Sunshine Blogger Award

It’s been a while since I’ve done anything other on this blog than book reviews… I bet you’re all mightily bored with me, and I apologize but this time of year is usually when my natural hibernation kind of kicks in (Estonians call it the ‘spring exhaustion’. Yeah, we have a thing!) and honestly- BLA-BLAH-BLAH! There was a whole ton of excuses written instead of the ‘bla blah blah’ but nobody likes a moaner so I shall not bore you to death with details- YAWN-

My many thanks to Aria @ Snow White Hates Apples. I started following her recently and I enjoyed reading her answers to the questions she received. I think I may have grossed her out a bit with my comment on eating trotters and pig’s ears, but ain’t world just a wonderful place with strange kitchens and eating habits? 🙂 Check out her blog- that should go without saying!

Rules.. there’s always rules… Have you ever wondered what would happen to us as humans if we had no rules to follow? Would we be entirely lost? Would be have enough common sense to do the right thing? Or would be be like this  yawning cat who just doesn’t give two shits about anything apart from sleeping and eating and being patted every once in a while? Anyway, the rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write then 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

Thanking you again, Aria! It feels great to be noticed and thought about 🙂

Q&A time, baby! *let me just freshen up my make up and pat down my hair and you know, do whatever it is that one is supposed to do when getting ready for the spotlight to hit their shiny foreheads*

If you could be a book character for a day, who would you be?

Now that is a banger of a question. *puts on thinking cap* I would like to live a day in the shoes of… Dani from Sockpuppet by Matthew Blakstad. I’d love to try out the crazy coder/hacker personality… Dani was like up all night creating this software and then to get arrested? Yeah, that would be a new experience for sure… although I would pass on popping pills and shagging some strange fellows… yeah.. just the coding bit, please!

Is there a book genre that never fails in keeping you in love with it?

I’m a 50/50 kind of person. I’m not too overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic but my cup is sometimes only half full (to which some would say- get a smaller bra!) so I tend to think that all good things come to an end at some stage. If I was only reading a certain genre, I would eventually get fed up with it, so I try to mix things up a bit. I would say, fantasy is my got to genre but sometimes even fantasy doesn’t deliver. I think I am totally a mood reader and I have many different moods so if a book in whatever genre has characters that manage to twist me up, and writing that keeps me engaged then I’m game. Books are just awesome. They’re like people- all different kinds with their own interesting quirks, the good and the bad in every nationality (genre).

Favorite poet/playwright?

I have to say I hugely value Estonian poets… for example: Marie Under (1883-1980), Lydia Koidula (1843-1886).. there are just too many to name from this period of time… their poems ranged from feelings of oppression to the love of their land, to everything anyone could value as a human being. The two ladies I mentioned specifically played a huge part in advancing Estonian culture in terms of literature and theater. Their works are still highly valued and referenced in modern day. A couple of Koidula’s poems for example were set to music. Mu isamaa on minu arm (My Country is My Love) became the unofficial anthem during the Soviet occupation when her father’s Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm (My Country is My Pride and Joy), the anthem of the Estonian Republic between 1921 and 1940, was forbidden.

I’ve personally been to only one of the Estonian Song Festivals… but Koidula’s song finishes every festival to this day since 1947. As a nation we sang ourselves free from occupation, The Singing Revolution, and the festival.. it has to be one of the most powerful events I’ve ever been to. It just fills me with pride that the works and words of long passed poets are still ringing true and close to heart, and to have thousands of people singing along with hundreds of people in the choir is just… goosebumps! The next Song Festival is on in 2019, so if you’re planning a getaway trip to a country you haven’t been to yet- Visit Estonia and attend the festival. (hahaha, this is turning into a tourism ad!)

Your very first book is going to be published! What is it titled?

Um… Hologram Heiress! Some teaser images below for content… dig it? 😀

Your favorite color and the name of the main character of the last book you’ve read is your superhero/supervillain name. What is it?

Black Paige! Hahaha.. that sounds like Black Widow or something… yeah, man killer… you know, the Nelly Furtado song! Oh sorry! That was man eater! Pfffft!

Choose a book you’ve read this year to burn, reread, and rewrite. (One for each.)

Burn: none yet this year! Hooray! Actually… I don’t come across those books often that I’d throw into the furnace. I mean… we need bad apples in every aspect. How else are we going to be able to tell the crap apart from the gold? Plus, learning curve. There’s always the learning curve with the bad seeds.

Reread: I don’t normally reread books. If I’ve read them once, I’m finished with them. Sad but true. There are a select few I do plan to reread however, but they’re from the past not this year.

