The Sunshine Blogger Award

Hi everyone! I’m back! I’m currently writing this post at like 3PM on Tuesday, so if it comes out on Wednesday or super late today, you can blame my horrible procrastination. I’ve been so busy with exams & work that I’ve been pushing so many things back, including writing blog posts. But I’ve finally found some time, and I’m ready to talk to all of you!

So, if you’ve been here on my blog, you know I’m the absolute worst person at getting to book tags (even though I barely have any in queue). But I’m doing my best to work my way through them, and I finally have one ready to share with you! A big thanks to Naemi @ A Book Owl’s Corner for nominating me, and you should all totally check her & her blog out.

Let’s get started!

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.

1. If a genie granted you three wishes, what would you wish for? (Obviously, the genie has rules that prevent you from asking for more wishes. Sorry.)

I would probably wish for boring stuff like safety, health, and happiness, but let’s just go ahead and substitute that for some more exciting things! I would wish for every single special edition book that exists, a personal library to hold them, and the ability to teleport. It is so ridiculous.

I am totally obsessed with special edition books. They are so expensive though, and there’s a ton of internal conflict when it comes to them. Should I spend another $2374032839 on books that are just for show & that I probably won’t end up reading? I mean I want to, but who’s going to foot the bill. My genie, of course. But where would I hold them? In my own personal library, thanks to my genie. And how would I make time in my day to look at and read all these new books? By my teleportation! I know, it’s the perfect three wishes.

2. Which book do you think is way overhyped?

Oh, Serpent and Dove for sure. Okay, so the story is, I read this one back in the beginning of the year because I had seen like a billion people talk about it over on bookstagram. And I think that it somehow messed with my head? Like hearing all the positive reviews made me want to believe that the book was actually better than it was? I was thinking about it after I read it though, and realized that it really wasn’t good enough for it to be hyped that much.

But, because Blood and Honey, the sequel, was coming out, I actually went ahead and reread it. It took me weeks to get through. Maybe my mood shifted or something, but it was just so boring and there wasn’t enough to it. Cut to a few weeks later when Blood and Honey came out, I couldn’t read past the first hundred pages. It’s still sitting on my countertop untouched. It’s even worse than the first book in my opinion, and neither of them really deserve any of the incredible hype. Sorry fans!

Also, this is so unrelated, but I just want to include the fact that A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder does not deserve its hype either. I saw that it got like second place in the Goodreads Choice Awards, and I did not like it that much. The character were dull, and it was not for me.

3. If you had to give up watching movies or listening to music for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Give up watching movies, by FAR! I don’t really like movies? I’m much more of a TV show person. I don’t know if I’ve been watching the wrong movies, but they always seem too long for me to sit through. With TV shows, I like the fact that it’s split up into shorter chunks. I mean, I always end up binge-watching many more episodes, but it’s organized in a better way for me. Plus, there’s more time for the characters to develop through the series, which I find more entertaining. Maybe someone else could relate?

Okay, so this is so unrelated, but I’ve been watching Gossip Girl over the past weekend, and it’s actually kind of addicting. I know I’m super late, but I think I saw it referenced somewhere, and I wanted to see what it was all about, so I pulled it up on Netflix. I totally think it’s drawn out too much over 7 seasons or whatever, but I still really want to watch it to see what happens. It’s kind of interesting, and I usually like those type of shows. Plus, it’s nice for reaffirming my dreams of living the old-money lifestyle (just kidding though, things are okay here I guess).

4. How do you organize your bookshelf/bookshelves?

By rainbow! It’s horrible for actually finding books, but I don’t own enough for it to be much of a problem. Plus, I post a lot of shelfies over on my bookstagram, @universewithinpages, so I got to have it for the aesthetics haha.

5. What is one of your proudest achievements?

I’m totally blanking, so I’ll keep this one book related. This is so lame, but at this point, I’m pretty proud at maintaining this blog! I’m not the biggest writer in general, and sometimes, posting gives me anxiety (over it not being long enough, detailed enough, or whatever). Plus, I’m horrible at sticking to a schedule, so I’m pretty happy with myself that I’ve kept it sorta-active over the past few months, even though it’s not a long time! Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep it up! 🙂

If you had the chance to redesign the covers for one book or series, what cover-change would you bless us with?

There are sooooo many covers I’d want to change. I mean, no offense to any cover designers out there, but I’m here to save the day! And today, I am saving the horrifying new ACOTAR/ACOSF covers. Like you don’t understand how upset I was when they came out. I mean, yeah I know you’re now marketing it to an adult audience, but can we at least have a better cover than that? I know all you Bloomsbury people can do better than that. I mean, House of Earth and Blood’s cover was so pretty, and we got this for ACOSF? No way. I guess I’m a bigger fan of more intricate covers, but even with that, I feel like the covers don’t really represent any key ideas in the books in the way I would want them to.

However, I am the most upset about the fact that we got a mid-series cover change! So my change would be to have a cover that features the same art style of the first three books. Like you can keep your new covers if you want, but at least give the rest of us a chance to have a matching series. I am not looking forward to have one random book out of place.

Okay, so that was a horrifyingly long rant, but yeah, that’s my answer!

Which food from your country should foreign readers definitely try?

Okay, guys, I’m from the most boring country in the entire world when it comes to food–the US. But I think macaroni and cheese is like a well-known American food, and it’s really good. It’s such a comfort food, and it’s like a guilty pleasure. I feel like it’s probably in other countries though. So, I have no clue.

What is one of your most unpopular bookish opinions?

One of my most unpopular opinions is that I hated The Mortal Instruments. Strangely enough though, I absolutely loved The Dark Artifices, The Infernal Devices, and Chain of Gold. I don’t know what it is about that series, but the characters just weren’t it for me. They were kind of bland, and the series felt like it dragged on for forever, maybe because it was six books instead of the usual three. BUT, because I loved the other Shadowhunter books, I’d still recommend the franchise as a whole. So it’s a half negative, half positive opinion!

Which five emojis and/or GIFs best describe you?

Okay so here is my five emoji pick! First we have a person running, which I just like? It’s one of my most used ones, so why not. The second one is a person smiling with a single tear, and combined with the sleepy one, I think that it’s a nice representation of who I am as a person. Plus, add on the nice sunny weather and my computer addiction, and we finally have me!

A book you think I (and everyone else) should go and read already?

I think that you should go and read Beach Read! It’s my favorite book out of my recent reads, and it’s really good. All the characters are so well developed, and the hard topics covered are handled in such a good way. Plus, the romance is really cute, and I love the writing feud between the two. I just reviewed it here, so you can go ahead and hear a more detailed version of my thoughts!

Which post that someone else wrote did you love recently?

This discussion post on redemption arcs in books by A Bolt Out of the Book was really interesting! I thought it was such an interesting topic to cover, and it was an entertaining read, especially with the fun GIFs. Anyways, you should all totally check it out, because I’m the worst when it comes to explaining things.

Anyways, that sums it up! Thank you so much to Naemi for nominating me. Here are my nominees for this award!

Tammy @ Books, Bones, Buffy
Cherelle @ A Bolt Out of the Book
Jessica @ Jessica Favor
Esmeralda @ Lattes & Literature
Amodini @ Amodini’s Musings
Mani @ Mani’s Book Corner
Nefeli @ Biblio Nebula
Christy and Claire @ I’m All Booked Up
Ahaana @ Windows to Worlds
Abby @ Beyond the Read
Angela @ Reading Frenzy Blog

None of you should feel any pressure to do it if you don’t want to! Also, if you’re reading this & want to do it, why not! I nominate all of you too.

I hope you all have a great Wednesday, and happy reading!

-Allison