1-Year Blogiversary Q&A // I’m Back From the Dead?

Hi.

I’m back after nearly a year (with new headers!! – because I got so bored of the last ones.) I never meant to go on hiatus, if I’m being honest. I just wasn’t happy with my blog anymore, and I grew sick of posting. I loved the community — still do, genuinely so much — but I just wasn’t feeling motivated to post, and so I didn’t. I was also in the midst of a HUGE reading slump, even though the books I read were all ones that I enjoyed. Last year, when I’d already read about 100 books by the middle of the year, I think I’m at less than 10 now :’ ) I’m DROWNING in ARC’s 😭 quite literally 😭 and if anyone saw the number of unread ARC’s I had sitting, waiting for me to read, they would have a heart attack rip.

On the plus side, though, I’m back to blogging (hopefully!!), and also am slowly inching out of my slump. I’ve also been spontaneously posting on my YouTube (like and subscribe)!!

https://www.youtube.com/c/windowstoworlds

Over a year ago, I had my first blogiversary (and now as I draft this post I’m nearing the 2nd one, though I think by the time I publish it, the second would’ve passed) Yet, I’ve still not ended up answering the q&a for my first blogiversary, so I thought it was time that I finally answered the questions that I got all the way back then (thank you for sending those in < 3).

what songs do you have on repeat right now?

I’ve been making monthly playlists for a while now!! I’ve been obsessing over a fair bit of artists lately, but that changes so often that I’m just going to link my profile, and playlist for may’ 22 here 🥲

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who’s your favourite publisher to get ARCs from as an international reader?

Hodder, and Harper360!!! They’re both so accommodating and prioritise #OwnVoices readers. I’ve gotten so many amazing physical ARCs of my most anticipated by becoming a part of their mailing list, and there hasn’t been a single book they’ve sent me that I’ve rated below three stars – I genuinely love them so much. I also have a UK address though, and both of these publishers are UK-centric, which is why they’ve really worked in my favour but the UK also has the same rights as most Commonwealth countries, and that works for me as an Indian citizen too.

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if you could have dinner with two authors – one living and one dead – who would it be?

I literally cannot think of any living authors I would like to have dinner with, even though so many of them are genuinely so cool – but for the dead author, I would love to have dinner with Shakespeare because he seems so interesting :’ )

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what are some of your favourite TV shows and movies?

For the movies, three favourites from the top of my head would be

• Bend It Like Beckham. This movie and ALL of its characters live in my mind rent free <33 I mean – Desi’s, a Very Loud Punjabi Wedding, football, female friendships, and a chaotic family of Sardars (like mine ;))))))) What other reason do you need to watch it???? Bend It Like Beckham is the definition of PERFECTION and if you have not watched it do not talk to me.
• 10 Things I Hate About You. Do I need to explain? Also Kat Stratford is the loml.
• Top Gun (and Top Gun 2). I don’t know why I like this so much – it’s genuinely so sweet though. ALSO THE CASTING >>>>>>> AND THE SOUNDTRACK >>>>>>> THEY’RE PERFECTION
• I’m also a sucker for any good heist movie – I can’t think of one right now except for Ocean’s and The Italian Job but those seem too basic. I love heists though!!!!
• Bollywood movies in general. Sometimes they’re just so stupid, but that’s why I love them. I was re-watching Dil Dhadakne Do, like, yesterday, and I wouldn’t say it’s my *favourite movie, but sometimes I love Bollywood.
• Edit: I forgot to mention these the first time I published this post but Jerry Maguire, She’s The Man, Khoobsurat, Legally Blonde, The Blind Side, Miss Congeniality, Do Revenge, Set It Up, Confessions of a Shopaholic, 27 Dresses and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off are some of my faves as well <33

For TV shows, I can’t think of ANYTHING at the moment – but Heartstopper and Shadow & Bone are some favs to start off with!! Gilmore Girls, and Suits (MIKE MY LOVE also YES donna and harvey < 3), are things I love watching when I need a break too. The Big Bang Theory and The Office (US) are comfort shows and they’re genuinely so funny they cheer me up EVERYTIME I watch ❤️ Other than that – I also love Haikyuu!! (SO CUTE IT MAKES MY DAY), and Jujutsu Kaisen (all the characters in JJK could step on me).

