Gwen & Kate’s Library: Liebster Award Nomination!

We were just nominated the other day for the Liebster Award by the fantastic Bookmark Lit! Thank you so much Lauren! This is such an honor and we are very excited to answer bookish questions and ask our own!

The Liebster Award Rules:

1. Link & Thank the blogger who nominated you
2. Answer the 11 questions your nominator gives you 
3. Tag 11 other bloggers who have 200 or less followers
4. Ask the 11 bloggers you nominated 11 questions and let them know you nominated them!

Nominated Blogs:

1.) Always Opinionated Girl

2.) Girl in the Pages

3.) Anna’s Reading List

4.) The Bevy Bibliotheque

5.) The Hopeful Heroine

6.) Bookshelf Fantasies

7.) Forever Y.A.

8.) Dutch Book Chick 

9.) Books and Butterbeer

10.) Enchantology

11.) The Printed YA Word

Congratulations all you wonderful bloggers! I can’t wait for your answers!

Our Questions: (for the nominated blogs)

1.) How do you organize your bookshelves — alphabetical by author last name, rainbow order by spine color, by book genre, etc.?

2.) How do you get books — do you automatically purchase, check out from a library, borrow from a friend, etc.?

3.) Favorite book format — hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, etc.?

4.) How do you choose what books to read next?

5.) What do you look for in other blogs — what do you like and what don’t you like (review style, layout, graphic design, post types, etc.)?

6.) What is your biggest book pet peeve or turn-off?

7.) What is your favorite book cover or book cover trend?

8.) Do you eat while reading? If so, what is your favorite?

9.) Top three books you want to see as a movie (that haven’t been made yet)?

10.) Do you re-read books?

11.) Story behind your blog name?

Out Answers:

1.) What is the best book you’ve read this year?

Gwen: Oh goodness. Three-way tie between The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, The One by Keira Cass, and The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima. I loved all three of these books for entirely different reasons, but The Thirteenth Tale will stick with me the longest.

Kate: One of the books in either the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull or the Secret series by Pseudonymous Bosch, two that I binge-read this year.

2.) What is the worst book you’ve read this year?

Gwen: Definitely Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Not my type of book at all. I am however sort of glad I read it, because I finally understand all the references our culture makes to it, and can laugh at people’s comments (Lydia).

Kate: Maybe The Watsons go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis? I don’t really like books from that time period.

3.) If you could recommend one author to me, who would you recommend and why?

Gwen: Tamora Pierce. Although now I find myself a little old for her writing style, and I most certainly didn’t love all of her books, I find her the easiest “author” to recommend because she inspired me at a young age and really influenced my current reading preferences and interests. My favorite series by her is the Protector of the Small, and I love the Trickster books too.

Kate: ??????? I usually either haven’t read or don’t like all of an authors books! Maybe Shannon Hale though? I like and have read a lot of her books, but one or two I don’t think are a good as the others.

4.) What is your favorite type of blog post to write? (Discussions, reviews, lists/recommendations, memes, etc.?)

Gwen: I love writing Top Ten Tuesday posts and other book lists, mostly because I am a very organized person and love categorizing things. Thus, making organized lists of books with a common genre, author, theme, etc. is one of my favorite things to do!

Kate: Lists. Least work!

5.) Tell me three random facts about you that are not reading related.

Gwen: 1.) One of my favorite subjects at school is Latin, and I started a Latin club along with some of my friends so we could be even nerdier and learn even more Latin outside of class. 2.) I love learning about history, but only if it took place between prehistory and the 1800s. If it’s anything in the last 100 years, I’m not interested. 3.) I love cool colors (blue, green and purple), and most of my clothing is in those colors. I don’t think I own a single red article of clothing.

Kate: 1.) I play a lot of instruments. 2.) The only thing that I can ever say that I am actually proud of drawing wise are eyes. 3.) I can roll my stomach like a belly dancer. Only better.

6.) What TV show is the most addicting one you’ve watched and why should I watch it? (Netflix options are preferable!!)

Gwen: Avatar: The Last Airbender (it used to be on Netflix but I think they took it off). I wish I’d discovered this TV show at a younger age, but even so I am addicted. I’ve seen all the episodes at least twice (some up to 5 times), and am currently watching the third season of The Legend of Korra, the follow-up series (which isn’t as good). It is an animated kids TV show, but it is hilarious, entertaining, creative, and teaches wonderful life lessons even I benefit from.

Kate: DITTO!

7.) What’s your dream career?

Gwen: My dream career changes with my mood, but currently it’s a history professor (or anthropology or classics).

Kate: An actor, because it looks fun and I loved the theater camp I did this year. (Gwen: and you’re really good at it!)

8.) What book series did you completely binge-read…or wish you could have binge-read but not all of them were out at the time?

Gwen: The Ruby Red (or the Precious Stone) Trilogy by Kerstin Gier. However, they weren’t all out at the time, so I read Ruby Red twice, then again when Sapphire Blue came out, then I read Emerald Green as Smaragdgroen (the Dutch version) because I couldn’t wait for it to come out, then I read Emerald Green again in English. This series is especially easy to binge-read because it should have been written as one long book — each book begins right where the last left off.

Kate: Well of course the Harry Potter series (who wouldn’t?), but besides that, The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart.

9.) What is your biggest hobby aside from reading?

Gwen: Blogging! And besides that, Celtic dancing (Scottish and Irish), and arts and crafts (I love drawing, painting, jewelry making, knitting, embroidering, sewing, etc!)

Kate: Listening to audiobooks while doing random stuff my hands.

10.) What is your favorite book of all time?

Gwen: Really really hard question. And since I’ve already said The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, since I only just read that one (that’s usually how it goes — the last book I loved is my “favorite”), I’d have to say Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, and Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Kate: THE APOTHECARY!!!!!!!!!!! (by Maile Meloy) Best. Book. EVER!

11.) What is your favorite genre to read and what would you say to readers who don’t like that genre?

Gwen: Tie between fantasy and historical fiction, and a combination between the two is always good. I’m not sure what I’d say to people who don’t like those genres, but I can explain my reasoning for loving them. Fantasy is a way for me to experience fantastic magic often in a world resembling Medieval Europe. Going off that, I love historical fiction because it is an opportunity to learn something accurate while pleasure reading, and I often discover new interests as well (such as a curiosity about Russian culture and history from reading the historical fiction/fantasy novel Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick).

Kate: Part one: Fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, re-mixed fairy tales, plain fiction; magical and interesting. Aka: GOOD. Part two: If some one is writing a book why should they waste the opportunity to make magic real? So if someone made that mistake why would someone else read it? (My opinion, don’t mean any offense to people who disagree, sometimes I disagree – I really liked Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein.)