Lover Book Tag

Ah, it’s been a while since I did a tag. I used to do at least one a week, but I haven’t been tagged in a while. Thanks to Dani @ Mousai Books for tagging me in this one! I don’t know if she knew what a big Taylor Swift fan I am, but here we are! Cue the music on my computer, and let’s go!

The Creator & the Rules

The creator of this tag (and the header!) is Sara @ The Bibliophagist! As for the rules:

↠ Link back to the creator, Sara @ The Bibliophagist!
↠ Answer the questions.
↠ Tag whoever you want and link back to the person who tagged you!

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I Forgot that You Existed

A book from your childhood that you don’t remember anything about

I know I read The Sign of the Beaver in second grade, but I have no idea what I read. Probably because our teacher would just send us out in the hall to have book-club with no instruction or supervision. Yeah, because eight-year-olds can handle that…

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Cruel Summer

The Worst Book You’ve Read This Summer

I can’t remember if I read it during summer vacation or not, but my least favorite book I read last year was Heartland by Sarah Smarsh. I know it’s hard to be wrong in a memoir, but I felt like she had no idea what she was writing about. I mean, it’s not like I’m an expert on growing up on a Kansas farm, but I just felt like a lot of what she wrote was over-generalized, unfair, and damaging to the rural poor. Also, her writing choices were just so BIZARRE.

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Lover

A bookish relationship that’s perfect exactly the way it is

Marco and Celia. Do I need to say more? If you’ve read The Night Circus, I probably don’t. ❤

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The Man

A book with a badass female main character

Going for some throwback here, just because I bet the same three books keep getting brought up. I was obsessed with the Inheritance Cycle in high school, and one of my favorite things about it is how much stronger the women in the book are than the men. Arya is so amazing, and Nasuada (Queen of the Varden) was always my favorite. Plus Saphira, obviously. Also, Angela the Herbalist! Such a surprise badass. This series wasn’t the best, but I loved the women in it.

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The Archer

A book with great character development

Circe was like a textbook in character development. Am I right? Her character, what she learns about herself, and what she learns about the men and the gods, is 100% of what makes this book.

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I Think He Knows

Your fictional crush

I’ve … never (?) had a fictional crush. I joke that I’m in love with Mr. Darcy, but just because it’s fun to say. Not because it’s true. Whatever, for the sake of giving an answer, Mr. Darcy!

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Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

A book set in high school

What am I even supposed to do with this? There are so many! lol

But I absolutely adored To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and that entire series this past summer. It’s a great blend of high school romance with actual difficult issues teens tackle every day. But I thought it handled those issues without it taking over the book or getting heavy. Loved the sister relationships, loved the way high school romance is addressed as not being forever, loved the very present father figure. Such a wonderful series!

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Paper Rings

A book with a happy ending

Ugh, the one I want to put would be a total spoiler! So I’m going to go with one that’s got an obvious, feel-good happy ending. Geekerella was the ultimate feel-good romance for me. It had everything I could have wanted in a YA book. It was sweet, nerdy, funny, and has a sweet happily-ever-after. If you like fairy tale re-tellings you HAVE to read this one.

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Cornelia Street

A setting you’ll never forget

I got all the way to here without bringing up Harry Potter! But seriously, Hogwarts. Half of the reason we all fell in love with this book was Hogwarts and the idea of going there ourselves. I know my letter is never coming, but maybe for my kids…

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Death by a Thousand Cuts

A book that broke your heart

You want to talk about a book that literally tore my heart out of my chest, ripped it into a thousand pieces, and then stomped on it? But in the BEST POSSIBLE WAY? Bel Canto by Anne Patchett. Seriously, I ugly cried for a straight half hour after I finished it. A new favorite.

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London Boy

A setting that plays a big role in the story

I finished a re-read of The Golden Compass recently, along with the rest of His Dark Materials, and I feel like this fits this prompt perfectly. Even though it’s not like Sex in the City where the setting is “like its own character,” since the trilogy is about parallel universes the setting is very important to what happens. Also, if you’ve read it and don’t want to live in Lyra’s Oxford and have your very own daemon, I don’t know what the heck is wrong with you.

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Soon You’ll Get Better

A book that made you cry

There is not shortage of books that make me cry. But if there’s anything you can count on, it’s that World War II will get me. In The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah I didn’t even get to the concentration camps before I started bawling. Trigger warning for harm to children and rape.

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False God

A book with a well-written sexy scene

I’m not super into sexy sequences, but what I really liked about The Hating Game was how electric all the kissing scenes were. I could have skipped the one chapter that had a full-fledged sex sequence, but I was THERE for the kissing. Also the paintball.

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You Need to Calm Down

A book featuring an LGBT romance

I want to tell you about The Priory of the Orange Tree now, because you might not have known this book was queer and it might make you decide to pick it up. I am obsessed with the f/f romance in this book. It had all the sexual tension, and the sensuality, and the strong women, and just EVERYTHING. There is a very bittersweet m/m relationship in this book too, told almost entirely through flashbacks. But I think the thing that made this book the MOST brilliant is that a m/f relationship isn’t assumed culturally. The queen is “supposed” to have a husband because she HAS to have a daughter (plot point!), but otherwise nobody seems to care. Even the wedding ceremony isn’t gendered. I thought it was so cool how carefully Samantha Shannon crafted the world to avoid our assumptions about marriage.

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Afterglow

A great second chance romance

I absolutely adored Landline by Rainbow Rowell, just because it was refreshing to read a chick-lit that was about people that seemed like actual people. I loved that Georgie was having real adult problems balancing work and home. She loved her husband, but wasn’t connecting with him. What can possibly save this marriage other than a magic time traveling phone? I read this book in a day, something I almost never do. It’s hard to pick a favorite Rainbow Rowell book, but this might be it.

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Me!

Your all-time favorite book

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It’s a tie! This will be a surprise to no one, but I can never choose between Pride and Prejudice and The Lord of the Rings. They’re so impossible to compare, and I love them for such different reasons. It’s been too long since I’ve re-read LOTR. Maybe if this shelter-in-place goes until I run out of new books to read…

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It’s Nice to Have a Friend

Your favorite friends-to-lovers book

I know that I already talked about Harry Potter, but y’all, I was rooting for Ron and Hermione for LITERALLY seven years. Don’t @ me.

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Daylight

A book with a positive message

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray is the ultimate positive message for teenage girls. Pick a positive feminist message, it’s in this book. It runs that gamut from LGBTQ issues, race issues, body positivity, being the person YOU want to be STEM, sexuality, female friendships, everything. Plus, it’s funny as heck. Read it!

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Thanks again Dani for tagging me! It’s after 11 pm, and I have work tomorrow, so I’m not tagging anyone this time. If you love T-Swift and you’re looking for a tag to do, then I tag YOU!