Today is Easter Monday and here in the UK that means it’s a bank holiday.  I found this short book tag on Tea Party Princess and thought it would be fun to give it a go! 🙂  As with all tags, if you want to do this one, regardless of whether it’s a bank holiday or not, please do, and don’t forget to tag me so I can see your answers and we can compare. 🙂  Now, on to the questions…

Have a lie in. Which book could you lounge in bed with all morning?

I fell in love with the Twin Daggers duology by MarcyKate Connolly last year and I would love to spend the day in bed re-reading it!  The First book Twin Daggers really pulled me into the fantasy world the book is set in, a world between magi and technocrats.  Every moment of the story was so engrossing and drew me into the world, I just didn’t want it to finish and loved the sequel Heartless Heirs when it came out.  I could re-read those two books forever! 🙂

Oh my goodness, it’s actually sunny outside! A book that makes you feel optimistic.

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch is such a feel-good story!  It’s a YA romance that is set in Italy, Tuscany, where Lina travels goes to fulfill her mother’s dying wish.  Lina goes to spend time with and get to know her father, but I love how this story is more than just that and Lina experiences romance and discovers the mystery of her mother’s past.  The setting just makes me want to go there, and the story itself is just the perfect feel-good story. 🙂

Spend some time outdoors. A book that reminds you of nature.

For me it takes a story about fairy folk to remind me of the outdoors and nature.  I absolutely love the Eventyr series by Ellias Quinn, I’ve read the first book Eventyr, and the second Elders of Eventyr and both books do a good job of reminding you of nature.  There characters, being fairies, are tiny and so everything in their world is big, including flowers and trees. Little creatures like beetles end up pulling heavy things, acting like horses in our world, and I just love how interesting the story is too following Matil and two different fairies she meets as she tries to remember who she is and where she came from.  It’s a series I can’t wait to read more of and the perfect reminder of how beautiful and amazing nature is.

Make some punch. A book that you find difficult to classify into one genre.

A Clockwork River by J. S. Emery is so much more than a simple steampunk style novel.  For a start the book was advertised as technically being hydropunk, meaning it’s a historical sci-fi genre based around the Victorian era, but rather than being set at the time of steam power, the story instead focuses on the River Rhumb and the power of the water of the river that provides life to the city of Lower Rhumbsford.  The story itself is so brilliant and at over 700 pages it really draws you into the action, following multiple characters and the adventures they all go through.  However this book is also very funny, written in such a unique way that it feels like a bit of a comedy, with mad capers happening, as well as feeling like an old-fashioned story that’s told by a narrator who’s very much another character in the story.  It’s one of my favourite books I’ve ever read and definitely a unique and memorable read, if you can face getting through the 726 pages!

Pass some food around. A book you want to share with everyone.

Ashes by Christopher de Vinck is a powerful historical fiction story that I would want everyone to read.  The story follows Simone and her best friend Hava as they try to escape the Nazi forces that invade Belgium during the second world war.  The story itself is good, both with happy and sad parts.  But it’s a brilliant book to read as it actually gives quite a good insight into what was happening during the war, snippets of real life speeches and stuff that let you know just how bad the Nazis were and the way they thought and treated others.  It’s informaion you don’t often hear when reading about history, and coupled with the story which is based around the author’s family, it’s a brilliant read and one I hope everyone will pick up!

Light the BBQ. A book that took a while to get going.

One book that took me a long time to really get into was The Cruelty by Scott Bergstrom.  The book took me over 100 pages before I realised why people liked it so much. 😮  It follows Gwendolyn, whose father ends up being kidnapped and she learns more about who he is and tries to find him.  The story felt difficult to get into at first as it just felt a little unrealistic, like a sudden close relationship with a boy she just met at school, or the actual adventure and mission Gwendolyn goes on.  I do have to say though, that after persevering though, I found the book’s thriller aspect began and it made the story so exciting, almost like a movie!

Failed BBQ. A book that ultimately disappointed you.

The Forevers by Chris Whitaker is still one I think of when I think about books that disappointed me.  Most of the YA books I read I love, and with a blurb about a potential apocalypse, the inevitable end of the world from an asteroid hitting Earth and following some teens living in the UK and what happens in the last 30 days leading up to the end.  Some teens are already dying and we don’t know why, so it sounded like the pefect story for me.  But the writing felt all over the place, scenes moving on too fast and I just could never connect to the characters as well as I had hoped.  It’s a shame as fast-paced novels are my preference to slower ones but this was almost too fast and was so difficult to get into and just fell flat for me.

It’s raining. Of course. A book to curl up with when it’s raining outside.

I do like feeling cosy at home, especially when the weather is dark and depressing.  Rainy weather though sometimes makes me want to read something a little darker and I would love to read Odriel’s Heirs by Haley Reese Chow or Marrow Charm by Kristin Jacques again while it’s raining, or another book which is a little darker but which is also a good read with a great ending.  I don’t know why I like to read creepy stories during rain storms, but I also like playing eerie videogames when it’s raining too, lol!

Let’s just eat the chocolate. A book that’s super sweet.

Any book featuring animals will be super sweet to me and one that still is in my mind whenever I think of sweet tales is The Dog who Lost His Bark by Eoin Colfer P.J. Lynch.  It’s a children’s story about a dog who has a bad start to life and the boy who helps him, and in turn who is helped by the dog.  The book is filled with these amazing and beautiful pencil illustrations and they are so realistic and make the dog look so cute.  The book will definitely make you smile so much after reading it, and it might also make you want to get a dog if you haven’t got one yet, lol!

 

Well, there are my answers and I hope you liked this tag and will consider doing it yourself.  Let me know what you answers are by tagging me and also putting the link to you blog post in the comments below or just tell me what you would answer to these questions if you don’t feel like doing your own post. 🙂  Happy bank holiday! 🙂

What do you think of this book tag?  What would your answers be?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