Thank You, Next. Book Tag

I feel into the book tube tags hard a couple days ago. I decided to do the Thank You, Next tag. Despite not being tagged, but you know wharves. If you want to see a movie or do something, sometimes you just have to the plunge and do it on your own.

Everyone has seen/heard the iconic Ariana Grande song by this point, but here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl1aHhXnN1k

Here's a link to the channel that I saw this tag on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCF1Eo389jo

1. Name a book that you said "thank u, next" to, i.e. DNF'd (did not finish).

Fallen. It’s still hanging out in my current reads of Goodreads. It was so boring, cliché. I think I made it 50 pages in. Was not a fan, as it had 3 tropes I’m over with. A Mary Sue that was basically Bella Swan, an angel (sorry, thank you next) and a love triangle. It didn't bring anything new to the genre and didn't make an enjoyable story with the known.

3. Name a book that taught you love (i.e. a book you loved)

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. So good. I loved the use of Russian mythology and the idea of old customs vs the new. It made me feel like I was actually in a Russian winter. I like Vasilisa a lot as a protagonist and her trying to help people even if they think she's wrong. It was good to provide some perspective for the step mom too, as opposed to making her the evil Cinderella step mother. Her stepmom tries to rein Vasilisa in for either a convent or a marriage, as is expected of girls that age. Vasilisa obviously doesn't want that (I mean who does) so she actively rebelled by just being herself.

4. Name a book that taught you patience.

Game of Thrones. This book is never going to be done. It’s teaching me patience as I wait forever for it to be done. The first 3 books are also fantastic, the 4th took me forever to read since I wasn't interested in the new characters. I don't like the sand snakes in the book or the show. I didn't like Marcella. Give me more Cersei, Jamie, Tyrion, Sansa, Aria, etc. The usual suspects.

5. Name a book that taught you pain.

Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb. I put off reading this book for over a year, since I wasn’t feeling emotional prepared. I eventually read it and it destroyed me. It concluded the story of the Fitz and his friend the Fool exceptionally well. I don't want to go into too much detail for fear of spoilers for all the other books. I liked how over the course of the last two we got to say good bye to our favourites throughout the series in a natural and organic way.

6. Name a book that you loved at the time of reading but in hindsight you do not like as much anymore but which you still learned some other quality from.

Most Sarah Desson books, but in this case I'll go with Just Listen. I probably read this book 10-12 years ago now. I remember really liking it at the time, but I don't like how boys save the girls in the books. With saying that, friends/significant others can help pull you out of dark times and meeting some new can be just what you need. But in this case they always seem to be perfect boys, usually bad boys that are everything the girl is missing. I did like how Just Listen dealt with a fairly realistic issue. When we are teenagers and we grow apart from our friends for whatever reason its nice to know that there is still hope that we'll find new friends. Sometimes we forget this in the situation though.

7. Name a book you're currently talking to, i.e. have the hots for.

The Innkeepers Chronicles by Ilona Andrews. I’ve wanted to read a book by her for a while. I posted on Reddit for a book about an old British Werewolf couple that run a BnB and the stories of their guests. Not British, but recommended to me. I’m stoked about this book. Sometimes when I’m bored I just post the most random description just to see if a book like that exists.

Kraken by China Mieville. It’s about a doomsday cult that worships squids. Just the description gets me excited. I cannot wait to read this book.

8. Name the book that gon' last - the book of you - the book that helped you love yourself a little bit more.

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. I love Malta and Althea. They are girls who fought for what they wanted, even if others didn’t agree with it. I’m all about strong badass female characters and this book did it well. As a kid, I was always looking for girls who were opinionated and fought for things. I was encouraged to have an opinion and until I got older, there wasn’t a market for girls I identified with. I don’t want a book about a girl waiting for her prince to save her; I want her to save herself or save the prince. I felt like these girls did that.

The other one is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. I identified so much with Meg as a kid. I always felt like the plain girl (I even had braces and glasses to boot) and like I didn't have many real friends when I first read that book. My friends until probably grades 11 and 12 were mainly frenemies and it felt like we hung out with each other out of connivence. But Meg made friends with Calvin, was really smart and had a fantastic family. The wonder and fighting the big evil was so enjoyable too.

Cheers,

Jen!