I used to know what my favourite books were

For about five years, I knew what my favourite books were. Each represented a series which I loved, but was my favourite of the series. I haven’t stopped reading but, it’s the end of the year, and I have realised that I can no longer tell you my favourite books, just the books I have read and enjoyed recently, perhaps. I feel like I’ve lost my gauge, that books still ground me, but for the moment it is books in general, and not any books in particular. 

on absorbed capacity

hi virtually readers! it has been a long time, and this post is going to explain that a little bit. I miss writing about books. I’m still on Twitter far too often, and I have still been reading, although I seem to have ditched goodreads altogether. I’ve been a book blogger for almost five years, and now starting to wonder if that’s sustainable, or what it looks like in the future. As Shar has intimated, it’s definitely something we are going to keep talking and thinking about. in the meantime, though, we still have this space, and I plan to use it.

talking to other bookish people

You are on a bus, and you see that someone a few seats ahead of you is reading a book. You peer around, looking for the cover. It’s a book you’ve read! Someone else is discovering words you love right now, and you’re witnessing it. What a glorious sight. But then the question comes: should you talk to them? what do you say?

Starry Eyes Blog Tour-Review

So, I have a bit of a reputation for talking about light pollution. Like, a lot. Like, start a conversation with me about anything apart from university, and withing three minutes we’ll be onto a) books, b) light pollution, or c) GDPR (In other news, I’m a delight at parties and make everyon want to be my friend). And one of the things I talk about when I talk about light pollution is about how the places without light pollution are out in the wilds; the places I go tramping (or ‘hiking’ if you’re American) to. The sky is a place of perpetual wilderness, but too often we can’t see that because we are immersed in the small lights of our own creation. (that was deep). So, I loved that this book talked a lot about the value of wildeneress and stars. It also had excellent character development and lots of complexity. I’m participating in the blog tour for this book today, which I’m really excited about, thanks to Simon and Schuster Australia , who gave me a copy of the book.

awkward situations books have gotten me into

Hi Virtually Readers! As a book lover, I  have a bigger brain have a wide variety of experiences, some of which have actually happened to characters and not to me. Whoops. I have all sorts of associations and memories which have to do with books, and this has gotten me into some troublesome situations in the past.

The Liebster Award (the second)

Hi Virtually Readers! I’m adventuring in the mountains somewhere, but May @ Forever and Everly tagged us for The Liebster Award, which was really sweet of her. I’ve already done this once and am somewhat over it, just because it’s been around so long, so I’m not going to tag anyone.

Rules

• Thank the person(s) who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions they gave you.
• Nominate 11 blogs and let them know they’ve been tagged.
• Give them 11 questions to answer.

Questions

• If you were to stop blogging, what would be the reason?

I’m not planning to stop blogging anytime soon, but it would probably be because I was really busy, or maybe if I got a lot of hate comments or if another big life event consumed me. Hopefully this won’t happen for a while, though I’m not sure that I’ll be blogging forever.

• What are some hobbies you have?

Well, apart from reading, I’m really into playing music! I’m okay at viola and piano. I also love baking, going for runs, and crafting. Oooh, and sewing and knitting. (which are like subsets of crafting but y’know)

• Would you rather be dead or die? (Yes, there’s a difference.)

I prefer the present tense, thank you very much.

• Do you like mangoes???

OF FREAKING COURSE.

• What book would you not feel guilty about stomping on, tearing, and burning in a fire?

Love in the Time of Global Warming, or The Spectacular Now. (not even gonna give them the respect of links to their goodreads pages)

• What blogs do you ALWAYS look forward to reading? (Or, if you’re afraid your dear readers might feel bad: What type of blogs do you tend to follow? ie. book blogs, lifestyle blogs, writing blogs, etc.)

I mostly follow book blogs, and I always look forward to reading Loony Literate, Drizzle and Hurricane books, Musings from Neville’s Navel, Happy Indulgence and Miriam Joy Writes.

• What’s one moment in your life you’d choose to play over and over again (aka re-experience over and over again?)

I’m not sure…maybe when I did one of my presentations a few weeks ago and it went well, or the moment when I received Strange the Dreamer. Ooh or the moment when I was told that I was the new newspaper editor at school.

• You have the choice of reading a book you HATE, every single day, or reading one good book per year. Which do you choose?

Reading one good book per year…I think it’s better to have one good book than a continuously hateful reading experience.

• What’s one food you will never get tired of eating??? (ONE food, people, ONE.)

Toast. There are so many variations. Vegemite, jam, chese, and let’s not forget the avocados.

• What would you do if someone walked up to you and gave you 100 bucks?

I would ask them why, and then I’d like to think I’d be selfless enough to give it away (or maybe spend it on something I really needed)

• How are you right now?

I’m doing pretty well, thank you very much. I’m a little wet because I just got back from the pool, and there’s a cat next to me and soft acoustic music playing and I’m trying not to think about how much I hate leaving to go hiking….

How are you at the moment, Virtually Readers? Tell me in the comments!

Five truths, four lies

Hi Virtually Readers! A long long long time ago, the lovely Elizabeth@ Musings From Neville’s Navel tagged me from the 5 Truths and 4 Lies tag thingy. Thanks! Now, normally this is a book blog, not a all-about-my-life blog, but I thought I’d do this tag anyway. Basically, the premise is that I tell you 5 true things and 4 false things and you guess which is which in the comments and then at some point I reveal THE TRUTH. Some of this info can probably be found on this blog if you hunt around a little bit. Also, members of my family are barred from playing (sorry, guys). Let’s get to it!

1. I really love history.
2. I prefer wearing trousers to skirts.
3. I did a lot of gymnastics as a child and still can do cartwheels and walkovers and the splits.
4. I once managed to injure myself while laughing.
5. I once managed to injure myself while brushing my teeth.
6. I once managed to injure myself while putting on a scarf.
7. I’m really good at origami.
8. I like to get up early.
9. A librarian once told me that I should be a librarian, and that’s my ultimate life goal.

So have fun guessing! I’ll reveal the answers later this week. And if you like, tell me one interesting fact about yourself in the comments.