book tag – Abi of Pellinor

End of the Year Book Tag

The lovely Turn Another Page tagged me in this so please go and check out their blog post here!

Questions

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

Yes!! I started War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and I’m actually hoping to have that finished before the end of the month!

Do you have an autumnal book to transition you into the end of the year?

Nope. I don’t do transitional books or seasonal reading really (other than the occasional spooky/Christmas book) so my reading is essentially the same. (although I am looking to read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for the first time in October)

Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

I’m not the biggest watcher of new releases so no!

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

The Sword of Light by Caroline Logan, The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna, and Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year?

So many! I’m hoping that A Song of Wraiths and Ruin or Black Sun (two books that are going to be on my October TBR) come out as five star reads for me!

Have you already started making reading plans for 2022?

Kind of? Nothing concrete, but I know I want to continue down some paths I started this year. My life is going to be so different in the new year to what it is now that it feels silly to plan until things are a little more settled down!!

And that’s the tag! I’m going to tag Eustea Reads to take part in this one, as well as Books At The Wyrmberg and I hope you both enjoy playing along!

The Anti Hype Tag

Pablo Suarez created the Anti Hype tag and I just knew I had to play along!! Check out his original video here!

As always, this is a sneak peek an hour before my video goes live on my channel! 🤫

It was really fun to chat about the books that I love that I don’t feel get enough attention!

Do you guys read only hyped books? Only unhyped books? Let me know!!

The Pride and Prejudice Book Tag

I found this tag on Elaine’s page (check out her post here!) and now that I’ve finally read this book I thought it would be really fun to do this!

A few little pleasantries:

Thank those who tagged you.
Link back to the creator of the tag (Emma @TurnAnotherPage)
Tag as many people as you want
Have fun!!

The Bennet Sisters: A Mixed Bag
A book or series with an eclectic cast of characters

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy!! This is a looooong series that I’m reread this year and I still adore it! It’s so fun, filled with quips, magic and fighting scenes growing from Middle Grade to Young Adult as the series goes on. Not enough people on the internet read this series!

Charlotte Lucas: The Best Friend
A dependable book/series, tv show or film you can always turn to

I was pretty tempted to use Skulduggery for this answer as well. But instead I’ll turn to screens for my answer. I don’t watch a lot of tv or films, but Elementary and Doctor Who are staples for me. And the Narnia movies, as well as the MCU, are ones I’ll always love!

Mr Darcy: The Unexpected Surprise
A book or series that you didn’t originally like but grew to love.

Immediately The Crow by Alison Croggon, the 3rd book in the Pellinor series, comes to mind. It was my least favourite as a teen when I first read the books, and I would reread the others all the time but I barely went back to this one. I went back to it at the end of 2020 and I discovered that I actually really love it now! It’s such a beautiful book and I’m so glad that I’ve changed my mind!

Lady Catherine de Bourg: The Intimidating Aristocrat
A book or series that intimidates you

The Centuries Trilogy by Ken Follett! For some reason I own all three massive books in hardback, even though I’ve never finish a Follett book in my life. They’re all at least 800 pages, all historical fiction, and they’re all probably going to be on my tbr for a while…

Mr Bingley: Honest Yet Easily Led
A character you think deserves a lot of love

Why do I never hear people talking about Pierre from War and Peace? (or Natasha but I’ll stick to just one character for now) He gets so much character development through the book and I know that War and Peace is a chunky one (understatement of the year) but it’s also a really well known classic so I would’ve thought we’d hear more about some of its characters!

Mr Collins: Awkward and a little socially inept.
What hyped or popular book/series have you not yet read?

There are so many books that I could put here! I’m going to go with The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty. The Daevabad Trilogy sounds like an amazing fantasy series that I really need to get my teeth into! I’ve just gotta buy it first 😂

The Gardiners: Steady Voices of Reason
A character from any book, film, or tv series that you would turn to for advice

Nana Jasmine from the Noughts & Crosses series by Malorie Blackman. But only by the third book. She starts off having to deal with a lot of internal demons but by the third book in this series, without giving any spoilers, she is 100% the person I would turn to first with any question I had.

Mr Wickham: The Deceiver
A book that did not reach your expectations

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. I’m not sure what I had been expecting from this book, but it certainly wasn’t two privileged people complaining about their lives with barely a plot to sustain it. Such a disappointment.

