Totally Didn’t Book Tag

This is possibly my favourite tag yet, the sass is just on point. Prepare for all the shade, and thanks a lot to Leisha for the tag!

The Totally Didn’t Book Tag

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Totally Didn’t Need A Sequel

The Hunger Games

Going to go Controversial here and say The Hunger Games. I know, I know everyone loves them, and the films are great but did really need two more books of Katniss going slightly mad, a very squeezed in their love triangle and the ending that just destroyed everyone?! If you ask me I was totally happy leaving the people Panem being miserable.

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Totally Didn’t Need More than One POV

A Conjuring of Light

Because, let’s face it, did we really care what Holland was thinking?

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Totally Didn’t Need To Change the Cover Art Mid Way Through the Series

Legendary UK Paperback

Um, why was this orange? And what was with the sandcastle? How did they go from the amazing Caravel paperback to that?! Grim.

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Totally Didn’t Need A Love

City of Bones

Does anything need a love triangle? I mean, does any book really need two men basing their entire self worth on a woman who is indecisive and would be a much stronger female character if she remained single.

Buuut City of Bones. Now that took the cake. The love triangle was more of a line and the girl still leads them both on. Despite only actually liking on guy and settling for messing around her best friend. Great romancing Clary.

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Totally Didn’t Need This Book in the Series

The Dream Thieves

I know, I know, everyone loves Ronan, but what was the point in this book? We could have explained Ronan’s power in a chapter. They just kept making problems for themselves, got no closer to their Welsh King and completely ignored the big betrayal at the end of the last book. And why was Gansey so focussed on his rowing team?

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Totally Didn’t Need A Cliff Hanger

Children of Blood and Bone

That ending was just. Really confusing. But so good. And when is the next one out???

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Totally Didn’t Need That Much Hype

Throne of Glass

Is anyone surprised my answer here? I think we all know which hyped book most disappointed me.

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Totally Didn’t Need A ‘For Fans of x’ Sticker on the Cover

To Kill A Kingdom

This is literally never needed. Especially when they say the author is the next JK Rowling, um hello, no pressure but here’s a standard you can never live up to. Also how is To Kill a Kingdom at all like Throne of Glass? For one thing, one was actually good.

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Totally Didn’t Deserve My Time

Red Queen

Not only did the premise feel super overdone, and Mare was a carbon copy of Katniss, but why did all the girls hate each other? Why were the boys built up to be strong leaders who give advice and only want to get the job done while the girls attend tea parties and gossip and are just super catty and useless. It was like reading Mean Girls but without the realisation that women should build each other up at the end.

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So there you have it! A list of sass and shade that I had far too much fun writing. I’m actually going to do the tagging part of this post over on Twitter, but if you want to add all this sass to your blog then consider yourself tagged. I’ll be back on Tuesday with another Top Ten Tuesday list post, all about my auto buy authors so stay tuned for that.

Greek Myths Book Tag

I got tagged in the Greek Gods Book Tag by Literary Leisha! As I was a huge Percy Jackson as a kid and a lover of Greek myths (I played a grainy computer game on a Windows XP computer many years ago, when Windows XP was a thing still, that had some appalling graphics of Zeus destroying your Greek city), I couldn’t have been tagged in anything more perfect. I mean books and myths, sounds pretty good to me.
ZEUS: KING OF THE GODS – MY FAVOURITE BOOK

Cruel cruel question. Thought this might actually be fun. It changes daily, but I’m really enjoying Strange the Dreamer currently so possibly that…
HERA: QUEEN OF THE GODS – A BADASS FEMALE CHARACTER

Lila Bard! That magic wielding, pirate of a protagonist, and one of my favourite female characters ever.
JANUS: GOD OF BEGINNINGS – MY FAVOURITE DEBUT(S)

So many good debuts! Children of Blood and Bone, Caravel, Ace of Shades, To Kill a Kingdom. I could go on…
ATHENA: GODDESS OF WISDOM – MY FAVORITE NONFICTION BOOK

I don’t actually read much non fiction! Probably The Railway Man.
APHRODITE: GODDESS OF LOVE – A BOOK I ADORE AND RECOMMEND EVERYONE READ

