I’m both embarrassed and gleeful to share that my fiancé and I have become connoisseurs of reality dating shows since the quarantine began. We adored Love is Blind and have recently been enjoying the sophisticated entertainment that is Love Island. (The amount of British slang I’ve googled in the past week is kind of insane.) I’m sure Listen to Your Heart will find its way into our home soon. On these shows, there’s inevitably some cocktail party where someone suggests a raunchy game of Would You Rather — at least that’s what happened on Love Island last night. I thought I’d be a copy cat and take on a far more wholesome version of Would You Rather here :)

Would you rather…

Read only series or stand-alone books?

I don’t have a good answer to this question. So many of my favorite books are stand alone. Just looking at 2020, my favorite reads thus have been stand-alone — Where the Crawdads Sing and The Song of Achilles are at the top of my list. That said, I adore science fiction and fantasy — if I had to pick a favorite genre, it would probably be anything that happens in space or a dystopian world with at least a few supernatural qualities. Those kinds of stories tend to lend themselves well to the series format. I basically devoured The Lunar Chronicles and, HELLO, Harry Potter! On the other hand, so many of my favorite books in that category are stand-alone: The Martian, 1984, and Niomi Novik’s Spinning Silver and Uprooted. If I absolutely had to choose, I think I’d pick stand-alone because my absolute favorite books of all time are stand-alone (read: The Little Prince), but I’d be devastated to miss out on all the series I love.

Read a book whose main character is male or female?

Typically, the extent to which I enjoy reading a book doesn’t hinge on whether the main character is male or female. That said, I tend to get excited about reading books with female protagonists because I think representation in literature is really important. For me, reading Artemis by Anthony Weir was a powerful example of that. The main character is a badass Middle Eastern woman who lives on the moon. While I don’t quite identify with the living on the moon part, seeing myself in the story was such a special experience. I didn’t realize that I’d never really seen my identities reflected in my favorite genre. It was an amazing feeling.

Shop only at an actual bookshop or online?

Actual bookshop. Easy. Is there anything better than getting lost in the stacks? Of course, the selection is more limited, but I just couldn’t ever bring myself to give up going to bookstores.

Want all books to become movies or TV shows?

While movies are certainly more digestible, I’ve found that I typically enjoy TV adaptations of books far more than movie adaptations of books. (Don’t even get me started on the movie adaptation of Ready Player One.) Plus, it takes a lot for me to start a new TV show — hence why I’ve watched The Office around 43 billion times — so I don’t mind having plenty of content to enjoy that all takes place in the same world!

Read 5 pages a day or 5 books per week?

This is so tough because I firmly believe reading shouldn’t be a chore. That said, there’s no better feeling than getting wrapped up in a book for hours on end. If I could just spend my days reading and had no other responsibilities, I’d absolutely pick 5 books per week.

Be a professional book reviewer or an author?

An author. So easy.

Only read your favorite genre or your favorite author?

My favorite genre. I could get through many authors’ books in a year, whereas I could read science fiction and fantasy until I’m blue in the face and barely make a dent.

Only read physical books or e-books?

I’ve heard the argument for e-books a million times over. I enjoy reading via the Libby app, especially when I am on the go. But on literally no planet ever would I choose to read only e-books over physical books. I’m happy to debate the point!