You Asked, I’m Answering || Welcome to a Monstrous 500-Follower-Thank-You-Q&A!

Happy Friday, everyone!

And welcome to a post that is positively ginormous even by my standards! I’m really going to have to try to keep this intro brief because, well, the rest of this most certainly isn’t going to be…

Seriously, when I asked for Q&A questions in celebration of A Book Owl’s Corner hitting 500 followers, you guys really delivered! I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of support (and the number of questions) everybody sent my way, so I can only repeat what I already said in my Q&A announcement: You guys are the best community any blogger could ever hope for, and I’m so thankful for each and every one of you! 💙🥰💙

So yeah, without further ado, let’s get to the questions! There are insanely many of them, but, you know, since you guys expected me to answer you and write responses to all of the stuff you asked, I think it’s only fair that you get to read all of this in return… 😁 Have fun!

(And remember, skim-reading is most definitely not allowed 😜)

📚 Meena @ Meena Green asks 📚

We all have a book we want to go into, like going to Hogwarts, but what’s one book you absolutely do not want to go in?

Source: We Got This Covered – The Handmaid’s Tale

Pretty much any dystopian book ever. But one that I’d particularly like to avoid is Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale! A twistedly religious totalitarian regime that completely restricts freedom of movement, speech, and choice is just not my thing, particularly when it involves regularly being raped by some self-righteous rich dude who can’t wait to impregnate you and then snatch your child away once it is born. NO THANK YOU!!!

What’s one book you’d force someone to read as a torture method?

Although I am severely tempted to choose Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – a genuinely horrible book if there ever was one 😬 – I am going to have to go with Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. Torture describes Faulkner’s writing style to a T, and since this book is much, much longer than Heart of Darkness, we have the additional advantage that the torture will be drawn out in the most painful way possible! Also, as awful as my reading experience was, I think Absalom, Absalom! does get across some very poignant messages about oppression and racial trauma. And we want our torturee to come out of the torture as a better person, right?

📚 Line @ First Line Reader asks 📚

If you had to choose, would you rather never reread Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix again or never read another Robin Hobb book, meaning you’ll never finish the Realm of the Elderlings?

First off, Line, in case I didn’t already make it clear: I HATE YOU. While I might have expected such evilness from Nehal, I genuinely thought you were a nice person! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN THE BOOK I LOVE MOST IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND A SERIES I’M ABSOLUTELY DYING TO KNOW THE CONCLUSION TO?!? 😭😫😭 I’m very tempted to go with never finishing the Realm of the Elderlings, just so you won’t have anyone to excitedly gush about the rest of those books with! 😤

However, as much as it breaks my heart to say this, I think I’d give up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 😭😭😭 After all, I’ve read it so many times that I almost know it by heart anyway, so if I get too deprived, maybe I could at least recall my favorite passages in my head and reexperience them that way? And I would still be allowed to read the other Harry Potter books, which should lessen the pain at least a little… I love Goblet of Fire almost as much as Order of the Phoenix, so maybe that would be enough to keep me from going into a complete downward spiral when I have a bad day and realize my ultimate comfort book is inaccessible??? 😥

I just need to know how the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings plays out, okay!! I’m not giving up on Robin Hobb before I’ve even read all the books! Especially when I am sure there is so much greatness I have yet to discover!

If you had to spend a day with a character you absolutely despise, who would it be and how would you spend the time?

I would spend the day with Kyle Haven and gleefully take notes on his mistreatment of Wintrow, so that I could then give a detailed account of Wintrow’s suffering to the person who dared to suggest I would have to choose between rereading Harry Potter and finishing The Realm of the Elderlings.

I would spend the day talking to Father Konstantin from Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy – because as horrible as he is, he speaks Russian, meaning that I’d at least get some language practice in! If I already have to spend the day with a terrible person, I might as well get something out of it, right? 🤔 Besides, I think it’d be good for Father Konstantin to have someone apart from Vasya disagree with him from time to time. The man is way too self-righteous!! And if he gets on my nerves too much, I can always tune out all of his stupid babbling and blame my rudeness on language difficulties 😇

📚 Anjali @ Anjali Writes And Reads asks 📚

Your thoughts on Indian bloggers?

Ummmm – I don’t think I have any thoughts in particular? 😅 A blogger’s nationality doesn’t really matter to me, I care about the quality of the person’s content!

However, I do always love learning more about the world, so when bloggers – Indian or otherwise – use their platform to spread awareness about their culture in a way that creatively intertwines with whatever else they usually talk about, I’m a huge fan! Like, Riddhi @ Whispering Stories recently did a post about things in American and British novels that used to astound her as an Indian reader, and I thought that was hilarious, super interesting, and partially also very relatable!

Any assumptions about Indians?

Oh gosh, let’s see 😅 I’m just going to unpack all of the stereotypes I have and hope you don’t hate me too much afterwards 🙈🙈🙈 Please don’t hesitate to correct my ignorance down in the comments!

  1. You have a much higher tolerance for spices than the average European – which means that India has waaaaay better food than the bland mushy potato stuff which is so vastly popular here!
  2. Many of you are bilingual prodigies! Like, how on Earth do you also speak English so well when your native language is Hindi or Bengali or Tamil or something?
  3. Social hierarchies – like remnants of the caste system or a strong emphasis on obeying your elders – still shape society today, which means that there can be quite a bit of academic pressure on young Indians especially.
  4. A lot of you guys drive motorcycles.
  5. You can’t fathom why Bollywood movies aren’t more popular in the Western world and secretly think we are to be pitied for not knowing some of your true gems like pk or Three Idiots or Pink…

Fan of K-dramas?

Not really? 😅 I mean, I have nothing against them or anything, I just don’t actively seek them out and religiously binge-watch them to the point that I’ve almost become fluent in Korean. Which I feel like hardcore K-drama fans often tend to do! But if you have any recommendations, I’m definitely not opposed to giving them a try!

📚 Rachel @ A Bookworm’s Paradise asks 📚

Which is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Hazelnut! 🤩🥰🤩 While I do like to spice things up with a bit of variety, basically every second time I buy myself an ice cream cone, it’ll contain at least one scoop of hazelnut…

Spring or winter?

Winter! I love all four seasons, but summer and winter in particular hold a very special place in my heart.

First of all, I absolutely love snow. There’s simply something magical about walking through a forest that is covered in crystalline whiteness, and building snowmen, skiing, sledding, ice skating and the like are just so much fun! And there’s also nothing quite like coming back into the house and warming your half-frozen hands on a mug of hot chocolate or mulled wine…

Also, December happens to have both my birthday and Christmas in it! I basically spend all year looking forward to the Advent season, so obviously, I love winter a little more just because of that 🥰

Do you play a sport?

Does cycling up a hill every day to get to school count? 😅

Alas, no, I do not. I swam competitively up until about eighth grade, but ever since, I have been extremely lazy and not participated in any organized sport outside of school.

The best thing about living in Germany?

A bit of more or less accurate German geography 😉 (Sources: Research Gate and Vivid Maps)

Why are you guys giving me all of these horribly difficult questions?!? 😫 I don’t have a freaking clue! Choosing one best thing is way too much pressure!!

