Book and a Beverage [31] – Inga from Miss Inga Page

Welcome back to BOOK AND A BEVERAGE!

In case you don’t know the deal about Book and a Beverage, it’s a very simple yet fun feature: We read books, we drink beverages, we take pictures of them and then I share your photos and a little about you to the blogging world!

Give a big welcome to Inga from Miss Inga Page!

Name & Blog Name: Hello! I’m Inga from Miss Inga Page (*cough* Get it? Missing a Page? 😉 ).
Tell us a little about your blog! Miss Inga Page is my little corner of the internet where I like to talk about the books I have read, as well as the books I am anticipating, and some favourite passages! In the future, I’m hoping to incorporate some discussion posts and giveaways, and perhaps some author interviews, cover reveals, guest posts – the whole lot! It’s still early days for me, as I only launched Miss Inga Page a few months ago, but I am loving every moment, and would love to see as many of you as possible over there! 🙂
What’s been your favorite post you’ve written so far? (Link us up!)  I think, on the whole, my “Fragment Friday” feature posts have to be my favourites. I love picking out passages from books that I find particular personal meaning in, or that I think are beautifully written, or which touch me for one reason or another. I love writing my reviews, and really enjoy collating my thoughts, but my Fragment Friday posts are the ones I revisit most regularly, and the ones which I enjoy creating the most!
Got anything special coming up we should know about? At the moment, I’m trying to juggle Miss Inga Page with an M.Phil degree in Children’s Literature. As such, I don’t have loads of time to dedicate to new releases, and am therefore planning to host a number of reviews in the coming months which will be of “classic” Children’s and Young Adult novels. Whilst new books are always wonderful, I think there is something special about the books which have inspired many of these new releases, and I am sure that there are many of these which you may have glossed over. I hope that through these reviews I can tempt a few people away from the New Releases shelves, if only for a while, and to introduce them to some of the books which influenced some of their favourite authors today!

Whatcha reading? I’m reading Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Where did it come from? (Library, purchased, publisher, etc) I purchased this book from Amazon
Any special reason you chose to feature this book? Firstly, I chose this book because I’m a Kindle lover… Please don’t hate me. I don’t, generally, buy paperbacks. However, I was SO interested in this novel, and it’s not available on Kindle… so I have put aside my preferences, and I am extremely glad that I did!
Secondly, I think that the premise is incredibly interesting, and have been desperate to read it for a long time, so thought that this would be a good enough reason to buy the physical book. I’ve already got a queue of three people waiting for me to finish this one so that I can pass it on
What’s important that we should know about this book? Would you recommend it? Hate List follows the life of a girl called Valerie: the girlfriend of Nick – the boy who carried a gun into their high school, and attacked the people who had made their lives a misery over the years. However, the victims of his attack were students whose names Valerie had written in a notebook. This notebook became Valerie and Nick’s “Hate List” – the list of people, or things, that they wished were dead or non-existent. Valerie did not ever believe that this notebook was anything more than a joke to her boyfriend, and although she tried to stop him when she realised what was happening, nobody really believes her. Everybody believes that she is guilty,
particularly given the exchange she has with one girl on the morning of the attack. Now, Valerie has to return to school, to the same room where this horrific crime was committed, and to face all of the people whose lives she has played a part in ruining.
Hate List is an incredibly interesting novel. As the author herself has stated, Hate List was never intended to be a “school shooting” story. It is “Valerie’s story”. It is a “story about a girl who was both hero and villain. And a boy who was both monster and victim. And an enemy who was also a friend.” Thankfully, I have never been affected directly by such a tragedy, but I thought it was an incredibly touching story, and that it was so interesting to read about somebody who, not only is suffering from Survivor’s Guilt, but who holds the blame for all of the events which occurred. I would definitely recommend it. I have absolutely flown through the pages… even though I’m not too sure how much I like Valerie!! I’m not sure if I am supposed to…

