The Would You Rather Book Tag

I love bookish tags, and this one especially because Ally constantly pitches me Would You Rather? scenarios, lol. Many thanks to Charlene at Bookish Whimsy for tagging me! (Credit for the original meme goes to booktuber Rachel Reads.)

1. Would you rather read only trilogies or standalones?

I read mostly series, despite how it's often painful to wait for sequels, so I will go with series here.

2. Would you rather read only male or female authors?

I've never given much thought to whether I've read more books by male or female authors; ultimately the main factor in whether or not I pick up a particular book is if I think I'll really enjoy the story. But, as Would You Rather? means I can't be wishy-washy with my choices, lol, I'll say female authors.

3. Would you rather shop at Barnes & Noble or Amazon?

I'm an Amazon Prime member and Kindle user, so I think that already gives me away here, lol. I used to be a frequent B & N shopper during my college days, but ordering from Amazon just became more and more convenient and often, more economical.

4. Would you rather all books become movies or TV shows?

Yet another tough question. I love all of the Harry Potter films, but I also love the TV adaptations of Game of Thrones and Outlander. I do think that TV offers the opportunity to keep more of the book details that otherwise might have to be cut for a movie adaptation, so I will say TV shows.

5. Would you rather read 5 pages per day or 5 books per week?

I wouldn't be able to only read 5 pages per day, even on really, really busy days, lol. I'd much rather set my goal at 5 books per week, even if I couldn't meet it.

6. Would you rather be a professional reviewer or author?

Writing a book one day is my ultimate fantasy, and I'd love to make it come true.

7. Would you rather read your top 20 favorite books over and over or or always read new ones you haven't read before?

These questions are so hard! I could easily pick 20 books to reread over and over again, but then I'd be sad over all the other books I'd be missing out on. So I'd prefer to read new books.

8. Would you rather be a librarian or a book seller?

Both would allow me to push my favorite books on people, lol, but I think I'd really love working in a library.

9. Would you rather only read your favorite genre or every genre except your favorite?

This is as difficult to answer as Question #7. Again, though, I'd rather have variety in my reading diet, although I'd really, really miss reading paranormal books.

10. Would you rather only read physical books or ebooks?

Finally—an easy one! Although I've been reading more eBooks since I got a Kindle about two years ago, I still read and buy mostly physical books. I like the smell of paper. I like the feel of a book in my hand. I like using physical bookmarks!

If you would like to join in on this fun tag, please leave me your link and I'll be sure to check out your post! :D

I Mustache You Some Questions

I love the name of this tag and the adorable graphic! Many thanks to Charlene at Bookish Whimsy for tagging me! :D

Four Names People Call Me Other Than My Real Name

1. Leelee
2. Book Girl

Four Jobs I've Had

1. Computer Lab Assistant - Ah, my good old college days!
2. Research Analyst - A temp gig I once had
3. Office Assistant - Filled this role in a couple of different places
4. Listings Manager - My current job. I work in a real estate office and take the photos, input the listings into MLS, create virtual tours, etc.

Four Movies I've Watched More Than Once

1. All of the Harry Potter films
2. The original Star Wars films
3. Dirty Dancing
4. The Avengers

Four Books I'd Recommend

1. Persuasion by Jane Austen
2. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
4. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Four Places I Have Lived

1. Seoul, South Korea (Not even sure if this counts? I was born there but was adopted when I was about 4 months old and came to the US. So technically I did live there. For like 4 months, lol.)
2. Brooklyn, New York
3. Clermont, Florida

Four Places I Have Been

1. Atlantic City, New Jersey
2. Williamsburg, Virginia
3. Boston, Massachusetts
4. Nashville, Tennessee

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now

1. New York
2. London
3. Ireland
4. Hogwarts

Four Things I Don't Eat

1. Peas
2. Pears
3. Shrimp
4. Applesauce

Four of My Favorite Foods

1. Reese's Peanut Butter __________ (Fill in the blank with any of the following: cups, eggs, hearts, trees, footballs, etc.)
2. Pizza
3. Meatloaf
4. White Castle hamburgers

Four TV Shows That I Watch

1. The Simpsons
2. Game of Thrones
3. Outlander
4. Glee

Four Things I Am Looking Forward To This Year

1. Elvis Costello concert in March
2. The last Raven Cycle book
3. Season premieres of Game of Thrones and Outlander

Four Things I'm Always Saying

1. I just work here.
2. Is it Friday yet?
3. I'm starving.
4. D'oh!

Four People I Tag

Anybody who'd like to join in on the fun! If you decide to do this tag, please leave me your link so I can check out your questionnaire! :D

20 Things You Might Not Know About Me

I saw this post over at my buddy Micheline's blog, Lunar Rainbows, and thought it was awesome. I really enjoy reading these kinds of posts and figured I'd join in on the fun, so here goes:

1. How tall are you?
I stand a whopping 5'0"! And by "whopping," obviously I mean "not whopping."

2. Do you have a hidden talent? If so, what?
If I have a hidden talent, then it's still hidden because I got nothing for this question.

