Book Tag

Book Tag

Anything But Books Tag

Posted on by J.W. Martin

We all love books, you probably wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t, but it’s also a good idea to turn your head slightly to the left and look at something other than the printed word. Don’t be afraid. I’ll hold your hand.

I was tagged on this one by the always entertaining Danielle @ The Introverted Book Nerd. She had some great answers too, so make sure you check out her post when you’re done here.

NAME A CARTOON THAT YOU LOVE

There are so many. I’ll always be a big kid at heart and find myself drawn to animation. But for the other parents out there, I’m going to give you one that you and your kids can enjoy together. Gravity Falls. When I say you’ll enjoy it, I don’t mean it’s less terrible than shows that may or may not have purple dinosaurs. Gravity Falls is really, really funny, while still being appropriate for kids. Go seek it out. You’ll thank me.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG RIGHT NOW?

Vacation by The Dirty Heads

“Hey, hey, hey. I’m on vacation every single day ‘cause I love my occupation.”

It’s catchy as hell, but for me it also represents my life goal: being able to write full-time. When that day comes, Vacation will be more than a song I like. It’ll be anthem.

WHAT COULD YOU DO FOR HOURS THAT ISN’T READING?

Video games! I love them and hate them. Love them because they’re so amazing and hours can disappear without even realizing it. Hate them because they’re so amazing that hours can disappear without even realizing it. I have pretty good control these days. I barely turn video games on anymore, and when I do it’s usually based on some kind of reward system. (if I get all my blog posts scheduled for the week and there’s still a little time before bed, hell yeah it’s getting turned on!)

WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU LOVE TO DO THAT YOUR FOLLOWERS WOULD BE SURPRISED BY?

Woodworking, I guess. It’s not something I do terribly often, but when I’m working away at a project, it’s one of the most rewarding experiences. This time last year I built my kids a set of bunk beds.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE, UNNECESSARILY SPECIFIC THING TO LEARN ABOUT?

The publishing industry? And more specifically I guess would be the lengthy process that a book goes through before it finally hits a bookshelf somewhere.

WHAT IS SOMETHING UNUSUAL YOU KNOW HOW TO DO?

I can wiggle my ears. Technically, I know how to flex a muscle that tightens the scalp on the back of my head, which pulls my ears back. But it’s way more fun to say I can wiggle my ears.

Back when I worked retail I’d wiggle them while customers were talking and watch their reaction and if they’d mention it or not. Yes, I was bored.

NAME SOMETHING THAT YOU’VE MADE IN THE LAST YEAR.

Other than the previously mentioned bunk beds, I also made a purse rack for my wife to show off book purses that she makes.

Yes, I have a very messy shop.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST RECENT PERSONAL PROJECT?

Either then first draft of the NaNoWriMo story I’m working on now, or if unfinished projects don’t count, then the second draft of another book (which I put into the hands of some beta readers on the first of the month!)

TELL US SOMETHING THAT YOU THINK OF OFTEN.

My kids.

TELL US SOMETHING THAT’S YOUR FAVORITE, BUT MAKE IT ODDLY SPECIFIC.

Red Swedish Fish. The other colors are delicious, too, but red takes the top spot. You may ask, why not swedish berries. They’re made of red swedish fish. How dare you? Not even close to the same thing.

I tag Darque Dreamer, Steph, Norah Sumner, Journey into Books, Hanah, Elizabeth, and Kiersten. No pressure. I understand if you don’t have the time, or already did the tag.

Fun fact about this post: I’m going to go see Thor: Ragnorak when I’m done writing it!
Book Tag

The Justice League Book Tag

Posted on by J.W. Martin

With the Justice League movie coming out in a few weeks, I couldn’t resist doing this tag when I saw it. It was created by Angelica & Rosie @TheBookCoverGirls and it’s super fun for a comic book nerd like me!With the Justice League movie coming out in a few weeks, I couldn’t resist doing this tag when I saw it. It was created by Angelica & Rosie @TheBookCoverGirls and it’s super fun for a comic book nerd like me!

The Rules:

• Copy these rules onto your post
• Mention creators of the tag: Angelica and Rosie @TheBookCoverGirls and link to the original post
• Mention and thank the person who tagged you and link to their post
• Answer all the questions
• Since there were originally seven members in the Justice League, tag 7 people
• Also, you can use the images provided, but don’t have to if you don’t want to
• Have fun with it!

