Catching up on Blog Awards Part 1 | The Sunshine Blogger Award (x 3)

I feel really bad saying this because I genuinely appreciate being tagged in tags and awards so so much. But I am so so bad at getting to them.
I just always forget?? And then the longer it goes, the longer I put them off.
_{(And also mainly because I find them so hard to format with all the questions?)}

That’s all changing today though as over the next few weeks, here on aliterarylatte.com _{(the .com is still so exciting oh my)} I’m going to be answering all the questions I’ve been asked and sharing the tag love!

First off… _{*drum roll please*} is The Sunshine Blogger Award! (x 3)

The Rules

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive and inspiring while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

The Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked 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 in your post/or on your blog.

Award #1

Thank you so much to Nish and Ngoc @ Nish and Ngoc’s Book Nook for nominating me! _{(Back in September 2019, I’m so sorry).}

Question 1 | How do you like to organise your bookshelf?

I actually don’t really have a bookshelf? I have shelves with some books on which is not organised at all oops, but I actually exclusively read ebooks! But I’ve seen the rest of the questions so I’ll talk more about that later ;).

Question 2 | What was the last book you added to your tbr?

I wrote a whole blog post with my immediate tbr recently so you can go and check that one out if you’d like! (shameless self-plug haha).

But the most recent one I added that isn’t on that list is Dear Justyce by Nic Stone because I recently read Dear Martin and this is the sequel (although it’s not out yet). Definitely recommend Dear Martin though if you haven’t already read it.

Question 3 | What’s your favourite ice-cream flavour?

If you’d have asked me this question last week I would have said vanilla.
BUT. I recently had butter pecan ice-cream at a restaurant (which came with a double chocolate chip cookie) and it was the most delicious desert I’ve ever had. Up there with lemon meringue pie and rice pudding. It was just that good.

Question 4 | Do you prefer first or third person?

I actually really don’t mind? If it is in first person I have to like the character and their voice (so it’s much harder to deal with an annoying character) but I probably read more third person. If it’s third though it does need to be in past tense for me. I don’t really like the present tense where it’s like “Emme writes a blog post. She types on the keyboard”.

Question 5 | What was your last 5 star read?

Firstly I love that this is question 5.
Secondly I really don’t remember because I haven’t rated a book 5 star in so long (all the books I’ve really loved lately have been 4 stars so I’m not sure what’s missing but my ratings seems to have got harsher). I need to check GoodReads for this.

Thirdly, answering the question, my last 5 star read was: Becoming by Michelle Obama. So deserving because Michelle Obama is so inspiring.

Question 6 | What is your least favourite book trope?

Insta-love.
Enough said.

Question 7 | Do you prefer physical books, e-books or audiobooks?

Ebooks for sure!! I wrote a whole discussion post a while back (my most popular blog post?!) on the pros and cons of ebooks but to summarise:

• I much prefer reading on my Kindle than physical books (weird I know). I don’t mind paperbacks but… I hate hardcover books.
• Secondly, and most importantly, they are so!! much!! cheaper!!
  E.g. I read How To Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters recently and it was 99p on Kindle. The paperback on the other hand is £10.99. Why spend £10.99 when you can spend 99p ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

I’ve never actually read an audiobook but I have started The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert so I’ll let you know how that goes!

Question 8 | What’s a genre you consider outside of your comfort zone?

It’s actually fantasy?
I usually do enjoy YA fantasies when I read them (the Six of Crows duology are my all-time fave books and I love that found family) but they really intimidate me.
And I’m also super cautious that they’ll be kind of graphic?
I definitely do want to get into fantasies more though so I’ll probably pick some up soon! It’s just always so hit or miss whether I’ll like them or not whereas contemporaries are a lot ‘safer’ and I know I’ll like it 99% of the time.

Question 9 | Are you a dog or cat person?

Dogs. Cats lowkey scare me.

Question 10 | Where is your favourite place to read?

Just in general it’d either be my bed or the sofa.
But. I really love reading on holiday either on the balcony with a sea view or those lounge chairs.

Question 11 | How does your star rating system work (if you use one)?

I don’t really use one, I just rate with whatever my gut feeling says to be honest with you. I have one kind of written up over on my review policy page just because I feel like I should have one, but I just go with whatever my first instinct is.
Even if a book has virtually no flaws for me (like Love From A To Z by S.K. Ali and Love, Creekwood by Becky Abertalli) it can still be a 4 star read for me just because something (who knows what) was missing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

^{Ever since I read Six of Crows my ratings are just harsher because nothing measures up to that 5 star read haha.}

Award #2

Another one from 2019 (because I’m a terrible blogger :)) but this time from August! Thank you Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea for tagging me!! <3.

Question 1 | How do you choose the books on your tbr?

Entirely from the book community – book bloggers and booktubers mainly. Just anytime I see a book mentioned that sounds really good (whether that’s a review, monthly recap, recommendations post etc) I’ll add it to my Amazon wishlist (because, fun fact, I don’t really use the GoodReads Want to Read shelf).

Question 2 | Your most disliked book of all time?

I actually don’t really have one? All The Bright Places sprung to mind but that’s purely because I read it when I was like 11 and I was not expecting the heavy subject matter.

Question 3 | Why do you read?

SUCH A HARD QUESTION.
I honestly don’t know how to answer this?
Mainly for enjoyment because it is just so relaxing _{(in the figurative sense because some books are just not that relaxing)} to lose myself in someone else’s life? And it’s so interesting and important to read about other experiences that are totally different to your own.
I just love it??

