The lovely Kaja over at Of Dragons and Hearts nominated me for Liebster Award. Now, I’m sure some of you are aware that I have in fact received this award once before, but who am I to deny another the pleasure of nominating me again? I’ve decided I will skip the about me bits, and I’ll skip nominating others, both those parts were stressful. The questions asked part though, I love answering questions and you can all get to know a bit more about me.

What is your favourite summer memory?

This is a difficult one, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t specifically remember things from certain seasons or certain times, that’s just not how my brain works. I never did all that many exciting things in my summers to be honest. Which makes me a bit dull, I know. I think my current favourite summer memory is going to the zoo. Which I did the other week. So, I suppose, if I go based upon this summer, my favourite memory is going to Dudley Zoo.

It’s not so much a unique thing, but it was such a lovely day. A decision made on impulse with a friend where we decided we had to go to the zoo. We wandered around, saw various animals and had a laugh. I think they are my favourite kind of summer days. All my favourite summer memories are of deciding to do something impulsively with friends and then just having a laugh. I don’t get to do that as often anymore, since I started working impulse decisions cannot be made as I need to go to work. 

Have  a picture of some meerkats as representation of such a fun day.

What were your top 3 childhood reads?

Easy:

1. Harry Potter – because Harry Potter? It is probably always going to be one of my favourite series. These book really are the books of my childhood. I grew up with Harry. From the age of eight, when I was still in Year 4, I first discovered these books, and I carried on reading them right until the release of the seventh book. This is my top childhood read.
2. The Hobbit – I read it because my brother did. I t would have been around the time of Lord Of The Rings first being released and so we began reading these books. I loved it. It started slow, but by the end I was in love. I was crying and happy and this book just brings back such happy memories for me I think.
3. The Mediator series – I said before how me and one of my friends bonded over this book. It was seriously the book that brought me one of my best friends ever. We knew each other before and we walked home together. But I think it was reading this series that truly made us friends. It was so nice to find someone else who loved reading as much as I did and this series will always remind me of her and being about fifteen and walking home talking about the book. Handing books between backpacks for the other to read.

Tea or coffee? Both? Why?

I am a coffee drinker all the way. If I don’t get a cup of coffee in the morning, and another couple throughout the day, I am grouchy, irritable and I normally end up with a headache. I first started drinking it because that’s what grown-ups drink and because that’s what Rory and Lorelai drank in Gilmore Girls. I used to have about 3 sugars in it to make it bearable and I would have one cup when I got back from school. Now I average 3 cups a day, and when I was at uni it was essentially what I drank always.

It’s not that i have anything against tea, a nice cup of tea is sometimes exactly what you need. It is the drink I choose when I fancy something sweet. I am British so I believe there is only one type of tea and it is best served with dipping biscuits, such as rich tea or digestives. And I obviously know the perfect dipping time for any biscuit you have. But I could live without tea, I’m not so sure I could live without coffee.

Why did you start blogging?

I have been reading blogs for the past 4 years. I began with beauty blogs. I was trying to find the best high street make up and blogs seemed to be able to give me honest reviews on things. I extended my reading out in to style blogs then. because there is nothing more fun than seeing other people wearing clothes. It helped me learn more about fashion and finding my own style. I occasionally branched out to book blogging but I could never find any blogs I could relate to or any blogs where they read the same things as me. I don’t think it helped that I wasn’t reading as much at uni as I used to. I started uni and YA books did not seem cool then, so I stopped reading them and tried to read ‘serious’ adult fiction and would continually find myself bored with books and having no motivation.

It wasn’t until third year at uni, I turned 21 in the February and I got money from my mom to buy myself a Kindle. A silly purchase considering I hadn’t been reading much, but from what I’d read and seen of kindle books, they were cheap, and kindles seemed the best thing for me as I had to limit my book purchases as I needed to be able to get my books home at the end of the year. From there I began reading more and more. The Hunger Games was being made into a film so everyone was talking about it so I decided to read the book, the trailer looked good so why not? From there I dove into the world of YA dystopian fiction, which was booming. Then I discovered all these bloggers who were around my age and reading YA books. Then, the rest is history.

I read book blogs for a further 2 years. I was posting sporadic reviews on Goodreads and eventually just decided to take the plunge. I don’t know what motivated me to. I think I was just fed up of wasting my time on the internet and feeling I had no purpose outside of work. I needed something to occupy my time online and so I decided a book blog was the way forward. and several months later here I am.

What is your dream travel destination? Why?

