Blogiversary & Liebster Award

It's my blogiversary today! Yeah!!! I've had so much fun and had the chance to meet some great people over the course of the last year, and I hope I'll get the same from the next year!
And now let's celebrate with this drawing of a cupcake I did.

On other great news, the lovely Maggie Wilson from "Three Cheers Four Butterbeer" has nominated me for the Liebster Awards! Thank you so much, Maggie!

The rules to the Liebster Awards are these:
Thank the blogger who nominated you and link to their blog!
List 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer their 11 questions.
Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
Ask them 11 questions.
Let them know you have nominated them

Eleven random facts about myself:

1) I used to be really tomboyish when I was a child, but I've grown into a girly girl. 

2) I'm ambidextrous

3) When I was a child, there was a book I loved so much that I had it memorized, and would tell my mother when she had to turn the page. 

4) I got my ears pierced the week before I turned thirteen 

5) I have an older sister

6) I know how to knit

7) If I'm stressed, singing always makes me feel better  

8) I am a huge mythology lover, I have favorite gods and everything

9) If I could pick any historical period to live in, I'd stay in this historical period

10) Sometimes I think that the "Italians are fixated with pasta" cliché is an exaggeration, but then I remember that I was distraught when I found out that the house I spent a week in in England didn't have the utensils necessary to cook pasta. 

11) I have always loved to read, as far back as I can remember. 

Maggie's questions are:
1) What is your favorite book cover?

Right now I really love the cover to Joanne Harris's Gospel of Loki (which by the way is a fantastic book and I will be doing a review of it soon!)

2) What was or is your most anticipated new release of 2014?

Probably City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare, since it's the last installment of a series I loved.
3) E-books or physical books?

E-books, since they take up less space, they weigh less and I can buy them whenever I want.
4) Buy your own books or go the library and why?

Buy my own books, since I reread the books I like several times.
5) Favorite contemporary and why?

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, it really made me want to start working on my novel again, and it's so heart-warming!
6) What genres of books do you most enjoy reading?

Speculative fiction, definitely, mostly fantasy.
7) Where are you from?

Italy
8) What is your favorite place to read?

Any place that allows me to change my position often.
9) The weirdest book you have ever read?

That's a though one, I'd say probably Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman
10) Fast reader or slow reader?

Fast reader

11) What is your favorite animal?

Either the hawk or the cat

My eleven questions are:

1) What book would you like to see turned into a movie/tv series and why?

2) What is your favorite fairytale?

3) What book made you fall in love with reading?

4) Who is you all-time favorite author?

5) Do you sometimes judge a book by its cover.

6) What was/is your favorite school subject?

7) What made you decide to start a blog?

8) Do you like taking personality quizzes?

9) What's the last book you read and loved?

10) What do you like to do when you're not reading?

11) If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I nominate:

The Rhapsodic Curiosities 

Pink Avenger Prime

Bookhaholics Anonymous 

A Book Lover's Ramblings

The Paperbacks Reader

Imogen Elvis: Gossiping with Dragons

The Book's the Thing

Spare Reads

Tara! Let's be happy!

Brunette Book Nerd

My Booktastic Finds

Liebster Awards: Nominations and Questions

As you've probably read in my previous post, I've been nominated for the Liebster Award. 
The Liebster Award is a way to help blogs you like with less than 200 followers to expand their audience. It's a way to give them some deserved attention so our followers can discover them as well.

The rules are:

Link back the blogger that tagged you

nominate 10 others and answer the questions of the one who tagged you
Ask 10 questions for the bloggers you nominate
Let your nominees know of their award

So firsts things first: a huge thank you goes to Mina from Mina's Bookshelf for nominating me!

My answers to her questions:
1. Best book(s) you've read this year?

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. Not only couldn't I stand the idea of putting either of them down even for a second, they both reminded me of the things I love about literature.
2. Upcoming release(s) you anticipate the most? 

Allegiant by Veronica Roth and City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. Actually, I'm sort of dreading the release of City of Heavenly Fire, because I'm scared that I won't like it, since City of Lost Souls was disappointing, or that Clare will kill off one of my favorite characters.
3. Favorite author(s)?

Tolkien, Cassandra Clare, Shakespeare, J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman... and the list goes on and on, but those are the top five, at the moment.
4. Is fan-fiction something you would consider as a reader or a writer?
I used to write fan-fiction a couple of years ago, but I don't anymore. I use what little time I have to write to focus on my own characters and world. I still read fan-fiction from time to time, when I'm feeling nostalgic.
5. Would you like to write a sequel for a book you loved?
Here's a though one! I can't say for sure, but I don't think I would even if given the chance. When I loved a book I'm usually happy with how and where it ended, so I don't feel compelled to write what happens next.
6. Is there any author you would like to meet? 
I'm going to cheat and name two: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
7. What would you ask him/her?
How they got into writing.
8. Your favorite reading nook? Bed, sofa, a bench at the park?
Bed. When I read and something exciting happens I tend to twist into extremely strange positions/sit up/flop down on the bed again, so I need the space.
9. Book or e-reader?
E-reader. Before I had to give away a bunch of books every year, because I only have so much space. Now I don't have to separate myself from anything, and I can take my whole bookshelf with me every time I go on a trip.
I do miss the sensation of having an actual book, but it's not worth the hassle.
10 Which novel would you like to see on the big screen and who would you cast for the lead roles?
Clockwork Angel. Not just because I loved it, but also because it would make such a great-looking movie. The automatons alone would look awesome, and the setting, if done right, could be magical.
I'd cast Kaya Scodelario as Tessa, Gaspard Ulliel as Will and Xiaoming Huang as Jem. 

And now on to my own nominations!
The Booklicker

We're all mad here 

Diary of a Book Maniac

and so the book begins

The Last Chapter

Books Are My Best Friends

Eternity Trough Pages

Book Bunny's Burrow

Ink Pages and Books

The Voice of Ma

My Questions:

1. What made you decide to start blogging?

2. From where do you usually get your books (library, local bookstore, amazon...)?

3. What book has influenced your current tastes the most?

4.What's your favorite thing about blogging so far?

5.  Have you ever read a book that you wish you had written? If yes, which one?

6. What's the one thing you can't stand in a book?

7. Do you have any weird reading habits?

8. With which fictional character do you identify the most? 

9.  Favorite book(s)? 

10. What's your favorite book adaptation (in any media: movies, TV, theater...)?

Liebster Award Nomination

The lovely Mina De Caro from Mina's Bookshelf nominated me for the Libster Award! Thank you so much, I can't start to tell you how happy and honored I am!
The Liebster Award is a way to help blogs you like with less than 200 followers to expand their audience. It's a way to give them some deserved attention so our followers can discover them as well. Now I have to answer Mina's questions and nominate ten other bloggers and pose them my own questions.
I'll do so in another post either later today or tomorrow.