Thanks to Abi @ The Knights Who Say Book for tagging me!
Hello, hello! Yes, I’m back after a month of radio silence (college is chaotic and wonderful, but doesn’t leave much free time for blogging). Today I’m doing an autumn-themed book tag (even though the whether where I am hasn’t gotten the memo that it’s fall) after seeing @Aquadimore answer it on her blog. Considering I haven’t read much this month (big understatement) and I’m really missing proper New England falls, an autumn book tag seemed like a great way to get back into the blogging swing of things.
Name a book with a vivid setting
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. This is…probably one of the books that has influenced me most as a writer and I adore the island setting (bonus: it also takes place during autumn). I love the rugged setting of Thisby with its undercurrents of violent and old magic, infusing every aspect of the story. I haven’t reread this book for a long time, but the setting has stuck with me.
Name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief
Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak immediately came to mind for this prompt. It’s actually one of the first books I ever reviewed for this blog and it’s a fantastic YA contemporary that explores grief and guilt. It’s a nonlinear story that follows the main character in the aftermath of her best friend’s death and the summer leading up to it and manages to be both heart-wrenching and heart-warming. (The setting of a Maine summer camp is also fantastic.)
Name a book that taught you something
The Ugly Renaissance: Sex, Greed, Violence, and Depravity in an Age of Beauty by Alexander Lee is the most recent nonfiction I’ve finished and I gotta say, it was a WILD ride. It explores the sordid underbelly of the Renaissance, from political corruption to vicious rivalries to sex scandals. The Renaissance fascinates me and I love reading about dramatic parts of history, so I tore through this book even though it’s over 400 pages and fairly dense. (Not being an expert on the Renaissance, I don’t really know how accurate or sensationalist it was, but it was very interesting and revealing.)
Name a fictional family/household/friend-group you’d want to be a part of
There are plenty of books featuring great groups of characters I love to read about, but would never want to actually be a part of (Six of Crows, for instance.) But I think I’d get along great with the friend group in Not Now, Not Ever by Lily Anderson, a YA retelling of The Importance of Being Earnest. It’s set in an intensely nerdy summer camp and the characters are very reminiscent of friends I’ve made at camps and schools (they geek out over N.K. Jemisin and reference Young Avengers!) While Camp Onward is a lot more intense than any camp I’ve ever been to, I think I’d get along great with the characters.
Show us a pile of fall-colored spines
So unfortunately, I think this photo illustrates why I’m not a bookstagrammer (dorm rooms are also not great places for photoshoots), but it turns out that several of the books I brought to college happened to be autumn-colored. I’ve owned Empire of Sand for a couple months, but there’s a readathon for the series coming up in November and I hope to get to it then. King of Scars has basically been sitting on my TBR since it was released, but I’ve sworn to my sister I’ll get to it soon. How Long ‘Til Black Future Month and Trick Mirror were both gifts I got before going off to college!
Share a book wherein somebody is telling a story
It would literally be impossible for me to give and answer other than A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland. (You can read my glowing review of it here!) Following a wander storyteller imprisoned on charges of witchcraft and forced to survive on only his wits, A Conspiracy of Truths actually fits this prompt in multiple ways. The overall format of the book is in the style of Chant the storyteller recounting the events, but there are also some wonderful stories-within-a-story. And to top it off, the whole book is really an exploration of the power and influence of stories.
Share a dark, creepy read
Look, horror isn’t really my thing (I’m a major scaredy-cat). But The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé is so fantastic that it started to change my mind on that. The Dark Beneath the Ice is a YA horror about a teenage ex-ballerina being haunted (or maybe possessed?) and it was excellent. It’s atmospheric, psychological, and also features a F/F romance!
Name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold, rainy day
Epistolary by Sacha Lamb is an adorable short story that features haunted stuffed animals, hot chocolate, an internet meet-cute between two trans, Jewish kids. It’s very cute and you can also read it online here! (Then you can join me in praying for a full-length Sacha Lamb novel.)
Name an old favorite you’d like to return to soon
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. It’s an all-time favorite of mine, but I haven’t read it since probably 2016, when Crooked Kingdom came out. I’d really like to do a reread because a) rereading books is nice when I’m busy because I already know I’ll like them and b) the Shadow and Bone TV is coming along and I want to revisit the Grishaverse world before the show airs.
