BBAW: Interview with Steph Su

My interview today is with Steph Su, of Steph Su Reads.  If you haven't checked out her blog, you should, its great and so is she!  Thank you, Steph, for being so patient and answering both my more serious and my more silly questions.

During the winter of 08-09 I stumbled across some YA book blogs. As I read them I realized that I had, in a way, already been doing for quite some time what they had been doing--that is, writing reviews for the many YA books I read. "I think I can do this too!" I thought to myself, and Steph Su Reads was born.

2.  What was your favorite post?

There are a few, but I guess I'll go with my post from last summer, "Why I Want More Asians on YA Book Covers: My Experience with Racism." (http://stephsureads.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-i-want-more-asians-on-ya-book.html) There are so many societal, racial, and cultural politics governing publishing that are all too easily overlooked. This post dealt with something personal that I have felt for a while, and I hoped when writing it that it might help open others' eyes to far more subtle--and thus far more insidious--racial underpinnings that still exist in our modern society.

3.  What is your absolute favorite book, and why?

One?? Just one?? I'll try my best. Many books are precious to me, but I think that for my absolute favorite, I have to go with Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. This book's influence on me was not just limited to my childhood. Every time I reread it, I am reminded of the value of supposedly "childish" characteristics such as optimism, hope, and the beauty of basic things such as community and nature.

4.  What character do you most identify with (why?)

Jessica Darling from Megan McCafferty's books. There aren't too many too-smart-for-their-own-good teenaged characters around, and there furthermore aren't many of these characters with a wicked sense of humor and a tendency to overreflect, much to readers' delight. I can relate a lot to Jessica's struggles to be happy when, in knowing better, she knows how difficult it is to actually achieve happiness.

5.  What do you like to do when you aren’t reading and blogging?

Well, I'm learning the guitar, so that takes up a lot of my time right now. And since I just moved to Shanghai, I've been exploring the city that I now call home quite a bit. Other times, however, when I am feeling exceptionally lazy, I will just veg out with a Castle or Firefly marathon. :)

Quick Questions:
coke or pepsi? either/or
ice cream or cake? ice cream
morning person or night person? I would rather be a morning person. I love daylight. As to whether or not I actually go to sleep early enough to do that... well...
Edward or Jacob (or boo sparkly vampires and hairy shirtless teenage boys?) Back when I used to like Twilight, I was an Edward fan. But now I know better and have moved on to Shane (vampire from Jeri Smith Ready's Wicked Game) and Curran (Beast Lord from Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series). Teehee.
Are you excited for The Hunger Games movie? Who isn't? I'm excited to see what they will do with it. Of course, if they end up Twilight-izing it, then I won't be in the audience for the remaining movies, I can tell you that.

Again, make sure you check out Steph Su Reads!

1.  Why did you start blogging?