Featured Blogger: Jemma from Fantastic Books and Where to Find Them!

Hey guys! As you probably already know, throughout the month of November I’m
shining a spotlight on thirty wonderful book bloggers 😊📚 If you’re not already following them, then I’d definitely recommend that you check them out – these guys are all such wonderful bloggers and all incredibly kind and supportive.

Today is the turn of the amazing Jemma (from Fantastic Books and Where to Find Them) who posts some really convincing book reviews, fun tags and runs a fab booktube channel!

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I’m Jemma and two years ago after the first Fantastic Beasts film was released I created a Youtube Channel, Fantastic Books and Where to Find Them so I could talk about it and books, just over a year or so later with a two and a half year old son and a full time job I was finding it difficult to find the time to film and edit videos so decided to switch to a blogging format and I haven’t looked back. I love to talk about new releases, older books that I enjoy, bookish or similar related products that I love and more, I’m actually working on a blog post discussing my thoughts on the new Fantastic Beasts film and one about the new Netflix She-Ra TV show a the moment so I’m beginning to branch out a little now I can dedicate a little more time to it. As for me personally, I live with my now three and a half son, my husband and our fur baby Jiji the cat, I’m fast approaching thirty, I enjoy reading, writing, video and tabletop games, hot chocolate, cardigans and shiny things.

I blog about books because they’re just so rich and inviting and so fun to talk about and discuss! I figured I’d give my IRL family and friends a break (well..a little) from my incessant going on about books they might not have read and just how much I love Nifflers and Newt Scamander. I love the ability to find and connect with others who want to talk about the same things, even if they didn’t enjoy a book you loved or vice versa, I love healthy mutually discussion and debates like that, not to mention getting the opportunity to read some books only, essentially get paid in books and help to promote the ones I love, what’s not to like?

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Where did your love of reading come from?

I honestly don’t know as neither of my parents enjoys reading in any way shape or form and I don’t think I had many stories read to me either. I have always had a huge imagination though and I’m not sure if that stemmed from my love of reading or if my love of reading was born from that thirst for more to fuel my imagination, whatever it was I’m so thankfully for it, I can’t imagine not loving to read.

What is your favourite book that you’d recommend to anyone and everyone?

I think probably Illuminae at this point in time, I love a lot of books right now but Illuminae is one I will hands down recommend no matter what mood I’m in, it just feels so refreshingly different and it has such a huge, fantastic personality to it.

Which author (dead or alive) would you love to meet and why?

I’m going to cheat and pick two but for good reason, it would be my dream to meet Amie Kauffman and Jay Kristoff just to listen to them talk about the Illuminae files and possibly the new upcoming collaboration. If you forced me to pick one though it would probably be Jay though, he seems so laid back and no-nonsense, not to mention he wrote Nevernight too which I’ve started and have yet to finish due to some commitments getting in the way but what I’ve read so far I’ve loved, same goes for LifeL1k3.

What is the most memorable/sentimental book you’ve read?

Poison Study by Maria Snyder without a doubt, I fell head over heels in love with her writing style, her characters and the world of Ixia at a time when I really needed a world to escape to those first three books in the study series were there for me and I will always love them.

What is your favourite genre to read and your favourite book from it?

This is a tough one because I’m not sure I could pick between science fiction or fantasy to be honest as it often depends on my mood. Right now it’s probably science fiction and I would say Iluminae, again is my favourite book in that genre but as I’ve already mentioned it I would like to give huge shout-outs to Invictus by Ryan Graudin and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James as another two of my favourites in the genre.

What are your top tips/tricks for fitting reading around a busy schedule?

I read every chance I get, especially if it’s a Kindle book because I will often open my phone and read while I’m walking or eating my lunch/dinner/breakfast etc. I also recommend audiobooks where possible mainly because I walk everywhere and if I don’t have the little man with me I’m usually listening to Panic! At the Disco, Fall out boy or an audiobook.

What are your top tips/tricks for writing your own work?

Different things work for different people but things that have worked in particular for me and have become especially poignant during November because of NaNoWriMo are: If possible write every day, or at least make the time for it. Don’t force it, if it’s not going to happen but always try and write a little something or work something out in your plot or a character’s backstory or something to just always keep your toe dipped in the story you’re creating.  The second has turned out to be the best for me so far and that is what I’ve come to call “The Garbage will do” after watching lots of Star Wars during NaNo last year and using that gif to remind me to just keep going, know my first draft is absolutely going to suck but I can go back and edit that, otherwise I find myself going back and trying to edit before I’ve even finished and I never get anywhere.

What are you reading now? What have you just finished? Are you enjoying/did you enjoy it?

I’m being quite out of character and reading multiple books at the moment actually! I’m mainly reading Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas, the last book in the Throne of Glass series and it’s okay but it’s a very big, heavy book even for a paperback and the font is annoyingly small, the plot isn’t anything special for me at the moment but it’s quite slow going, I’m hoping it improves! Alongside that I’m listening to the audiobook of Shadow of Night, the second book in the All Souls series that started with A Discovery of Witches which I loved, I’m enjoying it so far but I haven’t got very far through yet so can’t say too much either way really. The third book I’m reading is the Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald screenplay, the film left me more confused than I would have liked and to better understand it I’m spending a little time each evening listening to the film soundtrack while reading and taking notes about the book, it’s actually been a lot of fun and I definitely think.

Link us to some of your favourite blog posts.

Why I read YA at (almost) 30

The Women of Star Wars

Top Ten Audiobooks

Questions for authors

Spoiler free review of Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

I also have a YouTube channel that just turned two years old, it’s been on hiatus for a year when I started blogging but hoping to get back to creating some content for it very soon! You can find it here!

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If you like the sound of Jemma and all of the exciting things she posts you can find her over on Youtube, Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads, as well as on her main blog.

I hope you guys are enjoying reading this month’s series of posts as much as I’ve loved organising and collaborating with so many amazing bloggers to create them! 💖 Check back tomorrow! x