Thank you to the very wonderful Leslie @ Books Are The New Black for nominating me for The Liebster Award! If you’re not following Leslie, you should be! I always enjoy her posts—and the discussions in the comments that follow. <3 This is my first nomination for The Liebster and I had so much fun with it!

The Rules

• Acknowledge the blog that gave it to you and display the award
• Answer 11 questions that the blogger gives you
• Give 11 random facts about yourself
• Nominate 11 blogs and notify them of their nomination
• Give these blogs 11 questions to answer

Leslie’s Questions:

1) Who’s a character that reminds you of yourself?

Ooof, a tough question right out of the gate! So, the only character that comes to mind is Hermione from Harry Potter. And mostly she reminds me of my child-self. I’ve been told I was quite bossy and opinionated. 😉 I came into my introversion later in life. And I’m loyal—to a fault sometimes. Which seems like Hermione. BUT this seems like a giveaway answer… hopefully I’ll do better with the rest of the questions! Ha!

2) What’s a book that you loved but wasn’t in your typical genre?

I don’t typically enjoy many books in the magical realism genre—for example, I wasn’t a big fan of The Night Circus. And the books from this genre that I do love are usually the ones other readers don’t enjoy as much. Like The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle. I gave it five stars and was so surprised more people didn’t love it. 🤷‍♀️

3) What’s a book that deserves more hype?

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie. I still find myself thinking about this one. It was unlike anything I’d read before. (My review)

4) What’s one unusual thing about yourself?

Um… well, my friends always think it’s funny that while I don’t enjoy watching sports, I do enjoy a good boxing match! Maybe because they don’t usually last long?? 😉

5) If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d do or purchase?

I’d purchase an RV and drive across the country! I love to road trip and I miss it so much.

6) What’s your favorite trope?

Ooooh, this one will be tough because I love a lot of tropes! I do enjoy the enemies to lovers trope, but the trope that consistently gets my highest rating is—not much of a surprise here—the road trip trope! My most recent book to read and enjoy from this genre was Float Plan—a road trip book set on the sea! (My Review)

7) Is there a character that you absolutely hate and why?

I honestly can’t think of a character I absolutely hate, but I was surprised not to like The Darkling more when I recently read The Shadow and Bone Trilogy. He seems to be a character that a lot of readers name as their favorite villain, but I…. wasn’t as impressed. (Please don’t hate me.)

8) What is your best advice for someone in a reading slump or what works for you?

Reread an old favorite or pick up a book in your favorite genre that you already suspect you’ll love! I hit a bit of a slump this time last year when the pandemic was becoming a reality, and I decided to finally read The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker, a romance set in Alaska. I’d only heard great things about it and I was almost positive I would enjoy it. I did! So much so that I immediately purchased the next book in the series and kept reading. 😉

9) If you could receive any ARC in the mail, what would it be?

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. Beach Read was my favorite book last year, and I was lucky enough to win an ARC of it. I haven’t had any luck snagging an early copy of People We Meet on Vacation yet.

10) Do you subscribe to any monthly book boxes or other items?

I subscribe to a quarterly book box through The Strand Bookstore in New York, The Book HookUp. (A gift from my husband.) My next box should be arriving any day now!

11) If you had to choose, which book villain would you be?

Hmm. Probably one that has a change of heart by the end?? Is that cheating? 😉 It also seems like cheating to pick another character from Harry Potter, but I think Snape is my all-time favorite villain. 😭

11 Random facts about myself:

I had enough trouble coming up with something unusual about myself on question 4, so for this one I’ll be listing 11 of my favorite random foods in random order. 😉

1. Dark chocolate
2. Coconut
3. Mango
4. Blackberry
5. Blueberry
6. Jelly Beans
7. Avocado
8. Jack-in-the-Box egg-rolls
9. Peanut M&Ms
10. Fried eggs
11. Cinnamon French toast

I nominate:

Lisa @ Reading, Writing, and Random Musings | Leah’s Books | Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse | Molly’s Book Nook | Carla Loves to Read

No pressure to participate, just know I appreciate all of you and your blogs! <3

My questions:

1. You’re leaving tomorrow on vacation, what three books would you toss in your suitcase?
2. Do you read spoilers? And if not, are there any circumstances in which you would?
3. What’s a book genre you’ve never read but wouldn’t mind trying?
4. What’s the last book you read that you had an unpopular opinion about? Maybe you liked it and everyone else hated it, or you hated it and everyone else liked it?
5. What is the last movie/tv series you watched that you would recommend?
6. What’s a talent you admire in others that you wish you had?
7. What book do you find yourself recommending more than any other?
8. If you had a theme song, what would it be and why?
9. Where is the most memorable location you’ve read a book? And share the book, if you’d like!
10. What is your favorite comfort food?
11. If you could receive any ARC in the mail, what would it be? (Stealing Leslie’s question!)