Liebster Blog Award

I was nominated for a Liebster Blog Award by All Fantasy Worlds. Thank you, Oana! The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers that have less than 200 followers. I debated doing this myself and then realized that I really don't post anything personal on my blog, so I wanted to use these questions as a way to give my readers some background on myself. 

In order to accept and participate, here are the steps laid out by All Fantasy Worlds:
1. Tell 11 things about yourself.
2. Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
3. Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
5. Get in contact with those 11 bloggers in order to inform them that you nominated them.

 
Okay, first off some fun facts about myself:
1. Right now I am a paralegal assistant by day and taking a Library Sciences class at night.
2. I currently live with my family in Wisconsin, although I grew up and attended college on the East Coast.
3. I am left handed.
4. My favorite Disney princess is Princess Jasmine.
5. I adore retellings, whether they are of fairy tales, fables, myths, or classic novels. Although I'll admit that I can then be more critical in judging those retold novels.
6. I love musicals. They make me happy. So far I've seen Beauty and the Beast (twice), Les Mis, Chicago, and Young Frankenstein on Broadway. Planning to see Wicked in May (fingers crossed)!
7. My ideal vacation would be to visit New Zealand (and go on The Lord of the Rings tour, of course).
8. I don't really like listening to music. If I do listen to it, it's on the radio at work/my car or as background noise.
9. I used to fence competitively in high school. 
10. I think I'll be a serial student for life. I want to keep taking adult education classes. They're cheap, and why wouldn't you want to keep learning about different things forever? 
11. I like being able to stay up late and sleep in but rarely do it; if I have things to do I'd rather get them done relatively early so that I can relax after, instead of the other way around. I spent one summer waitressing and I much preferred the lunch shift to the dinner one. 

And here are the questions I have to answer:
1. What other hobbies/obsessions do you have besides reading and writing? 
I feel like I don't have time for too many hobbies besides reading and writing in my free time, but I do love baking. I was given this cake decorating kit that I have yet to use, but I'm really excited to try it out. I really love making these red velvet chocolate cake balls - they're delicious!
2. Do you lend your books to friends? 
Yes! I love pushing books on people. I wish I was able to do it more in college, but I went to school halfway across the country from my home, so there was limited space for me to bring many books, especially since my two majors (English and Spanish) both had heavy reading lists. My only issue is that I read books super carefully, even mass market paperbacks, so that when I'm finished reading them they still look brand new. It saddens me that my copy of Sharon Shinn's Archangel and the first two books in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series have incredibly broken spines. But at least others have been able to appreciate good stories!
3. Have you ever convinced someone who hasn’t read a book in their life to start reading? How? 
I honestly don't think I know anyone who has never read a book. If we stretch this question to mean those who are reluctant readers and maybe don't really read outside of school, then yes. My boyfriend's probably my best example. I convinced him to read a little each night and now he loves A Game of Thrones and the following books in the series. I have tons of other books I can't wait to introduce him to. :)
4. What book did you hate despite everyone saying it was awesome? 
Hate's a pretty strong word. I like to think that I know my reading preferences well enough that I'll be able to avoid those books that I know I'll strongly dislike, regardless of whether tons of other people love them. If I had to pick a super disappointing read, though, I'd probably go with Jodi Lynn Anderson's Tiger Lily. That premise had so much potential, but I thought it was incredibly boring and could not connect to any of the characters. It almost felt like Anderson was trying far too hard to make this deep, nostalgic story, and it fell completely flat. I am baffled by all those positive reviews out there.
5. Which book character would you like to date and why? 
I have far too many book boyfriends! Eugenides from The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner for sure. He would probably frustrate me to no end with his inability to always be honest about what he's up to, but at the same time he's so kind and good and so very amusing and fun. He's definitely one of the most well-characterized characters I've ever read. He seems like a real person to me. Also, I wouldn't mind dating Harry Potter (who would?) or Prince Po from Graceling. I like to read about arrogant and cocky bad boy characters, but I don't think I'd ever want to date them.
6. If your life would be turned into a movie, which actress/ actor would you like to play you and why?
I have absolutely NO IDEA. I think a movie of my life would be pretty boring, at least thus far. I don't have a list of too many actresses that I love. Rachel Weisz is one of my favorites, but she's quite a bit older than me. Same with Liv Tyler. Can I say if we were closer in age, I'd want it to be one of them?
7. Which is your favorite villain?
Probably Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series. She's so flat and therefore easy to hate. Once a villain starts acquiring some depth and layers, then it's more difficult for me to hate him/her quite as much as I usually would like to.
8. Is there a genre you would never read? 
I dislike saying never. But probably sports novels.
9. Which is your favorite classic novel? 
I actually love classic novels. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Homer's The Odyssey, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and John Milton's Paradise Lost are some of my favorites.
10. What magic power would you like to have and why? 
The ability to heal myself and others. I think that Yuna from Final Fantasy X rubbed off on me a little, but if I had a power I'd like to be able to help both myself and others.
11. Who is your favorite author and what question would you ask him/ her if you had the chance?
Too many favorite authors! I guess I'll go with my most obvious answer, however, and say J.K. Rowling. I read the Harry Potter books as I grew up and was about Harry's age when each new book was released. It was a magical experience and really shaped my reading interests, as well as my desire to write books myself. I'd really just like to talk to her about her writing experience, how she's been able to craft such a wonderfully nuanced world, and ask her for advice.


And I nominate:
Rhin @ Perfect Nostalgia
Courtney @ Courtney Reads a Lot
Stormy @ Book.Blog.Bake.
Kelsey @ The Lost Book Reports

My questions:
1. Where do you spend the majority of your time reading?
2. What book has impacted you the most over the years?
3. Who is your fictional twin? Not the fictional character you'd like to be like, but the one you're truly most like.
4. And now which literary character do you wish to be more like?
5. What is your biggest bookish pet peeve?
6. How did you come up with your blog's name?  
7. What's one book that you feel like hasn't gotten the attention and hype that it deserves?
8.What classic novel would you love to see retold? (Bonus points if you can say which author you'd like to do the retelling.)
9. What magical creature do you think has gotten the short shaft of the stick so far in book representations?
10. What is your biggest book turnoff?
11. What's the most unique book you've ever read?

Thanks for reading!