The Liebster Award!

I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award! I’m so happy to have received this award again, and I’m grateful that I have amazing readers who enjoy my posts 😀 I was nominated by the wonderful Topaz, go check her out, she’s awesome!

So, I must give 11 facts about myself, answer Topaz’s questions, nominate some more people, and let them know! Let’s get started!

11 Facts About Me:

1. I’ve probably rearranged my bookshelf four times since I got it. I also made a list of all the series that I only own the first books to, and what books I need to buy to complete those series.

2. I’m pretty obsessed with pocket watches. The obsession originated years and years ago when, in first grade, this boy brought a pocket watch to school. Since then, every time I see a pocket watch, I go a little crazy, haha! (I still don’t own one…)

3. I used to have quite a few movies from my childhood on VHS, but now I only have one, Finding Nemo.

I’ve had this for a looooong time! More than a decade, I think.

4. Recently, I’ve become obsessed with YouTube. I’ve gained so many favorite YouTubers, and it hasn’t even been a week! Who’s your favorite YouTuber?

5. I love it when my pen ink blots. In fact, sometimes I try to make it blot, and I have no idea why.

6. I still own CDs from years ago and know exactly where they are. Actually, I have a CD case/holder thing that has old sticker adhesive left behind by Rugrats stickers that the CDs currently reside in. Though I don’t know why I put Rugrats stickers on it… that show has always kind of freaked me out…

7. Going to the library is probably one of my favorite parts of the week ^.^

8. I’m a list maker. Oh, yes. When I was younger, I had always wanted an iPod (one of the old models, I think, like the Classic. I didn’t know of any other ones, haha), so I constantly, constantly made long, more-than-one-page lists of my favorite songs. I even kept a notebook with all of my favorite songs! I’ve probably made a hundred music lists.

9. … *trying to think of something more to add* For the first few electronics I owned, like my first iPod and phone, I was not the person to first drop them. If I remember correctly, my friend is the person who first dropped my iPod, leaving a dent in it before I got a case, and my mom was the first person to drop my phone, lol.

10. I still have my DS Lite, which still works, miraculously. It’s got a minor problem with the top screen, but that’s all, and I’ve had it for nearly seven years. THAT IS QUALITY. Because I’ve never had a case for that thing, and oh, the many times I’ve dropped it.

11. Haha, speaking of Nintendo’s DS, do you remember PictoChat? That pre-downloaded software on the DS? My friends and I were all over PictoChat XD Any time we were all together (because we didn’t have phones, lol), we would use PictoChat. Le sigh. All these memories… 😀

I hope that was somewhat insightful! (As I proofread this, I realize that my “facts” mostly revolve around my technology experiences, haha.) XD Moving on…

Questions:

1. Who is your absolute favorite author?

I can’t even decide. There are so many brilliant authors to choose from! J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, Lauren Myracle, Cassandra Clare, Marie Rutkoski, Richelle Mead, Wendy Mass, Ann M. Martin, R.L. Stine… I genuinely cannot give an answer to that without feeling terribly conflicted.

2. What inspired you to begin reading/writing?

This is a toughie… I always wanted to read, even when I couldn’t read. Before I could actually read well, my parents got me short chapter books, and I would go off to “read” them to go back to my parents five minutes later to tell them I was finished with the book, when I maybe understood a few words on each page, haha. They found it amusing, though 😀

Reading, for me, had always kind of been an off and on situation. I don’t remember a time like this one, when I was always reading. I did read for fun, though, and my classrooms always had books available.

I have no idea what inspired me to write. Maybe my reading inspired my writing. I started writing short stories during class years ago, using lined paper, and later I would use my teacher’s stapler to turn my story into a “book.” I still have all of my short stories from back then!

3. What kind of music do you listen to?

Wrong question to ask me! 😀 I listen to lots of music, like Paramore, Lana Del Rey (so excited for her new album, by the way!), Breaking Benjamin, Daughtry, Evanescence, Flyleaf, etc. I guess I listen to alternative?

4. What is your favorite dessert?

Probably chocolate chip ice cream 😀 I love cheesecake, though!