So of course, since it’s me answering this, here are several things I value a lot about living here:

  1. PRIVILEGE: I live in an extremely influential and wealthy country with a functioning democracy and universal healthcare and social security system. I have never had to go hungry, have known peace my entire life, and have never had to worry about being persecuted for something I have said or believe in. Apart from public transportation and copy fees, I have never had to pay a single cent for my education – and that includes university.
  2. TRAVEL: Being smack-dab in the middle of Europe makes it super easy to travel to other countries. In fact, when I go home to see my parents, I have to pay very careful attention to make sure I sit in the correct half of my train – unless I want to find myself making an impromptu trip to the Czech Republic. (Which isn’t bad per se – it only takes about 30 minutes to get back – but the German train service charges you some pretty hefty fines if you accidentally end up in another country when you bought a discounted ticket that allows you to travel only within Bavaria 😅) Additionally, when you want to travel outside of Europe, it is a huge advantage to have a passport so powerful that it gives you visa-free access to almost all other countries in the world.
  3. BREAD, CHOCOLATE, YOGHURT: I’m sorry, but apart from our closest neighbors, nobody can possibly compete in this area! Especially as far as bread is concerned. Honestly, for me, I think the hardest part about living in the US was the lack of proper bakeries. What you call “bread” is absolutely disgusting, Americans!
  4. NATURE: Sure, Germany doesn’t have anything as impressive as luscious tropical rainforests, sweeping deserts, or sprawling canyons… But we do have a pretty diverse landscape – mountains in the south, forests, plains, rivers, and moors spread all around the country, and the sea in the north! And since I love being outside and going hiking, I really appreciate the diversity!
  5. ADMITTING TO IMPERFECTION: From a really young age, we are taught to view our own country critically and not to gloss over the horrific things it has done in the past. We’re encouraged to discuss what we think is wrong in our society and take responsibility for current problems. We’re supposed to look at other countries for inspiration and strive to work together for a peaceful future. And although Germany is constantly criticized for having no patriotic spirit whatsoever except when it comes to soccer championships, I actually really like this mindset and find it a lot healthier than thinking your country is the best simply because you were born there. Because there are definitely a ton of things I think Germany could still improve on!

📚 Corrie @ Miraculus Homeschool asks 📚

What is your secret happy book? (Like a childish book that makes you happy when you read it)

While I have loads of happy books, I don’t think any of them are particularly secret… I proudly love all of my faves! Like I already said earlier, my number one comfort book is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but since you asked for childish, there are definitely also more juvenile things I like to reach for when I’m looking for happiness. Especially school stories! Enid Blyton, Andrew Clements, Louis Sachar and Roald Dahl are probably my go-to authors in that regard.

What do you want as a superpower if you could have one?

Gosh, this is so freaking hard! Don’t give me this choice!!! I can think of a number of superpowers that I would want to have for various different reasons!!

One power that I think would be super useful, however, is the ability to manipulate emotions.

Yes, I know – that makes me sounds extremely evil, doesn’t it? 😁😈😅 But just think about how much good I could do with it! I could easily de-escalate horrible situations in this world just by making people care for one another and be willing to see each other’s perspectives. Besides, my own life would be so much easier, too, because whenever I was feeling too anxious about something, I could simply tweak my own emotions in the right direction!

What genre would you give up forever: Mystery, fantasy, or adventure/sci-fi?

Mystery. I mean, I do love mystery novels – Agatha Christie is my queen! – but fantasy and science-fiction are my favorite genres, so there’s just no way I’m ever giving them up!

Do you like historical fiction?

Yes! I don’t tend to reach for it that often, since I have a slight tendency to get side-tracked by enormous fantasy tomes, but whenever I do, I usually really enjoy it. Especially if it is very political historical fiction!

Do you like wasabi? (I don’t.)

I will eat it if you serve it to me with sushi and also give me enough soy sauce and ginger to cover up the taste. But if you give it to me in the form of those wasabi nut things, I am staying well away. Those are positively disgusting!

One of my most hated foods of all time 🤮 (Source: SBS)

When did you read your last finished book?

Last weekend, so March 12th to 13th. I unfortunately don’t have as much time during the week anymore, which means as much reading as possible has to be squeezed into weekends! And since The Golden Fool was so remarkably good, I just went ahead and binged through it all in one go! 😍

📚 Pauline @ Pow’s Book Nook asks 📚

If you could have dinner with any author (living or dead), who would it be and why?

Jane Austen and Suzanne Collins (Source: Goodreads)

Gosh, this is such a hard question! I feel like, realistically, I would get so nervous and tongue-tied around authors that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to have dinner with any of them 😅 However, I don’t want to pass up this opportunity, either!

So maybe Jane Austen? I feel like she had a pretty wicked sense of humor and would be able to keep the conversation going even when I fail to contribute to it… Spending the evening with her would probably be hilarious!

I would also really like to meet Suzanne Collins, though. Apart from absolutely loving her books, I think she’d be an amazing person to have in-depth discussions about morality and philosophy with – topics that usually draw even introverted me out of her shell! Plus, she seems like a rather quiet and really down-to-Earth person despite being super famous, so maybe we would actually be able to have a conversation without me freezing up in terror…

📚 Simran @ Far From Perfect asks 📚

What would be your favourite book’s soundtrack? I. e. choose a song that fits the vibe of your favourite book.

My favorite book – which I think we’ve established often enough in this post is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 😅 – actually already has the perfect soundtrack! Even though I am of the hugely unpopular opinion that the Harry Potter movies aren’t particularly great, the film music is **chef’s kiss** 😍🤩😍 It has interesting, unique, and complex, but still very memorable melodies; it perfectly captures a feeling of magic and brewing tension, and it is just altogether wonderful! I couldn’t have asked for anything better!!

However, since you asked for a song and not something instrumental, I guess you could say that Harry’s general angsty mindset in the book fits very well with Simple Plan’s Welcome To My Life? 🤔

What colour is your soul?

According to the BuzzFeed quiz I took when I was asked this exact same question for The Aesthete Blogger Award about a year ago, my soul is a deep, dark black. Draw from this whichever conclusions you will…

Do you regret reading a particular book?

No! I mean, even when I hated a book, I love being in the know 😁 It’s so fun to be able to rant talk about specifics with other book nerds! And even when books were so horrible that they kind of tainted my views on entire series and I sometimes wish I could forget everything about them (**cough** The Fate of the Tearling **cough** Cursed Child **cough**), I would be way too curious as to what happened in them to not read them all over again!

Which Harry Potter character are you most like?

Hermione and Crookshanks (Art by feliciacano)

Being the book nerd and overachieving student that I am, I’ve obviously always related heavily to Hermione! As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve also seen more and more of myself in Harry’s teachers, most notably Professors McGonagall and Snape.

Which isn’t to say that I approve of how Snape treats his students! I just think that, like Snape, I tend to be absolutely terrible at communicating my emotions to other people and have made quite a few choices in my life that I deeply regret because of it…

And Professor McGonagall simply embodies a lot of qualities I personally also value very highly – fairness, logic, a willingness to defend her students tooth and claw if need be, an unwavering sense of duty to stand up for what is right, and a strong competitive streak that is especially prevalent when it comes to sports 😁 I don’t think I could ever be as awesome as her, but I definitely want to try!

If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

I’ve already answered this one above, but if I had to choose a different one, I think the ability to shape-shift into and then communicate with different animals would also be really cool! (And yes, this is definitely a leftover sentiment from my obsessively-writing-stories-about-Amoret days… If you know, you know 😅)

📚 Jan @ Inkspun Tales asks 📚

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve used as a bookmark?