  Six of Crows book cover

Batman: You favorite antihero

Favorite Anti-hero? Batman, obvs. Cheating, huh? Yeah, I guess. Fine. Kaz Brekker. They’re very similar. They both always have a plan, and a backup plan, and a back up to the backup plan. They both have a strange affinity for black flying creatures. They both lost their entire family and then built another one. They’re both fueled by revenge/justice. They both… eat. A stretch? I guess. But they do.

  

Aquaman: A book or character that turned out to be better than you expected (because let’s be real, we did not expect Khal Drogo to make Aquaman cool)

Wool by Hugh Howey. I thought it was going to be good, but then it just sucked me right in, sunk its teeth into me, and didn’t let go until the last chapter. And if you want to see a really fun version of Aquaman, make some time to check out Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Huzzah!

  

Wonder Woman: Most badass female character (not necessarily in a physical sense)

Hermione Granger. She might not be the first one to start punching people in the face (unless we’re talking about Malfoy) but she’s a total badass. Always has the answer whether it’s a spell, something from her magical bag, or just knowing what book to check in the library.

  

Cyborg: Favorite science fiction novel

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. “Can’t you go one post without mentioning RPO?” I could… but I don’t wanna.

  Illuminae

The Flash: A book you sped through

Illuminae by Kaufman and Kristoff. I couldn’t believe how fast I flew through this. Especially considering it was a 600-pager. Although, anyone who’s actually read it knows, there are entire stacks of pages that you get to turn as fast and your fingers can go. Pages with one word. Pages with ASCII artwork. Pages, and pages of names that really don’t have that much bearing on the story other to take notice that there are a lot of names.

  

Superman: Saddest character death (although we all know there’s no way Superman is going to stay dead)

Morning Star by Pierce Brown. For the sake of spoilers, I won’t say who it is I’m talking about. Anyone who’d read the book already knows exactly who I’m talking about.

Fun fact about this post: Comic books were the reason I started reading in the first place.
Book Tag

The Zombie Apocalypse Book Tag

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Seems like the perfect time of year to do a book tag like this one. I’ve seen it a bunch of places like Bionic Bookworm, Journey into Books, and Book Reviews for Bookish People. I’m self-tagging on this one, cause… you know, Halloween. Zombies. Etc.

Here are the rules:
* Choose 5 random books from your shelf
* Randomly set your books
* Flip to a random page and record the first two names that you see
* Put the names in the categories listed below in the order that you saw them

THE FIRST PERSON TO DIE IN THE APOCALYPSE:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Gregory Goyle – Anyone have a problem with this? No? No one? Didn’t think so. Me neither.

THE PERSON YOU TACKLE TO ESCAPE THE ZOMBIES:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Harry Potter – It was random! RANDOM I tell you! Please don’t kill me!

THE FIRST PERSON TO BE TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE:

A Game of Thrones – Jon Snow – What? Jon Snow die and then come back to life? Can’t imagine it. *wink, wink*

THE PERSON THAT TACKLES ME TO ESCAPE THE ZOMBIES:

A Game of Thrones – Brendan Tully – Uncharacteristic. The Blackfish is a master strategist, so I guess it’s not impossible.

THE TEAM’S IDIOT:

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Arthur Dent – Okay, he can be a little dense, but I wouldn’t think he’s the idiot of the team. One character in particular comes to mind…

THE BRAINS OF THE TEAM:

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Zaphod Beeblebrox – Yup. That’s the one that comes to mind for the team idiot. And now he’s the brains of the team. We’re dead! We’re all dead!

THE TEAM’S MEDIC:

Red Rising – Cassius au Bellona – Well… Cassius is usually the reason people need a medic, but maybe someone who knows how to cause just about injury also knows how to take care of just about injury…

THE WEAPONS EXPERT:

Red Rising – ‘Mustag’ Virginia au Augustus – Mustang is kind of an expert of everything, so it doesn’t really matter which role you stick her in. She’s just going to excel.

THE TEAM’S BRAWLER:

The Desert Spear (The Demon Cycle) – Leesha Paper – Brawler, eh? She can be pretty nasty with a hand full of blinding powder, but generally speaking she avoids conflict and still manages to get whatever she was after.

THE TEAM’S LEADER:

The Desert Spear (The Demon Cycle) – Renna Bales – THIS is the team’s brawler. If Leesha and Renna could switch places, we’ll all last just a little longer into this zombie apocalypse.

I tagged myself, so I won’t bother tagging anyone else for this one.

