Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Blogger Interview: Nick's Book Blog

I love my blogging friends and have been thinking a while about how I want to introduce them to you. If you’re new to this blog, you’ll meet some very cool people throughout the following months and if you’re a regular visitor, then you most likely already know some of these lovelies, but what’s better than getting to know each other more closely ;) My interview forms will be the same for everyone to even the playing field. (So if you're a regular here and haven't been interviewed so far on Little Pieces of Imaginations, set yourself ready to answer some questions sometime during this year :)) Oh, and since I wanted to make this as good as I possibly can, I also added the profile bio at the beginning of the interview forms and the inspiration came from Isabel [Sab The Book Eater] whose blogger interviews I once stumbled upon.

Today I'll be interviewing Nick who is one of the most wonderful people I know. She makes me laugh and always listens to my rants (and vice versa) and she is just.. Gahhh. I don't have any words to describe her, because she's nothing short of amazing. Want to get to know her a little better? :) Here you go!




Profile

Name: Nick
Age: 20
Origin: Mauritius. It’s this tiny little island in the Indian Ocean that most people haven’t heard of because it’s so small and doesn’t even appear on maps.
Blog name: Nick’s Book Blog
URL: http://nicksbookblog93.blogspot.com
Blog’s age: 2 years 2 months
Favorite book of all time: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte


Interview


Siiri: Introduce yourselves in 140 characters or less.
Nick: I'm Nick. I like hot baths, ice-cream, cute book boys and curling up with a book. I’m also a Biologist with dreams of saving the world.

Siiri: Ice cream? Cute book boys? What's not to like :) Okay, so why did you start blogging? Have you changed a lot throughout it? What kind of advice would you have for people who are thinking about picking up blogging? Do you have any blogging inspirations who you look up to?
Nick: The school system back home is different from the US and Europe. We start the school year in January and end the school year in November, which means I had to go to college in August and I had a year of break. During that time, I was exhausted with school and didn’t want to do anything with my time but read, so I didn’t end up getting a job like probably should have. I was already on GR from some time, so I started to log on more often, discovering books. Then, one day, I discovered the book blog A Cupcake and a Latte (which unfortunately no longer exists) along with Xpresso Reads (by the brilliant Giselle). I was fascinated and I started following them religiously for weeks. Then, I decided because nobody in my surroundings understood by obsession with books, I wanted a book blog for myself and well, that’s how Nick’s Book Blog was born!

I have definitely changed over the course of my blogging experience. I feel like my reviews have gotten better although they are nowhere near perfect and I’ve also learned so much from other bloggers.

My only advice is if you’re starting a blog to get ARCs or free books, don’t bother. Blogging should be about sharing your love for books and meeting awesome new people.

Yes, I do! As I mentioned, Giselle at Xpresso Reads is one of my biggest inspirations, as I’m sure she is for many other people. She is the one who made me want to have a blog. But there are also the awesome bloggers that I follow on a daily basis who continue to inspire me with their wonderful reviews and posts : Jenny @ Supernatural Snark, Jenni at XpressReads, Jasprit&Rachel at The Reader’s Den, Sam @ The Realm of Fiction, Siiri (who is also my blogging bestie because she understands my frustrations like no one else! ;) ) and many more!

Siiri: I love all of these blogs too! Ha, and you're just too darn adorable for your own good:) Are you an organized reader? Tell us a little bit about your blogging habits.
Nick: I’m moderately organized. Whenever I get ARCs I typically schedule when I will post my review, but my reading habits are a little bit all over the place. I tend to randomly pick books depending on my mood. 

Siiri: What is your favorite and least favorite thing about blogging? 
Nick: My favorite thing about blogging is most definitely the friends I’ve made. I love swooning over book boys, sharing my excitement over books, ranting and venting about books that I hate with a passion with my friends! I also love discovering new books which I wouldn’t have had I not been blogging.
My least favorite thing has to be the overwhelming amount of drama there seems to be in the blogging world. Also, sometimes, blogging can become like a chore, but that’s when I know I need a break.

Siiri: Yeah, I can definitely tell you a thing or two about blogging feeling like a chore, but breaks [usually] always work for me too. So, how many books do you own and do you categorize them in some ways on your shelf? 
Nick: Right now, because I’m in college and I live in the dorms I only have 15 or so books that I bought over break. All of my books are back home and I don’t know how many I have. Plus, my mother donated almost half of my books to an orphanage, so I’m sure there aren’t many. I’m one of those people who actually prefers ebooks to physical books because they are so much easier to deal with. With the few books I have, I organize them by authors. 

