New Treasure: Jessica the Bluestocking

One of my favorite parts of Book Blogger Appreciation Week are the interviews. Today, I'm absolutely thrilled to introduce you to Jessica from The Bluestocking Society.

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What are some of your favorite books?
I love that this question is posed in the plural. Books. I have many favorite books (and they change all of the time), but here is a brief, non-exhaustive, current list:

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery
Amsterdam, by Ian McEwan
Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff
Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen

Are there any characters that you would like to be?
Yes. Let’s see. I would like to be, at least for a little while, Elizabeth Bennett. You know, married to Mr. Darcy and mistress of Pemberly. Yeah, good times. As a kid, I desperately wanted to be Harriet of Harriet the Spy. To walk around on your spy route and record your observations? Awesome. For a while there, I would’ve wanted to be Hermione Granger. That is until she hooked up with Ron. Forget that. For now, I think I’ll just stick with my own life.

What book would you like to see made into a graphic novel?
I’ve only read a few graphic novels so far in my reading career, but I’m intrigued by the format. (I recently heard about Jane Eyre the graphic novel, and I can’t wait to read it.) If I had to pick one book to turn into a graphic novel, I’d pick Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. I think it would translate well, because it’s so visual. But they might have to speed things along a little, because they spend A LOT of time on that boat.

What book would you like to see made into a film? What film would you like to see made into a book?
I’d love to see The Book Thief and Bel Canto made into movies. Of course, The Hunger Games series would also make excellent movies. And I’m very excited to see that three of the books I’d love to see on the big screen, The Help and On Chesil Beach and Life of Pi are currently in development.

As for a movie that I’d like to see turned into a book, I think there are more problems with this kind of transition, but I think Inception might make a good book, as there would be more time to explain things. I’d probably also read a book based on The Paper Chase or An Education or The Queen.

How do you organize your book collection?
At the moment, there isn’t really a rhyme or a reason to my book collection. It’s mostly just based on what is pretty. Most of my prettiest books are in my formal living room here:

Or in the family room here:

(Can you tell that I’m in love with the EXPEDIT line from IKEA?) Anyway, the rest of the less-pretty books are downstairs in my office. (Sorry less-pretty books.) Someday, I’d love to have a better organization system. Probably organized by author’s last name. With a card catalogue. Sigh. Someday.

What is the book you remember most fondly from childhood?
This is pretty hard. I was a particularly voracious reader as a child, so there are lots of books to pick from. But, if forced to choose, I would have to pick Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (and James and the Giant Peach), by Roald Dahl. I received lovely hardback copies from my parents for my seventh birthday (some twenty years ago), and these two books have been my companions ever since. There is something about Roald Dahl in particular and discovering books as a child in general that have infused my memory of these two gems with a magical, rosy haze that has never lifted.

Ebooks - the way of the future, a mere distraction from real books, or a nice addition to real books?
My husband got me a Kindle for our eighth wedding anniversary. And it will have only just arrived a few days prior to the posting of this interview. So, I have no concrete evidence to support the following statements.

I think that ebooks will be a convenient and nice addition to real books. As a bibliophile, I’m fairly positive that I’ll never give up the look, touch, and smell of real books. I love and collect and read them. I always will. BUT, I definitely see the advantages that ebooks bring. For one, there is no limit to the supply. When I was calling bookstores on the date of Mockingjay’s release to find a copy because I foolishly forgot to preorder mine, I thought that if I’d had my Kindle, I could’ve downloaded a copy within seconds. Also, the space! Every time we move or I need to buy more bookshelves, I think of the glory of hundreds of books held in six pounds on a Kindle or other reading device.

Why did you decide to start blogging and how did you come up with your blog name?
Once upon a time, I had a personal blog. And it slowly turned into me blogging mostly about books. I just needed a place to put all of my book-related thoughts together. Then, somehow, I found out that there were blogs devoted entirely to books! I quickly decided to create my very own. I love the term “bluestocking,” which means “a woman with considerable scholarly, literary, or intellectual ability or interest.” So, in January 2008, The Bluestocking Society was born.

Thanks, Trisha!

~You are quite welcome Jessica. It was wonderful featuring you on my blog!