Tag: The Bookshelf Tour

The ever lovely Liz @ Out of Coffee, Out of Mind has tagged me for a thing. (I know, I know, I'm so descriptive.) So allons-y, jabberwockies!

1) A short but powerful book.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.


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Can you get more powerful? This book puts the word "forbidden" in "forbidden friendships" and honestly, to be able to see the Second World War through the eyes of an eight-year-old is beyond powerful. Plus, I sobbed during the movie. (As my poor sister will remember with great clarity. (I honestly think she's scared of me now.))

2) A good, long book. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.


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I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but whenever I read this book I have to lock myself in the bathroom and cry because honestly, it's so beautiful. Using the power of words to bring people together, hoping when no hope could be found, to believe in the common good of every human being and cling to each other in difficult times. *sobs*

3) Favourite classic (on your shelf).

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.


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Honestly, I love Bilbo and his fantastic journey. He's just a guy who'd rather sit by the fire, and he turns out to be so much more. (It may or may not remind me of anyone in particular... *cough* me *cough*)

4) A relatively obscure book. 

The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf by Gerald Morris. 


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I LOVE this book. It's absolutely hilarious (at one point they discuss the proper way to use "cloven" (cleaved?) during a sword fight to the death) and the characters are fantastic, and I've never really heard of it anywhere else before. 

5) An underrated book. 

Dragonskin Slippers by Jessica Day George. 


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This is like the cleanest, cutest fantasy book ever with a great female lead, an extremely cute prince (coming from me, by the way, who throws the book across the room if the narrator mentions the love interest's abs) and dragons with lots of personality and stained glass windows and gorgeous ballgowns. 

6) An overrated book. 

I'm going to say Insurgent and Allegiant (I know, I'm cheating) but not Divergent by Veronica Roth. 


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I adored Divergent. It was a quick read, the pacing was fantastic and the world building was amazing. But I just kinda got lost during the next two books (ALTHOUGH I APPROVE OF ALLEGIANT'S ENDING, BY THE WAY, DESPITE EVERYONE HATING IT) which was too bad. 

7) Most reread book. 

Artemis Fowl The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer. 


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Who saw this one coming? (Basically Eoin Colfer is the most amazingest author ever and is my greatest inspiration. If you haven't read his books yet, go do so immediately.)

8) Of all the books you own, how many have you not read? 

Eighteen (excluding the dictionary for obvious reasons). That's 5.3% of my collection. Not bad, huh? 

9) A book you haven't read. 

The Sorcerer Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. 


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I read the first three books in the trilogy (which were top-notch, by the way), then noticed this book at the store and bought it. Little did I realise it was book #5, not #4 so now I have to get around to tracking down the fourth book before I can read this one. 

10) A short story collection. 

All of my American Girls books. 


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They were basically my childhood. 

11) A non-fiction book. 

Mud, Sweat and Tears by Bear Grylls. 


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This was actually a fantastic book. His story was so interesting and to hear this amazing story from a Christian perspective (which wasn't a huge part of the book, but it was there) was really great. 

12) A book (the physical copy, not the story itself) that has an interesting story behind it. 

Trapped in Ice by Eric Walters.


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So I may or may not have been reading this in the bathtub when I was like twelve and dropped it in. (Oops.) I had to spread it out over the floor vent to dry it out. (Also, he's my favourite Canadian author so I was just a little bit sad. (Sorry, Mr. Walters. I didn't drop your book on purpose, I swear it just slipped out of my fingers.))

And I'm pretty sure Liz tagged pretty much everyone, so I'll just put a blanket tag out there for you to do as you desire. Pop the link in the comments if you end up doing it, and I'll check it out!

Have you ever dropped a book in the tub before? Have you ever bought the wrong book in a series? What did you think of Allegiant's ending? 

Comments

  1. Tags like this are always so much fun. It was interesting to see what you picked!

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    1. I really enjoyed doing it :) Thanks for commenting!

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  3. I liked the The Book Thief quite a lot but The Boy in Striped Pyjamas was confusing for me when I was 12.

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    1. The Book Thief was amazing! Maybe if you read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas again now? Thanks for commenting!

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  4. Yes! The Book Thief is fantastic! Love that book so much. :D

    I read The Boy in Striped Pajamas month or two ago. It's so good! It was a really different take perspective-wise and it was done very well.

    The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, huh? I haven't heard of it, but I already like the title. If I see it around, I definitely pick it up!

