Kay from Hammock of Books tagged me in the Sunshine Blogger Award last week. Aw, shucks! Before we continue any further, you guys should take a look at Kay’s blog. She’s got some great YA reviews (I’ve learned of some interesting contemporary YA books from her site recently).

RULES:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you in a blog post 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.
• List the rules and display the sunshine blogger award logo in your post/or on your blog.

THE QUESTIONS:

1. If you could be any book protagonist, who would you be? – Wendy from the Wendy Darling series. As much as I’d like to be [insert character with special powers], I feel like Wendy is more realistic. Wendy was intelligent, compassionate, brave, and self-sacrificing. Even when confronted with terrifying things, she faced them, all because she wanted to keep her family and the Lost Boys safe. She was braver than I’ll probably ever be and I admired her for that.
2. If you could be any book animal, who would you be? – A witches familiar, like the ones in the Elsewhere series. They’re talking cats that can go in and out of the house’s magical paintings. I feel like this would be super cool. Plus, I just really want to be a cat.
3. If you could be any book antagonist, who would you be? – James Moriarty.
4. What book villain would you want to date? – Can we still call Rhysand a villain even if he was only a “villain” in the first ACOTAR book? I’m saying yes to this, because I can’t think of another sexy, badass, tattooed villain. 

5. What books made you cry? – Oh geez, this one is tough. There have been tons of books that have made me cry for different reasons. One that stands out in particular though is A Rose for the Crown. That story is amazing and I believe I cried like 5 times when reading it. Other notable mentions: Where the Red Fern Grows, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Dobby! *bawls*).
6. What is your favorite genre? – Fantasy (adult and YA)
7. When do you read? – Usually I read on my lunch break (I typically go hide out at Barnes & Noble during this hour) and in the evenings before bed. I work all day, so it’s tough to always find enough time to read.
8. What was your favorite kid book? – Harry Potter has been my favorite since I was 10-11. If you want to go earlier than that, I’m going to say anything R.L. Stine. I loved the Goosebumps and Fear Street books when I was a kid.
9. Where do you read? – Typically at home (in our bedroom) and at bookstores and coffee shops.
10. Favorite thing about blogging? – Connecting with other bloggers. I love interacting with people who have similar interests and hearing their stories and perspectives. Plus, just having the outlet for writing in general. Writing is very therapeutic for me.
11. Least favorite thing about blogging? – Probably coming up with things to write about. Sometimes I just sit down and my mind goes blank. I don’t want my readers to feel like they’re jut reading the same thing over and over again.

MY QUESTIONS: 

1. You’re stuck on a desert island. Which fictional character would you choose to be stuck with?
2. If you had the option to never wear pants again, would you still wear them?
3. If you could rewrite the ending to any book, which would it be
4. What was your first blog post about?
5. Who’s your favorite non-human book character?
6. If you could live in any book world, which one would it be?
7. Most underrated book?
8. Where do you get inspiration for your blog posts?
9. Does cover art matter to you?
10. What’s your favorite hobby, besides reading and/or blogging?
11. Has your dog ever eaten your homework?

MY NOMINEES:

Life Should Be Lit

Reading with Rendz

Tattooed Book Geek

Cailtlin Stern Writes

Captain’s Quarters

Off the TBR

I’m feeling lazy now, so if you’ve read this far consider yourself nominated 🙂

It’s Monday again.

Today, rather than ask what you’re reading, I’d like to chat about something else: social media. For those of you unfamiliar with social media, it is defined as “That thing with all the cats and people who yell at each other that eats up an embarrassing amount of time that could otherwise spent being productive.” I swear that’s the definition, look it up.

You know what I’m talking about. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Those other ones I probably don’t even know about.

I’d be lying if I tried to pretend that I, like so many other people, don’t spend a good deal of my personal time browsing through social media. There’s much debate (where else, but on the internet?) about whether or not this is good for you. I’m not going to even touch that one, because obviously it’s going to be a different experience for everyone. Given how much time I’ve spent watching funny cat videos in the past decade, I’m really not one to make judgments. I would, however, like to discuss social media and what it does for the blogging community.

I’ve only recently started sharing my blog on social media. Many moons ago I wrote a post about why I avoided talking about my blog with people in “real life.” For the most part, this still applies. I am very selective about who I share my blog with. This is why I hesitate a little to start advertising my blog on social sites.

I talk about it on Twitter and share links to my recent posts, but I almost never put anything on Facebook. I can’t even really explain this one, as I talk about personal stuff on Facebook, but not to the same extent that I do on here. Even if I shared my recent posts via Facebook, I feel like it’s the wrong crowd for it. In the same vein,  hesitate to share my Instagram on my blog because of my occasional pole dancing picture.

Do you use social media to promote your blog and connect with other bloggers? Do you use your personal account or do you have a separate one? Do you feel like it’s been beneficial for your blog? Give me some feedback!

Also, if you would like to follow me on social media, here are some links:

 Bloglovin     Twitter     Goodreads