Today, I found a video by Pages and Pens on the I Dare You Book Tag. This tag sounds wonderful, so I decided to give it a try for the blog. I want to preface the I Dare You book tag with a warning: these are my opinions. By no means am I implying that just because I feel a certain way, you should, too. We may disagree on the books or characters, but we can still be friends and respect our different opinions.
Now that this was said and done, let’s begin with the rules.
Le Rules
- You must be honest
- You must answer all questions
- You have to tag at least four people
1. What book has been on your shelves the longest?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
It’s the first book I owned. I got it in 2002.
2. What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?
Current read: Shadow and Bone
Last read: Um. I can’t remember which, but The Wrath and the Dawn was pretty close or A Gathering of Shadows
Next read: Blue Lily, Lily Blue and A Shadow Bright and Burning
3. What book did everyone like, but you hated?
The word “hate” makes me flinch. I may dislike some aspects of a book, but I don’t like saying that I hate it. Uh, I don’t think that many people liked it but…Allegiant. That was a bit of a shocker for me.
4. What book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?
A Thousand Nights. I just don’t like the book because it doesn’t establish any connection with the characters. It’s hard when they have no name, and no dialogue. I keep giving it to my brother and taking it back.
5. Which book are you saving for retirement?
None? I want to read all the things now! I can reread later on in life. Also, I have no intention of retiring.
6. Last Page: read it first, or wait till the end?
Uh. You WAIT TILL THE END. Always.
7. Acknowledgment: waste of paper and ink, or interesting aside?
As a reader, I kind of don’t look at the acknowledgments because I feel like it’s somewhat private. I know, it doesn’t make sense. But, I want my own acknowledgments one day as a writer to be kind of a private affair.
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
Probably Blue from the Raven Cycle. I just wish I were cool and hip.
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
Anna and the French Kiss reminds me of happy spring/summer days. Harry Potter books remind me of my early days in California and discovering reading/libraries/books.
10. Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way.
City of Bones I got it while having really bad fever and flu in grad school. I was uninspired and had no direction because school was just all about boring books.
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
Yep! I give books to my brother and sister often.
12. Which book has been with you the most places?
I’ll Give You The Sun was a book that I had taken all over the place while we were hanging out with one of my mom’s friends. We’d take her to beaches, and museums, parks, and I’d bring this book with me to keep my anxiety under control. And, it was a pretty good book. Even though it had some sad moments, I think it tells an important story for me.
13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad two years later?
Shakespeare and Jane Austen are probably the two main ones. I actually ended up hating a lot of classics, and never intend on trying them again. Like, The Red Badge of Courage and The Scarlet Letter. I ended up disliking the books I used to like, but mostly because of the memories associated with them.
14. Used or brand new?
Both! I like free shipping, when I get to that 25 dollar mark. And, if it’s cheaper to buy the book used, I do that. Whichever is cheaper.
15. Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?
Yes, I have, but it was early in my reading life. It was way before the movie were made. *Is a hipster*
16. Have you ever seen a movie that you liked more than the book?
I always say this, but The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
17. Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks excluded?
No. Is that a thing? I am vegan, and the character rarely just eat what I eat.
18. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?
Hm. My book friends, for the most part: Jolien, Inge (sometimes Aly, too. But, I am still too shy to ask), Ely (and Michelle kind. Too shy to talk to her that much), Cait (we’re not quite at the friends stage, but I like similar books to her). Some booktubers have close tastes to my own, too.
19. Tag (at least 4) friends
Anyone who wants to do this, go for it, consider yourself tagged (<— that was one gross run on sentence).
Oh hey, I was just stopping by to comment and then suddenly saw my name in the tagged section. Thanks for that! ;D I’m not sure if I’ll get around to doing this tag (I have post ideas sorted for the next two months already since I only plan on posting twice a day), so I’ll try to answer them here while also responding to some of your choices. (In other words, super long comment incoming…)
1) Oh, this is a hard one right off the bat. I’m going to say Sabriel? I don’t remember the events of the Abhorsen series at all but I do own the first three and vaguely remember enjoying them a lot as a teen. I’m honestly saddened Harry Potter isn’t the oldest for me but for some sad reason the oldest one I own was book 6. I know I had copies of earlier editions but they were lost in my multiple moves as a child. :/
2) Current read is Gemina (loving), last read was Uprooted (super loved!), and next read… I don’t know? Maybe I should go back to The Raven Cycle as well? I’ve only read the first! (Hope you’re liking Shadow and Bone btw!)
