Liebster Award!

Wow! I got nominated three times last week for a Liebster Award! The Liebster Award is rewarded to up and coming blogs that currently have less than 200 followers. The German word, Liebster is translated in English to: Sweetest, Kindest, Dearest, Etc. So it is an honor to receive this award!! 

 Thank you so much to Danielle at Thee Daily Prophet, Kristen at Pretty Little Pages, and Elizabeth at Redhead Reader. You three are the sweet ones. In the immortal words of Sally Field, "You like me, you really like me." It's very sweet to be considered and I decided after the third time, I should probably go ahead and accept the honor and the challenge.

 THE RULES: 

- List 11 facts about yourself.
- Answer 11 questions chosen by the person who nominated you.
- Ask 11 new questions to 11 new bloggers. They must have less than 200 Bloglovin followers. (You cannot renominate the blog that nominated you.)
- Go to their blog and inform them.

MY FACTS:

- I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. It was great to have room to play and explore and it
is honestly a beautiful part of the state with rolling hills and lakes but it was also incredibly dull.
- I am the second of three kids and a classic middle child. Not only am I the diplomat who is always willing to compromise but I am also often desperate for attention.
- I am 6'2" and the tallest person in my immediate family. I know this because my Dad often makes me stand next to him to compare. I am only slightly taller than him.
- I went to Syracuse University and decided to go there because of their basketball team. My senior year of high school they won the national championship and that weighed very heavily on my pro-con list when deciding what college to attend.
- I work for an environmental non-profit organization but never considered myself an environmentalist. I didn't really see environmental issues as pervasive as they are until I graduated college.
- My favorite color is purple and I am absolutely obsessed with it. My friends harass me because I am usually wearing purple and will refuse to buy something if I can't get it in purple.
 - I have an irrational fear of aliens. It started when I was a kid and my older brother would torture me with an ET doll and then as a teenager it got worse after seeing Mars Attacks. People are always trying to get me to watch things with aliens in it to break me of this fear but it never helps.
-I lived in Providence, Rhode Island for six years where I developed a pretty serious obsession with Colonial American History and the American Revolution. I spent a lot of time in Boston and the surrounding areas visiting historic sites much to my friend's chagrin.

- I love maps. I think they are so cool and so pretty. I used to joke with my friends that I was going to wall paper my house with maps. Recently I decided that they would make the perfect souvenir so now when I go anywhere on vacation I buy a map and then hang it on my wall.
- I have a talent for voices. If I'm watching a cartoon or a commercial I can almost immediately tell who the actor doing the voice is. I can even connect voice actors to other characters they have done. It's actually kind of annoying and makes it hard for me to suspend disbelief when I realize who the actor is.
- I thought I was a dog person until I owned a cat. Dogs are too much work. Dogs require that you walk them and play with them. Cats just want you to pet them and play with them for like an hour a day. Plus when you actually own them you realize they are truly affectionate. Now I love all cats, but mostly my cat Eponine.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM NOMINATING BLOGS: (I picked a few from each)

1.) If you could have dinner with one character from your favorite book, who would it be? Why?
My favorite book is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and Dracula is a character in that book. So clearly I would have dinner with Dracula, as long as he agreed not to eat me. I'd ask him to explain vampires, his origin story, and all the historical events he witnessed.

2.) Do you prefer paperbacks or hardcover?
Paperbacks. I like my books to be more portable. I take public transportation to work so I like have books that are smaller and lighter to carry. Plus you can fit more in a bookshelf.

 3.) Which author would you be best friends with? Why?
Leigh Bardugo. I like her sense of humor and I think we have similar interests. If we were best friends we would watch Game of Thrones together, visit Russia, and she'd let me read Ruin and Rising before it gets published.

4.) You get one week to do whatever you want. Money isn't an issue, and there are no consequences for what you do. So what do you spend your week doing?
I would go on a cross-country road trip to visit all the family and friends I haven't seen in forever and the landmarks I've always wanted to visit. But I wouldn't drive myself. I'd hire a chauffeur so I could read the whole time. I know that's kind of a lame answer but despite the fact that there won't be consequences I'd rather not go on a crime spree.

5.) If you could read one book for the rest of your life as many times as you wanted, which one would you pick? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I have read this book so many times and never get sick of it. It has all the feels, is funny, and complicated enough that I get something new out of it every time.

 6.) What made you want to blog?
 I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo and wanted to talk about how much I loved it. I don't have a lot of friends who are as dedicated to reading and want to spend forever talking about the books so this was a great way to do that. Then this fall I read a book I hated and wanted to explain why I hated it so much. I had forgotten about my blog so I revived it and then ended up finding this awesome community.

7.) What about blogging do you find the most challenging?
 Keeping up with the trends. Since getting involved with the book blogging community I have felt pressured to read the newest and most popular books. The urge to be up on a trend or read something new can be stressful at times and it sometimes makes me feel uncool if I haven't read something everyone else has. This also leads to pressure to read ARCs and books before they are even released. Book bloggers can be such hipsters sometimes!

8.) If you could live in any book world, where would you live?
 Hogwarts. Seriously who doesn't want to attend Hogwarts, be sorted by the Sorting Hat, learn magic, play Quidditch. I assume that my Hogwarts letter got lost in the Owl Post.

9.) If you could be any book character who would you be and why?
Cath in Fangirl. I love her friends and then of course there's Levi to look forward too. I feel like I had a similar freshman year of college and as much as I don't want to go back to those days, I'd still like to be Cath.

10.) If you could have the privilege to kill any book character without any consequences who would you rid the world of?
This may come as a surprise but I would kill Emma Woodhouse from Emma by Jane Austen. I HATE her as a character. She's obnoxious, self-centered, and gets involved in things she shouldn't get involved with. She's a life-ruiner, she ruins people's lives. And spoiler alert... in the end she wins! Emma Woodhouse should lose and I will make her lose!

11.) What is your favorite song currently?
I am totally obsessed with the Katy Perry song Dark Horse. I listen to that song on the regular!

QUESTIONS FOR MY NOMINEES:

1.) If you were down to your last $3 what would you spend it on? (You have to spend it!)
2.) Do you prefer to read the book or watch the movie first?
3.) When it comes to trilogies what book do you usually like the best? Which one do you usually like the least?
4.) What book did you absolutely hate and why?
5.) If you met a book genie who offered you three book wishes, what would they be?
6.) What book have you never read and are so ashamed about it that you have considered lying about having read it?
7.) If you were trapped on a deserted island what fictional character would you call to help rescue you and why?
8.) If you were trapped on a desserted island, what dessert would your island be made out of?
9.) What is the best place you have ever been on vacation?
10.) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
11.) Coffee or tea? How do you take it?

MY NOMINEES:

Becca at Pivot Book Reviews
Violet at Paper Worlds & Swirls of Ink
Lindsay at Broke Book Girls
Rinny and Kimmy at Opinionated Cupcakes
Kaylie at Potterhead Reviews
Justine at Paperback Heart
Melissa at Bookmark Dragon
Stormi at Books, Movies, Review Oh My!
NicoleLynn at PopCrunchBoom
Stephanie at Her Reviews of Books, Movies, and Everything
Mary at Reading and Running

Thanks to the lovely ladies that nominated me and I look forward to seeing the responses from the eleven blogs I nominated! Post back your link so I can read your responses! HAPPY READING!