To Kill a Kingdom. I will sing this books praises for ever.
HADES: GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD – AN EVIL BOOK I WISH DIDN’T EXIST

The Fandom. I mean what even was that?
POSEIDON: GOD OF THE SEA & EARTHQUAKES – A BEAUTIFUL & GROUND-BREAKING BOOK

The Hate U Give really showed me a world I didn’t appreciate enough was real and expanded my horizons.
APOLLO: GOD OF THE ARTS – A BEAUTIFUL BOOK COVER

Strange the Dreamer 😍 I’m currently reading it, and it’s already featured in many of my Instagram posts, it’s so pretty.
HYPNOS: GOD OF SLEEP – A BOOK SO BORING I ALMOST FELL ASLEEP

Alex and Eliza. Yuck. And such a drag.
HERMES: MESSENGER OF THE GODS – A BOOK I SPED THROUGH

The Raven Boys- I sped through it, after waiting in a queue for hours to get my copy signed by Maggie Stiefvater.

My Tags:

🏛️ Elysa

🏛️ Books Untold

🏛️ Between Folded Pages

🏛️ Functionally Fictional

🏛️ Fantastic Book Dragon

And anyone else who fancies doing the tag! Grew up on Percy Jackson like me? Enjoy raving about pretty books or fun covers, or just have a strong opinion on my answers? Feel free to do the tag or leave a comment!

Sunshine Blogger Award

Hello! Hope you’re having a good day, mine has been very chilled so far, which is always nice! Although I did manage to burn soup yesterday (a meal mostly made of water…) So that was quite impressive! And difficult to clean up this morning…

Anyway, on with the tag! Have I done this tag before? I’m not sure but the questions are all new so I thought I’d give it a go! Firstly a big thanks to Keri for tagging me- these are always fun to do! And here is her post!

RULES

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules.

My Answers

What’s your favorite book to recommend?

Depends on what I’ve just read! At the moment I’m thrusting To Kill a Kingdom and A Darker Shade of Magic on anyone who will listen!

If you were forced to try out a new type of blog post (e.g. a new format or topic), what would it be about?

I’d like to try podcasts! I really enjoy listening to them and feel I have a face for radio! But I’m way to shy to ever try sadly.

If you had to dye your hair a color from the rainbow, what color would you pick?

Oh I’d love to dye my hair but have never actually done it. Probably red, but also maybe blue! I feel that’s just because I’m currently reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone though 🤔

Who’s an auto-buy author of yours?

At the moment? VE Schwab, Alexandra Christo, Angie Thomas, Tomi Adeyemi, I could go on. Although I will caveat this with I will check out the blurb before buying 😝

Your all-time favourite snack?

How do I pick just one???! Probably Nachos and cheese, or pizza. Or just anything with melted cheese really.

Current obsession? (e.g. movie, song, TV show, book)

Upstart Crow! It’s nerdy and all the jokes require an in depth knowledge of Shakespeare’s work and Network Rail but it’s hilarious!!

Tell us a little bit about your blogging routine?

I blog on the train in the morning and after work, but I sort of lack any official routine… Oops.

Tea or coffee and what’s your favourite kind?

Tea, my friend got me some chocolate black tea and that’s my favourite at the moment. Also thank you for recognising that not all tea is the same 😜

What’s your favourite day of the week?

Saturday! I get to see friends and go on trips and get up late and go to bed late and dinner always includes pudding.

If someone handed you a giftcard to a bookstore right now, what book would you buy with it?

So very hard to choose! Probably The Cruel Prince since I’ve been promising many bloggers I’ll read it 😬

What’s a goal of yours for 2019? (bookish, blogging-wise, other, it doesn’t matter)

To get to 600 followers! Hint hint nudge nudge 😝

My Questions

1. What is your current read?
2. How many books have you read this year so far?
3. What’s your favourite read of 2018?
4. What’s your most anticipated read of 2019?
5. Do you read with music or read silently?
6. Long books or short books?
7. What’s your favourite spot to read?
8. What’s your favourite type of cake?
9. Do you pronounce scones as ‘skuns’ or ‘scowns’?
10. Favourite mythical creature?
11. What would be your dream job?

My tags

(Don’t feel you have to do it haha!)

