Heart Full of Elves: book tag

Showing posts with label book tag. Show all posts

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Smashing & Dashing Characters of 2016 Awards

Cait at Paper Fury created this awesome book tag and I had to do it. Because fictional characters! So, here are the best and worst characters from the books I read this year (the books don't have to be published in 2016, otherwise I couldn't do the challenge). Not spoiler-free, but I won't go into too much detail.

MOST RELATABLE CHARACTER

The character I most related to was Marya Bolkonskaya (War and Peace). Apart from the fact that she's very religious and I'm not, I definitely identified with her.

MOST PURE AND PRECIOUS ANIMAL COMPANION

Maruman, the cat from The Red Queen. He's grumpy and cynical, and that is what makes him pure and precious.

FIERCEST FIGHTER

Colonel Jack Collins in Ancients. Some of the fighting he does is so he doesn't have to think about his dying girlfriend. Ouch.

MOST AMAZING SIDEKICK

I haven't read many sidekick characters in 2016, but Ana and Swallow in The Red Queen are both cool sidekicks.

ONE YOU’RE SURPRISED YOU LOVED

Nikolai Rostov (War and Peace). I was neutral about him in the BBC mini-series, which I watched first, but I found him hilarious in the book. He's a problematic fave and not the nicest person, but still a fave.

BEST SASSMASTER

That's Maruman again.

BEST ANTI-HERO AND MORALLY GREY GRAPE

Frances Wray in The Paying Guests. She has an affair with a married woman and covers up the manslaughter of her lover's husband, but it's with the best intentions.

BEST WORST VILLAIN TO HATE

Anatole Kuragin (War and Peace). I cannot stand him. He gets his comeuppance in an emotionally traumatic scene, though.

TRULY ASTOUNDING WORST YA PARENT

Old Prince Bolkonsky from War and Peace is a shit dad. He's completely awful to his daughter. You can't just treat people like that.

TRULY ASTOUNDING BEST YA PARENT

Countess Natalya Rostova's relationship with her sons and her daughter Natasha in War and Peace is very cute. She loves them and is so proud of them. Too bad she forgets about her other daughter Vera and treats her niece Sonya shockingly.

TOOT TOOT BEST SHIP OF THEM ALL

Andrei and Natasha (War and Peace). Because happy ships are boring.

THE MOST IN NEED OF PROTECTION

#ProtectMaryaBolkonskaya

MOST BORING AS A BARNACLE

Masha in Enchantments had a very interesting history but still managed to not have a personality. Given the overall quality of the book, I can't even be surprised or disappointed.

BEST LITTLE ROYAL

Dragon from The Red Queen, who is, in fact, the Red Queen. She just rides up to the city centre on a horse and the people make her their queen and revolt against their oppressive system. Goals.

VERY SURPRISED YOU’RE STILL ALIVE

Elspeth Gordie. Actually, a lot of characters in The Red Queen survived when I thought they wouldn't.

BEST AT HORRIBLE DECISION MAKING

It's a tie between Nikolai "Gambled Away My Family's Money" Rostov and his sister Natasha "Cheated On My Beloved With A Man I'd Known For 3 Days" Rostova.

CUTEST DORK

Florence Banner (Tipping the Velvet). Don't ask how a serious, Victorian socialist can be a cute dork. I don't know.

CLEVEREST LITTLE HELLION

Nancy King (Tipping the Velvet) wins this award for always making her way in the world.

MOST IN NEED OF A NAP

Elspeth Gordie deserves a long sleep by her choice this time.

WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT YOU

Mademoiselle Amelie Bourienne from War and Peace. She's a minor character who's there in the background throughout the entire book, but she's so mysterious. She's a Frenchwoman in Russia during the Napoleonic invasion - what does she think about it all??? I want to know!

I'm tagging everyone reading this post - if you haven't already done the thing, do the thing!

Goodreads Book Tag

10:47 am book tag, meme

I came across this cute little book tag on The Review Room and decided to share what I've been reading recently. As you may know from an earlier rant, I love Goodreads and use it every day, so if here's what my profile kind of looks like at the moment.

