Welcome back to BOOK AND A BEVERAGE!
In case you don’t know the deal about Book and a Beverage, it’s a very simple yet fun feature: We read books, we drink beverages, we take pictures of them and then I share your photos and a little about you to the blogging world!
Give a big welcome to Heather from Based on a True Story!
Name & Blog Name: Heather at Based on a True Story
Tell us a little about your blog! I’ve been blogging here since 2005. It was originally mostly a personal blog but over time I was writing more and more about books. I started listing brief reviews once a week but then I realized that I had more to say and starting posting reviews on most of the books I read. I still write a little bit about other things in my life too.
What’s been your favorite post you’ve written so far? (Link us up!) When you are blogging this long there are thousands of posts so I can’t pick a favorite. I did have a post go a little viral one day (Favorite Pratchett Women) and I still have no idea where it was featured to get 800 + page views overnight.
My favorite post I wrote recently is 10 Books Every White Person Should Read. I make a point to read and review books by authors of color. I wrote this post of people who aren’t sure why that is important.
Got anything special coming up we should know about? Today is actually my anniversary. I’ve been married 4 years today.
On my blog I’m starting to review the ARCs I got at BEA this year. There are a lot of them and I don’t like keeping a lot of books on my shelves so they are going to need new homes. I’m going to have Free to Good Home graphics on some reviews so people have a chance to get any they are interested in.
Whatcha reading? The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Where did it come from? (Library, purchased, publisher, etc): I got this ARC at the adult author breakfast at BEA.
Any special reason you chose to feature this book? This is a new author to me and I love the premise of the story.
What’s important that we should know about this book? Would you recommend it? You know when you first hear about the Underground Railroad as a kid and you think they are talking about a train that goes below ground? The book imagines that it is true. Each station is a different state. Each state has a different form of government. There is a state where former slaves are treated to benefits but there may be something sinister behind it. One state has outlawed African-Americans. Cora has to live briefly in four different states on her journey north.
Whatcha drinking? Caramel macchiato made with coconut milk. I basically like coffee- flavored sugar.
What’s your favorite thing to drink while reading? Until I knew I was doing this interview I never knew that I don’t drink while I’m reading. How do I not dehydrate? I eat while reading but never drink anything. You learn something new all the time.
Favorite beverage of all time. Go! There is a butterbeer recipe I love. Soften a half gallon of vanilla ice cream. Mix in a stick of butter and as much cinnamon and nutmeg as you like. Refreeze. Then place a scoop of your ice cream mixture in a mug of warmed apple cider.
What are your top three books you would recommend to other people? So hard! The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper, Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, and Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
What’s your proudest blogging/reading/writing moment? This year was my first BEA and first blogging event. I assumed that no one would know who I was so when I would see someone I recognized I would try to explain who I was. People looked at me like I was nuts and explained slowly, like to a hysterical person, that they knew me.
Anything else you’d like to share? If anyone reads books where food is a major part of the plot, I run a monthly linkup called Foodies Read. People link up reviews in all genres from cookbooks to cozy mysteries to memoirs.
Thanks, Heather! How exciting that you got to go to BEA this year! It’s so wonderful when people recognize you! I still feel like no one will know me haha!
