Maw Books

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Welcome to the fifth edition of the Maw Books Reader Spotlight!  Today it’s all about Trish who blogs at Trish’s Reading Nook!  I’m pretty sure most of us know Trish and if you don’t, you are missing out!   Trish is so much fun and one of my favorite bloggers and I was so excited to ask her a few questions.  But first, let’s get to know Trish from some of the comments she’s left here (and it was really hard to choose just these few!).

On ruining books (this totally had me laughing so hard!):

I’m terrible with books. I frequently eat while reading (I’m frequently eating period!), so I often get little food stains. The worst, though, was last summer when I was reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I had the bright idea to jump on the raft in the lake and read. I threw the book on the raft first and then jumped from the dock onto the raft. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that the book would bounce right off. I was drying pages with a blow dryer also…my book is now twice the size!

On starting to read the Twilight books:

I have to laugh at your opening statement because my best friend did exactly that with Twilight–shoved the book into my reluctant hands and gave me a month to read it. She knows I’ve been resistant, that I don’t really want to read or like the series. I’m about 350 pages into the book and completely hooked. Sheesh.

On scary books:

I used to read scary books when I was younger–a lot of Christopher Pike and RL Stine, but when I couldn’t get to sleep at night after reading, I realized I had to stop. I’ve never gone back to scary!

On how she organizes her books:

Right now I have my books more or less organized by “read” and “unread.” The “unread” ones are sort of alpha, but one of my bookshelves has shallow shelves, so my hardbacks are all together. And then there are the boxes that I have stacked next to the bookshelves full of books. And the stacks on my desk and the double stacks on the actual shelves.

On a great Christmas tradition:

I actually thought of a kind of book tradition that we have for Christmas. My grandmother collected all of these christmas stories and poems and put them together in an album (so it is a big giant story book). She cut up her christmas cards from over the years to decorate–really a lovely book–all the “married” grandkids have our own. Every year we get together and read the stories out of the book. By now we have our favorites–some that we laugh at, some that make us cry every year. If you could include some shorter stories for the kids, I think they would really grow to love the tradition as well.

On confidence:

It’s interesting what you say about photography–and I think we all have those little obstacles (ok, maybe not ALL of us). I don’t always have the highest confidence, but I’ve been told *several* times that I exude confidence (which I didn’t really notice until people kept telling me that). I think a lot of it is about the attitude we take.

On remembering books:

I haven’t read anything without remembering whether I’ve already done so. I keep a pretty detailed list of my books and which ones I’ve read. I do have a very difficult time remembering plots and characters names for books that I’ve read. Even books that I’ve read recently!! It has gotten better since blogging (which is part of the reason why I write my thoughts down). Kind of embarrassing actually. I couldn’t tell you the lead character’s name in Water for Elephants and I read it maybe 2 months ago…

So with that all said, let’s get to know Trish more!

Maw Books:  So tell us about yourself!  What do you want us to know?

Trish: I’m 27, happy married (3 years in May), and a bibliophile.  I live in North Dallas with my husband Scott, dog (Lexi), and cat (Maggie).  I grew up close to where we are living now, but I was born in Utah and lived for a few years in Toronto before moving down to Texas.  I spent my freshman year of college at Ricks (now BYU-Idaho) as a pre-medicine major, but transferred to A&M where I finished my degree in English.  After coming home from college and not knowing what I wanted to do, I worked for a few years at a small town fire department before moving to Lubbock to get my second degree in English and be with Scott (we met as next-door-neighbors in College Station).  Now I work in insurance and read a whole heck of a lot.

Maw Books:  Seriously, the next time you come up to Utah to visit family, you better let me know about it!  What do you enjoy about reading?  What is it that keeps you reaching for that next book?

Trish: I enjoy so many different aspects of reading, but most of all I am thirsty for knowledge and have a desire to be transported to different times and places.  Reading for me is a mental escape-it is a way to discover different cultures and experience worlds I could have never imagined.

Maw Books:  What type of books/genre do you enjoy reading?

Trish: I read a wide variety of books, but I tend to grab for books that will challenge the way that I think or teach me things.  I love reaching out of my comfort zone (as much as I sometimes whine), and while general fiction, literature and classics will always be my genres of choice, I have loved discovering different genres lately such as non-fiction (not as boring as everyone thinks), fantasy (so rich and explorative), graphic novels (emotion on a completely different level).

