Great British Bake Off Tag

Hey guys, this is the great British bake off tag. A book tag with questions inspired by the great British bake off television show.

Great British Bake Off Tag

The cake has sunk in the middle, pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations

A few of Rick Yancey's books fell flat for me. I consider his Monstrumologist series as one of my favorites but his 5th Wave series severely disappointed me. I picked the 5th Wave up after reading the first book in the Monstrumologist series and so I had very high expectations that were not met. The final book in the Monstrumologist series also disappointed. I could say the same for Victoria Schwab's Archived series. Love the former two adult books of hers that I have read, was let down by this particular series.

Once you've eaten one you're hungry for more, and each time you eat another they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better

At the moment I have started a lot of book series but have not progressed very far into those series, something that I am aiming to fix during this month of my conquering book series TBR. However I must say that the Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle fit the bill here, as does the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness.

Kneading dough requires hard work and determination, pick a book that you had put off for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up

I actually have several of those on my bookshelves. Some books I actually really desire to read but have been putting it off for now due to the sheer size of them, Patrick Rothfuss's King Killer Chronicles, many of Brandon Sanderson's books, and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series. I will be reading these very soon but I wanted to get some of my other books read first before tackling these massive ones. I also have several behemoth classics that I'm trying to get the courage to read. Les Miserables or The Count of Monte Cristo, anyone? Books of that description that I have actually read however, The Grapes of Wrath. Of which I loved, by the way.

Foreign desserts such as crambolay and spanishwingtort are on the menu, pick a book set in a foreign country

Does fantasy count? I have read some books that take place in the United Kingdoms (Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, etc), but since a large majority of the books that I read are fantasy ... the worlds often are not replicas of our own.

Not usually used but surprisingly good, pick a book from a genre that you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving

I don't read romance, contemporary, non fiction, mystery, and chick-lit. I have read some, but of those I can't really recall ever having more then a 'meh' feeling about it. That's why I don't read those genres. Sadly I cannot think of a answer for this one.

Short crust pastry can crumble easily, pick a character who you initially liked but as you read more and more your relationship with them crumbled apart

This wound is still fresh, so I am going to go with the characters from the Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey.

Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today, pick your favorite classic novel 

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Your eating a chocolate eclair but there is barely any filling inside, pick a book that lacks substance and falls flat

I have read a lot of these ... most recently was "Queen of the Tearling" by Erika Johansen, and "Armada" by Ernest Cline.

Chocolate is the comfort food for many people, pick a book that you can read again, and again, and still find comforting 

The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. These are the books that I come back to time after time. In fact it has been a while since I have re-read any of these and I am itching to return to them once more.

Everyone is out to impress with extravagant showstoppers, pick your favorite book of the year so far that really impressed you

I have read a lot of impressive books so far for this year, it would be difficult to chose just one. "The Monstrumologist" by Rick Yancey, "Vicious" by V.E. Schwab, "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik, and "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown, just to name a few.

Unpopular Opinions Tag

Hey guys, today I am bringing you the unpopular opinions tag. Now this tag is titled unpopular opinions because a lot of people may not agree with your personal opinions, with that being said I do believe that this will be a fun one to fill out. Hehe

1. A popular book or series that you did not like?

There are actually quite a few popular books and series that I do not like. The "Twilight" series by Stephanie Meyer, the "Sookie Stackhouse" series by Charlaine Harris, any Nicholas Sparks books, "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, the "Divergent" trilogy by Veronica Roth, and "The Immortal Instruments" series by Cassandra Clare. What do they are have in common? Poor writing skills, and most have either a corruptive relationship or a underdeveloped one featured in them.

2. A book that everyone seems to hate but that you love?

This is a difficult one for me since I overall have such excellent tastes in books (hardy hardy har har), but I might possibly go with the "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling, and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. These books both have a huge following of fans, me included, but they do also receive a lot of negative attention due to their popularity. A lot of people just simply do not enjoy them, whist I on the other hand would claim these two as some of my absolute favorites.

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the love interest that you didn't want them to end up with?

Hmm, I typically try to avoid books that involve 'love triangles' so this question is unfair ... I'm just going to say that the characters in my books generally make the right choices in the end.

