In the Spotlight ~ Doing Dewey

This week we are spotlighting "Doing Dewey" and fellow blogger Katie.  Here is a bit about her before we get to the Q&A's.

Katie and I’m a grad student currently working on my PhD in bioinformatics. The purpose of my blog is to chronicle my attempt to read through the Dewey Decimal system, one book per Dewey Decimal number, a project you can read more about here. I currently post book reviews (fiction as well as non-fiction), share some of my photographs, and participate in a few memes each week. I’ve also been posting about my experiences relating to the books I’m reading, like my visit to cheese club after reading about cheese making (the 637′s). If you’re interested in seeing where my literary adventures take me and learning a few fun facts along the way, please stick around. I’d love to have you :)

Welcome to Forever Book Lover...

Thanks again for including me! 

When and how did you decide to become a book blogger?
I started blogging in Dec 2011, after reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. As one of her many experiments with trying to make herself happier, she started reading magazines at random to learn more about new topics. I've always liked the idea of being more well rounded, so her idea inspired me to start my Doing Dewey challenge, which I'll talk about more later.

So far, what’s the hardest part of being a book blogger?
Mostly just finding the time to do it. I love reading, but I often feel like my relationships, my jobs, and my other hobbies leave me little time for it. Other than that, I also find it challenging to review new genres I'm trying out, since I don't really have a standard for comparison.

What do you do when you are not blogging?
My other hobbies include photography and playing computer games. I'm also thinking of getting back into playing French Horn in 2013. Other than that, I'm a grad student (which takes up a lot of my time!) and I'm looking forward to spending more time with my boyfriend, since we're finally in the same place after having a long distance relationship for a while.

Tell us about the name of your blog, Doing Dewey, how did you choose this name?
As I mentioned earlier, I was inspired to start this project by Gretchen Rubin's experiment. Putting my own twist on her idea, I decided to try reading one non-fiction book for every number in the Dewey Decimal System (explained below). Since there are 1000 numbers, it's definitely a project that's about the journey, not the finish line!

Please explain the Dewey Decimal Number, for those who are not familiar with the term.
Dewey Decimal Numbers are a way to categorize non-fiction, making it easy to find everything from cook books to histories to memoirs. Strangely, manga and comics are also classified as non-fiction - the reasoning there escapes me! The numbering system generally ends up with similar books grouped together. For example, all the books from 500-599 have to do with the sciences, all the books from 510-519 specifically have to do with math, and each number in that range corresponds to a specific sub-topic within mathematics.

What genre(s) do you read, can you tell us what is it about the genre(s) that grabs your interest?
I read basically any genre but Christian and erotica. I enjoy non-fiction in particular, because it's fun to learn something and I find stories even more exciting when they're based on real events. Other than that, I've always loved sci-fi and fantasy and I'm starting to really enjoy historical fiction for it's connections to my non-fiction reading. But I really will try nearly anything :)

Who are your three favorite authors?
Definitely Robert Jordan, since I love his entire Wheel of Time series. Possibly Dan Simmons, who's Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion could be my favorite book ever (yes, book - they were intended to be published as one novel and really don't stand alone). And then perhaps Jared Diamond or Michio Kaku, whose great non-fiction writing really turned me onto the genre.

Which author would you most like to meet (dead or alive)? Tell us more..
Strangely, I never have a lot of questions for authors. I admire authors, I love getting the chance to meet them and get their autograph - I just don't have any burning questions I want to ask them. That said, I would love to meet Robert Jordan, who sadly passed away fairly recently, but mostly just to tell him how much I admire his work.

How big is your TBR pile? How many books do you read/review in a month?
My TBR pile of books I own is fairly small, maybe 20 books, since I get most of my books from the library. My TBR list on goodreads is just excessive! I read and review 10-15 books a month, depending on how long they are and how busy I am.

Finally, if someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

Perhaps "the girl with all the hobbies", haha. I never feel like I have enough time for the all the things I want to do! On a more serious note, if I'm remembered for anything, I hope it will be for having become a great, inspiring professor.

On a Personal Note:
My name is Katie Wilkins and I'm graduate student, studying computational biology at Cornell. I've been seeing the same wonderful boy for about 6 years and am incredibly excited to get to live in the same place again now that he's finished getting his Master's degree! I also have a great cat who has been wonderful company for me while living without him. I love reading (of course!), photography, and keeping in touch with friends by playing Battlefield together.

Ways you can reach me: Goodreads|Twitter


Are you interested in being featured "In the Spotlight", stop by and fill on contact form.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for coming by, it means alot to me. Since you're here, I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment.