Blogging Awards Part 1: Sisterhood of the World Blog Award

Hey, guys!  So I’ve been nominated for the Sisterhood of the World award by Sarah @ Commas and Ampersands and the Liebster Award by Bookish!  Thank you so much for the nominations, guys! 😀

I know I’ve done the Liebster Award a few times before, but I haven’t done the Sisterhood of the World Award, yet.  But, I love being nominated for these awards, and I love doing the responses!  And whenever I’m nominated by someone, I always go back to the blogger who nominated me and see who else they nominated.  I think it’s a great way to discover amazing blogs!

But, because school has started for some people, I know that time is limited, so instead of nominating people for this award, I’m going to leave a list of other bloggers that you guys should check out, just because they’re awesome. ^-^  I’ll be splitting this post into two parts, because award posts are usually pretty long.  Let’s begin!

The Rules:

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you and link back to their site.
2. Post the award logo on your blog or in a post.
3. Answer the ten questions you’ve been set.
4. Nominate ten other bloggers and give them ten new questions.

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Questions from Sarah:

1. What book or TV show have you expected to like and ended up hating or vice versa?

I’m really bad at keeping up with TV shows that still air.  I’d rather wait for the show to come out on DVD and order it from the library.  But one show that I didn’t expect to like much is Witches of East End.  I am in love with this show.  I binge-watched it in, like, the last week of June / first week of July, because I found the first season online on Hulu.  And then when the second season came out (we’re still on the second season), I started buying it off Amazon. ❤

2. Tell me about a character that’s taken you by surprise for a good or bad reason.

Sophie Mercer from the Hex Hall books really took me by surprise.  Actually, that whole series took me by surprise (I’m about to read the last book!).  I honestly didn’t expect it to be so good, and I didn’t expect Sophie to be so awesome.  I usually can’t stand main characters, but I really liked Sophie.  She’s really funny and sarcastic and isn’t perfect and she’s just fantastic.

3. If your home/school/work were suddenly attacked by zombies, what would your escape/survival plan be?

Oh, man, that’s a tough one.  I’ve actually never thought about this before, but here goes nothing.  If I were at home and places were being attacked by zombies, I would first find any necessities (food, water, clothes, etc.) and maybe escape out a window (I want to pretend to be, like, Day from Legend XD).  Then I would run (lol) and hide in a place where zombies were least-likely to invade (don’t ask me where) and with few people.  There I would wait until things calmed down and…

You know what, this is the most awful half-baked plan ever.

4. If you could easily master any skill, what would it be and why?

For a fictional skill, I’d choose magic (need I explain?).  And for an actual skill, perhaps the skill of editing.  I hate editing, and I’m horrible at it.  I feel like I don’t have the patience for it, which probably wouldn’t be very helpful for an aspiring author.

5. Do you have any superstitions?

Not really.  Well, does astrology count?  I don’t really “believe” in it, but I think it’s an interesting concept.

6. What have you read/watched/done recently that you’re excited to share with everyone?

I’m not sure if I’m excited to share this with everyone (it’s not that exciting), but I finally figured out how to use one of the newest iTunes updates, and I’ve learned how to transfer my Amazon music to iTunes.  I have to buy my digital music from Amazon now, because two years ago I was given an iTunes gift card, but when I went to use it, they asked me for the answers to security questions I never made… yeah.

7. What’s one place you’ve read/heard about that you would like to visit, mythical or otherwise?

Cliché, cliché, cliché, but I’m going with England.  I would love to travel to England.  That would be cool.

8. Tell me about something you’re looking forward to in the next year.

All of the books being released!  There are quite a few books being released toward the end of this year that I’m really excited about.

9. If you didn’t have a blog, how would you be spending your time right now?

Wishing I had a blog. XD Just kidding.  Though I had wanted my own blog for a long time before littleonionwrites was created, I’d probably be reading right now if I didn’t have a blog.

