I wanted to add something a little different to my blog other than reviews but I wasn’t sure what way to go at first, then I spotted this when I was looking through some of The Perpetual Page Turner‘s older posts and thought I’d give it a go. When it comes to Top Ten lists or surveys I always worry I’ll run out of inspiration for them, or not be able to think of specific books quickly… so fingers crossed this isn’t left half blank!

Author You’ve Read The Most Books From:

I followed Jamie’s advice and used my Goodreads account to see which author I’ve read the most, and it was way different than I predicted! I’ve tried to back-date my Goodreads with as many books as I can remember reading when I was a kid/teen (probably nowhere near accurate numbers-wise), and was super surprised by my answer for this. OK, so if you ask me this question I might have said Jodi Picoult (6), or J K Rowling (8), but according Goodreads the answer is Meg Cabot (10) and Jacqueline Wilson (16!).

Best Sequel Ever:

One of the Harry Potter books for sure (I’m a big fan, HUGE!), but don’t make me pick one, I can’t. I won’t do it. You can’t make me!

Currently Reading:

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Had this on my TBR for a while so very excited to be finally reading it!

Drink of Choice While Reading:

Coffee, definitely coffee. I’m a big coffee fan anyways but there’s just something about coffee and books that go together, and I love it when bookshops have a coffeehouse in them. The smell of books and coffee together?! Bliss.

E–reader or Physical Book?

Physical books win hands down. E-readers just aren’t the same! Though I can now admit that both have their rightful place. I fought with myself over this one for a long time and I was opposed to buying a Kindle or anything similar, I got on my wee soapbox and outright protested about using e-readers. I first read a book on my mobile while travelling to Uni in 2012, and it was OK. Ever since then I argued with myself over purchasing some form of reading device but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It felt like cheating.

In 2013, Nook ran a promotion on their Simple Touch (which I think is still going), it was reduced from £79 to £29 and I decided to give it a go, if I didn’t like it I hadn’t wasted a lot of money trying it out. I reread Harry Potter and it was pretty good, and it saved my poor first editions from taking a battering. I haven’t used the Nook since though… I have a tablet and I find it pretty decent for reading, I like the fact you can look words up in the dictionary so easily and being able to use OverDrive to download e-books from my local library is brilliant. I’m a physical book binge-buyer (like 20 at a time, I blame you Book People!) and being able to read e-books from the library first before purchasing is great, it saves me money and space, and if I love the book or the author I go out and buy a physical copy, if it was just an OK read then there’s no harm done, I return the e-book and my shelf space isn’t taken up by semi-decent reads.

If I had to pick though, physical books are my preference; I love having bookshelves with physical copies of books, I love their smell (I’m such a book-sniffer!) and I love their full-colour cover-art.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:

Hmm… I can’t actually pick one! If you know of a “bad-boy” character, who is a bit of an ass, you can insert their name here! I usually went for totally the wrong type of guy!

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:

The Mortal Instruments series. I wasn’t aware of any of the hype that surrounded these when I bought them, and I LOVE them.

Hidden Gem Book:

Love, Virtually by Daniel Glattauer. I read this book in one 6 hour sitting, it’s not very long and the writing style lends itself to a quick read (mostly conducted by email). I loved this book and could not put it down at all, I’ve seen that there is a follow-up and I have to get my hands on it!

Important Moment in Your Reading Life:

Oh dear… I don’t know what classes as being “important”… Meeting Jacqueline Wilson was pretty special for me when I was about 11 or 12… Or standing in the queue at midnight when I was 16, waiting on the last Harry Potter instalment to be released, surrounded by adult fans, and young kids who were just starting their Harry Potter journey, and all of us just soaking up that super charged atmosphere – that was pretty amazing.

Just Finished:

Paper Towns by John Green. You can read what I thought of it here.

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:

Hmm… that’s a toughy. I don’t think there’s a type of book I would definitely say “no way” to. I’ve done historical fiction and was really surprised by how much I loved it (Philippa Gregory’s White Queen series), I’ve done dystopia and adored it (Hunger Games, Divergent), I’ve done romancce/erotica (50 Shades)… I think non-fiction doesn’t appeal to me in the same way as fiction but I don’t rule it out.

Longest Book You’ve Read:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at 796 pages. I actually remember the media storm at the time of release because the postal service was struggling as the book was too big to fit through a standard letterbox! I own the hardback version and it can be tiring trying to hold that bad boy up! I like a decent sized book, I feel short-changed if a book can be read too quickly.

Major Book Hangover Because Of:

I suffered a MAJOR book hangover after The Hunger Games series. I wasn’t very happy with the last book either, I felt like the ending was rushed and some of it didn’t make a lot of sense. I just got the feeling it would have been better if it was 4 books instead of 3, there was definitely enough loose ends and more to be said in that story-line to justify a proper explanation in another book.