5. Favorite color? Why?

Hmm… I actually haven’t thought of my favorite color in a long time. It used to be purple and I think it still is.

6. What do you do when you’re stressed?

I read, because reading is like an escape. I also listen to my favorite music, which probably doesn’t help with its angsty stress-y-ness. Sometimes I even write when I’m stressed, because I think if you’re going through something, and if you incorporate that into your stories, your experiences make the story more realistic. 🙂

7. What blogs do you follow?

What’s with these crazy questions?! Lol, I follow many blogs. Many, as in many. There are so many terrific bloggers out there, and I enjoy all their posts ^.^

8. Would you rather visit the future or the past?

With all these dystopian books I’ve been reading, they’re kind of making me reluctant to want to visit the future >.< I think, right now, I’d visit the past, to see what things were like. Not too far into the past, though. (You guys already know what decade I’d visit if I could, haha!)

9. Cats or dogs?

I can’t choose! I think… dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I love cats, too, but dogs… they’re dogs. I love dogs.

10. Any favorite quotes?

I have a few, but I’ll show you this one:

“If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” –J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

11. Favorite place in the world?

I think my room…? Haha, I have no idea. I have yet to find my favorite place in the world. Favorite fictional place? Hogwarts easily fills that slot 😀 But I do have several other favorite fictional places. I don’t think I’d want to live in any dystopian society, though 😛

And those are the questions! Here are my nominees:

Read What I Like

wordsweheart

Falling Down The Rabbit Hole

These are all fantastic bloggers and I enjoy their reading their posts so much 😀 Nominees, if you choose to participate, my questions to you are:

1. Do you have a certain way of arranging your bookshelves? Do you arrange them alphabetically, etc.?

2. What are some of the things you’re most anticipating in 2014?

3. What are your top three pet peeves?

4. What was your favorite childhood book series?

5. Do you have a favorite poster on your wall?

6. What is one book you are having trouble reading? What’s the longest amount of time it’s taken you to finish a book?

7. What are three amazing books you’d recommend to anyone?

8. Name a band/singer you enjoyed listening to when you were younger.

9. What are your favorite things about blogging?

10. What is a book you liked more than you expected to? A book that you were disappointed in?

11. What book did you read for school that you disliked? What book did you read from school that you were surprised to like?

Those are your questions! I hope you have a good time answering them 🙂 Once again, thank you to Topaz, who nominated me for this award 🙂

The Liebster Blog Award!

I have been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award by Stefani @ Caught Read Handed and The Resurgent Bookworm! Thanks, guys!!! Y’all are awesome 😀 This is an award usually given to bloggers with under 300 followers as an opportunity for readers to learn more about them.

Here are 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:

My reading schedule varies drastically—sometimes I can read 200 pages in a day, sometimes I’ll read 20 pages in a day. Usually it isn’t like that, though, and I read almost every day.
I’ve become obsessed with Cassandra Jean’s artwork for Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments.
I have a really, really basic phone. With a numeric pad, and everything, LOL.
My at-home TBR pile is slowly decreasing. I’ve been getting through books faster than usual (“faster than usual” right now means “my normal reading pace” from last year ). My goal for this year is to hopefully read all of the books I own that haven’t been read.
I have this thing with notebooks where I’m constantly changing what I’m going to use it for. So, if I decide to use a notebook for reviews, that only lasts for about two days before I start using it for writing, or for lists of my favorite music. And whenever I make that change, I always have to tear out all the used pages. Don’t ask.
I went through a phase when every day, I would change my handwriting. *shakes head* I’m indecisive…
I’ve been using the same case for my iPod since the day after Christmas of 2011.
I always listen to music playlists at night to sleep. There’s this one playlist on Songza which I’ve been obsessed with for years, called “The Smiths & More.” I think the playlist is only available on their mobile app, though, because I can’t find it on the computer. If you do use Songza, definitely check out this playlist.
I love shirts that show things that I like, like my Quarter Quell shirt or my Green Day shirt. I’m always excited to wear them 😀
I’m ~~impatiently~~ waiting for the release of City of Heavenly Fire. I’m scared about deaths, though. Especially since I saw something on Pinterest… now I’m even MORE scared -.-
I’m curious about how YouTube videos are made and edited and uploaded and stuff. That’s one of the things that runs through my mind every time I watch something on YouTube, haha.

