you asked, i answered
answering the numbers you wanted to know more about
on my instagram stories recently, i put this list of questions up and asked my followers to give me a number and i’d answer it accordingly. instead of answering them in my stories, i thought i’d turn it into a substack post.
so let’s get to it. here’s the list of questions, first. if a number is missing in my responses, it’s because it wasn’t asked! lots of multiples of the same were asked, so obviously i just answered them once.
top three authors?
sally rooney
hamya yanagihara
donna tartt
fav tropes?
i’m a sucker for unruly women going through it, and particularly unlikeable women. i’m also a sucker for father/daugther relationships.
most anticipated read?
i think this year out of new releases coming that i haven’t read yet, my most anticipated read is fox by joyce carol oates, or the river is waiting by wally lamb. i’m a big joyce caol oates fan, having first read we were the mulvaneys well over two decades ago, and i know this much is true was the first real true ‘adult’ book i ever read and loved, and remains a favourite to this day. so i’m excited that a new one by him is coming out.
fav mmc?
jude st. francis from a little life forever.
underrated books?
i could be here for a long time because there are a lot of books i think are underrated, but i’ll keep this list short. i’ll probably do a full-fledged post on this at some point, but i’ll start with five that i think are underrated:
what i loved by siri hustvedt
father of the rain by lily king
the lost language of cranes by david leavitt
agatha of little neon by claire luchette
the crying tree by naseem rakha
new release you’re excited for?
see number 3!
fav couples?
i’m not much of a romance reader and tend to read it seasonally, but i’m just going to say marianne and connell from normal people. devastating and heartbreaking all at once, and oh so realistic.
fav band or singer?
literally one of of the most impossible questions i could ever be asked,but i’ll narrow it down: oasis, u2, jimmy eat world, LCD soundsystem, the walkmen, explosions in the sky, harry styles, taylor swift, the weeknd, lana del rey, kendrick lamar, fleetwood mac, pink floyd, Radiohead, yeah yeah yeahs, the strokes, aaand i know i’m missing a bunch.
books that made you cry?
do we have all day? i’ll limit this to five.
a little life; the emperor of gladness; same as it ever was; i know this much is true; flowers for algernon
describe yourself in memes (lol yessss)
least fav trope?
i don’t really have a least fav trope, and if it’s about romance, i don’t read it often enough to really have an opinion lol.
fav beverages?
lmao i’ll break this down by category:
morning: coffee –– americano w cream and hazelnut. in the summer anything iced, baby
afternoon/evenings — usually bubbly or an equivalent. my fav bubbly flavors are strawberry and blueberry pomegranate
weekends: aperol spritz for cocktails, and beer i love almost anything sour
other: green tea matcha, especially w strawberry; chai lattes; different kinds of herbal teas
what’s your comfort movie?
just like books, i’m big on movies that devastate me, but when it comes to comfort movies comedies are my go to, some of them include: superbad, office space, anchorman, the 40 year old virgin, i love you man, forgetting sarah marshall. those are ones that come to mind at the moment, but there’s absolutely more.
most disappointing book?
i’m gonna go with books i’ve read this year, so here are my most disappointing reads so far in 2025:
my friends by frederik backman. i legit hate this book the more i think about it.
the names by florence knapp. read 4 3 2 1 by paul auster instead, please.
before my actual heart breaks by trish delaney. this was sooo disappointing and i’d had it on my tbr for way too long, so that made it even more disappointing.
panenka by ronan hession. another one i thought i’d love that i just didn’t connect to.
top three books you’ve read so far this year?
this is tough and also easy because i’ve read some absolute bangers this year, but these are my top three:
the emperor of gladness by ocean vuong
just above my head by james baldwin
olive kitteridge by elizabeth strout
all three of these are now new all-time favs.
most read author?
all time is stephen king, and i feel like i’ve barely scratched the surface of his catalogue and i have so many more on my shelves to read by him. i’ve read 14 king novels so far, including:
the shining; it; pet sematary (i need to reread though); revival; 11/22/63; billy summers; mr mercedes; finders keepers; end of watch; on writing; hearts in atlantis; elevation; the outsider; misery (also need to do a reread).
fav book series?
i’m not a book series kinda gal, i’m usually a standalone. but i like books that may be a part of a series that don’t necessarily follow a linear or chronological timeline, like elizabeth strout’s amgash series.
fav clothing store?
oh this is hard. american eagle/aerie and the gap/old navy are long-standing favs because their clothes fit me, the stuff lasts/i like it, and i can always manage to find good deals there, so that’s basically it.
who are your fav narrators?
i don’t really listen to a lot of audiobooks, and when i do it’s typically memoirs or non fiction and they’re typically narrated by the authors, which i love.
fav snacks?
oh i’m a snack girlie, snacks are my favourite meal of the day. for a nice lil treat i love love love donuts from breka bakery here in vancouver, but my all-time fav snacks are probably ripple chips with dill pickle dip, or any kind of cracker with hummus, crackers and cheese (goat, brie, cheddar are my favs), guacamole and chips. god i want snacks now.
top 3 kinks?
again, i don’t really read a lot of romances, so i don’t really have any.
fav thing about bookstagram?
the community i’ve built and being able to interact with people from all over the world i might not otherwise get to know!
least favourite thing about bookstagram?
i try to block out the noise that i don’t jive with, but it honestly has to be just people copying other’s content without even giving a shoutout for the inspo. it’s happened to me and a lot of other people and it’s just so blatant and disrespectful. we see you, it’s not hard to just credit someone for inspo of a post, especially when it’s done after the original creator. we all make content that might be inspired by others. i do my best to always shout out a creator whose content i might have been inspired by, although i’m sure there are definitely times when content is done that is similar without meaning to.
it’s not just that, it’s copying the formatting as well, which is the real kicker. find your own personality!
fav places you’ve traveled to?
new york city always holds a piece of my heart. i’ve been four times and i’ll be back at the beginning of july. we’ll be in Boston first and will take the train from boston to NYC. we did this exact same trip in 2019 but reverse (NYC first and then took the train to boston).
a book you’ve DNF’d?
i’ll keep it to this yaer’s reads. this year i dnf’d possession by a.s. byatt. it was a book that sat on my shelf for years and it should’ve just stayed there lol.
fav fast food?
for breakfast, mcdonald’s
for lunch/dinner, wendy’s or a&w (idk if the states has a&w)
our fast food in canada is unfortunately not as advanced as our american counterparts lol.