Category: Book Tags

Posted in Book Tags

Read the Rainbow Book Tag 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

I’m always up for a pride-themed book tag, so when I saw The Corner of Laura’s take on this one, I knew I had to give it a try! The tag was originally created by Isabelle @ Nine Tale Vixen.

RULES:

  • Link back to the person who tagged you
  • Credit & link back to the creator: Isabelle @ Nine Tale Vixen
  • Each book you pick should have an LGBTQIA+ main character and/or an LGBTQIA+ author. Try to include diverse books: different romantic/sexual/gender orientations, different ethnicities, etc.

Let’s begin, shall we?

🌈READ THE RAINBOW BOOK TAG🌈

RED: A book that gives you courage or is about courage

An Unkindness of Ghosts is a story of courage and resistance in circumstances that have all but walled you in—a generation ship that oppresses its lower-class passengers of color much like the antebellum South. Rivers Solomon never misses!

ORANGE: A book with a passionate/fierce protagonist

Jin-Lu from Road to Ruin is as tough as they come, but will do anything to protect the ones she loves. This novel was the perfect blend of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and fantasy!

YELLOW: A book that celebrates friendship

All of Alechia Dow’s books sparkle with themes of connection, but A Song of Salvation centers around the friendship (and eventual romance) between its three unlikely leads! Not her best, but still a sweet book.

GREEN: A Middle Grade book and/or a book featuring kids

It’s been ages since I’ve read (or even thought about) Star-Crossed, but I’m glad I remembered it—such a sweet coming-of-age story about a bisexual girl playing a genderbent Romeo in her class production of Romeo & Juliet!

BLUE: A book which includes a wedding or an already-established LGBTQIA+ couple

I seriously think that The Heartbreak Bakery has the most LGBTQ+ rep I’ve ever seen in a single book—several established queer couples, and characters spanning tons of sexualities, gender identities, and ethnicities!

PURPLE: A book featuring love at first sight

The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a sweet, cozy sci-fi novella about a robot who runs a tea shop and the romance that blooms between her and a technician!

BLACK: A book centered on an antihero or villain

Off With Their Heads centers around two cunning, bloodthirsty, and vengeful characters, in an equally bloodthirsty and vengeful world loosely based on Alice in Wonderland.

BROWN: A book that celebrates family, chosen or given

Don’t let the gritty-looking title and cover fool you—Activation Degradation is one of the most emotional celebrations of found family that I’ve read all year! Highly recommend it.

LIGHT BLUE: A book about star-crossed lovers

Across a Field of Starlight features a nonbinary romance that stretches across solar systems, war, and ideology.

PINK: A book as sweet as cotton candy

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster is a lighthearted, sweet romance about a bisexual girl scrambling to find a date for her sister’s quinceañera—and sort out her messy romantic history.

WHITE: A book that isn’t focused on romance

Another piece of lovely cozy sci-fi (from the cozy sci-fi queen herself), A Psalm for the Wild-Built has no romance, and focuses on self-discovery and friendship!

PURPLE CIRCLE: A standalone book that is perfect and complete on its own

Only This Beautiful Moment is the story of three generations of men in an Iranian family, and the interwoven threads of sexuality, trauma, and love.

RAINBOW: Free choice! Recommend any LGBTQIA+ book that you love

A Half-Built Garden was one of the best pieces of sci-fi that I read last year—a wonderfully nuanced and human vision of first contact, featuring a whole host of cleverly designed aliens!

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!

Today’s song:

:,,,,,,,,,,)

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

Ten Bookish Questions Tag 🔟

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

I was honestly so surprised that I hadn’t done this tag before—I found it, like I do most of my tags these days, on The Corner of Laura, and the tag was originally created by A Books Neverland.

Let’s begin, shall we?

🔟TEN BOOKISH QUESTIONS TAG🔟

HOW MANY BOOKS DO YOU CURRENTLY OWN?

…I don’t know the exact number, but certainly more than I have space for…

HOW MANY BOOKS ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

Normally, I stick to one book at a time, but since I’m often reading for other classes, it usually ends up being two or three at this time of the school year. Right now, I’m currently reading Ten Low and re-reading The Left Hand of Darkness for one of my classes.

CHOOSE A COUPLE OF BOOKS YOU READ BUT DIDN’T ENJOY.