Because I was nominated by two lovely bloggers, I’m going to answer both of their questions!

Stefani’s Questions:

1. Why did you start blogging? Did you read a book that pushed you into it like I did?

I started blogging because I wanted to share this Harry Potter fanfiction I’d written. It probably wasn’t the best writing in the world (you should have seen my original notes—no paragraphs, no chapters, WORDS EVERYWHERE), but I wrote like crazy, and it was pretty long. I then started writing my second (finished) fanfiction, and that took me five months. I needed something else to blog about during that time, because I really didn’t want to abandon the blog. So, I got the idea to start doing book reviews!

2. What’s your least favorite book-to-movie adaptation? Most favorite?

My least favorite? A Series of Unfortunate Events didn’t go very well. My most favorites are the Harry Potter movies. I remember always being so joyful when I noticed that ABC Family was doing the HP marathon 😀 My most recent favorite, however, is the Divergent movie. That movie… it made me laugh, made me tear up, gave me chills. It was amazing.

3. If you could live inside any book, what would it be?

I’m not choosing any dystopian books, because despite the fact that there is conflict in every book, dystopian conflict is not my type. I’d probably have a breakdown living like that. Aside from my obvious choice, HP, I would really like to live in the Bloodlines world! OMG what if I got my own Adrian? 😀 😀 😀

4. What’s your go-to book to reread?

I actually haven’t reread a book in a long time, but honestly, my go-to book to reread would be something of Lauren Myracle’s. Anything, really. She’s one of my absolute favorite authors (I’ve said that a million times, haven’t I?).

5. What’s your most recently read favorite book?

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. I just started Never Fade, and I’m already getting the case of the feels XD

6. If you could meet any author, dead or alive, who would it be?

Rick Riordan would definitely be fun to meet! Of course, I’d probably get really nervous and contemplate backing out (that happened to me once on this ride at an amusement park—and it probably wasn’t even that scary).

7. Who is your favorite book boyfriend/girlfriend?

You already know about Adrian, so let’s go with Daemon Black from the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. That boy ❤ Of course, I could make you a whole list of my book boyfriends 😀

8. Where is your favorite place to read? Do you have a book nook/reading chair? Do you read in bed?

I don’t really have a specific place to read. I can read anywhere, I think, given that it isn’t too noisy. I read on the couch in the living room, my bed, the chair at the table. Anywhere that’s a comfortable reading environment. I totally wish I had this, though:

9. Have you ever bought a book based just on its cover? Were you disappointed?

I usually don’t buy books just based on the cover, because normally when I go to the bookstore, I’m on a mission to find a certain book. I do this at the library, though. One of the books I’ve picked up based on its beautiful cover was Fallen by Lauren Kate. Didn’t really enjoy it, probably because of the female protagonist’s Bella-like tendencies.

10. Do you have one book that you attribute for creating your love of reading?

Hmm… I’m not sure, really. I don’t remember too much about my past way, way back with reading. I remember that in my first and second grade classes, our teacher would bring out this “library” at a certain time of year, which was really just a plastic box with some books in it, like Black Beauty and books like that. It was really exciting for us because she would make us “library cards,” and we got to take the books home in big Ziploc bags and she would give us rules like, “Don’t read at the dinner table” or “make sure you wash your hands before you read the books.” It taught us how to respect books and etc.

I don’t know if this experience really created my love of reading, but I was always encouraged to read.

11. Because I’m a wanderer at heart: if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

This probably sounds cliché, but I really would love to travel to England, and it’s because of Harry Potter. That series opened so many new doors for me and gave me so many new ideas.

The Resurgent Bookworm’s Questions:

1. What made you start blogging?

My love of writing stories made me start blogging. Although I’ve stopped uploading stories to my blog, I’m still always thinking of ideas and writing on my laptop 😀

2. One author whom you absolutely adore (to the extent where you’ll pick a fight with someone who criticizes that author)?

