[TAG] In Which I’m Dared…To Talk About Books (The “I Dare You!” Book Tag)

Yeah, a tag!

This one has been making its rounds among the book blogging community, and I thought, “Why not do it?” I was tagged by Kelly’s Ramblings and Mixed Margins to do this one!

(Also, I don’t have a review prepared for today, so ACCEPT THIS BACK-UP POST.)

1. Which book has been on your shelf the longest?

So, I had this HUGE contemporary phase in middle school, so there are a couple of books belonging in that genre that I STILL haven’t read yet. They’re still on my TBR TO THIS DAY. Yes, it’s been four years. STOP JUDGING ME.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story:

I don’t even remember why I bought this, to be honest? I think it may have been because it got really good reviews on Goodreads, so I decided to go ahead and get it. I actually read half of this, but wasn’t in the mood to read the rest of it. But what I read of it, it was really entertaining, and I really want to finish this one!

I’ll Give You the Sun:

I purely bought this because I read the summary on the inside flap of the cover, and I had money to buy it because it was after Christmas and I had a lot lying around, so, I bought it. And I haven’t picked it up since. #oops

Fangirl:

I’ve literally picked up and attempted to read this, like, four times. And it’s not like I don’t like the book – I love it – but everything gets in the way every single time I try to read this book. Like, I get further and further each time I read it, but I NEVER FINISH IT. Why? I don’t even know. Someone help me.

2. What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

Current Read: A Court of Wings And Ruin

At the time I’m writing this post, I’m reading the finale of the ACOTAR trilogy. Obviously, I love it, and I predict I’ll give it 2208028 stars because Sarah J. Maas wrote it, so, I’m unashamedly biased. #sorrynotsorry

Last Read: ???

IT’S BEEN SO LONG, I DON’T EVEN REMEMBER.

Reading Next: ???

I’M IN A SLUMP OKAY.

3. What book(s) did everyone like, but you hated?

Regarding series:

The Winner’s Trilogy:

A book that fell into the depths of romance even though it could have been a really good fantasy novel. I’m still disappointed about all the wasted potential this book had. And I also hate Arin and his possessive nature. Ugh.

The Shatter Me Trilogy:

Unfortunately, these books got progressively worse and worse, and the finale was basically just a hot mess. Am I glad that Juliette and Warner are together? Yes. Am I satisfied with the shoddy, rushed ending I was given that left more questions than answers? No.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Trilogy:

Again, a book that wasted its potential. I’ve seen people say this book is scary and has an unreliable narrator? Yeah, no, it’s just another boring paranormal romance. And Noah deserves to be thrown off a cliff. Just saying.

The Wrath and the Dawn Duology:

Personally, this book was just boring to me. And I felt like it was missing this spark that really made me want to fall in love with this book. It impressed so many people, but it just fell…flat for me.

The Darkest Minds Trilogy:

Incredibly, unnecessarily slow-moving. And I also really hate road trip books. I mean, objectively, I feel like I should love it because it’s one of the stronger dystopian/sci-fi YA novels, but I just couldn’t bring myself to love it.

Regarding stand-alones:

An Abundance of Katherines:

I love John Green, I really do. But this book is probably one of the worst stand-alones I’ve ever read. It was super boring and dabbled way too much into math for my taste. And, again, the whole road trip books thing. Not a fan.

The Couple Next Door:

Just a bit too crazy and unbelievable. And I hate Marco.

The Kind Worth Killing:

WAY too many plot twists to the point where it was plain gimmicky. I felt like this could’ve been better and maybe developed the characters a little bit more since the reader is jumping from one point-of-view to the next, but I seem to be the only person alive who doesn’t like this book.

With Malice:

I’m not one to call out plagiarism or anything, but this was basically a low-key rip-off of Dangerous Girls. Like, even the tiniest details were the same. So, this book was incredibly boring and predictable, because I’d already read it when it was done well. So, yeah.

The Bird Tribunal:

Literally EVERYONE loved this book, and I just don’t get it. It’s short, yes, but it was the most predictable thriller I’ve ever read. I knew what the ending would be, and was waiting for some sort of twist, and, nope, it was what I knew it would be. Nothing surprised me, and I was bored.

4. What book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t.

Yeah, I’m probably never going to read this book. I’M SORRY!

5. Which book are you saving for retirement?

I honestly don’t think the world will even be around for my retirement, to be honest? So, I’m attempting to read everything I’m interested in right now. I’m currently failing at it, but I’m trying, and isn’t it the effort that counts?

6. Last page: read it first, or wait till the end?

I’ve seen people say that they literally read the last page first before they even start the book, and I still don’t get it??? WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THAT? Literally the only time I did that was with Crown of Midnight, and that was because I wanted to see how many page numbers the book had, and my eyes accidentally wandered and read the last sentence of the last page (which is a huge spoiler, if you guys don’t know). NEVER AGAIN.

7. Acknowledgments: waste of paper and ink, or interesting aside?

I honestly don’t read acknowledgements that much, but one that’s really stood out to me is the one for A Court of Thorns and Roses. If you guys don’t know, Susan Dennard (the author of Truthwitch) is one of Sarah J. Maas’s best friends, and I thought her acknowledgement was adorable:

 Susan Dennard, my jaeger copilot and Threadsister, the Leonardo to my Raphael, the Gus to my Shawn, the Blake to my Adam, the Scott to my Stiles, the Aragorn to my Legolas, the Iseult to my Safi, the Schmidt to my Jenko, the Senneth to my Kira, the Elsa to my Anna, the Sailor Jupiter (or Luna!) to my Sailor Moon, the Moss to my Roy, the Martin to my Sean, the Alan Grant to my Ian Malcolm, the Brennan to my Dale, and the Esqueleto to my Nacho: I literally don’t know what I’d do without you. Or our inside jokes. Our friendship is the definition of Epic – and I’m pretty sure it was written in the stars. (Like a thousand years before the dinosaurs. It’s the prophecy.)

