Happy National Wine Day everyone!! I know I’m a little bit late (it was yesterday) but really why would you make National Wine Day a Thursday? In honor of this momentous occasion I thought I’d do a wine themed book tag and found this one which I think was originally created by BookTuber Boho Bookworm.
So raise a small glass and enjoy!!
It’s been a while since I’ve done a tag so when Chloe from the wonderful Paint and Butterflies Books tagged me for the Game of Thrones Tag I couldn’t resist. I will admit that I haven’t read the books but I absolutely love the show and will use any excuse to talk about it. The tag was created by Orang-utan Librarian which doesn’t surprise me as it’s a great source of GoT info for those like me who occasionally lose the plot on the show. Anyway,
Here we go…
It feels like it’s been forever since I did a tag so when I was tagged by the wonderful Jess at the The Mud and Stars Book Blog to complete The Harry Potter Book Tag I just couldn’t resist. If you get a chance you should definitely check out her blog. It’s my go to source for great book recommendations 🙂
This awesome tag was created by Trang and Lashaan over at Bookitode, as were the amazing graphics below, which they have very kindly said anyone who completes this tag may use!
The only rule of this tag is that YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE HARRY POTTER AS AN ANSWER. Good news for all Slytherins 🙂
A book in which you found the theme interesting, but you’d like to rewrite it:
I’ve always had slightly mixed feelings about Colleen Hoover books but really liked the Never Never trilogy she wrote with Tarryn Fisher. It’s a fascinating idea, a boy and a girl suddenly get amnesia and can’t remember anything about their lives. They have to follow the clues to figure out the reason behind it while also getting to know each other. What I’d like to re write is the ending in the third and final book. I have no idea what I’d want the ending to be. Just not that…
The first book in a series that got you hooked:
This could be just about every first book in a series I’ve ever read as I have an addictive personality when it comes to series. Once I start I just can’t stop 🙂
However the last series where I read every book I could get my hands on as soon as possible was Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. If you like YA fantasy with strong female characters and a lot of emotion this would definitely be my top recommendation. Although beware there are still a couple of books to come so you may want to wait.
A book you wish you could have right now:
ACCIO A CONJURING OF LIGHT. I have a long wait for this one as the third and final part of the Shades of Magic trilogy doesn’t come out till February 2017. I have been stalking the author on Twitter to try and get some hints but I have no idea how I’m supposed to last 8 months.
A killer book. Both senses. Take it as you like:
My choice for this absolutely has to be Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye. It’s a dark and gothic (sort of) retelling of Jane Eyre which is my all time favourite of the classics. The story is set in the same time period and mirrors that of Miss Eyre but this Jane is much more lethal. One of the best books I’ve come across in a while and an absolute killer.
A book that you found really confusing:
I read The Stranger by Albert Camus as part of higher French when I was in school. As we were reading the french version of the book I probably only understood every other word in a sentence (I was too lazy to look up the words I didn’t know). I would love to tell you what it’s about but honestly I have no idea. Maybe I should try re reading the English translation but it seems doubtful.
Your spirit animal book:
OK you might be noticing there’s a bit of a theme going here (and not the intended Harry Potter one). There are obviously a lot of differences between myself and Jane Eyre but I like to think that we have a lot in common. She’s pretty quiet and doesn’t like to be the centre of attention, she’s generous, loyal, works hard and most importantly she’s independent (particularly for the time she lives in). Plus I kind of wish I had the same strong morals and determination.
A dark, twisted book:
This is probably a difficult one for me as I don’t really think I read that many dark and twisted books. I will however go for Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre. I wouldn’t necessarily call it dark but it is most definitely twisty. It certainly kept me guessing throughout.
A book that surprised you in a great way:
When I picked up Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver I was expecting your standard contemporary YA read what I got was something much deeper. The main character is in a car accident and ends up repeating the day over and over again until she figures out what she’s supposed to do to end the cycle. This is one of those stories where I wasn’t keen at the start but by the end I didn’t want it to be over. Absolutely heart breaking.
I think I’m probably the last person in the universe to do this tag so I won’t tag anyone but if you haven’t done it yet, and want to, consider yourself tagged 🙂
I was tagged by the awesome Liam at Hey Ashers! to take part in the 3 Days 3 Quotes Challenge. Thanks so much Liam, I love quotes so this tag is perfect for me.