Norrie

Leslie

Cerys

Aline

Brittany

Emma

Lili

Ava

Jo

Jess

The Nerd Sponge

And anyone reading this who wants to answer my daft questions, feel free!

Blogger Recognition Award

Hello everyone! Hope you’re having a good week. My friends are doing a fake Christmas tomorrow, which I’m so excited for. Today is “Christmas Eve” were we’re having a sleepover (although their flat is tiny so it might be a squeeze!). I’m so excited!

But on with the bookish stuff! I’ve been nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award!

THE RULES

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you
2. Write a post to show your award
3. Give a brief story of how your blog started
4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers
5. Select 15 other bloggers you up want to give this award to
6. Comment on each blog and let them know you’ve nominated them, and provide a link to the post you’ve created

Firstly thanks to Brunching Bookworms for tagging me! Step 1 ✔️And the post to show the award is this one haha, so step two ✔️

How my Blog Started

Good question. My blog basically started because I had no where to put my reviews when uni ended. I’d been spamming the university entertainment magazine for the best part of three years when I graduated university. I then found myself full of words but with no where to put them. I had a friend who’s been a book blogger for a while so guess she kind of inspired me.

Running a blog may seem like a bit of a jump from sending over a text file to an editor every once in a while, but I’d actually been running the afformentioned magazine’s WordPress website for a while then. Hence my blog is hosted on WordPress. The only big jump I found was social media.

As girl who’s Facebook cover photo boasts of a holiday from over a year ago, it’s clear I’m not big on social media. Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads (um, when did I last do anything on that site?) were all vaguely sites I wanted to interact on but I had no where to start, and am still working those out.

For the small hiccups of what to post, how to respond to review requests and how to juggle life and blogging I had my afformentioned friend’s help. She’s a girl who has been rocking the book blogging world for ages now and her advice was invaluable and if you’re ever looking for sassy opinions or funny reviews I suggest you check her blog out.

Two Pieces of Advice for Newbies

My first advice would be don’t be afraid. Blogging seemed very scary to me at first but everyone is very supportive and it’s a real community of bookworms, which is great. I used only have one friend to fangirl with and now seem to have found lots of people to talk books with!

Don’t feel you need to read and review what everyone else is. Whether it’s non fiction, romance, adult or YA, read what you like. Talk about the books you enjoy. Your blog will be more genuine if you don’t just follow the hype and you’ll have a better time for it.

My 15 Tags

🐾Elysa

🐾Jo

🐾Life at 17

🐾Kelly

🐾Sophril Reads

🐾Shealea

🐾Amy

🐾Sahi

🐾Mir

🐾Words and Peace

🐾Alexia

🐾Jen

🐾Sarah

🐾Elaine

🐾Chrissi Reads

The Fall (Autumn) Book Tag

What’s this, three posts, one week? Crazy! Well I thought since my Avebury stones one wasn’t technically book related you’d all forgive me 😁 I can’t wait for this weekend, two of my friends from university are coming over and it’s been agessss since we last saw them! Looking forward to Friday night even more than usual, we can have some catch up games of Catan.

But on with the actual post! Not sure if it’s still technically autumn or not anymore but it definitely seems like there’s time for a tag. Which I’m very grateful to Brunching Bookworms for tagging me in! Also, if you do check out their blog be sure to bring a snack, they have lots of food over there!

1. CRISP FALL AIR – A BOOK THAT FELT FRESH AND NEW

The Hate U Give. It adds something new to the genre, provides a much needed perspective and is so important and powerful, very few novels compare to it.

2. HOWLING WINDS – AN ENDING THAT BLEW YOU AWAY

Children of Blood and Bone. That ending. It left way more questions than it answered, such a cliff hanger, can the next one come out now please?

3. COMFY SWEATERS – A BOOK THAT GAVE YOU THE WARM FUZZY’S

I’ve been trying to write a post on books with happy endings for another blogger and I’m beginning to think I don’t often read happy. I’d go with a novel called Kezzie’s War. The whole novel is really sad but, despite it all, it ends very happily. Let me just go sob quietly somewhere as I recall that ending.

