Sunshine Blogger Award Post

I was recently tagged/nominated by Kati of Kati's Bookaholic Rambling Reviews For the Sunshine Blogger's Award - head over and check out her lovely blog!

This is a fun way for bloggers to learn about each other and cross-promote each others blogs, and I am delighted to take part!  So with no further ado...

The Sunshine Blogger Award Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you in a blog post and links back to their blog.

2. Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.

3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.

4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

The Questions I was asked and my answers:

1. Did you design your own blog design or did you get help/who was the blog designer that help you?

     I did it myself, so it's not very fancy. I don't currently have the budget to to pay for professional help.  Maybe one day I will be able to have it professionally polished, but for now this will have to do. My Logo incorporates my love of all book formats.  It is a stack of print books, with an e-book reader leaning against them, surrounded by earphones.  My blog name is curved red font to signify the smile I get from books in all their formats.  Kind of corny I know, but that's me 😊.

2. What is your color schemes on your blog? 

     Lots of blues to go with the background I chose out of the standard issue blogspot backgrounds/themes.

3. What is the web host that you use for your blog?

     I am on Blogspot.  I sometimes wonder if I chose the right platform, but usually I am pretty happy with it. Easy to use for those of us with limited technical ability.

4. What is your favorite style on your blog?

     I like to post ramblings on notable dates and trivia that I think are interesting.  I like finding out more about them and trying to pare down the information into a short(ish) blog post to share. 

     
5. What kind of graphics do you like on your blog?

     I like to include a grab of the cover art for books I review.  I think people are often visual creatures, and including the cover art will make people recognize books that they have read good things about on social media. Also when people are standing in line for coffee etc. they may be scrolling idly until something catches their eye.  When I post "ramblings" or a "Sunday Summary" they usually include memes or relevant art/pictures etc.

6.  What is your Goodreads challenge/reading goal for this year?

     This year was a real return to reading for me. My son (now 6) had kept me too busy to do much reading in the past. Now that he is more independent, and has finally grown out of the constant nightmares, I finally felt like I could read (at least a little) again. When I set up my challenge, I thought that one book every ten days would be doable given the current demands on my time.  However I didn't factor audio books into the equation. I keep my own stats, and 31/69 shown on my challenge board are either print or digital, the rest are audio - so i was pretty close. I know there will always be a debate about whether audio books count, but I think next year I will adjust my goal to match how GoodReads counts. 

     

    
7. What is the longest book series you own?

     GAME OF THRONES, by George R. R. Martin on Audible, HARRY POTTER in print (albeit a mish-mash of editions/styles - working on replacing all with Hufflepuff editions).  I don't do well with really long series.  I end up abandoning series after more than about 5 or 6 books. I don't know why.  I usually find Trilogies are the perfect length for me. The other thing is, I don't keep all my books - so I would have read some series and then passed them on and no longer own them.

8. What is your favorite book series?

     That is a tough question.  To pick one book, or one series of books is always difficult. I did really like Charlie Holmberg's PAPER MAGICIAN SERIES, Lev Grossman's THE MAGICIANS, the aforementioned GAME OF THRONES, by George R. R. Martin, of course Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling, THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY, by Guy Gavriel Kay, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, by Douglas Adams, I could go on.....too many, I can't decide. Sorry I know that is kind of cheating.

    
9. Who is your favorite book character/s?

     Winnie the Pooh (WINNIE THE POOH, by A. A.  Milne). That sweet portly little bear doesn't have a mean bone in his little body, I aspire to be more like him 😊

10.  Do you have any favorite book turned movie? 

     Like a large portion of the population, I enjoyed the Harry Potter books/movies and the Robert Langdon books/movies. For the most part, I am usually disappointed by the movies when I read the book first, and I don't often read the book after seeing the movie because..well now I basically know how it ends!

    

11. What else do you get besides books at a bookstore?

     I bought a nice book bag, and a rechargeable clip-on book light. 

Thank you for reading and thank you to Kati for the Tag!

My questions for the Eleven bloggers I am tagging are as follows:

1. How old is your blog?
2.  If you were to write a blog post about your home town or region's literary claim to fame, what or who would it be about?
3. What would be the number one piece of advice you would give to a new blogger?
4.  If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would it be? 
5. Do you like;
• Print, 
• e-book, 
• Audio, 
•  all of the above
6. What is your favorite gadget, accompaniment or accessory for reading?
7.  What is your favorite regular feature or blog prompt (besides reviews)?
8. Do you ever DNF books, or do you always power through?
9. What recently released book (last year or two) would you like to see made required reading in schools?
10. What book from the past would you like to see get renewed attention?
11. Do you prefer short series, long series, or stand alone books?

My 11 nominations/tags are:

1. Gigi from  The Beachy Reader  @beachyreader on Twitter
2.  Kelly from Kelly Well Read Reviews @kellywellread on Twitter
3. Beth from About a Book Club  @aboutabookclub on Twitter
4. "Paper Pages" from Paper Pages @paperpagesph on Twitter
5. Betty from The Geeky Bibliophile @geekbibliophile on Twitter
6. Anna from The Bursting Bookshelf @thebbookshelf on Twitter
7. "Princess" from Princess of Pages @PrincessofPages on Twitter
8. Kaleena from Reader Voracious @kalventure on Twitter
9. Rae from Thrifty Bifliophile @thriftybiblio on Twitter
10. Bethany from Beth and Books  @beth_and_books on Twitter
11. Destiny from Howling Libraries @howlinglibrary on Twitter