This is the final guest post in this segment about our community of bloggers. We have been highlighting the darkest secrets of your blogging and reading habits for the world to see and shining a light on your bookshelves. What you read really says a lot about you, I think.
The featured guest today is Roger from Kitchen Mishaps: Culinary Struggles with the Erratic Cook. If that’s not enough of a mouthful for you, the subjects he discusses certainly will be, for example the history of ice cream. Pop over and check out his blog – it is always varied and interesting!
Can you describe your blog in 20 words or less?
Kitchen Mishaps explores, in memoir and essay, the humour inherent in mediocre cooking and second-rate food and drink.
How do you measure success in a blog?
Many would say that the number of readers is the most important thing. I think success (at least in others’ blogs) is more to do with persuasiveness and style. For me, I’m happy if I make my readers laugh.
Where do you find information about blogging?
For content, I reap ideas wherever I can find them. For technical stuff, almost everything I know comes from WordPress.
Who is your go-to author on a bad day?
I don’t have a standout, but any stylish and entertaining writing lifts my spirits. P G Wodehouse is an obvious choice – for my money, he’s one of the great masters of English prose. Then there’s the American poet Ogden Nash and the now almost forgotten Harry Graham, who wrote ‘Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes’. And Flann O’Brien’s ‘The Third Policeman’, which must be one of the funniest books ever written.
Which book would you love to read but haven’t got around to it yet?
Oh dear – there are so many. I hope to find time to finish Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire before I die – it’s taken me about ten years to get halfway through it, but it’s a wonderful book – in fairly small doses. And I must get round to reading more of Anthony Trollope, who is much more entertaining than many people think.
What would make you DNF a book? (Did Not Finish)?
There’s no rule (in my view) that requires you to finish a book that’s doing nothing for you. One that I had to put in that category was Keri Hulme’s ‘The Bone People’ – it won the Booker Prize 30-odd years ago, but I found it almost unreadable, and I gave up after about 100 pages.
Show us Your Shelf
I love Wodehouse too. I only discovered it a few years ago but the wry character descriptions are just so good. And I actually agree about The Bone People but a second reading made me appreciate it a lot more. Your bookshelf is impressive! Thanks for sharing.
I have really enjoyed getting to know the bloggers who took part a little better:
True Shelf Series #1: Taylor Wells
True Shelf Series #2: Stacy Alderman
True Shelf Series #3: Laura Bailey
True Shelf Series #5: Barbara Lane
This has been such a great series. Ask me anything in the comments!