Bookstagram Q&A | The beginning of The Literary Wanderlust…

Hello everyone, and welcome to our blog! We couldn’t be more excited to start posting on here, as we’ve been working on getting started for a while now.

So for our first official post, we decided to do a Q&A – which all the questions have been taken off our bookstagram accounts ( @clare.reads and @lovelybookloves ). We got asked quite a few questions so we both can’t wait to answer them 🙂

So here we go –

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@flickofapage asked – “What is your favourite book?”

Clare: My favourite books of all time are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I read both of these books for the first time in 2013, and they just had a huge impression on my life.

Aimee: I have SO many favourite books that it’s slightly ridiculous, but the one book that I can say without fail means the most to me is the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I read it when I was 13 and it literally felt like something clicked into place whilst reading it, it’s such a beautiful and moving novel, and having a character like Charlie that I can relate to in so many different ways just brings me so much comfort – plus, the film adaptation is incredible too. However, a few other favourites of mine are Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

@tale.addict asked – “What’s the first thing you do when you come to taking a bookstagram photo?” and “What’s your favourite photo you’ve ever taken?”

Aimee: I usually take my photos just after I wake up, so I make a cup of tea as I drink one every morning, yet 99.9% of the time, I include it in my bookstagram photos haha. I feel like a photo without a cup of tea for me in incomplete.
And, I have so many bookstagram photos up, so I thought I’d choose a couple, here’s two of my favourite’s 🙂 :

Clare: For me, the first thing that I like to do when taking a bookstagram photo is also make a cup of tea. It is essential to the bookstagramming process! This is probably my favourite photo I’ve ever taken:

@sadie_reads_them_all asked – “What drew you two together?”

Clare: Obviously our love of books was the main factor that drew us together but I also think our shared experience of anxiety and love of dogs helped 🙂

Aimee: I completely agree with what Clare said, plus, I feel like because we both started bookstagram at around the same time and the fact that we were/are really close in age, that it was much easier to become great friends 🙂

@r3ad3rsan0nym0us asked – “What five books would you say best describe you?” and “What book mediums do you prefer (physical, eBook or audiobook)?”

Aimee: Ahhhh, this is going to be so hard. I guess they would be:

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – for the reasons I said previously 🙂
2. Any novel by John Green (my favourite being The Fault in Our Stars), I know I’m slightly cheating by choosing an author instead of one specific book, but I just love his personality and all his books so much, plus, I find that I see myself in him sometimes – e.g. his interests and outlook on things. I highly recommend watching his YouTube channel ‘VlogBrothers‘ that he runs with his brother Hank – they’re both so entertaining, wise and interesting to watch 🙂
3. Matilda by Roald Dahl, as it’s just such a wonderful book. I’ve related to Matilda’s character ever since I can remember, plus, it’s so whimsical and comforting to read.
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – this was one of the first classics I read and it completely opened up the world of classic literature to me, which I’m more than grateful for.
5. And, lastly, the Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. I haven’t read this for SO long, so I’m in desperate need of a reread. But, I love this book (and film) far too much. One of my favourite quotes that I live by is from this book, which is – “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”

And, I can usually read any medium of book, but paperbacks will always be my go-to 🙂

Clare: Oooh this is a tricky one!! The books that I would use to describe myself are:

1. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis (yes, I know it’s technically 7 books but I couldn’t pick just one) because they were the first books I ever truly loved and they shaped me as a reader. They taught, and continue to teach me important life lessons, and always bring me comfort when I need it. One of my favourite quotes: “Courage, dear heart” (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) continues to give me strength when I need it.
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, as I see so much of myself in Jane and it has had such a massive impact on my life.
3. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, as this is one of the most powerful, important books I have ever read. It opened my eyes and I will always love it for that.
4. The Once and Future King by T.H.White, just because I am a MASSIVE fan of Arthurian legend!
5. Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling (again, more than one book and I apologise!) as it is just magical and continues to teach me about the value of love and friendship.

And physical books are my favourite, however I  do also use eBooks and audiobooks a lot.

@hannahviolet_ asked- “Which Hogwarts houses are you both in?”

Clare: I am a Ravenclaw! Although I think I have a lot of Hufflepuff qualities.

Aimee: Funny thing is – I’m the other way around haha. I’m a Hufflepuff yet I feel like part of me is definitely a Ravenclaw.

@x.love.books asked– “Do you know any cute bookstores in London?” and “What are your favourite bookstores?”

Aimee: I don’t, I’m sorry! I’ve never been to London – but I’ve heard of one called Foyles, which supposedly has a lovely cafe in it too 🙂 And hmmm, I don’t visit bookstores as much as I’d like to, but Waterstones and WHSmith are my favourites if I do.

Clare: As I don’t live in London, I couldn’t recommend any cute, independent bookshops; but my favourite bookshop is Waterstones- and I hear the one on Oxford Street in London is amazing 🙂

@braveliteraryworld asked – “Do you have a balance between real life and blog life?”

Clare: This is really difficult for me to answer, as this will be my first proper go at blogging, so it will be interesting  for me to discover how to balance the two!

Aimee: Well, I haven’t been blogging for long at all, only half a year or so. But I feel like I’m quite good at setting aside the time to focus on blogging, or just social media in general. However, I’m definitely excited to see how blogging more often on here influences my ‘real life’ in the future 🙂

@abnormatic asked – “What do you like and not like about being a blogger/blogging in general?”

Aimee: Hmmm, I absolutely love being able to share my feelings and opinions on books with people who also share the same love for books as I do. I don’t think there’s anything in particular that I don’t like about blogging, yet finding inspiration and motivation to post sometimes is what’s hardest for me.

Clare: As I said previously, I am pretty new to blogging. However, I am excited to now have an outlet for all of my bookish thoughts and feelings! In my previous experience of blogging (which was very short lived) I felt overwhelmed by the whole idea of blogging, which is why I felt teaming up with another person would be a good idea; and I am very glad Aimee took me on 🙂

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So that’s all the questions! Thank you to everyone who sent in a question, and to all the lovely people who have supported and been excited for our new blog 🙂

We hope you enjoyed our first post, we’re both so happy to have this blog up and running finally. Plus, we cannot wait to share more posts with you.

If you’d like to give us any suggestions, or have any queries for us, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Thank you again, and we’ll see you in our next post 🙂