Sunshine Blogger Award

I’m kind of weird about these things and tend to just not do them if I’m nominated or tagged. I’m stepping out of that weirdness for a moment to participate in this one. If you are interested in all the reasons why I’m so weird about it, that is posted below the award piece. I will note, that the very, very few times I’ve done something like this, I rarely play by the rules. This won’t be an exception.

WHAT IS THE SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive, and inspiring while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

RULES:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions. (This is the rule I’m breaking)
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award in your post/or on your blog.

I was first nominated for this by Nen & Jen. At the time, I declined to participate (see weird me). When Sascha also nominated me, I decided to just get over myself and do this one. Thank you for thinking of me!

 

Nen & Jen Questions:

• What was the last book you strongly disliked?

My review is here and there are a few too many reasons to list.

 

 

 

• How does your star rating system work for your reviews (if you use one)?

My system is maybe a little complex, but I go into details here.

• What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Thin crust ham or Canadian bacon and mushrooms with light sauce is usually one of my favorites, but so few of my family members also like it, I rarely get it.

• Would you rather read a great plot with mediocre characters, or a boring plot with amazing characters?

I really am not a fan of either. I need both to really enjoy a book, though bad characters are a peeve.

• How many books are you currently reading, and which one is your favorite so far?

I’m in between as I just finished a book. I also never read more than one at a time.

• What was the last book review you posted?

Brave the Tempest

 

 

 

 

• Do you prefer MG, YA, NA, or adult books?

Adult

• Is there a popular author you’re NOT interested in reading anything by? (Elaborate if you’re comfortable doing so!)

Honestly, there are probably quite a few, but nothing specific comes to mind.

• What marginalized rep would you most strongly like to see more of in books?

Nothing comes to mind.

• Do you listen to music while reading?

I used to, but I can’t anymore because if music is on, I’m either trying to sing along or I want to get up and dance and I can’t do those things and read at the same time.

• Do you prefer book twitter or bookstagram?

I’m only on Twitter. There are only so many places I’m willing to dedicate my time that I’m not reading to. Adding another would cut into that time.

 

Sascha’s Questions:

• Required reading in school. So many books we didn’t want to read. Was there one you actually enjoyed?

The one that seems to stick with me most was Lord of the Flies. Probably because we did a mock trial after reading the book. I actually enjoyed most of the books required, just not the work of analyzing and answering the questions. Honestly, there were a lot of books that I wanted to read that were only presented in the AP level classes and I wasn’t on that track thanks to a petty teacher that wouldn’t approve my advancement even though I had the grades. I’ve still not read those books.

• Is there a scene from a book that has stuck with you? Why?

I don’t remember the author or the name of the book, but it was one of the first ebooks I read, so I wasn’t really paying attention to progress like I would have in a print book. No clue how close I was to the end. The book was tagged as a romance, but it ended with the main male love interest dying in a car crash. You literally finish the book at the moment he died and there were a mountain of strings left unfinished. It pissed me off to no end because that is NOT how a romance should ever end. I spent probably 5 minutes flipping between pages thinking that there was something wrong with the copy I got and that pages were missing, or that I’d hit something wrong and advanced too far. Nope. It really ended that way. It made me mad enough to not even consider picking up the next book.

• Is there any movie that you’ve liked more than the book it was based on?

I don’t do a lot of both, but probably The Last of the Mohicans. I’m convinced it is because I watched the movie first.

• What book would you recommend to….anyone?

Any book that is on my favorites list.

• Do you have a bookish guilty pleasure?

None that I can think of.

• Is there a hyped book that you hated?

I wouldn’t say exactly that I hated it, but I really wasn’t a fan.

I’d list the book I mention above with the scene, but I’ve managed to block out the name of it. Apparently I disliked it that much.

 

 

• Stuck on a desert island…what 4 authors’ books would you bring?

I can only answer this because you gave me 4 authors and not just 4 books. If forced to pick only 4, I end up dying while I stood around trying to decide.

Anne Bishop, Faith Hunter (with all her pen names, just because it gives me genre choices), Michelle Sagara (West), and… dang… I thought that would be easier. Nope. Maybe G.A. Aiken/Shelly Laurenston (I get to keep them both since it is again pen names) to add the humor variety to the mix even though they are all still fantasy.

• If you’re a writer (or secretly want to be a writer—I won’t tell 😉 ) who would you most like to write like?

I honestly can’t say. There are things I admire, like the ability to create stunningly vivid worlds or to lay down gut busting irreverent humor that I’d love to be able to do, but I never really felt like I wanted to write like anyone in particular. I’m not sure I could give you an author to compare with how I wrote.

• What’s your favorite setting for reading?

The quiet of my house while everyone is at school or work, snuggled on my couch under a blanket. It is even better in the winter when the decorations are up and the fire is blazing.

• Ebooks, audiobooks, hard copies. Do you favor just one?

I prefer the versatility and ease of ebooks.

• Do you have a favorite book quote? If not, a favorite scene? If not, a favorite character? If not, a favorite anything book related? 😉

Again, the favorites thing…  How about I give you 2 (and only because I remember them)?

“…feline buttholitis of the face.” – N. R. Walker’s Upside Down

“Titus! Come on up, dude. We have beer.” – Faith Hunter’s Dark Queen This is only because of who said it in the book and the situation it was said in. It was kind of epic.

Nominees:

This is me breaking the rules. I’m not nominating anyone, but if anyone wants to grab any of the questions, please feel free. Tag me if you do as I’d love to see your answers.

Reasons I’m weird:

I’m not completely sure why I’m so weird about awards and tags (because yes, this applies to those too), but there are a few reasons I can articulate.

Often I feel like I just don’t really have anything to say to fit whatever it is, usually because questions fall into lines like “What is your favorite [fill in blank]” and I just am not a favorites person, especially if I’m forced to only pick one or two of something. Another part of it is that, as much as I may write about stuff here, I avoid some things because it just feels weirdly private. Or it feels like I’d bore readers to tears because I’m really not that interesting.

Then there is the whole tagging of other people thing. Sometimes it feels kind of like the whole mess surrounding picking teams or being invited to join certain clubs and being the one on the outside or picked last. I understand, intellectually, that that isn’t the thing here, but it touches on some of those emotions and I don’t want to make others feel that way. It also tends to push against my introvert tendencies and participating in things like this means stepping out of my comfort zone.

I don’t think these kinds of awards or tags are bad. Not at all. I find it fun to read a lot of these. They just tend to make me feel uncomfortable when I get tagged or nominated, because I just don’t know what to do with it most of the time, even though I do appreciate when someone thinks of me when they are participating.