I just chose a handful here that I’ve read (somewhat) recently and didn’t enjoy:

  • Only a Monster – Vanessa Len | I really, really wanted there to be some nuance, but no. Apparently we just had to have the themes beaten into our heads with a crowbar.
  • Frontier – Grace Curtis | for the fascinating premise it had, this novel just felt so…boring? For a book with the tagline of “love. loss. laser guns,” you’d think there would be more action, but every plot point just blurred into the next.
  • The Sevenfold Hunters – Rose Egal | this was my first DNF of the year, but it was more out of a feeling of “I have neither the time nor the will to read any more of this” than “I hate this book with a passion.” Even still, there were a lot of problems I had with what I read—mainly the implausibility of everything happening to the characters (and them emerging almost unscathed every time) and the sin of listing off every single character’s sexualities instead of organically weaving in their representation in a way that didn’t feel like checking off boxes.

A COVER BUY?

I put off reading Firekeeper’s Daughter for quite some time, but after reading Warrior Girl Unearthed, I was fully convinced to buy this one…but the cover was a significant part of the sell. Absolutely gorgeous design, isn’t it?

A BOOK YOU OWN BUT HATE THE COVER OF?

I don’t hate the cover of Ammonite, but it kind of screams “graphic design is my passion,” y’know? Gotta love the ’90s.

A BOOK YOU HAVEN’T READ IN YEARS?

It’s been at least a decade since I’ve picked up any of the Warriors books, but those consumed my life from 3rd to 5th grade like nothing else had before…god, those were the days. Nothing like cats violating every single term of the Geneva Conventions for some after-school reading.

A BOOK YOU WILL ALWAYS RECOMMEND?

Every time I go to any bookstore with friends, I inevitably try to steer them over to this one. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is truly special. I swear.

ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK SERIES?

Y’all already know the answer to this one…

WHERE DO YOU READ?

Mostly in bed or on the couch, but when the weather’s warm, I read outside, and when the weather’s cold, I read in the campus coffee shops.

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

🍏 Apple Book Tag 🍎

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

I’ve been wanting to do a book tag for a few days now, but I’ve been having to figure out my routine again what with school starting back up. I’ve gotten to a point where I’ve been productive enough that I’ve got some free time, so I figured I’d do this one now. I found this one over at The Corner of Laura, and the tag was originally created by Literary Gladiators on YouTube. This one’s super specific, but I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t like apples from time to time—and it’s fun for a tag! Also, I learned about a few apple varieties that I had no idea existed.

Let’s begin, shall we?

🍎APPLE BOOK TAG🍏

GRANNY SMITH: An overbearingly sweet book or character

Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of Always Human, it’s a good palate-cleanser if you need something light and candy-colored to read.

FUJI: A book about a mountain

It took me a while to think of a book for this prompt, but I’m glad I remembered this one! Even the Darkest Stars centers around a trek up a foreboding and deadly mountain, and it was an incredibly engrossing read.

RED DELICIOUS: A book that would be perfect if it was only judged by its cover

The Spear Cuts Through Water has a gorgeous cover full of some of my favorite colors, but unfortunately, the book was too convoluted and full of itself for my liking. I did enjoy The Vanished Birds though (by the same author), so at least there’s that.

GOLDEN YELLOW: A book with yellow on the cover

All That’s Left in the World has a cover with a yellow background! A very tender book about the apocalypse.

MCINTOSH: A writer that has influenced or would influence your writing

I’ve probably said this over and over in tags over the years, but I’ll always cite Tony DiTerlizzi and The Search for WondLa as the whole reason that I wanted to make a career out of writing, especially science fiction. These books never get old.

HONEYCRISP: A book you have read that is in great demand

At the time I read The Thursday Murder Club, it took forever for me to find a copy—I think it was around the time that book four in the series came out, so it was on hold in almost every place imaginable! I’m glad that I got around to reading it, though—it wasn’t a surprise that Richard Osman’s writing was just as clever as he was on Taskmaster!

BALDWIN: A writer you feel needs recognition

I can’t speak for her picture books since I haven’t read any of them, but Maggie Tokuda-Hall deserves all the praise in the world for her YA novels! She writes with such an unflinching approach to issues that many authors skirt around, and her characters are truly vibrant and full of life. I hope she writes so much more in the YA genre in the future—especially fantasy!

