Sunshine Blogger Award // In which I’m very indecisive…but what’s new?

Hi everyone! 💗 I hope that October has been treating you well!

I know this is my first blog post in two weeks; life has been extremely stressful for me lately. I’m struggling to balance school, college apps, reading, and blogging all at the same time, and my mental health definitely isn’t the best right now. Reading, writing blog posts, and blog hopping helps me relax and destress, though, so I don’t want to sacrifice my reading and blogging time for homework, even though sometimes I have to :’)

Sorry for this random (and negative) rant; I just needed to let this out. I love you all, and remember that your mental health and well-being matters! It’s always okay to take a break and do the things you love. 💞

Anyway, let’s get to the point of this post! I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by the amazing Amber @ ambsreads! Thank you so much for the nomination, Amber! It means so much to me. 😊 You should check out Amber’s blog if you haven’t already; her book reviews and discussions are always great.

Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the sunshine blogger award logo in your post/or on your blog.

Amber’s Questions

1. What is the post you’re most proud of on your blog?

Probably my last post, which was a review for Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills! That book was absolutely incredible, and I think I managed to convey my endless love for it in that post. 💞 You guys also showed me so much love and left so many sweet comments! You’re the best. 💖 I’m so happy that my review convinced a lot of you to read Foolish Hearts! (I’m also very proud of the fact that I included three relevant B99 gifs in my review. Hehe. 😊)

I also had lots of fun writing my 20 Questions Book Tag post! I loved writing responses to all of the questions, and I think I really developed my blogging voice with that post. You guys should check out both of these posts if you haven’t already! 😉💗

2. What is the book you wish you could shove in everyone’s faces?

Honestly, all my favorite books, lmao. I have so much love for each and every one of them. 😍 Please click the link right now and add all of my favorite books to your TBR!! I promise you won’t regret it…too much.

If I had to pick two, though (since I can’t pick just one), I’d say Autoboyography by Christina Lauren and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Both of these books made me feel SO much and pretty much destroyed me emotionally. It was worth it, though. :’) They’re such incredible books and they’ll always have a special place in my heart. 💜💛

 

3. What is your favorite diverse read?

I’m sure you can see a recurring theme in my responses by now…I can’t choose just one answer to a question. :’) I’m literally the most indecisive person ever lmao. Also, I always try to read diverse and ownvoices books, so most of my favorite books are diverse! ☺️ But anyways, here are two of my favorite diverse reads:

 

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman had incredible Asian representation and portrayed social anxiety extremely well. I related to the Asian and anxiety rep so much. This book means the world to me, because it was the first time I truly saw myself in a book (in the main character, Kiko). Kiko is half-Asian (Japanese) and half-white, and although I can’t speak for the biracial representation (since I’m not biracial), the ownvoices reviews I’ve read say that it’s also very well-done! 🌟💜

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman was so casually diverse, and I absolutely adored it! Angel Rahimi, one of the main characters, is a hijabi Muslim teenager, who is questioning but may be on the aro/ace spectrum. The other MC, Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, is gay and trans, who struggles with anxiety and is biracial (half-white, half-Indian). There was also so much diversity among the side characters! One of my favorite side characters was Bliss Lai, who is bisexual, biracial (Chinese and white), and atheist, which was honestly amazing to see!! I related to her a lot. 🎶🧡

4. What is your favorite controversial read?

Hmm…this is a hard question to answer! I can only think of Starfish right now, because I’ve read some reviews that said the abuse rep is problematic, because mental illness seems to be demonized in Kiko’s abusive mother. I love Starfish, but I still appreciated Elise’s review and reading her perspective on why she felt it was problematic in some aspects!

5. Do you own any bookish merchandise?

I have a Harry Potter wand (⚡️) from Universal Studios Hollywood that my sister got for me a while ago, but that’s pretty much it. I don’t own much bookish merchandise, which makes me sad. I definitely want to get a lot in the future, though! 📚

6. Describe your dream library!

I don’t have extremely high standards for my dream library (😇): I just want a room filled with all of my favorite books (and all 300+ books on my TBR 🙃) and comfy chairs & beanbags everywhere!! I’d also love it if time literally stopped whenever I read there, so I can read however long I’d like. Hey, this is a dream library; let me have my dreams. :’)

I’ve used this gif before, but honestly Belle’s library is my dream. Look at all of those books!! 😍

7. What is a book you’re never going to touch (aka read)?

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I know a lot of people loved it, but no thanks. Never even going near it. I’ve read many reviews on the racism and the perpetuation of Asian stereotypes in this book, and I can’t look past that, even if the romance was supposedly cute. ‘Nuff said.

