Hello, and welcome to my blog! Now that I’ve gotten a few posts up, I thought it was about time to introduce you all to the person behind the screen and do the book blog newbie tag, with a little bonus.
While I do love this tag, I wanted to add a little something extra to introduce myself so that you get to know me beyond my reading habits. When my booktube channel reached 100 subscribers, and my channel and twitter both reached 500, I asked for Q&A questions because I do just love talking about myself. (I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Mostly.) Unfortunately I never got around to doing the answering part of the question & answer, so I hope adding it to this post will give you a better idea of who I am beyond the tag!
1. Why did you start this blog?
Or what I’m sure you’re really wondering, what prompted me to make the switch to blogging from a booktube? I went over it a bit in my last video, but it really boils down to me catching covid from my workplace. It hit me really hard, and I was worried about how I’d be perceived if I shared that publicly, so I tried to push myself to create videos and act normally when I should have been busy recovering. Since my energy levels and ability to speak varied so wildly day-to-day I either had a good filming day and then was too winded to edit, or I was too tired to film and made content I was really disatisfied with when it came time to edit.
I decided to switch to a blog because I knew it’d be an easier way for me to keep doing something I’ve come to love. I hope I can return to YouTube someday, but it’s unfortunately not physically feasible for me right now. I also wanted to return to writing daily, and hopefully it’ll help me ease into working on my one thousand WIPs…
2. What are some fun and unique things you can bring to blogging?
A fresh voice always adds something new in my opinion, but what I’m really looking forward to is blending my niche interests and hobbies with my reading journey to make fun and unique content. I’m also hoping to be more ‘myself’ on this blog— there’s something about being on video that made it difficult to be authentic, and I think it has something to do with seeing my face on the screen, so I hope my humor and personality comes across better through writing!
3. What are you most excited for about this new blog?
I’m truly most excited for continuing to share my voice on the bookternet! One of my goals is to gain more confidence when talking about my favorite books, which I think will be easier to do here. I always get shy when it comes to things I really care about, to the point where I’m not sure most of my friends even know what my actual favorite books are… Plus, it’s hard to be unabashedly proud of my terrible taste when all my friends have their soul-wrenching, powerful, literary masterpiece faves and I’m over here giving everything under the moon four stars because I’m so easily entertained. Not that all of my favorite books are terrible, mind you, but I can’t help but second-guess myself when they’re brought up.
4. Why do you love reading?
Why does anyone love reading? There’s just something about stepping into a new world and meeting new characters that I can’t get enough of. As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve loved being able to share my thoughts and feelings with friends and others who’ve read the same books I have, whether or not they felt the same way.
5. What book or series got you into reading?
I taught myself to read when I was very young, so I’m sure the book that actually got me into reading was a picture book or board book that I don’t remember anymore. However, I stopped reading when I got into high school, since I didn’t have a lot of free time and the dry classics we were being assigned crushed a lot of my joy for reading. I had two or three books I could stand to reread over and over again, but I didn’t get back into reading new things voraciously until college, when I bought Six of Crows on a whim, which I brought to class, where it helped me actually start a conversation with the person who became my best friend (hi, Sara!), and knowing her led me to book twitter and booktube!
6. What questions would you ask your favorite bloggers?
Oh, I have so many. How are you so creative? How many uploads is normal? How do you make your site look cool? How do you go from yelling into the void to sharing your voice with an actual audience? This seems even more daunting than starting a YouTube channel!
Some of my favorite bloggers are, in no particular order: Hal (HD’s Reading Life), Val (Val Writes Books), CW (The Quiet Pond), Liv (Curly Hair Bibliophile), Zoe (Seven Late Night Thoughts With Zoe), and Jackie (Bookish Coffee Blog)
7. What challenges do you think will be the hardest to overcome?
Growing an audience, for sure. Something that kept me motivated to continue making videos was having great engagement, and I loved responding to comments and seeing people interact with my content. However, I can’t rely on a ton of people who followed me on YouTube following me here, since people who watch videos and people who read blogs are two very different crowds with different lifestyles and preferred way of consuming bookish content.
The second biggest challenge will be finding time to blog, but I’ve been carving out blocks of time to balance both reading and writing and been pretty successful so far. As long as I also balance easier posts and posts that take me forever to put together, we should be fine… hopefully…
For our bonus Q&A, the people who asked me questions for my 100 subscribers milestone also asked questions for my 500 followers milestone, so I’ve combined both sets of questions and divided them up by person for smoother reading!
From Lelia (APageOutOfMyBook):
- Favorite characters?
