Three Bookish Things Tag

A huge thank you to Jess from Beyond the Front Cover for the tag! I’m a relatively new follower of hers, but really enjoy what she posts, so do check out her blog and give her a follow.

She noted there doesn’t seem to be an original creator or rules for this tag, so I did a little Google search (because falling down the Google rabbit hole seems to be what writers do, and I’ve been one for so long that, well, I’m quite fond of the rabbit holes) and discovered it looks like it was first put onto a blog back in July 2018 by Paper Fury, who took it from Instagram and expanded it. It turns out almost all the items have remained the same, except Paper Fury included one more. I followed what Jess did, and added the last item after the nominations.

So, here goes! Let’s see if I can count to 3 for each item (I sometimes use a calculator for 1+3, so this’ll be interesting).

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3 Bookish Goals for 2021

I don’t really have any bookish goals for this year. Maybe buy more books for my kids. Which would mean I need more bookshelves, so maybe another goal could be to get more bookshelves. Otherwise my goal is to always have fun while reading and read what I love!

Let’s see…

1. Buy more books for my kids
2. Get more bookshelves or find more bookspace
3. Have fun and read what I love

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3 Favorite Authors

1. Jane Austen. Mostly because Persuasion is probably my favorite book ever. Has anyone not swooned over that letter?! I’ve enjoyed all of her other novels and unfinished novels as well and would happily spend all year just reading her books.
2. Cleo Coyle. The Coffeehouse Mystery series is the first cozy mystery series I’ve ever been able to stick to (been reading it for somewhere around 15 years). I adore the characters, love that it’s mostly set in NYC, and I’ve got my fingers crossed I’ll be like Madame when I’m an octogenarian. The funny thing is these books are centered around the manager of a coffee shop, but I don’t like coffee in any form.
3. Katherine Neville. About 15 years ago, I picked up one of her books just because we share a first name, but I fell in love with it and tracked down all of her books, which meant a trip to a secondhand bookstore for one of them. She only has four novels, but they’re all incredibly complex and detailed and involves going back and forth in time without it ever becoming confusing.

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3 Characters I Love

1. Mephi from The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart. He’s definitely a creature character, but is so cute and adorable and wonderful I just want to cuddle him and steal him from Jovis. At least, maybe borrow him for a day?
2. Mike Quinn from The Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle. I mentioned him in the Meet the Book Blogger Tag. He’s an NYPD detective and definitely, absolutely one of the good guys. Not only is he one of the good cops, but he’s also an incredible person. He’s definitely not the warm and fuzzy type, unless you happen to be his fiancée, but I love his character so much.
3. Kylie Grayson from the Terra Haven Chronicles by Rebecca Chastain. As a kid, I loved Nancy Drew. Kylie makes me think of a grown up Nancy. She’s spunky, curious, and willing to jump into danger with both feet. Years ago, there was a short lived series about Nancy in college where she studied journalism. Since Kylie is a journalist, I can’t stop thinking of her as Nancy with her degree who accidentally stepped into a magical world and got stuck, but that doesn’t stop her from getting herself in trouble in the name of a story.

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3 Weirdest Things I’ve Used For Bookmarks

I haven’t actually used bookmarks in years and years. I usually remember the page number or only stop reading once I’ve reached the end of a chapter. But, when I was a kid, I used to use receipts. I think I’ve used things like crackers, but only to quickly get up and do something. And probably anything else close to hand. I think I might have used another book once or twice.

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3 Favorite Covers

One from each of my three favorite genres! War of Three Waters by Douglas Niles is actually the third in The Watershed Trilogy from the 90s, but I still think it’s beautiful, and is really the best of the three. Kiss of Salt by Smita Bhattacharya is the first in a cozy mystery series set in exotic locales. This one is by the sea is Goa, India. The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux by Samantha Verant is my absolute favorite women’s fiction novel, and that cover makes me dream of France.

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3 Titles I’ve Watched But Not Read

I don’t really watch TV or movies, so it’s more likely I’ve read it but not watched it. Except Vanity Fair. I did start reading the book, but that was after I saw the movie. It came out when I was a senior in high school and my English teacher offered extra credit for anyone who saw it and wrote a report on it, so one of my friends, who was in the same class, and I dragged another friend along with us to see it. I don’t think either of us actually wrote up anything.

Oh! The last Harry Potter movie. I stopped reading after the 5th or 6th book, but, years later, my husband wanted to watch the last movie, so we did. I still maintain I do not like the books and will probably never pick one up again unless one of my kids develops an interest in it.

Um, I recently read a book that was turned into a movie that’s coming out later this year. The book is The Reincarnationist Papers and the movie is Infinite. Does that count? Probably not, but I can’t think of anything else. I am looking forward to The Wheel of Time TV series, though.

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3 Series I’ve Binged

I don’t really binge anything anymore, especially not these days when I have two little kids keeping me from my books. But, before kids, I used to read the following every year or every two years:

1. The Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce
2. The Watershed Trilogy by Douglas Niles

I try to binge read The Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle, but it never really seems to happen. I’ve been working on rereading the first book since December.

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3 Unpopular Bookish Opinions

1. I don’t like YA? I don’t know what it is about it, but all that angst and drama and romance just aren’t my thing. I also find it hard to believe that a sixteen-year-old is more worldly than any other adult when it comes to YA fantasy. I don’t know; it just boggles my mind, especially when I remember exactly how naive my friends and I were at that age.
2. Bookish merchandise is just extraneous stuff. Well, I suppose they have a place in Instagram photos and, sure, plenty of people love collecting all the mugs, candles, pins, and cards and etc. But I personally find them all ridiculous and just a way for someone to make money off people already spending $25-35 just to get a new hardback book. I also hate having trinkets lying around. If I could, I would ruthlessly declutter my home, but I think my family would be quite angry.
3. I hate overhyped books. This might just be a weird quirk of mine, but I really can’t stand it when someone says I’ll enjoy something, especially if they barely know me. And, after reading so many reviews of the same book, I already feel like I know what it’s all about, so see less and less point of reading it. I’ve also been disappointed by recent hyped books, so I’m now scared silly to read The House in the Cerulean Sea, but plan on forcing myself through it this summer.

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3 Nominations

BeckyBookstore | My Bookish Bliss | Sprayed Edges

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3 Popular Bookish Opinions

1. Since it seems most people also dislike this, I feel it safe to say one popular bookish opinion I have is love triangles stink. I really, really hate them. It’s just unnecessary drama and takes up too many pages and word space.
2. Indie books can be and are awesome! I’ve been reading indie books, especially self-published ones, for about a decade and have loved so many of them, so I’m so happy to see more and more readers picking up indie books and enjoying them.
3. I love my Kindle. Thanks to the pandemic, I noticed a lot more readers going digital when it comes to books, and many have started to really enjoy it! I’ve had one for the past decade and was initially a little slow to warm up to it, until after about half a year when I discovered a huge mass of indie books on Amazon that were free and were actually really interesting.

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Thanks again, Jess!

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