Undersea Spotlight: Melanie at YA Midnight Reads

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on July 30, 2013 | 6 Comments


USSpotlight I started this feature here at ASR in order to know your fellow bloggers a little better! If you are interested in being featured please fill out the form.

USSfeature

This week we’ve got a good bloggy friend of mine! 

Meet Melanie!

Hello guys! My name is Melanie and I’m a 13 year old YA book blogger. I am (or I think) far far far away from all of you, as I’m from Melbourne, Australia! If you are planning to come down here, you’ll get too meet the sassiest weather in the world. Australian weather has mood swings everyday. I am a professional procrastinator and crazy chick that loves rolling around on the ground for no particular reason and talking to herself for hours. I also happen to love My Little Pony and PERCABETH. Read Percy Jackson and you will understand the excruciating pain I go under. PERCABETH creates and kills dreams all at once. Normal things I try to do in life contain playing piano and Netball.

How long have you been blogging? What made you want to start a book blog?

YA Midnight Reads was created on 21st of December, 2012. That means I have been blogging for 6 months! ^.^ I started a book blog because…. *takes deep breath* Sit down my children, Mel’s gonna tell you a little story.
 
 About July last year, I really detested reading. Like, I hated it’s guts. *gasps all round* Yet my lovely mum would borrow 10 books from the library every week and sit them in my bedroom. I’d never pick one up. But, I got really bored one day, I decided to give this pretty looking book a shot, it was a YA vampire book and I adored it. After that, I checked it out on the web for the sequel and the first search item that popped up was Goodreads. Here was when I created an account and found more and more books. I pratically devoured them day by day. What fascinated me on GR was the reviews. I enjoyed reading them. Some were helpful, some were funny and some were snarky. I attempted my own. They were horrifying. But the more I did it the better I got and the more I noticed about books. One day, I remember clicking on a link on a Goodreads review, which took me to this vibrant, colourful blog. Yes, it was Eileen’s Singing and Reading in the Rain book blog. I instantly fell in love with the whole idea of book blogging and tried myself. Thanks to Eileen’s pretty blog, book blogging has been a major hobby of mine. If you haven’t seen her blog, you totally should. Her reviews are well written and she’s super nice!

What do you do when you’re not blogging or reading?

I have a habit of rearranging my bookshleves every 3 months or so, I don’t know why, but I just can’t stand my shelves looking pretty much the same for a long span of time. Other than that, I play sports a lot, especially Netball. And music has been rather dominate of my spare time as well. I used to play the flute and guitar but have decided to just stick with piano.

What is your favorite part about blogging? Least favorite?

My favourite part of blogging is meeting new people. People that are actually like me; book nerds. Proud ones. I don’t really have a least favourite. Blogging is one of those things that are positive everyway you perceive it. However, catching people copying others’ work isn’t fun. *Shudders at thought*

Where did you come up with the name for your blog?

Oh. God. Do I have to say this? LOL. Anyhoo, by the looks of my blog URL. It’s obvious YA Midnight Reads wasn’t the first name that got off from my head. Yeah… it was called ‘The YA Book Lover’. I KNOW. SO INGENIOUS! Not. I changed the blog name about 10 days after creating my blog. YA Midnight Reads was what I thought of when I realised that I tend to read till late (sometimes past midnight) and I love YA books the most.

Do you have any specific book bloggers that inspire you?

I love many many blogs and have many many bloggy friends, but the main ones I love are yours, Eileen @ Singing and Reading in the Rain, Amy @ Book Loving Mom, Giselle @ Xpresso Reads and Stephanie @ Chasm of Books! You guys are all awesome people and your blogs are just a joy to visit!

[Jessi] Daww, thank you darling! <3

What do you look for in a blog when following? What are your pet peeves?

I don’t technically ‘follow’ a blog. I mean, GFC and other following widgets just don’t mean much to me. Following a blog in my opinion is to visit a specific blog frequently and leave bloggy comments. I always look for a friendly person who runs the blog, neat or somewhat readable blog layout and design. As well as a blog that looks like someone took the time and effort to run the blog the best of their abilty.

What’s your favorite book(s)?

SERIES: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan
STAND ALONE: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Favorite author?

Rick Riordan everyday forever. His books are amazing. Enough said.

What is the biggest turn off for you when you’re reading a book?

Instant love is a no-no for me. I just can’t stand it at all. Another could be the characters. Half of my review consists of character talk. I always want my main character to be strong and believable.

What first draws you to a book to make you want to read it?

They say don’t judge a book by it’s cover. I judge books by their cover. Afterall, I’m not going to bother reading the synopsis if the cover looks like it used to be in the trash.

[Jessi] Amen to that!!!

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Crazy. Thoughtful. Worries-too-much.

Name a random fact about yourself.

I like cheese. Cheddar cheese.

Do you have a job? If so, what do you do?

My job as a 13 year old is too stay alive so I can get a proper one when I’m older.

What did you want to be when you were little? Has that changed?

When I was little I wanted to be a princess. Now I realise that this is really hard to achieve. So yeah…. I have no idea what I want to be now.

Randomness 

 Cats or dogs? 
Dogs.

 Favorite animal? 
Rabbits! I used to have one…

 White, dark, or milk chocolate? 
Milk chocolate is the best.

 Coke or Pepsi? 
There’s a difference? O.o

 Favorite TV show? 
The Voice!

 Movie? 
Inception.

 Color? 
Blueeeeee.

 

Thanks for being here today, Melanie! It was great getting to know you! :)

 

Find Melanie:

Blog | Goodreads | Twitter

 

Jessi (Geo)

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6 responses to “Undersea Spotlight: Melanie at YA Midnight Reads

  1. Hi Melanie! *waves* The story of how you got into reading is so cool. It also makes me wish Australia wasn’t so far away so I could hug your mom. And I love Rick Riordan’s books too! Great stuff. :D

  2. Hi other Mel! :D Great to get to know more about you! You do our name justice by picking The book thief as one of your favorite stand-alones. That is a book I wish everybody would read <3 I'd love to visit Australia, but for now, it's too far :( Perhaps some day!

  3. Fantastic interview! And not just because you mentioned me in it shh >:D But who DOESN’T judge a cover by its book? I loved that part where you said if it looks like it was in the trash, then it probably isn’t going to attract your attention :D And heehee I know how obsessed you are with Rick Riordan I feel like you and my brother would be good friends because he likes Rick Riordan a lot, too, and he is obsessed with cheese :D

    LOVE YOU MELANIE! <333 LOVE YOU JESSI! <333

  4. “When I was little I wanted to be a princess. Now I realise that this is really hard to achieve. So yeah…. I have no idea what I want to be now….” LOL. Love it, Mel!

    Great interview! And thanks for the shout out, Mel! I totally judge a book by its cover. I don’t typically give it a second chance unless one of three things happen. 1) I’m asked to read it. 2) A blogger writes a great review of it. 3) I tell myself I might be missing out on something. Unfortunately, that last one doesn’t always pay off because I still don’t usually add that book to my TBR list.

    Ah, Rick Riordan. Should’ve known! Milk chocolate is the best. I’m so proud of you.

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