I have far too many because I just can’t stop myself from getting attached to people who don’t exist! Just a few of my favorites are Qifrey from Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama, Nikolai Lantsov of the Grishaverse series by Leigh Bardugo, Howl Pendragon (both from the Miyazaki film and the book it was based on by Dianna Wynne Jones, both useless men who I love dearly), Noah Czerny from the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, Nezha of The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang, and Harrowhark Nonagesimus of the Locked Tomb trilogy by Tamsyn Muir. … I think there’s a pattern here, but I can’t tell what it is. - Favorite ships?
Honestly, I don’t have a ton of book ships that I care deeply about. Mostly the ships I want to get together end up getting together, so I don’t feel the same level of passion as I do for other types of media where all the content for the ships I like is fan-generated. Because of this, a lot of the bookish ships I care about will never get together or haven’t gotten together yet. Or they were such a slowburn you barely got time with them together…
My three favorite bookish ships are Griddlehark (Gideon/Harrow, from the Locked Tomb triology), Rinezha (Rin/Nezha from The Poppy War triology), and Zoyalai (Zoya/Nikolai from the Grishaverse series). All ships that haven’t gotten together yet or won’t, ever, because I guess I do just hate myself that much! Others I enjoy are Thiva (Thia/Kiva from The Storm Crow duology) and Vasya/Morozko (the Winternight Triology). Any other ships I don’t really consider “ships” of mine since they’re canon— although I do think Vasya and Morozko end up together, I just haven’t read the second or third book yet! - Favorite genres to read?
YA and Adult sci-fi and fantasy, hands down. I’ve always been drawn to fantasy because I love worlds far removed from our own, but I do enjoy contemporary occaisonally! - Favorite bookish friendships?
Blue & Noah from The Raven Cycle is one of my favorites. The platonic kissing scene lives in my mind rent-free. I also really love Gansey & Henry’s relationship from the same series, but honestly, I would have loved to see a Blue/Gansey/Henry poly endgame! (Really, all the friendships in that series are great.) Thia & Kiva are a great pair, as is nearly any combo from the Dregs (Six of Crows), Ellie & Jay (Elatsoe), and one of my #1 faves is Fie & Jas (The Merciful Crow)!
From Andy (AndyReadsWell):
- Favorite song in general?
It’s hard to narrow down, but here are two of my favorites:
1. Sarishinohara (Distant Fields) by Rib — this song makes me so emotional, it’s so beautiful. It’s about a musician and a singer who are in love, but the singer went on to become an idol and had to cut all ties with him since she wasn’t allowed to date. Despite the difficulties, they still love each other and try to see each other every way they can. This song is part of a three-part series, the other two being Akaito and Yonjuunana, but this is my favorite one. This probably is my favorite song of all time, but it’s so hard to compare music against each other when there’s such a wide variety of feeling and talent out there!
2. 言って。(Say It.) by Yorushika — Yorushika is my favorite band, and I talk about them often but no one’s ever given them a listen… which is fine. Or maybe they did and didn’t like them and just didn’t have the heart to tell me… which is also… fine… I guess… :’) What I love about 言って。is the raw feeling in Suis’s voice that made me fall in love with the band, and how upbeat and catchy the song is despite it being written to someone who’s passed away. “But even as I breathe my last breath, I don’t think I’ll really believe you’re actually gone” gets me everytime. This is one of their more popular songs, and I also really enjoy 思想犯 (Thoughtcrime) by them! - Favorite song off folklore?
Betty, because there is nothing quite like yelling “would you tell me to go fuck myself” while driving home by yourself late at night, or Last Great American Dynasty because it has my favorite melody and instrumentals.
I don’t have an updated answer for Evermore because I haven’t listen to it. Yet!! - Would you be willing to come to England so we could clubbing together!?
Of course!!
From Victoria:
- Do you have a comfort movie? If so, which movie is it?
I have so many, because I often find myself in need of comfort. Howl’s Moving Castle and both National Treasure movies are my go-tos! - What would you say has been the most impactful book you’ve read so far?
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki immediately popped into my head. This book is meant to be hard-hitting and has a lot of heavy topics, since it follows the dual perspectives of a teenage girl (Nao) going through depression, family issues, and bullying, as well as an adult (Ruth) dealing with a mid-life crisis and loss of direction. There are some books that find you when you need them, and you read them at just the right time, and they become a piece of you forever and all the words feel right, and that’s exactly what this book was for me. I needed to read about those difficult topics, and I also needed the hopeful ending. And the random magic jungle crow. - If someone said “eat this worm and you can have free books for LIFE” would you eat the worm? No condiments allowed!
ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY
From Reagan (ReagReads):
- If you had to stay in a house made of candy which one would you pick?
