The Last 10 Books Tag

I saw this tag earlier this week on Kristin Kraves Books, and I like that it’s not organized the way tags often are. I’m going to do my best to really tell you about the LAST, and not just my favorite that you’re probably tired of hearing about.

Last Book I Gave Up On

I actually rarely give up on books. I can probably count the number of books I’ve DNFed on two hands, and they’re probably all classics. In 2019 I stopped halfway through The Wind in the Willows, not because it was terrible, just because I didn’t care enough about it to keep reading and there were other things I was more interested in. I see why it was charming for the time it was written in, but I didn’t feel particularly like being nostalgic for a time period that was only good for the landed gentry…

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The 2020 Book Tag

Well, 2020 is over (thank God), but on Tuesday I was tagged by Hundreds and Thousands of Books, and I feel like the year isn’t so far gone that I can’t still participate. It’s been ages since I’ve done a tag. 🙂

Rules:

• Link back to the original creator, Phoenix @Books With Wings
• Thank the person who tagged you
• Answer all the questions 
• Tag at least 4 people

Using only books read in 2020. Okay, GO!

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Part 1: Beginning of the Year

A book you were really excited for
I had been waiting a year and a half for Hilary Mantel’s conclusion to her beloved Thomas Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror and the Light. It’s one of the the only books I pre-ordered before June. Fortunately, it was *just* as amazing as I hoped it would be, and ended up being my favorite book of the year. I laughed, I cried, I was so absorbed.

The Beatles Book Tag

My friend and very favorite blogger, The Orangutan Librarian, recently created The Beatles Book Tag. Little known fact, The Beatles are my all-time favorite band, and my favorite song in the whole world and all styles of music is a Beatles song. So I was so excited to get tagged and would have tagged myself if she didn’t. *smiles*

Rules:

1. Tag back to the original creator Orang-utan Librarian (me)
2. Thank whoever tagged you
3. Tag people and keep it going!

Love Me Do

A book with a character you wish would love you

It’s pretty hard to go wrong with The Orangutan Librarian’s original answer, Mr. Knightly. I would also be okay if Faramir came knocking on my door.

folklore Book Tag

Star at Star is All Book Up created this tag waaaay back when the folklore album first came out, and I saw her posting about it all over her Instagram but I was catching up on the tags that I was tagged in literally a year ago. So I’m only just now getting to it!

Full disclosure, I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about folklore. All of Taylor Swift’s albums sound so different, but post-rock isn’t my favorite style. Still, I said the same thing about both Reputation and Lover, so I’m sure I’ll come around. 🙂

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the 1

a book you grew out of

I don’t usually grow out of books, I’m usually capable of reading a book from my past self’s perspective, especially my kids’ books. But I definitely don’t care for Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle as much as I did in my teen years. Part of it is because the last two books were so lackluster, but also I think because I’ve discovered SO MANY great books since then. Don’t get me wrong, I still like Eragon, just not as much as I used to.

This or That Book Tag

A little over a month ago Krisha from Krisha’s Cozy Corner tagged me in the This or That Book Tag. I’ve seen plenty of variations of this tag, and I *think* participated in one before (though I couldn’t find it). But I really like the prompts in this particular version, which are more interesting than “Paperback or Harback?” and “Bookmark or Dog-Ear”. Snooze. These are much more fun!

Okay, here we go!

Read on the bed or the couch?

Honestly, I do both of these. But reading on the bed isn’t my favorite because my pillow is AWFUL and doesn’t give my back enough support. So if given the choice I’ll *usually* choose the couch. It’s only once the sun goes down and our lighting gets bad that I’ll move to the bed.

Currently Reading Book Tag

I’m *almost* caught up on the tags I was tagged in a million years ago! Whitney from Whit Reads Lit tagged me in this tag back in February. I’ve been reading a lot lately, so this should be interesting!

How many books do you usually read at once?