This is the third and final day of my love and romance themed 3 days 3 quotes so I had to go with a quote from one of my favourite writers, Cassandra Clare. I always find myself highlighting huge chunks of her books on my e reader.
Day 3, Quote 3:“There is no pretending,” Jace said with absolute clarity. “I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I’ll love you then”
– City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
So the final three totally awesome blogs I’m tagging are
I hope you enjoy but feel free to pass
Ali x
I was tagged by the awesome Liam at Hey Ashers! to take part in the 3 Days 3 Quotes Challenge. Thanks so much Liam, I love quotes so this tag is perfect for me.
This is my second round of this tag and I’m going with a bit of a love and romance theme with my quotes. Today’s quote is from one of the greatest romances ever written and one of my favourite books.
Day 2, Quote 2:Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.
– The Princess Bride by William Golden
Today I’m tagging another three of my favourite blogs. There is a strong possibility you’ve already done this so feel free to pass.
Enjoy x
I’ve been falling very, very behind on my book tags but when Cassie at Book Reviews and Haikus nominated me for the This or That tag I couldn’t resist. Cassie has a great blog with lots of reviews, memes and other bookish stuff so I definitely recommend you check it out.
It’s quite a simple and fun tag too so I really have no excuse.
Here are the rules:
This is a difficult one as I’m a big fan of both. Initially I was leaning towards couch as it’s less of an issue if you have a snack while eating (I hate crumbs in the bed) but I think I have to go with bed. I always seem to be cold so I need my big heavy duvet. It’s also slightly safer as the more of me is covered the lower the risk of cat attacks.
My Choice: Bed
Until the start of this year I would have been very definite that I prefer female main characters to male (I was seriously struggling to think of a male MC I’d liked) but with a few exceptions the guys seem to be leading the field this year. Particularly notable books with great male MC’s are The Chaos Walking Trilogy, A Monster Calls, Red Rising, Carry On, Him, Ink and Bone and Know Not Why.
My Choice: Male (sorry, I know I’m a traitor)
Can’t I have both? I’m terrible for snacking while eating but my choice usually depends on the time of day. Morning and early afternoon I like something sweet whereas later in the day I go for salty. One of my absolute favourite snacks though is sweet & salty popcorn.
My Choice: Both (I refuse to give up either)
This is a little bit of an odd one as I’m not sure I’ve come across many quartets. If done well though I would probably go for a trilogy. I kind of feel like three books gives plenty of time for world building, character development and exciting plots but still has a definite ending. You know when you’re on the third book there’s a big finish coming and you aren’t going to have to read another heck knows how many books to find out what happens. One series I started to read is up to book 27 now I think. Far too long so I’ve given up.
My Choice: Trilogies
I don’t feel particularly strongly either way but I probably lean towards first person. I like to be inside someone’s head and know exactly what they’re thinking and feeling.
My Choice: First-person
At night, in the morning, at lunchtime, early evening pretty much anytime is good for me. I probably do read most in the evenings or at night though so I’ll go with that even though there is nothing better than waking up late on a Sunday morning and just spending the full day in bed reading.
My Choice: Night
I very rarely go to a physical bookstore anymore as I find there’s not as great a selection (particularly in terms of YA) as you get online. I am however loving my local libraries at the moment as I can go on to their website, order the books I want and go pick them up. Another recent discovery is that I can get audio books from the library via the overdrive app on my phone. It’s saving me a fortune and if I connect my phone to the car I can listen to books on the move.
My Choice: Libraries
I’ll have to go with books that make me laugh. Sometimes I need a good weepy but mostly I look to books to cheer me up.
My Choice: Books that make me laugh
White ones while prettier (I think) get dirty and damaged a lot easier than the black covers so I’ll need to go with black.
My Choice: Black
Umm….feeling a bit stumped on this one. I do occasionally suffer from a short attention span so I do like a good plot with lots of action, suspense and twists to keep me turning pages. However when I think about it, the books I’ve enjoyed the most have probably been more character driven. I love it when you really get inside the head of a character and connect with them. I think that’s when you get the most feels.
My Choice: Character-driven
And finally, the bit I hate tagging other bloggers. I’m usually very late to book tags and everyone who wants to do them has usually already done them so I apologise in advance. I will limit my tags to the following five awesome blogs.
Thanks for reading!
