The Christmas Stocking Tag

It’s nearly Christmas! Can you believe there’s only two days until Christmas day? I still get so excited counting down the days, and it’s always great to spend time with friends and family during the festive season. The wonderful Kate over at Reading Through Infinity created this tag, and while I wasn’t tagged in a post myself I really wanted to do this super Christmassy tag!

Rules

• Link to the person who tagged you
• Link to Kate, as she’d love to read your answers
• Answer all 10 questions, choosing books for each theme
• Tag five people to do this. I’m tagging Esmée, Louise, Lucinda, Charlotte, & Sarah

---

An orange! Which book is refreshing and vibrant, both inside and out?

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. This graphic novel is a truly refreshing and vibrant read – the art is gorgeous and uniquely styled, and the storyline will tug at your heartstrings. It’s such a lovely one to have on the shelf!

The next thing you see is a bag of chocolate coins. (Yum) Which book have you recently bought that was expensive, but totally worth the high price?

I don’t actually think I’ve bought a really expensive book lately. The only thing I can think of is the The Incredibles 2 artbook at £20 but it was for my sisters birthday present so does it actually count?

You also pull out a bath bomb. Tell us about a book that had explosive action scenes.

This has to be A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. BLOOD?! ATTACKING RUTHLESS MONARCHS?! VILLAINS?! GOING THROUGH WALLS?! Oh and did I mention BLOOD?! This book is jam-packed with action scenes, and every one of them is tense and gripping enough to have you squeezing the book as tight as you can!

Next is a pack of playing cards. Which series won you over?

I will probably have to say the All For The Game series by Nora Sakavic. The Foxhole Court was a bit of a slow go, and far too wordy at times, but The Raven King was so much better – and the series is so different from what I normally read! Lots of shocking scenes and truly dark moments, I was really intrigued by the second book and really want to read the third.

You also get a candle. Which character is a symbol of hope in their story?

Starr Carter in The Hate U Give. Despite everything she is going through, she always manages to be a true beacon of hope. She represents standing up and having faith in your voice, and having the courage to be brave when everything looks bleak.

There are socks inside too. Is there a book that you think really encompasses all the distinctive tropes of its genre?

Definitely A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is such a perfect mystery series, with a bit of crime thrown in for good measure and plenty of mystery. There are points where the characters are discussing things that are so cryptic and confusing, and it will only make sense either two chapters or four books later. There’s so many little hidden references through the entire series too – stuff that is right under your nose the whole time but you can’t see the significance of it!

There’s also a notebook. Which author’s writing process do you find most interesting/inspiring?

I think V.E. Schwab definitely has an inspiring writing process, especially as she seemed to endure lots of hate online regarding a sequel for Vicious. She is a ruthless writer and powers through, whether she writes three words or three thousand words a day. It’s definitely fantastic to follow her posts discussing how she writes and how she plots.

To go with the notebook, there’s a fancy pen. Is there a book or a series that you’d change if you’d written it yourself?

I thought long and hard about this one, and think I’d actually rewrite parts of Leah On The Offbeat. Leah was a very bitter and unlikeable character at times, so I think I’d want to rewrite scenes to make her just a little bit…nicer? Plus I’d definitely want to fix that scene. You know the one.

There’s also a small bedside clock. Which book took you a long time to pick up but was worth it in the end?

Six of Crows duology. It took a long time for me to actually want to pick this book up, and sat on my shelf for a good few months before I finally picked it up to read. It was completely and utterly worth it, and I’ve already reread the first book in the series.

Your pile is getting really big. You reach in to pull out the last gift and it’s… a lump of coal? You’re a little disappointed. But you look closer and realise there’s a seam running through the coal. You crack it open and sitting inside is a tiny golden snitch. Tell us about a book that surprised you in some way.

One book that really surprised me was Dungeon Fun by Colin Bell and Neil Slorance. I was expecting it to be good, I was expecting it to be funny, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so funny that my stomach ached from laughter. It’s such a clever graphic novel, with little hidden jokes within the speech and backgrounds of the panels! (You should definitely check this one out and support independent artists!)

---

So there we have it – the Christmas Stocking tag! Feel free to fill this in yourself if I’ve tagged you – I’d love to see your answers! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and get all the bookish things you’ve been dreaming of!

Advertisement