My Answers to Your Questions Part 1 // Books & Blogging

First of all I want to say a HUGE congratulations to Carianne who won my giveaway!!!! 

Thank you so much to everyone who supported the giveaway and entered! I wish I could give you all a prize. There’ll definitely be more giveaways coming in the future though so stay tuned!!

Here are my answers to the questions you asked! I’ve decided to split the questions up into two parts: Books & Blogging and Personal. Thank you to everyone who asked questions. You guys are all so rad 💯👌🏻

Zoey @ Magiverse asked:

What made you want to start a blog?

I was in what I like to call The Great Reading Slump™ where I hadn’t really read anything for two years despite being an avid reader for most of my life. At the start of this year I read Illuminae and loved it so much that it kickstarted my love for reading again. This along with seeing all of Vivian @ Inked in Pages bookish Instagram/Tumblr posts and being sent texts from my bestest friend Sheridan @ Sleepless and Battleworn about what books she was reading really helped too. I actually didn’t even know there was a “book community” as such until I discovered BookTube. I felt really inspired and wanted to share my new journey back into books and since YouTube wasn’t something I felt comfortable with and then I realised book blogging was a thing. I decided to start this blog back up! I had no idea what to expect and I’ve been so overwhelmed by how amazing everyone is.

What is the most important thing you learned from your six months of blogging?

There’s been so much! One of the most important things though is not to be afraid to talk to people or get involved in the community with Read-A-Thons and Twitter Chats. Also, it’s okay not to have read or like all the popular books or to be a slow reader and not have the most amazing hauls!! And don’t let your stats get you down!!

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Emily @ RoseRead asked:

Pick 3 characters to invite to a tea party.

Blue Sargent, Percy Jackson and Harley Quinn because could you imagine how crazy and amazing that would be? 😂

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Beth @ Reading Every Night asked:

What has been the best and worst moment of your time blogging?

The best would definitely meeting so many wonderful people! I love being able to interact with everyone via comments or on Twitter.

Hmm, I’m not sure about a worst moment as such but it’s definitely a struggle sometimes when I get into reading slumps. Having to take hiatuses too because of real life definitely sucks too even though I know everyone understands. I always feel bad when I can’t comment on everyone’s posts. For the community on a whole I don’t like when people who post negative, but fair reviews get hassled. I love how much everyone respects each other’s opinions, but I’ve seen a few things that bigger bloggers have had to deal with and it’s not nice!!

If you have one book that hasn’t been released yet and that your really excited for in your hands right now what would you pick?

Is anyone surprised?

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Brittany @ Bookish Beauty asked:

What underrated book would you recommend to everyone?

 A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry

I loved this book SO much. It’s a magical realism with an open ending so I know it’s not going to be for everyone, but I found it so incredibly beautiful. It’s based in Puerto Rico and centers around South American myths and legends about a cursed girl who is part plant and whose touch can kill. The setting is so richly described that it feels alive and like a character of it’s own. I feel like the open ending was done brilliantly.Everything was SO magical. This book for me was like The Raven Cycle meets Poison Ivy. I can’t recommend it enough!

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Donna @ Chocolatenwaffles asked:

What is the best blogging memory of your first six months?

This might seem a bit silly, but being tagged for the first time was really cool. It made me feel like I was officially part of the community like ‘hey someone thought of me!’. Shout out to Beth @ Betwixt These Pages who was the first person to ever tag me in something ♥! Reaching 100 followers was amazing too. Blogging definitely isn’t about stats, but I never expected to get any followers and just thought I’d be shouting into the void but it’s so nice having people interested in what you have to say!

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Sammie @ Bookshelves & Biros asked:

If you could bring one object or person to life from a graphic novel, who/what would it be?

  

Oh man. Can I bring the entirety of Lumberjanes to life? I’m so not into camping, but that camp would be SO MUCH FUN and probably crazy, but still fun. I mean there’s dinsoaurs, mermaids AND time travelling? The girls are all so amazing too!!

Otherwise I’d bring Harley Quinn to life because I want to be her best friend/sidekick.

If you could have any book re-released in graphic novel or comic book format, what would it be and why?

This is such a great question!! The Raven Cycle would make a GORGEOUS graphic novel. The illustrator who does the covers is amazing. I know it might be a bit hard because of how intricate and vague the plot is, but still. IT’D BE PRETTY!! 😍😍

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Jade @ Jaded Ever After asked:

Has blogging influenced you in anyway to read a book that you would not have picked up otherwise? If so, what book was it and what did you think of it?

I love this question 😊 Blogging has definitely influenced my reading! The most important one for me was The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Until I started blogging I had NEVER picked up a classic and I didn’t think I ever would. Blogging and being involved in the book community inspired me to try and I’m so glad I did because this book is everything to me and is so, so important. It focuses on a woman with a mental illness in the 1800s and it honestly changed my life. I normally only read Young Adult, but again the booking community has introduced me to so many great Adult Fiction books that I’ve added to my TBR and can’t wait to get to.

