Reader Spotlight: Jenny Marston

One of the features I love doing is the reader spotlight as it's a great way to get to know bookworms, whether they are fellow bloggers, authors or book lovers.

This afternoon I'm joined by Jenny Marston who blogs at Jenny in Neverland.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi! My name's Jenny, I'm 21 going on 60 and I live in the infamous Essex. I love reading (duh!), blogging, writing, movies, TV shows, animals, Disney, days out, visiting new places and Chinese takeaway. 

Have you always been a bookworm?  
For as long as I can remember! The first set of book I read that I absolutely adored were Sheltie the Shetland Pony by Peter Clover and I had every book in the series – I couldn't get enough and I knew nothing about horse-riding! (Still don't...) Then when I got a bit older I loved Jacqueline Wilson, as I'm sure most young girls do and I was so addicted to her books. As a 10-11 year-old you could learn so much from the words between the pages of her books. 

Do you have a favourite author?
Yes I have a few. I love James Patterson – I've been reading his books for years, the first one I ever read was called The Quickie and that was it for me, I was hooked. Since then I've read 11 books in his Women's Murder Club series and a hand-full of stand-a-lones. He's by far my favourite crime author. I also love Cecelia Ahern – all her stories are so touching, heart-warming and magical. One of my newer favourite authors is John Green. After reading The Fault in Our Stars I fell in love with his writing and the way his characters see the world. 

What is your all-time favourite book that you love to read time and time again?
Tell you the truth, I rarely, if at all, read books more than once. I have a hand-full of all time favourite books but I've only read one of them more than once and that was only because I was taking part in Richard and Judy's Summer Book Club Challenge last summer. I just don't really get much out of reading them again and I love that feeling when you finish an incredible book and close that final page and are just over-come with every emotion you felt for the book. I don't really get that if I read it again.

The one book I have read more than once is The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson-Walker and it's fantastic, I urge everyone to go and read it. I'm also planning to re-read The Fault in Our Stars before the film comes out in a few months.

Do you have a preferred genre that you mainly read, or are you open to read almost anything? 
I am very much open to anything and I think I've probably tried every genre at least once. I know a lot of people do, but I don't know how you can only read one genre! Of course everyone has their favourites but there's so much more to experience! My favourite genres are crime, mystery/thriller, Fantasy and since blogging I've come to love Young Adult books too. I'm not a huge fan of chick-lit – I like to read it occasionally particularly if the story is something different or extremely funny and I try and steer clear of hard core romance. I am the least romantic person you'll meet so it just makes me cringe! Although if it's borderline erotica I don't mind it ;)

What book is top of your current wishlist?
I actually have a little list of books I want to buy on my computer screen so I'm just going to read off of there haha. The main one is Divergent because I can't believe I still haven't read it! I'm kinda worried about reading it now though because of all the hype, I don't think I'm going to enjoy it as much. Also on the list there's By My Side by Alice Peterson, Watching Over You by Mel Sherratt, The Humans by Matt Haig and Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire.

Physical books or eBooks, what’s your preference?
I prefer physical books but I only bought my first Kindle a few month ago (I know, a bit late to the party) and I'm enjoying reading books on there a lot more than I thought I was going to. I was so adamant about not getting a Kindle because I was convinced I'd never use it but it's so much better on your eyes than reading eBooks on the laptop. Anyway, back to the question, I'll always prefer physical books and being able to hold them and turn the pages and getting tear stains on them from when they make you cry!

What was the last book you read that made you cry?
Beyond Graces Rainbow by Carmel Harrington. I'd heard from an awful lot of people how sad and emotional that book was and I got to 97% of the way through and hadn't shed a tear – I was beginning to think I was some sort of robot! But then all the tear came in one go at the end and I was a complete mess! I love books that make you cry – feeling such a deep level of emotion for made up characters in a made up story is incredible.

If you were going to be stuck on a desert island and could only take 3 books with you, which ones would you choose?
I'd take 3 either long books that'd last me a while or old classics which would probably take quite a while to read anyway. I've always wanted to read The Lord of the Rings - I love the films – that one's pretty hefty so I'd probably take that. Maybe a couple of Charles Dickens like Great Expectations and David Copperfield.

What book would you like to see made into a film and who would you cast for the central characters?   
Oh I LOVE questions like this because every single book I read I try and picture who would play the characters in the movie. I also love asking this question in author interviews because it's interesting to see if they pick similar or completely opposite people to who I'd originally imagined! 

I'm going to go with one of the last books I read and loved because it's fresh in my mind and that was Beyond Graces Rainbow. In my interview with Carmel Harrington I asked her this question and I loved the people she picked, she even chose one of the same actors that I did but just for a different role! I would cast Amy Adams for Grace because as far as I can remember, Grace had strawberry blonde hair, Michael Fassbender for Liam (I think he could pull off an alcoholic!), Anne Hathaway for Tara, Mark Wahlberg as Sean, Carey Mulligan as Abby and Zachery Quinto as Gerry. As you can see, I don't put much thought into this...

You can connect with Jenny via:  

Blog: http://jennyinneverland.wordpress.com

Twitter: @jennymarston_xo

Facebook: Jennyinneverland