New Orleans. I have been fascinated by the Deep South and New Orleans ever since I watched X-Men The Animated series as a kid. Rogue and Gambit were my first ship. I adored their banter and their characters and so I’ve always been fascinated by where they came from. This fascination only deepened when I discovered fanfiction. The first fanfiction I read was for this pairing back when X-Men Evolution was on TV. I loved the show and somehow stumbled upon fanfiction in my browsing. Don't quite know how, but anyway that made me fascinated with New Orleans. Then, the fact that this place has this whole history, and the culture and just the place. I don’t know what it is that fascinates me, but I’ve always wanted to go. And this September I will be. I am excited.

If you could meet any famous person, dead or alive, who would it be? Why?

This is not a thing I have ever really thought about. I know people seem to have some idol, a person who has strongly influenced them and they would love to meet, I feel this is especially true of readers, but I’ve never had that. I suppose I would be interested in meeting someone like JK Rowling or JRR Tolkien just to ask them how they got their ideas and created such an epic world out of seemingly nothing. Or Dianna Wynne Jones because her writing was so lovely she had such an interesting childhood and life in general so it would be interesting just to hear her talk about things.

Do you have any book-related pet peeves (e.g. I hate people who underline things in library books)?

I’m pretty easy going when it comes to books. I hate when covers get all bent out of shape, but even then I don’t mind it, but annoys me. I don’t like the dustcovers and hardback covers getting scuffed, so I don’t tend to take hardback books out of the house. You know, that, and the fact they are heavy.

What is your favourite dessert?

Anything with chocolate involved. Maybe chocolate fudge cake. I really like chocolate, it’s a thing.

If you had to choose only 3 books that would survive the apocalypse, which three would you choose?

Harry Potter, because if there was an apocalypse I would want a series that started off bright and happy, got really dark towards the end and ended in a high note to help inspire people that things will get better.

Some fluffy romance book where the girl gets the boy and loves happily ever after. That could be any number of books but I think I would have to pick Bet Me because it is one of my favourite chick lit books ever.

Finally, a book with some humour in for the dark times, whilst also being educational. That book is obviously Bill Bryson’s History of Nearly Everything because it is both interesting and with his awesome writing is fun to read.

What are your hobbies apart from reading and blogging?

This is terrible, because I don’t have that many hobbies. When people ask me what I do in my spare time all I can think is read, watch TV and shop. They are not the best of hobbies to have. I used to adore drawing and playing around on Photoshop, but I just don’t have the time anymore, and I feel so dejected when I see my creations compared to others. I enjoy listening to music, there is nothing I enjoy more than to spend hours on the internet finding new bands and singers to listen to. I think my biggest hobby probably is shopping. I love spending money and creating different outfits, even if they are not for me. I used to spend hours on various websites which allowed you to create outfits, that was so much fun.

I suppose you could include playing video games but considering currently my gaming is no more hard core than Pokemon and The Sims I don’t know if that fully counts, but those things definitely take up many hours of my day.

What is your favourite imaginary creature?

This one is difficult for me, I suppose we’re limiting it to imaginary creatures from books but I’ll give you my film one anyway. That would be mogwais because did you see Gizmo? Freaking adorable.

And there you have it, you’ve gotten to know me a little better, although I feel bad because I started writing this what feels like a month ago and I’ve only just gotten around to posting it. I’ll try to be better, I’m just lazy.

The Rules:

• List 11 facts about yourself. 
• Answer the 11 questions asked by whoever nominated you. 
• Ask 11 new questions to 9 bloggers with less than 300 followers. 
• You cannot re-nominate the blog that nominated you. 
• Go to their blog and tell them that they have been nominated!

