Seven Deadly Sins Book Tag

It’s book tag week!! 😀

Since I didn’t post anything yesterday, I’m doubling up today. (Good idea, me! **Pats self on back**)

My plan was to focus on tags I was tagged for but then I remember seeing this book tag over on Books and Drinks and immediately wanted to do it, mostly because I want to show off the cute illustrations of cats (not part of the tag but it was included in the post on Books and Drinks).

My eyes immediately zoomed to the illustrations when I saw the post. I googled them and learned from this Bored Panda post that they were created by game designer and illustrator Marija Tiurina, who teamed up with NeonMob, a platform for digital artists and collectors, to portray the seven deadly sins with cats.

After looking at the Bored Panda post, I went off on a tangent by visiting Tiurina’s website to look at more of her illustrations. I really like her style. It’s cartoony, but they are all sweet, cute, and fun, even the ones that have a sinister tone.

Anyway, I’m not here to discuss Tiurina’s art (though I’m tempted to do a post on her and her illustrations), so onward with the tag!

GREED: What is the most expensive book that you own? What is the least expensive book that you own?

Klaus by Grant Morrison, illus. by Dan Mora

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

I instead chose the most and least expensive books I’ve bought so far this year. Grant Morrison’s reimagining of Santa Clause as a “swashbuckling rogue” is my most expensive purchase at $34.99. When I read this post on Unbound Worlds that describes Klaus as “a Santa who crafts all of his toys during an extended drug trip brought about by a hallucinogenic stew,” I knew I had to get it. Klaus is a retelling of Santa Claus’s origin that draws on Viking and Serbian lore.

My most-recent least expensive book is Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist, which I bought last night for $1.99 — a steal. I bought an e-copy on Amazon after seeing the deal in an Early Bird Books newsletter, which usually has deals for classic novels so I was surprised to see The Miniaturist there and refused to let the deal pass me. I’ve wanted to read this historical fiction novel since its publication and was willing to grab the e-copy since it was cheap and, more importantly, I ran out of shelf space.

GLUTTONY: What book or books have you shamelessly devoured many times?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

My answer is the first Harry Potter book, which I’ve reread many, many times. It’s not my favorite of the bunch, that goes to the fourth book, but I do love how the series starts.

Above, I’ve featured some of the 20th-anniversary editions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which was recently published in the U.K. The ones in black are hardbacks and the colored ones are paperback. I’d like to get one, and only one, but I can’t decide which to get. I’m a Ravenclaw straight up (with some Hufflepuff tendencies), but my favorite color is yellow (blue too, but not that shade). So you see my dilemma: Do I stay true to the blue, or give in to my desire for the yellow? 😦

SLOTH: What book or book series have you neglected out of sheer laziness?

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster

It’s not that I neglected it…not really. I like the story, but the book is too damn heavy to tote around, and I need to carry whatever I’m currently reading everywhere I go. 4 3 2 1 is about 800 or so pages long and is a hardback. I made the stupid decision to leave my house with it one day and it made my purse feel as if it was filled with bricks. I’m not doing that again. I’ll wait for the paperback and continue with the story then.

PRIDE: What book or books do you bring up when you want to sound like an intellectual reader?

Usually articles and nonfiction books because I want to show that I know and keep up with the news and what’s going on in the world, though I don’t read up on those things as often as I should.

LUST: What attributes do you find most attractive in your characters?

Self-assured, considerate, smart, reasonable, open-minded, and a total bad-ass: These attributes usually appeal to me. Of course, characters do not have to contain all these qualities for me to like them, but possessing one or two is almost certain to make me fall for them.

However, if a character has all these qualities but is stubborn for no reason or complains a lot, then I probably won’t like them.

ENVY: What books would you most like to receive as a gift?

You mean other than the 20th-anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind receiving these —

Fool’s Errand

Golden Fool

Fool’s Fate

These three books make up the Tawney Man trilogy, which is part of the larger Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb. I started reading Hobb’s books last year when I picked up Assassin’s Apprentice and have continued since then with the Realm of the Elderlings series, which I am buddy-reading with Emily at Embuhlee liest. We are currently reading the last book of the Liveship Traders trilogy — Ship of Destiny, — which is emotionally draining sometimes but oh, so good. I’m committed to the series so I’d like to get the Tawney Man trilogy in the editions shown above.

WRATH: What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

That would be Robert Jordan. I started reading the Wheel of Time books a couple years ago and gave up on them when I got to the sixth novel because I was annoyed by Jordan’s writing and characterization. After some time had passed, I decided to reread books 1-5 on audio, which was going well but now I’m on book 4, featured above, and am again annoyed by Jordan’s tendency to overwrite and his characters. It annoys me so much that I get angry sometimes.

Some characters are so oblivious that I wonder how they made that far under such “dangerous” circumstances. Others get angry for no damn reason, and the women and men all complain about the opposite sex (I thought I was over this but apparently I’m not). Again, I’m wondering if I should just give up on the story though I’d like to know how it all ends.

This isn’t part of the tag but was listed as an eighth deadly sin in the Bored Panda post so I decided to include it and create a question for it. I kept it simple.

Pawesomeness: What is the best book you’ve read so far this year?

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

If you’re thinking that I created this question just so I can mention The Curse of Chalion one more time, you’re probably right. I love this book. It was such a good read and a refreshing one from the fantasy novels I often read. The story is slow but engaging, and the writing is wonderful. Every time I think of it, I feel like rereading it. I heard that the second book, Paladin of Souls, is even better, so I’m looking forward to that.

All done! I tag these fellow bloggers:

Embuhlee liest

The Bookish Underdog

Book Snacks

Tea and Paperbacks

It’s a Long Story

Milliebot Reads

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