Maw Books:  All of the non-fiction I’ve read lately, is anything but boring!  So, what is your earliest reading memory?  And what were you like as a young reader?

Trish: I have always been a voracious reader.  Even before I could read the words on the page, I would pretend to read books-making up the stories to match the pictures.  On vacations and play days, I was most likely to be the one in the family reading a book.  This hasn’t really changed a whole lot-I’m still the one with her nose in a book.

Maw Books:  Seriously, the cutest picture ever!  Why did you start a book blog in the first place and how long have you been blogging?  Tell us about your blog, your focus, and why it’s important to you.

Trish: I first discovered book blogging when I joined a few Yahoo book clubs almost 2 years ago.  I was living a small town at the time, had just graduated from graduate school (MA in English), and desperately needed a booktalk outlet.  Once I discovered book blogging, I quickly abandoned the book clubs and focused more on reading challenges.

I don’t have a particular focus on my blog-I mainly just post what I read about.  And since I read a little bit of everything, my blog posts tend to be all over the place!  Blogging is important to me for so many different reasons.  My initial reason for blogging was to keep a written record of the books I had read.  I have a terrible memory, so keeping a few notes on what I thought of a book has long been a goal of mine.  Unfortunately I’m even more terrible at keeping a journal, so blogging became the perfect outlet.

Now that I have fallen into the routine of regularly blogging about my reading, blogging has become more about community.  I love that there are so many other bloggers who share my passion for books.  This is something that I haven’t really experienced in “real” life until now.  Sure I have friends and family who enjoy reading, but they mostly look at me like I’m a little crazy when they find out just how passionate (or obsessive) I am.

Maw Books:  If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first began your blog, what advice would you offer?

Trish: I wish people would give ME advice now!    I was very lucky to quickly find some great bloggers who were willing to answer my copious questions about blogging.  I’m not sure what has changed that I could tell myself back then.  Just to make sure blogging is fun, not a chore.

Maw Books:  Agree!  While at times blogging does stress me a little bit, it’s always fun!  What is your favorite thing about the community of book bloggers and how do you find the time to be so consistent in leaving comments on other blogs?

Trish: LOL-I think I used to be much better about commenting than I am now-and even then it never seemed like enough for me.  I still try to frequently visit my favorite bloggers and take the time to discover new bloggers, but the community is growing so fast!  There are so many aspects of the community that I wish I had more time to contribute to, but at the end of the week, it’s sometimes a battle just to be able to get my one or two posts published about what I read without all of the extra fun stuff.

What I love about the blogging community is how loving and supportive everyone is.  I have met such wonderful people in the past year and a half and experienced so many wonderful things.  I live for the 24-hour read-a-thon, and the reading challenges have broadened my horizons tremendously.  I never thought when I first started blogging that I would be hosting challenges of my own-challenges that people join!!  And of course, just being in the company of others who love books and the written word as much as I do: It’s hard to beat.

(image from Trish’s Reading Nook)

Maw Books:  I *think* I’ll be able to do the 24 Hour Read-a-thon for the first time this year!  You are going to have to show me the ropes.  So what do you do outside the world of books?

Trish: Haha!  Yes, I do have a small life outside of books.  Family is really important to me, so I spend a fair amount of time just hanging out with them.  I’m lucky to have my parents both living 20 minutes away, so I try to see them each once a week.  My husband and I love movies-either renting them or catching the latest release at the theater.  Working out is something that is really important to me.  While I’m not always in the habit, I love the feeling of being fit.  Camping is something that is new but also fun.  I love being outdoors.  Travel and cooking, but we’ll get to that.  And lately I’ve been dabbling in a little bit of quilting.  Hopefully soon I’ll start scrapbooking-although I’ve been saying that for years!

Maw Books:    My parents own a craft/scrapbooking store in Austin.  I’ve been saying that same thing my whole life!  What do you do for your full time job?

