Liebser Award a Zillion Times Over

I'm sorry I haven't been able to post lately; I was away from wi-fi for a while, and for the past week I was super busy interning with a kid's writing program. Now, I'm sick in bed, so I thought I'd take the chance to finally write this post. I really should have posted before now, because I've been nominated for the Liebster award by four different blogs! I'm very happy about this, because the blogs that nominated me are among my favorites, and it's really an honor. I'm also happy that so many blogs have nominated me. All and all, I'm very happy about this. For the Liebster award, you write 11 facts about yourself, answer 11 questions by the blogger who nominated you, and pass the nomination on.

Facts about myself:

  1. I recently got a pixie cut - I was wary at first, but I love it now. 

  2. My favorite thing about blogging is other bloggers. This means YOU!

  3. I watched Godzilla v. Monster Zero last night, and it was awesome in a totally campy way. 

  4. I dislike the number four.

  5. If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be the Swiss Alps. 

  6. I love animated movies.

  7. I made a list of stuff I want to do by the end of the summer. It has things like "ride the freaky upside down ride at the fair", "tie dye stuff," and "stage a flash mob." 

  8. I love love love to dance. I will never forgive my mother for not getting me dance lessons when I was five years old and told her it was my life's ambition to become a ballerina. 

  9. Nowadays, since I can't be a ballerina (thanks, Mom), my life's ambition is to travel the world. 

10. I've recently become kinda addicted to Polyvore. Is anyone interested in book-related fashion sets? 

11. I have a collection of stuffed and ceramic skunks. 

(I've decided to only answer three questions from each blog that nominated me, to keep this post from being waaay too long)

Ella from Gorilla Legs - This blog is always so fun to read. It also wins for best blog name, hands down! 

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

The 1920's! 

What  book are you currently reading?

Congo, by Michael Crichton, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, by Meg Medina (who I got to meet through my internship!), Till We Have Faces, by C. S. Lewis, and I'm listening to Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett (as an audiobook). 

If  you were trapped in a vat of food, and had to eat it to get yourself out of there, what food would you want to be trapped in?

Mmm... Maybe potato chips? It's so easy to eat large amounts of those things. Strawberries would be nice, too. I also like the idea of a vat of jello, just because I think it would be fun to smush around in while I ate. 

Cecily and Gwendolyn from Their Harangues and their Fancies - A terrific blog about nothing in particular - always cool, fun and interesting. 

Hidden Talent? 

I can ice skate fairly well. 

Favourite place in your home country?

Silly Brits with your weird word-spellings...it's spelled favorite! 

New York! I haven't been there in quite a while, but I love it and I'm beginning to get a hankering to go back...

If you were guaranteed success in any career, what would you do?

I'd become a writer, which is what I plan on doing anyway. 

Chloe from Rhinestone Moon writes all about high fashion and is pretty awesome in general. 

Who was your first music obsession?

When I was about four or five, I loved Christmas songs. Don't judge. 

Who is your favorite designer?

Dior! I love his "New Look." 

What historical character living or dead would you hang out with?

Instead of Gandhi or someone like that, I think I'd be somewhat shallow and choose Louise Brooks, flapper icon and my all-time favorite actress. 

Tara A. From Unlocking Pandora's Box - what's with all the awesome blog names? Seriously, though, check this blog out!

If you could be any fictional character, who would you be and why?

Ramona Quimby! My roommate at camp recently told me that I reminded her of Ramona, and I consider it one of the biggest compliments I've ever received. Roughly 80% of my childhood was spent wishing I was Ramona, so now I feel my childhood wasn't spent in vain. 

Traditional books or Ebooks? 

Traditional!

Spicy of bland food? 

Spicy!

I pass the nomination on to:

For My Own Satisfaction - http://formyownsatisfaction.blogspot.com/

Perpetual Perplexities - http://myperpetualperplexities.blogspot.com/

Contemplating the Complexites - http://wastelandsofwisdom.blogspot.com/

As a Teen Writer - http://asateenwriter.blogspot.com/

Dancing Without Moving - http://anaruizwriting.blogspot.com/

Redpunzel - http://redpunzel-carla.blogspot.com/

The Magic Violinist - http://themagicviolinist.blogspot.com/

My questions: 

What's the best prank you've ever pulled? 

What do you like most about blogging? 

A book that made you think for days:

Do you like to keep things messy, or clean? 

If you had an infinite amount of money, what would be the first thing you'd buy? 

What's your favorite movie and why? 

What's your favorite book and why? 

A guilty pleasure: 

If you could be one person, living or dead, for a day, who would it be? 

Something insanely cool that the rest of the world needs to know about? 

Something that makes you really, really mad? 

Poll Results - Fantasy Book List

I haven't had the opportunity to write much, since I'm on a road trip with my family and it's been absolutely jam-packed with things to do. 

So far, I've been to Memphis, TN, and Saint Louis. Memphis was pretty cool, and Saint Louis was awesome. We saw penguins in the Saint Louis Zoo, and toured the arch. 

I've been paying attention to the poll results, and Fantasy is currently tied with Classics/Historical Fiction - so I've decided to make a fantasy book list.

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

I honestly don't know why I waited so long to read this book.  I'd heard good things about it, I'd seen it in the library, but I waited a while before actually reading it. It's creepy and wonderful, delving you deep into a magical world, and the secrets of a Victorian girl's school. 

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

When 18-year-old Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waist and turns into an old crone, she stoically decides to head out into the wilds in the hope of getting rid of the curse. Soon enough, she's made an agreement with Wizard Howl's fire demon, and gotten herself into a whole heap of trouble. It's the kind of book that you read slowly, because you don't want it to end. This book deserves to be a classic, 100%. I fully plan to read it to my children as a bedtime story. 

I finished the audio book just before leaving for my trip - I've read and re-read this book about about a zillion times, and I still love it. Diana Wynne Jones is pretty brilliant, and her old-fashioned fantasy style is reminiscent of  C. S. Lewis or Tolkien.* Actually, that's no coincidence - she attended lectures by both while she was at collage.

A scene from the movie - Howl's bedroom. Even though the movie is nothing like the book**, it's still terrific. I think this is maybe my favorite ever book-movie combo. I think animation is the perfect medium for fantasy movies, but I love animation in general. 

Terry Pratchett in General

Terry Pratchett is a satirical fantasy writer - one of the UK's best selling and most critically acclaimed fantasy writers before J. K. Rowling came along. I've only read three (Equal Rites, Small Gods, The Truth), but I've enjoyed all of them. 

I think The Truth is my favorite so far. The characters are the best thing about the book - Mr. Tulip and Otto the vampire have joined the ranks of my all-time favorite literary characters. I also like the concept behind the novels - they take place in a parallel universe, and the same characters pop up in different novels. The series is a lot of fun to read, and with 39(!) books in all, it'll take a good, long time to work though the whole thing. 

More fantasy books to come!

**As I believer I've said before, I don't mind if a movie doesn't follow a book, as long as the movie itself is good. So many people gripe about movies that don't follow the book, and when I ask them if it was actually a good movie, they look at me blankly and say, "Well, duh, no, it didn't follow the book!" 

So, you mean, a movie has horrible acting, bad directing, and 

*Speaking of Tolkien, have you seen the new Hobbit trailer?