Rewrite: Ummm… well… rewrite should only been done on books that aren’t published. If they are published then I would go back to the Burn category answer.

Which antagonist do you think would make a pretty interesting protagonist?

I don’t think I have enough brains to answer this question. *dons the thinking cap again* Can I say Satan? hahahaha… erm, right… yeah, the Devil would make an interesting protagonist, I guess? Or maybe not… more like boring? Imagine flipping everything in religions around- the holy become unholy, vice versa. Somebody write this book and we will hear minds being blown across the planet. How it grinds against what we know and believe in. How the message of the unthinkable tries to plant itself in one’s thoughts and how one’s will struggles in the fight of keeping their mind untainted by a different angle.

How about Count Dracula? To turn all his vices into virtues would make Dracula a sappy bloke, indeed.

Antagonists are often my favorite characters to read about. Once you take away their raw, brutal characteristics, they’re like everyone else and blend into the mass of a regular and safe. No adrenaline there to be got!

If you had to memorize a classic book—line for line—to save your life, which one would it be?

I think I’d go for ‘Animal Farm’ by Orwell. Ageless, isn’t it? Give a living being some power to abuse, bend to their personal agenda, and their moral compass and common sense go haywire. There, an example of my half-filled cup again.

A book everybody loves but you hate?

Ah, hate is such a strong word. I dislike quite a few books that others have loved. Examples? Sure… There’s Lolita by Nabokov for example. Just could not stomach reading it, but I am considering trying it again. I know The Idiot by Dostoevsky is a well-liked book, but I just found it SUCH a bore. Something modern? Well, there are plenty of hype books that I am reluctant to try even though I might like them… For example, I can’t ever see myself reading Harry Potter- just not interested, and I;m not saying I hate it, I just don’t care. The SJ Maas books- again, simply not interested. Who knows though? I may try them some day… in about 10 years from now, and decide I’m a wanker for not reading them sooner, hey!!

Best last line you’ve read in a novel?

Really good question. I haven’t really taken much attention as I normally generalize the overall feeling of endings… So, I don’t have one at the moment. But the question itself has definitely helped me realize that maybe I need to pay more attention to the last lines. I may have been missing out.

A famous game developer is going to adapt a book of your choice into a game. What book is it?

I’m not really into games… I bet at this stage I come across like a really boring asshole. No hype books, no games, so on and so on.. ok, I’ll make an effort… hmm… yeah, I can’t.. I can’t visualize wanting to play something that I’ve read. Besides, I’m a dunce with the controller (I’ve tried, just too many buttons to remember) and as for boardgames… I’d choose something old and classic… Snakes and Ladders, or like a card game or something. I may be missing out… but I have no time to wallow in the fact I may be missing out! 🙂 win-win!

Phewh! Great questions by Aria… Here are mine:

1. Imagine you are a teacher in front of a classroom full of teenagers (say, 16 year olds)- which book would you choose to discuss with them and why?
2. Think about the biggest book characters you’ve ever read about- put them all together in a single book- what would it be called and what would they get up to? (Kill each other, take over the world, etc?)
3. If you could make one book mandatory for the whole of your country, which book would it be and why?
4. Describe or show me your most favorite book cover EVER!
5. If you were a character in a book- which book would you like to be in, and what would your role be?
6. Knock out time! The world is coming to an end… you can save every living being from apocalypse if you choose one genre to forever be banished from literature. What genre would that be?
7. Time to DJ! Create the craziest genre mix you would love to read. (Erotic nordic noir?, Religious scifi?, Classic book with aliens? etc etc, go crazy!)
8. Survival- you’re on a desert island and you have your favorite book with you. You need to cook a dinner but can’t make the fire unless you use the pages of the book. Would you burn your book to cook meals or would you rather starve to death?
9. Sometimes books piss us off… like, big time… can you name the book that caused your emotions to go from disbelief to rage and give us an a colorful detailed report of your rage.
10. Name the best author and their book from your country.
11. Because this is a sunshine blogger award- describe your sunniest, best, warmest ever blogging experience?

On to the tags!

Here are the 11 latest blogs I started following… no one is obligated to do the tag however it would be interesting to see your answers…  everyone else is of course free to have a go as well!

lit this & that || The Book Weirdo || dragons & zombies || Written Word Worlds

Little Bookness Lane || Rambling Lisa’s Book Reviews || Book Chatter

Reads & Reels || Regan Out Loud || Fantasy Review Barn || Book Mojo