A bookmark – made from glue 🙈 If there are any other 90s kids around here who went to elementary school in the United States, you might remember that one of the biggest fads back in the day was to color the top of your pencil box with a marker and then pour lots of glue onto it to make colorful strips that you could use as bookmarks when they dried…

For everyone who is currently utterly confused, this is what I’m talking about! (Source: Cut Out + Keep)

Anyway, dumb little me actually used one of those bookmarks – and then proceeded to leave her book out in the Floridian sun… Thankfully, it was “only“ a school workbook, which means I could just rip out the ruined pages, but it still gave me a huge scare!!! Needless to say, I have never used glue bookmarks since. Or any other bookmarks, really. I usually just memorize the page number I‘m on 😇

If dragons were real, would you keep one as a pet?

Immediate answer: YES!!!! OF COURSE!!! WHO WOULDN’T WANT A DRAGON?!? 🤗🤩🥰🤩🤗

Answer after thinking about this question a little bit and realizing that dragons have destructive pyromanic tendencies, eat a ton of meat that I would somehow have to provide them with, and poop so much that cleaning up would probably be an even more awful experience than that time when I was working on a farm and the canal from the cow barn to the manure tank froze over: Noooooooo….. I guess I don’t want a dragon after all… 😥

Choose between the Inkheart series and The Penderwicks 😈

WHY ARE ALL OF YOU SO CRUEL?!? WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME CHOOSE BETWEEN MY FAVORITES? 😫 Can I get out of this because that sentence of yours technically isn‘t even a question?

Still, Jan, I don‘t hate you quite as much as I hate Line – because the choice is actually comparatively easy here! I would choose The Penderwicks, hands down. I love Inkheart, but I absolutely adore The Penderwicks. The series has such wonderfully relatable characters, is simultaneously sad and full of humor, and I just couldn‘t imagine ever giving it up!

📚 Suhani @ Random Reader’s Rambles asks 📚

Paperbacks or hardcovers?

Paperbacks! (At least if they‘re not the super-hard-to-open tiny mass-market type 🙄) Holding them is so much more comfortable than holding hardcovers, the spines don‘t break as easily, and, most importantly, they‘re way cheaper! And buying cheaper books means you can buy more of them!

Pineapples on pizza, yes or no??

Yes! However, I do not understand the need to also add ham or bacon to that pineapple. Pineapple is delicious, so why would you feel the need to mar its taste with disgusting other substances? Just pair it with mushrooms or something!

Do you have any pet peeves? If so, what are they?

If we’re talking bookish pet peeves, I did a whole post on them ages ago, so I’ll just redirect you to that if you’re interested 😉 However, as far as more basic, everyday pet peeves go, some things I absolutely can’t stand are:

a) People feeling the need to continuously crack their knuckles in my presence (I’m looking at you, brother #1! 😠) or to flaunt their disgusting soccer-induced injuries when they (Yes, brother #2, I mean you! 😡) know fully well that I get extremely woozy at the sight of blood!

b) People leaving their unwashed dishes in the sink or all of their hair in the drain after they shower. Clean up the freaking communal areas after you’ve made use of them!

c) People saying “between you and I” and swearing this is correct grammar. The same thing applies to Germans who think “zumindestens” and “einzigste” are words. THEY ARE NOT!

d) People who babble on and on and on without getting to the point when they are asked a question. Just admit straight-out that you don’t know the answer rather than trying to fake knowledge when there clearly isn’t any there!

One fictional world you’d choose to live in for the rest of your life?

I‘m super basic and would just want to live in Hogsmeade and go to Hogwarts. I don‘t even care that I‘m way older than all of the other students – I just wanna be part of the magic!!! Is that really too much to ask for? 😫

Source: Warner Brothers

Besides, if none of the teachers want me in their classes, I‘d still be open to teaching Muggle Studies. I feel like after living as a Muggle for such a significant part of my life, I‘d be more than qualified 😇 And I could probably have very interesting cultural discussions with the students!

What’s your all-time favourite memory?

I don’t think I have an all-time favorite memory… Thankfully, I’ve experienced quite a few wonderful things in my life, so narrowing it down to one is impossible!

However, for the sake of answering this question, I suppose that one memory I’m very fond of is when my family finally moved into our “new” house back in 2008. We’d already returned to Germany in 2007, but since the old half-timbered house my parents had bought was in complete ruins at the time, we spent a whole year living in a holiday apartment until our house was renovated enough that living in it was feasible. Which also meant that, for over a year, the six of us were cramped into extremely close quarters and basically living out of a suitcase, since all of our stuff was in storage…

But then, on the day we moved into our own place, it was like Christmas! There were so many moving boxes filled with things I loved but hadn’t seen in over a year that I now got to unpack!!! And because it was impossible to get everyone settled into their rooms for the night in just one day, we instead cleared enough space in the living room to set up a huge blanket fort between all of the boxes. Where we then had a hilarious family sleepover/movie night/move-in celebration! 🥰

Odd numbers or even numbers? (24 hours of studying maths for finals and this the state we are at now 🥲🥲🥲)

Both! I don‘t like one over the other, although, coincidentally, my favorite natural numbers – 5, 7, 11, 17 – are all odd. But that doesn‘t mean I generally prefer odd numbers! (It does probably mean I generally prefer prime numbers, though 😁)

📚 Riddhi @ Whispering Stories asks 📚

Do you regret writing a blog post?

Outright regret – no. I tend to overthink what I want to write BEFORE I write it, so if an idea manages to get to the finished product stage, I‘m pretty sure the world is allowed to see it!

There are, however, one or two posts that I think about taking down from time to time – because now that my following has gotten bigger, it kind of freaks me out how many people might read them considering how personal they are 🙈

If you couldn’t choose the name A Book Owl’s Corner for your blog, what name would you choose and why?

Büchereuleneck. Because, reasons 😁

What is your favourite sport? (I am fairly sure it’s football, but well, just asking)

I’m sorry to disappoint you, Riddhi, but no. My favorite sport is swimming 🥰 I do absolutely love watching soccer, though!

What is one sport you want to learn to play?

I don’t think there’s a sport I’m super interested in learning to play, but a sport I’ve always dreamed of learning is horseback riding! I love animals and I love being outside, so riding has always seemed beautifully idyllic to me! However, I’m afraid I’ve never made much progress on this goal beyond my best friend letting me sit on her horse from time to time…

What is one sport you want to start watching? (Hopes the answer is cricket)

If I have to pick one, I’m going with handball 😜 The city I’m from has a pretty successful team whose matches half of my friends attend on a weekly basis. They’ve been trying to drag me there for years, so I’m pretty sure me actually going would be such a sensation that I’d be able to wring something very profitable out of it. Like sponsored food and drink, for example… 😇

What is your favourite food?

Source: Aromatic Essence

Chicken 65!! 🥰 I mean, just look at how delicious it looks 😍😍 And it tastes even better! 🤩🤩🤩

What is one food you could never go wrong with?

Samosas! 😍😋😍

Would you rather have Fred Weasley or Sirius Black disappear from everyone’s minds?

**Adds Riddhi to the list of people she hates**

But fine, let’s go with Fred Weasley. Just because I want to spare George at least a bit of his pain 😭 And because Sirius’ story is such a tragic reminder of why people shouldn’t jump to conclusions and point fingers without properly examining evidence first 🥺

What Taylor Swift song is your favourite? (I know you don’t listen to her, but just curious)

I don’t think I listen to enough Taylor Swift to be qualified to answer this question 😅 Her songs all sound the same to me, which is actually the reason I don’t listen to her more. Taylor’s lyrics are phenomenal, yes, but her melodies are just so boringly repetitive!

