Birthday Book Tag

It was my birthday this past weekend. YEAHIE ME!!! 😀 😀

It was very low-key, though it’s also a huge milestone since I’m now in the 30s club, but I enjoyed it and am glad for how it turned out. I neglected my blog all weekend because I spent the time doing other stuff I enjoyed. I attended the NoVa Teen Book Fest, where I met and spoke to an author I admire — Rachel Hartman — and also got to see other authors speak, like Susan Dennard and Tomi Adeyemi, whose debut novel I bought at the festival. I also spent the weekend catchin up with a friend, visiting the movies, and, of course, stuck in a bookshop. 🙂 I enjoyed it.

Well, I decided to jump back into blogging by celebrating my birthday on here with this Birthday Book Tag that I found on Antonia’s Always Books.

Birthday Cake: A book with a plot that seems cliché, but you adore it anyway

Black Panther

I decided to go with a movie instead because I recently went to the theater to watch Black Panther again and to fully take it in. I enjoyed it almost as much as I did the first time I watched it. The plot is cliche, but I like how the story was executed and really enjoyed watching it. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly suggest you do.

Party Guests: Your most anticipated book release for this year

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill (illus.)

I don’t have an answer for this question, but Katie O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society is a comic book I’d love to get and read sometime this year. The illustrations look so cute.

Birthday Presents: A book that surprised you with how much you loved it

The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

This is a paranormal romance novel about a woman who’s involved with a incubus and gets a faculty position at a quirky college in upstate New York where she meets some interesting people. I don’t often go for romance, but I was so drawn to this story that I could hardly part from it as I read. I enjoyed it so much and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

“Happy Birthday” Song: A book that certainly deserved all the hype it got

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

I love zombie shows/movies/books. I tried to read this before, but struggled to get into the story. Recently, I listened to an audio book of it narrated by Finty Williams and enjoyed it so much that I want to reread it again. It’s about a girl who everyone treats with extreme caution but she doesn’t know why. I enjoyed the narration of this story and the topics it explores. I think it’s totally worth the hype.

Happy Music: A book with some very beautiful and truly memorable quotes

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland

This is a nonfiction about making art and the art-making process. I highly recommend it. It’s filled with so many great quotable passages that I almost highlighted the entire book.

“Making art is dangerous and revealing. Making art precipitates self-doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be.”

Getting Older: A book that you read a long time ago, but you think you would appreciate more if you read it as a more mature reader

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The first time I read it was in middle school, I think. I was immensely bored by it, though there were parts that interested me. Most of my memories of it are foggy, so I’d like to give it a reread one of these days.

Sweet Birthday Memories: A book that kept you incredibly happy during a sad or demanding period of your life

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I’ve been through some trying times and at my lowest moments, I read this book and it helped to cheer me up. It happens every time. I really like the structure of the book because it starts with Gilbert at a low moment and shows how she gradually worked to get out of it. It shows me that my low moment is just for a time and that I can move past it.

Well that’s it for this birthday tag.

I hope all of you had a great weekend too.