The K-Pop Book Tag

Hello-Hello, fellow readers! Today is a perfect day for a book tag, a K-Pop inspired tag. I was tagged a while back by the amazing creator of this tag, Savannah, from @TheBookProphet. Thank you!  If you are curious to check out her answers and blog, you can just click the link I put above.

As many of you know, K-Pop has entered the western culture and it becomes more popular each day. This book tag combines two amazing things Korean culture and books. Some of you might be newbies or you never heard of K-Pop. Now, there is a chances to experience something new. I, myself, am a Korean drama lover. If you are interested, here is the link to my Korean Drama Top Favorites post.

Without further ado, let us start this tag!

But first, here are the rules.

The Guilty Reader Book Tag

Hello-Hello! It is time for another post, a book tag. I've been tagged by the wonderful blogger, Abi, from What Makes A Good Book. If you are curious what her answers were, just be kind and click on the link. ;)

The creator of this book tag is ReadLikeWildfire from YouTube. 

Let The Book Tag Begin...!

1. Have you ever re-gifted a book that you've been given?

I rarely receive actual physical books from people but the ones I did receive... No, I have not re-gifted any of them from what I remember. 

2. Have you ever said you've read a book when you haven't?

This goes into technicalities territory. I said that to books I was currently reading or books I did not finish reading. I've done this mostly for school books like most people in this world. ^^' Sorry, professors! Although, I did read some of the content and researched the heck out of that said book's content. Thank you, Google!

3. Have you ever borrowed a book and not returned it?

Guilty as charged. Hey, don't judge! It was around the time when I was a kid and I did not give a dime about books. Yes, I was a kid who did not like to read because it was too boring for my kid hyped brain. An exception to the rule were the W.i.t.c.h. comic books. 

Now, I want to rectify my kid mistakes as much as possible. :D

4. Have you ever read a series out of order?

I guess so. It mostly happened with [romance] books that were part of huge series but each book could be read as a standalone.

5. Have you ever spoiled a book for anyone?

Yes. I know. I know. I know. Fire and damnation. "Shame! Shame! Shame!" "Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your cow!"

It was one time by mistake when I was talking with my desk-mate about Anna Karenina's ending and someone,who was not done with the book, overheard us. And other times, I spoiled books for my friend(s) who wanted to know the ending. Yes, I ask for permission! So... In your face, judgmental readers! 

But, please, ask for permission to spoil books. And, hey, mistakes happens. 

Most of the things I spoiled were for myself. I spoiled books, movies, and TV shows to myself...

6. Have you ever doggy eared a book?
Yes. I did that a lot when I was younger or when books did not want to cooperate. Do you know how hard it is to read a book that does not want to stay open? Very. Even dangerous, I can say.  It is like playing with one of those bear traps. When you least expect it, CLAP! Your hand and face are injured. You see dancing stars. Plus, the page number is lost. And then you cry, not because of the pain, but because you did not remember what chapter you were reading. Then, you cry some more while trying to find the last sentence read. Sadly, you end up rereading a good junk of the chapter (or even the book) you were at and cry of frustration. Oh! And that is nothing compared to the time when it happens to read a spoiler while searching for your spot then you scream. The book screams. Your mom screams at you asking why you are screaming. Then your pet screams in terror. Then the Earth screams together with the entire universe and so on and so forth... Lastly, you ask the universe what you did to deserve such destiny.
I am telling ya! It's a whole drama.

7. Have you ever told someone you do not own a book when you do?
  No, I do not think so. Rarely happens for someone to ask if I own a book and if she/he can borrow it. But when it does happen... I try to suggest other options like the library and OverDrive or to insist on the part where "You should take care of my baby book or else..." >]

8. Have you ever told someone you haven't read a book when you have?
 Yes, in the past when I thought that some books I read are going to make people judge me. Little did I know, people judged me anyway.

