Hello! Welcome back to my blog, and I am so sorry I haven't updated in a while! Things have been super crazy with college and then going straight to Idaho for a missions trip. I haven't had much free time for anything, not even reading. Plus, I have had no internet for the past week. With this said, I am super excited to get back to reading and posting again! Thank you all for being so patient!
So with all the buzz around Pokémon Go, I thought it would be fitting to do a book tag revolving around it. In case you do not know what Pokémon Go is, it is a game (or app) for your smart devices where you are forced to go out of your house to find various pokemons! Once you reach level five, you are able to go to various gyms and fight other players. The way this works is that the creators of this game have imposed another layer over a GPS system (like google maps basically) so that when you are playing the game it uses actual locations and such that you can go to. In the words of my mom, it is "basically geocaching with those pokemans". I am sorry if my descpription was a little off, but there is tons of information out there in case you are interested in learning more about the game.
I would also like to say that the original TAG was created by PuffyBooks on YouTube. Definitely go check out her video! Also, I am only doing the first ten books in the TAG because of how many questions it has and I don't want to overwhelm you all with a super long post! I might end up doing a second part later, but this is all I am doing for now. I hope you enjoy!
1. Pikachu: What was the first book series you remember collecting?
The first book series I remember collecting is definitely The Magic Treehouse by Mary Pope Osborne. I remember saving up money to buy more of the books and always begging my parents for the next one in the series. The Magic Treehouse series is definitely what fed my passion for reading at a young age and look where I am now. This book series is loved by so many children and older people (who read them as children) for a reason: they are amazing. I would go as far as to say that the series is the best literature for children out there. Yep, I said it.
So with all the buzz around Pokémon Go, I thought it would be fitting to do a book tag revolving around it. In case you do not know what Pokémon Go is, it is a game (or app) for your smart devices where you are forced to go out of your house to find various pokemons! Once you reach level five, you are able to go to various gyms and fight other players. The way this works is that the creators of this game have imposed another layer over a GPS system (like google maps basically) so that when you are playing the game it uses actual locations and such that you can go to. In the words of my mom, it is "basically geocaching with those pokemans". I am sorry if my descpription was a little off, but there is tons of information out there in case you are interested in learning more about the game.
I would also like to say that the original TAG was created by PuffyBooks on YouTube. Definitely go check out her video! Also, I am only doing the first ten books in the TAG because of how many questions it has and I don't want to overwhelm you all with a super long post! I might end up doing a second part later, but this is all I am doing for now. I hope you enjoy!
1. Pikachu: What was the first book series you remember collecting?
The first book series I remember collecting is definitely The Magic Treehouse by Mary Pope Osborne. I remember saving up money to buy more of the books and always begging my parents for the next one in the series. The Magic Treehouse series is definitely what fed my passion for reading at a young age and look where I am now. This book series is loved by so many children and older people (who read them as children) for a reason: they are amazing. I would go as far as to say that the series is the best literature for children out there. Yep, I said it.
2. Bulbasaur: What is your favorite magical creature from a book?
Ooh, this is a hard one. There are so many fantastic fantasy books out there. I am going to stick with all the dragons from Eragon by Christopher Paolini and the rest of the series. There aren't enough dragon books out there, and I love dragons to death. They are just so cool! Imagine being a dragon rider, wouldn't that be epic? I mean, yes it would be a little terrifying, but totally worth it. If I didn't choose dragons, though, then I would go with mermaids (even though they are TOTALLY real).
Ooh, this is a hard one. There are so many fantastic fantasy books out there. I am going to stick with all the dragons from Eragon by Christopher Paolini and the rest of the series. There aren't enough dragon books out there, and I love dragons to death. They are just so cool! Imagine being a dragon rider, wouldn't that be epic? I mean, yes it would be a little terrifying, but totally worth it. If I didn't choose dragons, though, then I would go with mermaids (even though they are TOTALLY real).
3. Charmander: What is your favorite book where fire plays an important role?
I choose.... Divergent by Veronica Roth! I mean, it does have fire on the cover after all. I didn't hop on the Divergent bandwagon until a couple months ago, but I absolutely loved it. Even if there is not obvious fire in the book, I didn't want to just choose Catching Fire like I figure a lot of other people will. Anyways, dauntless inclused a lot of playing with fire, so there you go!
