but the free books are a very nice incentive.

Things I could live without:

The guilt of not reading every book or not reading them in a timely manner. I try, I really do. I feel bad when I have a book three months early and it’s still sitting on my shelf to be read when its release date rolls around. I could definitely do without that feeling.

Blog drama. I never knew there was blog drama, but it happens. It usually happens in bursts too it seems. I’m just glad when it’s over.

But the things that I love far outweigh any of the bad things.

7.   What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres right now?

That they are bursting with fantasy! I love books about made up places, I mean I owe Harry Potter for re-instilling my love of reading.

8.   What makes you fall in love with a book?

Really that varies from book to book, but one thing that makes it or breaks it for me is characters. If the characters fall flat then so does the book. I can read a book with a so-so plot line and so-so writing, but if the characters are so-so? Forget about it!

9.   Which books have inspired you most?

I’ll just plug Harry back in here. When I was growing up I read all the time, my grandma taught me how to read before I started school. I probably just had the books memorized, but she swears I could read. I’ll never know for sure! They always had a different book series every season at the grocery store, so I would get a book every time we went. Raggedy Anne and Andy was one I remember. But I was the kid that had forty book-it pins, was one of the highest readers in my grade. I remember the Amelia Bedelia books. I think the one that started my love of fantasy was The Castle in the Attic. Loved the Goosebumps books too!

I didn’t do a lot of reading in high school, until I took my youngest sister to see Harry Potter the movie. Then I just had to read those books, but by that time I was in college and read my text books more than anything. But after college is really when I started hitting up the books again. Harry Potter led to Twilight, Twilight led to everything else.

10.   Are you also a writer yourself? If so, what do you like to write?

I try to be a writer. I guess I should say I’d like to be a writer.

I have a few stories I’ve sort of outlined and started.

One is a story about an abusive relationship that is roughly based on my own during high school.

Another is a fantasy, about a mythical creature…

11.   What advice would you give to other avid readers who want to launch their own book blog?

Whenever I get emails from readers about starting book blogs, I always tell them to go for it! It’s such a fun thing to do. I usually also point them to some posts about blogger tips I’ve done. I wish I would have had some of that information when I started. Three tips I’d give that I think are the most important are:
1. Do it because you love reading and talking about books, not for any other reasons.
2. It’s what you make it. You DO NOT have to post every day. It’s your blog, do what YOU want.
3. Have fun! If you’re not having fun doing it, it’s not worth doing.


Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?

12.   I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?

– Besides YA novels, my second genre of choice is romance novels.
– Richelle Mead is the first author I met.
– I prefer paperbacks over hardcovers.   **UPDATE: Here’s the lie!**
– I like to read in the bathtub.

(Readers: Your guess gets you an entry into the You 2.0 monthly contest for an ARC of The Cinderella Society or a prize dive in the awesome You 2.0 Prize Basket. Guess correctly and you get a bonus entry! I’ll update the post tomorrow to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!)

Thanks to Kristi for a fabulous interview!

Entry Filed under: Booklover - YA Bloggers,Gratitude