This week for 'Tag Time', I am going with more of a general tag about books, as you can see. I've done some more specific tags over the last few weeks, so I thought I would slow it down a bit with some simple bookish questions. This tag was created by A Books Neverland, so all credit goes to them.
Here we go!
HOW MANY BOOKS DO YOU CURRENTLY OWN?
I have said before that I do not have the most extensive bookshelf ever as I only read ebooks and audiobooks, and pretty much all of the books I currently own I have had since I was a child, or are my textbooks from University. I definitely have more textbooks than books on my shelf, seeing as I was a double history major and thus had a lot to read. I would say, without actually going and counting, I have at least 40 textbooks. As for books, I have considerably less, probably counting around 30.
I would like to someday do a little tour of my tiny bookshelf, because why not?
CHOOSE A COUPLE BOOKS YOU READ BUT DIDN'T ENJOY
When I don't like a book I make it pretty obvious in my review as it tends to become a bit of a rant. Let's start with the very first book I reviewed on this blog - Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. I was excited to read this because it was a historical fiction/archaeological mystery. Unfortunately for me, it was over 500 pages worth of wasted time because barely anything happened in it which was a huge disappointment. On the bright side, I read this while on the road during my trip of the east coast of Canada, so I had some good scenery at least.
Another book I didn't enjoy was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This made me realize that while I love history, books centered around the World Wars were really not for me. I just don't really fancy reading them because I know that because of the subject matter it is going to be a hard read, and I don't particularly want to be in emotional distress while reading. I also didn't feel any connection to the story or the characters either which didn't help.
Finally, we have Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. The second book in the All Souls Trilogy, I had my issues with the first book but my enjoyment plummeted exponentially when I read this one. The plot just took a left turn for me and it wasn't able to distract me from how much I disliked the main characters. The third and final book was a bit better but, honestly, the series just wasn't able to pick itself back up after the minor disaster that was this book.
A COVER BUY
I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover. A rule that many people live by, but when it comes to actual books, I am not one of those people. I am someone who 100% picks up books based on the cover, so when I see a pretty cover, I am way more likely to read the synopsis and pick it up to see if what is on the inside is as good as the outside. Especially when that book is blue like Below, as you can see above, as it is my favourite colour. Even if I don't think the plot is for me, the pretty cover is enough to give it a shot.
A BOOK YOU OWN BUT HATE THE COVER OF
Look, I love SJM, and I don't mind cover changes, but this just wasn't it. The mask by itself is rather intricate, but the colour combination of the orange/brown and the grey background just doesn't work. Gray is just not a pretty colour to have as a background in the first place as it makes it seem rather dull and doesn't catch the eye. It is also a case where a more minimalistic style just doesn't work.
A BOOK YOU HAVEN'T READ IN YEARS
Let's go with a book that was all the rage back when I was in elementary school. I loved Twilight enough to re-read the series several times, but I haven't picked it up since. That means that I haven't read this in over a decade now, but I am planning a post where I pick the series back up to see if it still stands.
A BOOK YOU WILL ALWAYS RECOMMEND
I've sung praises about the same books over and over again, and for good reasons since they were amazing. In order to not repeat myself, I am going to recommend a webcomic that I don't talk about enough. That would be Distant Sky (specifically Seasons 1 and 2), a horror webtoon by Inwan Youn and Sunhee Kim.
A boy wakes up alone to a city in darkness with dead bodies all over the place. There were moments that sent chills down my spine, which doesn't really happen to me all that often. The quality went down the more you go on, but the initial seasons were so worth it. They are currently updating all season to make it free to read, so there's really nothing to lose here.
ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOK SERIES
I am way too indecisive to pick a favourite series even though I haven't fully read many. The Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown will always be a soft spot for me as well as any Sarah J. Maas series. I would also say the Demon Slayer manga as well. It was a bit slow on the uptake, but the further I went into the series the more blown away I was.
THE LAST TWO BOOKS I GAVE 5 STARS AND WHY
I very rarely give out a 5 star rating. For some reason, I need to feel a specific connection with a book in order to give it that rating even when I really loved a book. A lot of the things that I gave this rating to were manga or webcomics or books that I already mentioned above. I have read some webcomics and manga recently that came extremely close to being 5 stars, or were 5 stars at heart but I have issues giving things that high of a rating (like Tokyo Revengers for example).
The only books that I gave a full rating to were: The House in the Cerulean Sea, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, and Daughter of the Pirate King. Take with that what you will about my reading tastes.
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