Fun fact about this post: I once had a semi-serious discussion with a 12-year-old (even then I was an adult) about where I would go if the apocalypse actually happened. I chose a grocery store in my city that has a second floor, which overlooks the first, and very limited access.
Book Tag

The Harry Potter Spells Tag

Posted on by J.W. Martin

I was tagged by Danielle the Introverted Book Nerd on this behemoth! It was a lot of work, editing, choosing, re-choosing, soul-searching, and chip-eating. But it was also really fun. This tag was originally created by Kimberlyfaye Reads. Credit for the scroll graphics goes to her as well!

     
AN UPCOMING RELEASE YOU WISH YOU COULD GET YOUR HANDS ON RIGHT NOW!

Iron Gold by Piece Brown
Just recently finished the first trilogy, so I’m primed for MORE!


     Illuminae
FAVORITE SERIES STARTER

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Maybe it’s because it’s the most recent I read, but I loved it, and can’t wait to read Gemina.


     

A BOOK THAT GAVE YOU ALL THE WARM FUZZIES

The narrator is the family dog. That’s LITERALLY warm & fuzzy!


     
A BOOK THAT MADE YOU UGLY CRY

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
This is the only book to ever make me cry. And I’m not going to claim it’s because I’m such a well-adjusted person, or because I’m tough as nails. It’s probably just because I’m dead inside.


       
BOOKISH HERO OR HEROINE YOU WANT AROUND TO PROTECT YOU IN REAL LIFE

If comics count, I’m picking Superman! If not, the Dragon Reborn, Rand al’Thor.


     
A BOOK YOU INTENTIONALLY SPOILED FOR YOURSELF

It’s only ever happened by watching the movie before reading the book. The biggest of that list would probably be Fight Club. In my defense, I didn’t know it was a book first.


     
A BOOK YOU WISH YOU COULD MAKE EVERYONE READ BECAUSE YOU LOVED IT SO MUCH

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
No one’s told me to shut up about this book yet, but I feel like it’s been a long-time coming.


     
A BOOK OR SERIES YOU WISH NEVER ENDED

Doesn’t apply. No matter how great a series is, there must be an end. Otherwise, I’d be whining about the series that just. never. ends.


     
A BOOK WITH AN UPLIFTING ENDING OR MESSAGE

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
This book is witty, and entertaining throughout and you don’t expect there to be any kind of message at the end, but then there it is. You finish the book and feel like you can do anything. Run a marathon, lift a car, pat your head while rubbing your tummy. The sky is the limit!


    
A BOOK YOU WISH YOU COULD FORGET YOU EVER READ

I’ve mostly forgotten about it already! Seriously. I can’t remember the title or the author. I just remember finishing it, hating it, hating that I had stuck it out to the end, buying a plane ticket to Japan, and dropping the waste of trees into the Mariana’s Trench. Some weird glowing fish is probably pissed at me right now. He only gets one book his entire fishy life and it had to be THAT one.


         
AN AUTHOR WHOSE BOOKS ALWAYS GET YOU OUT OF A SLUMP

Pierce Brown. They just move so fast. There’s no time to fall into a slump.


     
A SWOON-WORTHY HERO OR HEROINE

I don’t think I swoon. Again, dead inside. But if I did, it would probably be for Artemis from Ready Player One. She’s pretty cool. Smart, sarcastic, and loves video games.


     
A BOOK THAT CAUSED YOU TO STOP DOING ALL OTHER THINGS UNTIL YOU FINISHED IT

Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s see how many times I can use Ready Player One for these questions. I think this makes it 3 so far. Any guess on a final number?


     
A BOOK THAT WAS PAINFUL TO READ (FOR WHATEVER REASON) OR BROKE YOU

1984 by George Orwell
It’s a book everyone should read, and it’s really good, but it’s soul-crushing, hope-shattering, and double-plus ungood at the same time. Even on re-reads when I know what’s going to happen, I find myself getting angry and depressed. Is this what killed my insides?


     Illuminae
A BOOK THAT HAD YOU LAUGHING OUT LOUD

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
I liked the back and forth between Kady and AIDAN, but it was Ezra that usually made me LOL. “Look at it wiggle around!”


     
A BOOK THAT MADE YOU WANT TO SEND IT (OR YOUR E-READER) FLYING

I’m going to have to re-use 1984.


     

BOOKISH WORLD YOU WISH YOU COULD VISIT

Gotta be Hogwarts and all the magic-London that goes along with it. Not sure how long I’d last though when I start yelling, “DO SOMETHING MAGICAL” at everyone I see…


     
A BOOK WITH A SHOCKING TWIST OR ENDING

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The ending was just one of twists and turns I didn’t see in this one.


