The Liebster Award

I was nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely Olivia @ Arrow and Dot – thank you!  Everyone go check out Olivia’s blog if you haven’t already, her reviews are fantastic.  Also, sorry this took me so long!

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog

2. Answer the 11 questions the person asked you –

(i) Why did you decide to start a blog?

I’d been writing book reviews on Goodreads for quite a while, and I liked the idea of having all my reviews in one place.  My friend Chelsea and I had been toying with the idea of starting blogs for a while, and we finally decided to take the plunge this past January.  I’m so happy that we did – I’ve had a really great blogging experience so far and met some really cool people.

(ii) What fictional character would you most want to be friends with?

Hmmmm.  Willem Ragnarsson from A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.

(iii) What are you most looking forward to this summer?

My big ten day NYC vacation already happened, so now I’m mainly just enjoying the nice weather.  I’m probably going to go to Montreal for a weekend in August, so I’m looking forward to that.  I love that city and it’s a really short drive up.

(iv) What are your goals for your blog this year?

I don’t have any!  This is just a hobby.  If I get too hung up on stats and follower count, I won’t enjoy it as much.  I know this from years of experience in trying to be #popular on the internet.  It’s just not all that it’s cracked up to be.  That said, I hope to keep reviewing as consistently as I have the first half of this year, and I hope to continue to read all your posts and interact with you lovely people.

(v) What fictional world would you most like to live in?

The Harry Potter universe, obviously.

(vi) How do you prefer to read books: Paper, e-book, or audio book?

I like juggling between paper and e-books.  I wish I had the attention span for audiobooks since I have a really long drive to work every day, but I can never focus on them.

(vii) Where do you like to buy books? (Amazon, used book store, new book store, etc.)

All of the above.  I try to support vendors not owned by Amazon as often as possible, though.

(viii) What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the area in which you live?

Favorite: it is stunningly pretty.  Least favorite: I’m a city girl at heart, and Vermont is dull dull dull.  I also have seasonal affective disorder, and the winters can be pretty brutal.

(ix) Coffee or tea?

Tea!  I’m a huge tea drinker.  Not a big coffee fan.

(x) What did you study in college/university? Or, what are you studying/what do you want to study? Or, have you chosen a path that does not involve college?

I have a degree in Italian Literature with a minor in Art History.  Clearly I was trying to be as employable as possible.

(xi) What is something that you learned or improved at through blogging?

Obvious answer alert, but, I’ve improved at reviewing.  Sometimes I look at reviews I wrote as recently as a year ago and think that I’m much more articulate these days – practice makes perfect, I guess!

3. Nominate 11 people (comment on their blog to let them know)

Chelsea // Steph // Hadeer // Ella // Bentley // Irena
Ann // Zuky // Mischenko // Carissa // Jennee

4. Ask the people you have nominated 11 questions

(i) What’s your dream vacation?
(ii) How do you take your coffee (or tea)?
(iii) What’s your favorite kind of blog post to make (e.g. book reviews, monthly wrap ups, Top 5 Wednesday/Top 10 Tuesday, etc)?
(iv) Have you met any of your internet friends in real life?
(v) If you had to blog about something other than books, what would it be?
(vi) What’s the best movie you’ve watched so far this year?
(vii) Where’s the coolest place you’ve ever been?
(viii) Do you name your car(s) and other inanimate objects?
(ix) Which blog that you follow do you think is the most similar to yours?  In terms of, ‘if you like my blog, you should also follow ____.’
(x) Favorite season?
(xi) Are there any genres that you refuse to read?

As always, I will not be offended if you’d rather pass, etc.  🙂