Question 4 | Why did you start your book blog?

I have had so many blogs over the years.
So many.
I’ve had multiple lifestyle blogs under various names before this blog, but then when I discovered bookstagram, I found Cait @ Paper Fury‘s blog and absolutely loved it (still do!) And then I just decided that it would be fun to set up my own!
I had two more before this one, and then finally A Literary Latte was created!
I just love the sense of community, the raving about books and getting to shout about the ones I love, constantly finding new and amazing recommendations to add to my tbr list, designing graphics and writing posts, having an aesthetic layout.
It’s just so much fun and a great hobby to have, particularly as I am not focused on the numbers/statistics at all and so it’s just stress free and relaxing.

Question 5 | Favourite non-romantic trope?

Found family for sure!!
Six of Crows of course springs to mind _{(how many times have I mentioned those books in this series haha)} but I need to find more!
I’ve heard The Gilded Wolves is found family and has been marked as like Six of Crows _{(but then again so is every YA fantasy with more than 5 main characters)} so I’m hoping to read that soon!

Question 6 | Do you watch booktube? If so, who are your fave booktubers?

I only recently (as in, in the last 2 weeks or so) started watching booktube but I’m so glad I discovered it!!
I’m not really subscribed to that many channels (so let me know your faves!) but my fave two booktubers at the moment are:
Joel @ Fictional Fates
Jananie @ This Story Ain’t Over

Question 7 | Fave books so far this year?

Six of Crows (a reread from last year) and Crooked Kingdom.
Easy.
I loved that duology so so much?? It was just totally different to any other book that I’ve read in that I had such an emotional connection to it, which never happens?
I was just so invested and I love that crew so much.
If you haven’t read it yet – listen to the hype and read it because it’s so amazing!

Question 8 | How did you come up with the title of your blog?

Honestly I have no idea?? I think I just tried to think of bookish words (literary) and then I just wanted alliteration. And so A Literary Latte was made.
_{I don’t even have lattes that often but they are pretty nice. Iced lattes especially are great.}

Question 9 | Do you read adult books and middle grade books besides YA?

Not really no.
I’m not against either but I just never lean towards them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I did want to read Get A Life, Chloe Brown though which I’ve heard so much about, and I think that’s an adult romance.

Question 10 | How long does it usually take you to write a blog post?

It varies so much depending on the post, but generally 1-2 hours?
This post has taken me about an hour so far but I’ve also been watching booktube at the same time so I am not entirely focused on it which means it takes longer.
Overall though with graphics and layout it probably takes about 3-4 hours to write a post?

Question 11| What are some books that need more appreciation?

This is really bad but honestly I mainly read hyped books so I don’t really know? Purely because I have such a backlist that most of the books on my tbr are those that were hyped ages ago.
Dear Martin and How To Be Remy Cameron are two that came to mind though – I don’t see them talked about that much on the blogosphere but they are both so good. Dear Martin especially is such an important read.

Award #3

And now for athe final Sunshine Blogger Award (from August 2020, so I’m not really late!)
Thank you to Amber @ Amber’s Reads for tagging me!

Question 1 | How have you been passing time during quarantine?

Mainly reading, artwork for my small business, Netflix (I’m rewatching my favourite show, The Big Bang Theory), blogging (especially these last few weeks) and YouTube!

Question 2 | Do you have any family recipes?

Not that I’m aware of? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Question 3 | What widely-beloved author’s work do you hate?

Ooh hate is such a strong word.
I really didn’t like City of Bones by Cassandra Clare?
I’m going to spoil the series so if you don’t want to see that skip to the next question.

But the whole incest thing??? No???
I didn’t even find it that good (maybe 3 stars) even before the twist, but I was planning on carrying on the series. And then the whole incest plot twist happened. Nope.
Apparently they don’t discover that they’re not siblings until book 3/4. And idk. It’s just a no from me.
Also the cover. Is ugly.

Question 4 | Do you have any unpopular opinions?

That I don’t like reading physical books.
Yeah.
I’ll just show myself out.

Question 5 | Do you bullet journal?

I did have a bullet journal the past 3 years, and then this year I decided to get the Amanda Rach Lee Doodle Planner (because it was a similar layout to my bujo so I thought I’d try it).
Next year though I’m going back to my bujo because I really miss setting up my own spreads!

Question 6 | If you had one wish from a genie and it had to be selfish (no solving world peace, sadly) what would you choose?

To overcome my anxiety.
Although it has got so much better _{(thank you Yoga With Adriene)}, it would be so much easier if I just didn’t have my anxiety.

Question 7 | How would you rate your 2020 from 1 to 10, and why?

On an overall level, a 2. Corona virus hasn’t been all that great.
But on a personal level maybe a 7? Or a 6.5?

Question 8 | Have you accomplished any of your goals for 2020?

Yes and no?
I’m planning on writing a blog post with my initial lockdown goals (which spoiler, I didn’t really reach (and double spoiler, that’s totally fine)) but my general goals that I set in January I have done pretty well with.
I definitely haven’t completely ticked them off but all of them were work in progress goals and I am making progress which is amazing.

And that’s all of the questions!!
It was so fun to answer all of these because I love doing Q&A’s (even though I find them so hard to format haha).
Thanks so much to all of the bloggers who tagged me and I’d definitely recommend you check them out!

What has been your favourite book so far of 2020? What would your one wish be?
Who are your fave booktubers?
And what are some books that you think are under-hyped?

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