I choose.... Divergent by Veronica Roth! I mean, it does have fire on the cover after all. I didn't hop on the Divergent bandwagon until a couple months ago, but I absolutely loved it. Even if there is not obvious fire in the book, I didn't want to just choose Catching Fire like I figure a lot of other people will. Anyways, dauntless inclused a lot of playing with fire, so there you go!
4. Squirtle: What is the last book that made you cry?
Guitar Noted by Mary Amato. If you fancy reading more about this very rare experience, then I suggest you scurry on to my review for this amazing book. Most of you that follow my posts are probably aware of how hard it is for me to cry because of a book, but somehow this novel did it. It was amazing and I loved feeling so connected with the book in this way. It was such a great read and if you have not read it yet, then go read it now. I love it so so much.
Guitar Noted by Mary Amato. If you fancy reading more about this very rare experience, then I suggest you scurry on to my review for this amazing book. Most of you that follow my posts are probably aware of how hard it is for me to cry because of a book, but somehow this novel did it. It was amazing and I loved feeling so connected with the book in this way. It was such a great read and if you have not read it yet, then go read it now. I love it so so much.
5. Pidgey: What is a book that "flew away" from you (got lost)?
Um, there are probably a lot of books that I have lost but don't know about considering the vast amount of books I have in my home. However, I do recall one experience of lending The Hunger Games to my younger brother and him losing it for about a week. It was probably the worst week of both of our lives. Trust me, I made sure he knew that he would never lose a book of mine again. The good news is that he learned his lesson (after spending hours upon hours searching for the book) and he will NEVER AGAIN lose a book of mine. (:
Um, there are probably a lot of books that I have lost but don't know about considering the vast amount of books I have in my home. However, I do recall one experience of lending The Hunger Games to my younger brother and him losing it for about a week. It was probably the worst week of both of our lives. Trust me, I made sure he knew that he would never lose a book of mine again. The good news is that he learned his lesson (after spending hours upon hours searching for the book) and he will NEVER AGAIN lose a book of mine. (:
6. Jigglypuff: What is your favorite romance/chick lit book?
Is this seriously a question? How can one be expected to choose? I mean, 50 Shades of Grey aside (just kidding! I don't actually mean it), there are a lot of really great romance books out there. Buuuuuuuutttttttttttt if I had to choose only oneeeeeee, then this time I will go with Misbehaving by Abbi Glines because I gave it the highest rating out of all the other romance books I read this year. Yes, I do remember thoroughly enjoying that super cheesy read. I know there are tons of other great romances that I have read, but I am not at home currently so I am going with this one.
Is this seriously a question? How can one be expected to choose? I mean, 50 Shades of Grey aside (just kidding! I don't actually mean it), there are a lot of really great romance books out there. Buuuuuuuutttttttttttt if I had to choose only oneeeeeee, then this time I will go with Misbehaving by Abbi Glines because I gave it the highest rating out of all the other romance books I read this year. Yes, I do remember thoroughly enjoying that super cheesy read. I know there are tons of other great romances that I have read, but I am not at home currently so I am going with this one.
7. Poliwag: What is a book that you didn't think you would enjoy but surprised you?
Okay, so I am going to do the reverse of this question because there is a specific incident I have in mind; What is a book that you thought you would enjoy but ended up not liking at all? Okay, so now it's story time. Two years ago at the Colorado Teen Lit Conference, my friends and I found this book called Valhalla by Ari Bach and it sounded absolutely amazing. In fact, my friend bought it and promised to let me borrow it later. A couple months passed and my hype for the book never died down. Eventually, it was almost time for the next year's CTLC and I was determined to read the book before I went back. So I picked up a copy from my library and got to reading it. Let me just say, it was not pleasant in the slightest sense. I could not get past the writing and the way the story was told or any other part of it. I was so in love with the premise of the book, but it did not feel like I was reading a story but rather like I was being told a series of events. It was such an awful experience for me that I could not get past the second chapter. Yeah, that was my horrendous experience. I am so glad I never ended up buying the book like I was planning. I would have been thoroughly disappointed.
(BTW: I am not trying to bash on this book or anyone else's opinion on the book- I am only telling my experience with it.)