11 Facts About Me

1. I studied History at university. I graduated with a 2:2 and had an enjoyable three years studying at Lancaster university. Whilst there I lived with the same people people for all three years, they became some of my best friends. And, just so you all know, I loved studying History, it was one of my favourite subjects, and no, I do not plan on using my degree with whatever job I have. It is too difficult, too competitive and requires further education which I can neither afford or be bothered with. 
2. I love computer games. I cannot afford to get these fancy new consoles, the X-Box One and the PS4 (I mean, seriously, we’re on the fourth one already, I still like to play games on my old school Playstation) and so I am not sure about all these new games and that. I have three games or series that I am dedicated to. I love Pokemon, even going so far as to buy a Nintendo 3DS simply to play Pokemon Y. I love The Sims, which I think I’ve told you all before. And, I love the Final Fantasy series. I love it enough that I am almost tempted to save my pennies so be able to get the new one on PS4, but I won’t. Also I’m terrible at games, genuinely horrible at them, but I enjoy playing them.
3. I love music. I have over 70GB of music on my laptop. I did not realise how much there was until I just checked. It is obscene, really. I do not listen to it all, I don’t have the time to try and listen to it all. Some of it I probably haven’t listened to in months. It’s all a part of this spending impulse control problem I have, I want something and so I buy it. It’s not a problem which is exclusive to my book buying addiction. It is simply a problem I have.
4. I have a weird thing where I have to read books in order. Even in series where the books don’t necessarily need to be read in order. You know, the series set in the same place with different characters, I have to read those in order as well. It’s not that weird, but it is at the same time.
5. I like fanfiction. I read it often. I used to read more, but since starting my blog I’ve cut down some, because there are so many books to be read.Sometimes, when I’m bored, I do still like to sample a fanfic or two. I think that they are just a bit easier than starting a book sometimes because you don’t have to get to know new characters, you just dive right into the story and enjoy. I won’t reveal all my fandoms, not unless you really want to know. If you do I may do a post on it.
6. I really like clothes. I don’t always tell you folks about my love of fashion, but I properly love clothes. I don’t go anywhere so can’t really justify buying a lot of things, but there is nothing more than enjoy that having a shopping binge where I just add clothes to my basket and see how much it costs (it normally goes into the hundreds) it is an evening well spent.
7. I still live at home with my mom. I little cringe worthy at the age of twenty-three, but the British housing market is expensive and difficult to break into, and a mortgage is not something I can afford. Also, as my many friends have told me, why waste money paying rent for a rubbish apartment when I can pay a pittance to stay home and have my laundry done and meals cooked. This way I can save for my ‘future’.
8. I have a thing for Home stuff, and housing programmes. I often watch shows like Grand Designs and Location, Location, Location and it makes me happy to sit and look at all the things I will one day buy for my future home. It is probably part of getting older, but I was doing this when I was still at school, so I think it is just a me thing.
9. I cannot drive. Not even a little bit. I have never sat behind the wheel of a car. I may learn to drive eventually, but currently my provisional license is for use as ID only. The only reason I got my provisional license to begin with was because my passport was looking battered and it just is not acceptable to use as ID when you are going to a club.
10. My favourite season is winter, because both Christmas and my birthday fall in that season, but weather wise I prefer Autumn. I also prefer Autumn for the fashion that comes out. I adore summer clothing, it is so pretty, but I have a complete inability to endure warm weather, ain’t it the worst?
11. Finally, because I am currently scraping the barrel on stuff to tell you all about myself, I will reveal something I rarely tell anyone I actually know, let alone internet folk. I am from a single parent family, not such big news I know, but my dad died when I was a baby, a car accident. I will not go into the details, because I don’t know it all. Why am I writing this to you all? It is kind of important to know because it means I properly love books where there is a strong family bond and I find it so interesting to read about different family dynamics because I have never experienced some of the more stereotypical family situations. I am fully aware no family is the same, but books with families playing important roles in a book intrigue me.

My answers to 11 questions

How do you feel about e-books?

What is your favourite genre and why?

Why did you start blogging?

What is something weird that you do whilst reading?

Who is your favourite background/support character?

What is the one book that you really hated but everyone else seemed to love?

What is your fandom of choice?

Other than reading what is your passion?

What canon OTP would you change?

What book series really needs a TV/movie adaptation?

What was the last book I read and why should you read it?

Who I am nominating for this prestigious award

• Abby @ Enthralling Reads
• Paige @ Oh My Fangirly
• Genevieve @ The Reading Shelf
• Sarah @ The Everyday Reader
• Rachel @ Confessions of a Book Geek
• Allison @ The Allure of Books
• Carina @ All About Books
• Keeley @ Lost in the Pages of Books
• Jazzie @ The Book Dancer

My Questions for my nominees

1. What is your preferred reading format? E-book, paperback, hardback?
2. If you could only recommend one book for another to read what would it be and why?
3. One of the recent themes of Top 10 Tuesday was if you like this TV show or film you should read this, provide a book recommendation based on your favourite film or TV show.
4. Where is your favourite place to read?
5. What is your opinion on commenting on blog posts?
6. What is your most anticipated read of 2014?
7. We all know about blogger hype, which book have you read which did not live up to the hype?
8. Name one author whose books you will always read.
9. There are certain bloggers whose opinions I value of others, when they give a good review I will go out of my way to read that book. Name a blogger whose opinions you value of others and explain why?
10. What is your favourite part of blogging? The book tours, the reviews, the memes, the community…?
11. Where did your blog name come from?