Weekend Wonderings

In June, I'll be participating in the Summer Blog Blast Tour, organized by Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray.  As I do my research on my assigned authors and prepare their questions, I think a lot about why we're doing this.  Thus this week's question:

How do readers benefit from author interviews?

Little Willow is a prolific author interviewer.  I always enjoy reading her interviews.  I also love the interviews at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  But I'm having trouble finding a way to explain exactly what I get out of these interviews.  Insight, of course, into the author's process, but these interviews are always unique, asking new questions.  Everyone asks "Where do you get your ideas?" or "What advice do you have for aspiring authors?"  Little Willow asks questions like "As a reader, what is your favorite section of the bookstore?" while the ladies of 7-Imp ask "If you could have three (living) authors over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose?"  These questions show me the author as reader, which makes the author a person to me.

So what do you think?  What do you get out of author interviews?