EMPIRE: A book about or set in New York

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is set in Staten Island!

GALA: A book that fits under many genres

The Crane Husband is magical realism, dystopia, and so much more all rolled into one.

AMBROSIA: A long book that was easy to follow

For an epic fantasy book that’s over 500 pages, The Stardust Thief was refreshingly easy to follow and free of unnecessary, convoluting elements! I can’t wait for The Ashfire King to come out.

JAZZ: A book written in or after 2010 that demonstrates freshness and originality

Even though Echo North is an amalgamation of several fairytales retold (namely Beauty and the Beast), Joanna Ruth Meyer imbued this novel with no shortage of unique elements that made it truly stick with me.

MUTSU: A big book that you indulged in

Dune is probably one of the longest books that I’ve ever read. I’m a fast reader—it generally takes me about 2-3 days to finish a book, but this one took me over a week. Worth, it though. Fear is the mind killer.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APPLE?

Gotta go with honeycrisp. I never get sick of how pleasantly sweet they are!

APPLE TREE: WHO DO YOU TAG?

I tag anyone who wants to participate!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

Holiday Drinks Book Tag ☕️

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

I’m finally done with the semester, so I figured I would celebrate with a festive book tag! I found this one over at The Corner of Laura (who always finds the best tags), and the tag was originally created by Browsing for Books (note: at the time I’m doing this tag, this blog is no longer active).

Let’s begin, shall we?

☕️THE HOLIDAY DRINKS BOOK TAG☕️

HOT CHOCOLATE | Marshmallows and chocolate and whipped cream, oh my!

Recommend a book that’s sweet through and through.

Rom-coms typically aren’t my go-to, but Tweet Cute was so wonderfully fluffy and sweet—and full of tasteful food puns.

PEPPERMINT MOCHA | The flavor of peppermint is strong and distinct.

Recommend a book with a lot of strong emotions.

Our Wives Under the Sea packs an impressive amount of emotion into just over 220 pages—and all of it pays off.

APPLE CIDER | It’s so good, it can’t be good for you…but it’s from apples, that means it’s healthy, right?

Recommend a book full of characters with questionable morals.

A Memory Called Empire is rife with all sorts of political backstabbing, and just as many characters willing to turn on each other…

EGGNOG | It’s creamy and smooth with a little spice, and some people even add alcohol to it.

Recommend a book that’s mostly fun with just a hint of danger.

Flowerheart has enough stakes (read: brief flower-related body horror) to give it a kick, but despite its flaws, what I can say is that this book was wholesome and warm all the way through. This one could’ve worked for the first prompt too…

GINGERBREAD LATTE | A drink with a veritable explosion of spices

Recommend a book with a lot of action.

Victories Greater Than Death is absolutely chock-full of action! There was never a dull moment in this book, although it did get too heavy-handed with the action at some points.

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE! Happy holidays, everybody!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

Wasted Potential Book Tag

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do a book tag, and now that I’m in a sort of lull post-midterms (for now), I figured I would use that time to have some book tag fun. I found this tag over at Laura @ The Corner of Laura (who always finds the best book tags), and I can’t seem to find the original creator of the tag—if it’s you or if you know them, let me know and I’ll credit them! I try not to be negative *all* the time, but sometimes, you’ve gotta get the book rants off your chest.

Let’s begin, shall we?

🫤THE WASTED POTENTIAL BOOK TAG🫤

  1. A BOOK THAT TRIED BUT FAILED TO TACKLE AN ISSUE

It’s My Life was a complicated book for me—Stacie Ramey almost did a good job of portraying her disabled protagonist, but ultimately, her handling of disabled identity itself rubbed me the wrong way. (It’s one thing for a disabled person to use the label “differently-abled,” but having the word “disabled” almost never mentioned for the whole novel and then instead referred to as “differently-abled” by the abled author was…weird, to say the least). Also, for once, I’d like a book about disability that isn’t centered around the main character getting slurs yelled at her. Not that those stories don’t have a place, but again: it feels more uncomfortable knowing that this was written by an abled author.

