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I was tagged by Amy from A Court of Crowns and Quills for this, so thank you, Amy! She takes the loveliest book photos and her reviews are just as wonderful. Plus, she’s a former aviator, which is the coolest thing in the world, so go check her out!

1. How many books is too many books in a book series?

If I love the books, then infinite. Okay, no. With trilogies I often find myself craving just a bit more, so my sweet spot is around five. Eight is where things start to get a little too much. Then again, it really depends on the quality and the genre of the series. With urban fantasies, I will happily read 8+ books, no problem.

2. How do you feel about cliffhangers?

If they’re placed in the middle of an ongoing series, I’m perfectly fine with it. If they’re placed at the end of a series, and the author’s intention is to follow it up at the start of their next series, then there will be smoke pouring out of my ears.

3. Hardback or paperback?

Hardbacks for collecting and looking pretty on my shelves. Paperbacks for absorbing tears, scribblings, and just general abuse.

Here’s an example of such abuse! My first copy of The Goblet of Fire has been through several continents, a bathtub dunking, dozens of falls–and all before I graduated middle school. (I swear, not all my paperbacks are like that, please don’t call book protection services.)

4. Favorite book?

Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb, just narrowly edging out Fool’s Quest. It’s got everything I love in a book: snowy/icy landscapes, an expedition to find a legendary creature, prophecies, and brilliant, heartrending character interactions.

5. Least favorite book?

I don’t know if I can pinpoint my least favourite book of all time, but Ready Player One is a hot topic lately so I’ll talk about that. I get why people love it–nostalgia trip and mindless fun and such. But for me, it’s a regurgitation of 80’s pop culture at best. At worst, it’s a book with an annoying protagonist, bad attempt at diversity, and casual transphobia and sexism. And like Clockwork Orange and Fight Club, I side-eye dudes who call it their favourite book of all time.

6. Love triangles, yes or no?

Generally, no. I hate seeing someone getting rejected and left out.

7. The most recent book you just couldn’t finish?

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton. I know a lot of people loved it, but the prose was just a little too florid for me (and I generally love poetic prose), and I didn’t think I could handle 400 more pages of it. It was like trying to eat an entire dark chocolate cake all by myself.

8. A book you’re currently reading?

Just started Fire Dance by Ilana C. Myer! I loved her first book, Last Song Before Night, so I’m very excited for this one.

9. Last book you recommended to someone?

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett to a friend’s mom!

10. Oldest book you’ve read? (Publication date)

I want to say Iliad and The Odyssey, except I haven’t read them completely from start to finish. So either The Tale of Genji (written early 11th century) or Beowulf, which is placed at sometime between late 10th to early 11th century.

11. Newest book you’ve read? (Publication date)

The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards. So new it hasn’t been released yet! It’s also my newest obsession and, I think, my favourite book of 2018 so far. I will most definitely be yelling about it for the rest of the year.

12. Favorite author?

Robin Hobb. Hands down. No questions. I will happily perform blood rituals in her name.

13. Buying books or borrowing books?

I’m greedy and materialistic when it comes to owning physical copies of things I enjoy–whether it’s books or video games or film/TV–but my bank account doesn’t always agree with me. Plus, I love my local library, and borrowing books is a surefire way to sample more books while dodging buyer’s remorse.

14. A book you dislike that everyone else seem to love?

A recent one? Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence, which is the second book in the Book of Ancestors trilogy. Everyone’s showering it with 5 stars and I’m the only one in the corner mumbling, “Um, yeah, it just wasn’t as good as the first…” You can see my review here.

15. Bookmarks or dog-ears?

Bookmarks. I form habits with disturbing ease, so once I start dog-earing books I’ll probably start doing it with all of them, including hardbacks, so I’ll stick with post-its, scraps of paper, tissues (yes), and more conventional bookmarks.

16. A book you can always reread?

I’m a broken record, but The Realm of the Elderlings. I can read those books again and again, consecutively even, and never, ever get tired of them. How can I, when reading them is like coming home to a best friend?

17. Can you read while hearing music?

Instrumentals or quiet acoustic/indies, yes. I love making fan playlists for books, so listening to a bunch of OSTs while reading helps me find inspiration. 8tracks is a great site for finding music that suit the mood of a book.

18. One POV or multiple POV’s? (POV’s = Point of views)

Usually one. I’m a sucker for first person POVs, and with multiple POVs, I sometimes find myself skipping chapters to get to the POVs that I actually like.

19. Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days?

Multiple days! (Unless it’s a novella or a children’s book.) It just doesn’t feel right finishing a book whose story spans months (or years) in 24 hours.

20. A book you’ve read because of the cover?

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. The hardcover of this just looked so gorgeous so I nabbed it immediately at the bookstore. This was back when I’d bought books impulsively without checking out any reviews. Thankfully, the story wasn’t too shabby, either!

I TAG:

The Book Nook UK
Lost In A Good Book
Arisutocrat
A Science Girl in a Fantasy World
Alex Reads and Blogs

(If you do the tag, please link directly back to this post! ❤️)

I was recently nominated by Andy for the One Lovely Blog Award, so thank you, Andy! Andy runs a blog about LGBTQ books and writing tips. He’s also working on a YA novel so be sure to check him out so you can say “Hey! I know that person!” when he becomes a superstar author!

RULES:

Thank the person who nominated you
Share 7 facts about yourself
Nominate up to 15 bloggers and inform them of the nomination

SEVEN FACTS ABOUT ME:

1) I was a seriously gullible kid. The first time I ever flew on a plane was when I was seven and immigrating to Canada with my family. My dad had the bright idea to inform me that every passenger was required to parachute out of the plane when they reach their destination. I’d stared at him wide-eyed, bouncing between excitement and trepidation, and asked if kids and parents were allowed to parachute together. He said that he’ll ask one of the flight attendants. Then, when we got close to landing, he was like, “Oh, it’s raining! No parachuting for us today, I’m afraid.” I don’t know if I was more relieved or disappointed. Add a hundred more stories like this and you basically have a summary of my childhood.

2) I’m pretty scatterbrained, which can be a bit of an inconvenience when you’re in a science field. I lose stuff all the time. I barged into random people’s rooms constantly, when I was living in dorm, thinking they were mine. And I get hopelessly lost downtown if I don’t have my nose perpetually glued to a map.

3) I hate apple pies. Especially hot apple pies. There’s just something about the taste of warm mushy apples combined with cinnamon and sugar and butter that makes me nauseated.

4) I wanted to be a voice actor when I was in my teens (and still kind of do, to be honest). I would play classic RPGs and yammer at the computer screen during all the dialogue bits. I adored Shakespearean read-alongs during English class. Even now, I love reading books aloud and doing all the different voices. My favourites are the angsty, emotional scenes (because of course). Hamlet’s soliloquies? Nailed them.

5) I had a massive fear of people in full-body cartoon suits as a kid. More so than clowns. Clowns are fine! Clowns are great. Clowns make balloon animals! Clowns have eyes that blink and facial expressions that change. Not like those 7 ft tall, perpetually smiling monstrosities that lumber up to you with open arms like they’re about to whisk you away to FUNland, where we’ll have so much FUN, with no need to EVER return home, and there’s definitely no murdering of small children going on, haha!

Disneyland? More like Horrorland. And watching Donnie Darko did NOT improve my opinion of them. (I do apologize to any costumer-wearing peeps I’ve ever encountered who were traumatized by me pointing, wailing and sprinting away)

6) I’m a certified lifeguard. I love swimming. But you plop me into any body of opaque water where I can’t touch the bottom, and I will panic and thrash around like a fish in a barrel. So if you ever meet me and decide you want to take me swimming in a lake or an ocean, expect to be used as a human bodyboard.

7) Anime! Love them. I pretty much grew up with them because 80% of the kid shows they aired back in Korea were anime. Except they were dubbed over so I didn’t know they were Japanese shows back then–they were just really great cartoons. Some of my favourites were Slayers, Digimon, Slam Dunk, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Case Closed (and yeah, some of these probably aren’t really suitable for a 5-8 year-old).

NOMINATIONS:
– Book In Her Eyes (Sionna)
– Alex Reads and Blogs
– Acquadimore Books
– The Bookworm Daydreamer
– A Court of Crowns and Quills
– A Science Girl in a Fantasy World
– Strangely Pop Cultured
– Amiie’s Books

(You are not required to do a post on this, so don’t feel pressured!)

The 20 Questions Book Tag

<img class=" wp-image-1412 aligncenter" src="https://pagesbelowvaultedsky.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/flourish.png" alt="flourish" width="200" height="18" /> 1. How many books is too many books in a book series?