Fairy Tale Book Tag: True Love, Princesses, and Midnight Magic

Fairy Tale Book Tag: True Love, Princesses, and Midnight Magic.

I absolutely ADORE fairy tales. Here’s my list in response to the questions. You should go check them out! This is the first tag I’ve filled out.

 

1. Is there a book you lie about because you feel ashamed for liking it?

Hmm, this one’s hard for me. Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, hush series. I love it SO MUCH, but it feels awkward because, well, I’m 21 now and 21 year olds can’t read YA fiction, right? Right?!

2.  Which book do you love that has a hideous cover?

John Irving’s The World According to Garp. Mostly because there’s a toad on the front, and I can’t stand toads. I originally thought it was a Wind in the Willows-esque novel whose main character was a toad. Boy was I wrong.

3. What was the last book you bought based on cover alone?

Ok this one’s easy. Kevin J Anderson’s The Edge of the World, which I’ve already written a post about. Easily one of my favourite books, and much better than the last time I bought something for its cover. Thanks for that, overly-gruesome murder mystery.

4. Who is your favourite book couple? 

Another hard one. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything with a couple as its focus (so I can’t be too talkative here), but I’m gonna go with Julian Carax and his lover from Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind. Their relationship is so supportive and flexible, and although it crumbles a little near the end its still one of the most sincere and heartfelt ones I’ve seen yet.

 

 

 

5. If you like to branch out into new genres, what was the latest book you’ve tried?

Easy. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which I’m reading right now. Classic literature of this era (18th-19th centuries), especially romance-related ones, have never really been my cup of tea. I find that they’re often stuffy and moralistic, and lack a cohesive plot. Nevertheless, I’m driving on with it and hoping it gets a little more bearable.

6. What was the last book that made you stay up all night? 

I tend to keep very late hours (perpetual night-owl), so staying up all night isn’t a huge deal for me. I would have to say the last one that really engaged me that much was either RS. Ingermanson’s Transgression, or Neal Stephenson’s REAMDE. Beyond that? Pirates of Time of course, my beloved WIP. If it’s gripping enough to keep me awake it has to be good, as far as I’m concerned. Or just hugely annoying to write, because of research.

 

7. What’s the worst book you’ve read recently?

Well. This is difficult. Recently, the worst I’ve read is E.L. James’ 50 Shades of Grey. I know I’ve already written a post about it, and talked about the psychological elements in it, but really? There’s no excuse for poor writing. There just isn’t. It makes it worse when it isn’t marketed and/or discussed properly in the media. It’s primarily a book about a very emotionally unstable man and a naive woman who tries to be some kind of hero, and it’s also about blatant abuse. BDSM is a whole different kettle of fish to 50 Shades, and for those of you who think otherwise I’m so, so sorry. But it’s just not right. A close second on that list is James Flint’s Habitus. Total lack of continuity, and the concept is nuts. Characters are 2D, seriously just go read my blog post on it, or if you like just read the book.

(Not even going to put pictures).

 

So those are my answers. How about you? Are there any books that came to mind when you saw this list? And do you have any favourite book tags? Tell me in the comments, I love hearing from you!

 

As always, never stop reading and stay tuned for more!

AdmiralCarter

Some tips about Facebook for better writing

Martin van Houwelingen

Some tips to make Facebook less of a distraction when writing. Turning off Facebook is not going to help as in the back of your mind you will keep wondering if someone has posted something. That is why I suggest to:

1. turn the sound mode to new notifications off. Click the world-globe in the top bar where new messages appear, select settings and uncheck ‘Play a sound when each new notification is received’
2. turn threads you have commented on to help someone off. It is very likely nothing of your interest is going to be said there. Same world globe, and select the x that appears when you pass the mouse pointer over a message, and click Turf off.
3. Stop following ‘banter-threads’. I know this is a hard one as (what I call) silly fun banter threads are good to read, but at least this month you…

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The Future Library: Why Didn’t I Think Of This?

This is absolute genius! Way to go guys!

101 Books

A Scottish artist named Katie Paterson came up with the best idea ever.

Books, at least the traditional kind, need paper. And did you know paper comes from trees? How ’bout that?

With that in mind, Paterson developed a brilliant project.

