One Lovely Blog Award and Sunshine Blogger Award

Clare: On Wednesday this blog was nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award and the Sunshine Blogger Award by Aeriko001 at The Reading Armchair - thank you so much for that, it was a really nice surprise!

One Lovely Blog Award:

The rules for this award are;

• Say Thank you to the person that nominated you
• Explain the rules of the award
• Say seven random facts about yourself
• Nominate other bloggers
• Display the badge/logo of the award in your blog

Seven Facts About Me;

1. I am terrible at thinking about random facts to put in. We had to do this when I started College and I panicked and just told them my address. Way to make a first impression!
2. My favourite colour is Green.
3. I am insanely in love with Christmas. I am one of those annoying people who start buying presents in January! And start saying CHRISTMAS IS NEARLY HERE in like September.
4. I love Cacti, to the point of ridiculousness. I currently have 6 on my windowsill (plus a venus fly trap) and they all have names. I love my little cacti children! 
5. I am an obsessive organiser. I actually have OCD and whilst this means a lot of silly compulsive things (like rituals). It also means I write so many lists and I constantly reorganise my bookshelves. It makes me a very organised reader.
6. In April I took my siblings (two brothers and my sister - Ann) up to London for their birthday. We went to the Harry Potter studios and I honestly feel homesick for them. It was the best place I have ever been to.
7. My top place on my To-Travel list is Siena, Italy because I've read so many books set there and I desperately want to take my youngest brother to the Palio (horse race) because I know he would adore it. 

Sunshine Blogger Award:

The rules for this award are;

• Answer 11 questions provided for you
• Nominate other bloggers
• Ask them 11 questions of your own

1. Which is Your Most Anticipated Book? Probably Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Or the second Six of Crows book. I have just read Six of Crows and I am in love with the world so I can't wait for the next one!
2. Do You Read Graphic Novels? Which is Your Favourite One? I am trying to read them but so far all I've read is Nimona - which I loved! I have a huge wishlist of Graphic novels I just have to find the money for them!
3. Which Was Your Favourite Book So Far This Year? Ooh, tough question. I'm going to choose two; Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and Made You Up by Francesca Zappia. I loved both of them but for very different reasons.
4. Do You Like Winter? Love it. It's my favourite season, if you go out its all chilly and (hopefully) snowy and if you stay in you get soup and blankets. Plus Winter clothes are the best. (And Christmas!)
5. How Would You Like to Spend Halloween? I've only ever been to one Halloween party and it was good but I'm not really a party person. This year I am going to stay in and watch the whole Sharknado trilogy (another fact about me - I really love those cheesy terrible horror movies.)
6. Who Are Your Top 3 Authors? The three authors I get most excited about new books from are Deanna Raybourn, Maria V. Snyder and Cassandra Clare. 
7. Is There a Series You Would Like to Be Continued Even Though it Doesn't? Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White came to mind. It's a stand alone not a series but I really wish it were because I loved the characters and the idea. That said it was a really good and complete story. 
8. How Do You Choose Which Book to Read Next? I usually go by genre, my TBR shelf is organised by genre and then alphabetically by author so I usually read them in that order but sometimes I just go with what I really want to read. For my Classic books I have a TBR jar and I just pick a book each month.
9. Would You Buy a Book Just Because it Has a Beautiful Cover? Oh yeah! I have so many books I bought because of cover lust - and they usually turn out to be great books. So it works.
10. Do You Prefer Detailed Descriptions or Witty Dialogue in a Novel? Witty dialogue. I like description but the dialogue is usually what makes a book for me - mostly because I prefer character over plot so dialogue is a better way of getting to know the character. 
11. Which Book Would You Recommend? I am going to recommend Red by Alison Cherry. It was such a unique and fun read and I have heard pretty much nobody talk about it - it really deserves more love!

My Questions:

1. Where in the world would you most like to live other than where you currently do?
2. What is your favourite book or the book that means the most to you?
3. Can you remember what the first book you ever read just for fun was?
4. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?
5. What would be your dream job?
6. If you were throwing a dinner party who would your top 5 guests be (alive or dead, real or fictional)?
7. What is your favourite genre of book?
8. Are you a cat person or a dog person?
9. If you could have any supernatural creature as your pet/sidekick what would it be and why?
10. If you could be any supernatural creature (eg. vampire/witch/ghost) what would it be and why?
11. Which fictional character would you most like to trade lives with?

I am going to nominate three bloggers whose posts always make me smile when I see them in my subscription feed and who joined at roughly the same time as us (I think the One Lovely Blog award is intended for newer blogs?) Thank you again to Aeriko001 - it really means a lot to us that you chose to nominate Dual Reads! 

Lillie @ Little Lillie Reads

Sofia @ Bookish Wanderess 

Claire @ Art and Soul (I know you already have Sunshine Blogger but it's worth repeating and besides you definitely deserve One Lovely Blog)