9. Have you ever skipped a chapter or a section of a book?
Yes. Mostly school books when only some sections were required to read. Or, I either scan and skipped some sections/chapters in favor of their summaries on the internet. I am usually not a big fan of classic/old works (except some ancient writings). Plus, as a busy student like myself you have to give something up if you want to be able to have all your homework done. [Sorry, professor(s)!

10. Have you ever bad mouthed a book you actually like?
Yes, just because I like a book that does not mean I have to loose my critical eye. [wink]

Tags:
Savannah from The Book Prophet
Joan from Books & Fitness & Lifestyle 
Carmen from Carmen's Reading Corner
And if i did not tag you and you want to do this tag, consider yourself tagged

PS

Until next time, feel free to check out my latest posts:

Melody Obsession - Fetish by Selena Gomez

The Diabolic - Book Review 

See you in my next post!

The Summer Book Tag

Introduction

Hello-Hello! Right now my life requires a hero so, of course, I had to take out my superhero costume from the dusty attic. The moment real life decides to diminish its flirting with me I will return on the world wide web with more posts. ^_^

Scout's honor! (Although, I was never a scout... Oops! ^^')

Also, thank you Abi (What Makes A Good Book) for tagging me eons ago! 

Now, let's return to the actual post 'cause "Winter is coming!" (Yes, I just binge watched GoT.)

Summer

1. Lemonade: Pick a book that started bitter but got better.

Hmmm... I actually love Lemonade. The less sugar the better!
I will bend the rules a bit for this category and I am going to choose the Cormoran Strike (<- link) by Robert Galbraith - aka J.K. Rowling. The first book was so slow I was so close to not finish it and give up on the series. Blame the author for keeping me hooked. What can I say? I was biased when I took that decision and I am so glad I did. The series only gets better with each book.

image source: my Instagram.

2. Golden sun: Pick a book that made you smile beyond compare.

Why LA? Pourquoi Paris? by Diane Ratican is a book I am currently reading. It is an entire laughing session every single time I am opening it for a read. Why? Half of it is written in French while the other half is written in English. And both are not my mother tongue. Despite my fluency in English, it is an amazing challenge to relearn and read French while my brain is set to operate in English mode.
The graphics, the story and the way it is written offer an unique experience especially for bilinguals and multilingual. You get to experience translation barriers and differences first hand.
(Yes, I speak French at a very basic level. ^_^ )

image source: Goodreads (link above, book title mention)

3. Tropical flowers: Pick a book set in a foreign country.

Does another planet count? Kidding! (But just in case, check out Return Once More by Trisha Leigh. Shhh!)

I see London, I see France by Sarah Mylnowski is another book I am currently reading. It takes place in multiple countries across Europe (e.g. France and U.K.) and U.S.A. So far, it is... alright. A tad of too much teenage - even though the protagonists are in college - drama for me. I shall see. ^^

 images source: Goodreads (link, books title mention)

4. Tree shade: Pick a book in which a mysterious or shady character was first introduced.

I am bending the rules again and I am going to pick two characters: Raffe from Angelfall (<-link), and Seth from The Red Pyramid (<-link).
Well... Seth is Seth the Egyptian god of... violence, disorder etc. etc. So no more introduction there although there is more to him than it seems.
Raffe, on the other hand, is more mysterious and secretive, and less shady than Seth. At least that is what I think.

5. Beach sand: Pick a book that was grainy and the plot barely developed.

Vernal (<-link) by Randi Cooley Wilson. For a detailed explanation feel free to check my full review by clicking the book link.

image source: Goodreads  

6. Green grass: Pick a character(s) that were full of life, making you smile.

Sadie and Carter from The Red Pyramid.
 Kaia and Levi from Exist Once More.

