THE RANDOM QUESTION TAG

(I'm so terribly behind on tags and what not.  Sorry!  Midterms are insane at the moment.  I'm going to try and catch up with everything this week.)

I was tagged by the lovely Gloria over at GloriaTheViolinist who has also answered these questions here. Be sure to check her out!  Thank you for the tag!  In this tag, I will be answering 18 random questions.

1. Have you ever thrown a book?
Yep.  And not only have I thrown a book, I've thrown my Kindle, too! (Onto my bed, but still.)

2. Do you like lengthy books or short books?
Depends on how engaging a story is, but in general succinct and straight-to-the-point books are great for me in literary fictions and longer, more descriptive books are better in fantasy.

3. If you don't like a book, do you stop reading it or finish it?
In general, I finish it because I'm probably going to deconstruct the heck out of it and have so much fun.  But there have been a few times where I just couldn't finish a book.  Most of the time, if I can't finish it, it's because there's no deeper meaning to be found that I could agree or disagree with.

4. Do you stop reading when you're tired or when a chapter finishes?
I stop reading when I pass out. I don't even close the book, I legit just pass out mid-sentence.
  
5. How do you organize your shelf?
By genre.

6. Paperback or Hardcover?
Paperback.  Cheaper, easier to read and I love writing in the margins.

7. What book can you not wait to read?
Anything for fun.  Uni is sucking out my soul.

8. A book you wish could be turned into a graphic novel?
Not sure I want any of them to be... unless it's done by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.  Maybe Good Omens.  Does that already exist? 

9. A book that disappointed you?
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas and Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas.  Literally for the exact same reason.

10. What book made you cry recently?
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.  It's her account of being a slave and there's a part where she teaches another slave to read so that he could read the Bible.  I'm not even a Christian, but his will to learn and devotion to God were so beautiful to read about that I just started tearing up.  To love something so strongly is beautiful.

11. Do you prefer buying books online or going to the bookstore?
Going to the bookstore.  It's like coming home.

12. Do you prefer to listen to music while reading or to read in silence?
Read in silence.  I wish I could listen to music while I read, but I'm too easily distracted.

13. What is the weirdest thing you've ever experienced while reading a book?
Not sure I've ever experienced anything weird... but I did read in the Louvre, right outside the Mona Lisa.  -toots horn-

14. What was your first fandom?
Kingdom Hearts!

15. What fictional character do you relate to the most?
Lizzie Bennett and Lydia Bennett.  Lizzie because I'm bold (maybe too bold), enjoy talking with people and being witty and can handle myself.  Lydia because I can be quite silly and ridiculous, but I have the advantage of having good parents.  Honestly, if Lydia had had parents that actually cared about her and took care of her, she would not have turned out as she did.  I really think Mr. Bennett is one of the worst literary parents of all time.

16. What fictional character do you wish you were more like?
I like myself as I am, to be honest, lol.  I do wish I had Tyrion Lannister's eye for strategy, though.  I bet he's good at math.  I wish I were good at math. *sighs deeply*

17. If you could spend a whole day with five characters, who would you pick?
Tyrion Lannister,  Frederick Douglass (he counts because he wrote a book about himself so he made himself a character), Harriet Jacobs, Keenan and Seth from Wicked Lovely.

18. What is a book that exceeded all of your expectations?
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  Wow, what a seriously beautiful book!

I'm not sure who has done this tag, so I'm hesitantly tagging:

Morrighan @ Elysian Fields

Ana @ Tara! Let's be happy

Noelia @ A Day in Bookland

Lola @ Hit or Miss Books

Giselle @ Perks of Being Readers

The Misses @ Fangirling Misses

DOCTOR WHO BOOK TAG

I was tagged by the lovely Ivy over at IvAnReads.  Be sure to check out her video and fabulous BookTube channel!  Thank you so much for the tag, Ivy. :) 

This tag was originally created by Novels and Nonsense.  The gist of this tag is that you must relate one book to one Doctor. 


First Doctor: What is your favorite first book in a series?
I'm going to go with the first of Melissa Marr's beautiful faery series, Wicked Lovely.  I hold such a happy place in my heart for this book.  It's what finally rekindled my love of faeries.  There is a lot of betrayal, faery politics and underhanded doings going on, so I do understand that it's not for everyone - but I loved it.







 
Second Doctor:  What is your favorite sequel?

The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley.  Even though technically this book was written first, the events that take place happen after The Hero and the Crown (one of my favorite novels of all time) and it can also be read as a stand-alone.  I recommend this to any fantasy lover.







Third Doctor: What is your favorite trilogy?

This is actually really hard to answer as I tend to steer clear of trilogies, or to just never finish them.  That being said, I was deeply effected by Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices trilogy.  I liked the first book, hated the second, but fell in love with the third.  So, quite an interesting reading experience!

Fourth Doctor: What is your most colorful book?

Well... the majority of the books I own in physical copy are either literary fiction or classics, which don't exactly scream "colorful," but I do think that Like Water for Chocolate has a really vibrant and fun cover.  It's also an amazing book that I'll be doing a review on soon.