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how excited (and scared) are you for ‘Our Violent Ends’?

omg SO I’ve already read it and !!!!! I’m not sure whether I love the ending or hate it – but I’ve gotten closure < / 3 I’m SO excited to get to Foul lady Fortune though (this is what happens when I answer questions a year late 😭)

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an underrated favourite book of yours? (please scream diverse books at us <33)

I…………… cannot think of anything. My mind keeps pulling blanks on these questions and I don’t know why 😭 I’m in the middle of reading Siren Queen by Nghi Vo right now, though!! I don’t think that necessarily counts as underrated – but I don’t see it getting all the appreciation it needs, so I think it deserves a mention ; )

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do you think giraffes are too tall??

No. Not at all. I love giraffes.

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would you rather be a superhero or a villain??? 

I would want to be like Robin Hood – but also like Batman???? Like Robin Hood’s skills and his values and what he does, but Bruce Wayne’s trust fund and Wayne Manor 😭

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what tips would you give to people who are just starting blogging?

INTERACT!! For like the first two months, I published post after post after post, and no one was reading them because no one knew I existed. There were like 6 people who would comment on my blog posts, and I thought that was SO many – but after I started commenting on theirs, and I found a bunch of new ones, that 6 went to 60, and the number kept increasing. If you don’t interact, people aren’t going to know about your blog!!! Blog-hopping is so so important.

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if you had to choose a kind of trash can to morph into what kind would you choose? 

First of all – why would I want to morph into a trash can? 😭 A recycling bin though, or something that only holds dry waste.

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sweet or savoury?

Can I say both?

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what app do you use to edit your BookTube videos?

Final Cut Pro!! – I think it only works on macOS though ://

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which character would be most weirded out if they had to live in your shoes?

All of them 😭

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go to book recommendation?? 

This ENTIRE shelf of mine on Goodreads – all the books on it are practically perfection.

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what’s your favourite writing utensil?

Ballpoint pens. Sometimes, very rarely, a gel pen, if I don’t have anything else. But ballpoint pens > gel pens.

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how have your reading tastes changed over time? 

One way they’ve definitely changed is that they’ve grown more diverse. I think my tastes have kinda like strayed away from the ~basic mainstream YA~ that they used to be so attached to, and I think as the community, and creating my blog have influenced my reading choices, and just introduced me to a variety of so many amazing authors, I’ve sort of just widened WHAT I would’ve picked up. I definitely read more diversely now than I was, say, two years ago. Not just in terms of supporting minorities, but also in terms of reading more diverse genres.

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what do you do besides reading and writing? do you have any other hobbies?

YES I love shopping, competitive swimming, playing badminton, playing the piano, singing, sleeping, binging TV shows, and sleeping.

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what inspired you to create your BookTube channel?

I love editing, and have for the longest time. I guess my boredom just grew with each passing day, and as my screen time skyrocketed, it was a spontaneous decision to start making YouTube videos? 😭

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what led you to love books?

I don’t know. I was just always a really fast reader, and I would understand what I read, so in like Kindergarten when I was 5, I’d be reading chapter books, and no one would believe that I’d read it until I told them what happened in each chapter. Kinda like Mike Ross, minus the Mike Ross part because I have the worst memory you’ve ever seen rip. Being good at it just made it something I loved, and something I’ve always loved ever since I was a baby and reading bath-time picture books in the bathtub.

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where do you like to take your bookish photos?

On my bed, or with plants, because plants make everything prettier.

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favourite ship in six of crows? which crow do you relate the most to / is your favourite?