2. AN INTRIGUING SERIES THAT DIDN’T PAY OFF

I only got three books into the Invisible Library series before I quit. It’s such a shame—they started out so strong, and for a concept that seems so rich with potential ideas (traveling through alternate realities to find books?? I mean, come on), it felt that Genevieve Cogman was rapidly running out of ideas by book 3. And knowing that there’s eight books in this series doesn’t give me faith in what I’ve missed out on.

3. A GREAT BEGINNING WITH A MEDIOCRE ENDING

The Spear Cuts Through Water started off with so many bold choices that I thought it was going to be fantastic. And then…it just dragged. It just dragged on for so long, and everything that was bold at first just became tired and full of itself. This one was a real disappointment.

4. A LAST-MINUTE TWIST THAT RUINED IT ALL

Without spoiling anything, the twist ending of Katzenjammer really felt like it was in poor taste. This novel was so unique up until that point, and the ending could have been not only more creative, but more sensitively handled as well. Real shame.

5. A GREAT PLOT WITH SOME BORING CHARACTERS

It’s not so much boring characters but frustrating characters in this case; The Surviving Sky had the potential to be incredibly imaginative, but having the focus be on two insufferable characters in a failing marriage was not the right move for this book. The infodumped worldbuilding didn’t help either.

6. A CHARACTER DEATH THAT RUINED A BOOK (Spoilers)

I’m having a ton of trouble coming up with anything for this prompt. I know I’ve read books where this has happened, but I just can’t think of any right now? So I’ll have to leave this one blank…

7. A ROMANCE THAT RUINED A BOOK (Spoilers)

I already despise love triangles, but you know what’s worse than a love triangle? A love triangle where there’s no reason to like either of the romantic interests. Warner and Adam from the Shatter Me series were both so gross to me, and I would’ve been mad at Juliette for ending up with either of them, but I hated Warner even more, so that soured the whole end of Ignite Me for me. Eh.

8. A ROMANCE THAT YOU WANTED TO HAPPEN (Spoilers)

Normally, I love when authors leave a couple that’s set up to be love interests as platonic, but the romance between Ning and Kang in A Venom Dark and Sweet was hinted so much in book 1, and then…nothing ever came of it? It just felt like a very messy way to resolve it, almost like Judy I. Lin just forgot that it was supposed to happen.

9. A SCENE YOU HAVE PETTY BEEF WITH

Every scene in the Hunger Games trilogy with Gale. I will not elaborate.

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

Waffle Book Tag 🧇

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

This was supposed to be published earlier today, but WordPress was being weird, so I ended up having to reconstruct the whole thing from scratch. Oops. At least it’s here now.

I feel like I’ve prefaced almost every book tag I’ve done in the last year or so with this, but I feel like I always take too long between book tags, and…it’s been a while. They’re so much fun!! But, of course, a combination of work, NaNoWriMo, and prioritizing my book reviews and Sunday Songs has taken the forefront, so I haven’t been able to do quite as many. But I figured that I had some time today, and this one sounded like a super cute tag. I found the tag over at The Corner of Laura (she always finds the best tags! Go check out her blog!), and the tag was originally created by Kat @ Novels and Waffles. I love a good waffle, so of course I had to do this tag!! Very glad that there’s a waffle emoji for th

The Rules

➽ Link back to the original creator, Kat @ Novels & Waffles

➽ Feel free to use any of the waffle graphics in this post, just make sure to credit Kat!

➽ Tag as many people as you want (or don’t want) to. No pressure here, folks! ♡

Let’s begin, shall we?

🧇THE WAFFLE BOOK TAG🧇

BELGIAN WAFFLES: A book that’s a total classic

I’ve read Slaughterhouse-Five for two separate classes for school in the past few years, and it never loses its punch. Such a unique book.

WHOLE WHEAT WAFFLES: A book that’s completely wholesome

I always take care to put trigger warnings in my book reviews, but A Psalm for the Wild-Built was such a gentle, pure book that I couldn’t even think of any. Becky Chambers is so kind to us.

EGGO WAFFLES: A book that fills you with nostalgia

I’ll always look back fondly at when I first read Madman back in middle school; beyond the beautiful art and the David Bowie references that 13-year-old me immediately latched onto, there’s something so comforting and pure about these comics.

