Blogger Interview: Books of Amber

Hiii, lovelies! Are you ready for yet another introduction of an awesome blogger? ;) This month's second blogger interview is all about a hilarious girl from UK aka the shipper of all shippers. I love this girl to pieces for always making me laugh with her fangirling moments and feels. Seriously! You know nothing about expressing your excessive feels until you've seen Amber's tweets. She is very opinionated and never fails to leave an impression. Also, the girl loves her Disney! Not only do I look up to her as a blogger, she's also a great friend and I'm buzzing with excitement for you to get to know her a little better. So, without further ado, everyone, meet Amber! Amber, meet everyone :)

Profile 

Name: Amber. Or Vi, but only certain members of my family call me that.
Age: 21, unbelievably.
Origin: England, just west of London.
Blog Name: Books of Amber
URL: http://www.booksofamber.com
Blog's age: 3 years and 10 months. She's a wonderful toddler.
Favourite book of all time: *hyperventilates* I DON'T KNOW. Harry Potter!

Interview

Siiri: Introduce yourself in 140 characters or less
Amber: I'm a proud fangirl and everyone knows it. I'm prone to Twitter breakdowns and I'm pretty sure I scare my followers away with my tears.

Siiri: Haha. I believe that there are very few who haven't seen your obsessive fangirling. It's the bestessst example of great fangirling ;) So tell us, 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?
Amber: I started blogging because I decided, way back in May 2010, that I wanted to share my thoughts on books. I had seen other people reviewing books on sites like Shelfari and Goodreads, and I thought I would join in. I didn't officially start my blog until September 2010, and I've definitely changed a lot since then. I was 17 at the time, still in school and under a lot of pressure because I was still determined to study medicine at university. I think I've improved for the better, since I think I'm a better person than I was back then. My only advice for people who are thinking about starting a book blog is that you should write about what you enjoy. Blog for yourself, not to gain followers or free books. Otherwise it's not going to be an enjoyable experience!

Siiri: Definitely for yourself. I mean, followers are nice and all (and I love you guys like no other!), but the numbers really put a huge pressure on yourself that one could do better without. It's much more enjoyable without obsessing over followers and free books :) Are you an organised reader? Tell us a little bit about your blogging habits.
Amber: I used to be! This time last year I would work off a list to pick out books to read and which posts to write. Now I'm a lot less organised, and (despite being in a slump right now *shakes fist at The Final Empire*) not sticking to a set TBR has really helped keep me energised and excited about reading. I have been neglecting my review copies, though.

Siiri: I used to envy your skills at being able to follow your tbr to a T. For me, it's more like "I like doing lists, but when I put something there, you can be 78% sure I won't read it" >.< Ugh. It's so annoying. Lists though! That's my speciality ;) What is your favourite and least favourite thing about blogging?
Amber: My favourite thing about blogging is definitely the community. Without the community, who would I fangirl and freak out with?! Thanks to the book blogosphere and Booktube, I can share my thoughts on books with like-minded people. I have met the best people over the past four years, and I hope to continue making friends!
My least favourite thing is the pressure that comes with running a book blog. I don't feel it so much any more now that I'm taking the laid back approach, but I used to feel like I had standards to live up to. I had to post a certain amount of times per week, I had to make publishing contacts, I had to leave hundreds of comments so I would receive comments in return... It was a lot to handle. I've kind of taken a step back from that now and I'm so much happier with my blog and my life in the book blogosphere.

Siiri: Exactly the same for me! I still leave comments on almost every post I read since I love commenting, but it can get very exhausting. I love this community though! So many amazing people :) How many books do you own and do you categorise them in some ways on your shelf?
Amber: I own about 500 physical books, I think. I can't remember the last time I counted. *runs to the bookshelf* Oh, apparantly my addiction is worse than I thought. I counted roughly 690 books. I organise them by genre on my 'Read' bookshelf, and my YA TBR is on another smaller shelf, and my adult TBR is currently in boxes because I just moved house.

Siiri: O__________O Jealous of your own personal library, Amber! You're pretty organized. I keep mine totally randomly though tbr and read are mostly separate from each other. Your shelf looks pretty btw :) In addition to swooning over your accent when watching your videos, I almost always have to replay it just to admire your shelf behind you. And nope, not awkward to admit this at all. So.. What are your favourite genres and who are some of your favourite authors?
Amber: I love a good fantasy story as long as the world building and character development are great. I also really enjoy reading contemporary novels, especially in the summer! And thrillers are always welcome. I'm not the biggest fan of dystopian stories, but I'll still read them if they sound interesting. My favourite authors are J. K. Rowling, Darren Shan, Patrick Ness, Rachel Vincent and Harper Lee. I'm pretty sure Brandon Sanderson is going to creep up there once I've read more of his books!