OK BUT I LOVE ALL OF THEM 😭😭😭😭😭 Unpopular opinion but my favourite ship would be Nina and Matthias or maybe Wylan and Jesper. I cannot pick a Crow to relate to or one as a favourite I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH. I’m going to pick a page out of my parents’ books and say that there isn’t any favouritism amongst my children. Can I say Kaz for his brain, and his ~coolness~, Inej for being an absolute QUEEN (and being played by a South Asian actress), Nina for the waffles and her personality, Wylan for the way he blows things up, Jesper for his shooting and alSO HIS PERSONALITY >> and Matthias because WHO DOESN’T LOVE MATTHIAS HE’S THE BEST AND HE IS AMAZING AND TO WHOEVER DOESN’T LIKE MATTHIAS I WILL WRITE A POST STATING ALL THE REASONS YOU NEED TO LOVE HIM AND YOU WILL. < 3

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has your taste in books changed after starting a blog?

Yes. 110%. I’m not going to elaborate on this here, because I was actually thinking about writing a post on the same thing, and I can’t be asked to explain myself right now, so I’ll just do it then.

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what are your favourite indian, or bollywood songs / music?

Ok, first – anything Punjabi, because I’m sorry but I will fight you over the fact that Punjabi music > Other Bollywood music. My sikh blood just feels that way. But otherwise I used to LOVE the Cocktail soundtrack when I was like 6, and Tum Hi Ho Bandhu was my favourite, so listening to that makes me happy. My brother used to love Yo Yo Honey Singh, and I sat next to him on a flight once!!! I think I was coming back to Bombay from my grandparents house, and I was feeling very cool because I’d been flying as an unaccompanied minor since I was 5, and my 6 year old self just felt very cool. My grandparents heard that Yo Yo Honey Singh was flying business and that I was only in economy, so they pushed my seats up, and I sat literally NEXT to him for the entire flight. He signed his name with a pink crayon in my sketchpad too it was hilarious so I love his music too.

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did you watch the olympics? :”) 

YES I did. I have a cousin as a lawyer on the Olympic committee, so I watched a ton of the sports with my parents and my brother. Not everything – but I did watch quite a few of the sports.

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what do you hope for your blog in the future?

Everything about my blog, and everything that I do with it ends up being pretty spontaneous like 90% of the time, and I really have nothing in mind right now, so I don’t know.

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do you have any exciting plans for the blog? 

No I’m boring 🥰

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if you didn’t have a book blog, what would your blog be about?

Music? Travel? Food? I have no idea skfjns.

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what’s under your bed? 

A big scary very green monster.

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what are your favourite types of posts to write?

Reviews of books that I either LOVE or HATE or, well, at least have things to say about, or like discussions. I love talking about myself, and all of my irrelevant opinions, and those are two types of posts that let me do that, which is why they end up being my favourite.

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what is the one lesson you cherish from this year of blogging? or what’s the biggest thing you’ve learnt in your time blogging?

I wouldn’t say anything I’ve learnt specifically about blogging here, but I think the one thing I cherish most from the one (now two years) of my blog being around is how blogging has impacted my reading tastes, and how blogging has changed the way I read – from being more inclusive, to just thinking about the books I read differently.

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what inspired you to start blogging? 

It was 2020, and everyone was like, really scared about Covid, so the lockdown’s were strict. We took a road trip to Goa, from Bombay in the beginning of June, just after my brother’s, and my summer holiday’s began, and what was supposed to be a trip for two weeks, got extended – again, and again, until we stayed in Goa for like a year. Yes, a year, of renting out villas, and repeating clothes, and doing online school with fluctuating WiFi and the BIGGEST mosquitoes, but also the most gorgeous views. I still can’t figure whether I loved it or hated it and was homesick the entire time. Either way, I was bored, and we weren’t doing anything, so my mum suggested I create a blog, and so I did. It started off on a whim, and frankly, was one for like two months, but then it became something I actually liked doing, and something I continued to.