Siiri: I'm sure the kids are happy to read these books since you have a wonderul taste in books. I don't have any organization whatsoever. They're just.. in a very random order lol. Okayyy, so what are your favorite genres and who are some of your favorite authors?
Nick: I don’t have a favorite genre as such, but a lot of what I read depends on my mood. One genre that I always find myself going back to is YA contemporary. I have so much love for YA contemporary books because they always manage to lift my mood. I also really enjoy fantasy because I’m a huge fan of rich world building and descriptive writing. Another genre I’m fond of is YA historical fiction! There’s so much going on in those books! I used to also love YA dystopian a couple of years ago but right now, I’m burned out and have been avoiding a lot of them because they have become so repetitive and a lot of them have disappointed me as of late. 

My favorite authors? That’s a hard one. I’m going to go with Richelle Mead because she’s the one who really got me into YA. Other noteworthy authors are Stephanie Perkins, R.L LaFevers, Veronica Rossi and Kristen Simmons.

Aria and Perry. Source.
Siiri: Love me some Richelle Mead and Veronica Rossi :) And Stephanie Perkins, yay. I’m a big shipper and I almost always ship a pairing in a book I’m reading. Do you have any OTPs? :D If so, why do you like these pairings so much? What makes them special?
Nick: I’m such a shipper too, Siiri! I fall so easily for book couples! But I’m just going to share 3 of my all-time favorites!

Some of my OTPs are :
  • Aria & Perry. These two! My god! The feels they give me is just enough to melt me into a puddle. I also like how they can survive independent of one another and while they are very protective of each other, they are also so supportive. 
  • Chase & Ember. Chase & Ember have gone through so much together. They’ve had many ups and downs in their relationship but they are perfect for each other. They are like pillars to each other.
  • Rose and Dimitri. *SWOON* That is all.

Siiri: Haha. I need to meet Chase and Ember, but I agree with the other two :) If you could have dinner with 5 authors/characters, dead or alive, who would the be and what would you ask each of them (without spoilers, of course)? 
Nick:
  • Richelle Mead – WHY DID YOU LET THEM MAKE A MOVIE OUT OF YOUR GORGEOUS BOOKS? Nah, in all honesty, I’d probably just ask her where I can find myself a Dimitri or Adrian!! 
  • R.L LaFevers – There’s too much I’d want to ask her!
  • Stephanie Perkins – How does she always manage to write the most adorable boys ever?
  • Charlotte Bronte – I want to know if she was as strong and brave as Jane!
  • Kristan & Becca Ritchie – I’d just want to meet them and then steal their laptops, which hopefully contains everything to do with Hothouse Flower! (RYKE! <3) 

Siiri: Where can we find you when you’re not reading or blogging?
Nick: Either studying (college is hard –’), sleeping or eating. Yeah, I lead a really boring life.

This or that

Blogger or Wordpress? Blogger because I don’t know what Wordpress is like and I haven’t had any major issues with Blogger.
Facebook or Twitter? Twitter. Facebook is just really annoying.
Physical books or e-books? E-books. They are easier to carry around and no one has to know what I’m reading, especially my mother. (Who wants their mom to know that they are reading books with lots of sexy times? :P)
Contemporary or fantasy? Hmm ... That depends on my mood. I’m a huge fan of both genres, but right now I’m going through a contemporary phase.
Music or no music? (while reading) No music
Triangle or no triangle? Ugh! Why is this even a question? I hate love triangles with a burning passion.
Insta-love or slow-burn?
Slow-burn for sure.
Cliff hanger or no cliff hanger? No cliffhanger.

3 random facts about you would be...

  • I’ve had accidents happen to me every year. Every single year. Sometimes, they’ve been pretty bad with me ending up having to have surgeries. One year, I was about 7 or so, someone pushed me off a slide and my head into a concrete block and well, my head split open. 
  • Nobody around me knows that I own a book blog. I’ve been keeping the secret for over 2 years now!
  • For some reason, I’m like a gossip sink. Everyone dumps their gossip on me and at times, I’m not sure what to do. I guess I’m one of those people who everyone tells their secrets to. It’s not at all fun, btw and I hate it. -_-
Siiri: Oh, no! I had one head accident as well right before I went to first grade, but it all turned out okay. Eh, guess we were always meant to be friends what with splitting our heads open lol. Okay, stupid joke. Sorry. *awkward* um, I have a friend like that who gets all the gossip and she has the same problem so I feel for you, hon. Thank you so so so much for taking time off studying for all your exams and stuff and answering these questions *hugs* :)

Anyhow, that was it and I had so much fun reading Nick's answers. I hope you had too and give Nick some love, because she so deserves it :)

