The Sunshine Blogger Award

So this is going to be a long post because I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award four times by four different and wonderful bloggers. Thanks to Sammie at Bookshelves & Biros, Louise at GenieReads, Fadwa at Word Wonders, and Stephanie at Teacher of YA’s Book Blog for nominating me for this award. Everyone should definitely check out their original posts which I’ve linked to, and while you’re there check out their blogs as well.

Rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Answer 11 questions set by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions to answer.

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Sammie’s Questions:

1. What’s your happiest memory?

It’s not really an important or significant memory from my life. I’d just come home from work one Saturday and all I’m doing is sitting in my kitchen chatting with my mum as she cooks dinner. I’m not sure why this one memory stuck in my head but I just remember thinking that day that I can’t remember a time I’d been happier.

2. Which OTP (one true pairing) makes you the happiest?

I’d have to say Simon and Baz from Carry On. I felt a little like Cath reading that book, holding my breath waiting for the two of them to realise their feelings for one another. There was so much development behind their relationship and seeing their journey just throughout this one book I ended up feeling so happy when they finally kissed.

3. How do you like to relax and unwind?

Reading, which I feel is a typical answer for someone who has a book blog. When I come home from work on a Friday evening there is nothing more I like to do than snuggle under my duet with a good book, be it one I’ve already read hundreds of times or a new release I can’t wait to get around to.

4. What do you find most satisfying about blogging?

The community itself. I’ve said this before but the main reason I started blogging was because I wanted people to talk to about books. There’s nothing I love more than seeing comments on my posts from people who’ve also loved the books I’ve loved, or commenting on people’s reviews of books they’ve loved that I have too.

5. What’s your spirit animal?

An owl

6. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?

Ham and pineapple pizza

7. What one piece of advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t give up because things will get a lot better. You just have to stick around and wait for it to happen.

8. Tell us about one fictional character that makes you smile!

Cress from the Lunar Chronicles. She’s such a bright, positive person and her attitude to all the new sights she sees on Earth and the adventures she goes on is kind of how I think I’d react to them as well.

9. If you could go back in time and live in any era, what would it be?

Given how much I love Greek mythology I’d have to say ancient Greece where the old Gods were worshipped and where all the myths and legends came to life. It would literally be amazing to see it all with my own eyes, as long as I wasn’t trapped in Pompeii when the volcano went off.

10. Do you have any secret talents or party tricks?

This always seems weird to people but whenever I get a lemon garnish in a drink I will eat it, peel and all. The first time I did it in front of my work colleagues they were really surprised and kept giving me the lemon slices from their drinks for the rest of the night.

11. Give me a quote that makes you happy!

“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”

– Galileo

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Louise’s Questions:

1. How was your day?

The day of writing this post (I like to have a few drafts saved and before I posted it this was one of them) was actually a pretty good day for me. It was a bank holiday weekend so I had an extra day off of work which I used to draft some more posts for my blog, catch up on my sleep, and do a little shopping as well. Plus the weather outside was gorgeous which is kind of a rarity for England.

2. Favourite fictional book couple?

I already answered something to this effect for Sammie’s question above but it’s Baz and Simon from Carry On.

3. Compare your favourite book to a vegetable.

I’m going to compare The Song of Achilles to an onion because the more I read of this book, and the more I cut into an onion, the more I ended up crying.

4. Do you wear glasses or contacts, or do you have perfect eye sight?

I wish I had perfect eye sight. I wear both glasses and contact lenses; contacts are for when I’m at work during the week and glasses are for the weekends.

5. What is the colour of your eyes?

Blue

6. When you’re reading, does your face show your emotions or do you have a normal reading face?

Not really. If it’s a really funny book I may smile or laugh (which can be embarrassing if I’m on a busy train, which is where I do most of my reading) and if it’s a really sad book it may make me well up a little.

7. What do you love about books?

Everything. I love that they can transport me to different worlds, even with contemporary books I can lose myself and fall into someone else’s life for a little while. Each book I pick up becomes an adventure for me.

8. What do you hate or dislike about books?

That I have to wait so long for them to be released.

9. What was the last book you cried over?

The Song of Achilles. I read it a month ago now but I’m still not over what happened to Achilles and Patroclus.

10. What do you like to do if you’re not reading?

Either blogging or baking. I like to try and draft blog posts a little ahead of time so I spend a lot of my weekends catching up on reviews for books I’ve read during the week or awards and tags in my queue. I also love baking, I’m best at making cheesecake and cookies but I’ll try my hand at anything. My collection of cookbooks isn’t anywhere near as extensive as my collection of YA books but I have a few favourites, mainly the Hummingbird Bakery books.

11. Any weird talents like, being able to touch your nose with your tongue?

I can actually touch my nose with my tongue, and roll my tongue as well. But I also have a good head with numbers and I can recite Pi to twenty-two decimal places.

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Fadwa’s Questions:

1. What has been the highlight of the year for you?

In terms of blogging it was definitely hitting my first major goals; publishing 100 posts and reaching 100 followers were two of the big ones. In my life outside of WordPress it was having my Allocation Level 2 signed off at work.

2. Besides reading, what are your passions?

I already answered something to this effect for Louise’s question above but it’s either blogging or baking.

3. Only from the books you’ve read this year, what characters would help you break out of prison?

Given that I can pick more than one character I’m going for Laia from An Ember in the Ashes, Aelin from Queen of Shadows, and Arin from The Winner’s Kiss because they all already have experience breaking people out of prisons.

4. What’s a fictional world you wouldn’t survive in?

There’s more than a few, I’m not vicious enough to survive in a lot of the worlds I read about, but I’d say the Red Rising world is one of the main ones. I wouldn’t make it five minutes before I was killed, either by one of the Golds or in the mines if I was a Red.

