I’ve seen this tag circulating the book blogging universe so I wanted to jump in on the fun. My personal life has overtaken my time lately and I’ve felt very disconnected from my book life. I thought this would be a fun way to re-introduce myself a little, especially to new followers (HELLO NEW PEOPLE! Thanks for the follow!).

1. I’ve been reading as long as I can remember. | I honestly can’t think of a time in my life when I wasn’t a reader. Much like my mother and grandmother, I am constantly in the middle of a book.
2. I currently own more unread books than read books. | THIS IS MY GREATEST SHAME!
3. When I was a teen, all I did was reread. | In my teens, back before the dawn of today’s YA offerings, I was VERY picky about what books I wanted to read. Basically, all I wanted to do was read LJ Smith books and I reread each of her books 15 + times in my mid to late teens.
4. I will always be a fan of vampire books. | I don’t care what people think, vampire books are entertaining to me.
5. My YA books are organized by color. | And it’s not that hard to find books like I thought it would be. I’m not much a rainbow person, but it is aesthetically pleasing to have my shelves arranged this way.
6. I get quite cross when people get snobby about books. | Yes, I am a 33 year old who reads YA…what of it? I also read non-fiction and adult fiction of various genres, but book snobs don’t care about that. They just think it’s okay to belittle a reader because of a style of book that is not to their personal tastes. I’ll stop my rant here, but seriously, the snobbery needs to end.
7. I’ve been told I should narrate audio books. | Apparently I have a good speaking voice. Which I find hilarious because I hate speaking and my anxiety has actually started manifesting into speech impediments (YAY!).
8. On the topic of audio books, I still remember the exact moment I listened to my first audio book. | The first week of 2014 I went to a silent meditation retreat. Due to some scheduling issues, I ended up being the only one at the retreat. On the second night I was bored but couldn’t sleep, so I decided to try out the Audible account my friend gave me access to. I downloaded Storm Front by Jim Butcher (read by James Marsters aka Spike from Buffy) and from there I was hooked. Side note, AUDIO BOOKS COUNTS AS READING!
9. The two people responsible for my reading addiction, my mother and grandmother, are huge mystery fans and I am…not. | Don’t get me wrong, I’ll read a straight up mystery book every now and then, but usually only if my mother has highly recommended it. I tend to lean more towards Science Fiction and/or Fantasy.
10. I can’t read while flying. | Y’all I hate flying. It encompasses a large portion of my many fears. Everyone always says to just read, but it doesn’t work for me. When in a plane I can’t disconnect enough through a book. It is the ONLY time I can’t read.
11. One of my favorite places to read is a loud bar. | I used to go to happy hour at a local Irish pub and would read as I ate and drank my dinner. It was always an interesting experience to be so immersed in my reading that the loud pub around me truly fell away from my senses.
12. I tend to have, at bare minimum, two books going at a time. | Usually I have one physical book and one audio book going at a time. However, lately, I’ve had two audios and two or three physical books going at once. You know, to keep me on my toes.
13. I started reading Harry Potter in the summer of 2002, during a road trip from Sacramento, CA to San Diego, CA. | I read the first two books in the car ride down to San Diego and then INSISTED that my mother take me to a bookstore to buy the third book so I could keep reading.
14. When I saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in theaters, I was not impressed. | Also, yes, I watched the movie before I started the book series.
15. I am a firm believer that the book is NOT always better than the movie. | The Princess Bride: LOVE the movie, LOATHE the book. Also, I like the movie version of Chocolat better than the book.
16. If possible, I always carry the next book in a series along with my current read. | This practice was very helpful when I finished A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab. The ending is INTENSE and I was so happy I could just pull the next book out of my bag and keep reading.
17. I’m going to Emerald City Comic Con in 2019 and 99% of my excitement is book related. | While I’ve always been a reader, I didn’t know much about the book and publishing community. Specifically signings and ARCs and things like this. This will be the first comic con I’ll be going to knowing about all the cool publishing things and I can’t wait to meet more members of the bookish community.
18. I don’t like the smell of books. | I guess to me, new books don’t really have a smell…and used books don’t smell particularly pleasant.
19. My preferred reading method, from favorite to least favorite, is Paperback, Hardback, Audio book, then eBook. | I thoroughly believe there is no superior reading method. It is completely dependent on the person’s personal preference and anyone who says otherwise is probably a book snob.
20. My lack of poker face makes it very entertaining for people to watch me reading. | As mentioned before, I used to read a lot in public, specifically at a local pub. I could feel myself making certain faces and gestures as I was reading and I can only imagine some of the other bar patrons were amused.
21. I LOVE listening to music while reading. | Though, only instrumental music. My favorite reading music is Two Steps from Hell, specifically the following albums: Battlecry, SkyWorld, Unleashed, and Vanquish.
22. If I won a big lottery I already have my two bookish ventures planned. | First, I’d take a group of my bookish friends on a trip to New Zealand to visit filming locations of The Lord of the Rings. Then I’d open a new/used bookstore in Canada, England, or Iceland.
23. I am addicted to bookish themed candles. | I never knew they were a thing until a year ago…I now own close to 200.
24. Deciding to start reviewing books was super scary to me. | After joining the #bookstagram community on Instagram I learned how important book reviews are. However, I get so nervous talking about the work of other people. But I’m slowly getting better (I hope) and I think reviewing is making me a better reader.
25. One of my biggest regrets in life is not finding the online book community sooner. | My 20s were rough and was the time in my life when I was reading the least. I wish I had known about the bookish community back then because I think I could have kept myself out of a lot of trouble. But I’m here now and I have never been happier to find a group of people who share my love of books and reading. Most of my life, I have been surrounded by peers who did not enjoy reading and made me feel that my love of books was unusual. But through #bookstagram and the book blogging community I have finally found my people.

I tag whoever sees this and wishes to do the thing!

Happy Sunday evening everybody! I’m finally almost caught up on reviews so I’ll be posting regularly this week *gasp* But for now, it is time for me to go hop into bed and read for a bit!