Tag: Opposite Books Tag

Reading (and therefore review blogging) has been pretty slow lately, but I've been getting into book tags recently. I found this tag from Dreamland Book Blog by doing a random Google search for book tag ideas - kinda lame, I know, what can I say? :) Here is the list:

1. First book in your collection/Last book you bought.
2. A cheap book/An expensive book.
3. A book with a male protagonist/One with a female protagonist.
4. A book you read fast/One that took you long to read.
5. Pretty cover/Ugly cover.
6. A national book/An international book.
7. A thin book/A thick book.
8. Fiction book/Non-fiction book.
9. Very (way too) romantic book/Action book.
10. A book that made you happy/One that made you sad.

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1.
First book in my collection:
Who could remember something like this?! I have no idea. I was going to attempt to list the first books I remember reading by myself, but I can't even remember their titles, so...
Last book I bought:
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, for $1 at the thrift store.

2.
A cheap book:
My bff found me a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling for $0.50, I think that's probably the cheapest book in my collection, even if I didn't pay it myself.
An expensive book:
Generally speaking, I don't buy books at full price, so this could be any book I did buy at full price so, for argument's sake, I'll say that was The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. Really good book, by the way.

3.
A book with a male protagonist:
I've heard people say it before, that in YA books, male leads are pretty rare, and I'm starting to see that more and more! An obvious choice would be Harry Potter, but trying to think outside the box... I'll go with Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, main character Clay. I loved that book so much. It's definitely one I'd recommend!
A book with a female protagonist:
Obviously this would be super easy, because there are so many!! But, again, trying to think outside the box... The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey. I really like Cassie. I haven't read the last book of the trilogy yet, but I've enjoyed the other two.

4.
A book I read fast:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I'm pretty sure I read the whole trilogy in a weekend.
A book that took me a long time to read:
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman. I liked the book well enough, but for whatever reason, I found it moved pretty slowly and so it took me a while to get through it.

5.
Pretty cover:
Assuming this is books I own, and not just books in general... I think probably I'd choose Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I think it's a beautiful cover, and it portrays the character very well. Plus it's my favourite book of the series so far (haven't finished reading them all).
Ugly cover:
I tend to pick up books based on their covers, so I don't own too many ugly books, except for hand-me-downs. I'll say my copy of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, seeing as it was very "well-loved" before I got it, so well-loved it has no cover.

6.
A national book:
I took this to mean a book written by an author from my country, Canada. In that case, I would have to, of course, go with Louise Penny. If I had to choose just one of her books, I guess I would go with Still Life, as it's the first of the series, and the one that got me hooked. :)
An international book:
I don't really consider the U.S. to be "international," so for a book by an author outside of Canada & the U.S., I'd have to go with The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern.

7.
A thin book:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I just received the most beautiful copy ever in my November OwlCrate!
A thick book:
I have a single binding of all of Jane Austen's works (which I still haven't read yet!!), that's pretty huge!

8.
A fiction book:
If I Stay by Gayle Forman. It was such an emotional story and interesting point of view. I cried reading the book, but it was nothing compared to the mess I was after watching the movie later on.
A non-fiction book:
I feel like I'm always talking about the same books, but when it comes to non-fiction, what I have read leaves me with very few choices... The Tao of Martha by Jen Lancaster was a non-fiction I haven't mentioned on my blog before... It's not a favourite or anything, but it was a kind of funny and inspiring read. It's sort of like Julie & Julia, but the author used Martha Stewart as her example to follow for a year, vs Julia Child.

9.
A very (way too) romantic book:
In this instance, I'm going to say that romantic really means erotic, and would have to say 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Yikes.
An action book:
The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore. Pretty much the whole book is a battle scene. It was action-packed, but really didn't hold my interest. It took me a long time to read, and I have little-to-no recollection of how it ended. The series is getting a bit drawn-out for me.

10.
A book that made me happy:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I know I talk about this book all the time, but it is literally one of my  top three favourites. I hesitate to say absolute favourite, because who can choose, but... it's way, way, up there on my list. It makes me happy just to think about it. :)
A book that made me sad:
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. It's such a tragic story of love between family members, and an unexpected ending. I just can't imagine being put in any one of those family member's shoes. It makes me sad, but it makes me thankful for my family and that everyone is healthy.