Georgiana Darcy: Shy and Naive but Friendly
An under-hyped or represented book that you really love

Okay we all know I have a million and one different books and series I could recommend here! I do read hyped books, but I also read a lot of underhyped ones! The Legends of the Godkissed Continent by AB Endacott is an interwoven series which covers all four countries in this fantasy world

Colonel Foster’s Regiment: Sure to liven up any party!
What book or series would you always recommend?

Surely this is the easy one? It’s got to be the Pellinor series by Alison Croggon! Especially after rereading it at the end of 2020 it really solidified my love for the story and I want more people to pick it up!

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Opposite Titles Challenge!

I saw this floating around on Instagram (@lu.cyreads specifically) and thought that this would be fun! Book titles that are complete and utter opposites of one another! To steal one from Lucy’s post as an example: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare, and The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter. You get the idea?

So I’ve been scrounging my goodreads shelves, and here are 3 opposites that I could find!

Holes by Louis Sachar

The Ascent of Everest by John Hunt

Death Bringer by Derek Landy

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

a place called perfect

The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket

What do you think? Are these opposite enough? It’s surprisingly tough to do! Please do try out the tag, it’s so fun!!

The Outstanding Blogger Award

The wonderful Elaine Howlin tagged me back in 2020 to do this tag and I am far too late to properly take part. Within 2020 every blog that ping-backs the creators original post would be entered to win the Outstanding Blogger Award. Now of course I’ve passed this but that doesn’t mean I can’t do the questions!!

The Rules

Link to the creators original post

Answer the questions provided

There were also other rules about making questions and tagging people but that’s a bit redundant now, so let’s get to the questions Elaine wrote!

What book do you always recommend to people?

I think that we all know this is the Pellinor series! It’s a great high fantasy Young Adult series and of course it has an important place in my heart. Other than that I tend to try and make my recommendations specific to the individual, just to make the chance of them reading the book higher!

2. Why did you start your blog?

I’ve always wanted to talk to people about books, and I didn’t have any close friends who were bookish. I didn’t post very much when I first made the blog but over time I’ve become more consistent and I really enjoy reading other peoples posts as well as sitting down to collate my feelings about a book into a review!

3. What was your favourite book as a child?

This is a tough one! As a younger kid I adored Enid Blyton (from like 5-8) and then I loved The Roman Mysteries and Goodnight Mr Tom (9-14ish) and then after that it was the Gallagher Girls, Eragon and Pellinor (15-16). Then I stopped reading for a while cause school was killing me.

4. Is there any book that you prefer the adaptation of?

Not of the top of my head, but I also don’t watch many movies. There are loads I’ve enjoyed and loads I still need to watch!

5. What are you currently reading?

War and Peace! This bad boy is gunna last me the whole of 2021! I also have a few other books on the go right now that I’m spreading across months including Long Walk to Freedom and Fall of Giants.

6. Has a book ever inspired you to visit somewhere?

Simply? No. There have been books that have made me interested in visiting a country, definitely! But I’ve not acted on that as of yet.

7. Is there a new release you’re excited for?

The Mask Falling!! I’m simultaneously wanting to read it right now and also wanting to savour it because a new book wont be out for ages!

Thank you so much again to Elaine for tagging me and I’m sorry this took me so long! You guys should definitely go and check her out.

First Lines Friday #7

It’s time for another First Lines Friday! Hosted by Wandering Words!!

What if, instead of judging a book by its cover or its author, we judged the book by its opening lines?

Here is how it works:

– Pick a book and open to the first page.

– Copy the first few lines without revealing which book it is.

– Reveal the book!

So… do these first lines entice you?

The night Kate Harker decided to burn down the school chapel, she wasn’t angry or drunk. She was desperate.
Burning down the church was really a last resort; she’d already broken a girl’s nose, smoked in the dormitories, cheated on her first exam, and verbally harassed three of the nuns. But no matter what she did, St. Agnes Academy kept forgiving her. That was the problem with Catholic schools. They saw her as someone to be saved.
But Kate didn’t need salvation; she simply needed out.

Scroll down to reveal the book!

arrow-pointing-down-animation-with-transparent-background_sao3efrlx_thumbnail-full04 | Arrow painting, Arrow pointing down, Transparent background

30249934. sy475 — This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

I’ll be honest, this wasn’t the start I expected to this book! I picked it up at a signing I went to because I’ve heard so many great things about her writing and about this book, but I was expecting a much more fantastical start! I’m not mad though, it’s definitely intrigued me and pushed the book up my tbr!

First Lines Friday #6