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Interesting article on the ‘likeability’ of protagonists…

Was just reading this article on electricliterature.com talking about whether or not the likeability of a novel’s protagonist should determine whether or not the book is ‘likeable’ amongst YA readers. There’s been a lot of public debate about the tastes and habits of YA readers lately. Worth a read.

Social Contracts and “the Cult of Likability”

AdmiralCarter

Ignorance Drives Science

Elaine's Idle Mind

Half a century ago, the Jetsons predicted a future with flying cars and robot maids and a uniform Aryan race. Hanna-Barbera was envisioning the future based on what they knew, so everything was derived from what existed in the 60s.

They didn’t predict the Internet or smartphones or Ebola, because those were unfathomable back then.

Rooting around existing knowledge produces permutations of that knowledge; rarely does it produce a major breakthrough. Academic research is frequently dismissed for having no practical applications. Original research does have practical applications, it might just be that those applications have yet to be envisioned.

Of what use is a newborn baby? -–Faraday, upon being asked what electromagnetic fields would be used for after his discovery.

Scientific breakthroughs usually originate from outside of existing knowledge. Einstein conceptualized a world beyond classical mechanics to develop his special theory of relativity. Robert Koch discovered bacteria when the world still thought…

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The Practice of Everyday Life: Living and Cooking

Broken Rock

Something we all need to remember.

Oh, Bite Me.

Life’s hard when you’re the one who has to keep it all together.

The one with suicidal friends, friends with depression, the one who’s talking people down from the ledge.

Always the one asking if everyone else is okay.

People need to realise that these people aren’t just there to ask if you’re okay; they need to realise that they are human beings too and are capable of being in more distress than you’ve seen them in.

People like me.

We keep it all in because we feel like other peoples problems are bigger than our own, but one day it just comes crashing down.

Treat people decently everywhere you go. You’re not the first thing to happen to them that day. You’re the hundredth.

No one likes reaching breaking point. It’s like taking the last hit at a dam before you release the river and once it’s gone it…

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And I-e-i Will Always Love You.

Oh, Bite Me.

Know what I’m really sick of?
Okay, just about everything…
But for the sake of my fingers, lets stick to one topic.
Kthanks.

What I’m really REALLY sick of; feeling like I have to defend the stuff I love.

Be it movies, songs, games ANYTHING!
People seem to have this mindset that what they like is the best thing ever.
Anything else, is crap.
Anything non mainstream, is crap.
Anything mainstream, is crap.
Everything is just crap!

Oh! My! God!

Where did people develop these complexes where suddenly THEY have the ONLY important say in the matter of ANYTHING?

“Oh, I HATE Jennifer Lopez. Therefore, anything she’s sung, acted in or directed is automatically shit.”
“… Well, I actually quite liked her in The Wedding Planner.”
“You like The Wedding Planner? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

… Sound familiar?

After this, you tend to go into this whole…

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Five Fascinating Facts about John Steinbeck

Interesting Literature

1. An early draft of John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men was eaten by his dog.  It was Max, one of several dogs Steinbeck owned during his life, who devoured the novel’s draft and so became, in effect, the book’s first critic. This is probably Steinbeck’s most famous novel, and draws on his own experiences as a ‘bindlestiff’ (or migratory worker) in the US in the 1920s. The novel’s title famously comes from the Robert Burns poem ‘To a Mouse’: ‘The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley’ (or ‘go often awry’). The original title of the novella was ‘Something That Happened’.

2. In the 1980s, a rumour arose that Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath had been translated into Japanese as ‘The Angry Raisins’. This rumour was, however, false. It is a good example of how people love a good ‘lost in translation’ story, and it…

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Note to Self

and yadda yadda, an aliyah blog

So much of my life lives on paper.

In letters, in cards, on glossy, on matte.

Inside once locked hardcover journals, there are words scratched in anger, in pain, and occasionally, in ecstasy.

Inside carefully categorized photo albums, there are faces I used to recognize, love, envy.

Most of it — my life on paper — reflects only what was once the drama of my life. For this is what we photograph. Parties, graduations, weddings. And this is what we journal. Love, loss, confusion.

Drama. It’s indeed the drama that compels us to document, to reflect.

But, as I’ve discovered through digging in my cardboard boxes, there is another side to my life lived on paper.

The mundane.

Surrounded by doodles in spiral bound notebooks is the every day life I lived once, in between the drama. Errands I had to run. People I agreed to meet. Tasks I…

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