Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Get to Know Ya Book Tag

Many thanks to +Jadeyraereads for the tag!

The video version of this tag can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpCSIrkhdxM&t=60s

1)What's your favorite book?

So, I have a really hard time answering this question because people read for a wide variety of reasons.  I personally will read for a wide variety of reasons. For example, I love to read to meet people.  I love books with amazing well realized characters. That's why I love the books that brought the world Severus Snape and Tyrion Lannister and Gollum. 

 I also read because I just like an entertaining story. I like Marissa Meyer and Tom Clancy and Stephen King because they're a good time. I enjoy the ride.  I also read to experience writing so expertly crafted and so beautifully insightful that it's a work of art, which is why I read Toni Morrison and Marilynne Robinson.  I like to read about insightful social commentary on past and present culture, which is why I like to read Faulkner and George Orwell.  But I can't take a book like Cinder by Marissa Meyer and a book like Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury and compare them to one another in any meaningful way.  So, sorry for the ramble, but I can't answer this!!

2) What was your favorite book 5 years ago?

Five years ago I wasn't reading that much.  I was an elementary school teacher for special needs children and it took every ounce of my energy to pull lesson plans together that fit across 6 different grade levels, So I mostly read children's books. Oh I know!  I'm going to go with The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. 

The three meanest farmers around are out to get Mr. Fox. Fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded. What they don’t know is that they’re not dealing with just any fox–Mr. Fox would never surrender. But only the most fantastic plan ever can save him.

3) Favorite duology/trilogy/series?

Lord of the Rings by Tolkein.

If you somehow manage to not know what this is about, it's an epic high fantasy trilogy about a fictional creature called a hobbit named Frodo who inherits a magical ring.  This ring is very dark and powerful, and a powerful dark Lord is actively seeking out the ring because he wants to use it's powers to enslave the people in Middle Earth. Frodo is a very ordinary person with a simple life who's put in the most trying and extreme circumstances.  A wizard, dwarf, elf, and a few others assist Frodo in an attempt to destroy the ring before it gets into the very wrong hands.   They have epic battles and fantastic adventures, but the ring also works on Frodo, attempting to destroy him from the inside out. 

4) What was the last book you read?

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, a collection of short stories from Norse mythology adapted to a current audience.  

I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I'm about to post a  review on this, two actually, one spoiler free and one is a full book talk, I'll link both once they're up. 

5) What was the last book of poetry you read?

William Wordsworth Favorite Poems.  Wordsworth is one of the famous poets from the romantic era, in the first half of the 1800's, and his most well known poem is about daffodils, it's called "I wandered lonely as a cloud".  I have daffodils that recently started sprouting in my front yard, so I revisited Wordsworth in honor of the occasion 

6) What book most influenced your life?

The Bible, maybe? The Bible is 66 books, so, I don't know, Matthew. We'll go with the Book of Matthew. 

There's four books that relate the life of Jesus, and one of them is written by Matthew  a former tax collector who was recruited by Jesus to be one of the Twelve Apostles. When I say tax collector, like, everyone in the Roman Empire hated tax collectors because they basically just took however much they wanted from you, submitted the tax to the government and kept the rest for themselves. The Sermon on the Mount is in Matthew, that's my favorite. 

7) A book that made you ugly cry?

Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. It's about two ranch workers who live in California during the Great Depression.  

They're migrant workers who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities, and one of them is mentally retarded. And the other ranch worker looks out for this disabled person. I sobbed at the end of that. I'm gonna tear up just thinking about it now.

8) A book that made you laugh?

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson! Actually Jadey, who tagged me for this, I first heard this book recommended from her. 

Nimona is a graphic novel, it's basically one long comic strip, and it's absolutely hilarious.  If you find this, pick it up. Nimona is a young girl who is a shapeshifter, and she's trying to become a supervillian.  She successfully becomes the sidekick to supervillain Lord Blackheart, and they're trying to expose the local superheroes as not being all they're cracked up to be.  Nimona is just so dang funny.


9) Character you'd like to be for the day?

Mowgli from The Jungle Book. The Jungle Book is a collection of 7 short stories, 3 of which involve Mowlgi.  

He's raised by wolves in the Indian Jungle, and I think he has a really interesting life.  Everyone in the Jungle lives by a social code called the code of the Jungle, and it fascinates me.  

10) A book that was so good you dreamt about it? 

A Child Called It. I dreamed about this book and not in a good way. At all. It gave me nightmares. 


It's the story of this incredible little boy, David Pelzer. It's a true story about one of the worst cases of child abuse recorded in the United States. This boy's mother would play these cruel, torturous games with him that would leave him nearly dead. who was cursed with Satan for a mother.  It's about a boy's daily struggle to regain his life and to believe he is worth something.

11) Book you DNF'd?

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer. 


This is marketed as an adult spy thriller, but I did not find it very thrilling. It's about woman who's an ex-CIA agent who tortures people with chemicals a guy she was torturing falls in love with her. 

12) What book are you most excited to read?

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diana Ackerman which is part of my March TBR and it's being adapted to film and released March 31 I believe?

The Zookeeper's wife is a true story of the zookeeper of the Warsaw, Poland zoo during the 1930's and 40's.  The zookeeper and his wife both saved and hid 300 Jewish refugees who were imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto. 


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