Number of Bookcases You Own:

I currently have one measly bookcase that is definitely not sufficient for my needs! I have 3/4 boxes of books that don’t currently have a home and I have my “wall of books” in my bedroom (probably around 60 books?!). My Wall of Books is my TBR pile, anything in my bookcase has been read and is being kept. The 3/4 boxes I need to go through and sort out and my childhood books are currently at my mum’s house. My dad is actually in the middle of building me two big beautiful bookcases that I’ll show off when they are done.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:

I reread books a lot more when I was younger. Apart from the Harry Potter series, my go-to for a reread off the top of my head are The Time Traveler’s Wife, We Need To Talk About Kevin and The White Queen series. I know I am definitely going to be rereading The Mortal Instruments series, The Hunger Games series and the Divergent series in the next few months.

Preferred Place To Read:

Definitely in bed. I can and do read in many other places but my bed is my favourite.

Quote That Inspires You/Gives You All The Feels From a Book You’ve Read:

SO MANY! My favourite aspect of music is the lyrics, words really speak to me and obviously books are made of words so it stands to reason that I’m going to have tons of favourite quotes, far too many to even remember them all right now, I’ve included some of my favourites below:

Reading Regret:

I regret having not read enough of the classics! Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice… I don’t know if I’m going to like them, but I HAVE to give them a try. There’s just something in me that wants to read some of the classics. I’m thinking of setting myself a challenge and writing the results up on this blog. Which classic novel would you recommend to me? Which one is a must-read?! 

Series You Started And Need To Finish (all books are out in series):

I’m usually really, really good at doing this, it’s one of my little OCD-things. When I was younger I started the Gossip Girl series but there was just so many of them I guess I kind of gave up. If there is a series and I get caught up in it I HAVE to know what happens.

Three of Your All-Time Favorite Books:

Three?! Just three?! There’s far too many, but if I HAD to pick just three right now off the top of my head it would be the Harry Potter series (yes, I’m having the whole series as one, my blog – my rules!), We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver  and… Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult.

Unapologetic Fangirl For:

Uh, Harry Potter. Everyone should read it. I recommend it to everyone, even just to try it. The whole series played a massive part in my childhood; I started reading it when I was 9 and the last book was released when I was 16. I definitely want to go on the film studio tour in London, and I hope that might actually happen this year!

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:

I’m probably not very clued in on new releases yet compared to other bloggers, but I’m definitely excited for the next instalment of The Mortal Instruments and I’m quick-off-the-mark when a new Jodi Picoult or Diane Chamberlain novel comes out.

Worst Bookish Habit:

Hmm… I don’t think I have many! I don’t turn down pages in books to mark my place, I don’t borrow physical library books so I don’t have lateness issues and I don’t crease or damage covers. I think my two bad bookish habits are buying far too many books therefore having a never-ending TBR list and I hate lending books out. I HATE it. If it’s a book I’m not overly fussed on I have no problems lending it out, but if it is a book I loved and want to keep, or part of a series, and you want to borrow it, you will have to pry it from my fingers because I hate lending books out. I’m lucky if I get it back, and on the occasions when I do it’s always been abused somehow. In fact, I would go and BUY a friend a copy of the book before I would lend them mine (and I have done this!). Abusing my poor books is just a friendship deal-breaker!

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater. I picked up this series in The Works for a great price. I was just looking some cheap reads to keep me going and originally was a little put off by the “If you love Twilight, you’ll love this series” quote on the cover. I really liked the Twilight series, I just didn’t appreciate all the books that referenced it after it became a huge deal. The Shiver Trilogy was really good, don’t let a Twilight reference put you off!

Your Latest Book Purchase:

While doing some grocery shopping I stumbled upon a couple of books on offer that were on my wish list so I picked them up; The Rosie Project (which I’d been after for ages), What Alice Forgot (because I wanted The Husband’s Secret but they didn’t have it, so I picked up this one) and 12 Years A Slave (because I wanted to see the movie so had to read the book first, and because I wanted a more serious read to take a break from all the YA I’ve been reading lately).

ZZZ-Snatcher Book (the last book that kept you up WAY late):

I think it was Gone Girl. I always do the “just one more chapter before bed” thing, but Gone Girl was the last book where I couldn’t stop reading it and suffered the next day. Don’t get me started on how disappointed I was by that ending. I almost threw the book at the wall.

I hope this was at least a little entertaining and not too long – I can go off on a rant sometimes! Feel free to copy this post and link back to your version in the comments below so I can have a read!