Tampa Book Buzz

Bio

Real Name: Lisa Ciurro (prior to that, it was Lisa Scherer)

Blogosphere Alias: tampabookbuzz, tampafilmfan

Day Job: corporate drone

Night Job: blogger, reader, movie/TV viewer, junk food enthusiast

Bio:

Finding it exhausting to be both beautiful and brilliant, Lisa (Scherer) Ciurro buried herself in books and movies at a young age. She attempted to reintegrate into society in the late 90s, but found that her social skills had withered from lack of use. She accepted her inner wallflower, bought a computer and devoted herself to the blogosphere. A corporate drone by day, Lisa reviews and writes about books and movies on her blogs TampaFilmFan.com and TampaBookBuzz.com. She also guest blogs at the popular local blog SticksOfFire.com and writes the FANGRRL column at CrazedFanBoy.com.

In addition to being named one of the best local bloggers of 2005 by tbt* (*tampa bay times), Lisa has served as a judge for several area film festivals (Independents’ Film Festival, 2006, 2007; Sunscreen Film Festival, 2007, 2008; Campus MovieFest Florida, 2008). In September 2006, TampaBookBuzz.com was a runner-up for Best Local Blog in Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay contest. In 2007, Lisa began writing “Reel People” movie reviews for the Tampa Tribune and served on The Artists and Writers Group’s festival planning committee. In between reading books and watching movies, Lisa visits her social networking pages, updates her Netflix queue, eats too much junk food and watches Law and Order reruns.

Why a book blog?

I love to read.  Always have, always will.  My family jokes that I was born three weeks late (back in the olden days before labor was induced) because I was tucked into a comfy reading spot, happily reading away; I didn’t want my reading interrupted by being born.

Throughout my life, I have read by flashlight late at night; in a slightly uncomfortable treehouse; in the bathroom; in a car; on a plane; on a bus; while walking; while standing in line; upside down in a chair; at the beach; with two cats on my lap; while driving (only when stopped at a red light, I promise); and plenty of times when I was supposed to be paying attention at work or at school or to my husband.  I’ve given books as gifts for almost every holiday and almost always give books as baby presents.

When I was 9 or 10, I talked my mom into driving me to the library in a heavy rainstorm just so I’d have something to read over the weekend (I think she’s still mad about that).  I got in trouble in 4th grade because I skipped ahead of the group reading assignment and finished the book early.  I read Dean Koontz books during a 1989 road trip from Georgia to Texas and stuck my best friend with all the driving (sorry about that, Jennifer).  I’ve stayed up all night to finish a book more than once in my life.  Always on the lookout for new ways to multi-task, I read while brushing my teeth in the morning or while sitting in the drive-thru at lunchtime or during the commercial breaks of my TV shows.  I always carry a magazine or two in my purse, would rather buy a book than almost anything else, and have never eaten by myself in a restaurant without something to read.

Reading for pleasure is essential…necessary…automatic…vital. I’m dumbfounded by people who don’t like to read. It sounds snobby for me to say that I feel sorry for those people, but I do. Reading is such a huge part of my life — and who I am — that I can’t even begin to imagine a life without books.

Tampa Book Buzz is a celebration of reading and all things reading-related: books, poetry readings, magazines, publishing companies, authors, libraries, reading groups, newspapers, bookstores, writers’ organizations, reading festivals, bibliophile clubs, book fairs, etc., with a focus on the amazing people, resources and events in the Tampa Bay area. Talking about books is almost as much fun as reading a good book in the first place!

My favorite book is A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith.  Other favorites include The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Eternally Yours by S.L. Juers, Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, and anything by Echo Heron, Dean Koontz, Ann Rule, Michael Palmer, John Saul and Sue Grafton.