A difficult question, to be sure. My heart says chocolate, but I have seen the Willy Wonka remake and I will not make the same mistake. Unless, however, it’s a cold climate, and the chocolate will stay cool enough for me to eat without getting it everywhere. The structure of Reese’s may offer some stability, but if I eat a loadbearing Reese’s then it’s all over. Staying in a house of braided Twizzlers seems like a safe option, but I’d never eat them, so what’s the point? And sugar candy like SweetTarts or nerds would be too sticky and loose, or you’d have to make them inedible and stuck together for the houes to be made. I think I’d probably live in the Reese’s house and see what happens. If I die getting crushed by a peanut butter cup, it’s the way I was meant to go.
From Lois (LochanReads):
- Have you ever stopped reading an entire series because one of your favorite characters died/got killed?
If I did that, I would have to stop reading entirely. I don’t know what it is about me, but my type is apparently “destined for tragedy.” Sometimes, even if they don’t die, they get massively fucked over or have the worst tragic backstory, so I have to assume there’s something about me that just doesn’t like happiness. My favorite thing is when my favorite character dies, so I pick a new favorite from the remaining cast to heal my shattered soul, and then THEY DIE TOO. Sometimes even the third character I pick dies. I’ve even gotten unlucky enough to get attached to a character who died literally two minutes after they were introduced. In fact, this happens so often that I’ve begun to keep a running list, but it has so many spoilers for everything I can’t share it with anyone, just look at it with despair whenever I update it.
From Emy (FragileLunar):
- What’s a book you’d recommend everyone to read that isn’t talked about very much? Also what’s your favorite movie?
I need everyone to read Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani. Just the first volume means so, so much to me, and it’s full of queer characters and written by a trans & asexual mangaka! I gush about it a lot for someone who hasn’t read the full series, but I really hope to rectify that by the end of this year.
Favorite movie is a hard question, because there’s so many great movies out there for so many different moods. I’d have to say Labyrinth.
From Kevin (AstriaBooks):
- What hours are bad bitches hours?
All of them, my slime.
From Opal (Opalescent):
- Musicals: love em or hate em?
Love em! I don’t think I look like it, but I used to be half a theater kid in high school. I only got to work on one play as stage crew because the department was so competitive, but I took almost every theater class I could. - What are your thoughts on Avatar the Last Airbender so far? And who is your favorite character (besides the Cabbage guy because we all love the Cabbage guy)?
You see how long it took me to answer these? I’ve since finished ATLA and am halfway through season 4 of Legend of Korra, and I absolutely loved it. I see now why people feel the way they do about it. My favorite character is Zuko, of course, because I can relate to how painfully awkward he is and I really enjoyed his character arc. - Your top 3 songs from BTS or any other group?
Too many to name!! From BTS: Stay, Pied Piper, Make It Right. Right now my faves from other groups are I Can’t Stop Me (Twice), Back Door (Stray Kids, my ults), and Ghosting (TXT), but again, there are so many great songs out there… It really depends on my mood! - What’s a book you can read over and over again?
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me. In fact, I have a problem where if I flip open a page I will accidentally read the whole thing in a sitting, so reorganizing my shelves always gives me another reread… or two… or three. Graphic novels are admittedly super easy to reread, though— I find it really difficult to reread novels, even if I love them. - Do you have any pets? If you could have any exotic animal as a pet, what would you choose?
I have three dogs. One great dane named Sydney, a german shepherd named Delilah, and a boxer mutt named Chance. (He’s my favorite right now because he just lays around and doesn’t jump on me everytime I get home.) If I could have an exotic animal as a pet, I’ve always thought having an owl would be cool, because I love birds but they are so messy…
From Casper (Wordsborn):
- Would you rather see your favorite character without being allowed to talk to them OR visit to the setting of your favorite book?
This is an amazing question! I’d love to see my favorite characters in person, but since I can’t really talk to them anyways, I’d prefer to visit the setting of my favorite book and explore it for myself!
From Val (ValWritesBooks):
- If you could swap characters from two books, which two would it be?
A tough decision… more generally I’d love to put some of my favorite dark fantasy characters put into a contemporary. So many of them desperately need therapy. I’d also really love to see a chaotic, violent, ambitious character like Rin from The Poppy War put into a tamer YA fantasy and just let loose.
Thank you very much for making it to the end of my post! I hope my answers were worth the long wait and helped you get to know me better. I appreciate your support and hope to see you again for the next post!
come say hi to me between uploads!: twitter · instagram · goodreads
🌱 BOOK BLOG NEWBIE TAG Questions:
- Why did you start this blog?
- What are some fun and unique things you can bring to blogging?
- What are you most excited for about this new blog?
- Why do you love reading?
- What book or series got you into reading?
- What questions would you ask your favourite bloggers?
- What challenges do you think will be the hardest to overcome?
Ravens and Pages 
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