Featured Blogger for Book and a Beverage

Hello, lovely readers!

I apologize for the unexpected hiatus. Life's been a bit crazy recently, and while I've been reading as much as usual, I haven't had time to maintain my own blog or be a dedicated blog reader. That should be changing very soon, however. Expect quite a few science fiction reviews (since I totally missed out on Sci Fi November), as well as a few others.

In the meantime, I wanted to note that today I'm the featured Book and a Beverage blogger over at The Book Addict's Guide. I always love reading Brittany's feature, so I was definitely excited to have the chance to be featured there myself. Please feel free to check out my interview!

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A Summer Series Challenge Recap

The Summer Series challenge was hosted by the lovely ladies Lauren (Love is Not a Triangle), Heather (The Flyleaf Review), and Asheley (Into the Hall of Books). It ran from June to August of this year.

So those series I planned to read for this challenge? Didn't happen so much. I did, however, manage to complete one previously-started series and to read three other series in their entirety.

 

Series Completed:

Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty

• Charmed Thirds
• Fourth Comings
• Perfect Fifths

Series Read from Start to Finish:
Dairy Queen trilogy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

• Dairy Queen
• The Off Season
• Front and Center
  

Dreamhunter duology by Elizabeth Knox

• Dreamhunter
• Dreamquake
  

Killer Unicorns duology by Diana Peterfreund

• Rampant
• Ascendant
  

 
Don't miss my guest post on why I love duologies! And I recommend checking out Lauren's compilation post of all the fun and insightful guest posts for this event.

Thanks for the great time, ladies! I had a lot of fun.

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An A to Z Survey

Two weeks ago, The Perpetual Page-Turner created an A to Z survey on all things book-related and encouraged other bloggers to take the survey themselves. When I was a young teen I loved participating in various surveys and questionnaires about anything (although most were related to some fandom or another). I thought it would be fun to participate in this as well! Once again, credit for the creation of this survey and graphic above goes to The Perpetual Page-Turner. Here goes nothing!

Author you've read the most books from:
I was never into super long series at any point, so my best guess here would be Tamora Pierce. I've read all of her Tortall series to date (Song of the Lioness, The Immortals, Protector of the Small, Daughter of the Lioness, and Beka Cooper); that's 17 books total from her.

Best sequel ever: 

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. This sequel just upped the stakes to such an incredible degree. And each subsequent book in the series since then has continued to do so. 

Currently Reading:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Drink of choice while reading:
Nothing, generally. When I'm reading I don't want to be distracted with food, drink, noise, or anything, really. 

E-reader or physical book:
Physical books! I love my Kindle and the ease of ebooks, but it's never going to get read as much as physical books will. I love being able to pick up old books and flipping to certain passages. I like to refer back to earlier chapters or scenes as I'm reading. Neither of these habits translate well to ebooks, and the whole DRM/licensing issues that ebooks currently face make me wary. 

Fictional character you probably actually would have dated in high school:
I suppose the wording of this question means that my answer should refer to a book that takes place in a contemporary setting. That limits my potential options significantly. But hmm, I think I'd have to go with Jessie de Silva from Meg Cabot's The Mediator series. He's attractive, quite the gentleman, and I loved how he always called Suze "querida." I want to be called querida. I had a legit crush on him when I was a teen and the series he's part of is modern-day, if not completely contemporary.

Glad you gave this book a chance:

Dairy Queen, The Off Season, and Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. These books are about the daughter of a dairy farmer in a small town in Wisconsin who plays football and basketball. Sports are not really my thing, nor are contemporaries. But a few trusted reviewers raved about this series and I liked the fact it's set in my current state, so I gave them a try. So very worth it!

Hidden gem book: 

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst. I actually have no idea what sort of reception/awareness it has with readers, but being a standalone fantasy puts it at a distinct disadvantage. Not many bloggers I know of seem to have read this, but I will continue to sing its praises until it gains the recognition it deserves.

Important moment in your reading life:

Discovering the Harry Potter books along with my fourth-grade class. One of my classmates had gone to London and returned with copies of the first two books, which my teacher proceeded to read aloud to us. Not only was I super early to the Harry Potter craze, but the stories really spoke to me. I just loved everything about them, and it was then that I began reading primarily fantasy and was inspired to start writing myself.

Just finished: 
Austenland by Shannon Hale. Now I have a craving for some Jane Austen, but unfortunately I'm away from my collection. I'll have to read one of her books shortly after returning home!