5. What are three things you love about yourself?

One is that I always make an effort to help people, especially if I’m at work and someone needs a hand with something, two is that I’m a very quick learner, and three is that I have good taste in jewellery, I’m always getting complimented on my necklaces and earrings.

6. What’s a superpower you’d want to have?

The ability to travel in time. I’m not too fussed whether it’s forwards in time, back in time, or both because being able to see the past or the future would be an amazing experience to have so I’d be happy with either.

7. If you could exchange lives with one character for 24h, which one would it be?

Kell from A Darker Shade of Magic. I’d love to have his ability to travel between all the different London’s but more than anything I’d also love to be able to live in Red London and experience the magic for myself.

8. Do you have any pets ? If not, would you want to?

I have one dog. His name is Tommy and I’ve spoken a lot about him recently it seems in The Real Neat Blog Award and my latest Wordless Wednesday post but suffice to say he is the most gorgeous dog in the world (in my opinion) and my favourite member of my family.

9. Beach or Mountains?

Mountains

10. Who are the bloggers that inspire you?

Well pretty much everyone I follow and everyone I talk to day by day but I’d have to say the main two would be; Marie and Reg. Their reviews have inspired so many items on my TBR lists, and I love both their blogs as well.

11. Where do you go to spend some time alone? (Aside from your room)

I wouldn’t say this is somewhere I enjoy spending time but I have a lot of alone time on the train going to and from work. I plug in my iPod, make sure I have a good book on my Kindle, and for an hour and a half each way I read and relax.

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Stephanie’s Questions:

1. What genre do you want to read more of?

All of them. Fantasy is my all-time favourite so obviously I always want to read more books from that genre. I’ve recently picked up some amazing contemporary and historical books so I’m interested in exploring both of those genres a little more. And although I haven’t read many myself I’ve seen some great reviews of crime books so I’d love to dive into that genre and see what it has to offer.

2. What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?

Reign of Shadows. I was seriously disappointed by this book; the plot was non-existent, the characters flat and their actions problematic at times, and the world-building was lacking in so many ways. This is one book I was tempted to DNF and one series I will not be going back to when the next book is released.

3. What’s your favourite childhood book?

Not including Harry Potter because I feel like it’s become a default of mine for questions like these, the top three would be The Chronicles of Narnia, A Series of Unfortunate Events and the Pure Dead series. All of these, including Harry Potter, are books I’d love to go back and re-read again one day.

4. What movie adaptation did you think was better than the book (if any)?

I’m not going to say I enjoyed it better than the book because the book itself was amazing but The Book Thief was a movie that lived up to the expectations I had after reading the book.

5. Do you prefer reading in the morning or in the evening?

Although I do most of my reading in the morning on the train to work I do prefer reading in the evening.

6. What’s your favourite quote from a book?

“Aren’t you afraid of dying?” he asked Lila now.
She looked at him as if it were a strange question. And then she shook her head. “Death comes for everyone,” she said simply. “I’m not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here.” She swept her hand over the room, the tavern, the city. “I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”

– A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab

7. Are a part of any book clubs?

No and I don’t think I’ll end up joining any either. I’m very much a mood reader so being given a book to read each month or week wouldn’t work because unless I wanted to read it I wouldn’t.

8. What’s your favourite blog post that you’ve posted?

I’d have to say one of my travel posts. Either from my holiday to Edinburgh or Venice or the post I did for the Souvenirs From Across the World feature about London and Southend.

9. What are your favourite websites?

I spend a lot of time on both Tumblr and Pinterest. I won’t say I’m active on either of my accounts I just love looking at what other people I follow have posted. I also spend a lot of time on Goodreads and Amazon for what should be obvious reasons.

10. What other hobbies do you enjoy doing, apart from reading?

I already answered something to this effect for Louise’s question above but it’s either blogging or baking.

11. Do you have a Goodreads reading challenge for this year, if so what is it?

Yep, my challenge for this year is 100 books and so far I have read 82. Only another 18 to go and given how much time we have left of this year I think I’ll be able to complete my 2016 challenge.

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My Questions:

1. You have the power to erase one character from any book or series; who would you pick and why?
2. You come across a time machine however it can only go either into the future or into the past, not both, and your first trip sets it in that mode forever. Would you choose to travel into the future or travel into the past?
3. If you could live anywhere in the world, real or fictional, where would it be?
4. Would you rather team up during the zombie apocalypse with the main character of the first book you read, or the latest book you read?
5. What made you start blogging?
6. You’re trapped on a desert island and can only take three things with you; what are they?
7. Do you have any pets? If yes tell us about him/her, with photos please. If not what you be your dream pet, it can be an actual animal or a mythological one.
8. The story of your life is being made into a film, which actress would you pick to play you and why?
9. What’s the most fascinating thing you’ve encountered this week?
10. Is there a book death you’re not over and don’t think you ever will be, if so which one?
11. What is one song that you would describe as ‘belonging on the soundtrack to your life’?

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My Nominations:

1. Alex at Whimsy Pages
2. Amanda at My Books Opinion Site
3. Donna at ChocolatenWaffles’ Blog
4. Kirstie at Upside-Down Books
5. Kourtni at Kourtni Reads
6. Lauren at Wonderless Reviews
7. Lilyn at Sci-Fi and Scary
8. Maja at Maya the Book Explorer
9. Melissa at BookNerdMoMo
10. Paige at Paige’s Pages
11. Reg at She Latitude

If you made it all the way to the end of this post then congratulations, it was a long one with a lot of questions and answers but I hope you enjoyed reading it all.