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Kourtni @ Kourtni Reads asked:

How has blogging impacted you in real life?

It actually has! Blogging has really helped me overcome some of my anxiety. I feel a bit more comfortable talking to people – even if it is mostly online, this is like a huge deal for me because I would even be too scared to talk to people online. Sometimes I have really bad days and blogging helps me feel like I have a routine and a reason to get out of bed.

What’s one thing about blogging that you didn’t expect?  

I keep talking about this, but definitely the community! I’m continuously overwhelmed by how wonderful everyone is. From my very first day of blogging I felt welcomed. Blogging is also WAY more time consuming than I ever expected. I thought I’d spend a couple of hours a day doing things, but nope. I love it though. I was just not prepared!!

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 Melissa @ BookNerdMomo asked:

What was the toughest part of blogging for you when you first started your blog?

Definitely trying to work out how much to post and what to post. I mean, I still struggle with this now, but I feel a lot more comfortable. The other one is reviews because they’re definitely a weak point. Again, something I still struggle with 😅 And in a more general sense just trying to get used to WordPress’ framework because I’ve never used it before.

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Madeline @ The SFF Bookshelf asked:

Do you have any plans for your blog for the next six months?

Yes! The main one being that I’m hoping to incorporate a lot more original content. I’m working on an original tag which I should have up soon. I want to do a lot more on design and comics. I also want to work on posting reviews more consistently.

What is the number one book that you would always recommend?

Are you guys shocked?

If you could visit any world, from any book, which one would you visit and why?

Hands down the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It’s been my dream since I was 11. I’m legitimately sad because I’ll never be able to go to this world. I just want to explore everything. I want to go to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and just EVERYWHERE.

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Vivian @ Inked in Pages asked:

What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2016?

I can’t not include these either though so:

  

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Izzi @ Ravenclaw Book Club asked:

Where would you like to take your blog in the future? Like, do you just want to be casual about it or do you want it to become a more serious thing?

I definitely want it to become a more serious thing. Like I said above I really want to include more original content. I eventually want to get my own domain and switch over to WordPress.org (even though I know there’s issues with pingbacks and comments). I just want to have complete control over the design. I actually want a career in web and graphic design so I really want to use this blog as a way to practice and reach out to as many people as possible. In a more bookish sense I definitely want to start getting in contact with Australian publishers too!

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Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads asked:

What would be the number one tip you would give to other bloggers based on your experience so far?

Interact! Interact! Interact! People are probably sick of me talking about this, but it was one of the most important things for me as a new blogger. Participating in Top Ten Tuesday is really helpful too. I know there’s a lot of discussion about these kinds of lists vs original content, but they are so great for new bloggers. Most of the blogs I found is because of blog hopping through the TTT links, haha.

Favorite Raven Boy?

This is SO cruel! I love them all SO much. When I first started reading The Raven Boys I think Adam was my favourite, but then once I read The Dream Thieves and now having read the entire series it’s definitely Ronan. He is my son and I love him so much.

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Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books asked:

If you had to choose ONE book to take on a deserted island, which one would it be? (Hannah @ Mortal Reader also asked this!)

Okay. So on a technicality since I was asked this twice does that mean I get to choose two books? I’m going too anyway because I’m a bit of a rebel, what can I say 😎?

 

These are two of my favourite books EVER. Apparently I have a thing for the third book in a series.

Best and worst thing about book blogging?

Best: the community, reading everyone’s posts and seeing everyone’s opinions, being introduced to books that I otherwise wouldn’t have known existed and I mean I’m not going to complain about the free books (but they’re definitely not why I blog)

Worst: spending money on all the new books I discovered 😂 and feeling pressured to read quickly and get reviews up (contradicting myself here because you shouldn’t worry about this, but I can’t help it!).

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Hannah @ A Mortal Reader asked:

Who is your all time favourite Harry Potter Character

Definitely, Hermione. I was 11 when I read Philosopher’s Stone and there really wasn’t another character like Hermione that really existed. Despite not being as academic as she was we had so many other things in common like our love for learning and reading. I was the same age as the characters for the most part with every book I read so I really connected to her and was going through a lot of the same things she was (well you know without having to worry about a crazy evil Wizard trying to kill me). I would have also definitely been on board with S.P.E.W. Hermione really helped me realise that girls can be the hero too. You can be quiet and like reading and still go fight the bad guy and win. Hermione is one of the best female characters in existence in my opionon.

Special mention to Luna who helped me realise that it’s okay to love all things strange and unusual. Her confidence is extremely inspirational to me. And Bellatrix who is my all time favourite villain. I love her way more than I probably should.

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Ayustika @ That Bibliophilic Cauldron asked: 

If you could be a book character, who’d you be?

I honestly can’t choose between Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood and Annabeth Chase. They’re all so amazing and badass in their own way.

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Thank you again to everyone who asked questions! I had so much fun answering them. Part 2 should be up soon!

Hope you’re all having a fantastic day xx