Kinds of books you won't read:

Erotica. Biographies or auto-biographies. Hard science fiction. Most non-fiction. There are certainly exceptions here, but for the most part I tend to know what I'll like in books and what will turn me away. I just don't want to have to spend time reading a book I'm not that interested in from the beginning.

Longest book you've read: 

I've read my fair share of chunksters. This isn't really a surprise as I have already professed my love of lengthy novels. My best guess, according to Goodreads and scanning my shelves would be A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (1177 pages).

Major book hangover because of:

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. As soon as I finished, I realized that I couldn't just move on to another book--I needed to re-read it and piece everything together myself.

Number of bookcases you own:
Only one! I've never been a huge book-buyer; well, at least not before I started my blog. And I've been fine with leaving my current favorites on my shelves and then moving the rest into easily-accessible boxes in our storage room. Recently, though, I've been looking into buying another bookshelf.

One book you have read multiple times:
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. This is my absolute favorite fairy-tale retelling ever and I find such comfort in returning to Ella's story over and over again. 

Preferred place to read:
My bed. Nine times out of ten, this is where I'll be found while reading.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you've read:
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” 
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 

I think basically any Dumbledore quote would work just as well here.
 

Reading regret:

My biggest reading regret is always going to be the knowledge that I cannot possibly read every book I want to, and that some that I would in fact love are going to get passed by.

Series you've started but need to finish (all books are out in the series):

The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. In 2012 I read and enjoyed Finnikin of the Rock enough to buy a copy of that, along with copies of Froi of the Exiles and Quintana of Charyn. I plan on doing a series binge and reading all three in a row.

Three of your all-time favorite books:

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

Graceling & Fire by Kristin Cashore.

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner.

Unapologetic fangirl for:

The Lord of the Rings series. I'm not as big a fangirl as I used to be, but I have read the original trilogy, the its prequel The Hobbit many times, watched the film versions countless times, own dozens of board game and book tie-ins, and have a shrine devoted to Orlando Bloom as Legolas... Okay, the last one was a joke. But there was a time not that long ago where I devoured everything LotR-related that I could, and I still have a heavy appreciation for Tolkien's epic fantasy saga.

Very excited for this release more than all the others: 

Shadowscale by Rachel Hartman. February, come sooner!

Worst bookish habit:

Probably how anal I am about the maintenance of my books. I get upset if I own books from series in different formats, different sizes, different editions, etc. It also upsets me when my book spines get broken, so I end up reading trade paperbacks opened as little as possible. These OCD tendencies many times lead me to spend extra money on books (I'd rather have new and matching) and super judgmental of the conditions of others' books. The only exception here is with library books, whose varying conditions don't bother me. 

X marks the spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book: 

The Oxford Book of American Poetry edited by David Lehman. I bought this chunkster for a poetry-based creative writing course. I've read only a small fraction of its contents, but I do love returning to poetry when I'm in the right mood.

Your latest book purchase:
Preordering Rae Carson's The Bitter Kingdom! I'm looking forward to reading the final two Fire and Thorns installments back-to-back. 

Zzzzz-snatcher book. Last book that kept you up way too late:

I don't really end up staying up super late to read books anymore. I have work during the week and on the weekends I still am used to going to bed at a relatively decent time and then waking up on the early side. So I'm guessing the last one was Neal Schuesterman's Unwind. After that one scene, I needed to see how everything resolved. Also, I knew that if I fell asleep after reading that I'd have nightmares.

That was fun. If you've also done this, please link me up to your survey! 

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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!

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One Fan's Appreciation

Happy Birthday, Harry James Potter! Happy Birthday, J.K. Rowling!

I just wanted to give a shout-out to the protagonist of one of my favorite book series ever, as well as the author who has been one of my biggest inspirations.

“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” 

Words cannot express how much the Harry Potter series have meant to me over the years, or how profoundly my life has been affected by the books. From Hermione I learned the importance of sticking up for your beliefs and how intelligence can be such a strength. From Ron I learned about loyalty and the power of friendship. From Harry I learned to treasure family, the power of love, the importance of sacrifice, and how to live a life full of good morals.

Although Harry's wizarding world may not be real, it's given me a better understanding of our own world, how important each and every person's life is, and how our decisions will always have bigger implications. There may be problems in his world, just as there are in ours, but there's also always hope.

 

“We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.”  

Thank you, J.K. Rowling. If I can ever affect anyone as the Harry Potter series have affected me and so many others, I should consider my life to be well-spent.

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