☀️ The Sunshine Award ☀️ x2 (and 3 and 4!)

I was nominated three more times (seems like it was forever ago… at least I’m getting to it now, right?) for the Sunshine Award!!! Thank you so much to Kay @ Hammock of Books, Holly @ Nut Free Nerd, and the ever-wonderful Marina @ Books of Magic. You guys are all too sweet and perfect and wonderful and I love you all ❤

RULES

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their post
• Nominate 11 other bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions
• Display the rules and the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post

KAY’S QUESTIONS

What is your favorite type of weather? Sunshine?

Actually, no! I prefer cool, slightly overcast days if I’m going to be outside. Rainy days if I plan on staying in.

What is a book where you loved the cover but not the book?

I recently tried to read The Golem and the Jinni, and I picked that one up just because I loved the cover.

It held my attention for a few chapters, but I ended up getting kind of bored with it, and it’s been collecting dust ever since.

Ah well.

How many books do you have?

Omg, I don’t even know. Well over 300 at this point, I’m sure. Maybe close to 400? I honestly have no idea.

Who is your favorite author?

Neil Gaiman, Karen Russell, David Sedaris, to name a few.

What’s a song to go with your favorite book?

I’ve always been so bad at pairing songs and books, or songs with anything. Besides that, I can’t even pick a favorite book! Ugh, I’m so bad at answering these questions, lol.

Which book villain do you relate to the most?

I don’t know about relating to, but I literally love every single villain in every Shakespearean play. I don’t know what it is, but I just love them all! A lot of them do what they do because they feel that there’s some sense of injustice that was done to them, which I guess I can relate to? I’m sure everyone can relate to that at one point or another. Idk, I just really like those villains.

What is your favorite book to movie adaptation that isn’t Harry Potter?

The Hunger Games. Those movies are SO GOOD, OMG.

What are three of your all time favorite books?

I’m so, so bad at choosing favorite books, soooo I’m gonna answer this question with some of my favorite short stories instead: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Haunting Olivia by Karen Russell, and Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft. Click on the titles to read them!

What author are you glad you gave a second chance?

Neil Gaiman. I first read Neverwhere by him and didn’t really like it all that much. It was okay… but just okay. But I gave him another shot, and now he’s one of my favorites!

What is your favorite romance trope?

I’m not a fan of romance-heavy books, soooo I don’t really do romance tropes.

Who are a few of your favorite blogs?

Everyone listed in this post! Along with Bookish Thoughts, Lady Bilbiotaph, Freed by Fiction, Arguably Alexis, and everyone else I’m following!

HOLLY’S QUESTIONS

Kiss, marry, kill: The main characters of the last three fiction books you read.

Well, there were two from Legend. So that’d be Day and June from Legend, and Misha from Milkweed. Kiss Day, marry Misha (he just needs to be loved!), and kill June (sorry, June).

Would you rather be an elegant princess/prince type character in a fairytale, or a witchy badass villain?

WITCHY BADASS VILLAIN ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!

You fall into a pit of acid or get bit by an exotic spider or into a verbal altercation with a wizard, and you’re given the power to pull things out of books. Which book are you reaching into first???

Oh gosh, I don’t even know. The Lord of the Rings maybe? I could pull out so many neat weapons and tasty Shire food/drink and Lembas bread and I’d 100% pull Pippin out and make him a nice pallet in the living room to sleep on and he’ll live with me forever and we’ll be best friends and eat Eggs Benedict every morning for breakfast.

You’re being sent to a desert island and you can only bring one book, and it has to be one you haven’t read yet. What book are you bringing?

Proooobably A Game of Thrones. I haven’t read the books or seen the show, but I’ve heard a lot of great things, and everyone who knows me has told me that I’d love it. Plus, it’s hella long, so it’ll keep me occupied for a while.

Link your favorite blog post of yours!

Hmmmm. I don’t know about this being my favorite, but I was really excited to post it because it was when I was nominated for my first award: The Liebster Award! I had been blogging on and off for a few months and had just really started to get into it when I was nominated, and I remember seeing so many people posting about awards they had won, and I wanted so badly to be a bigger part of the blogging community, and it seemed like winning an award was the highest achievement! So I was elated when I was actually nominated for one, and I’m still so excited about it every time someone tags me in a post of theirs. I just love being a part of this community so much ❤

Which Hogwarts house would you most want to be in, and which do you want to be in least?

Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Slightly more Ravenclaw. Least favorite: Gryffindor.

Would you rather have a pet unicorn or grow a mermaid’s tail when you touch water?

Mermaid’s tail sounds fun!