However, if I have to choose something from the top of my head, I guess we could go with Look What You Made Me Do – at least that one sounds different, and plus, it’s super dark, which is always a bonus in my book 😁 – or Tolerate It, which is just so wonderfully, heartbreakingly sad… 😭

Which blog post of mine is your favourite? (Not exactly a celebratory post kind of question, but I do wanna know)

I don’t know! 😫🙈😫 I’ve loved so many posts of yours that I’ve kind of lost track! Most recently, I’ve been adoring your “Types of … We All Know” series, but I also love all the interactive things you do on your blog – emoji quizzes, reacting to (un)popular bookish opinions, blogger interviews, that hilarious “Types of” collab you did with Nehal – you name it! But maybe the posts of yours I love most of all are the crazily weird ones that are just bursting with creativity. Like your book character tinder thing. Or that time a dog took over the blog 😂 And I love, love, love your poetry and everything that educates us dumb foreigners on Indian culture!

So I dunno – I guess you should just take away from this that I love your blog and am a huge fan of all the variety you have on it?

Which blog post of yours is your favourite?

Just like I can’t pick a favorite post of yours, I also can’t pick a favorite post of mine. Stop asking me all of these super hard questions! 😫

I can, however, give you a list of several favorites that should give you a general idea of what kinds of posts I most enjoy writing and end up being proudest of:

Alright, awkward self-promotion is over 🙈 I think you’ve read the majority of these anyway, Riddhi, so you may safely ignore this list!

📚 Georgia @ Lost in Neverland asks 📚

What was your last 5-star read and why?

The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb! Because there is just no way this book could ever deserve anything less. The characterization is phenomenal, the world-building fascinating and unique, and the plot full of political twists and turns. It made me feel intense sadness, longing, heartbreak, joy, embarrassment, pain, and love, and when a book makes you experience the full spectrum of emotions like that, you have no other choice but to love it 🥰

(I wouldn’t consider giving up Order of the Phoenix for any old books, you know! To warrant that, a series has to be truly phenomenal!)

Is there a book/series you’ve been meaning to reread but haven’t yet?

I reread most things I love over and over again, so there actually aren’t that many candidates for this question – because most books I’ve been meaning to reread recently, I’ve actually already reread at least once!

Still, I’ve managed to scrape together a few only-once-read candidates that I definitely want to get back to again at some point:

The only reason I haven’t gotten to them yet is because I do not own them myself!

📚 Anoushka @ Dipped in Ink asks 📚

Why do you hate olives? (I’VE BEEN DYING TO KNOW THIS SINCE FOREVER)

BECAUSE THEY TASTE DISGUSTING!!! Especially the black ones 🤢🤮🤢 Like, duh.

What is one thing you did when you began blogging (or even later on) that you regret to this day?

I have no regrets!

(At least none that are directly related to blogging, and I’m not telling you about any of the more personal ones 🙃)

Sure, I suppose I could have unprivated my website sooner or actually put some effort into the look of my blog right when I started out… But then I wouldn’t be where I am today! I love the community I have built, and I wouldn’t want to risk losing it by doing things differently!

What is the best memory you can remember?

Well, I’ve already given you one of my favorites in response to Suhani’s question, so I suppose it’s only fair if I give you another one. During spring break, back when I was still living in Florida, my best friend’s parents would always take the two of us, my best friend’s twin brother, and his best friend camping at various national parks, and we always had the greatest time ever! Although my best friend and I also narrowly escaped prematurely dying of a heart attack when we were on a 2 a.m. bathroom run through the dark woods and this raccoon jumped out at us…

What is the last lie you told someone?

The lie: “That’s a good starting point and I think you might’ve meant the right thing, but you need to pay more attention to correct mathematical terminology or nobody is going to understand what you mean.”

Who I told this lie to: One of my students.

What I was actually thinking: I have never seen such groundbreaking stupidity 🤯🙄🙈 How the heck did you even make it this far into your school career??! That is most definitely not a good starting point and I doubt you have any idea what we’re even talking about here. But maybe if I’m nice to you there is a 0.0001% chance you might start believing in yourself, using your brain, and actually doing the homework instead of copying it from your equally clueless neighbor, so I suppose it’s worth a try?

Name 3 books you’ve lied about loving.

I can’t recall ever having lied about loving a book… If I hate something, I have no qualms at all about telling people! I mean, you’ve seen my rant reviews, haven’t you? 😁

A book you don’t think is THE BEST but you still LOVE anyway.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer 😂 Objectively, it has everything I hate in a novel – a Mary Sue main character who is not like other girls and only reads classics, a horribly toxic love interest, an incredibly stupid love triangle that gets resolved in an even more incredibly stupid way, and almost no plot whatsoever. But do I love it anyway? Yes! It’s so dumb in the most wonderful way possible!

What is one genre you’d read for the rest of your life? (only 1 choice)

FANTASY!!!!! Did you guys seriously think there was even a possibility of me choosing anything else?

How do you always come up with THE BEST POST IDEAS EVER? (We need secrets, Naemi!)

I’m extremely flattered that you hold my ideas in such high regard, Anoushka!! 😇 However, I couldn’t for the life of me tell you how I come up with them… They just kind of pop into my head, I guess?

I know that probably sounds like the cheapest cop-out answer ever, but trust me, you’re not alone in wishing you had that step-by-step guide to amazing content creation… I’m constantly living in fear that every good idea I have will be my last, so I certainly wouldn’t mind if my brain shared some of its subconscious secrets!

Would you live the rest of your life on Earth or in a DANGEROUS fantasy land (LIKE KETTERDAM)?

Oh, I’m definitely choosing the dangerous fantasy land!! I want access to all that magic!!! And as long as I’m not utterly stupid, go looking for danger, and allow myself to be roped into some crazy heist proposed by some wannabe crime lord, I should be fine, right? 🤔 Like, the only reason Ketterdam turned out to be so dangerous to the Crows is because they didn’t exactly shy away from danger… I would be way too much of a scaredy cat to even end up in situations that could potentially be dangerous! 😇

📚 Saima @ Stories with Saima asks 📚

What’s one place you really want to travel to?

Photo by Rudolf Kirchner on Pexels.com

Iceland! I mean, the country has absolutely breathtaking scenery you can’t find anywhere else on this planet. It has a writing system that partially still uses runes and a language that I adore the sound of. It has a fascinating history of conquest and resilience. Their soccer team and its fans absolutely stole the show at the last World Cup. And Iceland has more writers, more books published, and more books read per capita than any other country in the world! How could I not want to go there?!? 🤩

If you could live in any fictional world, which would it be?

I’ve already mentioned that I would love to spend my life at Hogwarts, but then again, I suppose you could say that Hogwarts isn’t located in a fictional world, but in ours 🤔 So if I had to live in a purely fictional place, I suppose The Island from Eva Ibbotson’s The Secret of Platform 13 wouldn’t be too bad, either – I always wanted to live there as a kid anyway! It has magic and mistmakers!

What is your favourite food?

Like I said above – Chicken 65! And I love it so much that nothing else comes even close, so I can’t even offer you a different alternative 🤣

(And that already brings us to the end of this post, so tell me honestly – how much did you end up skim-reading? I think I can safely say that I, too, was so overwhelmed by the amount of text in this post that I barely managed a complete read-through, so just blame any confusing bits or spelling errors on that 😁)

Anyway, that was it for today! Thanks again to everybody who sent in questions – I hope you were satisfied with the answers you got! And of course, I hope everyone else found something interesting in this absolute monstrosity as well… After all, I have all of you to thank for the reason I did this Q&A in the first place 🥰 Thank you for being such a wonderful community and for putting so much trust in me!