15 comments:

  1. Wow! Nick sounds so awesome! *waves shyly* I'm totally checking out her blog now. The head cracking skull thing is a bit scary... I've never even been to the hospital (apart from being born, that is, but I kind of don't remember that). This is such a great idea, Siiri!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had so much fun with Nick, I love her book blog too and so happy to hear that you guys are bloggy friends as well. I really enjoyed her answers and your conversation. For some reason people seem to dump their secrets on me too, mainly because I don't really tell anyone! Great interview, I really enjoyed it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Siiri! I <3 you! And you are so awesome!
    Thanks for the lovely comments Cait and Jeann! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY NICK!!!!!! I love this interview so much you guys! It's so nice to have bloggers be on the answering end of questions rather than the asking, I so enjoy getting to know my blogger friends a little better! I'm with you completely on your favorite and least favorite aspects of blogging. The friends/blogging drama would have been my exact answers as well. And it's so interesting that you seem to be a gossip receptacle for everyone around you! Maybe because you're quiet? So people feel like they can just say whatever they need to get off their chests? I can see how that would be frustrating for sure:)

    You both are bloggers I visit every day and I'm so, so thrilled to have "met" you both. You make me happy:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenny! I <3 you and your blog too! Plus, you're an awesome buddy to rant about love triangles and series endings with. :) I'm really glad I met you and your blog. :)

      Delete
  5. Wow, how did I not know Richelle Mead is one of your favorite authors! Nick how and WHY have you not read the Geogina Kinkaid books???
    I remember A Cupcake and a Latte! So sad that she deleted her blog. I emailed her after silently stalking her blog for about a year. I asked her where she started her blog and she told me blogger and to go for it, so I did :)
    Wow, I think our blog is the same age! I started December 2011.
    Other than my boyfriend, sister and one of my old work friends, no one knows I have a blog (or 3) either. I feel kind of silly about it for some reason.
    This was fun! Looking forward to more of these!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dude, she got me into YA fiction. I adore Richelle Mead. I know I know. I fail. I started her Succubus series and couldn't get into it, so I haven't tried her adult books yet, but I will. Someday.
      Yeah, I was a silent stalker too and I was sad when she deleted her blog. :(

      Delete
  6. This is a awesome interview! I use did a couple of these way back when, but its been so long :) I can't listen to music while reading too. I don't know how some people do it!

    Janina @ Synchronized Reading

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get distracted by the lyrics and start singing instead of reading! xD

      Delete
  7. Nice to meet you Nick :)
    Great interview was kind of cute. I agree about blogging feeling like a chore sometimes. I don't think anyone wants that. I also mostly keep my blogging a secret, only a few people know about it - but not my friends that I have known for a while lol since their interest seems to differ I don't need them snooping.

    ReplyDelete
  8. THAT PICTURE. Mauritius seems like a gorgeous place *dreamy look* Hello another biologist *waves* Biology is the best :D Fantasy & historical fiction are also two genres I really enjoy. R.L LaFevers would be welcome on my dinner party too. Blogspot, twitter, low-burn, no-cliffhanger, agreed on all!

    Thanks for sharing this fun interview!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aw, what a fun interview! I already adored Nick; now I adore her even more. That's funny that you keep your blog private from your family/friends. I do that too. In real life, only a couple people know, and we never ever talk about it. I like having a separate space and taking off my filter!

    Thanks for such a great post, ladies!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great interview! I think these interviews are perfect, as I'm fairly new to the blogging world. Nick seems really cool haha (: It was awesome to learn more about her. I'm definitely going to be checking out Nick's blog after this. We appear to have a lot in common: an appreciation of Stephanie Perkins, keeping blogging secret, lover of historical fiction and cute book boys [;

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is a fab idea Siiri, I feel like I have made so many fabulous blogging friends, but this post makes it a lot more personal and I feel as if I know Nick even more better now. Hardly anyone knows about my blog either Nick, just close family and friends and I really like keeping it that way, it's a like a nice cosy place I can turn to when I need picking up! I also have a review schedule too, but try to stick to my review books, but like you mentioned, I have become a mood reader for sure. And I really need to get back to the VA series, everyone I know keeps going on about Rose and Dimitri! Fabulous interview lovelies! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a fun feature! I love how blogging brings people all over the world together. Often I forget that we live in such different places. I am such a mood reader as well, Nick. I can totally relate on that. I love that you want to be a biologist. It sounds like your home is the perfect place to do that. I couldn't read pleasure books in college. It was way too much for me. I'm amazed at all of you who manage it on top of your school work and friends. Great interview!

    ReplyDelete