J.K. Rowling. Haha, yeah, I know a few people who criticize her and her books, dismissing them as “stupid” when they haven’t even picked one up. And I’m like:

I mean, it’s okay to not like them after you’ve read them. But you can’t just say, “Oh, I don’t like that,” without actually trying it.

3. Is there any book which you picked up based on the blurb but then felt let down when you actually read it?

I was pretty disappointed with The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers, but the sequel was pretty good.

4. How did it all start? What is the one book that set you on the path to being a bookworm?

I’m really not sure what book it was that made me love reading. I loved reading as a kid, and the love for reading kind of dimmed when I got a little older, but then it blossomed again. And then it exploded and left behind me, a bookwormy fangirl who is running out of space for her books 😀

5. Your take on all genres—should people be open to all types or content with their favorites?

Here’s my opinion: Reading should be an enjoyable hobby. It shouldn’t be a task. To be able to enjoy it, you have to find what suits your taste, or what genres you like. I don’t think it would hurt to be open to other genres, however. I haven’t read many genres, as I tend to stick to middle grade or YA. But one day, when I feel like it, I’ll read adult books and maybe even NA. But really, I think people should read what they’re most comfortable with.

6. The top three books you would recommend to any bookworm willing to listen (like myself, for example)?

Here are three random books that I enjoyed:

True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet by Lola Douglas
Thief Eyes by Janni Lee Simner
The Originals by Cat Patrick

Go check these out!!!

7. Your most favorite and least favorite book-to-movie adaptations?

The Percy Jackson attempts were my least favorite. I’m sorry. But when I saw the brunette Annabeth, I was like, “Who dis?” LOL. My most favorite (along with Divergent) is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Another brilliantly done movie. Am I the only one who’s Team Gale?

You know what other movie was bad? I just thought of it: Inkheart. Okay, the books? BRILLIANT. Cornelia Funke is amazing, and I love her books. Absolutely adore. The movie? Ehh….

At the author signing I went to a while back, even Cornelia Funke said she wanted to die when she saw the movie. They changed SO MUCH! Maybe because they weren’t planning on making a sequel…? I don’t know. All I know is, that movie was highly disappointing compared to the amazing books.

8. Movies or TV shows you would watch a hundred times?

I don’t watch too much TV, but I love Monk, House M.D., old reruns of General Hospital (I’m not too crazy about these new episodes. *GH spoilers* AND I CAN’T BELIEVE AJ’S GONE!!! FOR REALS THIS TIME! *end of spoilers*), Nashville, George Lopez, House of Anubis (wasn’t too crazy about the third season of that show, but I loved the first and second seasons).

9. Have you ever wanted to be a character from a book?

So many times. You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I could wield magic or a weapon and be a warrior or something 😀 I used to collect sticks that were awesome wands and I even made my own paper wands during my HP obsession.

10. It’s raining cats and dogs outside and you have run out of books. What would you do?

Well, if we’re talking about physical books, I’d pull out my Kindle and read one of the many freebies on there, lol. Though, on Christmas, I accidentally bought World After by Susan Ee, so… I’d read that!

But if we’re talking about running out of every form of reading material, I’d probably listen to music or write or something. Or catch up on my favorite shows 😀

11. What are your guilty pleasures in books/TV/movies/even food?

I don’t know if I have any “guilty pleasures” that have to do with what’s listed above. I suppose for books, I wouldn’t mind rereading Twilight. That’s the only book from that series I really enjoyed. Eclipse wasn’t so bad, either, but New Moon and Breaking Dawn were disasters for me.

For TV, Star-Crossed is becoming a guilty pleasure, haha. It’s so cheesy! I just saw yesterday’s episode, and good GAWD, could Emery get any more cliché? Ooh, remember High School Musical? She reminded me of Gabriella from the second movie.

Can’t think of any guilty pleasure movies… but one of my guilty pleasure foods are Cheez-It crackers. I love those things. I could eat a whole box by myself. Heh.

