Real Neat Blog Award

Thanks so much to Norkio at Diary of a Book Fiend for nominating me for the Real Neat Blog award! There’s something especially cool about being recognized for being “real neat”! I’ve always considered myself sort of neat, if I do say so myself.

If you haven’t visited Diary of a Book Fiend, head on over there and check her out. Her blogs very pretty, and has some interesting content besides. (Heads up, she will probably try to convince you to read Pillars of the Earth. You’ve been warned!)

Rules

• Display the award logo on your blog
• Thank the folks who nominated you and provide links to their blogs
• Answer the 7 questions asked by your nominator(s)
• Nominate any number of other bloggers to share the award and give them some linky love
• Notify the nominated folk
• Ask the nominees 7 questions of your own

Noriko’s Questions

1. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
   I’ve mentioned before on my blog that I consider myself a centrovert. When I took the OFFICIAL Myers Briggs my E/I score was like, 18/22. I’m extroverted in that I think best out loud (or on paper!), but I’m introverted in that I like some alone time at the end of a long day.
2. How long have you been blogging?
   I’ve only been book blogging about 2 1/2 months. Why I didn’t start doing it sooner, I don’t really know. However, I’ve had several other blogs in the past.
3. What do you  love most about blogging?
   My favorite thing about book blogging has been exactly what I hoped it would be: making friends who love books and want to talk about them. My family and friends aren’t the most avid readers, and they don’t really like the same kind of books that I do when they do read. It gets pretty lonely reading all these books every year and having nobody to talk to about them! It’s been so excellent having the chance to finally TALK. I’m super excited about jointing the Calendar Girls read-along for August (My Lady Jane, info HERE if you’re interested!) because it’s kind of like being in a book club! Only I don’t have to go to someone’s house and feel awkward when I don’t know half the people and am the only one not drinking.
   
4. Who is your favorite author?
   That’s just an obscenely hard question. My favorite BOOK is The Lord of the Rings, so I suppose in some ways Tolkien is my favorite author. But I just ADORE about four of Jane Austen’s novels, so maybe its her. On the other hand, not saying J.K. Rowling seems insulting to the fandom I’ve so lovingly belonged to since the year 2000.
5. What keeps you from attaining goals?
   Um, nothing? If anything, possibly having too many goals. But I’m a completionist, y’all. I don’t not complete goals. That would be like not checking off everything on your checklist.
   
6. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
   Hopefully still book blogging! In five years my son will be 7 (yikes!!!) and my (hopefully soon!!!) second child will be getting close to kindergarten. So I see myself reading in the car at soccer practice, mostly! Haha. But seriously, I’m hoping to be working in the school district I’m living in so I can be close to my kids, not commuting an hour each way.
7. What quality do you look for in a friend? What about them attracts you the most?
   This is going to sound ridiculous, but friendship. I can be friends with pretty much anyone, whether we’re interested in the same things or not. But so many of my friends in the past just, haven’t cared enough to stay friends when we didn’t live down the street anymore. And honestly, I probably didn’t care enough either. It takes a special kind of friend to keep calling even when you haven’t seen each other in a while, or even when you can’t do anything because you have to stay home with your kid.

People I Think are Real Neat

• Darque Dreamer Reads
• Little Blind Book Finds
• MNBernard Books
• The Orangutan Librarian
• RiverMoose Reads

My Questions for Them

1. What do you love most about blogging?
2. Why did you start blogging in the first place?
3. Do you have a favorite genre?
4. What is your favorite book you’ve read so far this year, and what did you love about it?
5. Favorite and least favorite slang word of the 2010s. (Hint, “neat” is not from the 2010s.)
6. Which kind of apocolypse do you most enjoy reading/watching/thinking about?
7. What about a blog makes you follow?

Thanks again to Noriko for my nomination! I’m still basking in my neat glory.