So the lovely Cait at Paper Fury came up with this wonderful, incredible, amazing, stupendous, fan-flipping-tastic bookish questionnaire! It looked super fun and she invited everyone to feel free to do it so I took her up on the offer! Because obviously you're just dying to know more about my bookish habits. I mean, how could you not be? ;) Anyhow, let's not delay any further! To the questions!
1) Currently reading? I'm currently in that awkward space in between books where I have no clue where I'm going next and I don't have a map either (sounds like quite a metaphor for life, am I right or what?). I'm thinking, though, that I'm gonna pick up Ruined by Amy Tintera as a certain little, furious, cake loving, Australian dragon queen has said it's "stabby" and full of sarcasm and wit (just like yours truly--so it sounds perfect for me).
2) Should’ve read, like, yesterday? Honestly I have, like, seven books I need to get on top of now before my TBR gets too out of control...Who the heck am I kidding??? It's already out of control! I think one of the most pressing books, though, is The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski because I need to read it before I totally forget what happened in the previous books.
3) Book that impacted you? I will never forget how much The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros impacted me so much. It was the first time I truly felt understood and known by a complete and total stranger--the author of this book that I could relate to so well. The book's jazzy, vignette style of writing also influenced my own style of writing.
4) Hyped vs backlist titles? Um...both? Although I do probably tend to air more on the side of hyped novels. I can't help it! I feel like as a reviewer, I have a bit of a duty to be up on the latest works. Plus, I like the fandom experience.
5) Current series crush? Throne of Glass by The Queen (a.k.a Sarah J. Maas) always and forever. I'm total trash for that series.
6) How strong is your self-control around books? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! You must not know me well if you think the answer is anything other than "nonexistent."
7) Plot vs characters? Huh. That's a tough one! But I think in the end, I have to go with characters. I'm a very emotional, intuitive person and so I need an emotional connection with characters. When that's there, it totally makes a book for me.
8) Would you write under a pseudonym? When I was younger and fancied myself a budding author, I used to think up all of these really, super imaginative pen names. Now, though, I think I'd want to write under my name because, if i could see my name on the front of a book, I, myself, could believe that I actually wrote the thing!
9) Would you marry your bookshelf? Um, duh! What kind of question is that?!
10) Do you ever get sick of reading? Sadly, I must answer this honestly and the honest answer is "yes, I do from time to time." When I get sick of reading I usually go off and listen to a lot of music, watch a lot of TV and booktube, and do other random bits and bobs in between sulking over the fact that I feel like I can't read anymore. I always come back to books in the end, though.
11) Random bookish memory? I was always an artsy kid and when I was little, I honestly thought that literally every book with pictures was a coloring book. I remember gleefully coloring over illustrations--even the ones that were in color!
12) Character you relate to? That's a tough one, ducklings, because I actually rarely ever relate to book characters. However. The single character I strongly identify with is Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Like Luna, I have always been incredibly smart, but what has made me so intelligent is my willingness to open my mind to the impossible in the search for the truth. This has meant that I often am seen as more than a little out there. And just like Luna, I was often made fun of for it only to be proven correct later.
13) Do you own bookish merchandise? Unfortunately, no. I do really, really, really want a Luna Lovegood Pop Funko but at the moment I don't have the money to spare. Maybe for my birthday I'll get it, though.
14) Controversial opinion? I actually have the same controversial opinion as Cait and that is that, even as a POC, I am very, very, very wary of the #ownvoices movement. First of all, I don't believe that authors should ever be limited in the stories they tell, that's just not fair, right, or how stories work. Second, as a POC, I have to say, how will people who aren't my race/ethnicity/sexuality/whatever fully understand me if they are not allowed to fully put themselves in my shoes and immerse themselves in my life. And part of that immersion entails detailed research and looking at life through my eyes. And that's what authors do when they write a book. You get what I'm saying? Thirdly, I think #ownnvoices gets fuzzy when it says that only marginalized groups can write about marginalized groups--I'm African American, but does that mean I can write an Asian protagonist? Or that I can only write African American protagonists? Lastly, if someone can tell a story well and true, they shouldn't be limited by their identity. If we said the same thing to writers of color, if would be considered racist. Yet, it's okay to say that Caucasian writers? I don't think so.
