A Bookish Questionnaire with Kate

Today on Showers of Blessings, I will be hosting a questionnaire with my friend, Kaitlyn! Check out her amazing blog(s) here and here. Also, make sure to grab a copy of her book Beloved if you're in the mood for a touching and heartfelt story!

Now on to the questionnaire! 

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1. Out of all the books you read last year (2019) which book deserved more than 5 stars? 

Oh goodness, I read several that deserved more than 5 stars! But I’ll go with Freedom by Faith Potts. Not only is it an incredibly-written book, but the characters are endearing, the plot is amazing, and the message, y’all, that message deserves 10,000 stars! That book is powerful. <3

>Yes, I totally agree with you on that! Freedom was such a awesome read! 

2. Top three favorite cover designs? 

Ahhhh, so hard! There’s sooo many covers that I love to pieces! But I’ll go with Unblemished by Sara Ella, Fawkes by Nadine Brandes, and Dust by Kara Swanson, just to keep it to three. ;)

>Some very unique and pretty covers you chose! 

3. What MC from any book is most like you... who you relate with the most?

There’ve been several characters that I can relate to (one being Cara from my book Beloved), but the one I’d say that I can probably most relate to Andi Carter from the Circle C books. Not only does she have big brothers (one in particular that tends to be on the bossy side and they butt heads frequently), she also has trouble knowing when to keep her mouth shut. Granted, I’ve become better at this as I’ve gotten older, but I can definitely commiserate with her!

>Hehe, I love Andi! She kinda reminds me of my lil' sis.

4. What recommendations would you have for a non-fiction book about creative writing? 

Would you believe me if I told you that, to my knowledge, I’ve never read one? *chuckles nervously* I keep meaning to, buuuuuut other books shove themselves in the way and I just . . . haven’t. *coughs* I’ve heard that the Go Teen Writers book is really good, though!

>I've heard of Go Teen Writers, but haven't read it yet either! One book I've really enjoyed is How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method...

5. About how many books are in your TBR pile?

Ha. Hahhhhaaaa. Um . . . on my official Goodreads TBR, it says I have 188. But I probably won’t even read half of them. Of the ones on my physical shelves that I’d like to get to in the next while . . . 185. Yikes, I didn’t realize there were that many! 

>Oh, wowsers! That TBR pile will keep you busy for a long while! 

7. Do you have a goal for how many books you want to read in 2020? 

I do! I’ve set a goal for 60 books this year! This is the goal I set for myself last year, too, and I ended up reading 82 books then, so we’ll see if I’m more busy this year. ;) I’m far ahead of my goal so far, though!

>I hope you are able to reach that goal then, I'm cheering you on!

8. What are some tropes that you really like but are surprised that you like them? 

I can only think of one off the top of my head, and that would be the ‘chosen one’ trope. You know, where the world is in mortal danger and there’s only one person who can save it? It’s a super cliched trope, especially in YA fiction, I think . . . but I haven’t read much of it, so maybe I just haven’t gotten tired of it yet. ;) The one instance that I could give of this would be The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson. So good!

>Ah, I see! I haven't read many books with that trope in it, but sounds interesting. XD

9. What are some tropes that you think are way overused in fiction? 

-Enemies-to-lovers. I’m sorry, I know that this is a super popular trope, but I just . . . don’t like it. Now, I’m sure that I’ve read some books with this trope that I really enjoyed, but in general, I’m sorry, I just don’t like it. *Cringes*

-Nosy journalists. I don’t hate this trope as much as I used to, but it still really gets on my nerves. I get that their job is to get down in the thick of things and let the world know what’s going on, and I respect that. But DON’T TURN VIGILANTE OKAY? LET THE POLICE DO THEIR JOBS.

-Country hicks + city slickers. One one side, I can’t stand it when country people are portrayed as a Jeff Foxworthy redneck, with a stalk of wheat in their mouth, pitchfork in hand, overalls sagging on scrawny shoulders. Country people really are intelligent, y’all! And on the flip side, it bugs me when city slickers are shown as being dumb as doornails when they’re out of the city. I understand that country people are going to be uncomfortable in the city and city people are going to be uncomfortable in the country. But guyyyyys they’re not incompetent!

>Haha, now I have read a lot of these kind of tropes before! Yes, some of these can be so annoying! 

10. What book (or book series) first started your love of reading?

Ummm . . . the Pathway Readers I read in school when I first learned to read? *laughs* After those, then probably the Sisters in Time and Sadie Rose series. I loved those so, so much! If I re-read them now, I don’t know how much I’d like them . . . but they hold good memories, so that’s always fabulous. ;)

>Sisters in Time series is one of my favorite childhood reads! And my sister read some of the Sadie Rose books too! <3 

Thank you so much for hosting me, Brooklyne! <3

>Thank YOU for answering my bookish questions! :P

Calling all bookworms, now it's your turn to pick a question in this post to answer for yourself in the comments below! Also, what is your current read?

Wisdom Teeth Recovery Update: I'm doing pretty good, eating lots of smoothies and mashed potatoes! And watching a ton of movies. Thanks to those of you who are praying for me! 

Many Blessings, 

Brooklyne Elysse