Siiri: HARPER LEE!!! Not many people say her name when listing their favorite authors, but I love To Kill a Mockingbird so hard. LOVE. ITTT! 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?
Amber: Did you create this question for me? I think you did. I have an armada of OTPs! I have no idea who to mention first. Rose and Dimitri (or Rose and Christian if I'm allowed to mention crack ships), Tod and Kaylee (Soul Screamers), Noah and Mara (Mara Dyer), Lillia and REEEEEEVE (Burn for Burn), Harry and Hermione... the list goes on, I could be here all day. What makes them special is what they've all been through together. Most of the time my ships have epic journeys and go through a load of speed bumps before finally ending up together. Or not, since my ships are almost always doomed. Think Logan and Veronica!

Siiri: Haha, it totally is your question, isn't it? Logan and Veronica most def have bumps on their road. I shipped Harry and Hermione in the books, but the movie? Totally team Ron. Rupert is just the most adorable creature =) Lillia and Reeve!!! Every time I think about that ship, I think of you and the fact that we bonded over this ship :’) If you could have dinner with 5 authors/characters, dead or alive, who would they be and what would you ask each of them?
Amber:

• Kelsier from The Final Empire. I'm not sure I would ask him anything, just stare at him from across the table in a sexy/creepy manner. 
• Hermione from Harry Potter. We could talk about books and she could lend me some of her textbooks from Hogwarts. 
• Rose from Vampire Academy. I would ask her why she's with Dimitri when Christian is RIGHT. THERE. And also why she hasn't killed Lissa yet. 
• Kresley Cole, author of Poison Princess and Endless Knight. I would ask her why EK ended that way.
• Sansa from A Song of Ice and Fire. Just because she deserves a high five and a hug.

Siiri: HAHAHAHAHAHA. That’s why I love you! BECAUSE WE SHIP THE SAME SHIPS EVERYWHERE. I mean, Dimitri and Rose are my OTP but seriously! CHRISTIAN AND ROSE!!! That should have happened. It happened in my head quite a lot *hairflip* Aw, Sansa is awesome! Annnd last but not least, where can we find you when you're not reading or blogging?
Amber: During the week you'll probably find me at work doing adult stuff. I work as an editor/production assistant for a translation company. If I'm not there, then I'm probably sleeping or making Booktube videos or eating. Or all three at the same time! This summer, though, I am going to be taking my sister out to London a lot, so if you're in the vicinity you are welcome to find me.

This or that

Blogger or Wordpress? Are these supposed to be one-word answers? *grumbles* Fine. Wordpress.
Facebook or Twitter? lol Twitter
Physical books or e-books? Physical books!
Contemporary or fantasy? *glares at Siiri* WHY. Fantasy.
Music or no music (while reading)? No music!
Triangle or no triangle? No triangle. At all. Ever.
Insta-love or slow-burn? THE SLOWEST OF BURNS. I'd be happy if a relationship built up over the course of six books. *cough*Celaena and Dorian*cough*
Cliffhanger or no cliffhanger? They're torturous, but definitely a cliffhanger!

Siiri: LOLOLOLOL! I love the subtle hint at the Celaena and Dorian ship. Well, excuse me while I put my #TeamChaol shirt on *takes her pom poms out as well* I love a good cliffhanger, but at the same time, I hate it so. I just want to ask WHYYY and glare at the author, but hug them since feeeeels! And amen to no triangles *gives a glare to all of them*

3 random facts about you would be...

• I love to travel. I've been planning a backpacking trip around Australia for years, and I cannot wait to eventually go. Unfortunately, I have to save money!
• I love to cook and try out new recipes, but unfortunately it doesn't happen very often because I lack time and confidence.
• I was born on Prince Charles' birthday.

Siiri: Ooh, have you met the Prince? Or any of the royal family? If so, I'm jealous! Cooking is easy if you take time for it. Confidence comes with time :) *fist pump* You want to go backpacking? YAAAAS. Please do that! I'd love for you to blog about it as well (or vlog). I love the Amberica posts so hard and your Ambstrelia (lol, ignor this name.. it sounds like a weird hamster version) posts would totally be as amazing to read :)

And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed this interview and thanks so much to Amber for taking time off her busy moving schedule and answering these questions. She's awesome and I had so much fun reading these answers. I hope you came to love her too if you didn't already! Most definitely follow her on twitter, because her account is like a force of nature: you never know what's coming and it's hilarious and totally magical theheee. Do you have anything in common with Amber? Are you prone to Twitter breakdowns? Are you a huge shipper? Let her know in the comments and leave this adorable fangirl some love :)