#Book Themed Tag: The Ultimate Blog Tag - #AmReading

I saw this over on this post on The Strawberry Post blog, and since I have trouble avoiding doing these things, I naturally had to play, especially since she issued an open invitation to anyone who wanted to do it. How could I resist? The answer is, I couldn't. After all, I haven't done this one before. If you haven't either, and want to, ffeel free to join in. Let me know if you do though, and where I can find your post, since I'd love to read your answers. For now though, here are my answers:

1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?

Nope. I didn't when I was able to see to read print books either.

2. What author’s writing style is completely unique to you and why?

I can't pick just one. Any new to me author's writing style is unique to me, because each author has their own writing style.

3. Harry Potter Series or the Twilight Saga? Give three points to defend your answers.

Harry Potter. I mean, I like Twilight, but I love Harry Potter. Why Harry Potter? Because...

Twilight only has vampires and werewolves. Harry Potter also has house elves, dragons, and a whole bunch of other magical creatures.I love hearing about the wizarding places in the Harry Potter books, like Hogwarts, Hogsmead, etc. The most exciting place in the Twilight books is the reservation the wolves live on, which sounds nice and all, but it's no Hogwarts.There are far more characters I love in the Harry Potter books. I like most of the Twilight characters, but they're no Albus Dumbledore, Dobby, Luna Lovegood, Hagrid, or Hermione Granger.
4. Do you carry a book bag? If so, what’s in it (besides books…)?

Um... I suppose I sort of do. I mean, I take a backpack with me whenever I go anywhere. Nine times out of ten it has my Kindle in it. That sort of counts, right? I mean, my book bag for school was a backpack, so... *shrugs*

5. Do you smell your books?

No. But only because there's nothing nice about sniffing braille books, audio books, or eBooks. They just don't have that smell print books have. In fact, sniffing some of those - especially the eBooks - would just mean sniffing my Kindle all the time. Now, when I used to be able to read print books... Well, that was another matter. I did then.

6. Books with or without little illustrations?

I really don't care, as long as they don't stop the text to speach software reading the book to me. I kind of liked the little illustrations when I could see them, though I'd happily read books without them. Now I don't even know if they exist as a rule, since my text to speach software doesn't tell me about them. So I don't care if they're included or not.

7. What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

There aren't any. If it's not quality writing, I'll figure it out while reading it, so there's no discovering afterwards involved. Not to mention, if the book is good enough to have me loving it while I'm reading it, what people say about it afterwards isn't going to change my mind about it anyhow.

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!

It's only a bit funny, but the story of how we all got hooked on Harry Potter is kind of amusing.

My introduction to the Harry Potter books came around the time the fourth book was being released. I went in to hospital around that time, and my Mam asked what I wanted as a present, since she usually got me something. I usually had a spacific request, but this time I told her, "Something different," which probably wasn't all that helpful. Anyway, she'd seen the Harry Potter books mentioned everywhere, so decided to get me the first one, and hope it was good enough to satisfy my request. It was, and I loved it. But the funny thing was, she started reading it to me before I was fully recovered, so I kept falling asleep (nothing against the book... I was on strong pain meds) and it turned out she was loving the story too. She kept getting frustrated when I'd fall asleep, and ended up getting a second bookmark so she could mark where she was when I fell asleep, but continue reading the book herself afterwards. She brought me the next book when I came home from the hospital, just so she could borrow it after I was done with it. My Dad read it afterwrds (likely wondering what had us both so captivated) and so the family obsession with Harry Potter began.

9. What is the thinnest book on your shelf?

I have no idea.

10. What is the thickest book on your shelf?

I have no idea about this one either.

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?

Yes, I write too, and I already am an author. I've got several poetry books published, as well as quite a few stories (officially children's stories, though they've been enjoyed by plenty of adults too). You can buy my books in multiple formats from Amazon, Smashwords, and a bunch of other online retailers. In fact, I'd be extremely happy if you did.

12. When did you get into reading?

As soon as I was old enough to learn how to. My Mam would read to me, we'd read together, and later on I started reading by myself. I haven't stopped since, even if the format I read had to change when my sight declined enough so I couldn't read print any more.

13. What is your favourite classic book?

I haven't read as many as I'd have liked to, but "A Little Princess" counts as a classic, right? And it's my absolute favourite book. Also, "A Christmas Carol" and "Black Beauty" - I know those definitely count as classics. Oh, wait... Was I only meant to pick one? Never mind.

14. In school what was your best subject?

Maths for sure. I was good at English too, apart from my issues with spelling, of course. But I was good enough at maths that one of my older brothers used to pay me to do his maths homework for him. I never told him this, but I actually enjoyed doing it enough that I'd have done it for nothing. Shhh... Don't tell him.

15. If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated… what would you do?

Thank the person, and then either give it away to someone else, or drop it off at a charity shop.

16. What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or The Hunger Games?

Harry Potter and The Hunger Games aren't similar to each other. I'm not sure what to do with this one... Do you want one similar to one or the other series? If so, David Estes' "Slip" trilogy is similar to The Hunger Games in some ways, but not as well known. I'm not sure where to start on series that are similar to Harry Potter. I can recommend some, but most of them are well-known, like the Percy Jaxon books, or the Worst Witch books. If you want one similar to both at once, you're out of luck, since - as I said - they aren't similar to each other. If you know of one that's like both at once though, I wouldn't mind hearing about it so I can check it out.

17. What is a bad habit you always do (besides rambling) while filming?

I don't vlog. I do some videos of things - mostly the furkids - that I put on Youtube, but try to keep the camera off myself if possible. I don't ramble when the camera is rolling, because I hate my voice in recordings, so try not to speak too much when it's on. I don't know of any bad habits I do. Although, I'm still working on the skill of aiming the camera right, and it's cost me some potentially good photos and videos while I work on that.

18. What is your favourite word?

Why? I'm not being a pain here... That's the word. I like it because I like to know why things are the way they are, and why they work the way they do. Learning new things can be fun and interesting.

19. Are you a nerd, dork, or dweeb? Or all of the above?

I don't know. I've been called all of those at one time or another, so I guess I'm all of the above. It probably depends on who you ask, I suppose.

20. Vampires or Fairies? Why?

Oh, fairies, of course! I like vampires, but fairies win hands down if I have to choose. I love the thought that there are fairies living in gardens all around the world, and love to read stories about them. Vampire stories are great to read, but I sure hope there aren't any of those in gardens around the world, that's for sure!

21. Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?

This one's harder. On the one hand, shapeshifters are cool... It would be really neat to be able to change shape, even if only in to a certain thing. On the other hand, the thought that angels are watching over us is a comforting one. For real life, angels. For books, either, though I read more books with shapeshifters than with angels as a rule.

22. Spirits or Werewolves? Why?

For real life, spirits, because I'd rather know there are dead people walking around than potentially dangerous werewolves. For books, werewolves, because they can make for some great characters, especially if the author explores the mental and emotional aspects of having the two forms.

23. Zombies or vampires? Why?

For real life, neither, because I'd hate to think either was walking around. Although, if I had to have one or the other, I'd rather zombies in real life, because they're generally easier to kill. For books, it depends on my mood, since they both have their good and bad points.

24. Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?

Both can be good or get annoying, depending on how they're handled. Though I see too many books using the love triangle one - especially in young adult books - so I'm picking forbidden love.

25. Full on romance books or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?

It really depends on my mood. I'll read, and enjoy, both kinds. Though I do tend to lean more towards the books where the romance isn't the main focus of the story, and only read full on romances from time to time.