WOOOOW that was long! And we’re still not finished! I still have to nominate some peeps and ask them some questions:

My Nominees:

Wallflowers aren’t Wizards

Printed Addiction

Nominees’ Questions:

1. Do you have a favorite decade for music? Do you enjoy today’s music?

2. What is the first electronic you received/bought?

3. What do you think is the best post you’ve written?

4. What do you do when you feel overwhelmed with too much stuff to do?

5. What are your favorite books/foods/music at the moment?

6. Did you ever have a bad habit that you overcame? (Mine was biting my nails!)

7. If time machines were created, what year would you travel to? Why?

8. What was the first social networking site you joined?

9. What is your biggest pet peeve?

10. What book have you read that, upon finishing the book, you thought, “This had potential, but there were a lot of things I would change”?

11. What is your favorite Internet radio app? (I’m in love with Spotify!)

Y’all are awesometastical if you read all of this! This was one loooong post 😀 Once again, thank you to the bloggers who nominated me for this award! And nominees, if you participate, have fun with the questions!

Liebster Blog Award

Wow! I feel so giddy today. Why? Because I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award by Emma at Books Forget Me Knot! Thank you sooo much, Emma!

Here is my award:

It’s beautiful! *Tears up*

Here are the rules that are to be followed if you accept the Liebster Blog Award:

Post a link back to the blog of the person who nominated you.
Display the award on your blog/post.
Answer the 10 questions given/facts about yourself. I’m going to follow the same format as Emma–for some reason, my get creative bones aren’t working xD
Nominate 10 blogs for the award and post links back to their blogs.
Notify the bloggers of their award.

Let’s go!

10 of my favorite activities include writing, reading (duh!), listening to music, crocheting (though, I haven’t done it in a while), visiting the library, drinking boba tea, discovering a great restaurant, blogging, visiting Goodreads, and I still love a good turn on the ol’ scooter!

9 of my favorite foods are pizza, Thai, Chinese fast food, Mongolian barbecue, tea house food, Mickey D’s, Starbucks, cheese, and Kobe burgers!… yeah, no veggies. Not a fan, no thanks.

8 of my favorite songs are:

Mockingbird by EMINEM
Had Enough by Breaking Benjamin
Cherry-Coloured Funk by Cocteau Twins
Waiting by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin
Second Chance by Shinedown
If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback
Here Comes Your Man by Pixies

7 of my favorite authors are:

J. K. Rowling
Suzanne Collins
Marie Rutkoski
Rick Riordan
Ally Condie
Lauren Myracle
Wendy Mass

6 of the things that annoy me are rude people, when people lie, people who aren’t nice to others, people who act like they’re “all that”, people who diss stuff that I like to do (like reading), people who don’t have anything nice to say but still say it

5 of the things that tickle my pickle are… you know, I really can’t think of five things that tickle my pickle. I’ll have to get back to you on that : D

4 of my fears include not being able to remember all of the books I want to read (no joke), failure, bad guys (dun dun DUN!!!), and… writers block.

3 of my wishes are to become a writer, to ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have time to read (does that count?), and a $250 iTunes gift card. What? There is always a need for more music on my iPod xD

2 of my heroes include (I’m going with book characters here): Harry Potter and… probably Petra Kronos from the Kronos Chronicles.

1 of my secrets is… well, I went through this phase where I was, like, super obsessed with the Harry Potter Series. I would go to characters’ Wiki pages and soak up everything I read about them. I collect wands (others who know me call them sticks… THEY’RE NOT JUST STICKS!!!) in a jar on my desk. I made an HP book shelf out of a shoe box, haha, and I wrote out all of the HP spells in a notebook, along with a lot of the characters. I would also do HP crossword puzzles. I’d get a piece of graph paper and write all the names of the HP characters I could think of in crossword style. Yeah… that’s my secret. Of course I’m well over the obsession phase. But that’s probably because I know all I need to know about the series. But I’ll never know enough.

And here are the wonderful nominees for the Liebster Blog Award. These are blogs I visit a lot and they’re really great! I’ll probably include some blogs from my previous award post : ):

Nirvana’s Pocketful

Jeyna Grace ©

My Harry Potter blog!

gongjumonica.wordpress.com

Travels with the Trio

Young Adult Book Reviews

b00kreader

http://birdfromanegg.wordpress.com

travels with mary

Fabulous Realms

Once again, thank you so much, Emma, for this award. It totally made my day : )