Okay, so I am going to do the reverse of this question because there is a specific incident I have in mind; What is a book that you thought you would enjoy but ended up not liking at all? Okay, so now it's story time. Two years ago at the Colorado Teen Lit Conference, my friends and I found this book called Valhalla by Ari Bach and it sounded absolutely amazing. In fact, my friend bought it and promised to let me borrow it later. A couple months passed and my hype for the book never died down. Eventually, it was almost time for the next year's CTLC and I was determined to read the book before I went back. So I picked up a copy from my library and got to reading it. Let me just say, it was not pleasant in the slightest sense. I could not get past the writing and the way the story was told or any other part of it. I was so in love with the premise of the book, but it did not feel like I was reading a story but rather like I was being told a series of events. It was such an awful experience for me that I could not get past the second chapter. Yeah, that was my horrendous experience. I am so glad I never ended up buying the book like I was planning. I would have been thoroughly disappointed.
(BTW: I am not trying to bash on this book or anyone else's opinion on the book- I am only telling my experience with it.)
8. Golem: What is a book that scared you as a child?
Well, I didn't exactly read this book as a child, but that's because I am not really into horror and so I never really read anything scary when I was younger. However, I did read one pretty creepy book last year. I have to say, I did enjoy it despite how terrible it is. This book is The Merciless by Danielle Vega. It is definitely not your average horror book. It deals with being possessed by demons and a group of Christain girls trying to "save" this one girl they think is possessed. It also includes crucifixion and various means of trying to cleanse the soul. It is super radical and will give you the worst case of the shivers you can experience. Yep.
Well, I didn't exactly read this book as a child, but that's because I am not really into horror and so I never really read anything scary when I was younger. However, I did read one pretty creepy book last year. I have to say, I did enjoy it despite how terrible it is. This book is The Merciless by Danielle Vega. It is definitely not your average horror book. It deals with being possessed by demons and a group of Christain girls trying to "save" this one girl they think is possessed. It also includes crucifixion and various means of trying to cleanse the soul. It is super radical and will give you the worst case of the shivers you can experience. Yep.
9. Slowpoke: What book felt like it would never end but you tried finishing it anyways?
I am going to start this with saying that I was in the midst of a huge reading slump while reading this book. I honestly think I would have had a different experience with reading The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black if I wasn't in a reading slump. Despite the awful slump I was in, though, I did really enjoy the book. I am so glad that I ended up pushing through because it was a good read. I'm just saying that it wasn't as amazing as it could have been for me due to the fact that I was literally forcing myself to read.
I am going to start this with saying that I was in the midst of a huge reading slump while reading this book. I honestly think I would have had a different experience with reading The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black if I wasn't in a reading slump. Despite the awful slump I was in, though, I did really enjoy the book. I am so glad that I ended up pushing through because it was a good read. I'm just saying that it wasn't as amazing as it could have been for me due to the fact that I was literally forcing myself to read.
10. Krabby: What book made you angry?
A book that made me crabby is The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander. The book was okay, but there were a lot of acts in the book that made me really upset. Yes, I read the YA genre, but that doesn't mean I enjoy reading about super irresponsible children or getting creepy vibes from various characters. I liked the overall concept of this book, but I did get many many many weird vibes from it and some of the choices that characters made just pissed me off. There is more ranting about this in my review. I'm not sure if others feel the same way, or if the majority of people think it is the epitome of modern art or something, but it just wasn't my style.
A book that made me crabby is The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander. The book was okay, but there were a lot of acts in the book that made me really upset. Yes, I read the YA genre, but that doesn't mean I enjoy reading about super irresponsible children or getting creepy vibes from various characters. I liked the overall concept of this book, but I did get many many many weird vibes from it and some of the choices that characters made just pissed me off. There is more ranting about this in my review. I'm not sure if others feel the same way, or if the majority of people think it is the epitome of modern art or something, but it just wasn't my style.
Okay, well thank you for sticking around this long! I know many of you are playing Pokémon Go so I hope this was enjoyable to read! Like I mentioned earlier, these are not all the questions, but I did not want to make this post too long so I cut it down to only ten. If you would like a part two of this book TAG then let me know. I tag anyone else who is up to this challenge and wants to post this TAG on whatever social media platform you blog on! Comment down below your favorite Pokémon or a book that goes along with this tag! See you (metaphorically) next time! (: