Q&A with Janay: All About Books

I've been asked a lot of questions about books and reading over the last few weeks, so I've decided to put some of the questions together in a blog post to share my answers.

Who is your favourite author?
This is a pretty easy one for me. It has to be Cecelia Ahern. I've adored her writing since I first picked up her debut novel, PS I Love You, and I've bought every single book she has released ever since. I love all of the novels but my favourites would have to be How To Fall In Love, Where Rainbows End (known as Love, Rosie by some) and her newest book Lyrebird, which I've just finished.


What genre do you reach for most often?
I love a good romance. I like traditional romance novels but I do love a good modern romance. A favourite that I read quite recently was Giovanna Fletcher's Billy and Me and the follow up book, Always With Love.

I also love reading YA (Young Adult) books. I just get lost in so many stories from this genre and they have now become firm favourites on my bookshelf. They're just so easy to read and so many of them flow so easily, they're such a joy to read.

Do you watch any book YouTubers, and if you do who is your favourite?
I do watch some, but I dip in and out of most because a lot of the ones I started following were obsessed with fantasy or science fiction, and although I enjoyed hearing what they had to say it just wasn't my thing.

I love Hails Hearts NYC on YouTube, I watch every single one of her videos and I have been working my way back through her older videos as I only discovered her channel a couple of months ago. She's just so easy to listen to and just a lovely, normal girl. She's the kind of girl I'd be friends with, I think we're very similar. For a start, we've both studied similar courses. She's just great to watch and I've taken so many recommendations from her videos and added to my GoodReads list.

What are you currently reading?
As I mentioned earlier, I've not long finished Lyrebird by Cecelia Ahern, but I'm also reading Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell. Frozen Charlotte is one of the books in the latest round of the WHSmith Zoella Book Club. I started reading it just before Halloween, at the same time as Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven. I got sucked into Holding Up The Universe and ended up finishing that last week, but before I could restart Frozen Charlotte, Cecelia Ahern's new book, Lyrebird, came out and I wasn't going to wait to read that. So I'm now back to reading Frozen Charlotte, ready for the Twitter Takeover night on Wednesday.

Are there any books that you were desperate to read and ended up being a real disappointment?
I'm very rarely disappointed by a book, mainly because I've written so many short stories so I know how much work these writers put into their work, so I could never call any of them a disappointment. There are a couple that I wasn't as excited by, but I've still enjoyed them.

The only books I really wasn't that enthralled by were a couple that I had to read for my studies, but I had to read them so I just got on with it. You're not going to love every single book you ever read, but you have to respect the effort that went in to writing them.

Do you like watching films that are based on books that you've read?
I love watching books become films because it means that the story can reach so many more people. I am one of those people that will always tell someone to read the book and not just watch the film, because so much gets taken out of it and some details are lost.

For the most part, I've enjoyed the films that have come from books, but there are a couple that I didn't enjoy as much. It just means that I go back and read the book again to get the full story that I loved again.

I like to read the book before it comes out as a film too. If I hear that a film is coming out and it's based on a book, I will try to quickly read the book first.

Have you ever finished a book in less than 24 hours?
Yes. I've done this a few times actually. The two that I've done the quickest are Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, which I read in just under 4 hours in one sitting, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which I did in about 6 hours but with some short breaks in between.

My family have always said that I read so quickly, it's just something I've always done. I guess I've just built up speed as I've read over the years since I was younger.

Do you have a favourite childhood book?
When I was really little, I used to love Beatrix Potter books. I used to have a little collection box with all of them in, which are actually still on my Mum's bookcase.

When I got a bit older, starting junior school and early high school, I was obsessed with the Harry Potter series and The Chronicles of Narnia. I also loved anything by Jacqueline Wilson. One book of Jacqueline's I will always remember reading at school is Vicky Angel. It was so different to all of the other books I'd read for my age group and it really made an impression.

Where do you normally buy your books from?
I order most of my books online, mostly from WHSmith or The Book Depository. Sometimes, when I realise a book has come out that day that I've been wanting but I haven't preordered it, I'll go into my local Tesco store. They always have 2 for £7 on the new paperback chart books which is good.

If you could only keep three books, which ones would you choose?
This is so tricky! OK, here are the three I'd keep if I had to choose right now (in no particular order):

• How To Fall In Love by Cecelia Ahern
• Billy & Me by Giovanna Fletcher
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

There are so many others I could choose and it actually hurts to only pick three, but I'm going to leave it at that because if I keep changing it I won't stop!

If you have any more questions for me, about books or anything else, you can leave them below or send them to me on Twitter or Instagram.