If You Liked This… | Book Tag

I love this tag, and if felt about time I got involved again. It’s simple: Pick a popular book and recommend a lesser-known title that it brings to mind. The idea is that, if you enjoyed one, you’ll likely enjoy the other as well. Let’s get started!

1. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell & House of Glass by Susan Fletcher

Do you like historical fiction set in creepy, haunted mansions? How about a thick, brooding atmosphere, a tangled web of secrets to unravel, and a resourceful female protagonist eager to get to the truth, whatever the cost? If so, you could do far worse than these gothic delights, both of which I loved.

2. The Pisces by Melissa Broder & Animals Eat Each Other by Elle Nash

The Pisces is undoubtedly polarising, and was easily one of the most controversial picks for this year’s Women’s Prize. I can see Animals Eat Each Other causing the same divide, as both books focus on a complex and not wholly likable heroine as she uses her body to seek validation and meaning, and to distract from her own self-loathing. Bold and unflinching, they really pack a punch.

3. Bird Box by Josh Malerman & The Silence by Tim Lebbon

The recent (not very good) film adaptation of The Silence drew inevitable comparisons to Bird Box, but Lebbon’s book stands as its own valid offering. Both are horror novels that use sensory deprivation to tap into our fear of the unknown. In Bird Box, people must blindfold themselves against a mysterious force, the sight of which causes instant insanity. In The Silence, the discovery of deadly prehistoric creatures that hunt using sound forces survivors to live in complete quiet.

4. XX by Angela Chadwick and The Growing Season by Helen Sedgwick

Both of these titles tackle the topical issue of reproductive rights, from a speculative, quasi-futuristic, yet highly plausible perspective. In the first, scientists have established a way for two women to conceive a child, using ovum-to-ovum fertilisation. In the latter, the development of artificial, external wombs allows anyone to carry a child. Gender equality, the pursuit of family, and the moral dilemma of scientific advancement are at the heart of both stories.

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I’ll leave it there for now, but will hopefully put together another of these posts sometime in the not too distant future. Since I wasn’t officially tagged this time around, I’ll leave it open to anyone who’d like to take part. Let me know if you do it, so I can check out your recommendations! And if any of the books I mentioned caught your eye, just click on the title and it will take you to Book Depository, where you can pick up a copy with free shipping. Huzzah!

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Favourite Book Quotes Tag

I was kindly tagged by Rachel (who you should definitely be following) to do the Favourite Book Quotes Tag.

Rules:
1. Mention the creator of the tag (Celine @Celinelingg).
2. Mention the blogger who tagged you.
3. List down 5 of your favourite book quotes along with the reasons.
4. Spread the love and tag some people to participate and connect! (There’s no limit in number, so have some fun and just tag!).

Being tagged for this made me realise how bad I actually am at keeping track of quotes I love, which is a shame. That said, here is a random selection of a few that have stayed with me, in no particular order. There are 6, because I had already picked them out before I realised we were supposed to choose 5, and I couldn’t decide which one to cut!  😛

1. The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni

“To remember is to rewrite. To photograph is to replace. The only reliable memories, I suppose, are the ones that have been forgotten. They are the dark rooms of the mind. Unopened, untouched, and uncorrupted.”

I love this because it’s a very interesting take on the notion of memory. Geni repeatedly likens it to her heroine’s work as a photographer, drawing parallels between retelling a story, and choosing what to frame when setting up a picture – both being valid means of altering the truth. It’s thus vitally important in understanding the character’s reliability as a narrator, with much of the book exploring the idea that storytelling is used as a means of protection from trauma.

2. All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan

“Martin Toppy is the son of a famous Traveller and the father of my unborn child. He’s seventeen, I’m thirty-three. I was his teacher. I’d have killed myself by now if I was brave enough. I don’t think it would hurt the baby. His little heart would stop with mine. He wouldn’t feel himself leaving one world of darkness for another, his spirit untangling itself from me.”

Talk about powerful opening lines that hook you straight away. This paragraph sets the tone perfectly for Ryan’s exhilaratingly stressful story about a brilliant and morally complex heroine.

