GB: Thanks for doing this with me!
JG: Thank you so much for having me!
GB: Who or what got you into reading?
JG: My mom was definitely the one who got me into reading. She’s always been a big reader herself and would always have my brother and I come into her room every night to read a book with her. We mostly would read Roald Dahl together taking turns reading the chapters. After that it just became a habit to read together in bed before we would go to sleep.
GB: When you were growing up which fictional character did you look up to?
JG: I really loved Georgia Nicholson from the Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison. She was so unapologetically herself and I really loved that. I was a very awkward (still am) child… people would call me quirky like it was a bad thing, so by having a character who was just like me and was confident in herself really helped my confidence as well.
GB: If you were trapped on an island with a book series and the author of that book series which one would it be and why?
JG: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer for sure. I love her writing style and all of her characters! I would love to get to talk to her about all her books (and also petition for more Captain Thorne and Iko of course!)
GB: Which book format do you like the most? Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook or eBook?
JG: See this is a tricky question for me! I love hardcovers for the aesthetic of them and definitely prefer reading from them as long as I can remove the dust jacket cause your girl is known to rip them by accident. I really don’t like reading from paperbacks because I hate cracking the spine of books, so unless it’s a floppy paperback I do not trust them! Audiobooks are great when I don’t feel like sitting or laying in my bed – I constantly need to be moving or I get agitated so sometimes reading can be hard – audiobooks are a great solution to that! I don’t like eBooks very much as I don’t like reading on electronics since my concussion, it really hurts my head if I do it for to long. So long answer short, I guess I like hardcovers the best!
GB: When and why did you start your Booktube channel?
JG: I started my Booktube channel in May 2014! I had just finished high school and was taking half a year off before I started university. If you watch some of my old videos (AWH LITTLE FETUS JAY – HOW CUTE!) you can tell that I was very shy and reserved and I had thought that by making a Booktube channel it may help with my confidence and feeling comfortable with myself. I had been watching Booktube for a while and thought that it might be something fun I could try out for myself. I didn’t have many friends in real life who liked to read as much as I did and had no one to discuss any of the books with so I thought I would take to the internet and see if there was anyone who was like me and wanted to talk books 24/7!
GB: If you had to pick one of your videos as your favorite which would it be and why?
JG: I would probably say my Birthstone Book Tag would have to be my favourite video because I had so much fun creating it with my mom! It was a great bonding moment for us with lots of laughs! Plus, I like to think it was pretty creative and the questions were a lot different from the repetitive questions I find most tags have.
GB: If someone asked for advice on how to start a Booktube channel what would you tell them?
JG: I know this is probably going to sound extremely cliché… but just be yourself. Be confident with who you are and don’t try to act like someone you’re not. If you’re outgoing and bubbly, BE outgoing and bubbly. If you’re more quiet and reserved, BE quiet and reserved. Just be you and make the content that makes YOU happy! It might seem scary at first to put yourself out there on the internet – but trust me, it’s so worth it.
GB: Thanks so much for agreeing to do this with me!!
JG: Thank you so much for having me! It was so much fun!
Jay’s Links:
YA Books are Epic 