An Interview With Us! Our 800th Post

We’ve officially made it to 800 posts on The Little Contemporary Corner and we thought we would celebrate by doing a little Q&A. We asked for questions on social media and received more than we anticipated! Thank you so much to everyone who sent us questions and thank you to everyone who supports our blog, whether you’ve read 1 blog post or 50, we appreciate you so much and it means a lot that people enjoy our content.

Favourite part about running a blog?
Sarah: Always discovering new things to read. When you’re blogging about books and tweeting about books and talking about books with friends you’re constantly being introduced to new stories.
Sophie: Finding new people to chat to and new books to read! I also love seeing how creative people are with things they choose to do and I love being inspired by others.

What’s your favourite thing that’s happened because of blogging?
Sarah: Easily the fact that I met some incredible people. I met a best friend, friends that I adore and more people come in to my life because of book club monthly than ever before. It’s been a really good experience to find people who like the same things as you do.
Sophie: Mine is also that I met wonderful people. Some people I have met through blogging are absolutely joyous human beings and I have also become closer to other people I already knew because of blogging. I would also like to say setting up our LGBTQ+ Book Club. The book club means a lot to me and something I am super proud of.

What is the first book that you remember reading?
Sarah: One Day by David Nicholls – I grew up being unable to read well, and this strangely was the first book I took to reading by myself.
Sophie: The first book I remember reading by myself is The Teddy Robinson Storybook by Joan G. Robinson. It was an adorable book full of the adventures of a little girl and her teddy bear.

Cats, dogs, or small creatures?
Sarah: Cats.
Sophie: Dogs and cats! I’m not a massive fan of small animals – they’re cute as heck but I’d rather a bigger pet.

Which book character did you want to be when you were a kid?
Sarah: I will stick by the fact I wanted to be Hermione.
Sophie: Hermione was definitely a big one for me too but more so as an older child. When I was really young I think I wanted to be Matilda. I used to try to be her by reading lots of books and attempting difficult ones that were probably a bit too old for me at the time!

Which book character do you want to be now you’re an adult?
Sarah: Katniss Everdeen, but post all The Hunger Games stuff.
Sophie: This is so hard! Maybe Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson series? But I’m not entirely sure on this one to be honest with you.

Bookmark or dog-ear?
Sarah: Bookmark definitely! However I have a weird habit of dog-earring only ARCs…
Sophie: Bookmark! I’m not averse to dog-earing a book however I prefer to use a cute bookmark. I usually tab or dog-ear pages that I want to return to, or reference pages in non-fiction books etc.

Do you ever regret making your blog?
Sarah: Not once in five years have I regretted making it. There have been testing moments, but never regret.
Sophie: Nope! It has been hard at times but it’s also one of the best things I’ve done because of how fun it is, the people I have met and the opportunities we have had. Running this blog has helped me get jobs before so it’s even helped with my career.

What is your favourite book to screen adaptation? Was it faithful to the original text?
Sarah: Without a doubt I think my favourite book to screen is Love, Simon. It was faithful enough to the original text without ruining any major plot points, and the entire movie is absolutely delightful.
Sophie: We Need to Talk About Kevin. It is one of my favourite books and films, I just think it is fantastic. The film is actually not super similar to the book. The book is very detailed and in-depth whereas the film focuses mainly on Eva and cuts out a lot of the smaller things that happen in the book. However, it is a brilliant adaptation. It works amazingly well for film and the feeling and atmosphere is very much faithful to the book and I think that’s often more important than using the dialogue word for word.

What is your favourite book you’ve read outside your comfort zone?
Sarah: A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. It’s actually one of my favourite books of all time now.
Sophie: The same as Sarah! I love it and it’s not something I’d normally pick up. I also love Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi and Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, both of which are fantasy books and I’m not normally a huge fantasy fan.

If you could only read books by one author for the rest of your life who would it be?
Sarah: I had to think long and hard about this answer, but I think I’d like to read books by Alice Oseman for the rest of my life.
Sophie: Not to copy Sarah but Alice Oseman also! Her books make me happy and have wonderful LGBTQ+ representation. I also adore everything I’ve read by Angie Thomas, she’s a fantastic writer.

Favourite type of weather?
Sarah: 19 degrees, slight breeze and sun – a good Spring day if you will.
Sophie: I do like a hot summer day with a good breeze because I love feeling the sun on my skin. I also love wintry days indoors if it’s raining hard or snowing outside so I can curl up in a blanket and read a good book.

If you could swap life with an author who would it be and why?
Sarah: I’ve always had a big interest in Leigh Bardugo and the way her brain works with the stories she creates. I think I’d want to swap lives with Leigh to find out what inspires her and how she works.
Sophie: I thought about this for ages and honestly don’t have a clue! I’d feel like I was invading someone’s privacy if I swapped lives with them for a bit so the idea weirds me out haha.