3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

“I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine, and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”

This, in part, is representative of my love for Frankenstein in general. But I think it also establishes the often-overlooked complexity of the eponymous doctor’s creation, in a suitably eloquent and unsettling manner. It’s one of many instances in which Shelley asks us to ponder what really makes a monster.

4. The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

“When people are cruel it’s often said that they have no heart, only a cold space or lump of ice in their chest. This was never true of Avalon. She had no heart, everyone knew, but there was nothing cold about her. In her chest burned an enormous coal, white-hot, brighter than the North Star. North knew the truth about Avalon: she was made of fire, and she would burn them all.”

I’ve always loved this. It’s one of the most evocative descriptions of an antagonist I’ve read.

5. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

“The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.”

Daphne du Maurier, queen of atmosphere, doing what she does best. This is one of my favourite books of all time, so it had to feature on here in some shape or form.

6. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

“To many, I was myth incarnate, the embodiment of a most superb legend, a fairy tale. Some considered me a monster, a mutation. To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel. To my mother, I was everything. To my father, nothing at all. To my grandmother, I was a daily reminder of loves long lost. But I knew the truth—deep down, I always did. I was just a girl.”

I think this quote perfectly captures the dreamlike beauty and off-kilter magic of the novel, with its tone of wonder and pathos. Featured at the start of the book, it is also a good indicator of what lies ahead; a multi-generational family saga, plagued by loss, yet tinged with hope. I’m not a re-reader, but something about this book has really stayed with me, and I often feel compelled to return to it. Perhaps this is the year I will finally do so.

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I’ll stop there, as I’ve already surpassed the required number of 5, and I could easily get carried away. Thanks again to Rachel for tagging me! Since it’s taken me a while to get to it, and I’ve done a few tags recently, I’ll once again leave this open for anyone who hasn’t yet been tagged, but would like to get involved. Let me know if you do it so I can check out your chosen quotes!

Two Truths and a Lie Tag

I was kindly tagged by the lovely Sarah to do the Two Truths and a Lie tag. It looks like fun, and the rules are simple:

• Create a post with your two bookish truths and one bookish lie – but be sure to keep it a secret so your readers can guess!
• Reveal the lie in a spoiler at the bottom of your post.
• Tag 8 friends to play along.
• Link back to the original post so I can see all your secrets!

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So, here are my three bookish statements:

1. As a child, I made my way through the entire school library, Matilda-style.
2. Despite having re-read all the others, I’ve only read the last Harry Potter book once.
3. I write annotations in almost every book I read, to help when I’m writing reviews.

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Have you guessed which one is the lie yet?

Here comes the big reveal…

… Yes, that’s right, the lie was #3. I never write in my books, and most of them are still in pristine condition. And yes, that means I did read all the books in my Primary school’s library (#OnBrandFromTheStart). They actually moved me into the English class two years above, and started borrowing books from the nearest high school for me to read. Looking back, that was pretty damn accommodating and encouraging of them!

That also means that, yes, I have only read the last Harry Potter book once. I used to re-read the previous books in the build up to a new release, so I’ve read the earliest ones several times over, but I’ve yet to revisit book 7.

Thanks again to Sarah for tagging me! Since it’s taken me a while to get around to this, and I’ve got a few tags to catch up on, I’ll leave this open to anyone who’d like to give it a go. Let me know if you do it so I can try and spot your lie! 😉

The 80s Movie Tag | Book Tag

I was tagged by the lovely Jenna @ Bookmark Your Thoughts to do the 80s Movie Tag. It’s taken me a little while to get to it, but it looked like fun, so let’s just jump right in!

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street: A book that kept you up all night

I know I mention it all the time, but no book has managed to creep under my skin quite like Bird Box by Josh Malerman. And for the record, it’s so much better than the recent movie adaptation.

2. The Princess Bride: A wonderfully quotable book

Carrie Fisher is the queen of zingy one-liners that are hugely quotable, in both her fiction and non-fiction. Here are some examples, most of which are from her most famous memoir, Wishful Drinking, to illustrate my point:

“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

“It’s a man’s world and show business is a man’s meal, with women generously sprinkled through it like overqualified spice.”

