Liebster Blog Award!

Thanks so much to Julia @ Books as Wings for nominating me for this awesome award!

The rules for this award are simple. Thank and link back to the nominator, answer the 11 questions, nominate 11 blogs, and list 11 facts about yourself. Also, make sure the blogs you nominate have under 200 subscribers and comment to let them know. Finally, copy and paste the award in your own blog!




My Answers (to Julia's questions):

1. Where is your favourite place to read? A variety of places. I like reading on my bed, in the living room where it's very bright (I especially like it on snowy days), and I love reading anywhere outside, particularly by water in a mountain or forest setting. :)
2. What blog post of yours is the best representation of who you are? A very interesting question. There are two posts I identify as representing me well, and those were both part of a library challenge I completed last year. They are my Book Scavenger Hunt and Ginny Weasley post. Ginny Weasley shows my connections to her as a character, and the scavenger hunt reveals some things about myself and reading. 
3. Have you ever dreamt of becoming an author? YES. I have always wanted to become an author, inspired by my love of books and constant imagination and thinking of "What if...?"
4. What's better: reading or writing? This is not a question I can answer completely because I love both so equally that it's hard to choose. On the other hand, I most likely would not be as compelled to write without reading, but writing is one of my two biggest passions. 
5. What fictional world would you most want to live in? Anyone who knows me at all will know the answer to this will be Hogwarts and so I'm not going to bother to explain. I mean, think of all the adventures and magic and completely developed world it is. 
6. Do you like/agree with the common trends in reading currently? It depends. Girls in dresses on a cover/faces on a cover? Noppppppe. Dystopia? Yes and no. I LOVE dystopia (one of my all-time favourite genres), but it's hard to sift through all of them right now! I mean, it's not the only genre out there. Photography rather than graphics on cover? Overrated. It really depends, but mostly, no, because then the originality is gone which is a huge factor in books for me.
7. What would your dream library look like? Good question! Big, wide windows and mahogany everything (it's my desk colour and I think it's beautiful). There would be chairs everywhere, like big cushy chairs and couches. There would be comfy benches with window shutters, almost (see my tumblr for an awesome picture) somewhat isolated from the rest of the library. There would be warm fireplaces too. The colours would be light blue on the walls and bright sunlight or white light from the snow shining through. Finally, I would love for it to be in a tower or lighthouse. 
8. How do you judge whether or not to take the time to read a blog? I scroll through the first page, just looking at the post titles or seeing which book titles jump out at me. If the blog talks about books and genres I'm interested in, as well as having a layout and theme which seems as if they have taken time to make it beautiful, then I will most likely love the blog. 
9. What's your view on graphic novels? I have only read the Uglies graphic novels, but I would love to read more to expand my reading horizon. They're great for people who are intimidated by novels, however for me they will never beat the lyrical quality of the written word.
10. E-books, hardcover, or paperback? Paperback, generally, because they don't have jackets and look so clean and beautiful. But I still like hardcover. I have never read an ebook but I personally like the thought of having a hard copy with a cover but I don't really have anything against e-books. I just hope real books stick around. :)
11. What makes you want to blog? I really like spreading my love of literature with others and learning to think more deeply about the books that I am reading, which blogging and reviewing has helped me with. Blogging just opens up so many doors and exposes me to a ton of really awesome blogs as well. Plus, it's fun!

My 11 Random Facts (about myself):

1. I am a competitive dancer and take styles including jazz, ballet, lyrical, and pointe, as well as student teaching younger kids. 
2. I love dessert. Any kind, but mostly chocolate. I am obsessed with chocolate. I can be bribed extremely easily with chocolate. 
3. I'm a Harry Potter freak. The only series I have re-read start to finish is Harry Potter, with a total of 5 times. Hoping to make it 6 this year. 
4. I round everything to the number 7, because it is the magical number. My favourite number is 713, because 7 is the Harry Potter number and because 13 is unlucky to everyone so I decided it would be lucky for me. Then I started noticing the number 713 popping up all the time in Harry Potter. It was weird... I like predicted it or something...
5. I love climbing trees. I really want to be able to jump from tree to tree like Rue in the Hunger Games or Yelena in Poison Study.
6. Winter is my favourite season, and I love snow. People think I'm crazy, but that's ok. 
7. I love the ocean, and really any body of water. I have a very high tolerance to cold temperatures in water. I also love tubing. 
8. I have many mannerisms that make me appear as if I am a super-organized person, like being somewhat obsessive over certain little details and loving lists (I make lists of everything), but I am a strong believe of the "out of sight, out of mind" theory as far as organization goes. Stuff random objects in my closet? Done. 
9. My somewhat realistic jobs include author, dance teacher, and English teacher. Other than author, my ultimate dream job is working with horses in some sort of production like Cavalia.
10. Things on my bucket list: Ride horses (and maybe jump them!), go zip lining, white-water rafting, surfing, and scuba-diving. Pretty ambitious! :P
11. The basics: My favourite colour is turquoise/bright blue, I love animals, my favourite TV series is Heartland, and I want to travel to the United Kingdom, France, and Italy most of anywhere.

My 11 Nominees:

1. Paige @ Paige's Pages
2. Ivana @ One Book
3. Meagan @ Meagan's Literature Blog
4. Grace @ Reading Your Life Away 
5. Dorothy @ The Reading Machine
6. Jacqueline @ Jacqueline's Bookmark
7. Ali @ Loving Life by Reading
8. Alex @ Colour Me Inspired
9. Osereme @ Write That Thought
10. Inaara @ Inspiration Station 
11. 
    

My Questions (for my nominees):

1. What is the most important part of a book for you? For example: Plot, characters, writing style, etc.
2. Is there a particular book that has inspired you to want to travel to a certain place? 
3. Do you prefer to buy or borrow books and which do you do more often?
4. What is the greatest influence on you reading or not reading a book? 
5. If you could design the cover for one of your favourite books, what would it look like?
6. What is your favourite hero/heroine and villain from a book? 
7. Do you prefer stand-alone books, duologies (I hope that's a word), trilogies, or series and why?
8. What are your top 5 all-time favourite books/series and why do you love them? 
9. Do you find the publication date to be important when reading a book? Do you like to read newly released books? 
10. What is your favourite bookstore and do you prefer individual ones or chain bookstores? 
11. Why do you continue to read, possibly write and blog? 

Thanks so much to Julia again! I may add the last nominee but for now I'm sticking with 10. Thanks!