Bookish Hello Tag

This tag was created by The Book Piles, who was inspired by the Booktuber Newbie Tag (Brenda) and the This or That Tag (Tea and Paperbacks). There are a bunch of questions involved, so here goes:

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Did you start out loving or hating reading?

I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember.

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When and why did you start reading?

I grew up with books pretty much everywhere at home, so it was an easy hobby to grow into. I think the only time I didn’t read much was when I couldn’t read.

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Do you read a variety of books or stick to a common theme?

What I read largely depends on my mood. Sometimes, historical romance is all I feel like reading. There are months when I only read books centred around New Adult characters. However, I’ll read almost any genre if I could.

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Where and when do you read? On the couch in the morning?

I prefer to read in bed, but if I’m somewhere and I’m doing nothing, best believe you’ll see me pull up a book on my phone. The only time I can’t read is when I’m in a car or train (I get car sick). But once I get the hang of audiobooks, I’ll be unstoppable.

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Binge or slow reading?

This largely depends on if I have the time. I hate being interrupted while I’m binge reading. So, I’ll only do it when I don’t have to worry about school work or life in general.

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Do you like reading in your native language or do you try reading in any languages you are learning or have learned?

English is my first language and the only language I’m comfortable enough with to read in. I’m currently learning (Mandarin) Chinese, but at my stage, I can only read short passages.

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Do you prefer individual or group/buddy reading?

My only experience with buddy reading is from when I was in secondary school. I’m a fast reader, so individual reading suits me better. Also, none of my friends in the uni I go to read, so…

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Do you lend your books out to lots of people or only close friends?

Only close friends. I’ve experienced enough people who borrow books and never return them- or return them in sorry states- to know that I’m not willing to take a chance on anyone I don’t trust.

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Do you use bookmarks or random objects and pieces of scrap paper?

Neither. I usually just memorise the page I’m on, or make sure to stop at the end of a chapter so that I know where to resume from.

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How do you manage your TBR? In piles, on a shelf, or through a list?

Nowadays, a lot of the books I read are in e-book format (I like to keep my belongings as few as possible), so, I just arrange my books in collections on my Kindle app.

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What do you hope to bring to the bookish community?

I really just want to use my space in the community to talk about what matters to me: books I like, books I don’t like, and diverse representation in books (not just as a box for publishers to tick, but because inclusivity should always be the default setting). I also want to add my voice to those who are working to bring relevance to New Adult books, especially since I’m just about getting into that age range.

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What is the meaning behind the name of your social media account?

The expression, “and a half”, is used to emphasise a characteristic. I’ve been told several times how much of a bookworm I am (in both complimentary and derogatory fashions), so I decided to embrace the label and emphasise my bookishness.

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How did you discover the bookish community and why did you pick the platform you are currently using?

I discovered the bookish community when I started blogging in 2015, but my existence in it was more as a lurker/observer than a participator. I’m quite camera shy, so YouTube was never really an option for me. Since I think I have a lot to say, blogging just seemed ideal.

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Why do you like reading?

For several reasons, and I have a post that talks more about that. But one reason is because I like to find out where my imagination would go with a story.

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I tag:

• Esme @ Esmoogle Reads
• Anna @ The Scones & Tomes Society
• Ilaria @ What Ila Reads
• Patrycja @ The Itinerarian
• Anybody else that’s interested!

The Rules:

Mention and link the creator (The Book Piles blog).

Thank the blogger who tagged you.

Answer the questions, you may expand on the answer if you want.

Tag at least 5-10 other new book bloggers (or any media). Finding new bloggers is difficult, so if you’ve tried multiple different methods and still do not have enough people to tag, tag the few that you have found.

Send this document out to anyone you tag or link it to your post so that anyone may participate.

The Book Piles blog