“You know how they say that religion is the opiate of the masses? Well, I took masses of opiates religiously.”

“I’m a PEZ dispenser and I’m in the abnormal Psychology textbook. Who says you can’t have it all?”

“If my life wasn’t funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.”

“Sometimes you can only find Heaven by slowly backing away from Hell.”

“I’m very sane about how crazy I am.”

“Take your broken heart, make it into art.”

3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: A character who loves breaking the rules

Fred and George Weasley definitely come to mind for this!

4. When Harry Met Sally: A couple that took an eternity to get together

I genuinely can’t think of anything for this… I suppose that shows how rarely I reach for books with a prominent romance plotline.

5. Back to the Future: A book involving time travel

I’m going to pick one from my TBR for this: The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier. The idea of du Maurier combining her rich gothic atmosphere with time travel is intriguing to say the least.

6. Pretty in Pink: A character with a unique style

Sebastian from the graphic novel, The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang. He’s a member of the French aristocracy in the 19^th century, but with the help of a talented seamstress, he moonlights as Lady Crystallia, a sought-after fashion icon. It’s an incredibly charming story with heartfelt queer representation that never falls back on the use of labels.

7. The Karate Kid: Favourite book involving the training/mentoring trope

I’m not sure it’s necessarily my ‘favourite’ to feature this trope, but the first that came to mind is Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman – and it does utilise it unashamedly. It’s about a biracial teen with serious anxiety issues who moves away to escape a difficult homelife, and to pursue her love of art. She meets Hiroshi, who helps to nurture her artistic talents, whilst also helping her to make peace with her Asian ancestry. (Also, I’ll take any excuse to show off this cover.)

8. Die Hard: A book with a trip that doesn’t go as planned

In Final Girls by Riley Sager, the lead character went on holiday with five friends, and returned as the only survivor; the others having been brutally murdered in a slasher-like massacre. Saying things didn’t go as planned is quite the understatement.

9. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc: A book with the central character’s name in the title

Dolores Claiborne is an engrossing and poignant, yet suitably horrifying character study by Stephen King. The whole thing reads like an extended monologue, as Dolores attempts to clear her name of one murder, whilst confessing to another. She makes for a very compelling anti-heroine, and King uses her perspective to question whether murder can ever be justified.

10. Dirty Dancing: A female character who comes out of her shell

Clara from House of Glass by Susan Fletcher has lived a very sheltered life. Plagued by ill health and fragile bones, she has been kept indoors nearly all her childhood. When her mother dies, and her passion for botany gets her a job offer to establish a glass house at a remote country manor, she leaves home and starts making her way in the world for the first time. Her lack of social experience, coupled with a thirst for knowledge that comes from a youth spent reading, and a stubbornness against those who underestimate her, soon sees her drawn into a gothic mystery.

11. Top Gun: A death that took you by surprise

RIP Hedwig. Gone but never forgotten.

12. ET: An ending that left you both happy and sad

The first thing that came to mind was A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. The emotional payoff is so satisfying, but incredibly sad.

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There we have it! Thanks again to Jenna for tagging me. Since it’s taken me a while to get round to doing this, I’ll leave it open to anyone who fancies giving it a go.

Last 10 Books Tag

I saw this tag over on Kristin’s blog, and couldn’t resist giving it a go. You all know how these things work by now, so let’s just jump right in, shall we?

1. What was the last book you DNF?

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I almost never DNF a book, no matter how much of a slog it is. Thankfully, I pick up very few that I hate enough to want to DNF in the first place, but the last one I can remember being simply unable to suffer beyond the 100-page mark was Being a Beast by Charles Foster; a book of pretentious, self-serving waffle thinly veiled as nature writing.

2. Last book you reread?

I’m not often a big re-reader either. I have been gradually making my way through the Harry Potter series again, as and when the new illustrated editions come out, so it would either be The Prisoner of Azkaban, or else Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which I’m so glad I revisited in 2017, as it went on to become one of my very favourite books.

