The I Dare You Tag

Phew- I feel like I’ve been pretty daring this week, so I thought I’d chill out… by doing the dare you tag 😉 Seems quite appropriate now we’re in the heart of the *SCARY SEASON*. Thank you so much to the marvellous Mary Drover for tagging me to do this- she’s got such a fascinating blog, with so much on writing, books, yoga, food and so much more! You’d be mad not to check it out!

Now, you’ve done that, let’s get into the tag!

(warning, may contain controversial opinions…)

What book has been on your shelf the longest?

I have the same answer as Mary for this, cos hello, I’m a millennial:

What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

At the time of writing this post, I’m currently reading the Dispel Illusion (so far soo not been able to catch my breath!!), just read Bone Witch (eh s’alright) and up next is p-r-o-b-a-b-l-y Small Spaces… or Vanishing Stair… or maybe something else equally Halloweeny (what? You wanted an actual answer? I’m a mood reader!)

What book did everyone like, but you hated?

Okay, I’ve got a lot of these, so I’m gonna list a few like Mary did. Time to piss everyone off I guess…

1. The Fault in Our Stars– I’ve made no secret of the fact I didn’t like this book. For me, the narrative was a flatline of continuous despair and the pretentious prose felt absurd. Also, I will never think the callous use of Anne Frank was okay, okay?
2. It Ends with Us– on a completely different note, here’s one I’ve never talked about before, but… oof this one still hurts. Lots of people love this book because of the way it boldly handled the sensitive subject matter, and I can respect that, BUT I hated it for its soapy, simplified, inauthentic approach.
3. The Bronze Horseman– ugh to the cheating, ugh to the gross love interest and ugh to the dishcloth protagonist. Ugh ugh ugh.

I’ve actually realised I have *a lot* more of these. Maybe I’ll do a follow up post if I’m feeling brave…

What book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

Well, I kind of know my reading tastes by now and I figure it’s suuuuper unlikely I’ll want to attempt another steam of consciousness novel. I’ve never finished a Virginia Woolf book or ploughed through Joyce’s Ulysses– and I probably never will. That didn’t stop me from downloading all the free ebook versions though….

What book are you saving for retirement?

Gosh, I don’t know, maybe some of the above? I have a number of challenging books on my tbr as well- such as the works of Jung, Dante’s Inferno, Swann’s Way etc- but I like to think I’ll get to them before I retire 😉

Last page: read it first, or wait ’til the end?

Wait till the end! What do you take me for?! I’m not some uncivilised, well, ape.

Acknowledgement: waste of paper and ink, or interesting aside?

Oh, I quite enjoy them. Maybe I’m sappy, but I find so many of them written with warmth and charm and lovely expressions of gratitude! (okay, yes, I’m very sappy)

Which book character would you switch places with?

I’m gonna go with Austen’s Emma, cos has a lovely lifestyle and also she gets Knightley- what more could a girl desire?

Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life? (place, time, person?)

Hmm I think many books have the power to transport you back in time and place.

Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way.

Ahhh this is embarrassing. I once soaked my school library copy of Little Women (by accident!) so rather than giving back the damaged version, I pretended I’d lost it and paid to replace it. I think I still have the mouldy and kinda disgusting version somewhere in storage.

Have you ever given a book away for a special reason to a special person?

Since it’s nearly Halloween and I apparently want to scare people off, I’ll go with Woke– which I gave to my brother for his birthday and just wrote a (satirical) review for.

Which book has been with you most places?

Okay, time for a weird confession (that I’ve probably made before 😉) I sometimes like to take my copy of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience around with me like a talisman. Partly cos it’s small, partly cos it’s pretty, mostly cos even if I have my phone/kindle I need at least one physical book with me at all times.

Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad two years later?

This is probably the hardest question! The only things I really remember hating from school was the contemporary poetry- most of which I still hate. I have, however, developed a deep respect for Seamus Heaney after reading his terrific translation of Beowulf recently. Sooo don’t know if that counts as an answer, but moving on…

Used or brand new?

I get most of my books used, but would probably prefer to get them new, cos if I could shower authors/publishers/booksellers with wealth, I would.

Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?

Unfortunately, yes. The Da Vinci Code was one of my first (non classic) adult books. Suffice to say I wasn’t impressed and it took me many, many years to go back to adult books after that.

Have you ever seen a movie you liked more than the book?

A few times. I not-so-secretly prefer the Stardust movie, for instance (though the book is still good!)

Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks included?

Of course! I get hungry at just the mention of food- in fact this question has just made me so hungry I can’t think of an answer right now! Maybe the extremely obvious answer Harry Potter– which made me wish Hogwarts was real all the more! Rainbow Rowell is pretty good at making me hungry too. As is Jacqueline Wilson.

Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

Two of my friends, who both vigorously recommended Discworld to me- obviously they earned my eternal trust with that tip 😉

Is there a book out of your comfort zone (e.g., outside your usual reading genre) that you ended up loving?

The first one that springs to mind is the Martian- which was a surprisingly delightful read- especially for a newbie to the sci fi genre like me!

That was fun, now I dare: No Reads too Great, Jennifer, Mim Inkling, Embuhleeliest, Meghan, Corner of Laura, Rivermoose Reads, Journey into Books, Zezee and Naty

So have I shocked any of you with my opinions?! (probably not, if you’ve stuck around this long, you’ll know I’ve said worse  😉 )  Really curious though, do you have any shocking opinions on books everyone loves, but you hate? I dare you to let me know in the comments!