In celebration of my 1 year blogoversary, I asked readers & fellow bloggers to take part in my Q&A. The turnout left my heart smiling but it also left me having to split my answers post into 2 parts (part I here). This is the 2nd round of answers, I had a ton of fun answering these & hope you enjoy the read…
Kim @ByHookOrByBook
Q: What fictional character most resembles you?
A: I’ve been called Hermione Granger too many times
Q: Is there a setting in a book/series that left you longing to live there?
A: Ok I won’t say Hogwarts cuz that’s just obvious lol so I’ll go with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I’d love to be wherever Le Cirque des Rรชves arrives & wear my red scarf every night ๐
Q: If you were shipwrecked on an island and could only have one book, which would it be?
A: Another blogger asked If I only had one book to re-read, what would it be? I’d still say that in my shipwrecked situation that I’d find pleasure in Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. Even if the Triwizard tournament would probably set my nerves on a frenzy being stuck on said island haha!
Raven @DreamyAddictions
Q: If you were given a chance to live in a book for a day which book would you choose?
A: Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray…The world building in that book! I’m not even sure if I could choose just one world to live in from this book, they’re all interesting.
Q:Who inspires you the most?
A: My 2 tiny humans, they remind me to stay young & fun ๐
Q: Name three of your top favorite fantasy books?
A: Gah! just 3?!?! Ok here goes…Red Rising by Pierce Brown, Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, & of course Harry Friggin Potter! haha!
Stephanie @TeacherOfYa
Q: what author are you most excited to meet?
A: I believe Stephanie asked this question as it pertained to Bookcon lol, & this would hands down be Adam Silvera & he asked me on Twitter if I was going & I said yes so *fingers crossed*
Q: whatโs the best book youโve read this year so far?
A: OhMYGosh! so hard with so many great ones but it would have to be The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Shanah @Bionic Book Worm
Q: if you could have one fictional character as a best friend, who would it be and why?
A: Molly Peskin-Suso from The Upside of Unrequited because I could relate to her experience as it was similar to mine in High School. I can totally see myself on Pinterest boards with her & working on DIY projects in her kitchen lol.
Q: If you could meet one fictional character who would it be?
A: Nina Zenik from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo in hopes she brings waffles <3!
Q: Favourite underrated book?
A: A Million Junes by Emily Henry
Q: Favourite/least favourite part of blogging?
A: this is more about me…when I am backlogged in comments it can be tough getting up to date. A 3 day break can lead to spending a whole day catching up which means no blog hopping that day *sobs*
Q: Are you happy with the direction your blog has taken or did you expect a certain outcome at the 1-year mark?
A: Yes I am happy with where I’m at. I’ve pretty much got a handle on what I like/dislike to read & that was big for me. My blog is big on reviews but i’m pushing myself to include discussion posts & more of my other loves like movies & TV shows…further down the road maybe venture into creating my own meme ๐
Lia @LostInAStory
Q: Which character would you bring to life, even if that meant they had to leave their fictional world and would have to stay in ours forever?
A: Dobby (Harry Potter)…that death scene broke me & yea I’d bring him back in a heartbeat!
Q: Which book was on your TBR the longest? Which book made you rage DNF?
A: Currently still on my TBR & on my shelf unread is Brandon Sanderson’s The Way Of Kings..It’s HUGE! intimidates the heck outta me lol. I don’t really DNF (2 to date) but Roseblood by A.G. Howard really pissed me off with all it’s external beauty it was the biggest let down.
Sam @SpinesInALine
Q: What was your favourite cover, released or not?
A: Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer *sigh* that beauty that is that book! *heart eyes*
Q: Do you have a favourite book dragon?
A: Kee, I’m going to admit I don’t know what a Book Dragon is *hides* please help! LOL
Rachel @Life of a Female Bibliophile, Megan @BookBirds, Larkin @WonderFilledReads
Q: What diverse/or just general books would you recommend to read that are often underrated or that havenโt been featured too much in the blogging community
A: American Street by Ibi Zoboi, You’re Welcome Universe, by Whitney Gardner, and When the Moon Was Ours by Anna Marie McLemore
Q: What are your favorite pizza toppings?
A: philly cheese steak pizza is dabomb.com! so everything that comes with it haha!
Q: What is the last book your DNFโd?
A: Roseblood by A.G Howard *sigh* BIG let down…
Q: What is your favorite piece of book swag?
A: Generally speaking I’m a sucker for all of the bookish themed candles but if we’re talking about one that I own…my red Caraval tote bag <3!
Q: What is your favorite aspect of blogging?
A: The readers I’ve met along the way. Those who love to read & or blog have given me a a home away from home. My hubby is a reader & for a long time he was the only person I could talk to about books. Now, there are so many of you out there in same/different time zones always up for a good book chat…it’s the best!
Q: If you had one completely useless superpower, what would it be?
A: The ability to have my home cleaned w/out moving a muscle…dream come true!
Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: This is going to sound super boring but honestly isn’t surprising lol…a English teacher. I thought it was super cool that there was a job where one could read books & talk about them in class. Then I grew up & realized you don’t have to be a teacher to do this! lol it would totally be editor now ๐
Q: Worst dating experience?
A: BAHHHA! I once went out on a date with a guy to dinner & a movie…the following day he called me…scratch that…his wife called me while his 2 kids ran around in the background -_- & THAT was the end of THAT smh. I changed up my screening process after that & started becoming quite the detective before accepting a full on date lol.
Q: List your phobiasโฆ
A: EASY. SPIDERS. THE END! *sobs*
Q: If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?
A: something edgy, so tired of my name being considered old timey lol. I dunno, possibly Blake, Rain, Ruby, or River…suck at this but anything that doesn’t scream OLD. Probably why I go by Lilly at all times ๐
Q: How did you come up with your blog name?
A: Hubby & I always joked about heading back to our Lair after watching a Supernatural episode. The one where Dean & Sam discover the Men of Letters Lair & that became our thing. Then we added book shelves & I started getting more involved with blogging, pretty soon it was LairofBooks ๐
Q: List the book bloggers that are #goals for you (and you can’t say Cait @PaperFury lol)
A: Bookidote, SheLatitude, and TalesoftheRavenousReader there are many more but these are the 3 that came to mind right away.
Q: So my question would be, after one full year of doing this, do you have any advice on balancing blogging/SM/and actually READING the books?
A: I’m actually still trying to find what works best for me & honestly I think this is something that you will always stay switching up because LIFE. I have recently moved & it deeply affected my blogging time for a bit until I found what works now. For reading in particular, I do feel that reading whenever possible has helped keep me stay on top of my ARCS. Even if its 15 minutes or just 1 chapter…it’s progress. In regards to blogging, I’ve gotten into the habit of scheduling posts which frees me up to blog hop. My Social media, I bookstagram more than I tweet but that’s something I’m also working on getting better at. TBH, interacting within the blogging community via blog hopping has worked out best for me. A lot of times I will catch up on my backlog of comments & visit each of those bloggers while at it. Still working on it though but if you find the secret 1st, please share! ๐
Thank you to all those who submitted questions & just stuck around following my blog & showing love. I appreciate each & every one of you! โค โค โค
LairOfBooks 
I haven’t read the upside of unrequited yet so I don’t know who that character is. But it’s so funny you see yourself going on Pinterest with her!! That’s awesome! If only characters could be real sometimes……. Fangirl dreams ๐
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OMG! Life would be way more interesting than it already is lol! I hope you get to Upside of Unrequited soon & that you luv Molly just as much as I do <3! ๐
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Great post, Lilly! Loved getting to know more about you!!