59 thoughts on “You Asked, I’m Answering || Welcome to a Monstrous 500-Follower-Thank-You-Q&A!”

  1. jan says:
    Reply

    My school has handball and though I don’t play it, it is pretty fun to watch and cheer on!
    Lol so you chose penderwicks. Remind me again to read it one day, I keep forgetting. Love your honesty regarding twilight tho. Kind of how much I love/hate the divergent trilogy. It’s trashy but addictive!
    I only started getting to watch kdramas recently. The only one I have finished is My Mister which is a platonic love story about lonely introverted people and it’s kinda like the best thing I have ever watched, I highly recommend it! (It’s slow paced and very character driven haha). I’m watching one called twenty five, twenty one which is still airing but it’s so light and breezy it makes me happy lol.
    I was obsessed with Eva ibbotson’s books growing up, I think I have read all her children’s books! my favourites must be the dragonfly pool and the journey to the river sea, i had no idea you liked her books too! (Yes, I would love to live in the island in the secret of platform thirteen, her worlds are always so magical)

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Lol, everyone but me seems to absolutely love watching handball 😂 I mean, when I do watch, I also get invested, but I’d just much rather spend my evenings at home with a good book than in a gym or in front of a TV screen!

      And, yes, Jan, you have to read The Penderwicks!! 🤗 Don’t worry, I’m sure I can fit those reminders in – it’s not like I’m not continuously pushing those books on my blog anyway… 😁

      And I agree on Divergent!! 🤩 At least regarding the first book – Insurgent and Allegiant didn’t really blow me away much… But Divergent is definitely trashy in the best way possible! 🤣

      Also, I guess you’ve convinced me to try My Mister at some point 🤔 I already thought it sounded intriguing when you mentioned it in your wrap-up!

      And aaaaaahhhh, a fellow Eva Ibbotson fan!!! 🤗🤩🤗 Honestly, you have the BEST taste in children’s books, Jan! I really enjoyed The Dragonfly Pool Journey to thr Riversea, too, but my own favorites were always The Secret of Platform 13 and Island of the Aunts 🥰

      Liked by 1 person

      • jan says:
        Reply

        Ahh yes my propaganda is working go watch my mister!

        Gosh the three aunts kidnapper story was HILARIOUS. It’s the one with the hungry kraken right? The great ghost rescue and which witch are so funny as well! I sometimes reread those stories when I want to lighten my mood lol

        Liked by 1 person

        • abookowlscorner says:
          Reply

          Yes!! Island of the Aunts has the Kraken, which is a big reason why I loved it so much! 🥰 (Well, that and because the Aunts were literally the best kidnappers ever… 😂) I’m not sure whether I read The Great Ghost Rescue, though… At the moment, it’s not ringing any bells, but maybe I’ve just forgotten over the years, since I did read a ton of Eva Ibbotson back in the day 😊 I do remember very much enjoying Which Witch, though!

          Liked by 1 person

  2. Rachel says:
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    WRONG ANSWER, as my latest post will tell you, spring is obviously better BUT it doesn’t snow where i live and i’m positive i’d love snow so i really cant blame you.
    I promise i didn’t skim read the post, you can quiz me lol.
    omg Naemi don’t you have any regard for your life? stating outright that you dislike olives will invite DEATH from our dear friend anoushka so i’d suggest you lock all your doors 👀

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Hmmm, sure, I guess we can attribute your wrongful preference of spring to the lack of snow in your area, Rachel 😜😂 Winter just has so many good holidays and such a cozy feel to it!! But I also love when everything starts blooming in spring and the days start getting longer again 🥰

      And yay, thanks for not skimming! 😊 I’m going to take your word for it, though – you seem trustworthy enough that I don’t think the quizzing part is necessary 🤔 Though I suppose I’ll just have to hope that Anoushka is less trustworthy and won’t notice the answer to the olive question… (I am taking your advice and locking all doors just in case, though 👀😂)

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Meena Green says:
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    This was so great! And you’re right, a long but very enjoyable post! Everyone asked really good questions and you gave really good answers and that chicken made me really hungry! Shouldn’t have read this before breakfast 😅

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Riddhi B. says:
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    This was such a short post.

    I have to say my favourite questions were the ones Anjali asked, and I was so eager to read your answers to them and they did not disappoint! Also, thank you so much, I am glad you enjoy my Indian POV to stuff! And yes, actually, Indians do kind of have a higher threshold for spice- but not all though- it still varies! Like, a friend of mine does not even tear up at the spiciest of stuff, where another one tears up on the mildest of stuff! Although, it is a myth, that Rajasthanis (one of the state’s people) are most tolerant towards spice, and it’s true to some extent!
    As for the caste system, while it is still prevalent in a lot of areas, it’s not really as prevalent as it was 20 years ago, so yay!
    As for bilingual prodigies, there are so many people who are trilingual! Most people, at least in North India know Hindi, and English (since it’s part of the school curriculum), but in addition to this, there are multiple state languages as well, and people know those too! I am a person who’s mother tongue isn’t a state language, so I am bilingual, but I do understand some of the state languages!

    And ooh, I didn’t know you swam! I used to swim too, until the third grade, and I absolutely love to swim even today, but it’s been super long so I am sure I’d be rusty, haha!

    And oooh our favourite blog posts on your blog are similar!

    (I totally did not reply to all that praise to seem humble, lol, but thank you so much, it means a lot!!)

    Look What You Made Me Do is an amazing song!!

    And Winter is amazing! I mean, I live near The Tropic of Cancer, so there’s no snow, and the lowest temperatures are like 8-12 degrees celsius, so I love Winter. As for spring it’s non-existent- it’s already over 40 degrees, and I am so dead. Summer is something I loathe, but mangoes make it all good, yay!

    Awesome post Naemi!!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Emily @frappesandfiction says:
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      So when you say you don’t like olives, do you mean just the black ones or all of them? Because the black ones are DISGUSTING, especially the canned ones, but Kalamata olives and green olives are really good.

      This post was super fun to read, your answers about Germany were especially interesting– I definitely agree on the point of blind patriotism. In the US we have a bunch of people who think the country is evil, and then another bunch of people who think it’s the best country to ever exist. But I think it’s best to have a balanced view of your country. It makes no sense to me to be proud of a country just because you were born there, but I think it’s good to have some degree of patriotism (if it’s based in reality of course) I am proud of America for some things and not proud of it for other things. I think it’s a good country that is better than many others but also that has plenty of issues like many others lol. It’s also not the only good country in the world which is what a lot of people seem to act like

      On Taylor Swift– I used to listen to a TON of Taylor Swift when I was younger. You have to listen to her less well-known songs to find the good ones. My favorite album is folklore but I can’t listen to it without being transported to the middle of the pandemic in 2020 when it came out and I was listening to it on repeat

      Liked by 1 person

      • abookowlscorner says:
        Reply

        I’m afraid I don’t like the green olives, either 😅 Like, I’ll eat them if they’re included in salad or on pizza or something and sliced into such tiny slivers that taking them out is next to impossible, but I would never voluntarily put them into a dish… However, I do agree with you that the black ones are a million times worse!!! DISGUSTING doesn’t even cover it!!