CHOCOLATE WAFFLES: A fictional character that’s sugary sweet

Even without her selkie puppy eyes, Keltie from The Girl from the Sea would still be so adorable.

BLUEBERRY WAFFLES: A book that made you feel blue

A House Between Earth and the Moon was just such a dismal book all the way through. The premise had potential, but it ended up being a chore to read, in my experience.

WAFFLE CONE: A book that’s a bit different

Considering that Magonia was published in 2015, it was so refreshingly whimsical and weird for a YA book of that era.

MAPLE SYRUP: A series that you stuck with until the end

One of my best friends recommended The Aurelian Cycle to me, and it was fantastic all the way through!

WAFFLE IRON: Your favorite bookish accessory

My parents got me this super comfy Frankenstein shirt for my birthday last year! Out Of Print has the best bookish merchandise—got my Six of Crows and Little Prince socks from there too!

I TAG ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!

Today’s song:

listened to this album the other day, fantastic all the way through!

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

Ben ‘n’ Jerry’s Book Tag 🍦

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

I haven’t been able to do a book tag in a bit, so I figured that it would be a good time to do it now that I’m out of school! I found this one over at Laura @ The Corner of Laura, and the tag was originally created by Aimal @ Bookshelves and Paperbacks. I am a devoted Ben ‘n’ Jerry’s lover and a lover of ice cream in general, so this looked like the perfect tag to do!

Let’s begin, shall we?

🍨 THE BEN ‘N’ JERRY’S BOOK TAG 🍨

VANILLA CARAMEL FUDGE: pick a light, fluffy contemporary

Contemporary usually isn’t my go-to, but Perfect on Paper is one of the best YA contemporary romances I’ve ever read—truly excellent bisexual rep!

MINT CHOCOLATE COOKIE: a new release that you wish everybody would read

The Isles of the Gods is my most recent 5-star read—Amie Kaufman never misses with any of her novels!

CHERRY GARCIA: an ending that was bittersweet

The Loves & Lies of Rukhsana Ali was a very emotional read, but the last part of the ending was at least hopeful.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: a book containing your OTP of OTPs

Not to commit author double-dipping on these tags (I always do…oopsie), but my love for Kal and Auri from the Aurora Cycle knows no bounds. (I’m getting all excited about these books all over again because I got a friend of a friend to pick up a copy of Aurora Rising at the airport…WE CONVERTED HIM)

MILK & COOKIES: two authors, who, if they collaborated, would go perfectly together

I feel like Leigh Bardugo and Roshani Chokshi could do something really interesting together! They’re both excellent at YA heist fantasy novels, so I’m sure their powers combined would result in something super fun…

BOSTON CREAM PIE: a book that had you turning pages late into the night

I got House of Hollow from a Christmas gift card last year! Even though my expectations were low (I tried to keep them low so all of the hype it got wouldn’t disappoint me), Sutherland’s prose was incredible!

CHOCOLATE THERAPY: a book that makes you feel better after a long day of life

As intense as parts of it get, The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea has become something of a comfort read for me in the past few years.

COFFEE, COFFEE, BUZZBUZZBUZZ! : a book not yet released that you can’t wait to get your hands on

I was so excited to hear about A Song of Salvation! Anything by Alechia Dow automatically has to go on my TBR, and I can’t wait to have more adventures in her established universe. It comes out in about two months…

I TAG:

Today’s song:

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

The Fantasy Tropes Book Tag 🧝🏻‍♀️

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

I’ve been meaning to do another book tag for a while, and now that I’m on spring break, it seemed like the perfect time! I found this one over at Georgia @ Lost in Neverland, and it was originally created by one’s peculiar. Fantasy is a genre that I always end up coming back to, so I thought this would be a fun tag!

RULES:

  • Mention the creator ( one’s peculiar )
  • Answer the questions
  • Tag as many people as you like
  • HAVE FUN!

Let’s begin, shall we?

🐉THE FANTASY TROPES BOOK TAG🗡

THE LOST PRINCESS: A book/series you lost interest in halfway through

I loved the first book in the Invisible Library series, but I ended up quitting at book 3—with such an inventive concept for the series, it just felt like Genevieve Cogman was no longer doing anything interesting with it.

THE KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR: A hyped book/series you were swept up by

Leigh Bardugo has yet to let me down with any of her fantasy novels, but Six of Crows is a rare series—it lives up to almost all of the hype it’s been given over the years, in my experience!