Fifth Doctor: What is a book about sports that you've read?

Unfortunately, I haven't.  I just scanned my read books and came up totally blank.  I know it's grasping at straws, but... Harry Potter has Quidditch. It takes up a good amount of his time.  Does it count?  Can anyone recommend me a good book about sports?







Sixth Doctor: What is a book with a really powerful evil villain that you've read?

A Game of Thrones.  Joffrey.  Need I saw more?
(Yes, I do, because nasty Ramsay Snow, too.  Ugh.)







Seventh Doctor: What is your favorite adult or dark book?

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is probably one of the most heart-wrenching, heart-breaking, tear-jerking books I've ever read in my entire life.  But it's such an important story to tell.







Eight Doctor: What is your favorite romance (or romantic) novel?

The Fire Lord's Lover by Kathryne Kennedy.  Really.  I know I've mentioned this before, but I just can't help myself.  This book is just perfect and sweet and sassy and all good things.

War Doctor: What is a book you wish you could forget you ever read?

Unpopular opinion time, but I absolutely hated Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas.  I tolerated Throne of Glass and am currently trekking through Heir of Fire, but I think it's time for me to admit that I seriously just don't like these books.







Ninth Doctor: What is a book that made you pick up a series or genre again?

Another book I've mentioned before... Gone Girl!  I used to love reading mystery novels when I was in high school and just sort of fell out of it.  Gone Girl reignited that desire and added a new desire to read more psychological thrillers.







Tenth Doctor: What is your favorite super-hyped book?

City of Bones!  I know that this book is not a perfect book and even I became disenchanted with the series after the fourth book, but those first three books - back when it was going to be a trilogy - were so much fun.









Eleventh Doctor: What is your favorite children's (or middle grade) novel?

A Little Princess.  This book was my favorite book growing up and also turned into one of my favorite movies.  I have such fond memories of read this and I believe this is where my love of India stemmed from.







Twelfth Doctor: What new release are you anticipating?

The Winds of Winter by George R.R. Martin.  I don't even think this bad boy has a release date yet, but I desperately need it in my life!

 

 

 

 

I tag:

 

Martika @ Fangirl Confessions

Lola @ Hit or Miss Books

Gloria @ GloriatheViolinist

BOOK REVIEW | Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

5 squealing stars.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell follows the story of Cather Avery, a 18-year-old college freshman hailing from Omaha, Nebraska who is obsessed with a franchise called Simon Snow. (Think Harry Potter.*) Cather is a twin who was raised by a mentally unstable father and an absent mother, and suffers from anxiety. She finds solace, comfort and acceptance in the world of Simon Snow, but has sort of forgotten how to live in her own.

When I was younger, I loved writing fanfiction. I never "fangirled" over books (that would happen when I was older and started reading Game of Thrones...) but I fangirled like craxy over video games. My fanfictions were various stories using the characters from franchises like Kingdom Hearts, FFX, FFVII, most of the Final Fantasies... and even a few anime, like Sailor Moon. But then I got older and my fangirl tendencies seemed to have faded away. (For the most part. Damn you, George R. R. Martin.) (Just kidding, I love you.)

That being said, I really couldn't identify with Cather. She is reclusive, scared and avoids nearly all human contact, which is about as opposite of me as it gets. To be honest, when the book first began, I was afraid I was going to end up disliking the novel because I couldn't get over how clingy she was. However, Rainbow Rowell has a gift. Not only did I get over Cath's imperfections, I ended up really liking her, even before she began to open her eyes to the real world.  This speaks wonders about the author, because she was able to create a sense of empathy in me for a character that I originally found irritating.

Cath somehow got me rooting for her. I wanted her to go out and have fun with her room mate. I wanted her to be a regular 18-year-old girl and not have to worry about her possibly-alcoholic twin, disappearing-and-now-reappearing mother and her wonderful-but-sadly-disturbed father.  I became invested in her problems and her terrible coping skills.

Watching Cath grow was fulfilling. When she finally began going out with her room mate, Reagan (who was a hilarious and very real character), and starting her own romance with Levi (a sweet, adorable 21-year-old with the patience of a saint), I felt really satisfied as a reader. Rowell gently led into Cath's growth and I felt like I was growing with her. Of course she still did things I didn't understand (like hold a kiss over Levi's head for three months... get over yourself, girl), but by then I understood her so thoroughly that it made sense.

Cath also grows as a writer. As her personal world is broadened from the world of Simon Snow to her own, she realizes the endless possibilities that she could write. About herself. About her world. That was a great metaphor for how she had finally accepted her reality.  She grows as a writer as she grows as a young adult, subtly yet powerfully.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book. The characters were so fleshed out and real that I felt like I was reading a book about my own friends. Rainbow Rowell, next to having a fantastic name, has a fantastic writing style that is easy to read, easy to relate to and funny.

* There is mention of Harry Potter in this book, which sort of confused me. She set up Simon Snow as the Harry Potter of that universe and then threw in HP randomly... I sort of wish that had been edited out. I don't understand the reasoning for that inclusion