The Sunshine Blogger Award Part Four

I’m going back to the Sunshine Blogger Award in this post, because I still have some questions left to answer from more of the amazing bloggers who nominated me for this award. Previously I’ve answered questions on books and questions on my blog and myself, but now in this post I’m going back for more questions on books.

I was tagged by Zoie at Whisked Away by Words and Dezzy at The Thoughtful Voice. Thank you both so much for your nominations, I had a lot of fun answering the questions you set and I hope you enjoy reading my answers.

Rules:

• Thank the person(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or on your blog

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Zoie’s Questions

1. Who is in your favourite bookish friendship?

If there’s one thing I love in books it’s well-written and well-developed friendships. My favourite is probably the one between Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Noah in The Raven Cycle series. I love the dynamic they all had; the support they gave one another, the sarcastic snipes Blue and Ronan made at each other and at everyone else, and the clear love they felt for each other as well.

2. If you can teleport to any place in the world right now, and stay there for 24 hours, where would you go?

My favourite place I’ve been so far has to be Amsterdam, so that would have to be my answer for this question. The second I stepped from the train station and into the city there was something about it that felt like home, like if I had to pick up and move to another country I could happily see myself settling down in Amsterdam.

3. What’s the fun-est place you’ve ever travelled to?

It’s not far-away, and definitely not the most glamorous place I’ve been, but when I finished university me and all my friends went away to Centre Parcs for a week. That’s always going to be what comes to mind when I think of the fun-est place I’ve travelled to simply because I had an incredible and unforgettable time with my best friends.

4. Describe an experience where you damaged/completely wrecked a book.

I’d love to say I’ve never damaged to a book, but I’m too clumsy to claim that with a straight face. One time that really stands out was when I was sitting at my kitchen table, working on my homework one evening. I’d borrowed one of my dad’s thesauruses, my mum told me to be careful because the pages were delicate and like a teenager I just huffed and said something along the lines of; “I know”, only to rip one of the pages nearly clean out of the book the turning it too roughly.

5. Are you a library person or a book-buying person?

I’m more of a book-buying person for two reasons. One is that my local library isn’t very well stocked. I’ve said this in other posts but a few years back the council spent so much money building a fancy new library, only to move the same old books to the new location and not bother updating the catalogue. There’s nothing there for me to read other than the same books I feel like I’ve already read time and time before.

The second reason is that if I love a book I’ve read I end up buying it anyways, because I want to add it to my collection. May as well cut out the middle man and just buy the books in the first place.

6. As a bookworm, what is the most “dangerous” place for you to go to? (E.g. bookstore, library, etc.)

The Piccadilly branch of Waterstones. Honestly any Waterstones is dangerous for me to go into, I say I’m just going to browse only to end up walking out with at least one new purchase, but the Piccadilly branch is the biggest bookstores I’ve ever been in. It’s got seven floors (if you include the Ground and Lower Ground floors) filled with books and I’m too weak to resist its lure.

7. Are you a fan of writing book reviews? Why or why not?

They’re not my favourite posts to write but I wouldn’t say I hated them or anything. Book reviews are the posts I’m the most likely to procrastinate over. As it is I’m currently very behind on the reviews I need to write; I have a backlog of maybe ten books which I need to review. One day I think I just need to sit down and start writing. No more excuses.

8. Name a character whom you love to dislike or make fun of.

There’s not a character that I love to make fun of, but a character I love to hate is Maddie from Lucky in Love. I go into it more in my review but nothing she did made any sense to me at all. Everything we’re told about her character seemed to go completely against the way she acted in the book and it just infuriated me. Looking back though it is kind of amusing how much I was annoyed by her.

9. Have you met any authors? Who have you met?

I went along to YALC in 2016 and 2017, and I’ve been to various events at Waterstones Piccadilly so I’ve been lucky enough to have met quite a few authors; V.E. Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Laini Taylor, Maggie Stiefvater to name a few of my favourites. Also, while I didn’t get to meet her, I did see Sarah J. Maas when she was touring for the release of Tower of Dawn.

10. Where do you usually write your blog posts?

Sometimes if there’s not a book I feel like I need to start reading right away I’ll write blog posts on my commute to or from work; I’ll take my iPad and type away on the train, but most of the time I’ll write in my room. Currently I’m sat in my chair, with a glass of orange juice, writing my answers to these questions.

11. What’s the most insightful, deepest book you’ve read that changed some way of your thinking?

It’s nothing dramatic, but The Long Ways to a Small, Angry Planet definitely changed the way I saw sci-fi books. It’s an epic story but the plot is focused more on the characters and their relationships with one another than it is on the action. Still it’s a story that’s stayed with me for a long time, and it’s just an incredible read.

