Alright, I’m finally going to do a Christmas tag, because #aesthetic. And the general mood. And the calendar. (Let’s all appreciate the fact that my schedule is finally organized for once and this is going live exactly on Christmas morning YASSS)

 

This is great, guys. This is great.

 

 

So I was tagged by my friend Taiwo over at Stuffed Shelves (if you haven’t checked out her blog yet, YOU SHOULD. It’s amazing.). Oh! And this tag was originally created by Ashley at Falling Down the Book Hole. Dare I say this is one of my favorite tags ever? Because it totally is.

 

 

 

And oh! If you like holiday-themed tags, you could also like my TTT Thanksgiving one from a couple of months ago! I talk books and turkeys, which go surprisingly well considering that they .. you know .. don’t. But I found a way to make them work, y’all.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, now we can start. (This is going to be so fun oh my god).

 

 

 

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree

 

 The Partridge Stood Alone In The Pear Tree? What is Your Favorite Stand Alone?

 

 

I’ve actually recently developed a liking for standalones! I just started to prefer the short-and-sweet-ness of them. Trilogies, I love you, but sometimes you don’t need all those extras. Condescending the story into one book strengthens the storyline. Or so I see.

 

My favorite standalone would be .. (I’m thinking, okay? This is harder than it looks) … Vicious by VE Schwab. (Wait no Vengeful is coming out next year, therefore it aint a standalone no more. UGH).

 

 

Let’s try this again.

 

 

 

My favorite standalone is The Beast Is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale. Love the creepy-ness and gorgeous writing and realistically flawed characters and overall vibe. And by the way, this one is the most underrated book of all time? Where is its fanbase? For real, though. Give this book some love. It’s absolutely BRILLIANT.

 

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me: Two Turtle Doves :

 

Love Is In The Air, Who Is You OTP?

 

 

This actually took me 0.00001 seconds to answer because, well, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.

 

And they are Kaz/Inej from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Look, I really don’t know why, exactly. It’s just that these two dorks always get to me. If they are in the same room, I guarantee you:

 

• Banter and sass.

 

• HIDING OF FEELINGS

 

• Stabby planning to get money

 

• MORE HIDING OF FEELINGS

 

Why yes, that is my favorite couple. Naturally.

 

*squints at the third bullet point with some worry*

 

*decides to keep my answer as is*

 

 

On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three French Hens :  

 

In the Spirit Of Threes, What Is The Best Trilogy You Have Read?

 

 

*rubs hands together in anticipation*

 

Look, I could answer this one a number of ways. I could go with the Shades of Magic books by VE Schwab (which I love dearly I promise dON’T GET ME WRONG). I could also choose trilogies I haven’t finished yet but love, such as Kiersten White’s The Conqueror’s Saga. Or Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s The Illuminae Files.

 

But I’d be wroooong.

 

My favorite trilogy of all time is Marie Rutkoksi’s The Winner’s Trilogy. Because reasons that include political intrigue and psychological warfare and battle tactics and feminist leads and strategizing and writing to shame all writers. Yeah, I adore these books to death. Can’t you tell?

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the fourth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Four Calling Birds : 

 

Since Series Usually Consist of Four or More Books, What Is Your Favorite Series?

 

What’s my favorite series of four or more? Or a series in general (can I include duologies, then?) I’m not really sure, so I’ll go with my first interpretation.

 

My favorite series of four+ is probably a tie between Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle and Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles (even though I haven’t read Winter yet but shhhh).

 

But let me let you in on a little secret: The bigger the series, the more likely I’ll read it. I KNOW. I’m weird and have no sense of time management. But this is the precise reason why I am addicted to all Cassandra Clare books, even though I a) don’t like Shadowhunters at all, b) do not like Cassie’s writing style c) hate books that are the size of a brick, and d) couldn’t care less about the extended family of Herondales and Carstairs and Blackthorns. AND YET I’ve read 10 CC books and counting, and I’m trying to stop myself from reaching for Lord of Shadows because I really and truly don’t care about Emma, Inc., but I. just. CANNOT RESIST.

 

Pretty covers and large books and long series are my downfall.

 

This is bad. But I don’t seem to be putting in any effort to stop, so .. *innocent shrug*.

 

On the fifth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Five Golden Rings : 

 

One Ring To Rule Them All! Who is Your Favorite Villain/Antagonist?

 

Hm. I love villains, I do. But that could be easily confused with antiheroes, so .. yeah, please give me a moment. And no, I won’t say the Darkling. I love Leigh dearly, and I would prefer not to be tackled by my angry reader friends (please don’t tackle me, I’m short and hungry at the moment) but I don’t like the Darkling all that much.

 

 

 

 

No, but seriously, I don’t really have a favorite villain. I guess I like Waylan Rose from Vengeance Road, Alice from Our Dark Duet (because embodiment of the lead’s flaws, and all that), and Angelica and Benedicta from The Beast Is an Animal (evil twins for the win, man).

 

Boring answer is boring. Sorry guys. They can’t all be winners.

 

On the sixth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Six Geese a Laying : 

 

Creation Is A Beautiful Thing! What is Your Favorite World/World-Building?

 

I looove beautiful developed world with attractions and traditions and geography and all that. Please make up pretty worlds, I tell you.