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Thank you Larkin , that means a lot to me ๐
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Great answers to these questions Lilly. I’d love to visit The Night Circus as well. I’d be right there, with my red scarf, wherever the circus was each night without fail. Also wow does that sound like a nightmare date. Is it something you can look back on and laugh about now? ๐
You’ve made me even more excited for A Million Worlds than I was before. I loved Emily Henry’s first release so I can’t wait to get my hands on her second.
I hope you get to nest Adam Silvera at BookCon. I know how much you love his books so that would be a beyond amazing experience wouldn’t it?
Great post Lilly, and again congrats on your one year blogiversary! ๐ โค๏ธ
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Thank you Beth! haha! every night w/out fail is right! & yes I def look back, shake my head, and laugh at the whole ordeal. I think you’ll also enjoy A Million Junes, just a hunch but you also have an appreciation for Magical Realism ๐ I happen to also have tickets to see Adam at his panel which means I will be meeting him & most likely make a fool of myself while trying to formulate a sentence lol (wish me luck). Thanks again Beth & congrats on the new job, we’ll miss you this week <3!
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That’s all right, and at least you can laugh about it now. Must make for an entertaining story. ๐
Yeah I love magical realism, and hearing you say that has just made me more excited to get my hands on this book. Oh making a fool out of yourself in front of your favourite author is just part of the whole experience. Still I reckon it will be amazing!
Thanks so much Lilly! ๐ โค
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I hope you get to meet Adam Silvera! ๐๐๐
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Thank you Stephanie ๐
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I loved reading your answers!
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Thank you Ashley, that means a lot to me! ๐
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congratulations to Beth!! ๐ I’m so happy for you!! Congratulations to Lilly on your blogiversary!!!
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Thank you Debby! โค โค โค XOXO!
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Well I have already told you, so not sure if this comment counts but I will be reading The Hate U Give thanks to you relentless passion for it. I surrender โค Putting in cart on Amazon! Hope you are happy with yourself.
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Haha, awww, this is really nice. It must’ve been really fun getting so many people sending in questions. Plus, I like your replies (: Congrats on your one year of blogging! This is really fun and cute idea, I might try this out for mine!
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I swear I need to read The Night Circus already. I’ve seen it all over the blogosphere this year and everyone has been recommending it. It’s a sign that I need to go out and buy a copy and read it already. Anyway! ๐ Great answers for this, Lilly. ๐ I loved reading them. I hope you get to meet Adam Silvera! I have my fingers crossed for you! And I would so want to meet Nina too. Her and Inej! And I completely agree about getting backlogged on comments, having to catch up after that can take so long. Also, I’ve never had philly cheese steak pizza but I’m officially going to have to try that. And I love how you came up with your blog name! ๐
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Again, loved reading your answers!
When my youngest goes to kindergarten and I return to work, I definitely have been looking into being a youth services librarian. Seriously what could be better than bringing kids and books together?! Ideally I’d love to be a school librarian…
That is a really bad dating experience lol Did the wife get nasty with you?! If she did that is pretty crappy since she should be channeling all that energy on the real issue: the stupid husband lol
I could totally see you as a “River.” I have no idea why, but when I read it I thought it fit you…
Love how you came up with your blog name! I love hearing the thought process behind blog names ๐ I don’t watch Supernatural, but I do love me some Jensen Ackles! That man was a gift to the world lol
Ooooo I’ve never heard of Bookidote or TalesoftheRavenousReader! I shall go check them out!
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Thank you Amanda! โค OoOO! school librarian does sound like a bookworms dream job, I always tell my hubby I'd luv to do a part time at Barnes & Noble lol. Anything to have access to more books, an unlimited supply of books & free time *whoop whoop*
That dating experience was short & I'm glad that it all came to a boil rather quickly before I invested too much of my time. The wife surprisingly was a bit too calm, I would've flipped my lid for sure haha!
I LUV the name River, sounds better than Lillian for sure! LOL
Jensen Ackles is a gift to the world *heart eyes* haha! *sigh* lol. The bloggers I mentioned are pretty amazing with their content/reviews, hope you enjoy their content as much as I do <3!
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