3. Last book you bought?

I’m very pleased with my new purchases!

Mercifully, after not visiting one for about a month (which might be a record for me), I was in a bookshop earlier today, and I more than made up for lost time. I bought The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge, and a couple of the new Faber Stories; Mr Salary by Sally Rooney, and Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath.

4. Last book you said you read but didn’t?

I don’t think I’ve ever done this, actually. Even back in my school days, I was always pretty good at getting through the required reading. If there was a really well-known book that I hadn’t read yet, but felt like I should have by now, I’d be far more likely to simply admit to it, in an attempt to shame myself into finally picking it up. *cough* Jane Eyre *cough*

5. Last book you wrote in the margins of?

I like to keep my books looking neat and tidy, so when I’m reading for pleasure, I don’t write on them. I can’t call to mind a specific title, but the last book I wrote in would have been a textbook of some kind whilst I was studying.

6. Last book you got signed?

I’ve only had two books signed during a face-to-face meeting with an author, and both were at a book fair years ago. The last book I purchased a pre-signed copy of was Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James, which is a beautiful book inside and out, and one I would recommend to any bookworm.

7. Last book you lost?

I can’t tell you how many times I read this when I was little, and how glad I am to still have it.

For a while, I thought I’d lost my very battered but much beloved copy of The School Cat, a children’s book that I adored when I was young. Thankfully, it has since resurfaced.

8. Last book you had to replace?

I like to collect a certain edition of Agatha Christie’s novels, and whilst ordering The Mysterious Affair at Styles online, I was sent the wrong copy three times by three different outlets. You better believe I returned each and tried again until I got the right one.

9. Last book you had an argument over?

The ‘disagreements’ I’ve had over books have luckily been few and far between. The most memorable incident is when a straight man (isn’t it always a straight man?) messaged me in response to my positive review of Jenni Fagan’s The Sunlight Pilgrims. He had evidently taken umbrage with the fact that there is a young trans girl in the novel, an element of the story which I felt was handled beautifully. He (as a straight man, don’t forget) proceeded to tell me what kind of representation gay/trans people do and don’t need in books. His main argument was that they should never be the main focus of a book, as most people are straight and cis, and therefore can’t possibly be expected to relate, and that a recent increase in queer rep had become ‘disproportionate’ to the number of actual queer people in the world. I politely explained that, on the contrary, he was simply an idiot.

10. Last book you couldn’t get a hold of?

Tying in nicely with an answer from earlier, I really want to try some of Mary Shelley’s short stories, but previous collections have become tricky to get hold of. Excitingly, I found a new bind-up of three of her gothic tales which is being published later this month by Alma Classics, under the title, Transformation.

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There we have it! Since I wasn’t tagged myself, I’ll leave this open to anyone who’d like to give it a go. Let me know if you do, so I can check out your answers!

My Good Reading Habits Tag

In contrast to the Bad Reading Habits Tag that has been floating around a lot recently, Ally decided to start up the Good Reading Habits Tag. We bookworms can be pretty hard on ourselves, constantly striving to read more, read faster, and read better, so I think it’s lovely that Ally is encouraging us all to take stock of what we think we do well when it comes to reading. She was also kind enough to tag me, so without further ado, let’s just get started.

Writing reviews quickly

One of my biggest bookish pet peeves is when you see a Goodreads review posted months or even years ago that simply says, ‘review to come’. To avoid being a hypocrite and ending up doing this myself, I don’t even mark a book as ‘finished’ until I have a review written and ready to go up. By proxy, this means I almost always write a review the same day I finish a book, if not the next day. In terms of staying on top of my reading, and not forgetting what I want to say about a particular read, I’m pretty happy with this habit.

Reading diversely

This is obviously entirely subjective, and something we can all constantly strive to improve, but I do think I read pretty diversely. By this, I mean both in terms of content (genre, representation, translated work, and suchlike), and form (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, short stories, graphic novels, etc.). As a reader, I think it’s good to push beyond your comfort zone, and to take on new perspectives, so I’m glad that reading broadly has become natural to me, rather than something I have to force myself to do.