        And I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Emily! I agree – it’s good to have a healthy balance between patriotism and criticalness, and that both blind hatred and blind love can be extremely harmful! Especially once you start thinking you are better than others or having a huge divide within your country because you don’t even try to see perspective of people with opposing opinions…

        And lol, I guess I will have to do a Taylor Swift deep dive at some point 🤣 So many people keep telling me that the less well-known songs are the good ones, but somehow, I’ve never had the motivation to actively go seek them out 🙈

        Like

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      I know! It was the perfect example for brevity, wasn’t it? 🙃😇

      And I’m glad you enjoyed the India questions and that my answers weren’t so offensive that they scared you off! 🤣 That’s super interesting about the spice thing – I personally LOOOVE spicy food, so I always hate how blandly most people season here; but I’ve always been curious about whether my tolerance for spice would hold up to Indian standards. Maybe what I think is hot is still super mild for you guys! 🤔 I guess I’ll have to visit at some point and find out… 😉 Also, I’m so jealous of the multi-lingualism thing! I would love to just be fluent in several languages because I grew up with them, rather than being stuck with just German and English 😭 And it’s so cool that you also understand some of the other state languages, even if you don’t speak them yourself!

      Oh, and I’m sure you wouldn’t be that bad at swimming! Maybe your stamina will be gone, but I feel like once you’ve figured out the correct movements, you probably won’t forget, even if it’s been years! (However, I’ve never gone that long without swimming before, so I couldn’t say for sure 🤔)

      Haha, I can see how 40+ degree summers can be exhausting, though, even with mangoes 😂 I personally live for the two weeks here when we finally cross over into the thirties – like, I need to wear my t-shirts and shorts at some point! Just give me a properly warm summer! But yeah, anything warmer than 35°C is too much for me as well! 😅

      Liked by 1 person

      • Riddhi B. says:
        Reply

        Indeed it was!

        Perhaps perhaps, yes indeed we shath find out!

        But heyy, it’s cool you know German! And English, and Russian too!

        Aah, maybe, i do love swimming still though!

        Yesss it’s very bad, on a May day temperatures reach 48-50 °C in the afternoon 😭😭

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Corrie.S.P. says:
    Reply

    YESS! I made it! ABSOLUTLY NO SKIMMING!!! (hope that when I do my Q&A I get as many awesome questions!!) Now prepare for a tiny post of my own here in the comments….
    Book I don’t want to go into…..Probably And then there were None or Crooked house. I would defiantly be killed or become one of the last to survive.
    I can’t think of torture books. Books are fun! Not pain!
    Good choice on what you gave up! I would have done the same. Given up a book I know by heart for a series I have not finished.(also…..I am not a harry potter fan…..*holds up hands in order to shield face from disapproving look)
    Character I hate…….. Ooooooooo maybe Keefe’s mom? Despite her being a total meanie she is interesting…
    I love Mint-Chocolate-Chip ice cream!
    I love Andrew Clement and Roald Dahl!
    I would want either invisibility, or mind/body control……I’m evil, ik..
    How dare you give up Mystery!!! (logical choice though since mystery books do fit into fantasy categories as well…
    I really don’t like wasabi! Or the nuts! Yuck!
    I finished: Hickory Dickory Death last night.
    Yes! Pineapple Pizza! YUMMY Made some last week!
    I would want to live in the KOTLC’s world or The Land of Stories world. But only if I could take my family! Also, I have read the Island of the Aunts! I had no idea what author you were talking about Until, I read the comments and there you mentioned that book. I absolutely loved it!
    I would love to dinner with Agatha Christie….Maybe she would tell me about her disappearance…..
    My bookmarks are pretty much whatever is closest, but I regular use flosses…. My fave is a crocheted one my cousin got me!
    I love swimming but my fave is Badminton! I just got inkheart from the library, have not read it yet though.
    My fave food has to be either whatever I make homeade or chicken yeah!
    I despise Olives!
    I have been meaning to read WOF more but, never gotten to it.
    Hey! This American loves bread! I have to say I do make great homeade bread!
    Hey! You used to live in Florida! Cool! It is where I currently reside.
    Dangerous fantasy lad all the way!!
    I have always wanted to go to Australia, Also called Oceania!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Wow, that’s quite the achievement! 🤣 I’m glad you enjoyed the post despite its length 😉 And of course, I loved this long comment-post of yours!!

      Honestly, though, I feel like I would probably survice And Then There Were None – never having murdered anyone, I’m in no danger! 😁 Crooked House is a different story, though…

      Also, Corrie, consider yourself lucky. The torture books are out there, even if you haven’t encountered them yet! Although reading them still wasn’t as bad as having to consider giving up Harry Potter 😭

      However, I’m afraid I don’t like Mint-Chocolate-Chip ice cream that much – the taste reminds me too much of toothpaste 😜 But at least we agree on the olives and Island of the Aunts!

      And Australia would have been my second choice for that question! 🤩 I’ve always wanted to go scuba-diving in the Great Barrier Reef, and unfortunately, I might not have that many years left to do that, considering the rate humanity is bleaching corals at 😥

      Also, I really hope you end up loving Inkheart!! It’s such a good book 🥰

      Liked by 1 person

      • Corrie.S.P. says:
        Reply

        I will! Thank goodness there are no torture books I have read. I would have said Pilgrims Progress but now that I think back I am thinking that it was actually a great book and it was good of school to force me to read it🤣
        Gasp! It does not taste like toothpaste!! But that’s your opinion…even if it’s wrong……😉🤣 jk.
        I will start Inkheart next week or maybe in a few days.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Maria @ The Character Study says:
    Reply

    AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH CONGRATS ON 500 FOLLOWERS!! I can’t believe I missed your Q&A announcement post (I can actually believe it, but it doesn’t mean I’m any less disappointed in myself).

    As someone who had to read Barn Burning by Faulkner a ridiculous amount of times because I was simply not understanding anything, I relate to his writing style being torture. I had to re-write my essay several times because it appears that I couldn’t formulate any coherent thoughts after reading that short story, so I can’t even imagine what a whole novel would be like.

    Justice for wasabi!!!! It’s absolutely delicious in all of its forms (even nuts, even if they’re not my favourite). I can’t believe you’d want to cover it up with soy and ginger, siiiiiiiigh. I’m actually worried about the state of your taste buds after reading this whole post Naemi, who the hell hates olives???

    You choosing Welcome to My Life as Harry’s soundtrack made me crack up and I will now think about it every time he pops up in my mind. Emo Harry is a whole thing I didn’t know I needed.

    You should totally let me know if you reread A Little Life and perhaps it’ll motivate me to finish it because at this point I’m increasingly more and more scared of picking it back up 😭

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Thank you, Maria!! 💙 And don’t beat yourself up about missing the announcement – it seems like you still got answers you enjoyed out of this, and to be honest, I really didn’t mind that there weren’t even more questions! 😅 I was not expecting such an overwhelming response and really started sweating over whether I’d manage to answer them all in time!

