Book tag

 Welcome back, dear reader

Only seven days are left in the month of March and I have but two books left to read. I also have a tragic lack of enthusiasm because I'm in a nonfiction essay collection mood and not an historical fiction mood. If I could tell you why I was so enthusiastic about essay collections, I would reader. In the meantime, I decided to do another book tag. 

I am unsure who first created this tag, reader. I tried tracing it back through a series of blogs but I couldn't find any author credit given. Unfortunate. Anyway, on with the tag.

Book Blogger Confessions Tag

1. Which book, most recently, did you not finish?

 There are, tragically, several books that fall under this category. I'm still working my way through The Secret History by Donna Tart although the jury's out on whether I will finish it or not. So far it's very meandering book, which would not be an issue if any of the characters were interesting. Maybe they'll grow on me, reader. 

2. Which book is your guilty pleasure?

Guilty pleasure implies shame, and I feel no shame in the trash books I choose to consume. I have absurd fascinations with certain books. Twilight by Stephanie Mayer is an example. Is it at all good? No, reader, it is not. Does it still live in my head rent-free? Yes. Yes, it does. It's kind of like a slow-moving trainwreck. I simply can't look away and I do keep trying to fix it. What if I made Twilight better? I ask myself late in the night as the delirium of sleep-deprivation steals over me. I can fix it, really I can. I can make it about lesbians and not include all the racism. I feel neither guilt nor pleasure, only absurd fascination.

3. Which book do you love to hate?

I thought long and hard about this question and I still don't have an answer, reader. I can't think of a book that I enjoy disliking. The closest I think I can get are books that are deeply flawed, but hold a special place in my heart. The Harry Potter series falls under this category. It's a part of my childhood and has a lot of issues in characterization and world building. The author is also a terf, but let's not get into that right now. Twilight might also qualify although I don't love it or hate it. I just don't interact with media that doesn't bring me joy, you know? If I don't like something then I shouldn't make it a special place in my head for it to live and continue making me angry. 

4. Which book would you throw into the sea?

I'm about to undo everything I just said in the last question. I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid is a book I would happily pitch into the sea. It lives rent-free in my head because I can't get over how much I didn't enjoy it. It was a bad time, reader.

5. Which book have you read the most?

Monstrous Regiment or Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett. Close third is the Time Traveler's Wife. I periodically pick up Regiment or Nightwatch and just read them in a day or so. The Time Traveler's Wife I read a lot when I was in high school. It was one of a few books that I would just read, finish, and then start again. American Shaolin, The Tale of Despereaux, and The Thief Lord were also books I read repeatedly. I have no idea which of these I have read the most, but I have read them all many times. 

6. Which book would you hate to receive as a present?

A disappointing book, I think. There isn't any specific book that I would be loath to receive as a gift, reader, but I think it would be unfortunate it someone gave me a book that wasn't very good. As a broad generalization, book gifts usually fall into a sentimental sharing of books the giver enjoys or something popular that the giver has seen a lot and thinks you need. Not enjoying a book that someone else took the time to pick out and gifted to me would make me feel bad.

7.  Which book could you not live without?

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo. This book was one of the most helpful books I read last year. It's very informative and expanded my understanding of white privilege and what meaningful inclusion looks like in a work environment. I highly recommend it, reader

8. Which book made you the angriest? 

To the surprise of no one: I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid. I just really didn't like it, reader. 

9. Which book made you cry the most?

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. It was a very bittersweet story and I was a teary mess after I finished it. It was a very cathartic cry, reader.

10. Which book cover do you hate the most?

Not a cover perse, but I do hate it when ebook covers change after you've purchased them or download without a cover at all. Books with covers that I'm not fond of don't bother me overly much, but I can't stand temp covers on ebooks. If the ebook downloads and it doesn't have a cover that means I have to go out of my way and find the cover, save it to my machine and then add it to the book in Calibre. That's at least five minutes I could have spent sitting around contemplating the cobwebs on my ceiling which I never seem to notice when I have a broom in my hand and the will to clean them up.

And thus ends the book tag. I hope you enjoyed yourself, reader. I'm unsure what the final post of March will be. Stay tuned, I suppose.

Until next time, reader 🎃