Friday Featured Blogger (23): Jamie of The Perpetual Page-Turner!

I haven't done one of these in a while! Friday Featured Blogger is an occasional feature on my blog during which I interview a blogger whom I respect, admire, and/or like. Today's featured blogger is the multitalented and beautiful Jamie, of both The Broke and the Bookish and The Perpetual Page-Turner! (Aren't those wonderful blog names?) I got to meet Jamie when we both attended PAYA several weeks ago. She's a recent college grad, and I love how she started a blog to talk about the challenges of reading for pleasure during college--which, believe me, is very difficult. But enough from me now: welcome, Jamie, to Steph Su Reads!

1. Tell us about yourself in a few short sentences.

I'm Jamie and I'm a 24-year-old college grad living in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I'm currently working at a design magazine as a marketing assistant. Aside from reading, I am a complete fashion addict. My favorite designer as of this moment is Anna Sui. I have a wonderful boyfriend of a little over 3 1/2 years and will likely be engaged sometime this year! :))

2. Tell us about your blog. When did you start it and why? Where did the name come from? What interesting things can visitors expect?

I actually have two blogs! The Broke and the Bookish was formed in June 2010 as a collaborative blog that started from the College Students group on Goodreads of which I am the creator and moderator of. I had been too scared to start my own blog and thought it would be awesome to have a blog written by a bunch of broke college kids! The name came from the fact that we, as college kids and grads, are broke and we clearly are bookish! We joked because it sounded like a soap opera like The Young and the Restless! There are about 12 regular contributors and it is honestly so much fun to collaborate as we have such variety in genres that we like. We might review Mockingjay one day and then review an astrology book or a classic the next day. We also have a feature called Top Ten Tuesday, a bookish listmaker's heaven, which has been honestly so much fun. A couple weeks after we started The Broke and the Bookish, I decided to start my own book blog-- The Perpetual Page-Turner www.perpetualpageturner.blogspot.com 

3. You graduated from college only a few years ago. How did you manage to balance reading with schoolwork?

Oh gosh. I could be a cautionary tale of what not to do! I may or may not have finished the whole Twilight series during finals week! :) But in all honesty, I struggle with balancing my time so I made a very strict schedule for what needed to be done. Reading got scheduled in there and was used as a reward for getting a paper done. I also took advantage of reading in between classes if I had a break rather than going back to my dorm. It was honestly harder to read during my first 2 years of college because I was a social butterfly but after I got over that it was easy to stay in and read rather than feeling compelled to be social all the time.

4. Name 3 favorite books and why you think everyone should read them.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, The Book Thief and The Great Gatsby -- I'd choose these 3 because they are among my favorites and I found them to be extremely moving and thought-provoking.

5. Which 3 bloggers would you love to have a sleepover with? What would the four of you do?

Oh goodness. I have to pick 3 awesome bloggers?! I'm going to say that it would be 3 girls who blog with me on The B&B--Tahleen (www.tahleenreads.blogspot.com), Lori (www.chercafe.blogspot.com) , and Kimberly. These three ladies have been part of of the College Students group since the beginning and I'm dying to meet them! I think we would talk alot (alot about books!), cook dinner (because we always share recipes) and have some sort of adventure!

6. What is your comfort movie, if you have one/several?

Amelie! One of my all-time favorite movies! I think French is a beautiful language and Amelie is such a wonderful character. This one never fails to make me smile.

7. What is your dream job?

I'd love to do what I'm good at (marketing) with something I'm passionate about (books & fashion). I'd love to work for a publishing company mostly though!

8. What is the craziest/coolest thing you ever did on vacation?

Oh goodness. I did alot of crazy things in Europe. I randomly protested in DC on vacation. But I think the craziest thing I did was when the boyfriend and I were in LA. Our friend took us really high up in the mountains at night and we defintitely trespassed and hopped a fence and went hiking to the top of this mountain. The view was beautiful. However, we could hear coyotes real close to us and I know that there were rattlesnakes around there and I was freaked out! The view was worth it though! I got the coolest picture.

9. What are some things you just LOVE to receive for presents? :)

Obviously books that I want. And day trips! My boyfriend knows how much I love going to NYC so he takes me there for my birthday! I'm also a sucker for sentimental things!

10. And finally, tell us two interesting things about yourself that can spark conversation.

Hm. I'm really not that interesting! I'm related to Jackie O on my mom's side & when I was little I won the first ever Little Miss Princess of Athens (small town in PA not Greece!)

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I dunno, I find you plenty interesting, Jamie! Thank you SO much for answering my questions! If you're ever curious about how we college students manage(d) to read, write, and blog in addition to doing schoolwork, I encourage you to check out Jamie's blogs (The Broke and the Bookish and The Perpetual Page-Turner) for fabulous writing and book recommendations! Until next time. :)