Harry Potter Spells Book Tag

Though we're cribbing this from Scribbles and Wanderlust without being tagged, like rebels, credit for tag and graphics to Kimberly Faye Reads and BookNerd Betsy.

an upcoming release you wish
you could get your hands on right now

D - Empire of Storms! Gimme that Sarah J. Maas goodness. Let's throw book six in there too, for good measure. I need my Aelin fix.

J - Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill -- fantasy and archery and kingdoms clashing and Y.E.S.

favorite series starter

J - A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin - I love the whole series but the first one remains my personal favorite. It's what I love about fantasy in one package -- great worldbuilding and atmosphere, interesting characters, unpredictable plotting.

D -  This was really hard, because my first instinct was Throne of Glass, but to avoid having no one by Maas on this list, let's go with Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. The Final Empire didn't just start my series obsession, but my Sanderson obsession in general, so A+. Write more Vin stories now, Brandon.

a book that gave you all the warm fuzzies 

D - The noises I made while reading Strong Signal by Santino Hassell and Megan Erickson cannot be properly heard by humans, though your dogs probably perk up whenever Kai came on the page.

J - I was so amused and happy when reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. It's got it's fair share of trials and tribulations but this book made me happy more than anything else.

 a book that made you ugly!cry

J- I am not quiiiite as weepy as Danielle, but there are more than a few books that hit me right in the emotions. Code Name Verity is always one, even when I know what is going to happen to the characters.

D - I am a weepy human, as you can tell from my twitter bio, "The girl who cried at Clownfellas", but no book has ever ever made me cry as long and hard as The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke. I cried until I couldn't see; until I couldn't breathe. I cried hysterically. I cried like I'd watched every Nicholas Sparks movie and Up on the day of my period. You should read it.

bookish hero/heroine you want to protect you in real life

D - Alana from Brian K. Vaughan's Saga can give birth, get up, take out a squadron, and escape into a sewer without ever unlatching the nursing baby. Yep, I'm woman enough to just stay behind her.

J - Falcio val Mond  from Sebastien de Castell's Saint's Blood (and previous three books) might not be the best swordfighter or the best archer, but he never gives up. The bastard is tenacious, so tenacious he lives even when he ought not to. I don't think there's much he wouldn't do to protect someone in his charge. That is how he has survived four books in a world that hates him ad his kind.

a book you intentionally spoiled for yourself

J - ooh, this is hard. Oh wait,  A Court of Mist and Fury! I was starting a reread of ACoTaR and Gilly from Writer of Wrongs told me why it was unnecessary. I still read ACOMAF, but having a vague idea for the ... way it plays out probably helped me not to DNF.

D - When Jess published her review, I texted and was all, "I gots t'know!" Yeah, it still makes me laugh. Good decision spoiling this one, pastMe.

a book you wish you could make everyone read

D - I'm going to go a little outside the box on this one and recommend Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels. Romance is such a reviled genre, even more so than other genre fiction like mysteries and fantasy, and Sarah and Candy from Smart Bitches Trashy Books do an amazing job of explaining the history of the genre, the conventions, and how you can read romance and still be smart and feminist. Plus there are MadLibs.

J - THE LAST MORTAL BOND BY BRIAN STAVELEY. So, technically, this is the third in a series. So really I would make people read The Emperor's Blades and Providence of Fire in order to get this. But this is a series based on Tang-era China with NINJAS who ride GIANT BIRDS for SPECIAL OPS MISSIONS. It is awesome.

a book/series you wish never ended

J - Duh.

D - Duh?

a book with an uplifting ending or message

D - This is so sad, but I have to pass on this question. I'm not sure I've ever read one. 

J - Wanderlost by Jen Malone. This is a cute and fun book, but I loved how the MC grew up and learned about herself on a trip.

a book you wish you could forget you ever read

 

J - well this one is easy. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, as referenced from above. A thoroughly pointless and lame novel. I only wish it was as forgettable as it was annoying.

