The other day, I was visiting several new blogs from a thread that I was participating on Twitter. I ran into so many book tags! One of them was the Spring Has Sprung Book Tag. I found it on Foxes and Fairy Tales, but I don’t know where it originated. I traced it as far as Bookish Paige. Either way, spring is going to give way to summer soon (even though it snowed a little over a week ago) so I better do it now before I have to wait another year to do it.
1. Flowers
Look on your bookshelves. What is the most beautiful book both inside and out?
I loved Sky Without Stars. I adored the characters and the storyline, and the world was so unique – like revolutionary France in space. And the first printing (which I pre-ordered to make sure I got) has a beautiful foil crown embossed on the cover underneath the dust jacket. Even though I read the ARC, I made sure to pre-order the book and get the special first printing. I know this is a book I will reread (perhaps when the next book comes out).
2. Grass
What is a book that you find that others like way more than you do?
I know a lot of people liked Circe, and I thought the writing style was nice enough, but I know that a lot of people like this book way more than I did. I wasn’t particularly enamored with the main character. She wasn’t particularly intelligent and I just couldn’t identify with her motives. The book also didn’t seem to have this arc where I had to know what was happening next in the book. It seemed more like a collection of short stories about the same character than a novel.
3. Rain
What’s a great book that lifts your spirits when you’re down?
So far, I’ve only read Enchantée once, but I can see this as a book that I might want to read if I wasn’t feeling so good. This book seems to give me warm, fuzzy feelings, with hot air balloons and magical dresses and falling in love with cute boys. I loved it so much while reading it I seriously considered showing up late to work so I could finish it. With less than two weeks left of work now, I would call in late if I was reading it for the first time now.
4. Dew
What’s a book that made you feel alive?
I’m not exactly sure what the question is supposed to mean, but When Dimple Met Rishi was such a sweet, funny book, I couldn’t put it down. I was so glad that I read it, and I know I want to read more books by Sandhya Menon in the future.
This would probably be a good book to read during the summer (it takes place over the summer). I wonder if the sequel novella, As Kismet Would Have It, also takes place over the summer?
5. Storms
What’s a book that you found unpredictable?
There are lots of times that I find a book unpredictable. I definitely didn’t expect the ending of Storm and Fury, however. I think if I had read the series that comes before this one, I might have had some idea of what was going on, but even then, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have guessed what happened at the end. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series to find out what happens, whenever it happens to come out.
6. Rainbow
What was a book that you struggled with, only to be happy that you read it in the end?
Queen of Air and Darkness was a very long book. I loved the entire book, but the length started to get to me. It didn’t help that I literally read Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess, Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows pretty much back-to-back before getting to this book. They’re ALL long books. I suppose that by the time I got to this book, I was ready for something shorter. I’m all ready for Ghosts of the Shadow Market in June, but I know better than to read a lot of long books beforehand (and that one is only in the 600-page range anyway).
7. Chilly Weather
What’s a book that you couldn’t finish or didn’t enjoy?
I read Far Forest Scrolls Na Cearcaill as an ARC, and even though the story was okay, I really couldn’t get into it. It seemed like it needed a little more editing. There were amateurish pictures in the story and I just couldn’t mesh too much with the characters. The conversations seemed on the Middle Grade level when it was aimed at young adults. I was glad to finish this book so I could start reading something else. Sorry.
8. Warm Weather
What’s a book that you loved and wanted more of?
The Wicked King was one of those books that I couldn’t put down. I absolutely loved it. And oh the ending! How could Ms. Black leave us like that?! I’m happy that the release date for The Queen of Nothing was moved up from January to November (especially since Chain of Gold‘s release date changed from November to March). I’m looking forward to the release of these books that I have pre-ordered!
9. Green
What’s a book that you haven’t read yet, but really want to?
The cover reveal for Marie Lu’s Rebel was released a little over a week ago, and isn’t it pretty? I can’t wait to read it, but I have to wait until October first. At least I have several other amazing books to read beforehand (and I discovered that Legend is out in German, so I’ll probably try to tackle that one auf Deutsch before this one comes out). There’s a lot of great books coming out this year, but I think I’m most impatient for this one.
10. Pink
What’s a book in which you felt a strong connection to the characters?
I don’t think I’m a lot like Tris and Four, but I did feel a strong connection to the characters in Divergent. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I loved the book so much. It’s probably why I like to write in first person present a lot of the time now. This book was written in first person present tense, and I could really see the characters though their eyes in a way that I hadn’t seen before. And I absolutely loved it (until the end of Allegiant).
So there’s my contribution to the Spring Has Sprung book tag! I’m not big on tagging other people, but if you’d like to do it, please do so! I’d love to see what you came up with, so if you do this tag, please send me a link.