I actually wrote a post all about this lately, because I used to only read one book at a time, but in the last few years I’ve been intentionally opening up to the idea of reading more and more books at once. At that time I was reading 5 or 6 at any given time, but since school started back up I’m down to 4.

1. Main fiction read
2. Middle-grade book
3. An anti-racist non-fiction title
4. A chapter book I’m reading aloud to my five-year-old

Blogging Firsts Tag

I was tagged a few weeks ago by a new book blogger, Krisha, in the Blogging Firsts tag. Krisha is 12 and lives on the other side of the world in India, and how amazing is it that we can talk to each other about books over so many miles and years? Anyway, Krisha’s Cozy Corner is fun, sweet, and super insightful, and you should all go follow her NOW.

This blog is just over three years old, so I’m pretty removed from some of these blogging firsts, but let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

1st Name/Design

Well my blog name hasn’t changed, but I have changed my design. Only pretty recently, in fact, maybe sometime around New Year? Sadly I didn’t think to save any images of what my blog looked like, but thanks to my good friends at archive.org I was able to check it out on the Wayback Machine. Take a look!

Mid-Year Freak Out Tag – 2020 Edition

Oh my gosh. June is over. Summer vacation is halfway over. I don’t know whether to shout for joy or cry. Shout for joy because PLEASE can we go back to school in August. Cry because summer is over and I’m still waiting on pretty much all the books from my summer reading list to come either to the book store or library. I’m worried I won’t have time to read them all. 😥

Also, the middle of the year always sneaks up on me. During summer vacation it’s really hard to keep track of the date, so I’m always shocked and, well, freaked out to find it’s July. lol

So far this year I’ve read 45 books, but since a HUGE chunk of those were either gifts or read for work, it hasn’t been the most exciting year for me book-wise. Not even all the books in my Top 10 have four stars, yikes! Still, I’m well on my way to my 75 book goal, and frankly may have to adjust it to 100. YAY ME!

Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2020

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Okay, I’m going to share my two favorites, because they’re so different from each other. My top book is hands down The Mirror & the Light, which is easily the best historical fiction novel I’ve ever read. I love the Thomas Cromwell trilogy so much, and this book was literally perfect. I wouldn’t have changed ANYTHING about it (except maybe make it never end!). My second top book is a YA backlist title, A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. It had been on my to-read list forEVER, and I finally picked it up on sale in February. GUYS. Why did I wait so long to read this book?!?! If you haven’t read it yet you’ve GOT TO.

The Grad Student Book Tag

What do you guys think my big celebration should be for finishing up my graduate school classwork? Big party? No, social distancing. Fancy dinner? No, restaurants are closed. A book tag? PERFECT!

Jillian the Bookish Butterfly created this super fun book tag for all you nerds in graduate school or thinking about graduate school. And she knew I was working on a degree too, so she tagged me! Thanks Jillian!

As a side-note, I am NOT graduating yet. I still have to do my practicum (also called internship) in the fall, but I’m thinking (hoping) it’s going to be a LOT less work than my classes were. Guaranteed I won’t have to read 60 pages of a cataloging textbook every week. Ugh.

So, yay! Let’s get started!

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Picking an Area of Study

What’s your favorite books and/or series from each of your favorite genres?

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Oh gosh! I have so many favorite genres! lol

Fantasy: Lord of the Rings. I know, such a cliche. But I’ve been in love with it since forever, literally since middle school. Y’all, that was 20 freaking years ago. And true love never fades.

Historical Fiction: Wolf Hall and the Thomas Cromwell trilogy. It’s just SOOOOO stinking good! I love Cromwell as a narrator and his odd sense of humor, as well as seeing Henry and his wives from an outsider’s persepctive.

Classics: Pride and Prejudice. It’s just so romantic and funny and all-around well written. I never get tired of it.

Young Adult: Probably Eleanor & Park. You all know how obsessed I am with Rainbow Rowell.

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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…