Spring Book Tag

It’s spring!!! 😀 😀 😀

Actually, I’m hoping it will be spring soon and the weather would act like it. I can tell that it’s right around the corner and wants to settle in, but winter refuses to let go. Every time we get a hint of spring in the air, cold winds blast us and snow threatens to fall. Winter just refuses to let go. (It’s so clingy this year.)

Anyway, I found this book tag over on Sara LeTourneau’s blog. It was created by Sabrina from Beyond the Book Reviews and Alexis, who’s Mad for Books, Luv. Both Sabrina and Alexis created the tag as part of their monthly book tag meme, where they create book tags based on a selected theme.

What’s on your spring TBR?

The Devourers by Indra Das

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

These are the top books on my spring TBR. I did a Top Ten Tuesday post all about my spring TBR, which you can see here, if you’re interested.

I’m buddy-reading The Devourers with Rachel from Life of a Female Bibliophile, and I plan to start the book tonight. My plans to read The Shape of Water for spring is kind of iffy because I accidentally returned the e-copy I had on hold at my library, but was lucky to be fifth place for the hold on the physical copy. So we’ll see if I get it in time to read for spring. I really want to read both Under the Pendulum Sun and Horrorstör, so hopefully those will be completed in the spring too.

If someone asked you for a spring release recommendation, what would it be?

I haven’t yet read any books that will be released in the spring of 2018 that I’m willing to recommend; so I’ll instead recommend one that was published in the U.S. in the spring of 2017.

Audubon: On the Wings of the World by Fabien Grolleau, illus. by Jérémie Royer, trans. by Etienne Gilfillan

This is somewhat a nonfiction graphic novel about ornithologist John James Audubon, who’s most known for his book Birds of America, which contains 435 paintings of different species of birds in America observed in their natural habitat.

The graphic novel Audubon gives the reader a sense of how Audubon accomplished his goal to document that many birds and how determined he was to do so. The graphic novel also shows us how much the American landscape, wildlife, and people have changed since Audubon traversed the country back in the 1800’s.

Which two books coming out before summer are you eagerly awaiting?

I wouldn’t say I’m “eagerly awaiting” these, but I would like to read them:

The Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness by Robert Kondo (illus.) and Dice Tsutsumi (illus.)

Notes on a Thesis by Tiphaine Rivière (illus.)

These are both comic books.

I recently read, and really enjoyed, the first book in the the Dam Keeper graphic novel series — The Dam Keeper, which is a middle-grade fantasy graphic novel about an orphaned pig who maintains the dam, a machine that keeps the malignant dark fog away from his town. Going beyond the town and the dam means certain death, but after a tidal wave hits the dam, Pig and his friends find themselves far away from town and must try to find their way back in time to fix the dam. It’s a sweet story that I highly recommend (it’s based on an animated short film that was nominated for an Oscar) and I’d like to read the sequel, World Without Darkness, which is slated to be published on July 10.

I’d also like to read Notes on a Thesis, which seems to be a humorous graphic novel slightly based on Rivière’s experiences in academia. The story is about a woman, Jeanne, who’s pursing a Ph.D. and what she experiences while doing so. I learned about the book from A Year of Reading the World, which has a great review of it that is way more convincing that the bit there I’ve cobbled together about the book. Notes on a Thesis will be published in the U.S. on May 1.

Which character would make a great Easter bunny?

Kippa

My mind immediately went to Kippa, the cute little fox arcanic from Monstress, a comic book series written by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Sana Takeda. Monstress is a high fantasy series set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia about a teenage girl “struggling to survive the trauma of war” and accept her psychic link to the monster within her.

What book makes you think of spring?

Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley

Actually, I couldn’t think of an answer so I decided that McKinley’s Spindle’s End would remind me of spring from now on. It’s a fairytale retelling of Sleeping Beauty and the story has lots of magic and fairies in it. It’s one of my favorite McKinley books.

Name a cover with flowers on it.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

A classic novel (published in 1966) I read in college but didn’t like because I was so confused by it. The story is about Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway who meets and marries a young Englishman, who forces her to conform to his Victorian ideals. The story was written in response to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre to give a story (and I think a voice) to Rochester’s wife, who was locked in the attic.

Which two characters would you go on an Easter egg hunt with?

From the Harry Potter series:

A niffler because they’re good at finding shiny things, so I’d recommend that all the eggs have gold flakes on them.

From Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius TV show:

Goddard because I like him and he’s smart and would probably be good at finding the eggs too.

What is your favorite spring bookish activity?

Reading inside, cozy in my bed, while it’s raining outside, preferably on a Monday.

Also, dust and reorganize my bookshelves, which is the extent of my spring cleaning.

Which book did you enjoy that has a spring-like cover?

Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda, illus. by Yu

The cover of this manga makes me think of spring, and summer too; it all depends on what mood I’m in when I look at it. It’s about a young woman raising two half-wolf children on her own. It’s a sweet story that I enjoyed reading and I loved the illustrations.

Who is your favorite contemporary author?

Ann Brashares

I guess it’s Ann Brashares. I don’t read many contemporary books to be able to answer this question well, but I’ve read about 3 of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books by Ann Brashares and enjoyed each one, so I choose her.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants is a YA contemporary series about the strong friendship between four girls and how a great, seemingly-magical pair of jeans enhances their summers.

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That’s another tag done for BOOK TAG WEEK.

See you tomorrow with another. 🙂