In Which I Do A Book Tag

 Welcome back, reader.

We're in the midst of fall, I'm in the midst of my TBR list, and in the midst of a nice warm cup of tea. I've also got Halloween socks on so I'm really feeling my fall oats, as it were.

Because I don't have anything major to update you on, reader, I decided it was high time I did a tag. I've always wanted to do one of them. Appropriately enough, I chose the Finally Fall Tag. The questions below were written by alina melina, though the original video is now private, I believe.

   

Finally Fall Book Tag 🎃

• In the fall the air is crisp and clear: Name a book with a vivid setting.

My choice here is Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. Honestly any of her Wayward Children series would work here, but Sticks and Bones has that delicious gothic horror vibe going for it. It's got everything: Vampires, Mad Scientists, a Spooky Moor. This bad boy can hold so many Fall Vibes. I love it so much.

• Nature is beautiful...but also dying: Name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief.

So this next book doesn't necessarily put me in mind of fall, but it is absolutely a beautifully written book. It also has ghosts, kind of. It definitely has loss. It's The Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. I cannot stress enough that you should listen to the audiobook for this one. Firstly it's written in verse and verse begs to be spoken. Secondly the author narrates the audiobook so he knows exactly where the pause for maximum impact. I'm going to talk more about this book in my October Wrap Up, but just know that this book is so very good. Content Warning, though reader, this book deals with gun violence and death. Two characters die on page and one of them is a kid. It isn't graphic, but it is emotional. It's a book about loss and retributive justice. It's a quick read, though, I got through the audio book in an hour and a half on normal speed. 

• Fall is back to school season: Share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.

Hmmm, a nonfiction book you say? Well I've certainly got some of those up my sleeve. I'm only going to expose myself a little here because my nonfiction is half history. What's the other half, reader? That's a mystery for another time. I don't want to expose myself as a clown so soon in the tag. Anyway, The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders is my pick. It's a history of Victorian era England that focuses on how they thought about, publicized, and treated murder. It was absolutely fascinating and seasonally macabre. I really like Judith Flanders' scholarship, writing style, and subject matter. It's a great history of a specific subject. I am, as ever, trash for the Victorian era. 

• In order to keep warm, it's good to spend some time with people we love: Name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you'd like to be a part of.

This is a tough one because I don't ever want to insert myself into a pre-formed friend group, even a fictional one. I'm far to anxious for that, reader. The most I can do is vibe in their general vicinity. But in terms of parallel interaction, I'd most like to go to the Goblin Market in Seanan McGuire's In an Absent Dream. Dear me, I seem to have put another Seanan McGuire book on this list. Who could have foreseen? On a more serious note, I love fantasy markets. I love markets in real life too, although not right now because of global pandemic things. But yes. The whole Goblin Market is my answer. I am a goblin, I love markets. What could be better?

• The colorful fall leaves are piling up on the ground: Show us a pile of fall-colored spines!

Books from top to bottom: Richard III, Les Miserables, The House of Hades, Axiom's End

• Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: Share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.

This next book is a bit of a stretch, but the majority of it is curated journal entries put together in universe and that's almost like being told a story? Right? Anyway it's Dracul by Dacre Stoker and JD Barker. I am endlessly fascinated by this book. I am always a slut for vampire mysteries, even the bad ones. This book isn't bad, I'd like to clarify and if you want some delightful vampire action in an historical setting, this is your book. However, it does have some issues. Issues I shall be talking about in my wrap up. Just know that it's fun, it's kind of written like you're being told a story, and it does have Hot Dracula in it. A good spooky read for the fall season.

• The nights are getting darker: Share a dark, creepy read.

Reader, tragically I must inform you that the book I'm choosing to put here is Richard III by William Shakespeare. You might have noticed it sitting at the top of that book stack I stuck in here. Why did I put it there? It was orange. Not that you can tell from the picture because the lighting is terrible. It's also a real dark play. I did also go to school for theater and occasionally I will read Old Billy Shakes for fun. I'm a fan of dick jokes, what can I say. Anyway, Richard III is a spooky play. Not as splatterpunk-esque as Titus Andronicus, but Richard III does do a lot of murder. He is a villain after all (in the play, at least. Shakespeare's history plays are more like history fanfiction than actual history). It's dark, it's creepy, Richard III has some killer lines, and if you read an annotated edition like the Folger edition I got it will explain the definitions of words who's meanings have shifted over time. Shakespeare is not an easy read since his english and our english have drifted in the intervening centuries, but that makes if fun. It's like a puzzle box with penis comedy inside.

• The days are getting colder: Name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody's cold and rainy day.

Short and heartwarming? That sounds like a perfect place to stick another Seanan McGuire book! Specifically Beneath the Sugar Skies. It's got the least murder and it's a nice jaunt through several different worlds. I think it's a nice cozy read. If, however, you are tired of me telling you to read Wayward Children, I'll suggest Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I only started reading Jane Austen this summer and I might have fallen in love just a little. Northanger Abbey is a quick read and it was the first Austen novel I picked up. It's a mood, if you, like me, are of the book nerd persuasion All of her stories end happy and Northanger is no exception, it just also has some delightful fall elements and a relatable main character. I too am often inattentive and occasionally stupid. 

• Fall returns every year: Name an old favorite that you'd like to return to soon.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I picked up this, as yet unfinished, trilogy in high school and I fell in love. The writing is lovely, I cannot wait for the last book to come out. I think it's happening soonish, from what I've heard round the web? I'm not sure, reader, but I am sure that I want to reread The Name of the Wind, A Wise Man's Fear, and the novella A Slow Regard of Silent Things. I absolutely loved the novella and I've been thinking of picking it up and rereading it every time I look at my bookshelf. (When I can see it, that is. I have not done a shelf tour for a reason. They are in a State at the moment).

• Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: Share your favorite cozy reading "accessories".

No reading set up is complete with out a nice soft blanket, a steaming mug of tea (I'm on an oolong kick at the moment), a cardigan because I am slowly but surely cocooning myself in a protective layer of Librarian Vibes (tm), and a nice side table. The table is not fun, but I do need a place to put my tea down. I have had far too many tea related accidents to put it on the floor, the arm of a chair, or balanced on the me. I will cry over spilled tea, reader, I will do it and it will be tragic to watch. 

That wraps up the Finally Fall reading tag! I don't know anyone so I shan't be tagging anybody, but if you see this and you want to do it consider yourself tagged.

Until next time, readers 🎃