      And gosh, yes – consider yourself lucky that you’ve only been subjected to a Faulkner short story thus far 🙈 I would not recommend trying him in novel form unless you really want to fry your remaining brain cells! Seriously, the man’s writing style is HORRIBLE!!!!! How Faulkner ever became recognized as a great writer for it is beyond me… 😳

      However, Maria, I’m thinking you’re the one whose tastebuds we should be worried about. I mean, liking both wasabi and olives? 🤯 That is definitely not normal 😜

      And I’m always happy to provide emo Harry images and A Little Life motivation! 😂

      Liked by 1 person

      • Maria @ The Character Study says:
        Reply

        You did get plenty of interesting questions, so I’m not mad! And yeah, I don’t think I’ll be reading more Faulkner any time soon as I don’t have that many brain cells to spare 😂

        I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on the food-realted questions heh

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Line @First Line Reader says:
    Reply

    You answered the question 😂 You know what? Because you did that, I’m going to stop holding it against you that you wanted to punch Wintrow (that would have been a life-long thing otherwise), so I hope that means you don’t hate me that much 😉 And I loved that you chose Konstantin for the other one!

    I laughed at your “does cycling up a hill count as a sport?” From living in a city that is all hills, I can tell you that it absolutely does count 😁

    It was really interesting to hear you talk about that lack of patriotic spirit in Germany because I feel it’s often a thing I read about Germany and was taught in school, but I’ve often wondered whether it was actually possible to keep these nationalist feelings at bay. Especially when we’ve seen them on the rise in so many other European countries (including Denmark). And I agree with you; the whole idea of feeling proud of your country or someone from your country (like, why? It’s got nothing to do with you) is so stupid, and it should only be allowed in sports because that’s all a joke anyway 😅

    And omg, that glue bookmark is the most tell-me-you’re-a-90s-kid-without-telling-me-you’re-a-90s-kid ever! 😂😂

    And you like pineapple on pizza!!! That alone means I love you, although I do like the ham on those pizzas too.

    Also, I’m now wondering what I can do to actually make you watch more handball 😄 I don’t watch a ton of it myself anymore but I know the German teams are very good so I don’t see what you’re complaining about. And if you can get free stuff on top of that…

    (I’m going to stop now because this has already taken me an hour!)

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      I’m glad the absolute agony you put me through is at least being acknowledged 🤣 That and the fact that you agree with me on pineapple pizza might have been enough to mollify me a little bit! And your understanding regarding my cycling struggles might even have turned my hatred to love… Like, seriously, hills are THE WORST!!! Normally, I would just dismount and push my bicycle for the last bit, but the fact that my students might see and judge my lack of athleticism has me bravely powering through till the very end 🙈😂 So yes, considering how winded I end up coming to school, it is definitely a sport!!

      Honestly, though, I don’t know how well the whole “keeping nationalist feeling at bay” thing really works. I do feel like every other country I’ve ever been to is creepily patriotic compared to us – especially the US – but we still have our fair share of nationalistic idiots as well 🙈 Like, every tenth person in the country voted for the super right-wing AfD in our last national election, and that percentage is seriously frightening! I just don’t understand how anyone could ever stand behind a party like that 😥

      And I don’t have anything against handball! I just don’t see why I should spent one extra evening a week doing something social and watching a sport I’m only mildly interested in when I could also spend that day all alone, reading 🥰 It’s so obvious what the better alternative is here! 😁

      (Also, I very much appreciate your commitment – if your enthusiasm for my [lack of] cycling skills didn’t already convince me that you weren’t that horrible after all, you reading this whole post and taking an hour to comment certainly has! 😉💙)

      Liked by 1 person

      • Line @First Line Reader says:
        Reply

        Lol we also have an infamous hill here that leads to the university so a lot of people have to get up that one and you’re judged so hard if you get off to push 😅 So I understand your struggle!

        And yeah, of course, nobody can compete with the US on patriotism. That’s just scary! But I think it also makes sense that nationalism would resurface in Germany. I mean, it’s a long time ago now and people forget what it was really like. Teaching can only go so far. In comparison, at a national election in 2015, our national conservative party became the second biggest party with 21% of the votes 😬 They’re now close to being completely dismantled but only because all the other big parties have adopted their policies (because they were so popular), and there’s nothing left for the rest of us to vote on.

        And I understand the handball thing. I also wouldn’t actually go see the game anymore but just watch it on TV, especially on a work day. But maybe they could just drag you to a game on a weekend once in a while? 😉 Still plenty of time for reading. Think of next time you read an Elantris-like book – wouldn’t you want a break from that? 😁

        Liked by 1 person

        • abookowlscorner says:
          Reply

          Yeah, our main parties have also become a lot more conservative, I feel like. Not because they necessarily agree with those policies, but because I think they’re scared if they come across as too liberal, they will lose a lot of votes to the AfD and give them even more power… But at least they’re still clearly distancing themselves from all of the really shitty stuff the AfD wants, like leaving the EU, taking away rights from refugees, and “making the traditional German family” (= straight married couple with no immigrant background and two kids) popular again. So maybe I should count myself lucky? 😅

          And yes, I suppose handball might be preferable to an Elantris-like book… But watching those games would also mean it would take longer to finally be done with the Elantris-like book, so I’m still not sure if the exchange would really be worth it! 😂

          Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      I can only highly recommend them! 🥰 They’re very character-driven, political, and slow-paced, so probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve absolutely adored every single one of Robin Hobb’s books that I’ve read so far! So thanks again for giving me a question that allowed me to gush some more 😁😂

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Anjali Dhankhar says:
    Reply

    I ended up skim-reading only the questions that didn’t interest me lol
    ya pressure is too much on young Indians and um…whoa, you think Indians speak English super fluently. WOW-
    that surprises me and don’t ask why.
    KDRAMA RECOMMENDATION TIME!!!!
    Watch Twenty five Twenty one. It’s really heartwarming and the duos and the MC are bestie material.
    Also watch A BUSINESS PROPOSAL. It’s SO FUNNY and the again, the MC and the duos are like really AWESOME

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      At least someone is being honest here and admitting to skim-reading! 🤣🤣🤣 I hope you enjoyed the question-answer pairings you deemed interesting enough to read in full, though 😉
      And thank you so much for the K-drama recs! 🥰 Next time I’m in a heartwarming/funny movie mood, I’ll have to give these a try! 🤗

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Phoenix @ Books With Wings says:
    Reply

    Okay the answer to ‘the last lie you told’ scares me because…what if all my teachers think that whenever I do anything…and they’re acting super nice but deep inside I am a terrible failure haha. Because I really would not be surprised if my chemistry teacher thought this about me, she teaches stuff and then we’ll be doing work and I’ll just be like ‘so wait, how do you do this???’

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Noooo, I’m sure you’re not a failure, Phoenix!! Especially compared to that student – they didn’t even try to understand stuff themselves, but just copied everything from the person next to them without even thinking about whether it made sense 🙈 So it’s just super frustrating because you know that if they just tried to use their own brain for once, they actually wouldn’t be as bad as they think they are! So you somehow have to try to get them to believe in themselves again and make them willing to try, even if it seems hopeless 😭 Trust me, if your teachers think you’re trying, they’re probably also being genuinely nice to you! And if they don’t think you’re trying, they might be privately judging you, but ultimately still have your best interests at heart 😁