Whatcha drinking? Lemsip *snuffle*. It’s November, and therefore, of course, I’ve got a cold. So, today is being spent curled up on the sofa with my Lemsip, a good book, and a box of tissues. I may even put the fire on and grab myself a blanket. I think it is fairly safe to say that I am feeling rather sorry for myself!!
What’s your favorite thing to drink while reading? It’s probably some sort of crime to be English and not like tea, but I really don’t. I don’t drink tea, and I don’t drink coffee. Of course, the English solution to everything is to put the kettle on and to make a cup of tea, which is always met with disdain when you admit: “I don’t actually drink tea, could I just have a glass of water?” So, contrary to the popular reading preferences, I’ll forego the tea… Perhaps a glass of squash if you have some? Orange, or Apple and Blackcurrant? Wonderful! Or pure orange juice if we’re being fancy! 😉
Favorite beverage of all time. Go! Gosh, that’s a hard one! “Of all time”!? An ice cold glass bottle of Coca-Cola, or a Mango and Passionfruit Frappuccino from Starbucks, please. I’m fairly easily pleased, if you couldn’t tell!

What are your top three books you would recommend to other people? You really aren’t making these questions easy! Top three books of all time? But that is so dependent on so many factors… genre, age, gender!? Okay, here are just three, off the top of my head, that I have really enjoyed in 2013, in no particular order: Divergent by Veronica Roth — I think this book would appeal to boys and girls, and is suitable for both young adults as well as adults. I think it has enough action to maintain interest, and the romance is there for those who enjoy it, but it is certainly not overpowering. I think my favourite part of this novel was the strong female protagonist. Tris portrayed values which I think are often missing from pieces of YA Fiction, and I really enjoyed watching her development! The Selection by Kiera Cass — This definitely won’t appeal to everyone. It sits somewhere in between The Hunger Games and The Bachelor, and definitely has the fancy dresses and romance that lovers of the reality TV show have come to expect. It is not going to become a part of the literary canon, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the relationship and it was such an easy read! I couldn’t put it down, and cannot wait to see what happens in the final installment, having also really enjoyed the first sequel and companion novella. As a sneaky extra, I need to add in The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter here. These two books were quite similar in terms of premise, and therefore I feel I can, just about, get away with plugging them both! Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher — all I can say about this book is that I WANT TO BE SOPHIE. I really fell in love with Sophie, with Billy Buskin, and with the little town in which Sophie lived. I loved it. I was incredibly skeptical before I began, and was so impressed. It was such a lovely book. I think Giovanna has, well and truly, destroyed all of my expectations for any future relationship. He will have Billy Buskin to compete with now! I felt such an affinity with Sophie, and her plight broke my heart. If you are looking for a simple romance novel with real heart you need look no further than Giovanna’s debut novel!
What’s your proudest blogging/reading/writing moment? I think my proudest moment since starting my blog would have to be the first time that an author approached me to review her book. This had a much greater impact on me than my first Netgalley acceptance, because this was an author who had sought me out personally having looked at my blog, and having read my review policy, and deciding that she thought I would be a good fit. The fact that this happened within only a couple of weeks of my blog launching really spurred me on! I still get incredibly excited when I get accepted for any book, or when anyone – blogger, author, publisher – contacts me to ask me to do something on my blog. I don’t think that will wear off, even when I’ve been blogging for over a year. It’s such a confidence boost to know that somebody has chosen me because they like what I do!!
Anything else you’d like to share? Thank you so much for having me! I have really enjoyed putting together my Book and a Beverage post. I’m going to go back to wallowing with my tissues and Lemsip now, but I really hope to see some of you soon. I promise I won’t pass on my germs! *sneeze* 🙂

Wow, thank you so much, Inga! Such thorough answers and so much fun to get to know you better 🙂 Thanks so much for being a part of Book and a Beverage and really going the extra mile! 😀

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Inga! You can find out more about Inga at her blog, Miss Inga Page, on  Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads!

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And don’t forget! You can participate in Book and a Beverage at any time! Got a book? Got a beverage? Just tweet or post your photo on Instagram using the hashtag #bookandabeverage and I’ll retweet that photo and share it in my weekly round up post!