7. Watermelon: Pick a book that had some juicy secrets.

Exist Once More by Trisha Leigh. Time Travel. History. Secrets? Well, duh! Obviously! Wink-Wink. Warning! This is the second book in a duology. Read the synopsis on your own risk.

image source: Goodreads (link, book title mention)

8. Sun hat: Pick a book that had a vast, big universe/setting.

It looks like this is a Rick Riordan post. The Red Pyramid  by Rick Riordan and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay  by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Universe, duh! Pretty Big. Quite H-U-G-E, I will like to say. Wink-wink!)

images source: Goodreads (links, books title mention)

9. BBQ: Pick a book where a character was portrayed as a hunk.

Can I say every single romance - historical romance to be precise - book I ever read?

Oz from the Return Once More.
(Ok, this post is shared between Trisha Leigh AND Rick Riordan. I fell better now.)
Darien from Geekerella.
Hades and Aries (and every single god) from Daughters of Zeus series, Persephone.

10. Tag people!

You just have been tagged! BAM!

I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know in the comments below if you decided to do this tag or if you read any of these books.

PS

I will see you soon!

Until next time you can check out my latest posts about books and music -->HERE and HERE<--

Seasons of Book Blogging Tag

 

Hello-Hello, readers all over the world! Today, I decided to do a book tag. I know I've been absent from my blog lately; thus, I decided to do a tag and keep you all entertained.

Savannah from The Book Prophet nominated whoever wants to do the tag all back in January. As you can see (read), I decided to do it since I live in the Northern Temperate Zone - aka four seasons.
Side note: Did you know that the North geographic pole is actually the South pole of Earth's magnetic field and the South geographic pole is the North magnetic pole? CRAAA-ZYYY!
 Now, back to the post!

The creator of this tag is Jordyn from J. Bookish.
Don't be a grumpy troll and go visit these hard-working bloggers. No offense trolls but you are kind of grumpy imaginary beings.

Rules:

1. Thank the creator (so she can see all of your answers!) and the person who tagged you.

2. Begin with the month in which you have been tagged and move forward from there!

3. State the best gift you’ve ever been given after you answer the question for your birthday month.

4. Tag whomever you’d like when you’re finished.. or else you’ll be “it” forever.

5. Have fun, of course!

 

January begins a new year. Name a resolution you made this year and if you’ve kept it or not!
Well, Well, Well... I've made a long list in the last hour of 2016. I can say that I kept some of them and some of them - sadly - I did not. By the end of the year, I want to put all my strength in keeping them. I just realized that I am very vague with "them." Let's just say that one of my resolutions is to trade some of my fat mass for more muscle mass.

Oh! January is my birth month. I do not remember every single thing I received over the course of my life so far but I can definitely say my mom's home made birthday cakes and my 18th birthday piece of jewelry made of precious metal and stone. (In Romania, the 18th birthday is like a rite of passage into adulthood because you become an adult legally able to do and buy anything you want. Slow down you envious American teenagers :].)
 

February is the month for relationships. Name your favorite book relationship: romantic, platonic, or familial, your choice!
Laia and Elias from An Ember in the Ashes. I will stop commenting on their relationship any further cause... SPOILERS. :D
Let's just say it's realistic - as realistic it can be in a fiction fantasy setting :).

 

March is the month for luck and new beginnings. Name a book or series that you would like to re-experience as if you’d never read it.

I know what you are thinking: "HARRY POTTER!"

WRONG

 

It is Tara Duncan series before Twilight and way before Harry Potter. This was actually my very first book I picked up from a shelf in a hypermarket called Auchan, Romania. I read the first's book synopsis on the back and on the inside of the cover, loved the graphics, liked the story, and said "I want it!" My parents looked skeptical at me because I was not much of a fan of reading but they bought it for me. At that time the only thing I liked to read was the W.i.t.c.h. comic books. As expected, I read only 75 or 74 pages of the Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders then put the book down cause I could not get into it. Slow starters for an energetic kid like me... unattractive. After that, I got into Twilight and it encouraged me to give Tara Duncan another shot. And it was an amazing adventure. Unfortunately in U.S. only the first two volumes are translated while in Romania they stopped translating after book eight the last time I checked. And... There are at least 13 books total. My only solution to finish the series is to learn French - again. Or I could boycott the U.S. or Romanian (Ro) publishing houses.

