The Sunshine Blogger Award

It absolutely made my day when the lovely Siena @ Booksophobia nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

If you don’t follow Siena’s blog already, please do go and take a look. She reviews such an eclectic range of books mixed in with some intriguing discussion posts – I loved her recent post on what really makes a good ending. Plus Siena is definitely a supportive ray of sunshine in the book blogging community!

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive and inspiring while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

How does it work?

• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

I think it is a wonderful idea to find out more about the bloggers whose posts we read every day. My answers are below:

1. What’s a book that you read that annoys you/that you can’t stand?

I loved most of the books studied on my Crime Fiction module except for one – Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. The cover is just a pair of women’s legs and that tells you all you need to know about the chauvinistic and racist ‘hero-detective’ of the story. You can read my review/rant about the book here.

2. What’s a book you thought you would dislike but ended up loving?

When I started reading Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo I found the writing style off-putting at first, but I really warmed to it and ended up giving the book 5 stars! It was probably my best read of 2020 and I highly recommend it.

3. Besides blogging, what’s your other favourite book media, and why?

Oh goodness, I’m so bad at social media! I’m going to say Pinterest because it’s the only one I’ve figured out so far?

4. What’s a book that you love but hate the cover? How would you redesign the cover?

I love Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood which I read last year but I’m not a fan of its cover. It needs the sort of simple imagery that made The Handmaid’s Tale so iconic.

5. How did you come up with your blog name?

The ‘Miscellany’ in ‘Miscellany Pages’ was originally intended to reflect the variety of books I love to read, from classics to crime!

I’ve stuck with this name even as the blog has developed more of a social justice angle – I think ‘Miscellany’ can apply to a community too, and suggest that everyone is welcome whatever their identity.

6. What’s your favourite type of post to write?

My Questioning the Canon posts are my favourite to write because I like the feeling of tearing down old established ‘classic’ authors and putting marginalized voices in their place! You can read my latest post about race and Greek mythology here.

7. What’s a book on your TBR that you think will be a five star read?

I have a gorgeous hardback edition of Hamnet sitting on my shelves! The book was a Christmas present and has everything I love – Shakespeare, history, a feminist slant, emotional power.

It’s one of those reads that I’m saving for a quiet time when I can properly savour it!

8. What’s a book that makes you happy?

Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is fun, geeky, and a glorious tribute to bookworms everywhere!

9. If you owned a bookshop, what genre(s) would it specialize in?

Oh wow, this would be a dream! I love lots of different genres so I would like to own one of those lovely, cosy second-hand bookshops where you can discover rare gems and under-appreciated delights.

10. If you could ever meet an author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Christopher Marlowe – playwright around the time of Shakespeare, also a spy for Queen Elizabeth. He led a life worthy of a play in itself but was sadly killed in suspicious circumstances aged just 29.

I would ask what made him so restlessly addicted to life itself.

11. What’s your least favourite aspect of blogging?

I sometimes think that if I didn’t blog I would have more time to read … but then I wouldn’t get so much out of the books I read or discover so many exciting recommendations, so it’s a sacrifice worth making!

My Questions

1. Who is the most under-rated author you have read? Shout about them here so we can go check them out!
2. Tell us your favourite book quote.
3. What is the best book that you had to study in school or college?
4. Which comfort read has helped get you through lockdown?
5. What is your number one book to film/TV adaptation?
6. Are you in any book clubs – online or otherwise? If so, what’s your favourite thing about your book club? If not, would you like to join one?
7. Which blog post that you’ve written is your favourite and why?
8. Do you have any hobbies outside of reading and blogging?
9.  Imagine lockdown restrictions have lifted and you can travel anywhere in the world – where would you go?
10. Which food could you absolutely not live without?
11. Do you have any pets? Photos please!!!

Thank you again for the tag Siena! I really enjoyed reading your answers and joining in myself. I’m looking forward to finding out more about other bloggers!

I’m going to nominate some of the lovely new followers whose blogs I’ve recently discovered – I wish I had known about them sooner!

Rucha @ Between Pages

Georgia @ Lost in Neverland

Marley @ Dragon on a Book

Maeve @ Books by Maeve

Saniya @ Sunnyside Reviews

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Don’t worry if you’re not really into tags or are feeling overwhelmed by blogging at the moment, I promise I won’t be offended! Otherwise, I can’t wait to hear your answers 🙂