Hello, friends! We’re tackling some more tags/awards today and since I didn’t do one last week, I’ve decided to tackle two of “The Outstanding Blogger Award” tags from Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog and Stephen @ Stephen Writes. Becky and Stephen are such wonderful people and have awesome blogs! Their reviews are always so thorough and well-written and I always enjoy reading their thoughts 😍 They’re also two of the most supportive and friendly bloggers I’ve encountered in the blogosphere, so please do check them out cos you won’t regret it! ❤️

The Outstanding Blogger Award was originally created by Colton Beckwith.
Also, I don’t know if rule #5 below still applies since 2020 has come and gone but I’m still gonna do this tag anyway! 😂

The Rules:

• Provide the link to the creator’s original award post. (very important: see why in step 5)
• Answer the questions provided.
• Create 7 unique questions.
• Nominate 10 bloggers. Ensure that they are aware of their nomination. Neither the award’s creator, nor the blogger that nominated you, can be nominated.
• At the end of 2020, every blog that ping-backs the creator’s original post will be entered to win the 2020 Outstanding Blogger Award!

BECKY’S QUESTIONS

Do you have any bookish or non-bookish goals for 2021?

I actually do have a few bookish and non-bookish goals that I’m tackling this year! My main bookish goal this year is to read 150 books (Goodreads Reading Challenge) but I’m also aiming to read more of my existing backlist, read more diverse books especially by South/Southeast Asian authors, and I’m hoping to continue growing my book blog! I wrote a whole post about my goals & hopes for 2021 if you’d like to check it out 😊

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2021?

Ohoho, there are so many books and it’s always so freaking hard to narrow them down to smol lists, such as this list of 10 anticipated releases for the first-half of 2021. Since last year I’ve also decided to start making yearly release lists on Goodreads that I’m interested in, so you can check out these 111 books *cough* I’ve shelved (HAHAHA) but here’s a taste of some titles:

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What are you currently reading?

I’m reading two ARCs at the minute: The Songbook of Benny Lament and Namesake. I’m really enjoying both although they’ve very different genres (one is historical literary fiction and the other is YA fantasy) but both also have pub days just around the corner(ish)! 😉

Do you prefer series or standalones?

Hmm… it really depends! I really enjoy series but sometimes I get tired of waiting forever for the next book to come out so I mostly prefer series that are already finished before starting them. It also depends on how long a series although there are some exceptions! 😜

Which animal best describes your personality?

Well, if my blog name isn’t quite the giveaway I don’t know what would be 😂 I’m quite a lazy bean plus I love to sleep and eat. I know there’s more to them than that but we’ll keep it simple 😂 I also think elephants can be a good match as they’re sensitive and emotional creatures and very family oriented (pandas & elephants are my two fave animals besides the doggos)!

Do you have a favourIte book or author?

I have so many! It’s a bit cliche but the two books that’ve stuck with me the longest are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion! I’m not much of a re-reader but these two have been re-read quite often 🥰 Some new authors I’ve recently discovered over the last two years are T.J. Klune, Talia Hibbert, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Elizabeth Acevedo, Helen Hoang and Kristin Hannah, to name a few!

Describe your blog in three words.

Um… Playful, Passionate, and Welcoming? I’m sorry, I’m really bad at these 🙈 LOL

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STEPHEN’S QUESTIONS

Is there a particular genre that you feel you should read more of?

I feel like I should always be reading more non-fiction! I have a yearly goal to read more non-fiction and I tend to … not exactly increase the number but I do at least read one or two non-fiction books every year. I want to at least read five which should be hard considering I tend to read 100+ books yearly but my attention tends to stray very easily whenever I read non-fiction 🙈

What is your favourite book-to-film adaptation?

Okay, this is going to be so lame but I don’t know? I realise that I tend to either only read the book or only watch the movie. The only book+movie combo that I can recall doing (not including HP) is Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion, and The Hobbit. I really struggled with The Hobbit (book) though! So I guess I’m gonna have to go with Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 version! I know it’s not 100% accurate but it will never not be a favourite! 🥰

We have spent a lot of time at home in 2020. Have you found (or rediscovered) any new activities that you enjoy doing?

I started journaling again during the pandemic. I used to journal a lot quite often growing up and although I don’t do it as often (now) and I don’t have those really pretty bujos that everyone seems to have, it’s been a pretty cathartic process! I tend to get stuck in my head a lot and so it really helped me sort through my jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings!

Which writing or blogging achievement are you most proud of?

It’s something that still shocks me whenever I think about it but I’m quite proud to have over 500 followers! I know stats are just “blah, blah, whatever.” I just didn’t think that such a number would be possible for me when I started blogging! I was so intimidated about immersing myself in the community and the imposter syndrome was really really real (and on most days still is)! So I’m quite proud that I’ve been able to connect with so many readers and bloggers and hope I can continue to do that in the years to come! ❤️

What is your favourite type of blog post to write?

It’s probably the most difficult post for me to write but I really enjoy making discussion posts when I can or when I feel inspired! I tend to do a lot of weekly memes on my blog and they’re obviously a lot of fun and I love doing them too but I feel like discussion posts add ‘next level’ vibes to my blog (even if my posts aren’t super special)!

Are you able to finish a book in one sitting?

I do quite often with my bouts of insomnia! A lot of the romances that I tend to binge read are usually read in one sitting in the late/early hours of the night/morning 🤣 It does depend though! I also tend to read graphic novels in one sitting and also some novellas, too! I think I once managed to finish a whopping 670 pages in one sitting overnight one time–it was Mariana Zapata and her books are chonksters but compulsively readable!

Which of your 2020 reads has the most beautiful cover?

Ooh, this is a toughie because I loved so many covers! To narrow down the choices I decided to only stick to the books published last year and even then it’s a tie for me between the cover of Fable and Unravel the Dusk! Love the details on both covers 😍

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And that’s a wrap on The Outstanding Blogger Award questions from Becky and Stephen! I had so much fun answering these and so I think I’m going to do a mix-match of some of these questions.

MY QUESTIONS:

• What is your favourite read of 2021 so far?
• Which writing or blogging achievement are you most proud of?
• Which of your most anticipated 2021 reads has the most beautiful cover?
• Describe your blog in three words.
• Which animal best describes your personality?
• Are you able to finish a book in one sitting?
• What’s the next book you predict will be a 5-star read for you?

I’M TAGGING:

No pressure to do this if you’re not into tags! I’m tagging:

Jen | Tessa | Mayu | Leslie | Andie | Abby