Book Lover Tag + Exciting-Ness

Yes, I know exciting-ness isn’t a word, and as a future English student I should probably be using better grammar in my blog posts. But I think the word fits my feelings right now, so I’m going to roll with it… 😀 So, what’s the reason for this exciting-ness?? Well, there are two reasons actually…

#1… I now officially have over 200 followers on this blog! *cue screams of disbelief and excitement* How even?! As of now, the count is at 203 and I’m actually flabbergasted at that number. 203 people found this blog interesting enough to follow it?! Wow, I’m honoured, guys.

#2… Today is my two year blogging anniversary! Yes that’s right. Two years ago today I wrote my first official post on this blog. And again, I’m slightly in shock. I never dreamed that I would be here two years later, a pretty large band of followers in tow, still sharing my writing consistently every week. I have learnt so much during these past two years, and have met some amazing people on my blogging journey.

So, as I said – exciting-ness abounds!! I’m so grateful to everyone that has followed along on my blogging journey, reading my posts, commenting, and sharing. Your support really means a lot to me as a relatively young and inexperienced writer. I think I speak for all young writers when I say that your support is invaluable. These past two years have been a blast, and I’m looking forward to the future! *raises glass of whatever drink suits your fancy* So here’s to the future of The Way of Delight – may it live long and prosper! 😀

Ahem. Anyways. Now that those exciting announcements are out of the way, I have an equally interesting post to share. 😀 A couple weeks ago I was tagged by Grace from Proclaiming His Excellencies to do a fun book-lover tag. And I figured that since books seem to feature rather prominently on this blog, today is the perfect day to answer these bookish questions. So without further ado, let’s get on to the tag!

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Tag Rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog. (Thanks for the tag, Grace!)

2. Include the Book-Lover Blog Tag graphic and rules in your post.

3. Answer the questions.

4. Nominate at least 5 new bloggers to do the tag.

Okey doke, seems simple enough. Now to answer some questions… 🙂 And because I’m feeling in the mood for it, I’m going to impose another restriction on myself. xD You might know that I’m a huge fan of L.M. Montgomery’s writings (I certainly have fan-girled enough over her on this blog haha). So I’m hereby am personally dubbing this my L.M Montgomery Book Lover Blog Tag! (In other words, I’m going to answer all these questions from LMM books as appropriate.) 

1. What is your favorite thing about reading?

One of my favourite things about reading LMM books is the familiarity and yet the newness of it all. I’ve read all of her books multiple times now, and they all feel like old friends. But at the same time, each time I read one of her books I feel like I’m discovering them all over again! There’s something about the unique characters and plots that gives each book a spice of something that I rediscover when I read them. I love it! 

2. Which male character is your favorite?

No suprise here. The prize just has to go to Gilbert Blythe for being the most perfect fictional male on the face of the novel world. There’s just something about his charm and humour and heart that just endears him to me. And there’s the fact that his romance is with my all time favourite female character…

3. Which female character is your favorite?

Who just happens to be Anne Shirley. 😀 Her imagination, her spirit, her love for life, her writer’s heart – these are just some of the things that have made this red-headed orphan girl my favourite. I absolutely love watching her grow and develop throughout her eight books. There’s something so beautiful about watching her journey from a fiery girl to a dreamer and a writer, to a wife and then a golden-hearted mother. Her zest for life and incorrigible humour and love for people is just… gah! In case you can’t tell, I love this character a lot. 😀

4. Who is your favorite villain of all time?

I’m not entirely sure that there are ‘villains’ of such in LMM’s various books. I’ll just go with a few characters I personally don’t like. xD

• Mrs Fredrick Stirling from The Blue Castle. She’s most horrible and I must confess that I am incredibly happy when Valency metaphorically kicks Mrs Stirling’s butt by leaving and starting a life of her own. xD
• Mrs Campbell & The Woman from Anne of Windy Willows. A formidable duo who, together, manage to make little Elizabeth’s life rather miserable. Horrid old creatures. *shakes fist*

5. Who is your least favorite character of all time?

Oh wait, I guess I kinda answered that in the last question. Oh well, I can always come up with more awful characters of LMM’s creation. She seems to specialize in disagreeable female characters for some reason… And I love her for it. 😀

• Josie Pye, from the Anne series, for instance. Now she’s a disagreeable character. Jealous, snide, vain, and oh so ‘Pye-ish’. Incorrigibly ‘Pye-ish’ in fact, and with not a redeeming feature to claim that I can think of.
• Doreen Garrison from Pat of Silver Bush. Oh what an awful woman! She’s the very opposite of what a mother should be, all shallow beauty and fake care and total absence. She broke Jingle’s heart, and I shall never forgive her for it.

6. Which book do you think has the strongest plot?

Hmm, I would probably have to go for either Rilla of Ingleside, or The Blue Castle – two of my absolute favourite LMM books. Rilla has a heavier plot compared to the rest of the Anne books, but oh how it stirs the heart. It has death and new life, sorrow and joy, dark pain and bright hope – all bound up in such a beautiful story. As for The Blue Castle – well, the journey it takes the reader on is just marvellous. It starts in such an awful hopeless situation, and rises to such colourful life and beauty. There is humour and heart and hope woven through out this whole story, and I highly recommend it.

7. What gets on your nerves the most in a story (a boring character, an unrealistic plot, etc.)?

To be honest, there is very little that gets on my nerves in an LMM book. I love pretty much everything about every book or story I’ve ever read by her. However, if I had to have one quibble, it would be that sometimes her plots can become rather predictable, particularly in a lot of her short stories… Certainly in the romance scene, the whole woman-playing-hard-to-get-and-then-realizing-her-mistake-after-a-very-long-time plot becomes slightly old after a while. But then it’s kind of my fault really. Because if I insist on reading all of her short stories back to back, I’m bound to start seeing predictable patterns after a while. What writer doesn’t have them? So yeah, it’s a minor thing that gets on my nerves, and is rather easily removed by not reading too many of her short stories in a row. 😀

8. Which book has the best cover (share a picture!)?

Ah yes… I’m saving the best for last. You see, I’ve amassed quite the eclectic collection of LMM books over the years. I picked the majority of them because of their gorgeous covers, so here are three of my favourites for your viewing pleasure. 😉 

This was my first ever LMM book and will ever remain my favourite.

This little darling is rather battered, but the story inside is just as sweet and whimsical as the front cover.

The colour and detail of this cover is just stunning. Even more so than the picture lets on!

 

And that just about concludes this wonderful {L. M. Montgomery} Book Lover Blog Tag! I just need to tag some people… 

Bea @ The Treasure Within

Ruqs @ Many Things Bookish

Caleb @ A Young Writer’s Blog

Jessie @ Jessie Bingham

Friend @ Jeans and Dresses

(Please note, the whole LMM aspect of this tag was added by me personally and is not part of the official tag. :D)

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Right, if you’ve got to the end of this rather long post, congratulations! Thank you for reading, and most of all thank you for your support that has made these past two years possible! I’ll see y’all next week. 😉 

Let’s chat! How long have you been reading The Way of Delight? What’s been your favourite post from this blog? And what are your thoughts on L.M. Montgomery? Favourite characters that she’s written?