BBAW Blogger Interview--Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian

Introducing Laura Ashlee of Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian, my BBAW interview partner!  Laura Ashlee is a college student, living in Alabama, who says she'll read just about anything.  Given that her favorite book is "Jane Eyre" but she also loves young adult books and mange, I'd say she's telling the truth.

Since I'm such a huge college football fan and she lives in Alabama, the first thing I had to ask Laura about was whether or not she was a fan.

I actually don't attend UA right now. I go to Samford University in Birmingham. But I will go to UA for my master's next year. I guess my statement in my "about me" is a little misleading. I'll have to change it. But back to the original question! I've never been a big football fan, but this year I've actually started watching the games. My boyfriend is a huge football fan and he's been explaining the rules to me and I'm starting to like it.

Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian is a fairly new blog so I asked Laura Ashlee what made her want to start blogging about books.

I've actually had some sort of blog since I was about 15. All of my friends and I made personal blogs (which is silly since we saw each other all day, every day). I'm much more private now and there's just not much I want to broadcast to the world about my life. Books are the exception. I love to talk about books and write reviews. It's just fun!

Laura Ashlee has recently read The Time Traveler's Wife and seen the movie.  I wanted to know if there were any movie adaptations of books that she thought really did the book justice.

Hmm.. that's hard. I always watch movie adaptations (if there is one) after reading books, so I've seen a lot of them. The Lord of the Rings is probably the most well-done adaptation I've ever seen. I also really love Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's such a cute movie and it's just like the book! I'm pretty good at separating book and movie so I don't get too picky unless it's completely butchered.

I was curious what kind of librarian Laura Ashlee wanted to be when she was done earning her master's degree.

I wouldn't mind working in a public or college library. I don't want to be a law or medical librarian because that sounds incredibly boring. I think I'm going to focus on administration and management, so hopefully I can be in charge of a library one day!

Manga books show up frequently on Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian and I wondered what it was about manga that L.A. enjoyed and if she might have any recommendations for someone new to the genre.

I just got into manga this year so I'm not familiar with all of series. I also tend to read shoujo manga, which is targeted to teen girls so it can get dramatic or silly at times. I just think it's adorable and fun, and I really like the artwork. I really loved Sand Chronicles. It's more serious than any of the others and the story is very touching. I also really like Fruits Basket, though it's incredibly silly. I just think Tohru is so cute!

Does someone who lives in the South have any favorite Southern literature books or authors, I asked.

  

You know, I haven't read that much Southern Literature. I did like Breakfast at Tiffany's  by Truman Capote, but I have yet to read anymore of his stuff. Obviously, here in Alabama, Harper Lee is a big deal. I mean, I understand why To Kill a Mockingbird is important, I just didn't get into the way other people did. I might have to ponder reading more lit about the south.
LA. told me that she's a musician and I wanted to know more about that.

I'm actually a vocal performance major right now (I was originally going to go into musicology). I only have a few more classes to take, then it's off to grad school for library science! I grew up in a musical family so I've been singing since I was little, but I didn't start taking lessons until I got to college. I really love singing midieval and baroque music, and I love love love to sing in French and German. I also played the clarinet in high school and in my first few years of college.

Which, of course, brought up the question of what kind of music she listens to and if she had any recommendations.

As far as listening to music goes, I'm all over the board. Obviously, I love classical music. I'm a HUGE Mozart fan. I also like J.S. Bach, Debussy, Chopin, Stravinsky, John Dowland, some of Schubert's lied, and only recently a few Beethoven symphonies (I used to hate him). I listen to a lot of "indie" music, I guess. My favorite is Neko Case, who I would recommend to anyone. She's has a wonderful voice and amazing lyrics. My favorite find within the past year is a band called Buildings Breeding. They're great.

Since L.A. lives in the South and mentioned that she likes to cook, I asked her if there was anything in particular she would make if I dropped by for dinner.

I think I would go for the good southern chicken and dumplings (home made dumpling of course) with fried potatoes. I haven't made that in a year, but it's so good. Then, my favorite dessert in the world... lemon squares. 


Lemon squares?  I'm booking my plane reservation right now!  Desserts are my favorite food group.  Which lead me to wonder what L.A.'s guilty pleasure might be.

I read vampire books like it's going out of style. I don't know what it is about vampires, but I just seem to gravitate toward books with them. That's how I started read YA novels in the first place. Lately, I've been making myself read other things because I don't want to get stuck in a genre. Plus, how much brain stimulation can you really get out of paranormal books?

 Please stop by Ramlings of a (Future) Librarian and welcome Laura Ashlee to the book blogosphere!  It's always great to meet another young person with a passion for reading.