8. What is something you wish you could tell your younger bookworm self?

Hm, I don’t know! I feel like my younger bookworm self freely read all the books she wanted to, without feeling obligated to read something she wasn’t in the mood for. My younger self definitely read more books than I do now, mostly because I had much more free time back then. 😂 (Life was so much simpler back then.)

I guess that I’d like to tell my younger bookworm self about Goodreads, because it is amazing for discovering new books to read. I didn’t start using Goodreads until last October, but I’m so happy I did. But then again, if I discovered Goodreads sooner, my TBR would be MUCH larger than it is now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

9. What is a book you wish you could read again for the first time?

I honestly just want to say “all my favorite books” again, haha (because it’s true!! it would be ABSOLUTELY AMAZING to be able to experience all the emotions and love I have for my favorites again, for the first time). If you told me to choose a few from my favorite books, I’d say Autoboyography and The Song of Achilles, but as you know, I already mentioned both books in a previous response. :’) do you see my struggle?? oops my indecisiveness is showing again

So, for the sake of not being repetitive, I’ll say the Percy Jackson & Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan!! (And I know I’m cheating by naming a book series, but this is my blog and I do what I want 😎) I’d love to read this amazing series again for the first time and fall in love with Greek mythology, Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Leo, and all the other demigods!! I have so much love for this series, ahhh. I’ve reread PJO/HOO many times, but it’ll never be the same as the first time I fell in love with this series. 😭💙

 

My two favorite books in my two favorite series!!

10. Is there a book you think would suit a movie style better (scandalous I know)?

Haha maybe you can guess my answer to this question?? …yes, it’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. (If you haven’t already, read my less-than-stellar review of it here!) I was bored for most of the book, and I thought the movie was much more interesting and brought the characters to life better than the book did. The movie was more fast-paced and kept me engaged, and had more cute moments, in my opinion. I also loved the aesthetics and vibes of the movie (I want Lara Jean’s room)! 😍

11. What’s your favorite thing about having a book blog?

I know everyone says this, but the book blogging community is honestly my favorite thing about being a book blogger. I’m so happy I made the decision to start a book blog back in June (four months ago, oh my gosh), because if I didn’t, I would’ve never met all of you wonderful human beings. 💞 I love blog hopping and interacting with you guys. You all are so supportive, kind, and uplifting, and all of your comments and love always make my day! 💓 Our community is the best.

Me @ all of you because I LOVE YOU

of course i had to include a b99 gif in this post. a post by dezzy without any b99 references whatsoever?? never heard of her

Wow, this ended up being a really long post! Kudos to you if you read all of it, haha. I hope you enjoyed reading my responses; I definitely had a lot of fun writing this post, hehe. 😊

Now, onto nominations:

May @ My 1st Chapter 💫 Keri @ Are You My Book? 💫 Margaret @ Weird Zeal 💫 Lily @ Sprinkles of Dreams 💫 Sapphire @ Simply Sapphire Song 💫 Annie @ Blossoms and Bullet Journals 💫 Sav @ Booked on a Feeling 💫 Beth @ Reading Every Night 💫 Hannah @ Hannah’s Bookshelf 💫 Kimberly @ Free Perspectives 💫 May @ Forever and Everly

My Questions

1. What’s your favorite type of blog post to write, and why?
2. Do you usually reread books? Why or why not?
3. What’s a book that made you an emotional wreck and/or broke your heart?
4. What’s a book that brought you the utmost joy (you couldn’t stop smiling after reading it)?
5. Standalone books or book series?
6. If you could unread a book, what would it be and why?
7. How has your blogging style and writing voice changed since you first started blogging?
8. How have your reading tastes changed ever since you started blogging?
9. How did you discover your favorite author and/or favorite books?
10. What’s your favorite movie adaptation?
11. List three favorite books and one song you associate with each of them!

Woah, this post is almost at 1900 words! If only writing college app essays was as easy as writing blog posts. 😂😩

What is the book you wish you could shove in everyone’s faces? Or a book you want to read again for the first time?

What’s your favorite book from the Percy Jackson and/or Heroes of Olympus series? Do you love Autoboyography and The Song of Achilles as much as I do?

Do you agree (or disagree) with any of my responses? Let me know; I’d love to chat (or scream about books) with you in the comments. ☺️

 

Let’s be friends!

Background image for blog graphic from Unsplash