I found this posted by the fabulous May @ My 1st Chapter (check our her blog!) and thought it would be another fun book tag for the week!
The original video of this tag has been removed and I cannot locate the original creator so (I’m sorry whoever you are).
Furthermore, my bookshelves are a bit insane at the moment and contain about a million books that I have not even read yet, so for this tag, I will be using my Goodreads “Read” shelf to answer.
Find a book for each of your initials
H – Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle #1) by Diana Wynne Jones
F – Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
L – Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French kiss #2) by Stephanie Perkins
Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle #1) by Diana Wynne Jones
This book is a lot of fun. Of course I have a special place in my heart for the movie version of this story, and while the book is actually different in many ways, it was just as good and very nostalgic. I gave this book a 5/5 star rating. It is indeed a part of my soul.
Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
This is one of those series that I would have enjoyed a lot more in my teens. Maggie Stiefvater is one of my all time favorite authors with her The Raven Cycle series and The Scorpio Races (an all time favorite). This series reads a lot younger and cliché than her other works. This particular book, however, was a good read and a solid conclusion to the series (Stiefvater did add a 4th book to the series titled Sinner which is actually my favorite of the series but is more of a spin off story). Still I gave this book a 3.5/5 star rating.
Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French kiss #2) by Stephanie Perkins
Basically … I adored this book. I know a few people who had some problems with it, but they were honestly not issues that bothered me in the least. I did have one issue with this book so I gave it 4 stars not 5. I related to Lola a lot (yeah I was a little odd in High School – still am … odd that is, not in high school) and I really enjoyed the romance. This book for me is the shining star of the series and I would highly recommend it for lovers of cutsie YA contemporary.
Count your age along your bookshelf. What book is it?
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland #1) by Lewis Carroll
This book was a tough rating for me. On the one hand, the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a favorite of mine in so many ways. however, the book itself is bogged down with hard to read language and long confusing poems which make the actual reading of this book a bit cumbersome. I think I gave this book a 2.5/5 star rating.
Pick a book set in your city/country
Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer Trilogy #1) by Rae Carson
As it turns out, I have not or at least cannot remember reading a book taking place in the state of Tennessee (not to mention my tiny little farming town). So for this one, I stretched the parameters a bit and went with the mountain town of Dahlonega, GA which is in the same mountain range as my town and only about 2 hours away … and is also the opening setting for this book.
To be honest, I found this book (and the second book as well) to be lacking. It is a historical fantasy plotted around the California Gold Rush but a majority of this book is basically The Oregon Trail. I don’t typically enjoy “journey plots”, and this book was no exception. While the premise of this story really roped me in, the story itself was pretty dull and uneventful. I had several other issues with this series including flat secondary characters and the limited appearance of the magical elements once the journey began. I still ended up giving this book a 3/5 star rating. The MC is interesting and developed. The writing is beautiful. It was just dull.
Pick a book that represents a place you would love to travel
Red Rising (Red Rising #1) by Pierce Brown
Yes I’m taking this opportunity to sweet talk about my favorite trilogy because I’m Red Rising trash.
Even when I was a kid, I had a propensity to latch onto a specific topic to the point of absolute obsession. I would research these topics endlessly (and this was before the Internet was in every home and in every hand). One of these most passionate infatuations was the topic of Mars. I checked out books about Mars. I had computer programs about Mars. I had stacks of binders full of Mars research. I wanted to be the first person to go to Mars! Did I mention I was in Elementary School here. Yeah, I was a weird kid. I mean, I am still pretty in love with the topic of Mars, more realistically so. But I doubt I will be making the trip to visit any time soon.
Ok so about this book. Well, it’s set on Mars (bet you didn’t see that coming) and it’s AWESOME! That’s really all you need to know about it. This particular start to the series runs a plot very similar to that of The Hunger Games (a bloodier, grittier Hunger Games), but the rest of the series takes it so much further still! and it’s in space! It’s heavy and it’s bloody and it’s raw and it’s emotional and it’s brutal and it’s AWESOME! The Red Rising series is by far my most read series/books on my read shelf! This book and series is a solid 5/5 stars from me all day every day! Also, if you enjoy audiobooks like I do, you should absolutely listen to this series. The audiobook for this series is incredibly good and I highly recommend it.