What was the last book you marked as read?

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Sappho, Anne Carson (Translator)

Five stars!

What are you currently reading?

The Red Queen (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #7) by Isobelle Carmody

I've been reading this for months. It's soooo long!

What was the last book you marked as TBR?

What book do you plan to read next?

Either one of three books on my bookshelf (Strange Are the Ways by Teresa Crane, Pompeii by Robert Harris, Sacred Country by Rose Tremain) or Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace on my ereader.

Do you use the star rating system?

Yep, I find it very helpful. My rating system is the same for this blog and Goodreads.

Are you doing a 2016 reading challenge?

Nope. I last did a reading challenge in 2012. So on the challenge box it just says, "I want to read books in 2016," which is very accurate. I just want to read books this year, not a specific number.

Do you have a wishlist?

I have a to-get list, but since books are so expensive it's a very short list. This is it:

Darkbane (The Legendsong #3) by Isobelle Carmody

I don't actually know if she's even started writing it yet, and I've been waiting for almost six years - it's been 13 years since the last book was published...

Cleopatra's Shadows by Emily Holleman

Do you have any favourite quotes? Would you like to share a few?

With pleasure!

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

“We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin

“We don’t need a list of rights and wrongs, tables of dos and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.”
― Philip Pullman

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Who are your favourite authors?

My three most-read authors are Tamora Pierce, Louise Rennison, and John Marsden but they aren't necessarily my favourites. I'm still just getting my foot in the door of adult books so I haven't found any favourites yet there.

Have you joined any groups?

I did, but I've since left them. I don't remember if I ever posted anything in those groups. I've actually never been in any book groups, online or offline. I'm not sure that they'd work for me.

I tag...

Everyone reading this who uses Goodreads!

Totally Should've Book Tag

10:15 am book tag, meme

I can't remember where I saw this book tag, but it was on someone's blog that I stumbled across. Feel free to do it yourself and say I tagged you!

1. Totally should've gotten a sequel

Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle #4) by Christopher Paolini

I know the series was long enough already, but the ending just wasn't satisfying.

2. Totally should've had a spin off series

Adaptation by Malinda Lo

A spin off TV series would be good. I'm imagining a cross between Torchwood and The 100.

3. An author who totally should write more books

Madeline Miller! (author of The Song of Achilles)

4. A character who totally should've ended up with someone else

City of Flowers (Stravaganza #3) by Mary Hoffman

I liked Luciano and Georgia, but it was not to be.

5. Totally should've ended differently

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

But since it's based on a true story, it had to end that way.

6. Totally should've had a movie franchise

Piratica by Tanith Lee

The whole trilogy.

7. Totally should've had a TV show

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy

8. Totally should've had only one point of view

Opposition (Lux #5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

9. Totally should have a cover change

Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, #1)

10. Totally should've kept the original covers

Derby Girl by Shauna Cross

11. Totally should've stopped at book one

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Book Tag: How I Read

2:28 pm book tag, meme

Thank you Nemo at The Moonlight Library!

How do you find out about new books to read?

Through other bloggers who have reviewed or mentioned new and upcoming releases. Sometimes through my mum, as she's a librarian.

How did you get into reading?

I don't remember; I think I always loved stories and books.

How have your tastes in books changed as you got older?

I don't read Jacqueline Wilson anymore, for a start! As well as the natural maturing of tastes that happens as you grow up, I don't read as much fantasy as I used to and I read more adult novels. I have a greater respect for short stories than epic series now, probably due to a shortening attention span.

How often do you buy books?

Hardly ever. I've been very good this year as I'm too poor to afford it and I don't have any shelf space left.

How did you get into reviewing books?

Younger me set up a Blogger account to keep in touch with her mummy, and since books were the light of my life it made sense to write about them.

How do you react when you don’t like the end of a book?

I have a little rant on Goodreads or Tumblr.

How often do you take a sneak peek at the ending to see if there is a happy ending?

I tend not to anymore. I've ruined a few too many endings for myself doing that, and I've learnt my lesson (mostly)!