And in the same Acknowledgements of the same book, to her husband, Josh:

And lastly, to my husband, Josh – this book is for you. It’s always been yours, the same way my heart has been yours from the moment I saw you on the first day of freshman orientation at college. Considering the way our lives mysteriously wove together before we ever set eyes on each other, I have a hard time believing it wasn’t fate. Thanks for proving to me that true love exists. I’m the luckiest woman in the world to get to spend my life with you.

ALL THE FEELS.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

It’s a tie between Feyre and Aelin. And, no, it is NOT because I love Rowan and Rhysand and would give anything to be with them! What are you talking about?

(Okay, I lied; it’s totally about getting to Rowan and Rhysand.)

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

The Hunger Games:

I received this book as a present in the fifth grade for my birthday, and this was the first YA book I ever read, so it basically started it all, really. I remember this was back in my phase where I was obsessed with romance, so I literally flipped through the entire thing for Peeta and Katniss to kiss. What even was my younger self?

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe:

I actually bought this book as a graduation gift (it was probably some irrelevant graduation, too), and I literally read this book in probably five hours? I was just so into it, and I only put it down once, and then read the rest of it when I picked it up again. I don’t even know why, but I was just addicted to it. And it easily became one of my favorite contemporaries of ever. So, I always remember this as the first book I read in less than a day!

10. Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way.

So, FUNNY STORY. When this book came out, I was dying to get it. I mean, Malec had broken up in the previous book, AND I NEEDED MY SHIP TO GET TOGETHER AGAIN. This girl on my track team was also a huge fan of the series, and after she finished it, she was kind enough to lend it to me to read. I actually ended up reading this 700+ page book over the weekend because my brother had an all-day track meet that lasted until late, late at night, and I literally had nothing to do. I was planning on giving it back to her once I returned, but it was near the end of the school year, and the girl decided to leave school early (she was transferring to another school the next year). I never saw her again, so I now have a permanently borrowed special edition of City of Heavenly Fire. Oops.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

No, I haven’t, because I’m a selfish person and want to keep all my books. UNLESS, you count that one time where I gave a friend of a friend my copy of The Scorch Trials a week before school ended, and on the last day of school, told me that she forgot the book at her dad’s house over the weekend. Then, yeah, sure.

12. Which book has been with you the most places?

Um, pretty much all of them? I mostly read e-books nowadays, and I carry my phone everywhere, so, like a lot of my books.

13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad two years later?

Well, I’m STILL in high school, so the question technically isn’t applicable, but in middle school, we read this book called Tuck Everlasting, and though I thought it was meh when I was twelve, I might like it much more now! Not like I’ll re-read it to find out or anything.

14. What’s the strangest item you’ve found in a book?

I think I once found a bookmark just left in the middle of a book I bought once. That was a nice surprise! And I always remember when I buy a book from Barnes & Noble and I find those magnets in the middle of the book.

15. Used or brand new?

Brand new! I’ve never bought used because it takes forever for shipping on Amazon, and I just prefer new books!

16. Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?

And I probably never won’t. I’m not interested in his books, to be honest.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children:

I didn’t like the rest of the books in this series that much, and I thought this was actually a pretty good movie! No, it wasn’t faithful to the book, but it didn’t really matter too much to me, and I thought that it was still done well enough that it could have been incorporated into canon.

I Am Legend:

I actually haven’t read the book of this one yet (but it’s on my TBR), but the movie gave me so many emotions and was so well done that it’s actually become one of my favorite movies! At least, the one with the second ending.

Man on Fire:

I watched this movie on a whim because I was on an adrenaline rush for action movies, and I didn’t know this was a book until after I watched it, BUT THAT’S OKAY, I WANTED MY EMOTIONS TO BE CRUSHED. I’m pretty sure every movie with a Gruff Old Man helping out a Little Girl has gotten an A+ from me. IT’S MY WEAKNESS.

Gone Girl:

I can never sing enough praises about this movie! It still wins for the best book-to-movie adaptation I’ve seen so far. The cinematography was great, the casting was fantastic, and pretty much everything was faithful to the book as much as possible. And even if you haven’t read the book or don’t care about it, the movie stands well on its own. This is one of the few adaptations I think is equal to the books (even though I like the book a little bit more).

18. Is there a book you think never should have been published?

Nope! No matter what, I don’t think a book should not be published that already is. That starts to get into some censorship issues, and those are never really good.

19. Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks excluded?

No, unfortunately not. I don’t think I’d want to be hungry while reading a book, though, so that’s okay!

20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

Hm, I honestly don’t really HAVE a person, but I guess if I had to choose, it’d be one of my best bookish friends, Taylor! We met via Goodreads and have been friends ever since, and I don’t think I’ve met someone who’s as crazy for Sarah J. Maas as I am (and I can always whine and rant to her about anything, and she’ll 100% agree. TWINS).

And that’s it for this overly-long tag!

Hopefully, you enjoyed it! As you guys know, when I do a tag, I don’t specifically tag people; I leave it open for anyone who is reading this tag! So tag away!

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