     
A CHARACTER DEATH THAT DESTROYED YOU

I was tempted to use a book I wrote. If you think reading a character death is bad, writing one is a million times worse. However, this is about reading, not writing. Therefore, Morning Star. There are plenty of deaths, and a lot of soul-tearing ones. I won’t mention any specific one for spoilers sake.


     
BEST SERIES CONCLUSION

Now that I think about it, I haven’t actually read the end of many series. All the ones I’m into are either still in progress or I’m just taking my sweet time getting to the end. But, I guess I’d have to say Deathly Hallows. Through all the ups and downs, deaths and battles, I was left mostly satisfied with the 7th book. Of course, there are some characters I’d rather see still alive, but that would probably lessen the impact.

I TAG:

norahsumner @ Bookish Fever
Sophie @ Sophie’s Corner
Lauren @ Books are Only the Beginning

No pressure.

Fun fact about this post: After shooting off at the mouth with, “Let’s see how many times I can use Ready Player One for these questions. I think this makes it 3 so far. Any guess on a final number?” The final number was… 3.
Book Tag

Reader Problems Book Tag

Posted on by J.W. Martin

I tagged myself via The Introverted Book Nerd (such a great name by the way.) If you don’t want to miss the next book tag she does, make sure to get over there and follow here.

You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?

Doesn’t matter how many books are on my TBR, there’s always a Top 5, and that’s where the real decision lies. Normally, I know what my next 2 or 3 reads are going to be. In the rare occasion when I don’t know what the next one is going to be, I’ll ask friends that I know have read some of all of the books I’m considering. And I whine. A lot.

You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed?

Depends. “Not loving it” means I’m going to keep going. “Hating the book and everything else in the universe as a result of reading said book” and I’m going to stop, do an apology dance to Mother Earth and turn that sucker to ash. What if it’s an ebook you ask? Do you know how many iPhones I’ve had??

The end of the year is coming and you’re so close, but so far away on your Goodreads reading challenge. Do you try and catch up and how?

How much time do I have left? A month? Change nothing. 1 month? Change nothing. 2 weeks? Read an extra five minutes a night? 2 days? No more sleeping. Only reading.

The covers of a series do. not. match. How do you cope?

Meh. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Everyone and their mother loves a book you don’t really like. Who do you bond with over shared feelings?

No one. I have no issues with being the only person to not like a book. I also have no problem being the only person to like a book.

Okay… possibly the Bionic Bookworm as she’s one of the few people I can have an “offline” book discussion with.

You’re reading a book and you are about to start crying in public. How do you deal?

I lie facedown on the ground, scream as loud as I can while alternating kicking and punching the ground. If my kid does it everyone pretends nothing’s going on, when I do it I’m told I’m “making a scene.”

A sequel of a book you loved just came out, but you’ve forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book? Skip the sequel? Try to find a synopsis on Goodreads? Cry in frustration?!?!?!?

Depends how much I feel like I’ve forgotten. If it’s just a little, a synopsis will do just fine. With Red Rising, I listened the audio book before moving on. That worked out REALLY well.

You do not want anyone. ANYONE. borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people nope when they ask?

“False.” — Dwight Shrute

If anything, I’m the opposite. I’ll press a book into someone’s hands tell them if they don’t read it bad things will happen. I won’t say what, but it rhymes with “bittens in a klender.”

Reading ADD. You’ve picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over your reading slump?

Switch to something completely different. I’ve never seen a reason for Dinosaur porn books like Taken by the T-Rex, but if I ever need something REALLY different, at least there’s always that.

There are so many new books coming out that you’re dying to read! How many do you actually buy?

Most? None? I don’t know how to answer this question. If I’m not really excited about any of the books on my shelf, I’ll definitely buy a few. But if I already own a few books I’m excited about, I become a cheap ass. If it’s not from the bargain bin, I may not be willing to buy for a little while.

After you’ve bought the books you can’t wait to get to, how long do they sit on your shelf before you get to them?

At least 2-3 weeks, generally. As I said, I usually have my next 2-3 reads in my head already, and new purchases usually don’t jump ahead of those.

I wasn’t really tagged to do this one, so in turn, I won’t tag anyone unless you find yourself wanting to. It was a pretty fun one!

Fun fact about this post: I would never actually put any living creature in a blender.
Book Tag

The Book Mash Up Tag

Posted on by J.W. Martin

I was kind of tagged to do this one by Shanah the Bionic Bookworm. Not officially tagged. It almost seemed like she was daring me. Plus, it looked like a lot of fun. So here I go:

The rules:

  • Choose 10 or more book titles (you can also play with TV series, movies or basically anything that has a story and characters.
  • Put them in a bowl/mug
  • Take 2 of them and mash them up!
  • You can take characters from one story and put them in the other, mix up he worlds, fuse the story lines, anything is okay as long as it contains elements from both stories!
  • Write a (small) paragraph with the premise of your new mashed up story
  • Go on until you’re out of titles
  • Have fun!