10. What’s a blogging milestone or experience that made you really happy?

Ooh, I’ve had so many blogging milestones that made me happy.  Even getting a like on one of my posts still makes me happy!  But one milestone that really stands out to me is when the author of OCD, The Dude, and Me, Lauren Roedy Vaughn, commented on my blog last summer. ^-^ I remember being so excited. 😀

Blogs To Check Out:

Ashley @ For the Love of the Page
Cristina @ Girl in the Pages
Anna @ Cool Girls Read Too
Topaz @ Topaz Winters
Stefani @ Caught Read Handed 

Part two will be up soon!  Thanks again to Sarah, who nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Award!

Gratitude and Dilemmas

Part 1: Gratitude

For the past few days on WordPress, I’ve noticed the book blogging community exploding with award love!  So many incredible bloggers have been nominated for awards, and I wanted to congratulate them 😀

I, too, have been nominated four times for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award recently!  Isn’t that crazy?!  I was first nominated by Lily @ wordsweheart and Stefani @ Caught Read Handed, but shortly after, I noticed two other bloggers nominated me for this very award!  Those bloggers are Miguel @ The Quirky Reader and Yvo @ It’s All About Books.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  These bloggers are all amazing, so I recommend you check them out!

(Wow, I’m using a lot of exclamation marks, lol.)

Anyway, because I’ve already recently done the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, I’m not going to be nominating any new blogs (I think most of the people I follow have already been nominated, anyway!), but if you have any questions you’d like me to answer about blogging or books or music or something, leave them in the comments and I’ll make a different post for that!

Part 2: Dilemma

Don’t worry—this has nothing to do with blogging awards (I love blogging awards!).  It actually has something to do with books.

I’ve noticed throughout all of 2014, my reading pace has definitely slowed.  Of course, I have to take into account that I’ve been busy with school and such.  What I’m wondering about is, I’ve seemed to fall into a really strange type of reading slump.  I’ll start a book, then I won’t pick it up for days, then I’ll read a bunch of it, then I don’t pick up any books for even more days, and then I’ll finish the book.  Then, I’ll start another book, get a few pages in, and not pick it up.  It’s like… quicksand, the quicksand being the reading slump (oh, boy, another one of my analogies).  So you take a step and you feel really triumphant, and then you put your foot back into the quicksand.  And then somehow you manage to get one foot out of the quicksand (getting out is the part where you’re reading a bunch), but then you fall right back into the quicksand.

Wow.  That was bad XD But you get the idea, right?

Has something like this ever happened to you?  What did you do to get out of this weird cycle?  It’s kind of driving me insane O.o

I also wanted to touch on one other thing: Some of you may have noticed that my visits to you blogs have become less and less frequent.  Well.  That’s my fault.  I am just WAY too dependent on the WordPress reader, and for some reason, the reader stopped delivering posts to me from some of the blogs I follow!  At first I thought maybe some people were on blogging breaks or something, so I didn’t question it.

But then I would actually manually go into the blog and realize I’ve missed, like, two week’s worth of posts!  Gahh, I’m horrible DX

I am so, so sorry!  So I’ve been working on slowly catching up to the posts I’ve been missing out on.

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Anyway, that’s all for now!  Thanks so much to the wonderful bloggers who nominated me for the award.  I really appreciate it 😀

Also, what do you think of my reading problem?  Let me know!

-littleonion

 

The Book Blogger Test Tag

That title got a bit confusing there for a sec, lol.

Hey, guys!  I’m back with another tag, which I decided to do right away so I didn’t forget about it like, um, my last tag…

This tag is the Book Blogger Test, and I was tagged by the awesome Stefani @ Caught Read Handed.  Let’s get started!

1. What are your top three book pet hates?

• Lengthy descriptions of a character’s clothing.
• Instalove
• Weak female leads — It’s awesome that, more and more, we’re seeing leading female characters in YA books taking charge.  I can see a bunch of books on my shelves right now that contain awesome female protagonists.  I think it’s a really important thing to have in YA literature.

