I have had the distinct honor of being nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award twice in the last week or two, once by Becky at A Couple of Bees Read and once by Marjolein at URL Phantomhive. Both of these blogs give amazing book recommendations and reviews, and are so nice, to boot! Check them out 🙂

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.

How Does It Work?

• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

Since I got nominated twice, I am going to do the questions in order one after another. Cheers!

---

A Couple of Bees’ Questions:

1. When did you start blogging? I technically started blogging in 2015, when I started a travel blog to chronicle my SO’s and my two month long cross country road trip. I will be the first to confess, I am not a very consistent blogger while on the road. The blog is still up but not very active; I occasionally write posts when inspiration strikes, but not often enough. My book blog did not begin until 2016, and that was also sporadic. That was the same year I went to law school, so I had bouts of no posting that would last weeks or months. It wasn’t until April 2020 that I have been blogging consistently (aka more than once a week).
2. What is your favorite book of 2020? This is hard… I loved the newest Patricia Briggs book, Smoke Bitten, but I also loved Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews.
3. What is your favorite book of all time? Oh this is even harder! I often give the answer Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, but I also loved The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie and Howls Moving Castle for my favorite YA.
4. What book on your TBR are you most excited about? Probably Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education or Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas.
5. What is one piece of advice you can give to new bloggers? Be consistent with how often you post, even if you have to put it on your calendar. And be engaging with the blogging community. Comment on other people’s posts, ask questions, and be friendly. You will learn so much that way.
6. What television show is your favorite? All time, probably Gilmore Girls or Firefly. Recently, Parks and Rec and The Great British Bake Off (no shame).
7. Are you excited for football season? If so, what team do you pull for? Not sure if this is American football or “soccer,” but either way, I really only watch hockey and occasional baseball (whoops). Given my location I guess I would be rooting for the Giants if they ever won anything.
8. What do you enjoy most about blogging? Weirdly, probably the organization of it. I love having a centralized place for my thoughts that I can come back to in the future. I also love the community and getting new recommendations.
9. What do you like least about blogging? It can take up a lot of time, and also this horrible despicable new block editor. Why, WordPress, why?!
10. If stranded on a desert island, what one person would you want with you and why? Either my SO because he is handy and resourceful (he used to be a Boy Scout) and I love him, or Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson for vastly similar reasons.
11. Who is your favorite author? There is too many to list, and separated by living and dead. However contemporarily, I love Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews, and Neil Gaiman.

---

URL Phantomhive’s Questions:

1. How did you get into reading? When I was 5 or 6, my mother hired a summertime writing and reading tutor for me because I was left handed and that wasn’t really allowed at my elementary school, so I was behind. That summer was an awakening for me. I am also from a very small rural beach town, with no entertainment readily available and nothing open in the winter. Books were the best and easiest solution to staying entertained.
2. Is there a book you regret reading? The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick is the biggest piece of garbage on literary earth. Others I regret are less because they were badly written and more because I wasn’t emotionally equipped for them and not interested in being so, including The Lovely Bones and My Sister’s Keeper.
3. Which book release are you currently most excited for? Probably The Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom, because I am really into the dark history of books bound in skin.
4. Where do you like to discuss books? Mostly in the comments of blogs. I am also in a social book club called Book Reading Babes and a book club through my job.
5. How are your shelves organized? I have a semi complex system – they are arranged by category, then alphabetized in each category. So figure Poetry A to Z; Brit Lit A to Z; SFF A to Z; etc. The categories are not in alpha order, but only because of spacing constraints.
6. How do you treat a reading slump? This was actually very relevant this year, because quarantine reading slumps are real. I ended up going on a reading cleanse where I reread one of my favorite series over the course of four days, then stuck with light and fun books after that for a month. I also aimed to read some shorter books and plays to keep moving if not at full speed.
7. Do you aspire to write a book someday? Don’t we all?! I have tried to do NaNoWriMo a handful of times, usually getting about 20-50 pages in before petering out. Oh, the unfinished manuscripts you can find in this house.
8. What kind of posts do you like to write the most? I love writing straightforward book reviews, particularly when the book has a lot of complexity to dig through. I do also miss writing travel blog posts.
9. How do you keep a healthy life/study-work/blog balance? I don’t at all, sadly. I don’t sleep much, my job is very demanding, and all I enjoy doing is reading a blogging and going for walks on the beach. Usually I try and block out my calendar by hour, and actually add blogging time and exercise time to my work calendar as a meeting. Don’t try this at home (oh wait…)
10. Has there been something good to come out of being stuck at home for months on end? (for example a new hobby or skill) A lot, yes. My resurgence in blogging is primarily from the quarantine; my SO built me my library, and I have begun painting rocks for fun.
11. If you could travel back five years to give your younger self some advice, what would you say? Hustle while we are young, because the older you get, the less you want to hustle. Also, imposter syndrome is a bitch, but everyone has it, so get that chip off your shoulder, kid.

---

My Nominees:

1. Brown Eyed Bookworm
2. Elaine Howlin
3. Ivy’s Library Card
4. A Tale from Two Cities
5. The Bookish Chick
6. The Tattooed Book Geek
7. Tessa Talks Books
8. Ali’s Books
9. Red Headed Book Lover
10. Confessions of a YA Book Reader
11. Caffeinated Fae

---

My Questions:

1. What has brought you joy during quarantine (new hobby, pet, self care)?
2. Are you a part of a book club? If so, what have been your favorite books you’ve read?
3. What makes a book a great read for you?
4. Name your favorite classics.
5. What is your favorite reading setting (in bed, on a beach, etc)?
6. Do you write personally? If you do, what genre do you like to write?
7. Which of your posts was your favorite to write, or most well received?
8. Who inspires you?
9. Who do you want to be when you grow up?
10. If you could live in any era and any place, when would you want to live and where?
11. What three books would you bring with you if you were stranded on a deserted island?

---

Thank you for sticking this out with me! Any thoughts / conversation pieces?