Why I Don't Choose Favorites, Especially When it Comes to Characters | NaBloPoMo Day 4

Alright, so I haven't been planning on using the prompts from the NaBloPoMo list a whole lot this month, however today's prompt is "Who is your favorite character of all time?" And this brought up a lot of thoughts so I figured I'd take the prompt and roll with it.

I have two problems with this question: firstly, how am I supposed to choose a favorite character? There's so many to choose from. Maybe I haven't even met my favorite character yet. And secondly, I really don't like choosing favorites because I don't really think it's possible.

So let's start by pretending I believed in favorites and wanted to pick one for this question. What criteria am I going to use? Attractiveness, overall awesomeness, badassery, character arc? Can I choose a nonfictional character if it's from a memoir? There's so many options I really don't know who to choose. In reality, I'd probably choose Teddy Lupin. Who even is Teddy Lupin? Well he's mostly a character I've created in my head after years of Harry Potter withdrawals and fan fiction. He doesn't even exist canonically and my idea of him is probably entirely different than JK Rowling's. Out of canon characters, I'd have to say Draco Malfoy is pretty high up there. Percy Jackson for being awesome. (And many other characters from Rick Riordan's tales, because let's be honest, his characters have more development than pretty much anything.) Artemis Fowl, Ender Wiggin, and there's a billion more I know I'm missing. Not to mention some awesome character that I'm sure I haven't come across yet, but will love in the future. (*cough* Will Herondale I know you're out there. I just haven't read about you yet.)

Basically what I'm saying is it's near impossible to actually choose a favorite character and I'm sure most of you would agree with me.

That brings us to my second part of this post which is going to probably deviate from the original topic and morph into a rant of some sort. You have been warned.

Why do people constantly want others to choose favorites? Favorite movies, favorite books, favorite colors, favorite foods. They're go to "get to know you" questions. Favorites are really just a way to see what kind of person someone is. They give us an in to judge what we think of someone. If they're favorite movie is a lovey dovey rom com, they're obviously a hopeless romantic that is looking for their true love. If it's a fast paced action movie, they must be adventurous and exciting. Whatever your impression is from someone's favorite whatever, it's giving you an in to decide something about that person.

Now I'm not anti favorites by any means, I just think it's kind of an uncreative way to find stuff out about people. Also it's hard to choose favorites for anyone. Why subject people to that level of difficult decision making?

Maybe next time you have to ask someone a question to get to know them, think of something a little more creative to ask. Like what three things they would take with them to a deserted island or if you could be any animal what would you be or something even more creative.

Leave your creative questions in the comments!

I Have a Very Serious Book Buying Problem, Seriously | NaBloPoMo Day 3

Alright, so for those of you who know me personally, you definitely know I have a problem with buying books. And if you've been paying attention to my videos, you'll also know I have a problem with buying books. Today's topic, if you haven't noticed, is about how I have a problem with buying books.

Every month, I buy at least 10 books if not more. I can't even technically afford buying that many books. I'm not actually sure how I do it. (Some of it has to do with my wonderful family that helps support my problem.) I also do not read at least 10 books a month. A good month would be 8 books. So obviously, my TBR pile is growing quickly and has gotten to an extreme point that I am not proud of.

Why do I do this? Maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it's just my excitement for reading. There are so many books I want to read and I want them all. I really enjoy having a physical copy of a book. I tell myself that it's going to be for when I am living on my own and poor so I have something to do. Or that it's for when I'm old and retired and need something to do. It also motivates me a little to read more, when I look at my bookshelf and see all the books I haven't read. It really comes down to a lack of self control. I tell myself that when I have a stack of 11 books and put one back and buy 10 instead I'm exhibiting great self control. (I know I'm not really.)

I am going to have a massive library when I am old. With the sliding ladder and everything. I could probably live in a studio apartment with my entire room being taken up by books and a bed. I might do that though. Because I have 2 full size bookshelves and a half size one, all are full and I'm going to need a third one pretty soon. So moving out is going to be me, my bed, and my books.

I have been going on a minimalist streak lately, though. And getting rid of a lot of my stuff. I don't think I'll be getting rid of many books, but at least I'll have less stuff in general.

When it comes down to it, I should probably stop buying so many books. So let me know how you keep yourself from buying so many books. Or if it's not even a problem for you. (Though I don't know how it's not even a temptation to buy all the books.)

I'm A Terrible Blogger | NaBloPoMo Day 2

Well, it is day 2 of NaBloPoMo and I've already managed to miss a day. Good job me. In my defense, I wasn't even home yesterday. So writing a blog post wasn't really possible unless I attempted to write it on my phone while at a party with lots of people. Wouldn't be the first time I've done it...

I'm really not sure what I'm going to be blogging about for the rest of the month, so give me some ideas in the comments of things you want me to talk about! I have a few ideas, but nothing much as of yet. Ideas so far are:

• Top 5 Favorite Lesser Known Series (title pending)
• Why I Love Audiobooks
• Favorite Books of 2013
• Favorite BookTubers

There's a ton of more things I could write about out there, but I'm really not sure what they are. I've also been thinking about starting up a series kind of thing that I do weekly, such as Favorite Fridays or Top 10 Tuesdays or something like that.

So until I can get my stuff together and actually figure out this whole blogging thing, I'd love to hear thoughts from you on what you want to hear from me!

NaBloPoMo 2013!

Alright everyone, so November is coming and while most of you are gearing up for NaNoWriMo, I'm preparing for NaBloPoMo. What is it? National Blog Posting Month! I've thought a lot about doing NaNoWriMo and, sadly, this is the first year in 6 years that I will not be participating. I really don't think I'll have the time to do it. I don't have any new ideas and I've found that forcing one out usually ends in total disaster.

However, I do want to do something. And I like to do things to help me get my content out. This seems like fun. I've never done it before, but there's a first time for everything! A lot, if not all, of my posts will continue to be about books. But I'll be branching out from just reviews and video updates, which is something I've wanted and planned to do for a while. This will just get the ball rolling finally!

It'd be great if some of you wanted to do it along with me. (They're even giving away some iPad minis as a prize if you need some incentive.) Everything's more fun with friends! Okay, maybe not everything, but most things.

So you can click on the badge above to take you to the website, or click here to read more about what's going on.