3) Same with Allegiant! That book was so much of a disappointment for me, in so many ways. Ugh.
4) I don’t think I have any book that fits this category? Maybe re-reads? I keep telling myself I will re-read certain books but don’t actually believe I ever will because I’m always trying to catch up with unread books?
5) Haha, none for sure! Is saving a book for retirement supposed to be a thing?
6) Agreed, always wait until the end to read the last page! Why else read the book at all?
7) Oh, I like your thought about it being a private thing. I guess I understand your thoughts on that because I oftentimes will either ignore the acknowledgements or just skim it because I feel like it’s just a list of names that doesn’t really matter to those who aren’t involved.
8) I always hesitate to answer this question because I feel like I wouldn’t actually survive the world most characters in books I love live in. I’m leaning towards someone in HP because the magic would be fun but hm… I think I’d be a casualty when it comes to battles with evil wizards.
9) Interesting question! Hm… no? I feel like books take me back to a general sense of being younger, but nothing overly specific.
10) Erm, I received Flight of the Silvers by winning a board game (Scotland Yards) adapted to a blogging format with a theme based on the book. (That sounds really complicated, but pretty much it just means I played a game on a blog.) It was fun and definitely interesting, but I still haven’t gotten around to actually reading the book. Whoops.
11) I’ve given books to friends that I loved, but never for like a specific reason beyond that.
12) Ooh, probably Lord of the Rings? Maybe? I’ve had that series since junior high and have read it a couple of times, so it’s been around.
13) I’m with you. Mostly classics. Unfortunately since I tend to associate such books with academia, I never really give them the fair chance they probably deserve.
14) I’ve always been a new book person, though these days I can’t afford it. Used is definitely nice since it generally means cheaper, but I always feel like knowing someone has read that edition before me has soiled the intimacy? I’m weird. >.<
15) I have, and not because I'm cool and did it way before the movies either (I mean, maybe I did, I don't honestly remember XP). I actually can see my copy of The Da Vinci Code on my shelf right now.
16) Not that I can think of off the top of my head, but less because I have high book-to-movie standards and more because my memory is just crap.
17) Nope.
18) I don't take anyone's book advice because I'm a free agent 😉 But I do like hearing other's thoughts on books. It can be fun to see how everyone compares!
Phew, that took a while to type up. Sorry again for the super long comment. But hey, at least I can say I still did the tag even if it wasn't for a new post! <3
Yes, always read the last page at the end when you get there! I don’t understand these people who skip there first to find out what happens!
Although I must admit that a part of me kind of wants to save the few unread physical books I have in case there’s ever an apocalypse or something and I can’t use my kindle, haha. Not quite the same as retirement, but still!
Books are the bestest (totally a grown-up word, shh) for mental health – I always carry one in my bag, and like, touch the pages to reduce anxiety. Books in general are my lifeline with bad depression-times, they’re like clinging on to a piece of wood in the middle of an ocean (which since they’re made from trees, I guess they kind of are… sorry, randomly distracted myself there!)
Thank you so much for the tag, Dina! This looks like fun 😀
I’d love to be Blue too. She’s amazing.
I have been meaning to comment on this for SO LONG because it is fun and I am excited that you tagged me, but then I had surgery and then I forgot BUT then I remembered again so here I am! 😉 Anyway. This is fun. I also hated Allegiant- though some people DID love it. I don’t get it- the whole book was boring, even though I also hated the end. (Still bitter, obviously!) And seriously- who saves books for retirement!? How do any of us know we’d even make it that long!? No no no. I also agree with you- ALWAYS wait until the end! What kind of sorcery is reading the ending first!? I always read the acknowledgments because I figure if someone acknowledged ME, I would want the whole world to read about it 😀
I love your answers! You and I are on the same boat when it comes to switching places with Blue from the Raven Cycle 😛 And I’m reading a Gathering of Shadows right now (Just started it)
Also, I would love it if you could check out my answers to this tag:
https://ravenandbeez.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/i-dare-you-booktag/
I hope you like Gathering of Shadows. It is definitely a tough book with one heck of an ending. Make sure you have a copy of a Conjuring of Light. GoS ends on a huge cliffhanger.