D - Could you imagine re-reading the ASoIaF series without knowing how it ends? A fresh re-read with an adult's mind? Spoiler NED'S FUCKING DEATH?????? I would kill for that experience.

an author whose books always get you out of a slump

D - Courtney Milan! Her romances, historical and contemporary, are perfect for hooking my brain.

J - Brandon Sanderson is a champ at this. He's never let me down and even just going back over books I've read and loved often reinvigorates my reading. He's just so clever and his books are intricate convolutions that are fun to read AND dissect.

a swoon-worthy hero or heroine

J - The ONLY answer is JONAH GRIGGS from Marchetta's Jellicoe Road. (Jk, I have many others but JONAH. GRIGGS.)

D - Literally every single POV character in Six of Crows. On my first read though I thought the most swoon-worthy were Kaz and Inej, but on my second I realized that it's really Jesper. Or Mathias? 

a book that caused you to stop doing all other things until you finished it

D -  The whole Hunger Games trilogy fits this question. I'm not usually able to read 400 pages in a day, but Mockingjay wasn't just a one day read. It was a one sitting read. One Saturday spent with my butt latched to my couch and a box of tissues ready for the end. 

J - One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I have a hard time putting down any TJR novel, but my emotions were so snarled by this one I could NOT do anything until I knew how it would end.

a book that was painful to read or broke you

J - Heir of Fire? Heir of Fire.

D - I think this book gave me Stockholm's Syndrome.

a book that had you laughing out loud

D - Let's Pretend This Never Happened! Anyone who's read Jenny Lawson's blog should know she is side splittingly funny, so obviously her memoir had tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks, as I called my doctor to be evaluated for anxiety. Thanks Jenny!

J - Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. This book is both sad and hilarious -- aka the Marian Keyes charm. It deals with loss and life and it's just fantastically amusing, as are the other connected stories dealing with other characters in this.

a book that made you want to send it flying

J - literally anything by that hack Terry Goodkind. I do not know why I suffered through five books of this slop (there was an EVIL CHICKEN in one. They called it "evil incarnate." I laaaauughed.) But I did and they were terrible and should fly and keep flying into space, forever.


D - This is literally the best answer. Naked Empire was my first ever DNF. I READ SEVEN OF THESE BOOKS. INCLUDING THE EVIL CHICKEN. AND THE RAT BUCKET. AND THE ONE THAT DIDN'T STAR ANY ESTABLISHED CHARACTER. AND ONE ABOUT HOW COMMUNISM IS BAD PUBLISHED IN 2000.

bookish world that you wish you could visit

D - I know it's something of a cliche, but it's always going to be the world of Harry Potter for me. Not least because I'm an epic fantasy fan and there's no goddamn way I'm going to Westeros et al. 

J - THE COSMERE. I don't and won't pick a single world so I'm going to say all of them in Sanderson's creative universe. I wouldn't mind starting in Roshar, though. I've always wanted a spren.

a book with a shocking twist or ending

D - WHY HAVEN'T YOU READ FEED'S TWIST YET? I list it on every one of these tags.

a character death that destroyed you

D - Nehemia Ytger is not dead. My ship is not sunk. Everyone is going to be happy. 

That's all I have to say.

J - It's been over ten years and I am still not okay with what happens to Oberyn Martell. I will never be okay. It won't. HE WAS TAKEN FROM US WAY TOO SOON. #denial #thisiswhyheadcanonsarenecessary #oberynlives

best series conclusion

J - It could be because it's my favorite (so far) book of the year, but The Last Mortal Bond really fucking killed it. I was so into that book I had a hard time when it was over. Props to the author for that and for getting this series done so quickly. It's a world I need more of (and will be getting!) but this arc was fabulous.

D - Going through my shelves, I realized I've actually finished very few series and those that I have, Sookie Stackhouse, The Selection, are awful. Even good series I've finished, Mistborn, HP, I found the last book to be the least satisfying. So even though Dreams of Gods and Monsters is my least favorite of the series, Laini Taylor's conclusion is still miles better than lesser authors'. My biggest wish is more stories in the world.

&