The last book you gave 5 stars and the last book you gave 1 star?

The Hunger Games and The Diary of a Rapist. I don’t give out 1 stars very often.

Who’s a popular author you’re just…not that into?

Honestly, the only authors I would use as an answer here are authors whose books I haven’t read yet. I tend to read popular books/authors waaaaay after they stop becoming popular.

Show you’re currently watching, or last one you watched?

New Girl. I actually didn’t like this show the first time I tried to watch it, but I gave it another chance recently and can’t stop! It’s just really fun and lighthearted, and I absolutely ADORE the friendship between Jess and Nick. I feel like the writer will probably have them get together at some point (I’m only in season 2), because that’s what always happens when a guy and a girl are close on a show, but honestly I really hope they don’t go that route. Or, if they do, I just hope they do it right and not just to keep hold of the viewer. The characters just have this perfect friendship without any crazy sexual tension or anything between them. They’re just… best friends. And I love it so much. Their relationship is written out really well, and it’s just so different from any other straight male/female close friendship I’ve ever seen on TV. It’s so refreshing, and I just love this show so muuuuuch.

Picture this: You’re at the altar, about to say “I do” to Cornelius (or Cornelia) Wainwright III, a disgraced businessperson who is only marrying you for your chocolate factory fortune. You dramatically say “I can’t do this” – which fictional character or celebrity do you confess your love to instead?

I don’t really fawn over fictional characters or celebrities anymore. I’ll give some loving sighs to certain relationships or when two characters I want to get together actually get together, but there’s not really any attraction or anything.

MARINA’S QUESTIONS

Name a fictional food/drink you’d love to try.

Butterbeer!

Do you like animated movies? Which ones are your favorite?

YES! For Disney films: The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast have always been my faves. But really, I like them all. And Non-Disney? Hmm. Of course now I’m drawing a blank, but these are some of my favorites that I can remember: An American Tail (both of them), Shrek, My Neighbor Totoro (and every other Studio Ghibli movie), Balto, The Emperor’s New Groove (LOVE this one so, so, so much).

Who is your favorite villain and why? (book/movie/TV/etc.)

Oh gosh, all of them! I love villains. I really like villains who actually have justifiable reasons for becoming villains. Like Edmund from Shakespeare’s King Lear. Or Loki from the Thor comics. Or Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. But then, I also love the Joker from the Batman universe, who has no reason behind his madness. And Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello, who had some pretty petty reasons for screwing things up for everything, but really he just liked being the villain. Ugh, idk, I just love villains!

Do you like to read one specific genre, or do you mix it up?

I don’t constrain myself to any specific genre, but I tend to read specific genres just because I enjoy them more. Magical realism, historical fiction, and non-fiction humor are usually my go-to genres, but I try to branch out if I hear a certain book in another genre is good.

Name 1-3 magical (or not) items from a book, which you’d love to own in real life.

Baaaah, why do I keep drawing blanks? I can’t think of anything outside of the books I just read recently, lol. So. Let’s see. I guess I’ll go with the Elder wand from Harry Potter.

What is your favorite fantasy movie? You can list several, I’m not a monster!

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, hands down.

What is the most annoying habit you have?

According to my bf, I chew loud, lol.

Name one country, one city and one historical site you’d love to visit before you die.

Scotland. Seattle. And I’d really like to visit Alcatraz and the catacombs of Paris.

What is your favorite fictional animal? (from a book/movie/mythology/etc.)

Thestrals from Harry Potter.

Which do you prefer: seaside, mountains, countryside or forests?

Forests ❤

Tell us….your most embarrassing moment.

One time, in high school, I was trying to impress this boy that I liked. We were in the cafeteria, and I was walking through some tables to get to the booth he was sitting at. I was in a goth phase back then, and I would always wear really baggy pants with lots of zippers and chains and bondage straps all over them. Well. I thought it would be super cool to do a kind of hop-step over one of the chairs in my way instead of just moving it out of the way like a normal person. And of course, the chains on my pants got caught on the edge of the chair, so when I stepped back on the ground and started walking again, the chair came with me. It dragged behind me for way too long before I actually got my chain off, and it was super loud and embarrassing, and I got in trouble with the vice principal. Fun tiiiiimes. It’s probably not my most embarrassing moment, but it’s one that sticks out.

Bonus trick question (optional): Gandalf vs Dumbledore. Who wins?

Well, Gandalf came back even stronger than ever when he “died,” and Dumbledore… well… 🤷

I honestly can’t remember who I tagged the last time I did this or who’s done it since, sooooo if you haven’t done this tag yet, you’re tagged! ❤