Do you use bookmarks in your books?

Yes, although a lot of my reading is done on my e-reader, which remembers where I'm up to without me having to tell it, the clever thing.

The Ultimate Book Tag

4:37 pm book tag, meme

Let's say I was tagged by Alise at Readers In Wonderland (though I wasn't individually tagged).

1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?

Yes. I can't read in the car at all. I can barely look down at all without feeling dizzy.

2. Which author’s writing style is completely unique to you and why?

Moira Young's in the Dustlands trilogy. She writes with the grammar and spelling that her characters use, and it's very original. (Although I later read The Color Purple, which does the same, but I read Dustlands first!)

3. Harry Potter Series or the Twilight Saga? Give 3 points to defend your answer.

Harry Potter.
1. I've actually bothered watching the films.
2. It's not about vampires.
3. It's not about an annoying American teenage girl caught in a love triangle.

4. Do you carry a book bag? If so, what is in it (besides books)?

No, I don't, although sometimes I bring a bag to the library if I'm intending to get out lots of books. (Which rarely happens these days.)

5. Do you smell your books?

Not usually.

6. Books with or without little illustrations?

I don't mind either way - sometimes illustrations are a nice break, but sometimes they just waste space and make the book longer than it has to be.

7. What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

I loved Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story by Lisa Fiedler the first time I read it, but when I reread it two years later I was very disappointed.

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!

I used to ask to be read "Baa Baa", one of the Mother Goose nursery rhymes books. That's not that funny, just kind of cute.

9. What is the tiniest book on your shelf?

My copy of Jane Austen's Persuasion is pretty small.

10. What is the thickest book on your shelf?

From memory, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare.

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?

Yes and yes. I hope to some day return to writing original fiction (as opposed to fanfiction).

12. When did you get into reading?

I've been reading for as long as I can remember. Practically since birth.

13. What is your favourite classic book?

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

14. In school what was your best subject?

I'm still at school, and I don't know because it changes.

15. If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated, what would you do?

"Oh, I've read this before. Um, thank you..."

16. What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy is a bit like Harry Potter.

17. What is a bad habit you always do while blogging?

Check Goodreads because I suddenly forget everything I've ever read.

18. What is your favourite word?

I love the word charisma. It's such a good word!

19. Are you a nerd, dork, or dweeb? Or all of the above?

I'm a nerd, sadly enough. But an extroverted one.

20. Vampires or Fairies? Why?

Fairies, I've always loved them. Never understood the point of vampires.

21. Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?

Angels because they don't change their shape. Shapeshifting makes me kind of uneasy. (I blame the Torchwood episode Something Borrowed. Which is not a book, but oh well.)

22. Spirits or Werewolves? Why?

Spirits, because they're more comforting. The good kind are, anyway.

23. Zombies or Vampires? Why?

Neither, but I guess blood-suckers aren't quite as terrifying as brain-eaters.

24. Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?

Forbidden love. Love triangles make me want to damage something. Preferably the character stuck in the middle of one.

25. Full on romance books or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?

Action-packed! Romance on its own is boring.

The Would You Rather Book Tag

3:51 pm book tag, meme

Technically I wasn't tagged by anyone, but for the sake of the game, let's say Pinkindle tagged me.

Would you rather only read trilogies or standalones?

Standalones. I am so sick of series.

Would you rather read only male or female authors?

Female, but I don't really pay that much attention to whether the book's author is male or female.

Would you rather shop at Barnes and Noble or Amazon?

Neither is that accessible to me but I would say Amazon.

Would you rather read only 5 pages per day or 5 books per week?

Five per week! Imagine how fast I would get through my to-read list!

Would you rather be a professional author or reviewer?

Author. That's been my dream for about ten years. But being a professional reviewer would be awesome too.

Would you rather be a librarian or a bookseller?

Bookseller. Because then I'd only have to see and touch new, pristine books, and no old, falling apart ones .

Would you rather read only e-books or physical books?

As much as I love ebooks to bits, I would have to say physical, just because they look nice and you can flick and scan through the pages easily.