the once upon a time book tag

Happy belated Tell a Fairytale Day, folksies! February 24th may not be considered an official holiday on most people’s calendars, but I consider that a crime. It is to me, even if I had absolutely nothing special planned for that day.

Anywho, in honor of the day I’ve collaborated with Diamond @ I Have 12% of a Plan–my fellow fairytale fanatic–to come up with a special fairytale-themed book tag! Below are the tag rules and questions and my own answers. Be sure to stop by Diamond’s blog to read her answers too.

rules

• thank the person who tagged you (in my case, I’ll just thank Diamond for doing this with me! It was fun coming up with these questions :D)
• use the tag graphic above (optional)
• name a book for each of the following 12 categories
• tag as many people as you like 🙂 (we are kind and gracious tag creators, I know)

the fairytales!

“Cinderella,” a book that changed your life

Mossflower by Brian Jacques. Some of you will be just as familiar with this book as I am, if you’ve grown up with the Redwall Saga. I was 12 years old when I read this book, and it opened my eyes to a whole genre of stories I never truly knew before: fantasy. Actually I’d read plenty of fantasy books before then, but those weren’t the same. I didn’t fall in love with fantasy until I read this series. (Never mind that I was already writing fantasy.)

“Sleeping Beauty,” a book that took you forever to finish

At first I thought this would be easy to answer, but actually if it takes me longer than a few months to finish a book, I’ll just end up dropping it altogether. I know there’ve been a few exceptions where I just started over again, but I can’t remember any…

Been taking me so long that I still haven’t finished it in fact–

“A Thousand and One Nights,” a book you couldn’t stop reading

I have such mixed feelings about this book, and I’m not sure I actually liked it. Prep-school psychological thrillers are not my usual jam. But I really had so much trouble putting it down. And by the time I did, boy was I thankful for my own education. *shivers*

“Little Red Riding Hood,” a book you recently read in an unfamiliar genre

Operation Grendel by Daniel S. Schwabauer is science fiction, with which I’m not that unfamiliar I’ll have you know, but this book… It was something else, okay? It was brilliant, and I highly recommend it. A journalist must go undercover as a decorated officer in an inter-galactic war, surrounded by the threats of corrupted AI, mind-controlling enemies, and the discovery of his true identity.

So let me clarify: I never really read AI sci-fi. I never get attached to android characters or whatever. But I just love how AI is written in Schwabauer’s books (including Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney, which I also highly recommend).

“The Wild Swans,” a book with your favorite sibling relationships

This is the first one I saw on my Goodreads shelf for “platonic relationships” that comes to mind. Not only do I love June Hur’s beautifully spooky, atmospheric writing that whisks you away into Joseon Korea, but the sibling relationship in this book DID it for me. Highly recommended for anyone who wants a unique historical mystery with a clever young heroine and no romance 🙂

“Snow White,” a book filled with beautiful prose

Bryn Shutt’s writing style is poetic in a thoughtful manner. I haven’t read many like hers, but it truly shone in Illuminare, a novella-length tale of a soldier, an immortal, and a prince who all are (it seems) looking for the same thing. Read my review of it here.

“Rapunzel,” a book that you procrastinated on reading after buying

So many books could fit this category–

Nadine Brandes is one of my biggest authorly role models for multiple reasons. Wishtress looks like it’ll be my favorite of hers yet, but… but… well, you know! Apparently I have time to binge-reread all my old favorites lately but no room to spare for the shiny new ones on my shelf. It’s a constant struggle.

“The Little Mermaid,” a book that took you on a magical journey

Ahhh, I loved the mood, the characters, the worldbuilding of this book, and it felt so very much like a magical journey. I wish I could get my hands on more Asian fantasy books because they’re always so beautiful, but Six Crimson Cranes has been the only one on my list so far. Also I have the UK edition, which let me tell you is utterly gorgeous (even prettier than the original), and only adds to the wonderful aesthetic.

“The Frog Prince,” a book that you’d like to turn into a frog because you hated it so much

I don’t really hate any books I read, mostly because hatred is such a strong feeling for something I don’t want to expend any more effort on. I do have irrationally strong feelings against certain characters or events in random books, and while they can ruin the entire book for me, I still wouldn’t say I hate the entire thing. I try not to spend much time on books I don’t like.

Same principle does not apply to books for school.

This book *struggles to find the words* this book was unbelievably dry. With required school reading, even the books on the boring side can be somewhat interesting, but not this one. While that specific idea didn’t occur to me, I think I would have preferred to turn it into a frog than keep reading it.

Huh, maybe I can only say bad things about books by dead pagan historians…

“Peter Pan,” a book that reminds you of your childhood

When I was a preteen I was obsessed with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. My obsession has long since faded, so when we started reading Le Morte d’Arthur for school, I made the poor life decision to reread an old favorite retelling (the King Arthurs and Her Knights series by K.M. Shea, for those wondering). The two combined to slap my old obsession back into my face, with great force, and now I’m ticked because I don’t like how Sir Gawain was represented in Malory’s era. I also might be currently plotting a steampunk short story about Mordred.

“The Goose Girl,” a book you had low expectations for but ended up loving

Even though this series was by one of my favorite authors, I didn’t have any impression of the book before going in except that the cover was… weird. Plus I never read LitPRG, so I had my doubts. Four years later and the Second Age of Retha series is still one of my all-time favorites, haha.

“Hansel and Gretel,” a book that made you hungry

I get hungry just reading any book–

I picked up this book because My Fair Lady and food. While the descriptions of food were not all what I had hoped they would be (I find that many books about elite foodies are like this, which is just sad), food played enough of a role to make me hungry, for sure. Writing this post, I am very hungry and currently regretting my unintentional decision to skip breakfast today. Do not follow my example, please.

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I hope y’all enjoyed my answers! Now, for the fun part.

i tag…

Anyone @ Anywhere Because I Have Given Up on the Tagging Game.

For your convenience, here’s a copy of all the questions that you can easily paste into your own post:

• “Cinderella,” a book that changed your life
• “Sleeping Beauty,” a book that took you forever to finish
• “A Thousand and One Nights,” a book you couldn’t stop reading
• “Little Red Riding Hood,” a book you recently read in an unfamiliar genre
• “The Wild Swans,” a book with your favorite sibling relationships
• “Snow White,” a book filled with beautiful prose
• “Rapunzel,” a book that you procrastinated on reading after buying
• “The Little Mermaid,” a book that took you on a magical journey
• “The Frog Prince,” a book that you’d like to turn into a frog because you hated it so much
• “Peter Pan,” a book that reminds you of your childhood
• “The Goose Girl,” a book you had low expectations for but ended up loving
• “Hansel and Gretel,” a book that made you hungry

I believe that should do it. Make sure to check out Diamond’s answers here before you go!

Diamond and I really hope you enjoy this tag, folksies! Let us know if you plan to do it :))))

Until next time,

~ Merie