Ali
I’m a little bit sad as today is the final day of my 3 days, 3 quotes challenge. I love quotes so it’s been fun trying to choose which ones to use and I’d like to say a final thanks to May at Sunsets and Bookfests for tagging me. As it is the final day I had to pick one of my all time favorite books and all time favorite quotes
“The Queen’s Pride was his ship, and he loved her. (That was the way his sentences always went: It is raining today and I love you. My cold is better and I love you. Say hello to Horse and I love you. Like that.)”
For my final days 3 tags:
I was tagged by the wonderful May at Sunsets and Bookfests to take part in the 3 Days 3 Quotes challenge. I posted my first quote yesterday so here’s the second.
“Believe it or not, there were rules. Everyone needs rules. After all, how can you break what doesn’t exist? Rules give anarchy something to aim at.”
– Jodi Taylor, No Time Like the Past
I tag:
I’m fairly certain some of you have already been tagged so feel free to ignore or take on the challenge again 🙂
It’s WWW Wednesday time.
The WWW Wednesdays meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Unfortunately I missed last week as I’d been ill and hadn’t had a chance to actually read anything but I’m so excited to be taking part again.
The three W’s are:
So here’s my W’s for the week.
Currently Reading
At the moment I’m working my way through The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance by Kirsty Greenwood. It’s a light and fluffy romance about a girl who doesn’t do love and romance but is convinced to follow the rules in a “get a man” guide book from the 1950’s. Finding it really funny which is proving difficult as far as reading on my commute goes. I’m back to using my hand to cover my mouth so I won’t actually laugh out loud.
Recently Finished
Over the last week or so I’ve been doing quite well and have finished a few books. After reading Know Not Why by Hannah Johnson last week I couldn’t resist the follow up novella Toil and Trouble. It’s set at Halloween so seemed an appropriate read for October. Unfortunately little bit disappointed in it as it switched from first to third person and nothing much happened.
After that I was looking for a bit more romance so read How to Lose a Bachelor by Anna Banks which I’d received as an ARC. OK read but nothing special. I then switched back to my usual genre of YA fantasy and read The Jewel by Amy Ewing. First in a series but not sure I’ll be rushing to read the sequel. It seemed quite formulaic and as if the author was dragging out what could have been one story into a series. I think it may actually have put me off YA fantasy altogether for a while.
Reading Next
Next I need to start working my way through some of the ARC books I have sitting around and which are kind of overdue. I think first up will be Blonde Eskimo by Kirsten Hunt although I’m a little bit unsure about it. The reviews seem to be a bit mixed so I have a feeling it will be a love or hate type story.
I have however been distracted by Love, Death and Tea by Will Once which sounds like it could be an interesting read. It’s a story from the point of view of a zombie so should definitely fit my love of the weird and unusual stories. Also another one that should fit in with the Halloween theme.
I’ve never actually tried a book tag before but was very excited to be tagged by Deanna at A Novel Glimpse for the Emoji Book Tag. Thank you Deanna I love your blog and am so happy to take up the challenge.
In this tag, you pair your five most used or recently used emojis to books. I may actually kill two birds with one story and use this as my List Five for this week. So here we go:
SMILEY FACE
A book that makes me smile seems like a really good place to start. There are quite a few books I’ve read recently that have made me smile but the one which had me smiling for days was The Piano Man Project by Kat French. It has some great funny dialogue between main characters Honey and Hal, rebellious pensioners fighting to save their care home and some romance and heat. A great read when you’re in need of a smile.
Synopsis from GoodReads
A delightfully romantic, heartwarming read for everyone who’s ever looked for The One and found someone better.
You: kind, piano-playing sex god
Me: hopelessly romantic charity shop managerHoneysuckle Jones has a problem, and her best friends Nell and Tash are on a mission to help her solve it. She needs a man – a caring, intelligent, funny man. But most importantly, a man who’s good with his hands…
Luckily Honey’s new neighbour – moody, antisocial ex-chef Hal – fails on almost every count. Even though the chemistry between them is electric, he’s obviously wrong for her in every way.
But when Honey discovers the devastating reason for his moods she decides to give him another chance. And discovers that the best songs aren’t always in tune…
SHOCKED FACE
The last book that had me taking a sharp intake of breath and my jaw hitting the floor was Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls. It’s a young adult book about a girl whose former best friend commits suicide during the school holidays but things may not be as straightforward as that. There are quite a few twists and turns in this story but there was one in particular around the halfway point that I really didn’t see coming.
