Book Tag: Meet The Book Blogger

Apologies for the click bait. I typed ‘secret’ into the free photo library and loved the pic of the dog shushing the screen. So that stuck.

I don’t ordinarily do these tags but I just so happened to be rather bored at the exact time someone tagged me in one (Liz over at Gee Liz Reads) so thought I’d go ahead and do it.

The rules are apparently: Nominate 10 other bloggers and that you should keep the same questions. Half of that suits my peerless laziness down to a tee. The other half requires some sort of effort, so I shall reward myself with a hot cup of tea and a few biscuits afterwards. The ultimate in English rewards. Gotta stick to those stereotypes.

1) Who is your all-time favourite book character?

This is an incredibly hard question as, in all honesty, there are so few unique characters out there. Genres breed very samey kind of characters. That being said I really liked Tyrion from Game of Thrones. In a genre where so many characters just have a certain area they fall into, Tyrion found his own little niche. So I’ll go with him.

2) If you were stranded on a desert island, which book would you take with you? (Survival books do not count)

I’d probably take ‘The Mysterious Island’ by Jules Verne. It’s a survival adventure novel. It’s not technically a survival book, yet the characters are forced to endure on a deserted island. So it’s as close to breaking the rules whilst still remaining within them.

3) What’s your most unpopular book opinion?

Tolkien is overrated. The Hobbit is borderline terrible both in its structure, general grammar and continuity. I was really looking forward to a The Lord of the Rings re-read, but having re-read the Hobbit and essentially discovered my childhood self was … easily entertained, I am very worried about picking the main trilogy up. I will, but it will take some time.

4) What’s your weirdest bookish habit?

I don’t really have any other than the fact that I’m a bit of a fiend for starting series, declaring them amazing and possibly my favourite series in said genre … and then not carrying on with them. So I’ll say that.

5) What character would you bring to a family event as your fake partner?

I read a lot of non-fiction books so it would be a woman from history for several reasons. Certain women we have zero idea what they looked like, yet their beauty was declared far and wide. Plus, they would just be so interesting from an historical standpoint. So Cleopatra, Nefertiti, Helen of Troy, Aspasia, Lagertha Lothbrok … the list could go on and on and on …

If there are any ancient history lovers out there and you wish this list, and many other lists to go on and on and on, do get in touch. We can nerd out via e-mail or something.

6) What made you decide to start a book blog?

I was bored to tears of reading so many things but only having one person to talk to them about. I used to work with Drew (The Tattooed Book Geek) and we’d spend a good deal of time chatting about them. When he mentioned that he had a book blog, I just ran with the idea and made one myself.

Other than working with Drew, I reckon my ‘I want to talk to bookish folk’ origin story is pretty similar across the whole of the book blogging spectrum.

PS.

Reading that back, it sounded kind of bad. Drew didn’t bore me to tears. Not all of the time any way 😉

7) What about reading and books do you love the most?

I get very bored when sat watching TV, so I can’t binge a series or a movie like most people. I don’t get that sense of boredom when reading, so it’s a wonderful way to absorb stories/learn new things.

Plus, I’m a writer myself, so I take in a mass amount of writing styles and my own style slowly adapts because of this.

8) What is your field of study/desired profession/current profession?

I didn’t go to university. I wanted to in order to do Archeology or Ancient History, but the lecturer said unless you wish to be an academic there’s not a massive deal of point in doing so. I did not wish to be an academic. I just wanted to learn about anything and everything. Some weeks I’ll have a history kick, some weeks I’ll read anything science-related I can get my hands on. Others, I’ll read up on medicine. I just feel that, unless I’m constantly learning something, life is too boring. Why is exist in a world of plenty and limit yourself to so little?

My current profession is in the live events industry. I work for a company that supplies lighting, rigging, staging etc … to live events of all kinds and sizes.

My desired profession is to become an author that writes for a living and laughs at the idea of a day job from a leg of the world cruise, or from behind his gated country manor house.

9) What are some book recommendations that became your favourites/obsessions?

Hard to say. I have read hundreds of books and I can’t remember which I found organically or which were suggested to me. Either way, I have no real obsessions. But I do have plenty that I love. Some of these are: Critical Failures by Robert Bevan, The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, The Martian by Andy Weir, The First Law books by Joe Abercrombie and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

10) What is the book you shove down everyone’s throat?

Any time someone asks for a recommendation I ALWAYS suggest The Martian by Andy Weir. If you haven’t read it, you are genuinely missing out. I had the audio book version and it’s my go-to audio book when I have nothing left and need to re-listen to something.

I know these kinds of things aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so don’t feel obliged to do it if tagged. I just don’t want to run afoul of the Rule Gods by not nominating 10 people. So, please find attached, in no particular order, 10 blogs …and 11 people (probably annoyed the Rule Gods with that one). 

Anyone reading this is welcome to do it (I’m not about that exclusivity lifestyle), please tag me in the post if you do, as I would love to see/meet new folks.

Rine Reads

A Refuge From Life

BookStooge 

Simply A Book Drunkard

Tessa Talks Books

Wordaholicanonymous

Zezee With Books

Re-Enchantment of the World (I could have been lazy and classed Ola and Piotrek as two …)

The Tattooed Book Geek

I Swoon Over Fictional Men