Armchair BEA Day 1: Introductions First

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Myrtle

Welcome, welcome to my humble little blog. This is the second time I’m participating in Armchair BEA since I’m halfway around the world. I am your host Ayanami Faerudo or Myrtle in muggle life. Yes, yes, I do have the same name as that little ghost girl in a bathroom somewhere in a castle somewhere in Scotland; but trust me I don’t go peeking on any boy who’s taking a bath in the prefect’s bathroom no matter how sparkly they are (Cedric Diggory --> Edward Cullen). I am 22 years old and I’m finishing my master’s degree in Asian Studies. In between worrying about my grades (I’m obsessed with grades) and what I’m going to do about graduation, I use my time in reading books (of course), watching movies and TV series, Asian and Western. I also read fanfiction especially about Kagome/Sesshoumaru pairing, Edward/Not Bella pairing, and independent/raised by Sirius Harry Potter fanfiction.

I have been blogging for two years and of those two years, I’ve only formally recognized by blog as an official book blog for the last year. Of course I occasionally write something about films and TV series especially if I need to vent something about a character, a scene or a song but that is infrequent. I do also want talk about manga and anime and in so far I managed to write two posts about two manga(s). I would like to rectify the situation and just write them posts. I get so many ideas in my head that I don’t know what to do with them.

After all, I did start blogging to share my thoughts, opinions, suggestions about books mainly but also other topics that I feel passionate about. I have few to no one to fangirl with about books. I mean, my friends do read books when they have the time but they’re sort of limited to the popular ones or otherwise they have never heard of a particular book before. So, I do want to reach out to all those fantabulous book lovers, bloggers and authors out there for their love of books and passion for reading.

Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?

My (most) favorite post is the review that I wrote of Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin which you could read here.  I requested Butterfly Swords from NetGalley when I saw that it had an Asian girl who’s wearing  a red, sort-of kimono and holding  a swords. How bad-ass is that? I thought. However, the reason that the review is my favorite post is because it is the first post and review that I’m completely satisfied with.  And whenever I’m writing a review, I always go back to that post and remember how it was – the feelings, the thoughts – when I wrote it.

What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?

Can it be a whole country? Yeah? Okay. I want to visit the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Why? I think this one would be a cliché and a given: Harry Potter. Plus, I’ve read a fair share of classics and romances and I’ve always wanted to visit the Old Country – how the settings were always described so magically and somewhere where time and man haven’t managed to corrupt yet. Meh, don’t mind me. I’m a romantic and I tend to daydream everything.

Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

Oh boy, did it change. I used to limit myself to reading the popular ones and by popular ones I mean Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. I also read the classics mainly the ones written by Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett and Jean Webster. Plus the Nancy Drew series which I started to read when I discovered them in my high school’s meager library. Then, something that’s based on a TV series like Charmed and Sweet Valley High.  When I discovered my mother’s stash of romances then I started reading that, too. And that was the limitation that cocooned myself with in regards to reading.

Then, I discovered a book blog and Twilight.

I know some if not most of you out there do not like Twilight. I don’t really like it myself for reasons that would be discussed in a future post that was supposed to be written a long time ago. But reading Twilight helped me break my aversion of anything to do with vampires and once I was into Twilight and started searching in the internet and discovered that book blog (I forgot which, sorry), my reading life would never be the same.

I discovered YA and a whole lot of genres to choose from.

Before I was not into faeries because for me, faeries was spelled as “fairies” and they are the stuff of fairytales where they are tiny, sparkly little beings that grant your wishes. Now, faeries are my favorite books and I discovered that they are a lot more dangerous and a lot bigger than Tinker Bell. Then, came the fallen angels, werewolves, vampires, mermaids, steampunk, a whole lot of magic and extraordinary abilities, kingdoms and other worlds. *laughs* Oh, you get my drift and you might notice that I’m into YA, paranormal romance and such. And now, I’m easing myself into dystopia.

Ah, so many books!  I’m driving my friends crazy because I’m telling them about this book and that and wanting them to read those books. They’re getting frustrated because they’re not even finished with a particular that I pushed then to read that I’m sharing another book that I love. Hey, I want someoneto fangirl with me. *laughs*

What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

I’m currently reading Supernatural Devices by Kailin Gow. I’m not comfortable yet with steampunk but I’m getting there.

My favorite book(s) so far that I’ve read in 2012 are The Immortal Rules and Divergent. Reading those books was like watching action movies in my head. So electrifying.