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That was kind of fun and challenging! I'm not actually going to tag anyone, just do the challenge if you're up to it. Feel free to share a link to your post in the comments below, I would be happy to read your opposites. :)

Tag: Harry Potter Spells

Hello Readers,

Hello! Today I will be sharing with you the “Harry Potter Spells Tag”. I was tagged by my friend Paige at This is Paige From Book Club (you can read her post here), which she adapted from a BookTube video. There are ten questions, each derived from a spell found in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Here we go!

1. Expecto Patronum: A childhood book connected to good memories.

The Amelia Bedelia & Encyclopedia Brown series. These were some of my favourite books in elementary school, and so I have some very fond memories of picking them out of classroom library shelves to devour, and of course, being so excited to spot them in the Scholastic catalogue!

Amelia Bedelia was a maid always misunderstanding instructions because she was always interpreting English literally - these books introduced me to a silly character who was constantly making mistakes, but always made the most of it and still came out the lovable hero in the end.

Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown was a 10-year-old boy detective. His father was the local police chief, which gave Encyclopedia a unique look into crime solving. He had his own little detective agency where his peers would come to him with mysteries which he would solve (and you were given the clues so you could also try to solve them). These books introduced me to mystery and crime fiction, my favourite genres! I also had a crush on Encyclopedia Brown - what little girl wouldn't crush on a smart, handsome, kind, mystery-solving boy detective?!

2. Expelliarmus: A book that took you by surprise.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I like thrillers, but I don't actively search for books in this genre because sometimes they're just a bit too creepy for me. Unless I'm in the mood for that kind of thing. This book was definitely creepy, and just what I was looking for at the time. The ending actually took me by surprise. Maybe I'm just not a person who analyzes what I'm reading; perhaps I would have divined the ending ahead of time if I had analyzed a bit more. But happily, I didn't, so I was able to enjoy the surprise ending!

3. Prior Incantato: The last book you read.

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. I received this book in the October OwlCrate box (read my unboxing post here). The cover art was just beautiful, and the synopsis was too intriguing, I just had to dive into it right away! It was good, but a bit different and much weirder than I was anticipating. It's neither for the faint of heart, nor those who don't like fantasy.

4. Alohamora: A book that introduced you to a genre you had not considered before.

Facing Terror by Carrie McDonnall. This was the first biographical story I ever read which wasn't required reading. The book was given to me as a High School graduation gift by somebody from my church. I love hearing people's stories and real-life adventures, but I don't typically enjoy reading them. I did, however, enjoy this book, and have gone on to read several other biographies and autobiographies. It's still not a favourite genre, but I'm not completely turned off by them.

5. Riddikulus: A funny book you've read.

Hm, I've never really considered this question before, but now that I think about it... I don't think I've read very many "funny" books. I suppose that the Shopaholic books (or anything else by Sophie Kinsella) are amusing to a degree, but as for an outright laugh-out-loud book... I don't know!

6. Sonorus: A book you think everybody should know about.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I love magic, mystery, romance... and this book contains it all! I don't like to tell people too much about it, just trust me... it's amazing. I can't tell you how many times I have recommended this book. I don't know if the people I've recommended it to have actually read and/or enjoyed it, but that's another story... Haha!

7. Obliviate: A book or spoiler you would like to forget having read.

As much as I enjoyed reading the Twilight Saga at the time, the movies absolutely ruined the books for me. So much so that I never ended up reading the last book of the saga, and have no intention of doing so.

8. Imperio: A book you had to read for school.

So many of the books that I had to read in school became favourites; it's hard to choose one... So instead I'll just list the ones that were particularly striking in my memory: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (the first book that made me cry - and the movie adaptation was every bit as good as the book!), The Giver by Lois Lowry (the first book to introduce me to the dystopian genre), Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (just a really impressive story that has stayed with me).

9. Crucio: A book that was painful to read.

I will someday try to go back to finish it, but earlier this year when I tried reading Winter by Marissa Meyer... painful. Hopefully it was just the time when I was reading it. I had been looking forward to finishing up the series, and enjoyed the other books, but I literally had to force myself to read the parts that I did, and eventually just gave up.

