Katja @Little Blossoms for Jesus left this tag open, and I told her I would steal it, so here it is! 😁

The (very simple) Rules:
-Answer the questions
-Make up new ones
-Tag people

1.) What is your favourite classic? (Feel free to rave.)

Ooh . . . that depends on how we define ‘classic’. Because I consider LOTR a classic, but it was published in the 50s, making it too late by some standards. So if we stick with ‘older than 1920’, I loved A Tale of Two Cities, but I think my all-time favorite is Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott. It’s such a sweet, lovely story – much different from my usual high-stakes adventure and war stories, lol – but I love the focus on family (found and biological) and the deeper lessons revealed. Miss Celia is one of my fictional heroines (and I don’t say that lightly, because I don’t have a lot of favorite female characters).

2.) What is your least favourite classic? (Feel free to rant.)

I only read part of it in high school literature, but . . . Pride & Prejudice. *hides* 🫣 Sorryyyy Austen fans 😭 I just couldn’t get into it, and the characters weren’t grabbing me at all. If I’d read more I might have enjoyed it, but I wasn’t in the mood for a romantic slog. 🫠

3.) What was your first favourite book that you can recall?

Oh, goodness . . take me back to the unremembered years of my childhood. 😅 Man, that’s a really hard one . . . but when I was little, I liked Richard Scarry’s Busytown books, and also Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. But I remember LOVING the book Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt.

4.) Which author do you want to read more of?

Chuck Black. I’m over halfway through his Knights of Arrethtrae series, and after that I want to read Kingdom and the Starlore Legacy. We’re both going to be at the same homeschool conference in a couple weeks, and I can’t wait to meet him again! 😃

5.) Have you any bookish merch to show off?

Sort of . . . ? I mean, I don’t have any *official* merch (except the Songs from Redwall cd), but I’ve made some stuff myself – mostly for my own books. I’m a Lego nerd, so I have Lego people for several of my characters, and I got the Veridon dragon shirt custom printed. 😇

Pardon the wrinkles and cat hair all over the shirt, lol.

6.) Do you have any specific memories or locations tied to a book?

My dad bought me a copy of Jesus Freaks at a used bookstore in Lexington KY. I sat in the humid hotel room reading the whole thing in just 2 days. 😂 But it always makes me think of Kentucky now whenever I read it!

7.) What’s the book on your shelf that you find the prettiest?

It’s a tie between The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem and The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh. Those were both mainstays of my childhood and my copies are lovely editions. 😊

8.) Which do you prefer: buddy-reading/group-reading or reading alone?

Reading alone, I think, although I do love having someone to fangirl with after the fact. But I also love it when my dad reads aloud to us.

9.) If you could receive a gift card to buy all the books of one author in print, which author would it be?

Ahh, now how is that fair?! There’s so many great authors out there 😭 Again, probably Chuck Black. He’s really one of the only contemporary authors I read. 🫠 Though I might go with G.A. Henty too, because he was PROLIFIC, and overall I enjoy his stories.

10.) How is your reading going for this year? Any books you want to be sure to read?

It’s . . . going? 😅 I’ve read 18 books so far, and according to Goodreads I’m 10 books behind my schedule if I want to make 70 by the end of the year. I usually make it up in summer though, due to the library’s summer reading challenge. Plus I’m out of school now, yay! 🥳
I want to read A Noble Comfort by Katja Labonté 😇 Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor by Chuck Black, The Guns of Shiloh by Joseph Altscheler, The Vale of Mysteries by Jared Michaud, Promise of Refuge by Jayna Baas, and Fighter Escort by Don Patterson.

Let’s see, now . . . I’m going to tag . . . Miss Special @SheKindaWrites. And here are my 10 questions!

1.) What’s the oldest book (by publication date, not counting the Bible) that you’ve read?
2.) If you could change one thing in your favorite book, what would it be?
3.) What book would you like to see made into a movie?
4.) Have you ever dreamed about a book?
5.) Is there a song that reminds you of a book or character every time you hear it?
6.) Which character do you think has influenced you the most?
7.) If you could marry a character, would you? Who would it be?
8.) Is there a character that you find to be a lot like you or someone you know?
9.) If you were holding a ball at your author castle, which characters would you invite? (Your characters or others’.)
10.) Is there an author that you haven’t read yet, but really want to?