15) NOTP? Dorian X Celaena from Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I'm sorry, peeps, it's just not gonna happen.
16) Why didn’t I love this? I really wasn't impressed with Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. So much that I actually temporarily DNFed it. I will be picking it up again and giving it a second chance for #ReadThemAllThon but I'm not too jazzed about it.
17) Hardcover vs paperback? There's something about the feel of hardcovers in your hands and the look of them on your selves. Plus, it's harder to damage them.
18) Do you ever like villains? How could I not? MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Ahem. But seriously, a good villain can make a book go from good to great.
19) Cringeable reads? Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines just--ugh. I won't rant on about it, but the romance was so toxic.
20) Where do you get your books from? Mostly the library, Audible, and Book Outlet. I'm all for that online shopping life, yo.
21) Haunting read? The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater has the most haunting atmosphere you'll find in YA. The series has this great mystical, mysterious feel to it and is filled with lyrical language. It's just great.
22) Highly anticipated upcoming release? Ohmygod there's just so many! I can't choose one so instead I'll give you five! I'm really, really, really anticipating Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor, Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas, Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, Replica by Lauren Oliver, and The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard! Those are my what's on my Absolutely Must Have In My Hands And Read The Minute They Come Out list!
23) Annoying character qualities? This was a tricky question because as long as a character is well written and has a solid backstory and motives for why they are the way they are, I don't tend to find them annoying. I think the most annoying quality I've seen in a character was unfounded arrogance and selfishness. That really bugged me.
24) Least favourite genre? I don't read nonfiction unless it's for school. Like, ever. When I read, I want to be swept away in an adventure that's larger than life or what could ever happen and that kinda defeats the point of nonfiction, ya know? The only nonfiction I can imagine myself reading is science books. For instance, I loved the book The Hot Zone by Richard Preston! It's a book about the history of and science behind Ebola and it was fascinating, but it also read like a more of a horror novel and was written like a story. So, yeah. Science books: yes. Non-science books: probably not.
25) Best tropes? I must admit, when they're done well, I have a soft spot for the lost princess trope and the chosen one trope. Fantasy is my favorite genre and it pretty much thrives on those two tropes.
26) Rereading? I actually haven't reread a book for years now. There's a few reasons why. First and foremost, there's just so many wonderful books I haven't read out there that demand to be read by me immediately. Second, my TBR of books I own and haven't read yet is humongous. Lastly, rereading feels a little pointless to me as I already know what's going to happen and therefore am not surprised. I have considered rereading a few books this year, though, so we'll see if my stance changes. But for the most part, I don't reread books anymore.
27) Have you abused a book? Well. As you can tell from my random bookish memory I recounted above, I have abused books. Beyond coloring them, I have also: cracked the spines of books, dogeared pages, and read books so many times they literally fell apart and have chuks of pages missing. But hey, a well loved book is the best kind of book, right? (please don't hate me--I take really good care of my books now!)
28) Series you quit on? I recently gave up on The 5th Wave Trilogy by Rick Yancey. I read the first two books and hated the second and lost interest by the time the third book came out. I'm gonna try to read the third book for #ReadThemAllThon, but I'm pretty reluctant.
29) Wish it wasn’t a standalone? See, this was a difficult one because there aren't many YA standalones anymore (at least not in YA fantasy/sci fi, which is largely what I read). But I did find one! I wish there was a sequel (or two or three) to The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black. I think I've heard that there might be a spin-off series, though??? But either way, I just ended that book feeling like I wasn't ready to leave that world, but there wasn't any more, darnit!
30) Bad bookworm side-effects? I sometimes get so wrapped up in my imaginings that I do things like accidentally wander out into traffic. So I'd say nothing unusual!
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