10. Avada Kedavra: A book that could kill (interpret as you will).

Sadly, I could not interpret this as anything other than literal, and therefore simply could not think of a single book to fit the description. Sorry, Paige! I did my best!


Since I have nobody to tag, I'll leave it at that. If any of my numerous and adoring readers (haha!) decide to take this challenge, please share the link to your post in the comments below so I can go enjoy your interpretation of the Harry Potter Spells challenge!

Tag: Newbie Book Blog

So I'm pretty new to this whole book blogging thing. I was sort of doing it a couple years ago, but wasn't very good, or consistent, so when I started back up last month, I considered a new birth rather than a rebirth... if that makes any sense...

Anyway, so I have been investing some time into reading other people's blogs and looking up ideas for blog content. Right now, I'm mostly just trying to get into a rhythm of publishing posts at regular intervals, that being every Wednesday. I have sporadically shared posts on other days, but I'm trying to be consistent with Wednesdays right now, and sticking mostly with reviewing the books I had read this year before starting the blog. So, in my nosing around the interwebs, I found Love and Other Bookish Things and her post entitled Book Blog Newbie Tag, in which she takes it upon herself to bring BookTube tags and such over into the book blogosphere. I love making up words. :)

So the following is my Newbie Tag, using Kirsten's version:

1. Why did you start this blog?
Well, basically, I have a terrible memory. So this is my little memory keeper, to remind me that yes, I did, in fact, actually read that book, and whether or not I liked it. When I first started blogging a couple years ago, I was literally talking about everything that happened in the book - spoilers much? I don't want to spoil anything for anyway, but at the same time, I do want to be able to remind myself what a book was about. So hopefully in the near future I'll figure out a way to balance the two to make everyone happy. :)

2. What are some fun and unique things you can bring to book blogging?
Uh, well... that's a pretty good question. I don't know. I'd like to think that I have kind of a quirky writing voice... When I was a teenager, I identified myself as being weird and bubbly... so I don't know, guys. I guess... I'm honest, and weird, and sometimes kind of fun and bubbly? I hope?

3. What are you most excited for about this blog?
Um... That's another good question. I mean, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for lots of readers and people to love me and all that, which I know is quite unlikely but there's still that hope... But I think really I'm just excited to be able to share the books I've read, and my love of books, with like-minded people!

4. Why do you love reading?
I love being able to fall in love, go on an adventure, learn magic, solve crimes, etc, without even leaving my bed. I love escaping into another world for a little while, meeting new people (even if they are fictitious), learning things...

5. What book or series got you into reading?
I've always been a reader and story-lover. I don't remember exactly how old I was when I learned to love to read, and I don't remember the first book I read on my own, so I can't really say what got me into reading. All I know is that I've always loved books, imaginary things, and stories.

6. What questions would you ask your favourite authors?
You know, I don't really think about things like this, meeting authors and asking them questions. I guess something I would ask a couple of authors would be, "Why did you choose to write in the voice of the opposite sex, and was it a challenege for you?"

7. What challenges do you think starting a blog will be the hardest to overcome?
The consistency of posting new content, for sure. That, and no spoilers. :)

8. When did you start reading?
I don't remember. First grade, probably, so like 7 years old? I mean, I was only reading little books that first graders read, but I remember being so proud of being able to read on my own, and adding books to my "have read" list.

9. Where do you read?
I have a favourite Lay-Z-Boy chair in the living room where I like to curl up to read, that's my preferred spot. I do read in bed, but I don't find it particularly comfortable, and sometimes on the deck or in the kitchen, wherever there's a chair... But I don't typically read other places outside my home. I have taken books with me places, but I find I get interrupted too much and end up having to re-read the bits I "read" while I was out.

10. What kind of books do you like to read?
Fiction, definitely fiction. I love me some Young Adult fiction, especially dystopian, and don't care who knows it! I also love murder mysteries, crime novels, and fluffy chick reads. And the (very) occasional non-fictional biography. But very rarely. :)

Well, I guess that's it! I hope you enjoyed my tag post. Let me know if you write one too! In the meantime, I'd like to tag my friend Paige at Paige From Book Club to do this!