4. BRIGHT COLOURS – A BOOK WITH RED, ORANGE OR YELLOW

This one was easy: A Darker Shade of Magic. All that red on the cover and spine, and an entire London based on the colour. Yep, definitely counts.

Speaking of bright colours here’s an autumnal looking canal shot my boyfriend took last week:

5. LEAF FIGHT – A BOOK WITH NON STOP ACTION

This is probably every book I read because YA fantasy. I recently read Throne of Glass and that was chopped full of action, so I’ll pick that.

6. PUMPKIN SPICE – YOUR MOST ANTICIPATED READ

My most anticipated read on my TBR for the fall was easily Hero at the Fall (and yes, it totally lived up to my hopes). I was very excited to read that novel.

My Tags

🍁Cafe Book Bean

🍁 The Green Tea Librarian

🍁 Rissi

And anyone else feel free to drop a comment on my answers or try it out yourself! Would love to hear what your answers are 😁

Would you Rather…? The Spooky Edition Tag

Thank you Norrie for tagging me in this spooky Halloween would you rather tag!

🎃 Thrillers or Supernatural(s)?

I think magic and all that counts as supernatural and since fantasy is sort of my jam then this one is easy.

🎃 Ghosts or Zombies?

Ghosts! I’ve read so many cool ghosts and they’re always happy and friendly. Who wouldn’t want to meet Casper?! 👻

🎃 Vampires or Werewolves?

I would have to go Werewolves because Lupin was pretty cool. But I’m not a massive fan of either.

🎃 Witches or Monsters

This wasn’t originally monsters but they needed a shout out. Best villains ever.

🎃 Would you rather read a book with 13 chapters or a book with a black cat on the cover?

If the one with the cat on the front a Warriors then I’d read that… Otherwise don’t judge a book by it’s cover 😉 or its… chapter numbers… 🤨

🎃 Would you rather read a spooky book in the dark with only a candle for light or by yourself in a locked brightly lit room?

I know this really isn’t in the spirit of the tag but can we cut the spooky? How about a nice murder mystery or happy rebellion. I’m so down for a tyrannical government and some plucky teenage heroin.

🎃 Would you rather face your worst fears or be trapped in the mind of a killer?

Ok so we CLEARLY couldn’t cut the spooky. Ummmm I’d go worse fear since I’m pretty sure it’s something silly like a train delay before an exam. What can I say, I live a pretty bland life?

Or it might be velociraptor since I had a scary dream about them prowling around the tube. I made the mistake of telling my work friends and THEY KEEP SENDING ME VELOCIRAPTOR GIFS!! My boyfriend also keeps making velociraptor noises at me, it’s possible people aren’t taking this very real fear seriously.

🎃 Would you rather watch a scary movie or read a scary book?

Scary movie. It’s over quicker and I can hide behind my friends when things get scary. Although, they might get scared too so possibly we’re all going behind the sofa.

🎃 Would you rather read spooky books during the fall time or all year?

Um never. Again, can we get back to magic kingdoms, super powers and sinister regimes?!

🎃 Would you rather read 10 spooky books in October or 10 spooky books all year?

I can possibly achieve one scary book a year if I have enough hot chocolate, snacks and chick flicks to watch after. Ten is a stretch, regardless of the month.

My Tags!

🍿Sara

🍿Keri

🍿Jolien

And anyone who feels like doing it! Feel free to comment on my answers or give your own in the comments section! Be great to hear from you 😄

Mid Year Freak Out Tag

We are so not half way through 2018?! Um, that’s not allowed. I saw this tag over on Kelly’s blog and thought it looked fun to do! I’m off to Brussels today and have to go buy Euros and pack but, you know how I’m super responsible, so I’m writing this instead!

1. Best Book You’ve Read This Year?

Surprisingly, I’d go Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, because it was a cute love story that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy!

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read in 2018?

This is easily Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton which is a great sequal to Rebel of the Sands!

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To?

Sky in the Deep because Vikingssssss

4. Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year?

Spinning Silver and totally not because the cover is so pretty….

5. Biggest Disappointment?

I hate to say type it but The Exact Opposite of Okay was a bit of a disappointment 😦 it was a good book, and I liked the message, but it was very slow.