 

April is a spectacularly ordinary month. Name a book that was so over-hyped that it just could not live up to your expectations.
Tough one... Can I say every single classic book I heard of because "It is a CLASSIC." Although, from what I remember, in Romania, post Twilight era - book-wise at least - there was a huge hype around Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely. People were talking left and right including my eight grade classmates. The Ro cover looked pretty for me at that time. The story sounded interesting... I said, "Why not?" As you could see on my Goodreads, Melissa Marr's story or her writing style or both were not for me. For a long period of time, I tried to convince myself otherwise. Paradoxically, I never picked up the rest of the series either. And that says a lot. (Now that I see the Ro cover again... It does not represent the book at all. It is too cheerful and the title... Fascination - English translation. Really?)

         Vs.

 

May is the month when the flowers start to bloom. Name a book that was a pleasant surprise to you.
I want to come with a new book than the ones I have in previous posts, e.g. Easter Book Tag, for the sake of diversity... think... Think... THINK... Alright, a recent one!
Illuminae, the audiobook. I will let the audiobook "talk" for itself. It. Was. Epic.

 

June is the time to take a break. Name a book or genre that you like to read when you just need to check out.
Hmmm... I usually gravitate toward a few genres... Most likely Romance and/or Fantasy with a splash of humor.
 

July is the time to celebrate your independence! Name a book that made you see fireworks. (Figuratively. Please don’t light books on fire.)
Ha-Ha-Ha! My mom did that with the books she owned because - according to her - were ruined by rodents to a point of no return. Unfortunately, after I got my Bachelor degree in science, I realized she was probably right. Rodents do carry diseases.
Enough with childhood horror book stories. Please do not cry and dislike my mother. :))
In what sense, I need more than that. In a good way, bad way, actual fire in the book, action, space, Earth, future, history... What? Words, what?
Since it's about independence... I will say Return Once More.

 

August is the hottest month of the year. Pick an up-and-coming author that you think will be the next hottest thing.
Oh, gee! These are getting harder and harder.
Goodreads lists:
Popular 2017 Debut Books
YA Debuts 2017
And the list may continue...
From what I heard... it is either: Stephanie Garber or Angie Thomas or Jeff Giles (The Edge of Everything-Review).

 

 

September is time for students to go back to school! Pick a book you read for school that you actually enjoyed.
I have two books for this one: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Frozen.

 

October is time to celebrate Halloween! Pick one character that you would love to dress up as for Halloween.
A popular answer would be Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. Last Halloween, I dressed up - sort of - as Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games.
Shout out to my friend Emily who helped me out with the "costume."
I don't really know... I have a black vampire Halloween dress that I have yet to wear and I was thinking about goddesses.
Either Valoria or Cleiona from Spirits and Thieves series or Nyx from Greek mythology depicted in The Heroes of Olympus and House of Night series.

November is the month when we’re reminded of how much we have to be thankful for. Choose one book you’re grateful for having read and give a shout-out to the person who recommended it!
Shout out to Alma or Alexandra (like all Romanian she also has lots of aliases like myself - inside joke :]) my desk-mate from seventh and eighth grades. I remember her talking  - a lot - about Brida by Paulo Coelho and The Legends of Olympus (mot-a-mot translation of the title) by Alexandru Mitru. She actually recommended reading the Legends of Olympus. I borrowed from her both Brida and The Legends of Olympus (I am not 100% sure about this one my memory is quite fuzzy) and I thank her for that. And now it's time for the truth since then I did not want to crush her high hopes and excitement for these two books.
Brida was good but strange for my seventh/eighth grader self. I liked it.
The Legends of Olympus... hate is such a strong word. Ha-Ha-Ha! I absolutely disliked it. I found it gross, vulgar, and too much incest. It discouraged me to read the second volume regarding the heroes.
Now, I am in love with Greek mythology. I have her to thank since she was the one who introduced me to it.
Oh! I just remember... She also used to talk a lot about The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles. I love that series. Because of her I start reading it. Thank you for that too!