Trish: Despite my two degrees in English, I followed my husband into the Insurance profession.  I work for a small insurance company who does primarily workers compensation for construction companies.  I work in an internal department-lots of research and compliance-something I DID learn from my English degrees.  It isn’t something I ever expected doing, but I love it and am challenged every day.  Being constantly challenged is incredibly important to me.

Maw Books:  I know you love to travel.  What’s your favorite vacation that you’ve ever taken?  And also what is your dream vacation.  Who would you take with you?

I think my love of travel is sparked by the fact that we have always lived far away from extended family.  I grew up in Toronto, so we took frequent trips to California and Utah where my mom’s family lives.  In addition to those family get-togethers, my parents were always great about taking us to new and different places.  One of my favorite pre-Scott trips was when my mom took me and my two sisters to Europe for 2 weeks.

My dream vacation would be to go back to Europe.  Who would I take with me?  Are you kidding?  Scott is definitely my favorite travel buddy-plus he’s never been overseas. We’ve been lucky enough to take some amazing trips in the past 4 year-The Caribbean, a two week roadtrip through the West, Alaskan cruise, Taos, Tahoe, San Francisco, New England, Toronto-and a few weeks ago Hawaii!

Maw Books:  Oh my.  I might be a bit jealous!  Food.  Do you have a favorite food?  I’d love to include a recipe.  Do you have a family favorite you’d like to share?

Trish: I.Love.Food.  Food and reading. Reading about food.    I don’t necessarily have a favorite food, although I love comfort foods.  And lately, foods that are easy to cook.  One of my favorites is pork tenderloin-incredibly simple and a sure crowd pleaser.  My family jokes that every time they come over they eat pork tenderloin.

1 package Hormel teriyaki-flavored Pork Tenderloin (1-1.5 lbs)
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Clove of Garlic, minced
½ tsp Rosemary
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Pepper

Preheat oven to 450.  Spray shallow roasting pan.

In small bowl, mix olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper until paste forms.  Place pork tenderloin in shallow roasting pan and spread mixture evenly on top of the tenderloin.

Cook uncovered for 25-30 minutes until barely pink when cut in the center or until center is 155 degrees when measured with meat thermometer.  Remove from oven and place aluminum foil loosely over the pan (in tent fashion).  Let stand for 10-15 minutes until temperature rises to 160 degrees.  Slice into medallions and serve.

Serves 3-4 people. I also discovered a Raspberry Chipotle Sauce from Costco that is amazing with the pork-very simple and very fancy.  J  Who doesn’t like that?

Maw Books:  The Raspberry Chipotle sauce sound fantastic!  We have something similar that we pour on top of cream cheese and eat with crackers.  If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only charge was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

Trish: No responsibility?  You mean the laundry has been done and the bathrooms are clean?    I’d probably brew a pot of coffee and spend a little bit of time on the blogosphere catching up with blogs while drinking a cup of coffee, read for a bit, grab lunch with some friends or family, read some more, eat a nice dinner with hubby, and relax on the couch with a nice glass of wine while either reading or watching a great movie.  I’m a pretty simple person.

Maw Books:  You desperately wish you knew how to…

Trish: Change the green background of my blog without doing a complete template change.  Ha!  I wish I were more creative.  My sister got the creative genes while I got the more practical/logical genes.  With creativity I’d probably spend more time doing crafty things like scrapbooking and sewing.  I also wish I knew how to mountain climb!

Maw Books:  Well, I’m not on blogger, but I bet there are some folks here that will tell you how to change the color. What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Trish: [Laughs] I’m a very particular person with what others would probably consider to be neuroses or idiosyncrasies.  My pet peeves are probably completely unfounded.    Except traffic.  I’m not sure why people feel SO compelled to stare at an accident on the highway.

Maw Books:  What’s the one thing that you wish people knew about you but you don’t brag about?

Trish: I won the Salt Lake Baby Beauty Pageant when I was 2 years old.  Haha!  In all honesty, I’m a pretty ordinary gal and lucky to be in the company of such great bloggers.

Maw Books:  Ahhh!  I bet you were the cutest baby!  Thank you so much for being in the spotlight today.  It was awesome!

So go forth and visit Trish at Trish’s Reading Nook. Subscribe, visit often, and comment!  She’s amazing. And thanks Trish for stopping by here so regularly.  I always get excited when I see a comment from you!

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