I am drawn to Jo’s blog, My Chestnut Reading Tree because I too adore mysteries. I don’t review them too often because it’s so hard to not give away the ending when you’ve read a good one! However, if you are looking for a good recomendation Jo’s blog should be one of your firsts places to go to fill up your TBR! You can imagine how excited I was when Joe wanted to participate in my Blogger to Blogger Series. Here’s my chance to find out a little more inside information about the life and reading habits of the woman behind My Chestnut Reading Tree!

Here are Jo’s answers to my 10 questions…

Blogging is universal and even though we inhabit the same community, we don’t always live in the same country. What country do you live in?

I live in a village in Cheshire in the U.K.

What is the view outside your front door? 

Pic of view from front door which is looking down the street towards a railway line at the end. Very boring view!!

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

My neighbours used to have a beautiful Chestnut tree in their garden which is why our street is called Chestnut Drive. I could see it from my spare bedroom where I used to read in the afternoon as the light was just perfect in there then. So I decided to name my blog after that tree. Unfortunately 6 months later we had new neighbours and the first thing they did was cut the tree down! One morning I walked home from taking my granddaughter to school and it had gone!!

Describe where you write your blog. 

I write my blog at my desk in my old dining room which is now an office although it also shares space with a large treadmill (that has been waiting to be fixed for over a year now!) I have all my bookshelves in that room too.

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 have a pile of blog tour reads and also other ARCs that I keep in my study. There are so many books that I’m desperate to read on these piles but I try to read in date order. Here’s a pic of a few awaiting my attention!

Come and Find Me by Sarah Hilary

On the surface, Lara Chorley and Ruth Hull have nothing in common, other than their infatuation with Michael Vokey. Each is writing to a sadistic inmate, sharing her secrets, whispering her worst fears, craving his attention.
DI Marnie Rome understands obsession. She’s finding it hard to give up her own addiction to a dangerous man: her foster brother, Stephen Keele. She wasn’t able to save her parents from Stephen. She lives with that guilt every day.
As the hunt for Vokey gathers pace, Marnie fears one of the women may have found him – and is about to pay the ultimate price.

And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott

Cleo knows she should be happy for her brother Mark. He’s managed to find someone new after the sudden death of his first wife – but something about Evie just doesn’t feel right…

When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their cliff-top house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets.

Where does murder begin? When the knife is raised to strike, or before, at the first thought of violence? As the accused stands trial, the jury is forced to consider – is there ever a proper defence for murder?

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?

I love a twisty psychological thriller and it is always these I tend to search out if I want to read away the stresses of the day. I also reread Lady of Hay or Kingdom of Shadows by Barbara Erskine if I need some comfort reading.

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

What don’t I do!? I have 2 jobs in my local primary school where I work everyday as a Welfare Assistant and Lunchtime Supervisor. I also look after my grandchildren before and after school and in the holidays. And I have a little eBay business selling preloved children’s clothing.

What is your favorite blog post you’ve ever written?

My most popular blog post is actually related to question 7 as it was my A Typical Day in the Life of a book blogger post! Here is the link-I only had one of my school jobs at the time so it’s slightly more manic during my day now!

A Typical Day in the Life of a Book Blogger

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’m really lucky in that I have met lots of my favourite authors mostly when I attend Theakstons Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate which I have done for the past 3 years. The one that is probably my favourite though, is when I met Linwood Barclay and had afternoon tea at Betty’s in Harrogate with him and my fellow blogger Sarah Hardy. We were both a bit shy but he put us at ease and we had a fabulous chat for over 2 hours about absolutely everything! And the cakes were pretty good too!

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?

As you can tell I already think authors and cakes go well together as per question 9! I’m really lucky that I’ve met most of my favourite authors but one that I’ve never met, and would love to, is Amanda Prowse. I would serve my favourite carrot cake or a lemon and blueberry cream sponge and I would ask her first how she manages to look so bloody gorgeous in her Instagram pics even first thing in the morning with no make up on!!! And then I would serve prosecco and ask how her ideas come to her for her novels and tell her that I’ve yet to read one of her books that hasn’t made me cry!

 

 

Jo, apparently you and I share a love for cake!  Lemon and Blueberry cream Sponge cake? YUM! If that cake doesn’t make Amanda Prowse spill all of her secrets to you then I don’t know what would! Thanks so much for participating, I really enjoyed all of your answers and found some new authors to read.

Does anyone else share a love of mysteries with Jo? Have you read any of the authors on her TBR? What’s your favorite?

Thanks for reading Blogger to Blogger!

Deb