    Awesome post!

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    1. I think everyone should be forced to read The Book Thief at one point or another, it's just so fantastic.

      Yeah, I was really impressed with how well the author handled the perspective issue thing.

      It was very, very good! The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf is actually the third book in the series, but you don't have to have read the first two to understand what's going on. It's very King Arthur and just awesome.

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  5. I've only dropped a couple of books in the bath, they were Chinese Cinderella by Adeleine Men Yeh and Celandine by Steve Asgard (did you ever read either of those? Absolute stand-outs from when I was about 10), but I was very young (aka 10) and had not developed into the bath reading QUEEN you (virtually) see before you today.

    I much preferred Divergent to the next two but I can't honestly say if it was actually a better book or if I just grew out of the series as they came out. I did NOT like Allegiant's ending, whilst I'm mostly all up for that kinda thing I felt it most unnecessary. ~lifts head self-righteously~

    CAnnot believe I've only read TBT once?? I'm gonna reread this summer, I think. It has to happen. It just has to.

    Also, EIGHTEEN UNREAD BOOKS?! I have over 100, if not 150 ... ~presses face to rainy windowpane~

    ALSO I read four more chapters of Formulas today! I'm loving it! I've developed quite a complicated colour coded comment system XD (I don't know how helpful my comments are, though. Lots of them are just me making jokes (I'm hilarious ... not), or sassing Jacob, or apologising for sassing Jacob. Oops.) But yes I'm loving it <3

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    1. I'm seriously interested in that Chinese Cinderella one, I'll have to track it down. I'm pretty sure Cinderella has Chinese roots, is that like the original fairy tale? *high fives* I'm glad you've improved the vital skill of bath reading. *salutes*

      YOU MUST. When I reread it, I read it in like 3 days which considering the size is pretty good. I just couldn't put it down.

      But at least you have lots of stuff to read! I'm going to run out here, shortly. I DON'T KNOW HOW I'LL SURVIVE.

      Thank you so much for the updates!!! And well, I don't think you could be a writer and not have a complicated colour coded comment system, let's be honest here. Why would you sass Jacob?!?!?! He is my precious baby who has no clue what he's doing (even though he likes to pretend that he does)!! And I can't wait to read your book (when you've finished it)!!

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  6. I think it's funny that The Lost Colony is the book you've read the most just because that book always amuses me a little bit. My mom bought me the Artemis Fowl books 2-5 for one of my birthdays and I didn't know which one was the first one, so I just started reading The Lost Colony. I stopped quickly when I realized I had no idea what was going on and found the real one, but I've always had a certain fondness for #5 anyway. :)

    I also read American Girl books when I was a kid... They were never my favorite, but I liked Josephina a lot, and Felicity.

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    1. Ha, that's great!! I'd imagine you'd be pretty confused starting at book #5 :P I think I like it the most because it's the first time Artemis is truly a good guy, even though we saw hints of it in earlier books. It's a great character development for him.

      Felicity was my favourite :) I also loved Kit, she was pretty cool. Can't say I was a huge Josephina fan, unfortunately. I think I just didn't connect with her very much :/

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  7. I too was a fan of Allegiant's ending, though I thought it wasn't necessarily executed as well as it could have been (you may slap me for that pun, it's okay). But yeah, the meat of both Insurgent and Allegiant just didn't do as much for me, which was sad because I looooooovvvveeed Divergent.

    I'm also a hobbit. I would MUCH rather stay home and read than go on any sort of adventures, thank you very much. And when I do come out of my shell and do adventurous things, I always reward myself with more reading time because, yeah...

    Oh my goodness, there are so few book that make me cry, but The Book Thief made me ugly cry, and when I tried to reread it a few years ago I just couldn't because I wasn't ready to cry like that again. But I'm planning to reread it this year.

    Thank you for doing the tag! I really enjoyed reading your answers! :D

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    1. Too soon, Liz, too soon. (Although it was pretty funny, which makes me question my sense of humour.) To be honest, I don't 100% remember the ending, it's been a few years since I've read it but I remember that I thought it was a good ending. So there's that. Divergent was so amazing! I loved it to death but like you the next two books just didn't do it for me.

      Being a hobbit is awesome. Although when Gandalf finally does drag me out, I find that I really enjoy having adventures. (Although I must always return home for a good book.)

      I don't even know how The Book Thief is so sad. I wish I could write half as well as him.

      Thanks for reading/commenting, Liz!

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