When I first started blogging, I wrote a list of bookish facts about me and now, almost two years on, I really wanted to do another. (What can I say, I love lists.)
I’ve gained quite a few new followers recently, so I thought this would be a fun way for you guys to get to know me a bit better. If you are new to my blog, thanks so much for following me, I’m absolutely thrilled that you’ve decided to check out my content. And if you’ve been following me for a while, thank you for sticking around, maybe you’ll find out something new that you didn’t already know about me.
1. I read 75 books last year and I’m aiming for 80 books this year. (Help.)
2. My favourite genre is fantasy (adult or YA).
3. As well as fiction, I read a lot of manga, graphic novels and web comics.
4. I lived in Japan for three months so I love reading books set in Japan and about Japanese people and culture that remind me of being there, and of how much I want to go back.
5. I don’t own a kindle or e-reader. (I love paperbacks, don’t @ me.)
6. Having said that, I have started reading books on my phone recently, but this is only because I have a long commute and I check train times online regularly, so it’s quick and easy to just open the app and read.
7. In the summer, I love going to parks to read or sitting in my garden, but in winter I like to be cosy and inside while reading.
8. I use my bedside table for my physical, short-term TBR, and Goodreads as my virtual, long-term TBR.
9. My Goodreads TBR is currently at 173 books. 173. BOOKS. Someone stop me.
10. I’m a member of four different libraries. This might seem excessive, but libraries need all the members and public engagement they can get.
11. I organised my first readathon over Easter and it was so much fun! If you’re reading this and you joined in, thank you so much for making it a brilliant weekend.
12. I prefer paperbacks to hardbacks. They’re easier to hold and transport, and they take up less space on your bookshelf.
13. My favourite authors are Victoria Schwab and Leigh Bardugo. I’ve met Victoria twice at YALC last year and the year before, and she’s absolutely wonderful. I’ve never met Leigh yet, but hopefully I will in the future.
14. The author I’ve met the most times is Alwyn Hamilton. I’ve met her four times altogether; twice at YALC and twice at Waterstones events in Birmingham and Islington.
15. I read a lot of my commute to and from work, but sometimes on weekends I struggle to balance reading with blogging. Often I’ll be reading and then I’ll think of a blog post I need to finish writing, so I’ll put my book down in favour of working on that. But then after a while, I’ll think about how I should be finishing the book I’m reading, so I’ll go back to that. Basically, I bounce between the two a lot.
16. I have an ongoing internal ‘shame list’ of books that I should have read by now, and need to get to, but haven’t. A few of these are:
To Kill A Mockingbird
An Ember In The Ashes
Emma
Strange The Dreamer
We Should All Be Feminists
Great Expectations
1984
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Nimona
There are plenty more, but I’ll leave it at that.
17. When I hear a book is being adapted into a TV show or film, my immediate reaction is apprehension. There are so many examples of poor adaptations (Percy Jackson and The Golden Compass spring to mind) and adaptations that are just downright diabolical (*cough* The Mortal Instruments *cough*), that I always worry the film/TV show will be awful and will end up tainting the book. I’m desperately hoping, thought, that the potential ADSOM adaptation that’s in the works will be stunning and will do the book justice.
18. Unpopular opinion, but I don’t like French flaps on books. They always tend to pop out and get in the way when I’m reading and I’m just not here for that.
19. I’ve never stayed up all night reading a book. I’ve made it to about 2.30am before but I always get too tired to last the whole night. I have no stamina when it comes to night-time reading. (I’m 24 but I swear I act like I’m 94 sometimes).
20. I’m a sucker for a good redemption arc in a book. I just love it when a character realises that they don’t want to be the villain of the story any more and changes their ways. *Thinks about Carry On and A Conjuring of Light*
21. I wrote 30k words of my own WIP last November during NaNoWriMo, but I haven’t touched it since then. I need to get back into writing, because I get so much enjoyment out of it, but between working full time, commuting, blogging, and doing sport, and visiting my boyfriend and friends, I don’t have that much free time for it at the moment. I know it’s all about ‘making time’, but I literally need another 5 hours in the day.
22. I’m an editor and publisher for my job, but I would absolutely love to proof read a fantasy of YA manuscript. I just don’t really know how to get involved in this as a freelancer. (If anyone has any tips, hit me up.)
23. My pet hate in YA is when authors use the phrase ‘X let out a breath they didn’t realise they’d been holding’. No. This phrase is CANCELLED. It’s so overused that it’s become a major cliche. (Not a good one.) And yet authors still keep using it. Why??? You don’t accidentally forget to breath, it’s a subconscious physical mechanism that you only ever do on purpose.
24. I’m the worst for buying books faster than I can read them. I just get so excited about new releases that I end up picking a few up, then I’ll read them and other books get left on my shelf for even longer.
25. I don’t re-read books. Well, not very often. There are so many new releases getting published every month, that once I’ve read a book once, I don’t tend to go back to it because I have a multitude of other books I want to get to. But, I’m making an exception this year for Six of Crows and A Darker Shade of Magic, both of which I want to re-read because they’re basically two of my favourite books (and series) or all time.
Phew, that’s 25. Hopefully you know me a little better now that I’ve shared some of my reading tastes and preferences. If you want to do something similar to this post then feel free and please do tag me in it, as I’d love to read your answers.