What’s your favourite thing about running a joint book blog?
Sarah: Having something with my best friend that we work on together. Me and Sophie have known each other for almost fifteen years now, and it’s nice to have something as we’ve gotten older to still be passionate about together.
Sophie: It’s so nice to have support and not be on your own! We work well together and it’s nice to have some moral support and know you’re not doing this on your own. It’s also an exciting thing for us to do together as best friends!

Mashed potato, chips, or roast potato?
Sarah: Roasted?
Sophie: Roast potatoes!

What’s both of your favourite books which aren’t set in the UK or US?
Sarah: I recently really enjoyed My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite and i think it might have taken place of my favourite book outside the UK and US.
Sophie: I loved Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak which is set in Australia. It isn’t perfect but the characters and their relationships really touched me and I was engrossed in their lives.

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life what would it be and why?
Sarah: Here’s a really nerdy answer, I think I’d choose The Catcher In The Rye because when I analysed it for my dissertation, I didn’t feel like I got everything out of it I could. I’d keep reading it and keep working on the characterisation.
Sophie: Potentially Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell? It made me question everything in life and really made me think about how we connect over generations and how my choices will affect future generations and the choices of humans in the past have affected ours too.

If you could have a character be you for a day who would you pick?
Sarah: I think if me and Aled from Radio Silence swapped, there wouldn’t be much of a difference, so let’s go with that.
Sophie: This is interesting as there are multiple characters I would want to be for a day but I don’t know about who I’d want to be me!

Hoverboards or rollerskates?
Sarah: Hoverboards, but I really want to be one of those people who rollerskates down beach fronts.
Sophie: Rollerskates – I’ve never really been bothered by hoverboards but I’d damn well love to skate around everywhere like a pro.

If you could only take 3 books to a desert island with you, what would they be and why?
Sarah: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, Gmorning, Gnight Little Pep Talks For Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.
Sophie: I’d take The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky because it means a lot to me, The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan because I love the ending of that series so much, and Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig because being left alone on a desert island with just my thoughts…I think I’d need this book to be honest!

Does ketchup belong in the fridge?
Sarah: Yes.
Sophie: Yes!

Favourite gay book?
Sarah: Most LGBTQ+ books I read end up being pretty highly rated to be honest. However, the true gay-centric book that I adore is Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. It’s everything you want in a cute gay story.
Sophie: This is a hard question! I know everyone says it but I truly love Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz with my whole heart and soul. However I’m going to give a cheeky shout out to Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour and My Heart Goes Bang by Keris Stainton.

Do you have any dream film castings for your favourite books?
Sarah: Let’s get Patricia Allison as Romy from The Loneliest Girl In The Universe, shall we?
Sophie: I think I’ve mentioned this ages ago on the blog but when I read The Night Circus I always pictured Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Celia and I think she would be amazing in that role.

Which book’s film/tv adaptation would you want to star in?
Sarah: I’ve never wanted to star in anything, but I’d love to be involved in the making of any Becky Chambers adaptation.
Sophie: Also not a huge fan of starring (but then again I’d take a role as an extra!) but I’d say the Percy Jackson series coming to Disney. It’s one of my favourite book series and to be a part of that show in any way would be a dream.

What would you want your last meal to be before you die?
Sarah: Pasta of any kind.
Sophie: Pizza for sure. I want a good quality pizza with amazing cheese and good dough.

What book would you have changed the title of?
Sarah: Everything in me wants to change A Monster Calls to a warning of ‘You Will Cry For Hours’.
Sophie: Idk if this is a controversial opinion or not but I would change Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. I actually much prefer the film title of Love, Simon.
Sarah: I want to jump in again and say that i agree with Sophie, i much prefer the movie title ‘Love Simon’.

What’s something you wish you could tell your future self?
Sarah: Don’t resist learning anything. If the last couple of years have taught me anything it’s to take an interest, read, listen and learn. And keep learning.
Sophie: You may feel like you’re getting nowhere right now but that’s not true. It’s a super cheesy cliche thing to say but you truly do learn more when working towards an achievement than when you actually achieve it.

What 3 books would you recommend to everyone?
Sarah: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman.
Sophie: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge and We Are Okay by Nina LaCour.

We also had this beautiful illustration done of us both by the fantastically talented Ana – you can follow her on Twitter. We love it a lot!

Thank you again to everyone who sent us questions, supports us, keeps reading our posts, likes our tweets, attends our book club and pretty much everything else. We hope you enjoyed reading this, it was super fun to do as a change up!

Our regular content will resume from now on!