The Book Recommendation Tag

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

I haven't done a tag in a while so I figured, why not do one today? This is the Book Recommendation Tag, created by Steph Bohrer, although I was inspired to do this tag after watching Alexandra Roselyn's video. I love these kinds of tags because it gives me the same feeling that those overly specific book recommendation videos give me. I love watching those videos and wish I could one of my own, but I just don't have enough people sending me requests. So this is my loophole of sorts. 

There are 15 questions, let's just get into it!

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1. A book you tell people is your favorite

    A "favorite" book is always so hard to narrow down. Like, favorite how? 

    If you want my favorite classic, then I'd say either The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (is anyone surprised at this point) or maybe Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. If you're asking about my favorite literary novel, then it would have to be The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller...or possibly Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie. But my favorite fantasy? Oh boy...definitely A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, unless of course it's Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Or even The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. But you can't forget about The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien! 

    Ugh. That was much harder than I thought it would be. Just spin a roulette wheel at this point, honestly. 

2. A book that is your guilty pleasure

    The term "guilty pleasure" kind of gives me the ick, not gonna lie. I feel like if you're reading, then you should be proud of that, whether you're reading classics or erotica. Reading is reading! So I'm not entirely sure what "guilty pleasure" construes of. Like, a book that you normally wouldn't like but you did anyway? Or a book that's cheesy and ridiculous but you still have the best time?

    If I'm going with that definition (which I have to because I can't think of anything else) then I'm going to say Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. It's completely over the top and has a lot of silly plot holes, but it makes me happy every time I read it. You can pry Simon and Baz out of my cold, dead hands. 

3. A book you read the fastest

    I would consider myself a fast reader. I can read most average size books (around 300 pages) in a single sitting. Most of the books on my shelves I've read in a day, if not just a handful of hours. So I know that whatever I put here is completely subjective.

    The most recent book that I read in a single sitting (aside from children's/middle-grade novels, because I feel like those are cheating just a little bit as an adult) was Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson, back in February. I read the whole book in just three hours, not moving from my spot on the couch. Though I feel I should mention that this was a reread, even if it had been a few years and I didn't remember much about the story. 

4. A book everyone loved but you didn't

    There a handful of books I could mention for this prompt, I tend to have unpopular opinions about a lot of super hyped books. For instance, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfeg. Everyone was raving about this novel but it ended up on my worst of the year list when I read it. I also disliked Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy quite a bit, which apparently is blasphemy in the classics corner of the internet. I can't help that Levin is the most boring character I've ever had the displeasure of reading about. I'm sorry. 

5. A book that deserves more hype

    I've said it once and I'll say it again, too many of you are sleeping on Joy McCullough! Her novel in verse, Blood Water Paint, remains to this day one of the most stunning pieces of literature I've ever read. She deserves so much more recognition, especially since her books focus on lost women in history. I still haven't managed to find a copy of We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire, but it's a high priority on my never ending wishlist. I can't wait to see what she does next. 

6. A book that is becoming a movie/TV show

    I'm just gonna use this opportunity to gush about Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the most anticipated TV release of the year for me. In case you've been living under a rock for the last couple of years, Disney Plus is releasing the PJO TV show this summer and I'm practically vibrating with excitement. Since Rick Riordan seems to be super enthusiastic about it, I have very high hopes. The chance to see Percy Jackson done right is worth the long wait!

7. A book you have reread the most

    I'm a big rereader, so I'll mention a few books here. If we're talking over the course of my entire life, then I've definitely reread The Lightning Thief the most. My copy is almost falling apart at this point. But if we're only looking at rereads since I joined Goodreads and therefore started properly tracking my reading, I think it's a tie between The Song of Achilles and Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, which I think I've read four or five times by now. I've also reread The Dark Vault by V.E. Schwab quite a bit too, which is the bind up of her YA series, The Archived and The Unbound. 

8. A book from a genre you don't typically read

    Another chance to mention Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston! One of the (very) few pure romance novels I actually really enjoy. I know it's ridiculous and entirely unrealistic, but that's exactly what I love about it. Everyone is so carefree and unapologetically themselves, which is a nice change from the real world.

9. A book that deserves all the hype it gets

    Is it too much of a cop out to say The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson? I know he's like, the king of epic fantasy at this point, but that's how it is for a reason. Sanderson is simply unmatched. I'm so glad I've decided to jump into his Stormlight Archive series this year, I'm planning on reading Oathbringer next month and I'm having to physically stop myself from picking it up right now. I have to many library books looking at me to start it!

10. A book you usually recommend when asked for a recommendation

    I almost always recommend The Alchemist when people ask me. It's a classic, and it's super popular, so I feel like it's the safest option. Not everyone wants to read something like The Song of Achilles, though I do use that recommendation as a vibe check. If you want to be actual friends with me, you have to at least try and read it. I'm totally fine if you don't like it because of the prose or it being hard to follow, but if you come back and say you don't like Achilles and Patroclus, I'm sorry but we just won't work out.

11. A book that has your favorite character(s)  

    If favorite book was hard, then favorite character is even harder. 

    There are some characters that are innocent little babies that I wish to hug and protect from the world (Temeraire from His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, Noah from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Charlie from Heartstopper by Alice Oseman); characters that I want to record a la Ms. George from Mean Girls whenever they do something vaguely problematic or just straight up terrible (Victor Vale from Vicious by V.E. Schwab, Rin from The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, Keefe from Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger); characters that are comic relief if only to hide from their own suffering (Ronan from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Wes from The Dark Vault by V.E. Schwab, Keefe again). 

    Essentially, give me a character that is a) too pure for this world, b) a little gremlin child, or c) a dumbass with a heart of gold. 

    Actually, just give me Pippin from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. He's the amalgamation of everything I love. 

12. A book you wish you could live in

    I love this question. There are so many stories I wish I could crawl through to and just, exist. The Shire? 100%, would absolutely become a hobbit. Camp Half-Blood? I mean, yes, but only if I could avoid the whole monster fighting thing, I'm too fragile and wimpy for that. 

    However, I think the number one place I'd want to live in is the Lost Cities from Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger. I love the idea of being an elf with a special power, where you eat things like mallowmelt and ripplefluffs and everyone is a vegetarian, and animals like unicorns and dragons exist? Sign me up!

13. A book you thought would hate but ended up loving

    I don't tend to go into new books excepting a hate read. If I think I'm going to dislike a story, I just won't pick it up in the first place. There are a few books that I didn't expect to like as much as I did, like Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux or The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, but I don't think I have any books that I thought I'd hate. 

14. A book that made you cry

    I mean, I've definitely already mentioned the main ones in this tag a few times over by now. The first books that come to mind are The Song of Achilles and Fifty Words for Rain, but there's also Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab, and The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. I'm not a huge crier when it comes to reading, I'm more likely to cry at a movie, though that's because I'm absolutely an empathetic crier so if I see someone tearing up for any reason, I automatically start to cry as well. 

15. A book you wish you could read again for the first time

   It will come as no surprise to you that most of the books I have for this prompt are books I've already mentioned today. Books like The Alchemist and The Song of Achilles and The Lightning Thief. Those are all books that I felt changed something in me the moment I finished them.

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Alright, that's all I have for y'all today. I really want to know, what's the book you find recommending the most? Let me know in the comments below, or DM me on Instagram (link in sidebar under the heading "More Media"). 

Until next time!