2. Describe your perfect reading spot.

If I had a window seat with maybe a built in shelf for books, that would be my dream.  You don’t know how much I’d stay there.  Oh, and the shelf should have a panel that you pull out in front of it to protect the books from the sun’s harmful rays.

But in reality, I can read pretty much everywhere.  I’ve read books in an environment with loud children, loud libraries, etc., and I’m usually alright to read 😀

3. Tell us three book confessions.

• I wasn’t careful with my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is the first HP book I read, and I reread it so many times, totally cracking the spine.  Also, the same happened with my copy of Order of the Phoenix, which makes me really sad 😦

• The only Shakespeare play I’ve read and liked was Hamlet.
• I still haven’t finished reading The Shadowhunter’s Codex, which I started reading on… Christmas of 2013… yeah…

4. When was the last time you cried during a book?

Reading City of Heavenly Fire made me cry.  I suffered.  But I enjoyed it XD

5. How many books are on your bedside table?

It’s funny, because I usually don’t keep books on my bedside table (but I’m totally cool to keep everything on my bed—my laptop, my books, my review notes, a flashlight…), but I haven’t put away the two library books I got recently, which are Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Of Neptune by Anna Banks.  WHY DO HER BOOKS HAVE SUCH AMAZING COVERS, OMG.

6. What is your favorite snack to eat while you are reading?

I usually don’t eat while I read, mainly because it’s distracting and I’m afraid of crumbs getting on my books and stuff.  I’m afraid of other people touching my books.

7. Name three books you would recommend to anyone.

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins — I think this is an easy yet gripping read.  The author’s writing style is really simple, but her plot is complex.  It’s not too long, either, and I was desperate for the next book by the time I got to reading this!
• The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski — I can’t really tell you much about this book, because I read it about four or five years ago, but I loved it so much.  Just go check it out, because it is worth the read.
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee — I didn’t expect to like this book at all, but oh my god, this book is amazing.  I pretty much devoured it.

8. Show us a picture of your favorite shelf on your bookcase.

I actually have two favorite shelves:

Good grief, I hadn’t realized how blurry that picture was.  I fail at life.  XD Anyway, these are my favorite shelves.  The top shelf has books that I’ve recently discovered and loved, and about half of the second shelf also has books I’ve discovered recently (as in the last couple of years), but the other half of the bottom shelf has books that I enjoyed when I was a bit younger.

9. Write how much books mean to you in three words.

Yummy brain food 😀  Okay, that was bad, I know.  I spent about ten minutes trying to come up with something clever-sounding, and this is what popped up in my head.  What goes on up there?  I’m laughing so hard… But it’s true!  Books feed my overactive imagination, and I get to live so many lives through them and go on so many adventures that can’t physically harm me (I’m not sure if I’m the spontaneous adventure type of person… maybe!), haha.  I grow to love characters, collect book boyfriends in my basement—uh, I mean, I meet book boyfriends… I don’t collect them… that would be, um, crazy.

Tee hee 😀

But seriously, books mean so much to me.  Actually, my two-year “anniversary” of when I started going to the library on a regular basis is coming up (June 25th!), and I find it amazing that I still go to the library every week, after two years.  That’s a long time!

10. What is your biggest reading secret?

I don’t know if this is my biggest reading secret, but I’m always scared of reading really hyped series (unless I already like the author or have already started the series) because I’m worried that I won’t like the books as much as others.  Do any of you guys ever feel like this?

Awesome Humans I’m Tagging:

wordsweheart

Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books

Mariel @ All the Books!

Bella @ Ciao Bella!

I don’t know if y’all have already done this tag, but if you haven’t, go for it!  Everyone can do it!  If you do choose to participate, leave your link down below and I’ll be sure to check it out 😀  Or, leave your answers in the comments!

Thanks for reading,

-littleonion

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 🙂