Most blogs have a fun story of origin. Please share the story behind your blogs name and/or why you started blogging.

I started my blog back in February 2016.  I have always been a big reader, but unfortunately I didn’t have anyone in my life at that time to talk books with.  I thought a blog where I could share book reviews & talk about what I was reading would help me find more bookworms like myself.   I am also a stay-at-home parent, so I needed some type of creative outlet that would give me that sense of productivity. Maintaining my own blog has been a wonderful way to feel like I have achieved something on days where I don’t feel very accomplished.

I decided on the name Cover2CoverMom because I thought it would make it fairly obvious what the blog was about.  “Cover to cover” is referencing reading a book from start to finish. I added the “Mom” portion because I am a mother, but also because I wanted to have a portion of my blog dedicated to children’s book as well.

Describe where you write your blog. Include a picture if you’d like!

I have a beautiful desk in my home office, but I almost never work on my blog there.  Since my husband started working from home this year, I’ve been forced elsewhere. He spends a lot of time on the phone, which I find distracting, so it doesn’t work out well to share a space.  I typically work on my blog sitting at my kitchen peninsula or when the weather permits – in my 3 seasons room.

Most of us have a stack of books sitting next to our couch or bed waiting to be read. What books are in your stack?

I typically keep my library books & my upcoming TBR books on a stack next to my bed.  Currently those are…

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover *Contemporary/Romance

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate *Historical Fiction

The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N.K. Jemisin *Fantasy

The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2) by Rin Chupeco *YA Fantasy

A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir *YA Fantasy

The Wise Man’s Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicles #2) by Patrick Rothfuss *Fantasy

It Ends with Us & Before We Were Yours are book club selections for August.  The remaining books I will be reading in September when I do a “Series September” and work on catching up with a few of the series I need to continue.

If you have had a bad day and want to spend an hour reading a book, what is your go to genre or favorite book that will lift your mood?

When I am having a bad day, typically any reading will improve my mood.  My go-to genre used to be historical fiction, but lately I’ve been on a fantasy kick.  It switches back and forth. If I am feeling slump-ish, I’ll reach for a middle grade book every time.

When you aren’t blogging, how do you spend your time? Work, Play, School?

When I am not blogging, I am a stay-at-home parent to two kids.  I have a 11-year-old son, and a 4-year-old daughter. Throughout the school year my daughter goes to preschool for 2 hours in the morning, but is my sidekick the rest of the day.  Basically my life consists of housework, school activities, sports practices, grocery shopping, cooking, homework, studying, volunteering, and chauffeuring kids around.  It really isn’t a bad gig. I’ve done the working Mom thing too, so I can say that working Moms definitely have the tougher job!

What is your favorite blog post you’ve ever written? Please include the link!

This one is always a tough question to answer.  I’m going to go with my blog post sharing tips on how to get kids reading:Kids’ Corner: How to Get Your Kids to Read More. Children’s’ literacy is a big time passion of mine.  It is so important to foster the love of reading in children, but unfortunately it is harder than ever with all the technology available to them now.

Have you ever met one of your favorite authors? If so, what did you say to them? Looking back, what do you wish you had said instead?

I have been very fortunate in being able to attend so many wonderful author events.  I’ve met authors like R.L Stine, Cinda Williams Chima, Mackenzi Lee, V.E. Schwab, Sabaa Tahir, Leigh Bardugo, Celeste Ng, Patrick Rothfuss, Mary Kubica, Lisa Jewell, Kristy Cambron, Mary Doria Russell, Edith Pattou, Maggie Stiefvater, Jenny Lawson, Mindy McGinnis, and Christina Baker Kline.  I’ve also seen Stephen King and Neil Gaiman speak, but did not technically meet them.

I’d probably say that hearing Neil Gaiman speak was my favorite author event I’ve attended, and meeting V.E. Schwab was my favorite experience meeting an author.  I didn’t really say anything profound to V.E. Schwab.  I awkwardly told her I loved her and handed her a banana… There is a backstory to the banana, I’m not a total weirdo.  She had posted on social media that she loved the food gifts that were given to her by fans while on tour, but wondered why it was always junk food?  Why not fruit every once in a while?  Hence the banana 🙂 At the time, I wanted to ask her about all the unanswered questions in A Conjuring of Light but I chickened out.  I now know that these might be cleared up in her spin off series set in the Shades of Magic world, Threads of Power.

If you could sit down with an author for a slice of cake and a question,  who is the author, what kind of cake would you serve, and what is the first question you’d ask?

The easiest part of this question is the cake portion.  I would hands down serve my Mom’s famous carrot cake. Of course she would have had to make it because it never turns out like hers when I’ve tried to make it.  I have my doubts if she really shared the entire recipe or if she omitted something to sabotaging my attempts…

The author is the tough part to this question.  There are so many favorite authors I’d love to sit down and chat with.  I’m going to cheat and pick two authors: J.K Rowling and Nora Roberts.

J.K. Rowling is such a cliché answer I know, but I would love to sit down with her.  I’d ask her if she had ever considered in her wildest dreams that Harry Potter would have ever become the phenomenon it has been for the past 20+ years.   Knowing what she knows now, what would she have changed in the story in any way?  I would then proceed to thank her for creating something that has gotten children across the world so excited to read for the past 21 years.

I have read a few Nora Roberts books and can say that I’ve never read one I haven’t enjoyed.  My favorite would probably be The Reef.  I am by no means a NR super fan, BUT I’d love to sit down with her and ask her how the hell she is able to write so many damn books?  And not just any books, books that are consistently good quality books across so many different genres. I couldn’t find an exact number, but the internet says she’s written over 225 published books… How is it possible?  Is she really human?