The A-Z Book Tag

I decided to take a break from blogging to relieve pressure on myself with my reading and how I spent my evenings, but I’m slowly getting back into it and there’s no better way to do that than a book tag! This is one I saw Peat @ Peat Long’s Blog do a little while ago and the tag was created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page-Turner. I’m very excited to have a whole alphabet’s worth of books to talk about, so let’s goooo!

Author you’ve read the most books from

Probably Rick Riordan, since I’ve read all the Percy Jackson series and Hero of Olympus series multiple times, as well as some of his other books here and there. The runner-up is C.S. Lewis since he’s got Narnia, his space trilogy, and his non fiction.

Best sequel ever

This is so hard! I don’t generally think of series in this way unless a later book is worse than the first… I’ll probably go for Merlin by Stephen R. Lawhead.

Currently reading

Quite a bit at the moment, actually (the moment being Jan 12th, which may not be when this gets published). I’m buddy-reading The Coward by Stephen Aryan with Max @ The Geek Pyramid, I’m listening to Wilding by Isabella Tree on BorrowBox, I’m reading Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn on my lunch breaks, trying not to rush through Seven Mercies by Elizabeth May & Laura Lam (it’s hard cause it’s so good) and reading The Bone Ships by RJ Barker to my husband in the evenings (slow going because he falls asleep but less than he was at the start which I take as a sign of interest).

Drink of choice while reading

Definitely a nice cup of tea!

E-reader or physical book?

I love physical books so much, and also they don’t give me as many headaches but I have come to appreciate the e-reader for it’s ability to hold multiple books without increasing the weight I’m carrying around or taking up space on my already very full shelves.

Fictional character you probably would have actually dated in high school

Well, I didn’t date anyone in high school, so who’s to know if a fictional character would have made much difference… I suppose at the time I was very much into George Weasley so that’s who I’ll go with.

Glad you gave this book a chance

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet – read it with a friend who was the one to suggest it and ended up absolutely loving it.

Hidden gem book

Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge – I remember watching The Secret of Moonacre so many times and being so excited to discover there was a book. I haven’t read this in many years but I think it’s almost time to revisit it.

Important moment in your reading life

Unsure if my parents are lying to me about ‘book’ being my first word so I don’t think I can count that so my key moment is very similar to Peat’s – my mom read The Hobbit to me sometime around 5 and I fell in love with it, and wanted to have it read to me again very soon after, but since my mother had recently given birth to quadruplets she, very rudely, didn’t have a lot of time to read to me and things were progressing slower than I liked. I vividly remember making the decision to start reading it for myself and that’s when I started and just never stopped.

Just finished

As of today (20th of Jan, wouldn’t think it would take me multiple days to do a book tag) my most recent finished book is Wilding by Isabella Tree – such a beautiful book with so many interesting ideas.

Kinds of books you won’t read

Working in a book shop has taught me to never say never, but things that don’t appeal to me are the overly literary books (think Booker Prize, Women’s Prize for Fiction, etc), romance, steampunk / Victorian London vibes, hard sci-fi, and SFF books that are constantly overhyped (Sanderson, Dune, Malazan, The Poppy War…).

Longest book you’ve read

I feel like if I’d actually read Les Miserables instead of just having it sit on my shelf for years and years that would count but has anyone actually ever finished Les Mis? I have my doubts… as far as I know it’s probably The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon at 848 pages.

Major book hangover because of:

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen snuck up on me and left me wanting more and more.

Number of bookcases you own

Now that we have our own place and not just a room in my parents house I have three bookcases, one of which I have shoved books on either side of to fit more into it. And yet books still end up piled up around the house…

One book you have read multiple times

Um…. so many, I love rereading books. I’m going to say Eragon because I’ve definitely read it at least five times, maybe more.

Preferred place to read

I like being cosy with my reading but that’s just a bonus and I will happily read anywhere because as soon as I dive into a book my surroundings disappear. One place I do not like reading is on transport because I will get motion sickness, and though as a child I used to read anyway and damn the consequences, I can’t do that to my body anymore.

Quote that inspires you / gives you all the feels

Gonna go with a classic because I recently watched Two Towers and both the book quote and movie quotes hit straight to the heart, especially in these times…

It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.

Reading regret

That I will never read every book I want to read

Series you started and need to finish (all books out)

RJ Barker’s Tide Child trilogy, which I am drawing out still, The Wheel of Time, which I’m unsure I actually want to finish (that’s a lot of books for something I’m not super in love with y’all), and The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne – unsure of why it’s so hyped by I’ll make my way through it slowly.

Three of your all-time favourite books

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is such a beautiful book and reading it definitely changed something in the way I think of stories and storytelling.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon gets a second mention because it is absolutely stunning and was probably one of the first high fantasy novels I’d ever read by a woman, and it opened up an entirely new world for me.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen because I have to include one classic and this one is just so readable every time.

Unapologetic fangirl for:

Can you tell I’m a Tolkien fan? I think given that most of my life The Lord of the Rings has been half my personality I have to go with that..

Very excited for this release more than all others:

Ah man… this year so far there are a lot of things I’m anticipating but upon looking I can’t say for sure I’m excited above everything else but for length of time I’ve been anticipating it probably Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James.

Worst bookish habit

I can’t think of anything particular I do that would cause an outcry with the people, but recently I’ve started reading multiple books at once and I consider it a bad bookish habit for me because I’ve not really done it in the past and it’s made my reading a bit frantic but I can’t seem to stop.

X marks the spot: start at the top left of your bookshelf and pick the 27th book

Not counting books stacked on top of the normally slotted in books it would be The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman

Your latest book purchase

That would be a Top 10 Cape Town guide book to help me plan my upcoming trip.

ZZZ-Snatcher book: the last book that kept you up way too late

I am so tired these days that it’s rare I stay up late reading, and I miss the feeling. The last book I couldn’t put down and stayed up into the strange hours finishing was World’s Edge by David Hair – he’s got a way with plotting things so that the final 40% is just breakneck and I simply had to reach the end.

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That’s all from me, folks! I’m not in the habit of tagging people but if seeing this makes you want to do it definitely feel free to link back to me cause I love seeing what people put as their answers!