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do you prefer talking about hyped or off-the-radar books, and why?

I feel like I prefer talking about hyped books, because then people actually know what I’m talking about, and I can connect with more people. But if I’m talking about an off-the-radar book, with let’s say, one other person, and they’ve read the book then I like talking more about the off-the-radar book because it gets surprising that the other person has read it, and it sort of becomes “our thing”, or we convince lots of other people to read it.

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do you talk to ‘your people’ in real life about blogging? if so, has this been a positive/helpful experience for you? 

Kind of? I mean most people KNOW I have a blog, and they know I’ve not posted for a while. Most of the people I know though don’t really love reading, but it’s always positive to have more encouragement, and they open my posts, even if they don’t read them, and they’re always super supportive, so I’d say – yes – it has been a positive experience :))

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what kind of posts do you want to publish more of in the future?

Discussions, and reviews – about books I either hate or love. Because they’re both posts I said were my favourite kinds to write, and I don’t want blogging to become a chore.

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what is the most rewarding thing about blogging?

Reading all the nice comments I get. Sorry, this is so depressing, but reading all of those comments makes me like so happy for genuinely no reason 😭😭😭😭😭😭❤️‍🩹

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what are your favourite types of content to create and consume? 

I’m going to say discussions and book reviews for this one too hahaha. Discussions because they’re something unique – both to read, and to write. You also don’t just get to know more about the topic the discussion’s on, but also about the person behind writing the discussion. You get to know about their opinions, and their thoughts as well. Book reviews because if the reviewer really loves the book they’re writing the review for then there’s a 99% chance that I’ll be convinced to pick it up as my next read because I’m super impressionable like that. If the reviewer hates the book, then it makes the review like 30 times more entertaining for me.

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what’s your favourite thing about India?

Everything?? My friends, my family, the food, the places, like, the charm of everything 😭 I feel like in movies, or in books. India’s always portrayed as a place with lots of traffic, and people with one type of accent. But it’s genuinely so much more than that, and I love the fact that I can call it my home.

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which three places would you love to visit someday?

My family LOVES travelling, and usually I’m lucky enough to tag along, so I’ve been to a lot of places, and have loved all of them – from all over Europe, to tiny islands in Asia – I love travelling. Sometimes, though, my parents leave me and my brother behind, and go to places with their friends, or together. I’ve never been to Seychelles, but my mum’s pictures from there are the prettiest and I would love to go. The Dominican Republic and the Fiji Islands also sound like lots of fun, and I would love to go there. This question was so hard to answer because I’m so lucky that my parents have taken me to every place I want to go, and they always choose the best holiday places, so I’m never left thinking about what I could’ve done.

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what’s the coolest opportunity you’ve ever gotten through blogging?

Everything sfkjnsdfs. But mostly the ARCs. I still find it so cool that we get books early, before the public and most others do, and we get to give like, our opinions on it.

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what are some of your unpopular book opinions?

I… don’t know 😭😭

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what’s your favourite thing about being a blogger/book reviewer?

The other bloggers.

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is reading always easy/enjoyable for you, if not how do you stay motivated?

I think, sometimes, I just don’t feel like reading, and when I feel like that, I just don’t. I’ve not been in a ton of slumps, because reading’s always something that stays constant, and serves as an escape regardless of what’s going on, but something I do if I feel like I AM falling in a slump is re-reading a favourite to remind myself why I love reading. Or if I feel that reading’s been getting monotonous and all the books I’ve been reading have been unbelievably heavy with the world-building, then I’ll read a fluffy contemporary to break that monotony.

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what’s something good that happened to you today?

There was a lady at the gas station, and she was the only woman there amongst a team of men, but she looked so happy, and the fact that she was there, and she was happy, made me happy 😭😭

What about you? What’s YOUR favourite thing about being a book blogger? What are some of your go-to book recommendations? PLEASE GIVE ME SOME!!!