P.S. – Red was my favorite color as a kid because it was the color of Mars. Yeah … I was a really weird kid.
Pick a book that’s your favorite color
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Pink! Ok so pinkish purple … really any shade of pink will suite me just fine. I’m not sure if you noticed, but I love the color pink. Other favorite colors are aqua, gray, and eggplant (dark purple).
So, about this book … it crushed me … in a good way – as Colleen Hoover books have a way of doing. This was another brilliant NA love story from (who is most likely) my favorite NA romance author. This was the first book I ever picked up by her (mainly because of the cover), and I’m so very happy that I did, because her books have become a part of my soul. I suggest going into Colleen’s books with as little background knowledge as possible for maximum emotional bankruptcy. I had no idea what I was getting into when I read this and It was such a beautiful journey. I wouldn’t say this was my favorite Hoover book (that trophy would go to either Ugly Love or Maybe Someday), but this is an insanely great NA read still! Solid 5/5 stars from me.
Which book do you have the fondest memories of?
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit was one of the first novels I read as a kid. Sometime around 4th grade? This book was actually read as somewhat of a rebellion against “the man” … er um … the school? Again, keep in mind I was a weird kid. I also didn’t (and still don’t) respond well to being told what I can and cannot do. In my elementary school (and I’m sure many of yours as well) we had a reading program. Said reading program required (there’s that word I hate) us to read a certain amount of “points” per month of pre-selected books for our grade level. Here’s the kicker. Almost none of the books I wanted to read were a part of this program. So, instead of reading the books that were expected of us, I spent the year reading The Hobbit, The Neverending Story, and The Lord of the Rings series. I failed the program and never gave it a second thought. Because this collection of books changed my world and are what shaped me into the reader I am today!
But this isn’t the only reason why this particular book is tied to some of my fondest memories. Right around this time (and I’m not sure which came first into my life), the animated movie version of The Hobbit aired on Cartoon Network (no not originally, I’m not that old).
Anyone else remember this?
Well I vividly remember planning my whole night around this movie for weeks, climbing into my parent’s bed with a cup of hot tea and a few snacks and letting my little kid mind be swept away into this fantastical world of hobbits and wizards and magic! To this day I have few memories that are held more fondly than this one is for me. This book makes me remember those days when the world had all the possibilities of being anything I wanted it to be. When magic was believed in with the unwavering faith of a child discovering for the first time and falling in love with the world of fantasy. And obviously I gave this book 5/5 stars (the movie too) .
Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
I hate this book. This book is the bane of my existence. The pacing is evenly slow. The mood is droll and depressing. And not a single character is in the least bit likeable or redeemable. However, this is also one of those books that I think everyone should read. It is a classic for a reason. There are a lot of topics that can be debated and discussed from this book as well as precautionary tales.
But … I hate this book and had a really hard time getting through it. I was reading this on a plane trip from Las Vegas to Atlanta and there were many times I just put it down because watching the back of the chair in front of me was somehow more interesting. It was far less depressing that’s for sure. I gave this book a 1/5 star rating but oddly I also recommend it.
Which book on your TBR will give you the biggest accomplishment when you finish it?
A Memory of Light (The Wheel of Time #14) by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson
Because completing this book will meant hat I also completed the 13 (14 if counting New Spring) preceding books in this series! I am currently reading The Great Hunt (The wheel of Time #2) … so I have quite a journey still ahead of me. This will effectively be my largest book related undertaking as far as reading goes for sure. I am sure to be met with mixed feelings upon completion. Both elation that I finished and sadness that it’s over. I do so much look forward to the end, but I am also really excited about the journey. Obviously I have not given this book a rating yet, but the series so far is shaping up to be a 4 or 5/5 star series for sure!
Tag?
I’m not going to be tagging anyone specifically, but I encourage everyone to keep this book tag going!
Well I hope you were able to glean a bit of interesting tid-bits about me from this post … but enough about me! I want to know about you. I would love to read your responses, book thoughts, etc. Comment below and let me know some of your answers to these questions!
A Thousand Lives of Frankie Lovely 
Oh my God, Red Rising again. hahahah.
Love the answers, girlie.
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You love it 😛
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