 

December is a time when friends and families come together and celebrate. Name one book you would give as a gift.
Another hard one... I really do not know. I usually do a research

  about a person's taste in books before buying it as a present. I like laughter and adventure/action... and the first author name popping in my head is: Rick Riordan.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

 

Tag time 

You are not obligated to do this tag if you do not want to. 

I tag the following bloggers:

Joan from Books & Fitness & Lifestyle

Giulia from Books Crumbles 

Abigail from What Makes a Good Book 

And if you, reader of this post, want to do this tag... considered yourself tagged. 

Plus, do not forget to tell me if you decided to do it. Why? Cause I would like to hear your answers. :)

 

 

The Easter Book Tag (Easter Book Bunny)

Real egg painted for Easter. Yes, that's my hand.

Hello-Hello! Doctor Who just premiered last weekend!!! Wait... Wrong post. Then... Is this the post about the Bunny who was forced by freshly resurrected Jesus to lay chocolate eggs - aren't they made of plastic now? - and then to hide them - no reason behind that - for children to find? At least in Romania the Easter Bunny brings real presents like Santa. Hmmm... Don't think so. I am mixing Christianity with Pop Culture.

Oh! Look! I used the "question inside a question" concept, literally.

I should probably look at the title of my post and stop babbling. :D

It's... A Book Tag related to Easter.

I was sort of tagged by Abi from What Makes A Good Book. (<-- link to original post and blog.) Well....... She tagged "anyone who wants to do this tag." And I said, "Why not?"

Let's get started!

1. Rabbits- A book that you wish would multiply- So a book you want a

sequel to (that doesn't have one)!

Let me check my Goodreads... The first book which comes to my mind is:

It is a standalone I read recently. A sci-fi fantasy well done. I need more from that world and those characters. For more information on this book, check out my review -->HERE<--.

2. Egg- A book that surprised you

For this one, I have two books. A recent release (Letters to the Lost) and an older one (An Ember in the Ashes).  Before starting these books, I was skeptic with low expectations and barely remembering their synopsis. Thus, I got gladly surprised. If you want, you can check my review on Letters to the Lost here.

3. Hunt- A book that was hard for you to get your hands on

Basically, almost all the books I put on hold from my libraries on OverDrive. As of right now, I am number 268 on 43 copies for this book (I already read 32% of it):

4. Lambs- A children's book that you still enjoy

I did not like books and reading when I was little. Shocking! I know. I liked the stories to be told to me by my grandmother. Sooo... I searched in my memory, on Google and Goodreads and I decided on this:

5. Spring- A book with a cover that makes you think of spring

Even the book itself has lots of spring and fairytale elements.

6. Rising from the dead- A book with a deceased author

Mostly all Romanian authors I read and other classics... Which are very few. Or I can put one of those ancient Greek works... Well, I am choosing two books:

Camil Petrescu The Last Night of Love, the First Night of War and Three Plays by Aristophanes: Staging Women 

7. Baskets- A book that is in your Amazon cart or on your wish list right now

I wish the Romanian and English speakers (Romania, U.S.A., and/or U.K.) to finish translating this series cause my French is bad. I will have to use Google and a dictionary if I want to finish this series. COME ON! In Romania, they stopped at book seven while in USA only the first two books are translated. Really! Really! Really! You cannot do this to me. Publishing companies from Romania and USA get your act together. I need this series finished. 

8. Candy- A book that is sweet

 Is love considered sweet? Then, I pick this one:

9. Peeps- tag people!

Are you feeling compelled to do this tag? Consider yourself tagged, mate.