{ Happy Birthday, Hillary! } Interview with Hillary + Bookshelf Tour

Today is HILLARY'S Birthday!!!

Join me in wishing Hillary Happy Birthday! She loves comments. 

So by now most of you know my part-time reviewer/blogger Hillary. She joined Bittersweet Enchantment a little over a year ago and ever since she has not only written some pretty amazing reviews but became so much more than a co-worker; a good friend to me. Hillary is such a sweetheart. She's always making me laugh, is there for me when I need to talk, and is such an wonderful person. Hillary, it's been an honor and a pleasure to work with you and become your friend!  

Last Sunday, Hillary posted an ALL ABOUT ME post also along with her "Reading Story". She is hosting a number of awesome giveaway for the readers of Bittersweet Enchantment. You can find this post here. Today is the final day to enter. 

I very recently interviewed Hillary all about her love of books and so much more. Read it below! :)

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hobbies, special talents, anything!

My name is Hillary. I think all of you know that already lol. I’ve lived in Southern California all of my life. I’ve yet to travel out of the state. When I’m not reading, you’ll find me singing while checking emails or just listening to music in general. But I end up singing anyways ;P I’ve been teaching myself to sing in Korean. I listen to Kpop the majority of the time. I hardly tell anyone this because I feel like I’m boasting, but I have an artistic side to me as well. People used to say I should be an artist when I was younger. I took a theatre class my second year of being an undergrad and hated/loved it. I thought I could be an actress, but I’ll be honest—it was an epic fail (I passed the class with an ‘A’ though). Before that I wanted to be in an indie rock band, but when reality hit me in the face, I didn’t think I’d make it that far. My third goal ended up being an author. I am determined to get there.

2. How long have you had a passion to read? What book or series really got you into reading, YA fiction?

I kind of already talked about this in this super long post here, but it started with my friend convincing me to read Twilight and then I found other books such as Vampire Academy and the House of Night series’ and my list expanded from there. Before YA, I did have a passion for reading MG books.

3. What are a few of your favorite books or series? Also, what genres do you enjoy reading most?

A few of my favorite series’ would be Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (sorry guys, but this book got me into YA), Vampire Academy and Bloodlines by Richelle Mead (she’s my favorite author ya’ll!), Shadow Falls by C.C. Hunter (I totally want to read her spin-off series soon!), House of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Fallen by Lauren Kate, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and etc. There’s so many more I’ve started but haven’t finished or have but haven’t even started! But these got me stuck in YA books and made me keep finding new books to read and love.

The genres I enjoy most are Contemporary, Dystopia, Science fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal, and Romance. I’m still trying to experiment with Fantasy, Historical, and Steampunk fiction. I’ve read a few Historical and maybe Fantasy, but no Steampunk, so I’m not sure how much I enjoy those genres.

4. What is one of your favorite reviews you've written since working at Bittersweet Enchantment?

Some of my favorite reviews I’ve written since joining Bittersweet Enchantment have probably been Find Me by Romily Bernard, Erasing Time & Echo In Time by C.J. Hill, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil, Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson, and On the Fence by Kasie West. Although each and every review I’ve written have had hard work put into them, so I take pride in all of them. 

5. If you could go out to lunch with 5 of your favorite authors who would they be and why?

If I could go out to lunch with five of my favorite authors, I think I would choose Richelle Mead, Sara Raasch, Tahereh Mafi, Lauren Oliver, and Lindsay Cummings. I still have to read books from Sara and Tahereh, but I feel like these authors would have a lot to offer on writing advice and would make great mentors too! And meeting Richelle Mead is a dream of mine so yeah, I’m going to include her! ;)

6. Show us your bookshelves!

This is my bookshelves tour! I’ve never done this before, so Beckie and I thought it would be great to finally share how my bookcase looks like. I promise you, this is how it looks like clean. It’s actually full of other non-bookish stuff most of the time, but I won’t be sharing that ;). There’s also a fifth shelf, but I didn’t share how it looks like because it doesn’t have any books you would like to see; just college textbooks and old folders from high school. Not interesting! :D

- The whole bookshelf -

- Shelf 1/Row A -

- Shelf 1/Row B -

- Shelf 2 -

- Shelf 3/Row A -

- Shelf 3/Row B -

- Shelf 4/Row A -

- Shelf 4/Mini Row B -

So what do you think? Have any questions of any of the books you can’t see or do see?

7. Let's say someone gives you 100 dollars. What 5-8 books would you go out and buy? (Pre-orders are okay)

If I were given one-hundred dollars, I would spend it on these books:

>Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch 

>Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay 

>Suspicion by Alexandra Monir 

>Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White 

>Stray by Elissa Sussman 

>Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez 

>On the Edge by Allison van Diepen 

>Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot 

8. Use each letter of your first name to describe yourself. Must be one word per letter.

Humble

Imaginative

Left-handed

Level-headed

Artistic

Reliable

Youthful

9. Who needs a real life boyfriend when there are so many yummy fictional ones, right? Tell me a few characters from any book that you would you love to date.

Right... ;D A few guy characters I would love to date would be Frank from Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson, Adrian from Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, Stark from the House of Night series by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast, and Micah from The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes. There’s probably a few more, but these guys stuck around in my mind for a while and they have those special qualities that make me admire them each time I reread those books. ^_^

10. Last but not least, tell us one thing that not many people know about you.

One thing that not many people know about me...this is seriously hard to answer. Hmm, probably that it’s hard to make friends because I’m extremely awkward when it comes to forming conversations with people I’ve barely met. The friends that I do have now are friends I’ve known since high school or even elementary school. Those friends will always have a special place in my heart. Oh, I also joined choir the last two years of high school and loved it! I was given the opportunity to step out of my shell a lot and became more confident. And I hate cooking! Haha :P

This or That:

1. Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt?

Johnny Depp

2. Water or Soda?

Water

3. Pink or Black?

Black

4. Movies or TV?

TV

5. Zombies or Vamps?

Zombies

6. Cookies or cupcakes?

Cupcakes

7. Pen or Pencil?

Pen

8. Bookmark or dog-eared?

Bookmark

9. Winter or Summer?

Winter

10. Night or Day?

Night

11. Sci-Fi or fantasy?

Fantasy

12. Dining out or home cooked meal?

Home cooked meal

13. Paperback or Hardcover?

Both- I have a lot of both!

14. Email or texting?

Email

15. Truth or Dare?

Truth

16. Dogs or Cats?

Both- I used to love dogs more, but cats grew on me. My grandma’s cat is also super adorable!

17. Ocean or Pool?

Pool

18. Bad boys or Good boys?

Both- Sometimes bad boys have hearts of a good boy and good boys have hearts of a bad boy...? I’m not sure, but both types can have swoon worthy moments! :D

19. Being able to fly or telekinesis?

Being able to fly

20. Happy endings or Sad endings?

Both- I LOVE me a great happy ending that gives me all of the #Feels, but sad endings are tearjerkers and I love me some of that too! :P