GoodReads Synopsis
Pitched as Gone Girl meets Thirteen Reasons Why
June barely has time to mourn the death of her best friend Delia, before Delia’s ex-boyfriend convinces her Delia was murdered, and June is swept into a tangle of lies, deceit, and conspiracy.
LAUGHING FACE
Sometimes it seems that life is just that little bit too serious so it’s great when you find a book that gives you a bit of a giggle. Probably not the best idea to read it on the train unless you’re willing to get some very odd looks or bite very hard on the inside of your cheek. Thankfully I chose to read Sentencing Sapphire by Mia Thompson when I was home alone. It’s the third in the series about a society heiress who hunts serial killers in her spare time. There are a lot of hilarious rich people stereotypes and some great dialogue as well as a great fast paced story.
GoodReads Synopsis
A summer has passed since the catastrophe at the country club. Heiress and vigilante Sapphire Dubois has escaped to Paris, where she has shed her rich persona and lives as the infamous Serial Catcher. When the handsome Detective Aston Ridder tracks her down, Sapphire returns home to find Beverly Hills in chaos. A new vigilante has taken over Sapphire’s old job, and will stop at nothing to get her predecessor out of the way.
Meanwhile, a man with dark intentions and a deceiving smile has nestled his way into the rich community and is killing off heiresses. It doesn’t take long before Sapphire finds that this man, the next killer she has to catch, is none other than her estranged father. Already plagued by sickening memories, Sapphire is pushed to the limit when her father initiates a deranged game that threatens both her sanity and the lives of everyone around her.
While Aston struggles to keep the woman he loves from drowning in her father’s madness, Sapphire battles to outwit her merciless opponents before time runs out and more innocent blood is spilled.
EMBARRASSED FACE
Believe it or not my Mum’s kindle is hooked up to my Amazon account. This means any book I buy she has access to so for the most part I’m beyond being embarrassed by books. Once you’ve chatted to your almost 70 year old Mum about Fifty Shades of Grey (she didn’t like it) it doesn’t get much worse. What did embarrass me though was not the content of a book but the title. I read it while doing a team challenge on GoodReads and we needed the points so yep I admitted it. I read a book called “Prick”. I did actually really enjoy it but not the best title. I hope no one reading this is offended by bad language.
Goodreads Synopsis
I can’t stop thinking about that prick.
Caulter Sterling is a prick.
A filthy-mouthed, womanizing, crude, spoiled, arrogant prick.
The tattooed, pierced, panty-melting-hot son of a celebrity.
I hate him.
He’s slept his way through practically every girl at Brighton Academy.
Except for me.
I’m the good girl. The responsible girl. The 4.0, class president, studied-so-much-she-never-lost-the-big-V girl.
And in celebration of graduation and adulthood, I just made the worst decision in the history of ever.
I lost my V-card to the devil himself.
It was just one night. So what if it was mind-blowing? Hit it and quit it.
Except I just found out that my father – the Senator, the Presidential hopeful – is marrying Caulter’s mother. Oh, and this summer? We’re hitting the campaign trail.
One big happy family.
I’m totally f**ked.
CRYING FACE
The last book that had me crying my eyes out in the least dignified way possible was The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris. We’re talking huge, big, ugly sobs. I actually ran out of tissues and had to use toilet paper to dry my snot and tears. Think PS I Love You or One Day and you’ll know what I mean. I challenge anyone to read this and not have a bit of a bubble.
Synopsis from Amazon UK (for some reason Good Reads synopsis is in Croatian)
How do you hold on to a love that is slowly slipping away from you? Can you let go of the past when you know what is in the future? And how do you cope when you know that every kiss is a countdown to goodbye? This is the story of a love affair, of Ryan and Molly and how they fell in love and were torn apart. The first time Molly kissed Ryan, she knew they’d be together forever. Six years and thousands of kisses later she’s married to the man she loves. But today, when Ryan kisses her, Molly realises how many of them she wasted because the future holds something which neither of them could have ever predicted…
So that’s my five what’s yours? I tag the following fantastic blogs and anyone else who wants to take part.
Feel free to ignore if you’ve already been tagged.
A Bookish Life 