THE WISE OLD WIZARD: An author who amazes you with his/her writing

At the risk that I’ll sound like a broken record, I’ll talk about an author that I don’t talk about as often; I’ve only read The Wide Starlight and The Depths, but the the former was an unexpected 5-star read for me—Nicole Lesperance’s prose was endlessly stunning and beautiful! Although I didn’t enjoy The Depths quite as much, she made use of an incredibly underused setting for horror, and built up her suspense wonderfully.

THE MAIDEN IN DISTRESS: An undervalued character you wished had a bigger storyline

I wouldn’t say that Silas from Sorcery of Thorns was an undervalued character, but he was so compelling that I wished we’d gotten more page time from him!

THE MAGICAL SWORD: A magical item/ability you wish authors used less

This isn’t necessarily an item or ability, but I’ll never get the trope where the protagonist (most often a woman, in this case) loses her powers at the end of the book. The only exception I can make is if said powers are destroying her from the inside/making her a shell of her former self (ex. Aurora Rising), but if not, it just feels icky to me. LET OUR FANTASY LADIES KEEP THEIR AGENCY!!

THE MINDLESS VILLAIN: A phrase you cannot help but roll your eyes at

Any “romantic” quote that comes from the clear male-manipulator love interest (see: The Darkling, Cardan). There are way too many of these guys that the authors intended to be terrible people, but end up turning into the bad boy teen idols of their respective fandoms…

THE UNTAMED DRAGON: A magical creature you wish you had as a pet

I wouldn’t say no to a magical familiar like Mousebones from The Raven and the Reindeer!

THE CHOSEN ONE: A book/series you will always root for

I will always vouch for the quality of The Smoke Thieves trilogy—still one of my favorite fantasy series!

I TAG:

Today’s song:

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

The Trope Book Tag

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles! Hope you’re all doing well this week.

Before I begin—I don’t have any plans for a bookstagram, but I did just make an art account on Instagram, so if you’d like to see my art more regularly, here you are!

Riddhi @ Whispering Stories tagged me in this one a little while back (sorry for only getting to it now lol, just going through a bunch of tags), and I figured it would be a good day to finally do it! The tag was originally created by Ash @ inkwordsandash, and it sounds like a ton of fun!

Rules:

-mention the creator of the tag and pingback to the original post (Ash @inkwordsandash)
-tag 3+ people
-lastly, enjoy!!

Let’s begin, shall we?

📚THE TROPE BOOK TAG📚

ENEMIES TO LOVERS: a book you formerly hated/disliked but now love!

…I’m with Riddhi here, I’m not sure if there’s any book that I can think of that would fit this prompt. I rarely give books I don’t like a second chance…

SECOND CHANCE: a book you previously DNF’d but now adore!

Again, I rarely go back and give my DNFs a second chance—in my book (no pun intended), a book has to be pretty offensive for me to DNF it entirely, so if it gets to that point, the chances of me going back and re-reading it are pretty much zero.

LOVE TRIANGLE: a duology where you love both of the books

Yay! I can finally answer a prompt!

I just finished Alexandra Christo’s incredibly fun Into the Crooked Place duology (Into the Crooked Place and City of Spells) about a month ago. Each book was just as strong as the other, and I loved the unique and unlikely cast of characters.

FRIENDS TO LOVERS: a book recommended to you that you enjoyed

One of my best friends introduced me to Fireborne, and now I’m hooked on the series! I really need to get around to reading Furysong soon…

INSTA-LOVE: a book you knew you would love at first sight

I knew nothing about Across a Field of Starlight when I stumbled upon it in Barnes & Noble recently, but the cover and the promise of unapologetic queerness in space was enough to convince me—and it delivered in all of those aspects!

THE CHOSEN ONE: your all time favorite (of the year/month/[x] genre)

We’re not even halfway through January at this point, but so far, The Sirens of Mars has been my favorite book of the month! It’s a beautiful glimpse into the history of how our species has viewed, studied, and mythologized Mars, and it boasts some incredible writing.

FORBIDDEN LOVE: a loved book that you don’t talk about often

I feel like I talk about Samira Ahmed a fair amount on this blog, but Internment deserves all of the hype it’s received over the years; it’s a chilling reminder of where hate can lead a country and its people.

