Time has rushed by so fast this last couple of months and so I have only just got around to this award post. But what better way to start the summer months than with a big celebration of some of my favourite blogs?!

April and May were certainly happy months for me as I was nominated for FOUR blog awards! I am extremely chuffed and have had lots of fun browsing through some of my favourite blogs to pass on the blog love!

So, I would like to say a HUGE thank you (and congratulations!) to the four wonderful bloggers that nominated me:

A. J. Jenner nominated me for both the Sunshine Award and Reader Appreciation Award! She is currently writing a novel and sharing her journey on her blog, which has insightful thoughts about writing, book reviews and other bookish musings.

I was also nominated for the Sunshine Award by Mary at To The Balcony who share two of my loves in life – books and Italy!

The Literary Tiger of The Tiger’s Eye nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award! This mother and book lover blogs about life and literature. I especially enjoyed her posts on Fifty Shade of Grey – they really made me chuckle!

What Jane Read Next nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award! This impressive blog has only been about for a couple of months and is already packed with book reviews, interesting discussions and general thoughts about reading, writing and blogging.

The general rules for all of the awards are:

• Post the award picture.
• Link back to and thank the person who nominated me.
• Nominate some of my favourite blogs.

To keep in with my ‘Top 5’ theme, I have decided to choose only 5 blogs to share awards with. It’s been extremely tough, but I finally managed to narrow it down!

And the awards go to…

• Literary Relish – I’m nominating this amazing blog for the Sunshine Award because I really do look forward to reading her posts! I have added many books to my reading list because of the brilliant reviews (and taken advice about books to avoid).

• A Fiction Habit – I’m nominating this brilliantly bookish blog for the Beautiful Blogger Award. It’s very much my type of blog because it’s about books, books, books and more books! The clear layout and simple background of Penguin books makes the site a pleasure to visit!

• Between the Covers – I’m nominating another very bookish blog for the Reader Appreciation Award. Not only do I appreciate the thoughtful comments from Heather as a reader, I also absolutely love her blog! I don’t know how she manages to read so many books! Between the Covers is full of book reviews, Top Ten Tuesdays and I especially enjoy the end of month Reading Wrap-Up, even though it makes me feel tired just looking at it!

• Ragdoll Books Blog – I’m nominating this blog for the Versatile Blogger Award because I enjoy reading through her book reviews – she seems to have a similar taste to me. Jennifer has also started a book club, which I have always wanted to do, but never seem to get around to! I look forward to seeing her progress with the book club!

•  Girl In Florence – I’m nominating this non-book related blog for the Beautiful Blogger Award. This blog is a must for anyone planning a trip to Florence or contemplating moving to Italy. It’s full of top tips for expats, places to visit, photos and much, much more! It’s been a few years since I lived in Italy now and this blog brings back fond memories!

For the Sunshine Award, I have to answer 10 questions. I love this sunny award (it makes up for the miserable weather anyway!) which is given out to bloggers who brighten up your day.

Here are the questions (I’ll try to be short and sweet!)

1. Favourite colour – Blue/Green (Like the sea…)

2. Favourite animal – Cats – I love their attitude!

3. Favourite number – 27 (It’s my birthday!)

4. Favourite non-alcoholic drink – Tea, of course! Either English Breakfast or Yorkshire.

5. Prefer Facebook or Twitter – Twitter.

6. My passion – Reading.

7. Prefer Giving or Getting presents – Getting! (I know that sounds very selfish, but I always panic when I have to buy presents for people!)

8. Favourite pattern – Polka dots… or stripes… or swirls… or ALL of them at once!

9. Favourite day of the week – Saturday.

10. Favourite flower – Daisies.

For the Readers Appreciation Award I’m supposed to tell you what I’ve been up to recently. So here goes…

Since quitting my job a couple of months ago, my life has been a bit topsy turvy. I was lucky enough to get some work experience at the lovely Slightly Foxed office in London and spent a month as an intern for a London-based newsletter. At the same time, I have been stressing out about joint buying a flat in my home city of Nottingham and after what seems like AGES, it’s looking as though everything will be going ahead next week!

To get away from it all, I spent a girlie weekend in Cardiff with the intention of heading to the Hay Festival. Somehow, we ended up at Barry Island instead on a very windy, but sunny day. It was a pretty much perfect weekend!