Winter Wonderland and the Jingle Bell Book Tags

I’m in a book tag mood so I thought I’d double up and do two in this post. First up:

Winter Wonderland Book Tag

Christmas is almost here, which means winter has already arrived. I know everyone loves a white Christmas, but I hope it doesn’t snow. Sure it would make the day seem magical, but I’d really rather not worry about snow on Christmas. I want a carefree Christmas.

I found this tag on the Book Window last month and decided to do it now because it fits the season. It was created by booktuber JackEatsLife.

What book is so happy and sweet that it warms your heart?

Lucy, a children’s picture book by Randy Cecil. It’s about a stray dog that finds a new home and a little girl who helps her dad overcome his stage fight. It’s a sweet, quick read and the illustrations are great.

What is your favorite book with a white cover?

A favorite book that has a white cover: salt. by Nayyirah Waheed. It’s the first book of poetry I’ve read and loved. I could completely relate to Waheed’s poems and I love how they’re written, like little proverbs.

You’re sitting in a nice comfy chair, wearing a onesie, with a lovely warm hot chocolate but what MONSTER read are you reading?

Well I doubt I’ll be wearing a onesie, more likely I’ll be in sweats and a t-shirt. As for the monster book, I should be reading one of the large books I really, really want to get to: The Stand by Stephen King because I just borrowed it from the library; The Diviners by Libba Bray because I’ve read several great reviews of it and want to try it myself; The Iliad by Homer because Jason and the Argonauts was great and why not; The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson because I want to jump on the Mistborn bandwagon and feel good about owning such beautiful books.

It started snowing so you decided to have a snowball fight! What fictional character would you love to have the snowball fight with?

Kippa, the little fox from Monstress, an epic fantasy comic book series by Marjorie Liu, illus. by Sana Takeda. Kippa is sweet and I think a snowball fight with her would be fun.

Sadly, your fire is beginning to go out. So what book would you tear the last few chapters out to throw into the fire?

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is still fresh in my mind. I didn’t like it and didn’t read the end so ripping out the last couple pages wouldn’t bother me, considering the dire situation.

What book is so close to your heart that you would gift to someone this Christmas who hasn’t read it before but wants to get into reading?

I tried. I really did. But it would be one of these:

I know, I know. Harry Potter and Narnia pop up in every tag post but these are favorites that are dear to me and I’d rather buy the “someone” a copy rather than loan them mine.

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And because I can’t get the song out of my head, I decided to do this tag as well.

Jingle Bell Book Tag

I’ve heard this song played over and over and over and over since before Thanksgiving. You’d think Christmas was going to be early this year. Doing this tag is my attempt to exorcise it from my mind because hearing it repeatedly got it stuck up there.

I found it at Read with Sera. I did a bit of googling and learned that it was created by the Humpo Show.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” — What book do you want to see under the Christmas tree?

The Steampunk Bible by Jeff Vandermeer. I just featured this in a Wishes for My TBR post. It would be nice to receive a copy for Christmas. However, I bought so many books this year that I’m not looking forward to receiving more books for the holiday.

“Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time” —  What book have you read this year and enjoyed the most?

That’s a tough question to answer. I’ll avoid answering, for now, by saying

I know, I know. Another Harry Potter answer. But I plan to do a year-end wrap up and I’d rather share my top new reads there. Though the Harry Potter books were rereads, the experience was new since I consumed them by audio book, which I enjoyed doing. The narration was done by Jim Dale and he did such a fantastic job that I’m considering purchasing the Harry Potter audio books. So, as far as audio books go, the Harry Potter ones were my favorites, though the audio book of Caroline Kepnes’s You, narrated by Santino Fontana, was also great.

“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” — Which book has the most festive look to it?

I can’t tell if that means I should choose from the books I read this year or all the books I own. Anyway, I decided to choose from my collection:

 

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Both are bright and colorful with covers that will grab your attention as soon as you enter a bookstore. They both also have a lot of movement on them in the colors mixing in and out of each other. Because of that, I think they’re festive.

Elf — What book unleashes your inner child?

Just about any middle-grade novel, I think.

I choose the Percy Jackson series, which is middle-grade fantasy. Some people say they are young-adult, but I disagree. (I might have said so too before. Well, I disagree with my past self.) These are fun reads and I think I read them to please my inner rebellious child. 🙂

The Grinch — Your favorite villain.

It’s Cersei Lannister from the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. She’s so bad but I love her character.

The Holiday — Name your favorite two couples.

Ugh! I don’t like these questions much. Let’s see, umm…

This is weird. One couple is from one of my favorite novels this year, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and I can’t say who the couple are, and the other couple is from one my least liked books this year, Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz and the couple are Freya and Killian. Both couples are passionate and sparks fly when they are together. There’s lots of sexual tension between the partners, both couples are forbidden lovers (or start out that way), and they can’t help being drawn to each other. I love such relationships in books: forbidden, hot, passionate, sparky, naughty, ooo la la! 😉

What book would you like to give as a present to your followers?

This is such a difficult question. I’d give The Arrival by Shaun Tan (illus.). It’s a heartfelt story about immigration that’s told without words. I enjoyed reading it and I think everyone should experience it too.

Well, that’s it for now. Hope y’all are warm and enjoying the days leading Christmas!

As for me, my little toe on my left foot is cold and makes me crave the return of summer.

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