Hello readers! I am here today with a tag post. I honestly do not do tags enough, and if you would like to see me do a certain one, please let me know in the comments. I’ve never actually been tagged in a tag, but that wont stop me from doing them.
This tag was created by Lala’s Book Reviews, so please make sure to check her post out if you have not!
I realized recently that I have been blogging now for 9 months, 2 on WordPress, and I hardly ever talk about non-book related things. Unless you follow me on Twitter, you wouldn’t know much of anything about me besides that I like to read. So, I hope this tag could help my readers to get to know me a bit more.
Introduction
Introduce yourself!
My name is Allison, I am recently 27 years old. I live in Indiana with my husband, step daughter, and my Mom lives with us as well. I am a book blogger and bookstagrammer, I homeschool my daughter, which I have done for a few years now, and sometimes help my husband do Uber Eats. Other than reading, I love to knit and am a huge fan of Kpop. My absolute favorite groups are Ateez, Oneus, and Treasure, but I love a lot of groups. I have a INTJ, enneagram 5w4 personality and am also an Aries. However, I was born two weeks late, and think I should have been a Pisces.
Something most everyone wants to know… do you have any pets?
I have 3 cats and my mom has a shih-poo named Gizmo. The tabby cat was our first and is the oldest cat. Her name is Gamora and she became a part of our family in September 2018 and is 4 years old. She is very sweet once she gets to know you, but is terrified of all people and creatures she doesn’t know.
The other two boys came into our family in 2020. In April 2020, Sirius (the black cat), came into our family and is 3. He is the sweetest cat in the family. His previous owner was an old man and died, so he is the only one of our cats who hasn’t lived on the streets before. He loves to eat plastic and hates human food.
The one eyed, white cat came into our family in September 2020, and is 9 months old. This photo is from a few months ago, so he is much bigger now. Before he came to us, he was found in a shed, with an upper respiratory infection, which caused an eye infection. When they found him, his eye was completely swollen from the infection, and they had to remove it. However, his eye does not hold him back. He does have a bit of an issue with depth perception, but is very rambunctious and energetic like every other kitten. At 16 weeks old, he came to live with us, and our other cat Gamora took to him right away, and loves him like her own.
What is your favorite thing to drink?
Most of the time I drink Coke Zero or tea, but my favorite drink is Dr. Pepper.
What is your favorite season?
If you asked me this question before 2020, I would have said Winter. However, now that we can’t leave the house, I love the summer. At least I can sit on my own back porch in the summer months.
Do you have any special talents?
I don’t really think I do. I mean, I can read a lot of books in a very short amount of time.
Blogging
When and why did you start your blog?
I started my blog on August 25th, 2020. However, I moved to WordPress from Wix in February. I have social anxiety disorder, so I thought I would be more comfortable doing a blog over a Booktube channel. I haven’t 100% ruled out doing Youtube, but I do really enjoy writing blog posts and interacting with other readers on here and Instagram. I wasn’t really getting any interaction or growth on Wix, and I have been doing really well here.
What is something you wish you knew about blogging when you started?
I wish I knew I should have started on WordPress for one, or anywhere that isn’t Wix. I wish I knew a bit more about running my own website in general. This was all very new to me.
What has been the hardest part about blogging?
This is going to sound odd, but designing my thumbnails. When I was on Wix, I made all my thumbnails in paint. I’ll show some examples. I am not the best at matching colors or patterns, but I do use the internet to help me to make a color story that is pleasing to the eye.
These two photos show my thumbnail from Wix and my thumbnail when I moved over to WordPress and found a website called Canva.
What has been the most rewarding part of blogging?
Finding other people to interact with an mutually support. I love to make other people happy, so I try to make sure to read a lot of other people’s posts and like them. I don’t have any real life friends, and I don’t have any readers in my real life. My husband does read, but not as much as I do, and usually gets all his recommendations from me.
Do you write your posts ahead of time or the day of?
I do both. When it comes to my wrap up posts, I will write them periodically during the month, so they aren’t as much work to get done. I read a lot more than most people do, so I do have huge wrap ups. Sometimes I will write a post the day I post it, because I want to post something, and I haven’t written anything yet. Usually, I will at least write the post the day before, but that doesn’t always happen.
Reading
Who are your top five favorite authors?
My number one favorite is Stephen King. I hated reading until I was 12-years-old, and Stephen King is the reason I started reading. I have read almost 30 books by him. My next favorite is P.C. Cast. I found her books in high school, and have now read a little over 20 of her books. I know her House of Night series hasn’t aged well, but I LOVED it in high school. Next is Sophie Kinsella, which I have read around 10 books by her. I usually hate all the contemporary romance books I read, but for some reason, I love her books. The last two are Alex Gino (they/them) and Elizabeth Acevedo. They both have 3 books, and I have read all three from both authors.
What genre do you read the most?
My top 3 genres are Fantasy, Literary Fiction, and Mystery/Thriller.
What genre surprised you how much you loved it?
Mystery/Thriller. In 2020, I really stepped out of my comfort zone and tried a lot of new things and genres. Mystery/Thriller was one of my least favorite genres, and is now one of my favorites and most read. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why I even disliked Mystery/Thriller books in the first place, but I explored it a lot in 2020, and discovered how much I love it.
Which popular book didn’t live up to the hype for you?
I think the most popular series and author that I actually dislike, that everyone else seems to love, is Cassandra Clare. I have read her entire Mortal Instruments series, and I didn’t like any of them. I do have very detailed reviews for most of the books on Goodreads, please don’t read them if you love the series. I respect that other people love her, but I just don’t get what they like.
Who are some popular authors you haven’t read?
Most of the authors I haven’t tried are romance authors like Sally Thorne, Stephanie Perkins, Talia Hibbert, and Helen Hoang. I don’t know if I ever will because I struggle to like romance, especially contemporary romance, so I don’t want to chance it.
What upcoming releases are you excited to read?
I’m really excited for The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur, which comes out later this month. I read her debut book last year and she writes YA historical mystery novels.
Another one is Spells Trouble by PC and Kristin Cast. I finally got the ARC for this book after 5 months of requesting it via email a few times, edelweiss, AND Netgalley. PC Cast is one of my favorite authors, and I really wanted to get the ARC of one of her books. I know Spells Trouble is about twin witches, but I will know more once I read it.
Do you listen to music while reading?
I don’t do this because I will be too distracted with trying to sing along with the music. However, I do like to play those ambiance videos when I read. Most of them play some type of jazz music or rain sounds.
Where else can we find you online?
My other main platform is Instagram. I don’t think a lot of people know I do both, because I don’t get any traffic from my Insta followers. I also have Goodreads and Twitter. I don’t post much on Twitter, but I am on there more than any other social media.
My Links: https://linktr.ee/Allithebookgiraffe
Business Inquiries: aw.lavender.giraffe@gmail.com
Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3W1IYSO63N67O?ref_=wl_share
↓ THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK ↓
Like my thumbnails? I create them with Canva. Referral code here: (this is not an affiliate link, every user gets a link like this one): https://www.canva.com/join/jkb-wws-hqb
Important Links:
BLM: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
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Alli the Book Giraffe 
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