Layla, a girl with the profile that grips you the minute you see it. Not to mention that I have major shelf envy haha. It was such a pleasure to have her here. ????

1. Tell me a little about yourself.

I’m 22 years old, socially anxious, and bad at talking about myself… but I’ll try my best. I’m an avid reader, a book blogger, and an aspiring author. None of my friends or family members are readers, so I’m not sure where my bookish nature came from but I am very thankful for it. I started blogging about books in 2016 and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The bookish community online is very welcoming.

2. What are you currently reading?

I just finished reading Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. I’m going to pick up Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire next.

3. What is your favorite genre and why?

Most of the books I read are labelled “Young Adult” but I do not consider YA to be an all-encompassing genre. When I first started reading, I stuck to realistic fiction or contemporary novels because I was a young (and lonely) girl who wanted to read about other kids who were dealing with the same things as me. As I grew older, I discovered a newfound love for everything and everyone that was different from me. Now I’m almost always reading fantasy or science fiction. But it doesn’t end there. My shelves are also filled with romance, mystery, and paranormal books. It really depends on whatever mood I’m in. I like reading them all. I also hope that one day the New Adult genre has more substance. I love the idea of reading about more people my age (early to mid-twenties) without it being 100% about sex. I think this is a complicated age to write about but it should be written about. I’ll save that discussion for a different post though, haha.

4. What do you think about the reading culture in your country?

I’m not sure how to answer this question. My experience as a reader in Canada has been great, but there is always room for improvement. I was fortunate enough to be raised by an immigrant mother who utilized the public library’s resources often, and who introduced me to this institution of free literature at a young age. As a student, I was lucky enough to have a school librarian who pulled me aside one day and said, “I think you like books about emotionally-conflicted people”, and led me to some of the books that ended up shaping me as a person. As a teenager, I found solace between the stacks of our high school library when I couldn’t fit in with the kids in the cafeteria. Although I was a bit of an outsider, reading made me feel closer to people, and closer to my community as a whole. I think I’m going off topic now, so I’ll say one final thing. I never used to talk about reading or my love of books with others. It was something I couldn’t share because I didn’t know how to or didn’t have a place to do so. The bookish community on Instagram has been very instrumental in sharing and celebrating reading culture on an international level, and I think that’s pretty great.

5. Name 3 reading habits that you have.

  • I always have to read a book in one sitting, from start to finish.
  • I always mark or write down at least one quote (my favourite) from every book I read.
  • This isn’t really a reading habit but I have to re-organize my bookshelves whenever I get a new book. And that happens often.

6. What is one book you recommend to people?

That’s difficult. I always try to get to know someone before I recommend a book to them because it’s so hard to pick one at random. With that being said, I recently read Vicious by V.E. Schwab and it immediately went on my list of all-time favourite books! I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading about morally grey characters and anti-heroes.

7. Where can we find you?

You can find me wherever bookworms tend to gather on the internet 🙂

Twitter
Bookstagram
Personal Instagram
Goodreads
My Blog