A post in which I am interviewed by Rachel

Usually the interviews we all post are questions we've asked someone else. Well, Rachel (from Beauty and the Bookshelf) and I are a bit different, okay? ;) As a collaborative guest post interview type of thingy (I'm all about the technical terms), Rachel has asked ME some questions about myself.

Keep in mind that I started answering these at about 12:30 in the morning after my birthday, so I might have been a wee bit giddy. Here it goes...

1. Describe yourself in the form of a haiku.

Canadian girl
Quiet and a bit unsure
Loves the written word

2. Using the letters of LABYRINTH, please describe your blog.

I can use the letters more than once, right? Because otherwise I give up. ;) Okay, I think I’ve got the perfect description: “A YA lit library”. I have to say I'm kind of high-fiving myself over how well that worked out.

3. Your blog is (obviously) called the Book Labyrinth. Is it because books get you lost in a maze, or because you love the movie? (Dance magic dance, anyone?)

Oh it’s both! Honestly I just wanted a really cool word that was a bit unique, and labyrinth kept sticking out in my mind. I love mazes/labyrinths, both visually and conceptually, and I figured it worked in an abstract way: that reading can make you feel lost in something magical. It also really describes the state of my room. =b But then there’s also the awesome movie angle. I haven’t watched it in years, actually, but it was definitely a favourite of mine when I was a kid.

(Image found here)

4. Why should people visit your blog? What makes it different from all the others?

I think at a certain point it’s not necessarily about uniqueness (although that helps), but it’s really about finding someone whose book tastes you either identify with or admire, and if you’re lucky, perhaps a bit of both.

Within YA I review a good range of genres, and you can always count on me to be honest with my reviews. After struggling with it a bit, I’m proud of the fact that I’m somewhat of a critical reader, and therefore when I give five stars you know that I absolutely loved the reading experience.

5. You're a tribute in the Reader Games! Which three fictional characters are your allies, and which are your enemies?

Eep, who or what are we fighting?! Well since I don’t know for sure I definitely need a girl who can physically kick butt. I’m going to go with the lesser known Kat -- Katsa (Graceling). She’s graced with survival, so I hope that she will let me into her inner circle and protect me too! Second I need someone else with some battle experience, but who is also super smart. It’s got to be Hermione Granger. She’s loyal, brave, and intelligent. Please be on my team, HG! And just in case this isn’t a physical fight, but one of cunning, wit, and overall awesomeness, then I’m going to need Frankie Landau-Banks (The Disreputable History of...) on my team.

Who are our enemies?! Good question. Well, I’m really interested in villains who are layered characters. Ones who are truly bad -- crazy evil and the like, but who also have moments where you can see a sliver of humanity. First off we have Mayor / President Prentiss (Chaos Walking). That guy gave me the shivers (in a bad way, obvs), and yet there are so many moments when you’re like “Omigosh, should I trust him?!” Second, if we’re having a conflicted and complex villain party then I’ve got to invite Warner (Shatter Me) for the eye candy. And then for someone who I really think is just pure evil, there’s Dolores Umbridge. I think I want to punch her even more than I want to punch Voldemort (please note I’ve never punched anyone in my life, so maybe Katsa will do it for me?).

6. Ebook or physical book? Why?

If I had to pick one format to read as it stands right now I think I would pick ebooks. My eReader is portable, I tend to read more quickly on it, and I have hand problems as well, so sometimes an eReader is so much easier to hold/handle. But honestly I love both formats. When it comes down to it I mostly still buy physical books, a lot because of the price, and also because they’re easier to loan. When it comes to book design, physical books will always win as well -- plus the ability to flip back and forth easily, and look things up in indexes more simply, etc. And if it comes to an apocalypse I don’t think I’ll be able to charge my Kobo, so physical books win out in that situation.

7. Favorite book? Least favorite book?

My favourite book is Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. You can read my glowing review here. I've also posted about how I'm thankful for Jellicoe, and how I think it's beyond description. I love absolutely everything about that book, including the fact that I fell in love with it even more upon re-read.

As for least favourite... there have been a few that I really didn’t enjoy (you can check out my 'Read' shelf on Goodreads ordered by rating), but honestly I think 'Lord of the Flies' sticks out in my mind as a book from school that I really, really disliked.

8. Three fictional characters: you marry one, kill one, and be in a book with one. Who do you choose?

Ah! I have a lot of book crushes, but I’m like “I can’t marry him, he belongs to ____!” Like, I adore Jonah Griggs so much (hello, my iPhone is named Griggs), but so much of why I love him is because of how he loves Taylor. Welllllll (I’m totally channeling the Tenth Doctor with that), I could play 'eenie meenie miney mo' forever, so it's decided: I’m going to marry Poe/Jamie from the Secret Society Girl books. Bonus: he’s age appropriate! (PS. You must read those books - so fab!)

I’m... going to (get Katsa to) kill Leck, appropriately enough. After reading Bitterblue his atrocities are fresh in my mind, and it breaks my heart that he had the grace to control people the way he did.

To get to be in a book with just one character is hard after being on Team Awesome with those fine ladies (see: above), but... I pick Luna Lovegood. You can read more about why I love Luna here.

9. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?

I think what I most want to accomplish is just to share my love of reading with others, and to continue to grow as part of the book blogging community. My specific goal is to hear back from people saying “I read this book because of your recommendation”. I’ve been fortunate enough to hear that a few times, which I think is amazing. There's really nothing better than hearing that people respect my reading tastes and feel that I have something valuable to share with them.

10. Five fun facts about you and/or your blog.

Hmm, alrighty... here are some random factoids:

1. I purposely scheduled my first post on Book Labyrinth to coincide with the release of Mockingjay
2. The very first movie I saw in theatres was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and I still consider it one of my favourites
3. When I started blogging I really didn’t read the paranormal genre at all. It took a few really great series (based on recommendations from trusted bloggers!) for me to realize there were some awesome paranormals out there. I’ve actually had a huge post about this in the works for a long time -- maybe eventually I’ll actually finish writing it and post it for you
4. I think my patronus would be a penguin (see: animal personality test)
5. I'm left handed, but I do random things right handed. For instance, I play baseball left handed, but hockey and golf right handed.

Well, that was fun! Hope you learned some interesting things about me. =)