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Dezzy’s Questions

1. What’s your favourite type of blog post to write, and why?

I’ve answered this question a couple of times before, but in case you missed it my previous posts I’ll answer it again; my favourite posts are either book tags which allow me to talk about my WIP (like Kat’s amazing Write tags) because they always inspire me to actually write, and Top Ten Tuesday posts because I really enjoy creating lists.

2. Do you usually reread books? Why or why not?

Oh I always re-read books. Most of the time it’s because a new book in a series has been released, so I have to go back to previous books to refresh my mind on the story, characters, world, etc. Other times it’s just because I want to relive my all-time favourite books. The Night Circus for example is a book I’ll try and re-read at least once a year.

3. What’s a book that made you an emotional wreck and/or broke your heart?

The last book I read which broke my heart was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It’s not my usual genre but I was hearing so many amazing things about it that I had to see what all the fuss was about. I loved it, and it’s actually in the running for my favourite book of the year actually. Evelyn was a tough character, but my heart broke learning some of the secrets she kept for so many years.

4. What’s a book that brought you the utmost joy (you couldn’t stop smiling after reading it)?

One book which I love, which I always reach for when I’m feeling slump-y, is Carry On. It’s just such a fun story. I love the relationship, the shippable romance and the snarky dynamic between Baz and Simon, I love the friendship between Simon and Penny, and I was hooked on the murder mystery aspect. I always find myself smiling whenever I re-read Carry On.

5. Standalone books or book series?

Probably book series, but that’s mainly because I read a lot of fantasy books. I feel like fantasy is a genre which nine times out of ten works better in series than in standalones, there’s just more space for the authors to develop the world, the characters and the plot.

6. If you could unread a book, what would it be and why?

I’ve read some really bad books which I’d like to erase from my mind completely, but the one that stands out the most is All the Bright Places. I wouldn’t say it was a bad book, I actually ended up rating it four stars, but there was a large part of the story that was incredibly triggering for me and I wasn’t prepared for it. I was really uncomfortable reading the rest of this book, and if I’d have known going in that All the Bright Places contained that scene I would have never read it in the first place.

7. How has your blogging style and writing voice changed since you first started blogging?

When I first started blogging I split my reviews into three sections; talking about my thoughts on the plot, the characters and the setting. Now I find it’s easier to write when I don’t have a set structure, when I let the review go wherever my mind does. I’ve also become more confident in my writing; I started talking about my WIPs more, and publishing discussion posts which I never could have done back when I first started out on this blog.

8. How have your reading tastes changed ever since you started blogging?

For the most part they haven’t (I still largely reach for fantasy books over any other genre) but I’ve become more critical, and I’m tired of certain tropes that I wouldn’t have minded so much back three and a half years ago. I’ve also branched out more; picking up some YA contemporary books and a few thrillers as well.

9. How did you discover your favourite author and/or favourite books?

My favourite authors are Erin Morgenstern, Laini Taylor, Samantha Shannon and V.E. Schwab. I discovered Erin Morgenstern when I picked up The Night Circus at my local library and was intrigued enough by the blurb to check it out. I discovered Laini Taylor thanks to my friend review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and I discovered Samantha Shannon thanks to a bloggers’ review of The Bone Season.

I’m not 100% sure how I discovered V.E. Schwab; I know the first of her books I read was The Archived, but I can’t remember how I came across it.

10. What’s your favourite movie adaptation?

I can’t pick just one favourite so my top two are Love, Simon and The Book Thief. Yes both have their differences to the original book, but both of them stayed true to the original story and I just really loved the end result. Love, Simon was sweet and emotional, and the ending to The Book Thief wrecked me just as much as the book did.

11. List three favourite books and one song you associate with each of them!

For Six of Crows I’d pick Warrior by Imagine Dragons. The song just perfectly captures Kaz’s character and in some way the epic heists the Dregs pull off.

For The King’s Men I’d pick The Kids Aren’t All Right by Fall Out Boy because the song reminds me of Neil especially when he leaves the other Foxes in Baltimore to protect them.

For The Night Circus I’d pick something by Florence and the Machine. I’m not sure which track I’d choose, possibly Strangeness and Charm, but either way I think Florence’s voice is a perfect fit for the atmosphere of The Night Circus.

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I currently have one more nomination for The Sunshine Blogger Award…

…and as there are still questions left for me to answer there’s one more post coming, but in the meantime let me know your answers to the questions in this post.

What’s the fun-est place you’ve been to? Is it somewhere far away from home or something more simple made amazing by the people you were with? What book do you wish you could un-read, and what song do you associate with your favourite book?