Do you have any unusual or interesting reading habits? Are you writing your own WIP or on a book buying ban? Let me know what some of your 25 facts would be!
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Great List 🙂 I totally agree that ‘X let out a breath they didn’t realize they’d been holding’ is awful!! I never thought about it before, but is this ever really happen!!! I know sometimes with anxiety or fear it can be hard to breathe, but I ALWAYS notice!!!
Thank you! I know, it’s so annoying isn’t it. I think if it was discussed more in the context on anxiety or panic attacks it would be good because it could get more readers thinking about how anxiety can affects people physically, but it’s just used as a suspense mechanism a lot of the time and it doesn’t really work. I definitely agree with you – I always notice if I’m holding my breath too!
I loved this post!! 😀
Your ‘shame’ list is hilarious. Definitely put Strange the Dreamer and Memoirs of a Geisha at the top of it, I’m sure you’ll love those!! Goodreads is my overall TBR pile as well, I come in at 165 unread books so I’m not far off your number. WE GOT THIS!
I put myself on a book buying ban in 2017 and the only positive thing that came out of it was that it stopped my impulse buying habit. I barely impulse buy books now! Unless I know they’ll be read in the same month. 🙂 Having a ban makes me want to buy books MORE… hahaha.
Good luck with your TBR pile!!!
That’s so cool that you lived in Japan for three months! Were you studying there? 🙂
I was volunteering there, in a peace house in Osaka 🙂 I’ve wanted to go since I was about 14 years old, and after I finished my Master’s degree, I worked and saved up some money, then organised my travel and accommodation and off I went! It was the best trip I’ve ever been on, without a doubt, and I loved every day. Can’t wait to go back in the next few years 😉
I can’t read all night either, even though I have tried several times. Tiredness always wins!
Yeah, it’s too tough!
That’s a nice list… loved getting to know you better…
So nice to know more about you!! How was it living in Japan? Did you have a lot of culture issues?
I got annoyed with Children of Blood and Bone yesterday when I read that damned phrase and I was loving it up until then!
I also can’t stay up too long reading although sometimes I can get past midnight depending on the book. A lot of the time the tiredness wins!
Yeah, every time I read that phrase, it just detracts from the book a little for me. It’s too cliched now. I can make it to 1am when I’m reading, but anything beyond that is a struggle!
Yeah. The only other time I will read in the early hours of the morning is if my insomnia strikes.
Aww, that’s not ideal, but at least you’re making good use of your time!
True!
Paperbacks all the way for me too!! 😀
They’re the best aren’t they?! I do like hardbacks, especially if they’ve got gorgeous dust jackets and inner covers) but they can be pretty bulky sometimes!
Ah I really loved getting to know more about your bookish habits and facts! I also don’t like French flaps (I had to google it, haha). It’s so cool that you’ve lived in Japan, I definitely want to visit Japan sometime. Leigh Bardugo and Victoria Schwab are also two of my favorite authors, it would be awesome to meet them one day! I haven’t read 1984 either, but I am quite curious about that one. I also do not re-read book that often, there are so many other new releases I want to read, that it feels like a wasting of time (oops), but I have re-read a couple of books and I really liked it..
OH I love this post so, so much, thank you for sharing Kate, it was so interesting to read! That’s very cool that you lived in Japan for a couple months, it must be such a beautiful country, I’m glad you have lovely memories of your time there 🙂
I’m with you about paperbacks, I just prefer them, they’re so much more practical to read and…I’m with you on the flaps, they always get in the way while reading and I HATE THAT so much it frustrates me SO MUCHHHH hahaha.
Thanks Marie ❤ I had fun writing it, although I honestly wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in reading. But it turns out quite a few people were!
Japan is a stunning country and I can't wait to go back. I think I accidentally left a small piece of my heart there and now it's probably going to stay there forever 😛 Yeah, paperbacks all the way. I find them much more manageable to carry on my commute. Omg yes, French flaps are JUST SO FLAPPY. Why do we even need them??? Can they just stop existing? 😛
I wish they could just stop existing haha THEY ARE SO ANNOYING! 😛
Ooh, what are your favourite manga series?
Oh gosh, where do I start?! So I love Bleach, Blue Exorcist, No.6, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yona of the Dawn, Seven Deadly Sins, and so many more that I’d have to check my shelves for. I used to always read the manga first then watch the anime, but now I tend to do it the other way around! Do you read it? What are some of your favourites? 🙂
I must get around to Bleach some day! I’m more of a shojo reader myself – I love Fushigi Yugi, Absolute Boyfriend, Fruits Basket, Mars… And I’ve been watching Little Witch Academia on Netflix and really want to find the manga for that!
What a great post idea. I’m terrified of Goodreads because my TBR shelf would go on and on until it fell into the sea, but I’m slowly being convinced to give it a go. I use Kindle for indie authors (love Kindle Unlimited too) and paperbacks for traditionally published. I have about 50 YA books waiting on a shelf, but writing is taking priority right now. I have a few WIPs. One is YA, the other two are adult, all low fantasy set in the same universe/same lore, etc.
Thanks my lovely, I had a fun time writing it. Goodreads can seem pretty huge, but it’s so good for keeping track of the books you’ve read and talking to other people about what they’re reading. I’d definitely recommend trying it out. 🙂 That’s cool that you use your Kindle for self-published authors and paperbacks for mainstream published books. It’s a nice way to keep them organised!