3. What's your biggest blog related pet peeve?
Captcha. I usually have a hard time deciphering those things and get frazzled when it complains that I've entered the jumble of letters/numbers incorrectly. Yes, spam comments are annoying, but I find Captcha even more so.

4. What's your biggest non-blog related pet peeve?
Rudeness. There's just no excuse for it.

5. What's your favorite song?
"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

6. What's your favorite Etsy shop that isn't yours?
I haven't checked out Etsy very much, which is a good thing because I'd probably spend a ton of money.

7. What's your favorite way to spend your free time when you're alone?
Reading, knitting.

8. What's your favorite junk food?
Reese's Peanut Butter anything: cups, pumpkins, Christmas trees, eggs. You get the idea.

9. Do you have a pet or pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?
I don't have any pets of my own, but I do spoil the heck out of Ally and Melissa's dog, Tyler:

10. What are your favorite fiction and nonfiction books?
I don't read much nonfiction, but I do enjoy reading about medieval history. As for fiction, I'll keep it simple and name just a few of my faves: Persuasion by Jane Austen, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater.

11. What's your favorite beauty product?
Clinique Almost Lipstick. Love that stuff!

12. When were you last embarrassed? What happened?
I'm really awkward and embarrass myself often. Last week I had one of those moments where you wave at somebody you think you know and upon closer inspection you realize the person is a total stranger and probably now thinks you're a weirdo.

13. If you could only drink one beverage (besides water) for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Tea, of the plain old Lipton variety.

14. What's your favorite movie?
Like the favorite books question, there are too many to list here, so I'll just pick a few: Dirty Dancing, the original Star Wars movies, just about every Marvel movie, The Little Mermaid, Frozen.

15. What were you in high school: prom queen, nerd, cheerleader, jock, valedictorian, band geek, loner, artist, prep?
Nerd, for sure, though it's taken all these years to embrace my geekiness and be proud of it.

16. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Maybe England or Ireland. I'd consider going back to NYC as long as I didn't have to shovel snow.

17. PC or Mac?
As a college freshman I learned computer programming on a Mac, but everything was PC after that and has been ever since.

18. Last romantic gesture from a crush, date, boy/girlfriend, spouse?
Alas, I am still waiting to meet the real life counterpart to my fictional boyfriends.

19. Favorite celebrity?
Richard Armitage. My North and South DVDs are probably in danger of wearing out, particularly disc 2.

20. What blogger do you secretly wish you were best friends with?
I think of all of you whom I regularly chat with as besties. Seriously, I love you guys! ❤

If you decide to participate with a post of your own, please let me know, and I'll check it out!

10 Books That Have Stayed with Me

It's time for another bookish tag: 10 Books That Have Stayed with Me. Thanks so much to Charlene at Bookish Whimsy and Alisa at Picture Us Reading for tagging me!

1. Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume

My copy of this has seen better days, but then it's about 25 years old and has been read many, many times. I don't have a lot of books from my childhood, but this is one that I've never been able to part with and probably never will. This was one of the first books I truly felt a connection to as a young reader, with one of the characters being Asian and adopted, like me. I also completely related to the book's story of growing up and growing apart from the best friend you thought you'd have forever. This book will always have a special place in my heart.

2. Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories

I started reading Poe's short stories when I was about 12. They marked a big step away from the Sweet Valley Twins books I'd been obsessed with but had grown out of by this time, lol. I loved how creepy and macabre Poe's stories were, which is pretty ironic because in general, I don't like scary stories or movies.

3. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

I'd read Romeo and Juliet as a high school sophomore and Macbeth as a junior, but it wasn't until I read Hamlet the summer before senior year that I began to think, hey, this Shakespeare dude is pretty good! I don't know—maybe it was all of the stark raving crazy in it that clicked with me, but for whatever reason, Hamlet's the thing that really made me love Shakespeare. My favorite adaptation stars a guy you may have heard of: David Tennant.

4. Persuasion by Jane Austen

This is my most favoritest novel ever. EVER!!!! As much as I love Pride and Prejudice and Lizzy and Darcy, Anne and Wentworth are THE literary couple for me. It's hard not to root for shy, timid Anne who's rather unloved by her snooty, vain family. I distinctly remember reading a certain part of the novel that just blew me away with the sheer beauty of its prose and is in my opinion, Austen's finest moment as an author.

5. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

I don't know where to start with why I love this series. I mean, it's Harry Potter, lol. I was already in my 20's when I began reading the books, but they just transcend age. I wish I could go to Hogwarts. I wish I could be a member of Dunbledore's Army. So basically what I'm saying is: I wish I were Hermione Granger.

6. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

As much as my reading tastes have changed since I first read this back in 2008, I had to include it. I cannot emphasize enough how reading this book marked a huge turning point in my life. Twilight reignited my love for reading, and if I hadn't picked up that book, I might never have started reading again after taking a long hiatus from it after college.

7. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

Another life-changing read. About a month before the show premiered, Ally and I were looking for a book to buddy read, and it was a toss-up between this and another epic fantasy. Copies of A Game of Thrones, complete with TV series tie-in cover, were popping up everywhere, so since it was so readily available, we went with it. Good choice, I think. It's also thanks to this series that I discovered Goodreads. I was on an ASoIaF fan board looking for book recommendations, and posters kept mentioning this site called Goodreads. I signed up immediately!

8. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Victorian Shadowhunters! This series for me is the perfect combination of paranormal, fantasy, angel mythology, and a Victorian London setting. It's the realization of my wishlist of elements that I love in books, not to mention that I just LOVE the three main characters. There's just a love-fest between this series and me, and I sobbed when it ended.

9. The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta

Truly a masterpiece of YA high fantasy by Marchetta, who's a brilliant author no matter what genre she writes. This series sent me on a mission to seek out other amazing YA fantasy titles after I'd been locked in a paranormal reading frame of mind for so long.

10. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Both The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves gave me severe book hangovers. In fact, I'm probably still recovering from The Dream Thieves. I'm struggling to describe why I connected with this series on such a profound level, other than I did. It's the series that I mercilessly push to other readers. It's the series that I fangirl incessantly about. It's the series that Ally, Melissa, and I could talk about for forever with each other. We read The Dream Thieves together, as a family, and texted/emailed each other our reactions. We're gearing up to do it all again next month for Blue Lily, Lily Blue.

I'm passing this tag along in a general way, as in, if you'd like to write a post, too, go for it! If you do, be sure to leave me your link so I can check it out! :D

The Bookish Seven Deadly Sins

I've been tagged to do the Seven Deadly Sins Questionnaire, created by BookishlyMalyza, by my dear bloggy buddy Micheline over at Lunar Rainbows. Her post was awesome, and I couldn't resist joining in on the fun. Thanks, Micheline! :D

1. Greed. What's your most inexpensive book? What's your most expensive one?

I keep an eye out for Amazon Kindle deals; sometimes you catch a really great $0.99 sale or even a really awesome freebie. I've been eager to check out Brigid Kemmerer's Elemental series, and right now you can grab the first book, Storm, for free for your Kindle! Off the top of my head, the most I remember paying for a book is for my copy of Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey. Pricey, but absolutely worth it!

2. Wrath. What author do you have a love-hate relationship with?

I can completely relate to Micheline's feelings toward Stephenie Meyer. I don't know if I ever would have fallen back in love with reading again as an adult if it hadn't been for Twilight, but looking back on that series now, I'm definitely not as in love with it as I once was. I also have a love-hate thing with George R. R. Martin. I LOOOOOOOOVE his A Song of Ice and Fire series but HATE the wait between books and the whole killing-off-my-favorite-characters thing.

3. Gluttony. What book have you devoured over and over again with no shame?

Micheline and I also have this answer in common: Harry Potter. I read the first four books one after the other, then repeated before the release of Order of the Phoenix. Then I reread those five books before the release of Half-Blood Prince. Then I reread those six books so I was prepared for Deathly Hallows. DH so utterly blew me away that once I'd devoured it the first time, I immediately started it from the beginning, the only time I've ever read the same book twice in a row.

4. Sloth. What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?

I've gotten really lazy about continuing Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series. It's not that I don't want to continue, it's . . . laziness, lol.

5. Pride. What book do you talk about most in order to sound like an intellectual reader?

Probably any of Shakespeare's plays, because I think just saying "iambic pentameter" sounds cerebral!

6. Lust. What attributes do you find attractive in male or female characters?

For the ladies, I like smart heroines who don't whine about their problems but instead work on solving them. Sarcasm is also very welcome. As for the lads, ditto on the snarkiness. I also tend to like moody, broody boys.

7. Envy. What book would you most like to receive as a gift?

The Harry Potter 15th anniversary box set, with those gorgeous covers, makes me drool whenever I see it.

So here's the part where I'm supposed to tag some other peeps. I always feel a bit awkward doing that sort of thing, so if you'd like to just go ahead and whip up a post like this one, go for it, and leave me your link below so I can check it out. :)