Hi everyone!!
Thank you ALL for participating in my Q&A and giveaway. (If you haven’t entered the giveaway yet, don’t worry you have until midnight today! Click here to go to the giveaway post!!) I was really excited to see all your questions come in. There were so many that I had to divide them into three posts. I’ll be covering all your reading-related questions today, and will be answering writing, blogging and other questions later on this week!!
Marie asked… You need to recommend one book, just ONE BOOK, no matter the genre, age range…. Which one is it and why? (I’m cruel. I’m sorry! ahah)
This is really hard!!! I’ll go with a gut instinct (which is a book I’ve been recommending to everyone these days) which is The Trials of Morrigan Crow. I loved that this book gave me all the Harry Potter vibes and transported me to a fun and magical place. Despite being a middle grade novel, this book delved into surprising deep and dark themes. I loved watching Morrigan grow up and find her identity, and I was rooting for her the entire way!
Forestofathousandbooks asked… What are three books that you think should be required reading?
The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a beautiful book about the devastating impact of lies and the power of truth. Other Words for Home is written entirely in verse, about a young Syrian refugee who struggled to fit in in the foreign country of America. The Book Thief is one of my favourite books of all time!! It described the day-to-day life of a young girl in the midst of a war and highlighted the importance of words and stories.
Caro asked… What are your go-to comfort shows/books?
I don’t watch shows anymore but I can absolutely share my favourite comfort books! In the contemporary genre, I loved loved loved the Heartstopper graphic novel series which I inhaled in a matter of days. I also really enjoyed The Kiss Quotient which is a funny, fast-paced and sexy romance featuring a character with autism. As for the fantasy genre, I loved the Lunar Chronicles series and Carry On which both kept me glued to the edge of my seat!
Zezee asked… If you were limited to reading only 3 books for the rest of the year, what books would they be?
Hahahaha…. this is hard! Although my TBR is miles long, being a mood reader I really don’t have a rhyme or reason to how I’m going to tackle it. For upcoming releases that I’m really excited to jump on, I’d pick Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow (third book in the Nevermoor series!!!) and Three Keys (the sequel to Front Desk!!) Counting Thyme is another book that sounds promising that I am looking forward to reading.
Esther asked… What are some books that you would recommend that are on Kindle Unlimited?
This is a tough question for me since I don’t have Kindle Unlimited. However I noticed that the Harry Potter series is on there as well as The Selection by Kiera Cass. If I were to get Kindle Unlimited, that would be where I would start first! (HP would be a re-read but I haven’t read The Selection yet!)
Esther asked… What is our favourite book from childhood? Adik asked… What was the first book that entered you to the world of books?
Could I pick two??! I spent my early childhood in China where I first learned how to read. Back then, I loved listening to the Journey to the West audiobooks and I loved reading Ne Zha picture books. Both were popular children’s stories from Chinese mythology! (I guess they were the equivalent of Cinderella or Jack and the Bean Stalk back in China?)
This is only slightly related but did you know that Ne Zha was recently remade into a really awesome Chinese animated film?? I loved this movie so much!! It’s on Netflix if you want to watch it!!
Margaret asked… If you could read any book again for the first time, which book would it be?
I would love to read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom for the first time! It’s one of my favourite series that is on the top of my to-re-read list!
Olivia asked… How has your reading taste changed over time/been affected by blogging, or has it not?
I feel like as I get older, I’m reading younger and younger age categories. When I was in high school, I felt “too cool” for young adult, so I mostly read adult fiction. I was a huge fan of crime fiction and non-fiction at the time. Some of my favourite authors were Stephen King and Malcolm Gladwell.
I took a pretty long break from reading during pharmacy school. Well, I was technically reading… just lots of scientific journal articles and textbooks (bleh!!!) It was after I graduated and started working when I had the spare time to delve into books again. This was also the time when I discovered book blogging and fell in love with the world of young adult. I’d really have to credit the online book community for getting me hooked on YA!
This recent year, I got to know Middle Grade a bit more and I’m really starting to fall in love with this age category. I loved how MG books are fun, fast-paced, and SO cute, and it always impresses me how they can touch on issues like racism and death in a way that works for young children.
Juli asked… How has your system for rating books changed over time? Have you become more strict with your 5 stars, stopped using half-stars or anything like it?
Yes I did stop using half-stars!!! To be honest, part of it was because I was too lazy to make half-star graphics hahaha… (also they wouldn’t look great with my fish icons anyway!) Also I realized that I didn’t really need half-stars in my rating system. In most cases I am already leaning either the higher rating or the lower rating.
I think I’ve always been strict with my 5-stars, however I would like to think that I am not afraid to use the lower end of the rating system anymore. Of course there are only very rare situations where I give 1-star or 2-star ratings, because typically I only pick books that I expect to like, however I will use them if necessary!
Zezee asked… Which book cover would you like to redesign?
Usually I don’t have big qualms about book covers. I don’t love all book covers, but in most cases they are acceptable. After all they are designed by professionals! That being said I wasn’t a big fan of the cover for Permanent Record. It didn’t seem really relevant to the plot and… it’s just not that pretty?
Laura asked… If you could rewrite a book from a different character’s POV, which book and POV would you choose and why?
HMMMM I would love to rewrite The Toll from the POVs of Citra and Rowan only. I missed these two characters and I was so sad that I didn’t see much of them in this series finale!
Zezee asked… If you had the option to escape to another fictional world at this moment with your family and friends, where would you want to go?
I’d love to go to Nevermoor!
Charlotte asked… Are there any other fairytale characters that you’d have loved to see Marissa Meyer’s take on within The Lunar Chronicles? (As I know you’ve read them fairly recently).
Oh hmmm! This is not really a fairy tale character but I’d love to have Mulan included in the team of “princesses” (I put this in quotations because Mulan technically was never a princess, she was a Chinese warrior.)
Sebastian asked… Have you ever read manga? If the answer is yes, which series is your favorite? If not, you should try reading one, it’s so easy and entertainin!
Oh boy! I love this question so much!! I don’t talk about manga much on this blog but I used to be a huge manga fan. My favourite from back in the day was X/1999, a graphic novel about the end of the world in the year 1999. The series first began in 1992 however its last volume was published in 2003 and the series remained unfinished. I remember eagerly awaiting for the mangakas to release another volume… but was super disappointed when I realized it might just never be finished.
I loved the beautiful art style of this manga and the dark and twisted plot (probably one of CLAMP’s darkest series??) The mangaka group CLAMP is also well-known for other works like Card Captor Sakura and Tsubasa Chronicles. They also did the character design for the Code Geass anime!
Laura asked… What are 3 book-characters names that you truly love?
Dang. This is a tough question for me because I’m terrible with remembering book names haha. Thinking of the recent books that I’ve read, I like Khai (from The Bride Test), Luna (from The Girl Who Drank the Moon), and Willow (from Counting by 7s).
Let me know how you would answer some of these questions!
Psst!!! My 3-year blogiversary giveaway is still happening until June 8, 2020 at 24:00 (midnight) Pacific Time!! I am giving away $40USD and $20USD on BookDepository to 2 lucky winners (available internationally.) Click here (or the happy fishy below) to check out my giveaway post.
SOPHIE LI 
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