this or that – A Bookish Life

thisorthat

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:

Mention the creator of the tag (Ayunda @ Tea and Paperbacks).
Thank the blogger who tagged you!
Choose one of the options for each of the questions.
Tag 10 other people to do this tag and spread the love!

The Questions

1. Reading on the couch or on the bed?

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

2. Male main character or female main character?

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)

3. Sweet snacks or salty snacks when reading?

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)

4. Trilogies or quartets?

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

5. First-person point of view or third-person point of view?

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

6. Reading at night or in the morning?

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

7. Libraries or bookstores?

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

8. Books that make you laugh or make you cry?

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

9. Black book covers or white book covers?

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

10. Character-driven or plot-driven stories?

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