The Liebster Award is making the rounds again and this time with a new twist. I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure I got one of these back when I had a library blog. Every time I see it, it’s just a little different, like the Telephone Game. The logo hasn’t changed since I last encountered the Liebster Blog Heart in 2012.

The addition, this round, is questions. Carol Early Cooney answered questions that were asked by the person who nominated her. In turn, she posed questions to me as her nomination of Joy’s Book Blog. Thanks, Carol — I’m honored!

1. What is your favorite holiday and why?

I love themes, so I have to go with Christmas — a whole month of events, decorations, music, movies, and food all devoted to bringing more light to the shortest days of the year.

2. Describe your favorite place and tell us why it is your favorite place.

My desk and chair because it’s where I feel most creative and connected.

3. Which is your dream – city living or country living?

For a couple of decades, we planned to move to the country but when we finally moved…we stayed in the same inner suburb. So the dream might be country-living, but it turns out the pleasures of well-stocked libraries, fine restaurants, and closely-spaced friends were too hard to give up.

4. When you look up from your computer what do you see?

One of the odd bits of architecture in our house. I look out a sliding glass door that used to open up to an outdoor 2nd-story deck. But at some point, that got enveloped by a two-story sunroom. So, I see the balcony rail and the view of the backyard out the sunroom windows.

5. What TV show do you watch but you don’t admit that you watch it?

When Rick turns on the news in the morning, I sneak out of my office to catch “Your World in 90 Seconds,” the first bit of CBS This Morning that features all the photos in the news and the best joke or two from late night television.

6. What is your favorite book and why?

My favorite book is always the one I’m reading. I’m lucky at the moment to be reading a 900-page book, which means I’ve had the same favorite book for weeks: Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson.

7. Did you have an invisible friend when you were young?

Why waste invisible friends on the young? I’m much better at inventing them now. I appoint whole committees of invisible friends to help on my most important projects.

8. What is your most comfortable pair of shoes?

Asics tennis shoes. Size 11 1/2. That size limits my choices.

9. You can have as much ice cream in any flavor. How much would you have and what flavor or flavors?

One scoop of mint chocolate chip in a cup, please.

10. Let’s say you are having trouble sleeping. What do you do? Get up or stay in bed? If you get up, what do you do? If you stay in bed, do you just lay there?

I had something of a break-through on sleep a few months ago when I realized that I sleep better when I go to bed earlier. I used to believe that staying up late would make me sleepier. But, it just made me more tense and made my nights even shorter. An earlier bedtime is not a miracle cure to sleeplessness (especially with hot flashes), but it’s been a definite improvement.

Lately, I’ve had good luck thinking “cozy” thoughts when I’m awake in bed. After seeing the tiny hotel rooms in London designed for solo business travelers, I’ve been designing my own. Or, last night, someone had puppies on Facebook, so I thought about puppies and drifted off to sleep that way.

During hot flashes, I get up for a few minutes, but sit on the floor next to the bed and read an e-book on my phone until it passes.

Um. I guess you can tell I’ve had some experience with this.

11. I will scream when I see a mouse. I don’t know why but I will scream without even thinking about it. How about you? Is there anything that you react to without thinking?

I always look up at sirens, even if it means getting up to go to a window. Fortunately, the new house isn’t on the direct route for ambulances and fire trucks, so I’m not interrupted as often as I used to be.

So, now I need to choose two bloggers and pose questions for them. As I did the last time I played the Liebster Award game, I’ll use this as an opportunity to introduce writer friends (the circle where the Liebster Award is currently circulating) to book blogger friends. Further, I’ll choose newer book bloggers because the more experienced ones stake their blogs as “Award Free Zones.”

Here are two blogs I love and my nominees for the Liebster Blog Award:

• April, The Steadfast Reader
• Shannon at River City Reading

Here are my questions for April and Shannon:

1. What place is on the top of your vacation wish list and why?
2. Where did you grow up? How has that influenced who you are today?
3. What song do you listen to most frequently or put on the most playlists?
4. What’s your favorite television show?
5. What was the last movie you watched? Did you like it? Were you at home or in a theater?
6. When did you start your book blog and why?
7. What’s your favorite post, ever, on your blog?
8. What author would you most like to have a cup of tea with? What would you talk about?
9. What book do you wish everyone would read?
10. How do Advanced Review Copies of books end up in your hands?
11. Print books? E-books? Audio books? Or some combination thereof?

I hope those are fun questions for you because I would love to read the answers!