Good morning Thursday friends!

How are you all this [insert weather here] Thursday? I hope you’re all well and are staying safe! I’d love to hear what you’re all reading and what you’ve been enjoying in the past week… comment and let me know! I’m currently (as I write this) reading My Life As A Cat by Carlie Sorosiak and I am LOVING it…

It is ThursTAG again, so I guess it’s time for another tag! Today, I have stolen a tag from my wonderful Viper friend, Sarah. It’s a tag I’ve NEVER seen before, so I figured I’d give it a go because you guys might learn something new about me! If you’re interested in Sarah’s post, you can check it out here!

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The Book Interview Tag

Name: Stephanie (I MUCH prefer Steph though…)

Age: 31 and a half

Favourite genres: Fantasy is the first one that springs to mind. I can’t get enough of it. Contemporary is a close second. I love a kids/YA mystery too!

Favourite female authors: Lol, this was a HARD one because MOST of my favourite authors are women (not all of them, there are SOME men…). However, Melinda Salisbury (I know, shocker), Sara Barnard, Katherine Webber, Katherine Rundell, Maz Evans, Kiran Milwood Hargrave, Bex Hogan and Laura Steven are just a few!

Forever favourites: God, this is just going to be an interview of predictability isn’t it? Matilda will forever be up there. The Sin Eater’s Daughter trilogy is up there. The Paper Magician series is up there (not enough people have read this). A Quiet Kind of Thunder. Who Let The Gods Out series. Charlotte’s Web.

What was your first book of 2019? Oh lord… *consults Goodreads* Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange. It’s a gorgeous book set in WW2 (we know I love a WW2 book!)

How did you like it? Well according to Goodreads (I’d love to know if everyone else uses Goodreads, let me know in the comments if you do or don’t!) “This book is just exceptional. I don’t know what that I have the words right now for how good it is. There’s espionage, mythology, heartbreak, family, trust, intrigue and so much more. Audible gasps and a few tears… JUST BRILLIANT”. So I think it’s safe to say I absolutely adored it. It’s definitely one I think about every so often and have recommended it to a lot of people!

What was your last book of 2019? Again, I must consult Goodreads! (Seriously though, how do people track what they read? I’d be lost doing tags if I didn’t have Goodreads ha!) Apparently… the last book of 2019 was Wink by Rob Harrell.

How did you like it? I LOVED IT. I remember it vividly. I have given my copy to one of the boys who was in my Y6 class this past year and he absolutely adores it too! “Characters who are brilliant, issues that are real and humour that gives you a hug. This made me laugh and made me feel comforted. Bloody yes. Plus the illustrations throughout were just great additions”. It’s a gorgeous story and it’s just one of those that sticks with you!

What do you look for in a book? What makes it really stand out? I want a book to make me FEEL something. It doesn’t matter what that emotion is – anger, sadness, love, loss, awe, wonder – I just want a book to make me feel something. Some of the books that stand out the most to me are the ones that have made me think, made me feel strongly enough that I need to shout about it. I properly need characters that I can attach myself too. I can have a book that doesn’t have the best plot, but if it’s got characters that I absolutely adore then you’re winning (boring characters need not apply). That’s not to say that I can read a TERRIBLE plot… because plot does matter. But it doesn’t need to be all singing, all dancing for me to love it, but it needs to have characters that I can feel for. (And magic, obv)

Do you collect any particular sets or editions of books? My gut reaction to this is to say no, but I’m the girl that hunted down a special edition of Viper just so that I could have it. And I bought a book subscription box (I don’t remember which it was) when I knew there was going to be a special edition Sorrow book. So yes, I absolutely am. I’m also the kind of person who will need the sprayed edge version of a book AND the non-sprayed edge version of a book (BLOODY LOVE A SPRAYED EDGE ME). So yeah… I am, ha.

Do you prefer audiobooks, eBooks or physical books? Physical books EVERY SINGLE TIME. I have just recently rekindled my relationship with Netgalley (my kindle died, so I’ve been using my iPad kindle app) and it’s just not the same as reading an ACTUAL book. I’ve never particularly gotten into audio books: I think I switch off too quickly tbh! Maybe I need to try?

Do you keep books you didn’t like or do you get rid of them? Books I don’t like, I get rid of them. Whether that’s offering them to friends, putting them in the school library or taking them to the charity shop, I’m quite good at getting rid of books that didn’t take my fancy. However, I have a MUCH HARDER time parting with books I enjoyed… especially if they’re YA books. The kids books I can put in my classroom, so they’re still with me, but my YA books I find it hard to part with them. I definitely need to get better at that because I have more books than space at the minute hah!

What literary character best defines you or do you most relate to? Oh god, there’s actually quite a few. Off the top of my head? Caro from The Love Hypothesis is me. Miss Honey is part of who I am. Matilda is very much me. Emily from No Big Deal is me. Nora from The Midnight Library. So yeah… quite a few.

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And there we have it! I really enjoyed this. Some of these questions were tricky, but I really enjoyed it! I’d LOVE to know your thoughts on my answer for the last question – which fictional character do you most associate me with? Let me know in the comments!

S x