 

My favorite world is that of the 4 parallel Londons in VE Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic. Because the sheer creativity in the worlds and the depiction of each London and its customs and appearance and etc is mind-blowing to me.

 

If I could visit Red London, that would be the best thing ever, thank you very much. Make this happen, please. Someone. Anyone.

 

On the seventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Seven Swans a Swimming: 

 

Who Needs Seven Swans When All It Takes Is One Good Animal Sidekick To Make A Hero Rock! Who Is Your Favorite Animal Sidekick?

 

Oh my goodness, all the HORSES. I love horses. I love ’em. Anytime there is a horse with a name and a personality and an owner, I am totally here for it.

 

Some of my faves are:

 

• Javelin, The Winner’s Curse
• Silver, Vengeance Road
• Butter, Frostblood

 

Oh! And dogs. All the love for dogs.

• Dol, Vicious (who is named after a unit to measure pain. What the hell.)
• Mutt, Vengeance Road
• Maestro Spots, Crooked Kingdom (who Kaz threatened hahaha)

 

 

On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eight Maids a Milking: 

 

Milk Is So 18th Century! Which Book or Series Takes Beverages/Food To A Whole New Level?

 

 

I looove foody descriptions. Anytime there’s a meal (and especially in high fantasy), I expect a full disclosure on what the appetizers were, what the main course was, what the dessert was, and how to make all those aforementioned dishes. In fact, books with food should definitely start to have recipes included in the back. It’s nearly 2018, guys. The future is now.

 

And a lot of books do this! (Have colorful food descriptions, that is. Not include recipes.) Such as Renee Ahdieh’s The Wrath and the Dawn. Here’s a gem from that book:

 

 

… plates of food in front of each guest — aromatic rice with fresh dill and split fava beans, lamb simmered in sauce of turmeric and caramelized onions, skewers of chicken and roasted tomatoes, fresh vegetables garnished with mint and chopped parsley, olives marinated in fine oil, lavash bread with rounds of goat cheese …

 

 

God bless this. This is art, I tell you.

 

 

On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Nine Ladies Dancing : 

 

Dancing is Just One Skill of a Lady! Who is Your Favorite Kickass Female Lead?

 

 

So glad you asked! There are so. many. examples to give. So many. Like:

 

• Kestrel Trajan, The Winner’s Curse

 

• Kate Harker, This Savage Song

 

• Lumikki Andersson, As Red As Blood

 

• Lila Bard, A Darker Shade of Magic

 

• Lada Dragwyla, And I Darken

 

• Kate Thompson, Vengeance Road

 

• Princess Amari, Children of Blood and Bone

 

• Inej Ghafa, Six of Crows

 

• Nina Zenik, Six of Crows

 

• Alice Proserpine, The Hazel Wood

 

• Elliot North, For Darkness Shows the Stars

 

• Blue Sargent, The Raven Boys

 

• Alys, The Beast Is an Animal

 

• Kady Grant, Illuminae

 

• .. and literally all the girls in The Language of Thorns

 

On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Ten Lords a Leaping: 

 

Leaping Lords? How About Who Is Your Favorite Leading Lad?

 

This list may be a bit shorter, because male leads are a bit more uncommon. But here goes.

 

• August Flynn, This Savage Song

 

• Jonah Smallwood, A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares

 

• Kell Maresh, A Darker Shade of Magic

 

• Victor Vale, Vicious (that alliteration tho. and how many schwab leads do I have on here?)

 

• Kaz Brekker, Six of Crows (<333333333)

 

• Cian, The Beast Is an Animal

 

• Reece Murphy, Retribution Rails (whom I love as well. much-ly)

 

• Carver Briggs, Goodbye Days

 

• Arin, The Winner’s Curse

 

• Richard Gansey III, The Raven Boys

 

Told ya it was shorter.

 

On the eleventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eleven Pipers Piping: 

Where Would We Be Without Music? What Is Your Favorite Book or Bookish Thing That Deals With Music? (It can be about music, reference music a lot etc.)

 

 

Ooh, I love music. I like to think I know how to properly play the piano even though I really .. do not. But I’d love to, really. I’ve been working hard-ish on that. (That’s very motivational, I know).

 

But books with music are especially cool, because it’s weirdly interesting to see how the author can make a nonexistent song stuck in your head (I SWEAR IT HAPPENED BEFORE. DON’T ASK ME TO EXPLAIN BECAUSE I CAN’T). But yeah.

 

Some musical-ish-y books include:

 

• This Savage Song (duh). Violins and singing and flute-ing. But mainly violins. It’s even on the cover, Janet, can’t you see. Sheesh.

 

• The Winner’s Curse with piano-playing (!!!!) and singing. Bless this book

 

• Clockwork Angel with more violins. That convey love, too. #BonusFeatures

 

• Keeping the Beat with an actual musical-ly title. And bands. So much bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the tagging part, I’ll really leave this up to you! If you’d like to do this tag, go ahead. It’s all yours, buddy.

 

And oh! Before I post this, have a look at my Chrismas-ified books. For example, here we have my copy of Goodbye Days

.

 

 

Yes, I have mini Santa hats for my books. Yes, this is normal.

 

Anyways. Merry Christmas, hope all your presents are books. If not, I hope your gifts came with receipts. So you can then get books, obviously.