The Avid Readers Award Tag

 

Welcome! Today, I'm here with a fun tag, The Avid Readers Award Tag!

Here are the rules:

1. Display the blog award logo in your blog.
2. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you. Thank you so much, Katja!
3. Do not forget to link to their blogging website. Link here.
4. List your favourite 5 books. 
5. Answer all the questions they have given you.
6. Nominate 4 bloggers of your choice.
7. Ask them 10 questions.

Five Favorite Books

Oh my. You're asking for it! These aren't in any particular order, and I left off two of my all-time favorites that aren't published yet (the joys of beta reading! 😁). And series count, right????

1. Lion of Babylon by Davis Bunn
2. The Accidental Cases of Emily Abbott (series) by Perry Elisabeth Kirkpatrick
3. The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson
4. Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
5. If I Run (series) by Terri Blackstock

Questions

Katja, you come up with some great questions!! And, yes, I'm leaving your Canadian spelling of "favorite" for everything because, even though I never spell it like that, I think it's awesome. 😁

1. If you could pick one fictional character as your sibling, who would it be? Ummm . . . I might have to say Katie Parker from Jenny B. Jones's In Between. She's a foster child who really needs a family (including a big sister 💙) to love her, and she would be a lot of fun to have around. 😄 I mean, for one thing, she would definitely steal all of the attention. So I could go sit in a corner and laugh. Or read. Probably read.

2. What’s a strong opinion you have about a trope/opinion/anything else lacking in books, especially Christian fiction? Strong opinions? Just one? 😬 Okay. Let's see if I can narrow it down. I would say the depiction of emotional/spiritual struggles in Christian books. I mean, you'd think that the Christians would get it right. But they don't. I find that some of the most life-changing fiction books I've read aren't Christian books at all. Because, sadly, we've turned "Christian fiction" into a marketing tactic. Calling a book "Christian" doesn't mean that it's going to be powerful and life-changing. For a lot of people, it means that somebody is going to try to write a story but end up shoving their beliefs down your throat. Believe me, I've read the Goodreads rant reviews about that—and maybe had a few of my own rants. To all of the Christian writers out there—tell your beautiful stories the way God gave them to you. Not so that they'll fit into the genre of "Christian fiction."

*pants* Rant over.

3. What’s a book you didn’t expect to like but fell head over heels in love with? Lion of Babylon. As you can see, it's on my list of favorite books. But . . . funny story about how it got there.

For years, I've loved the books that Davis Bunn and Janette Oke wrote together. When I was at a used bookstore and saw Davis Bunn's Lion of Babylon for only a few dollars, I figured I'd take a chance on it. At the time, I was in to reading historical fiction (generally historical romance). And this book looked like a Middle East political thriller. I was taking a major chance on this one.

It sat on my bookshelf—unread—for a while before I finally just took it back to the used bookstore.

Then, one night when going to visit some family, my dad and I had a long drive. Since neither of us was up to talking for that long, Daddy played his audiobook out loud. It was Lion of Babylon. The awkward part? He was already halfway through the book. So he gave me the crash course of what had happened, then I just picked up in the middle.

And became completely hooked.

By this time, I had moved from historical fiction into loving suspense books. And I kinda regretted getting rid of my paperback copy of this book.

So, I borrowed the audiobook from our library and listened to the whole book. And fell in love.

Thankfully, I have my own paperback copy of it now, because I liked it enough to ask for a physical copy of it for Christmas (that's kinda major for me since I rarely re-read books).

4. What is your dream reading goal? Reading two books a week and being able to keep up with beta/review reads well. Neither of which has been happening lately. 🙄 It's more like getting one physical book read every few weeks and snatching time for beta reads when I can. But that's okay! At least I still have time to read!

5. Favourite quote (or two ;P) about reading? "We lose ourselves in books, we find ourselves there too." — Anonymous

I can't say that's my absolute favorite, but it's pretty amazing. 😄

6. Your opinion on dust jackets?? First off, shall we talk about my opinions on hardcovers? *clear throat* Thank you. Paperbacks are just the best. Hardcovers don't bend right in your hand, and they don't always fit on my small bookshelves. And, for another thing, paperback books show signs of wear more—and signs of wear just mean that it's a well-loved book. 😊

Now, dust jackets. Uh, no thanks. You're adding something else to hardcovers to get on my nerves even more. I really don't like those clear dust jackets that libraries put on books, but I can't take those off. But if it's my book, there's a good chance that dust jacket is coming off and getting stuffed in a drawer somewhere. 😁

7. Your favourite book spine(s)? I have a love for book covers, and that definitely extends to book spines. 😊 But as for my favorites? After a quick glance at my bookshelf, I'd have to say Lynette Eason's Elite Guardians series. Simple, clean, and colorful. 

8. Do you like to eat while reading? I like to do just about anything while reading. 😂 Including eating.

9. Can you read with silence or music in the background? If you had grown up with my family, you might have learned to read with anything in the background, like I did. 😂 Conversations, TV shows, people talking directly to you (oops), etc. Music is easy enough, even if it does distract me a little bit. Silence is the best for reading with, but sometimes you have to learn to make do.

10. What’s your favourite indie book? (‘Cause we gotta spread the love!) 😀 This question is exciting!! Well, two of my favorites aren't even published yet . . . but, for published ones, I'll say The Accidental Cases of Emily Abbott series and Faith Potts's Freedom. And Ellen Senechal's The Whispers God Gives is way up there, too!

Nominate 4 Bloggers

• SawyerMarie at Sundrop Girls
• Ellen at Ellen's Musings
• Caitlyn at Flight of the Quill
• Martha at Beyond the Literary Horizon
• Anyone else who wants to steal this tag or answer in the comments below!

My Questions

(feel free to steal Katja's amazing questions, too!)

1. What classic book character are you too much like?
2. What's a quote from a book that gets stuck in your head, even if it doesn't make sense?
3. Tell me your feelings on e-books.
4. Is there a genre you used to love, but now don't like as well?
5. What are some of the first books you remember reading?
6. How do you organize your bookshelves?
7. What is your favorite theme for books to have?
8. Have you ever stayed up much later than you meant to reading? If so, what book were you reading?
9. If you could trade places with one fictional character for a day, who would you trade with?
10. Do you read the acknowledgments, character lists, author's notes, etc. at the front of books?

Well, that's all for today! I hope you enjoyed it!

What did you think? What are your opinions on hardcover vs. paperback—and book jackets? What are some of your favorite indie books?