Blogger Spotlight Tour: Beauty and the Bookshelf

Hello everyone! Today we're participating in the First Annual Blogger Spotlight Tour hosted by Justine from The Closet Library and Jazmen from This Girl Reads a lot.

We're featuring Rachel from Beauty and the Bookshelf. She can be found at the following places: Twitter, Goodreads, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Figment.

Rachel (awesome name, by the way :D) loves animals, Disney, and reading (of course). She is an avid reader and aspiring writer who tends to write incoherent-yet-coherent reviews. Sounds a lot like us! :) Her blog is awesome, and if you haven't already, you should definitely go check it out!

Here's our interview with Rachel:

Why did you decide to start blogging?

You know, I don't really know! I think I just saw this world full of people like me who loved books (people who I didn't have anywhere around me pre-blogging and never got to socialize with, making me a lonely bookworm) and wanted to be a part of it. Now I have all these people I can talk about books with, and it's awesome!

Describe your blog in five words.

Life! Fangirling! Books! Feels! Love! 

What book has surprised you the most? (Whether it's because you thought you'd hate it and ended up loving it, you thought you'd love it and ended up hating it, a crazy plot twist, etc.)

I don't know about the most (that's one thing about me; I say "I don't know" a lot, because I rarely know if an answer is for sure), but maybe The Fault in Our Stars. I didn't think that book--or a book, for that matter--could make me so emotionally distraught. And because of that, I'm wary of books that could make me cry for sad reasons. The aftermath of reading that book was just...whoa.

What's your favorite place to read?

Hmmm, my probably my bed. If I'm in it then I'm at that time of day where everyone else is sleeping and I can read peacefully with no one bothering me. Plus, it's cozy. (Though it can sometimes convince my eyes it's time to sleep when I don't want to.)

What do you use as a bookmark?

A lot of times I don't use anything. But if I do, I just kind of use whatever's lying around, like a receipt or random slip of paper, or maybe my book light. With library books, I usually use the hold slip that comes with them. Which is kind of funny, because I have a bunch of bookmarks, but I never use them!

What's your favorite childhood book?

The Puppy Patrol series by Jenny Dale! I read those in elementary school and loved them. They made me want to have a kennel of my own. (And I still do.) I have 39 of the books, plus a bunch of the dogs; almost all of them!

Name your top three books of 2013 so far.

Ah, hard question. I'm looking through what I've read this year and I don't even know! Okay, how about three favorite standalones? I'll go with The Fault in Our Stars, Eleanor & Park, and...How to Love? *head hurts from difficulty of question*

If you had to pick one character to be your best friend, one to marry, and one to kill, who would you pick and why?

Best Friend: The Glass House gang from The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine. That would be AWESOME.

Marry: I have a LOT of book boyfriends (hence why I call myself a polygamist), but if I have to pick one I think I'll go with Shane Collins, who is part of the Glass House gang mentioned above.

Kill: Wendy from Tiger Lily. Because freaking Wendy. (That's all I say, because I don't want to spoil the book for those who haven't read it. If you have read it, am I right?)

What book do you wish would be made into a movie?

This could have myriad answers, but one that popped into my head is Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher. If done right and well, that would be GREAT on the big screen.

What do you like to do when you're not reading?

Satisfy my internet addiction. Daydream. Be lazy.

If you could spend a day with one author, who would you choose and what would you do?

You two are just full of hard questions, aren't you? While I'd like to spend a day with a lot of authors, it'd be really cool to hang out with Tahereh Mafi.

What's your go-to genre?

If I need to be put in a mood, I sometimes try fluffy, cute contemporaries, like Anna and the French Kiss. Or I go for rereads, like scanning my favorite parts of the Morganville Vampires series.

Do you have any book turn-offs?

This is hard, because it just depends on the book. But if an MC has an annoying voice and I can't stand it, I have a hard time getting into the book.

What are the qualities you look for in a book boyfriend?

He gives me the FEELS.

Recommend a book that is one of your favorites, but isn't as popular as you think it should be.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. That book is so underrated and it is just so lovely. If you haven't read it, my gosh, READ IT.

She's right about Tiger Lily! READ IT NOW! -Rachel
I haven't read it yet so I'm just going to hide..... *ducks* -Megan

Thanks so much for answering our questions, Rachel! And thank you Justine and Jazmen for hosting this tour!