4. A popular book genre that you hardly ever reach for?

Easy peasy, romance. I never read the romance genre, and I personally even tend to avoid the romance seeped young adult genre too. It just isn't something that I want to read. Most books have a spark of romance element in them because of a love interest, which is fine, I just don't want to read books that are seeping in it. I also hate the chick-lit genre. Fluff reads, no thank you.

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like?

At the moment ... possibly Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series. A lot of people see her as a strong female character in the series, and really like her. I find her to be slightly annoying at this point and time in the place where I am at in the series ...

6. A popular book or series that you have no interest in reading?

The "Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead. This series has romance and chick-lit fluff written all over it. "The Ruby Red trilogy" by Kerstin Gier is also on this list. And "The Maze Runner" trilogy by James Dashner. The Maze Runner sounds like a good read but I have been hearing a lot of people stating it as just 'okay', and that the books really deteriorate from there ... so I am just avoid this one altogether.

7. Which movie adaption do you prefer over the book?

This is a hard one as I usually almost always prefer the book over the movie ... but maybe "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson. I saw the movie before reading the book so that possibly has something to do with my preference, but I just feel like the movie was portrayed better.

Feel free to copy the questions and fill them in with answers of your own in the comments below!

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

Hey guys, this is the mid-year book freak out tag that I will be hosting for you. Basically I will just go through a list of questions and fill in my answers to those questions. Feel free to copy these questions in the comments before with your own answers!

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

Best book that you have read so far in 2015?

"The Princess Bride" by William Goldman, but because this was a re-read for me I am going to take the liberty of choosing a second title, which is "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown.

Favorite sequel of 2015?

I have started a lot of series and trilogies this year, but I have not read a lot of sequels at this time, so not having a lot of options at the moment I would probably go with "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan.

A new release from 2015 that you have not read yet but really want to?

There are a lot of new releases from 2015 that I have not yet read but really want to. I will go with the ones that I do not actually own but that I am interested in reading, and that would be "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas as well as "The Wrath and the Dawn" by Renee Ahdieh. I either have read, or own, a lot of the other new releases so it is just a matter of making my way through them now.

Books to be released for the last half of the year that you are most excited about?

Oh boy, there are a lot of books to be released for the last half of this year that I am feeling excited about. For starters, "Illuminae" by Amie Kaufman, "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo, "The Scorpion Rules" by Erin Bow.

Biggest disappointment?

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. I hate this book. I don't understand why it continues to be gushed about in the book community today, or why it was ever gushed about to begin with. I would also have to go with "Divergent" by Veronica Roth, I was just expecting something a little better then what I got because of all of the hype surrounding this book.

Book that most surprised you?

The book that I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did, would have to be "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness. I wasn't expecting all of the feels that I got from this book when I first went into it, and I surely wasn't expecting the superb writing. This was a very pleasant discovery.

Your favorite new author?

I have discovered so many new authors this year that I have fallen heads over heels in love with. This is not going to be a one answer kind of question. Patrick Ness, Rick Yancey, Rick Riordan, Victoria Aveyard, Pierce Brown, V.E. Schwab, Catherynne M. Valente, Neil Gaiman, Marissa Meyer, just to name a few. I have a feeling that this list is only going to continue to grow as the year progresses, and this isn't even some of my older favorites just the newly discovered ones.

New favorite fictional character?

Just going off of some of the more recent books that I have read I would maybe say Darrow from "Red Rising", and Kell from "A Darker Shade of Magic".

A book that made you cry?

I don't typically cry when it comes to books that I am reading, but I will say that "A Monster Calls" was very gut wrenching and it is quite possible that I shed a tear or two during that one.

A book that made you happy?

I'm not a very big reader of the fluffy warm reads ... so for this one I may just go with "The Princess Bride" once again because I did find myself laughing out loud a couple of times while reading that one.

What books do you want to read for the second half of the year?

If you have been following my book hauls then you will know that a lot of those books are on my TBR (to be read) list, and my goal is to read through all of them in the months to come. I also have almost one hundred books on my to read shelf on Goodreads ... so for the question, a lot. I want to read a lot of books in the second half of this year.