Mood Reading

I love the idea of a physical TBR, and sometimes I do have a rough idea of books I’d like to get to sooner rather than later, but I’ve learned that I’m very much a mood reader by nature, and forcing myself to pick something up is never a good idea. I used to get stressed thinking that some books sit on my shelves for ages, whilst others are read as soon as I buy them, but as long as they’re all books I know I’ll get to eventually, I’ve since determined to simply read what I want, when I want.

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There we have it; a few of my good reading habits. Since this is an original tag just started up by Ally, it would be great to see lots of people getting involved, so if you’d like to talk us through some of your own good reading habits, consider yourself tagged!

Book Blogger Memory Challenge

I saw this challenge over on Rachel’s blog, and couldn’t resist giving it a go. The rules are simple: You must answer the questions without looking anything up on the internet, and without looking at your bookshelves! Let’s get started.

1. Name a book written by an author called Michael.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. I haven’t actually read this one yet, but I do own a very nice edition. I’m seeing the stage adaptation next year, and so I’ll hopefully pick it up before I go, so it’s fresh in my mind.

2. Name a book with a dragon on the cover.

Proof of dragon.

I was worried about this one for a second, because I don’t pick up a lot of fantasy, and Harry Potter felt like an easy way out, but then I remembered Franklin’s Flying Bookshop by Jen Campbell, with illustrations by Katie Harnett. This is a children’s picture book about a friendship between a young girl and a dragon, both of whom love to read.

3. Name a book about a character called George.

George by Alex Gino – it’s right there in the title! This is about a young trans girl, who is determined to both embrace and prove her true gender identity by landing the title role in her school’s production of Charlotte’s Web.

4. Name a book written by an author with the surname Smith.

Autumn by Ali Smith. This is the first instalment in Smith’s ongoing Seasonal Quartet. It’s the only book by her that I’ve read so far, but I’m hoping to pick up Winter next month, given that it’s set at Christmastime.

5. Name a book set in Australia.

The Bus on Thursday by Shirley Barrett. This one came to mind because I only very recently added it to my TBR, and I’m very excited about it. It seems to be something of a strange horror/comedy hybrid? Well, the tagline describes it as ‘Bridget Jones meets the Exorcist’ – and perhaps that will prove to be the mashup the world didn’t know it needed until now.

6. Name a book with the name of a month in the title.

The Mars Room? That really is pathetic, but I’m having such a mind blank, and Mars is French for March, so…

7. Name a book with a knife on the cover.

Proof of knife.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, which is book one in the Chaos Walking Trilogy. It’s set in a world populated only by men, where everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant, hectic mass known as Noise. When our hero stumbles upon an area of complete silence for the first time, he learns truths that upend his whole life.

8. Name a book with the word ‘one’ in the title.

I’m going to be very literal with this one and say… well, One by Sarah Crossan. This is a YA book, written in verse, about conjoined twins. It follows them as they come to terms with the reality that they may have to face life-threatening separation surgery.

9. Name a book with an eponymous title.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I know I mention this in tags/challenges all the time, but I adore it, and it’s genuinely the first book that came to mind for this prompt – aside from Harry Potter, obviously. I also think Rebecca is pretty interesting in comparison to other eponymous characters, when you consider how greatly her power and influence hang over the narrative, without her ever actually appearing in the book.

10. Name a book turned into a movie.

Proof of movie; which you should check out if you like very weird, very dark, visually gorgeous stuff; especially when it’s led by excellent women.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. Firstly, I think both the book and the film are hugely interesting and thought-provoking, and it’s a shame they don’t seem to be spoken about more often. Secondly, it’s one of the rare examples where I actually enjoyed the film more than the book, but both have really stayed with me.

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There we have it! I was going to pretend to gloat about coming up with an answer for every prompt, but then I remembered that I said The Mars Room, so never mind.

I wasn’t specifically tagged for this, so I’ll leave it open to anyone who’d like to give it a go. Let me know if you do so I can check out your answers!