6. Biggest Surprise?

Blackbird by ND Gomes! I thought it would be a horror or a not very great fantasy but it was actually a fairly interesting and easy to read mystery!

7. Favourite New To You Or Debut Author?

I may have not got a review up yet (oops) but Samantha Shannon! Having just started The Bone Season I’m hooked 😀

8. Newest Fictional Crush?

Would it be totally awful if I said no-one?? Up your game YA 😉

9. Newest Favourite Character?

Ajita from The Exact Opposite of Okay because sass.

10. Book That Made You Cry?

Because I’m made of stone very few books have actually made me cry, but when I was a kid anything Michael Morpurgo would get me close. The only one I recall crying at was Waiting for Anya, at the very end when Anya shows up… *sobs*

11. Book That Made You Happy?

Anything by Rick Riordan- his books are just so sweet with how much everyone helps each other and the character progression gives me all the feels.

12. Favourite Book-To-Film Adaptation?

*grumble grumble* book to film *grumble grumble* But there is one adaptation I think was done really well and that’s The Hunger Games.

13. Favourite Post You Have Done This Year?

Top Ten Tuesday: Frequently Used Words In YA Fantasy, ok, yes, I totally misread the topic and should have been talking about words in titles that appear a lot not novels. Buuut this topic was really fun for me anyway- there are so many overused words in YA!

14. Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year?

I recently brought Children of Blood and Bone and it’s been all over my bookstagram since- it’s so photogenetic!

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of the Year?

TOO MANY BOOKS DON’T STRESS ME LIKE THIS! But if I have to choose just one I’ll go Throne of Glass because it’s everywhere and how have I avoided reading it??!

There’s my list from the beginning of 2018! I’m far too friendless to tag someone so if you fancy doing this tag and are avoiding packing too then consider yourself TAGGED!

What are your answers to the questions? Do you think film adaptations are the worse things since Veronica Roth said ‘let’s make a sequal’ not very good? Or do you like them? Let me know in the comments!

This or That Book Tag

As the most decisive person in the universe (haha no) I’ve decided to do a tag based entirely on making decisions! Because I didn’t just spend two hours in the supermarket choosing which type of bread I wanted. Nope definitely didn’t happen….

But while I happily munch my toast (white bread, sesame seeds, Sainsburys Taste the Difference, thank you very much), I’m going to attempt to complete this tag.

Reading on the bed or the couch?

As a person who is probably 90% sloth, I do everything in bed. Read, write, attend miss lectures. I’ve perfected the art of not getting up, it’s quite a skill.

Male or female main character?

Ummm I’m not that fussed? Oooh wait that’s probably not a legit answer. Ok, give me a few days: [INSERT DECEISION HERE]

Sweet or salty snacks while reading?

Is this even a question?! Sweet. 2000%. Ben and Jerry are two of my best friends, next to tooth decay and dentures.

Trilogies or quartets?

I have been let down by too many trilogies. The second book dragging, the disappointing ending, the best character becoming a bit of an ass, I just can’t deal. Quartets, however, are yet to disappoint. It helps that I can’t recall having actually read any….

Reading first person or third person POV?

First person because I like jokes and quips and random ramblings that just aren’t in third person.

Reading at night or in the morning?

What is this morning you speak off?

Libraries or bookstores?

The enjoyment of shiny new books is outweighed by the fact that I’m a poverty stricken student with many overdue books and crippling library fines. But they haven’t noticed those yet, so shhhh

One of my fond book store memories was lining up at midnight for the last Harry Potter book, and then again when the Cursed Child play script was released:

Books that make you laugh or cry?

Make me laugh and you’ll have a dedicated reader for life.

Black book covers or white book covers?

I’m going to go colourful because they make my shelves look all pwetty. Is it ok to make up your own answer? Yes, I’ve decided it is. HOWS THAT FOR DECISION MAKING.

Character driven or plot driven?

Plot because I’m an uneducated fool who reads books for the stories.

Jo @ BookLoversBlog as my only favourite blogging friend I tag you.

Alsoooo if you’re kind enough to read my post (I love you, thank you) and fancy answering any of the questions then consider yourself tagged!

Which of these questions is the hardest to answer for you? Which type of bread do you usually buy? Should I prefer male or female characters? Asking for a friend.