Share your favorite cozy reading “accessories”
Fingerless gloves! I have perpetually cold fingers from basically October to May and tend to wear fingerless gloves when I’m at home relaxing. Fingerless gloves, a cup of tea, and a good book is really peak cozy autumn reading…
I’m fairly terrible at tagging people, but if you see this and want to answer the questions, consider this a go-ahead!
Today I’m trying something a little different: a book tag! I’ve never done one of these before, but I saw @Jamishelves doing this one before and I thought it might be a great way to look at all the books I want to read.
I mostly keep track of it digitally on Goodreads, where I’ve sorted it into books I own, books I can get from the library, books that aren’t out yet, and books I want to get my hands on. This way I know what’s available to me and where it is. However, I’ve also sort of unintentionally sorted it in real life by keeping all the books I own but haven’t read at my mom’s house and everything else at my dad’s house.
Almost completely print except for webcomics and short fiction online. I don’t even own a Kindle because I don’t like reading on screens for long periods of time. I’ll probably break down an get an e-reader at some point for convenience and cost, but right now my TBR is print. I think that actually helps keep it under control because print books are more expensive and I have to consider if I really want to read something when I pay for it.
Mainly mood (what genre or length I’m feeling like reading), but also other stuff like guilt at not having read books people have given to me, the books I can easily get my hands on, and how soon something is due at the library. But mainly mood, because I don’t really organize my TBR. (Though maybe I should start doing that considering how many unread books I have lying around that I overlook for library books…)
Probably An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet. It came out in 2015 and has been on my TBR since before I even had a Goodreads account. (Fun fact: I used to keep a physical paper list of books I wanted to read that I would cross out and rewrite every so often!) It’s out of bookstores no library near me has it, but the concept sounds cool enough (two sisters surviving the aftermath of a magical war) that I still want to read it.
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, which just sold to Page Street and should be out in 2020! It’s about 2 girls running rival henna businesses who fall in love and is #ownvoices! I’ve been following the author on Twitter for a bit & hoped she would sell her book, so it’s exciting to see that happen!
I don’t know if I strictly add books to my TBR because of covers, but the cover of The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds is what caught my eye about it at first.
Well, I would have said Dune, which is on my unofficial “old SFF books I need to read to have any nerd crew” TBR but one of my friends just started it and convinced me to read it before the movie comes out, so maybe Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell. My sister bought a copy a while ago and I added it to me TBR because it was lying around the house, even though I have so little interest in it that I didn’t even remember it was on my TBR until now.
Ahhhh…too many! I’ll pick three otherwise I’ll go out of control.
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, a rom com in which the son of the first female president of the U.S. falls for a British prince. I’ve gotten a little bit into adult romance in the past few months and I’ve only heard amazing things about this, so I’m really excited!
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang. It’s the sequel to last year’s The Poppy War, an amazing, brutal fantasy debut with the kind of ending that left me gasping to find out where she’d go next. It comes out in June and I am SO EXCITED YOU DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND.
Wilder Girls by Rory Power, a creepy book that’s described as being similar to the Southern Reach Trilogy but with a boarding school, a F/F romance, and a creepy forest, all things I love reading about. Plus, that COVER.
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, which I own but have somehow been taking my sweet time with? Because I’ve waited to read it (for…some reason?) I’ve gotten lightly spoiled, unfortunately. I’m a little worried that it’s just a cash grab, but Nikolai was one of my favorite characters from the original series, so I’m hoping to get around to it soon.
Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria. I liked Soria’s debut novel, Iron Cast, a whole lot and several people have told me this one is great. The premise is cool–a YA fantasy that’s got a diverse band of rebels in a world governed by ancient prophecies–and thankfully my sister owns a copy that I can hopefully steal from her!
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi. I love Chokshi’s writing and The Gilded Wolves is supposed to have a great cast of characters. I’ve been waiting for it since it was literally a PW announcement and a Pinterest board to stalk, but my school library just got a copy so I can read it soon!
1,222 books…ha…ha…ha…that’s FINE.
I really, really need to go through my TBR and purge/prioritize books soon because this is getting a little out of hand. Thankfully, the way that I have stuff organized (own/library/unreleased/can’t find anywhere) does really help me cut it down on a daily basis because I know what I can easily find and read, but I’m sure there’s stuff in there that I’m not interested in reading anymore. I read a lot, but that’s several years worth of books even if I just stick to what’s there right now! So…yeah…I need help, but at least I’m aware of it.
Have you read any of the books I have on my TBR? Do you have opinions on them? Are you also desperately overwhelmed by all the amazing-sounding books out there?
Lulu the Library Leopard 