SECRET BILLIONAIRE: a book you read and enjoyed before you knew it was popular

I suppose The Umbrella Academy fits this prompt—I read it a few months before the show came out on Netflix, and while the comic is better, in my opinion, I’m glad that the show has helped it reach a wider audience!

FOUND FAMILY: your most cherished books!

I’m fully aware of how much I sound like a broken record at this point, but here are my top 3, again: Frankenstein, Aurora Rising, and Heart of Iron!

FORCED PROXIMITY: a required reading book that you read and enjoyed

I’ve generally ended up at least liking most of the books I’ve had to read since high school, but The Catcher in the Rye is one of the few that got the full 5 stars from me.

I TAG:

Today’s song:

at this point, I’m convinced that Gorillaz is physically incapable of making a bad song

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags

Random Number Book Tag

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Saturday, bibliophiles, and merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate!! Lots of baking to look forward to today…

This tag was created not long ago by the wonderful Laura @ The Corner of Laura, and it looks like a ton of fun! My TBR is out of control, so this’ll be a good chance to comb through it and clear off the dust.

RULES:

  • Link back to the original creator (The Corner of Laura) and link back to this page (otherwise, the original creator won’t get a notification).
  • Thank whoever tagged you and link back to their post
  • Go to your preferred random number generator, set the number limit to the exact number of books on your TBR list (on Goodreads or any other equivalent list) and generate 7 different numbers.
  • Find the books on your TBR list that correspond with those numbers
  • Explain why you added it, try to predict what you will think of it now and decide whether you’re going to keep it on your TBR or delete it.
  • (Optional) Challenge yourself to read the ones you decide to keep within seven weeks
  • (Optional) Tag 5 or more other people.

Let’s begin, shall we?

🎲RANDOM NUMBER BOOK TAG🎲

RANDOM BOOK 1: Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality – Eliot Schrefer

This is obviously a very different kind of book than The Darkness Outside Us (also by Schrefer), but it sounds like a really sweet book; there’s a notion that queerness is only a human concept, which is entirely wrong, and I’m glad that this book is aiming to dispel that myth, especially for a younger (YA) audience.

Keep or delete? Keep!

RANDOM BOOK 2: The Light in the Lake – Sarah R. Baughman

I’ve been meaning to get to some of the more middle grade-leaning books on my TBR, but looking back at this one, I forget why I added it, and it doesn’t seem all that compelling to me now.

Keep or delete? I think I’ll delete this one.

RANDOM BOOK 3: Why Bowie Matters – Will Brooker

It’s no secret how much I love David Bowie, so I don’t need to explain why this one’s on my TBR. This one has some mediocre reviews, but I’m interested in the stance that Brooker takes with this book—tackling the art and people who made Bowie who he is.

Keep or delete? Definitely keep!

RANDOM BOOK 4: Borne – Jeff VanderMeer

After watching Annihilation, I ended up putting several of Jeff VanderMeer’s books on my TBR, but I still haven’t gotten around to reading any of them. This one sounds super out there (as all of his books seem to be), and despite how long the synopsis is, I think it’ll be an interesting read. Plus, it has much more positive reviews than most of his other books, so I guess that’s a good sign?

Keep or delete? Keep!

RANDOM BOOK 5: Bloom – Kenneth Oppel

It’s been ages since I’ve read anything by Kenneth Oppel, but I remember liking The Nest and some of the Silverwing books when I was in elementary/middle school. This one sounds like it’s right in between middle grade and YA, which should be interesting, especially with the sort of post-apocalyptic premise.

Keep or delete? I think I’ll keep this one.

RANDOM BOOK 6: The Wise and the Wicked – Rebecca Podos

This one’s been on my TBR forever, and I’ll have to look for it again now—we’re all for queer witches in this house.

Keep or delete? Keep!

RANDOM BOOK 7: Missing, Presumed Dead – Emma Berquist

This one has also been on my TBR for ages, but other than the queer rep, I’m not sure if there’s anything about this one that’s really grabbing me.

Keep or delete? Delete, sadly.

I TAG:

Today’s song:

we love it when shuffle just slaps you in the face with childhood nostalgia…good stuff

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!