Armchair BEA 2014 - Introduction Post

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from?

I'm Lindsey and I have been blogging here at Literary Lindsey since July of 2011. I started blogging because it looked like fun and because I thought it would be a good thing to have on my resume as I tried to nab a job in publishing. Since then, I have rethought my career goals a bit and now work as a freelance editor.

I live in the lovely state of New Jersey. 

Describe your blog in just one sentence. Then, list your social details -- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. -- so we can connect more online.

Literary Lindsey is a place to read about all of the books you should be reading, as well as musings about publishing, family, and life in general. You can also find me on Twitter @LiteraryLindsey. 

What was your favorite book read last year? What’s your favorite book so far this year?  

Don't you know what an impossible question this is?!? For 2013, I would say my favorite piece of fiction was A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and my non-fiction pick would be This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. In 2014, so far, the top contenders are The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry/Found/I Shall Be Near to You/Hild/Astonish Me.

Share your favorite book or reading related quote. 

“Story makes us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving. Why does anybody tell a story? It does indeed have to do with faith, faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose to say or do matters, matters cosmically…Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.”

Walking on Water, Madeleine L'Engle

"We have no time to waste on insignificant books, hollow books, books that are here to please.

We have no time for those sloppy, hurried books of the ‘Go on, I need it for July, and in September we’ll give you a proper launch and sell one hundred thousand copies, it’s in the bag’ variety.

We want books that are written for those of us who doubt everything, who cry over the least little thing, who are startled by the slightest noise.

We want books that cost their authors a great deal, books where you can feel the years of work, the backache, the writer’s block, the author’s panic at the thought that the might be lost: his discouragement, his courage, his anguish, his stubbornness, the risk of failure he has taken.

We want splendid books, books that immerse us in the splendor of reality and keep us there; books that prove to us that love is at work in the world next to evil, right up against it, at times indistinctly, and that it always will be, just the way that suffering will always ravage hearts. We want good novels.

We want books that leave nothing out: neither human tragedy nor everyday wonders, books that bring fresh air to our lungs.

And even if there is only one such book per decade...that would be enough. We want nothing else.”

A Novel Bookstore, Laurence Cosse 

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 books would you bring? Why? What 3 non-book items would you bring? Why? 

I think the best book to bring would be something about surviving on an island. My other two choices would be a really long classic like War and Peace or Anna Karenina and A Wrinkle in Time. 

My snarky response is that I would bring a working cellphone, so someone could come and pick me up. Otherwise, I would bring my family, sun tan lotion (this is a tropical island, right?) and lots of chocolate.