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Suhani says:
    Reply

    Ooohh a lot of my Indian friends cannot stand spicy food at all, but as an Indian, I love it with all my heart haha. And I can speak three languages, but I basically lack in every single one of them (except English I hope lol), even after learning them for sooo many years (I mean I don’t live in India and only speak them at home and in class so I suppose it makes sense!). Won’t lie, but I CANNOT sit through a Bollywood movie these days *runs and hides*Like I love some of them like PK and Three Idiots but in most of the newer ones I watch these days, I get SOOO bored and leave halfway through hahaha.🙈
    AHHH hazelnut ice cream is AMAZING, I always end up going for that flavour too.
    And choosing Winter as your favourite season because your birthday arrives during that time is completely acceptable because the only reason I love spring as much as do is because of my birthday *SHHH* But all the pretty flowers blooming is a plus side 😀 but otherwise HOW DO YOU STAND THE COLD?!?!
    AHH wow, that’s cool that you swam competitively before because I currently swim competitively as well haha. At times I find it to be a pain because it takes up so much of my time, but in the absence of the public eye, I secretly love it *evil laugh* 😈
    I expected the color of your soul to be blue won’t lie but deep, dark black?? HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO US ALL ALONG?? What evil motives do you have in mind hmmm ( I WANT TO JOIN YOU AS WELL IF THE PLAN IS WORLD DOMINATION )
    IT’S OKAY A DRAGON WILL BE COMPLETELY WORTH IT, just imagine how cool it would be walking on the streets WITH A DRAGON!! Everyone will be COMPLETELY INTIMIDATED. ALSO, ALSO, YOU’D ABLE TO FLY ON IT!!! DO NOT TURN DOWN THE DRAGON
    YAYYY YOU LIKE PINEAPPLES ON PIZZA, Our class recently ordered pizza on the last day of school AND NO ONE WANTED PINEAPPLES ON THE PIZZA (it ended up being terribly bland but hey pizza is pizza )😂
    Prime numbers are a reasonable answer. they are very cool indeed (superior to odd AND even numbers mwahaha)
    NOOOO OLIVES AREN’T DISGUSTING!! THE BLACK ONES ARE THE BEST ONES!! The green ones are kinda weird though haahah

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Yay, we spicy food lovers must unite!! 🤗 SERIOUSLY, IT IS SOOOOO GOOD!! 🤩 And I’m just super jealous of everyone in India because it seems so much more readily available there… Like, today I tried to buy fresh chili peppers at the supermarket, and they did not have any!! How can a store just not have chili?!? That’s literally one of the most basic spices there is! 🙄😭😫

      And lol, I guess every country has their fair share of bad movies 🤣 But on the whole, I feel like Bollywood still has a large enough treasure trove of good ones that it deserves to be way more popular here! Especially when you compare those movies to what Germany has been producing in recent years 😅🙈 I swear, if I have to watch one more rom-com movie where bad-boy Elyas M’Barek falls in love with a good girl and shows her how to really enjoy life, I am going to vomit!

      And yay, you also like hazelnut ice cream and pineapple pizza!! I’d say you have excellent taste, but then again, you like olives, so…

      Cold winters aren’t a problem, though – you just have to make sure you bundle up in enough warm clothes and then you’re good to go! 🥰 We have a saying here that there is no bad weather, only bad clothing, and I’d say that definitely applies!

      And aaaah, Suhani, you have no idea what evil, dark deeds my black soul has planned 😈 **cackles evilly** World domination sounds like a lot of work, though, so I think I’ll leave that up to you 😁 I JUST WANT THE WORLD TO BE A BETTER PLACE WITHOUT HAVING TO WORK FOR IT; IS THAT REALLY SO MUCH TO ASK FOR? 😭

      You do have a point about that dragon, though… Maybe I’ll have to reconsider 🤔

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Ash says:
    Reply

    i’m not kidding when i say i GASPED at the mention of Winternight!!! it’s one of my all time favourite hisfics and i’m delighted to find a fellow lover!
    loved your answer to the Father Konstantin question, lol.
    also, you know russian?? THAT’S AMAZING!!

    i’ve got to agree with your spice-tolerance assumption lol. i do have indian friends who can’t tolerate spicy foods but i for one, *need* spices, aha!
    haha, most indians are bilingual and some are multilingual if they’re state language doesn’t equal to their native language! [english+hindi -or tamil if they’re from the south- + their state language+mother toungue]
    casteism does exist but it’s thankfully the prejudices and hate has lessened.
    three idiots is ICONIC but i haven’t seen the other movies…whoops?

    hazelnut ice cream!! ahh it’s one of my favs too ❤

    germany is famous for it's bread? i thought that was france.
    whenever i visit, i'll be sure to pop in the bakeries, lol.

    samosa supremacy yess 🙌

    WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'BLACK OLIVES ARE DISGUSTING'?? *goes and sobs in the corner*

    loved reading your answers! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      AHHHHHH, I’M SO EXCITED THAT YOU’RE A FELLOW WINTERNIGHT FAN!!! 🤗🥰🤗 I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THOSE BOOKS!!! Although yeah, Father Konstantin isn’t exactly the first person I would choose to hang out with… 😁 My Russian is definitely worth improving, though, so I wouldn’t mind getting a bit of practice through arguing with him!

      And oooh, thanks for educating me a bit more on all things India! I’m glad to hear you’re a fellow spice lover, and any language trivia always makes me super excited 🤩 You do have to watch those other movies though, Ash! Watching pk was one of the most hilarious cinematic experiences of my lifetime! 🤣

      Pfff – while France may have good fluffy white bread, you need to go farther east to get the truly amazing, more nourishing stuff 😇 They definitely can’t compete!

      And I meant exactly what I said – black olives are just… bleurgh 🤮

      Like

  14. Pingback: March 2022 Wrap Up – Books with Wings
  16. Nehal Jain says:
    Reply

    Of course you have a deep dark black soul…black = evil 🙂
    Also since i somehow ended up missing this post, I’m glad people were evil here, because somebody has to keep shoving evil down your nose 🤣. Line making u choose was amazing…but your revenge was also applaudable 😶.
    Anddd guess who is surprised that look what you made me do is your fav song by ts …🤣🤣
    Also yikes i don’t like olives too 🥴
    Ooh damn you really mind-roasted that math student of yours 😂😂
    Also your thoughts on us Indians are so awesome 🤩. I mean yay I’m sooooo proud to know that you appreciate us being easily able to speak two language..idk it just makes me feel so happy 🤩🤩.
    Also yea, we most definitely eat more spicy stuff 😂. That’s not to say i don’t wanna try German bread because now you’ve hyped it up a lot for me.
    Also yah sorry for the late comment, i open WordPress pretty less now but i miss it😭
    And wait, you actually like Twilight??? I thought you hated it, after that bestselling novel thingy 😂
    I did also forget to submit any questions but this is a long post in itself so i think u only wud have been overwhelmed 😂.
    Awesome post though, your answers were top notch!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Of course thy evil self would be gleeful about other people being evil in thy absence 😂😂😂 Seriously, Line’s questions were beyond cruel! 😫 My black soul is positively friendly in comparison!!

      And yay, someone agrees with me on the disgustingness of olives!! Like, seriously, why are so many people in the comments defending them? 🤯 It is a true mystery to me…

      Lol, I’m glad you Indians seem to be appreciating my assumptions instead of being mortally offended by something I said 🤣 Also, I’d definitely be willing to offer some of our bread in exchange for better access to your food! 🤩 Our governments need to get on this!

      And lol, Twilight and I definitely have a love/hate relationship 😂 I think the book itself is beyond stupid, but somehow I just can’t help but read it over and over again and grin over how dumb everyone’s behavior is… It’s just so addictive in the best/worst way possible! 🤣

      And no worries about being late or not submitting questions! Real life > blogging life 😉💙 (Besides, you are very right in assuming that I already found the submitted number of questions extremely overwhelming! 😅😂)

      Liked by 1 person

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