Six of Crows / Fight Club

In all the time Kaz Brekker and his crew have been pulling heists, there’s only one man that proved to be a challenge. His name is Tyler Durden. Kaz and the Crows are in a race against Tyler and Project mayhem for the most valuable prize in all the land. The first rule of being a Crow, is you don’t get caught. The second rule of being a Crow, is you don’t get caught.

Red Rising / Hitchhiker’s Guide

Darrow’s battle against the social injustice of the worlds has come to a head on his home world of Mars. The battle is ruthless, and Darrow is battling in what seems will be his last fight. He’s penned down, outnumbered, and discouraged. In the very moment he feels he will fall in battle, he raises his arm to give one final battle cry, and, in infinite improbability, finds himself picked up by Arthur Dent and paranoid android named Marvin.

I Am Number Four / Game of Thrones

Cersei Lannister intends on ruling all of the Seven Kingdoms. Robert Baratheon was the first to fall. Then Ned Stark met his doom. On this side of the sea, the Dothraki just lost our Khal. I am Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of Dragons, and Cersei seeks to take my life next. I am number Four.

 

Harry Potter / Hex

(I promise I didn’t rig this one)

The students of Hogwarts School of Witch and Wizardry live in fear every single day. And they’ve been living that way for over 300 years. A witch, with her eyes and mouth sewn shut, wanders the halls going wherever she wants from the Great Hall to the Room of Requirement. Unnatural long-life, unable to escape, the curse is applied to anyone who comes to the school. The only hope anyone at Hogwarts has is their newest student, the boy who lived, Harry Potter. Can he find a was to break the curse and free them all from their lives as prisoners?

Ready Player One / Doctor Who

Everyone my age remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the Man in the Box. I’d heard of The Doctor, of course. Everyone had. He was responsible for piloting the TARDIS, a massively bigger-on-the-inside time machine. That day, when the Doctor made himself known to us all, he issued a contest to the world in which the winner would travel through all of space and time with him.

Since I wasn’t actually tagged, I’m not going to tag anyone in return (though I’m really curious what kind of answers Ally Memes would come up with!)

Fun fact about this post: We just bought my son a plastic Knight helmet for this year’s Halloween costume, and that’s what I used to pull book titles from.
Book Tag

Fall book tag!

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This is the first ever tag created by the incredible Bionic Book Worm! I wasn’t tagged, but… I’m going to do it anyway!

The rules:

  • Please link back to me, Bionic Book Worm, as the creator of this tag!! I want to see your answers!!
  • Use the graphics – if you want
  • Have fun!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

If you know my blog, you knew I was going to put this book in here somewhere, might as well get it in right at the start. At just about any point during this book, I could have put the book down and thought to myself, “I have never read anything like this!”

It’s such a unique premise with a well-thought out world. Beside this book, most books start to look a little cliché.

 

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

This one has an unfair advantage because I just finished it, but WOW! In all honesty, it wasn’t the kind of ending that was completely unexpected, simply based on past events within the series, but it still hit me in the face like a brick.

It’s set up to go one way, then it keeps jerking left and right like two overly polite people trying to get around each other in the grocery store.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This one has all the feels, especially if you’re dog person.

In short, the entire book is narrated by the family dog, Enzo. And he’s such a good boy! Yes, he is!

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Look at those colours. Yup.

Six of Crows book coverSix of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Kaz Brekker is the man.

This might be a heavily debated decision. There’s a lot of setup in the Six of Crows before the action begins. But I chose it because once the action really begins, it goes on and on and on. I think it might still be going on right now. I might have to read Wonder Woman to see if Kaz shows up in the background somewhere…

IlluminaeIlluminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This was, by far, the hardest decision in the entire tag. There are so many books that I want to read, and I want to read them all RIGHT NOW! But Illuminae is probably the one that has been that highest on my list for the longest amount of time. It’s currently “on deck” as soon as I finish Morning Star.

Honourable mention goes to This Savage Song, Invictus, Nevernight, and about 37 others.

 

Since I wasn’t tagged on this one, I’m not going to tag anyone in turn. Though, I encourage everyone to take a crack if you feel the desire. It was a really fun one to take part in.

Fun fact about this post: I suffered through three nasty dog farts to finish writing it.