Time for another book tag! Aj @ Read All The Things! did this tag and I thought it looked fun. The original tag was created by My Name is Marines on YouTube. I did leave out some questions, so if you're interested in doing this tag, I'd recommend watching the original.
1. How do you rate books?
I use stars! However, they are very subjective and occasionally I will change my rating between my initial rating on Goodreads and my final rating in my end-of-month blog post. Here's what stars mean to me:
★ I don't think I've ever given a book one star. If my rating is that low, I probably DNFed it.
★ ★ I rarely give books two stars. I just checked my Goodreads: in almost a year and a half of using Goodreads, and out of 113 books, I rated only eight of them two stars. These mostly had to do with the writing and/or the content. Some examples of what I mean by content: racism, poor research, anticlimactic plot, lack of character development, disturbing themes, etc.
★ ★ ★ I use three stars A LOT. Three stars means I enjoyed the book, but there were some things I didn't care for.
★ ★ ★ ★ Four stars mean I really enjoyed the book!!!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Flawless. Perfection. Wouldn't change a thing. My virtual five-star shelf is almost as empty as my two-star shelf with ten books (again, out of 113).
I also use a lot half stars when I can't make up my mind, which is most of the time lol.
2. What's your review style?
I like writing mini reviews and then presenting them all at once at the beginning of the next month in a "[Month Name, Year] Reading Recap" ... Unless I have Very Strong Opinions about a book, in which case I will occasionally write a full-length review and post it by itself.
3. What's the book that made you a reader?
Ooh, that's a tough one. My earliest entries in my reading journal (which I started keeping when I was ten) are a lot of American Girl, Magic Treehouse, and Nancy Drew, with some classics like Little Women thrown in for balance, I guess? I was a reader before that, though. Honestly, I don't think there was any one book that "made" me a reader. That was all my mom's doing!
4. Do you read widely or have a genre niche?
I try to read widely, but my niche is definitely fantasy! Almost 30% of my reads last year were fantasy. However, I also enjoy classics, memoir, general nonfiction, YA, Middle Grade, some thriller, and a smattering of romance.
5. Do you prefer character-driven or plot-driven stories?
This question always annoys me. If I had to choose, I guess I'd say character-driven. But I like some plot too! Don't assume that I love Mrs. Dalloway because I enjoy character-driven stories. (Is Mrs. Dalloway driven by anything, actually?)
6. A book you love so much that you don't care if others hate it?
Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine! Always and forever one of my favorite books. Also Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke.
7. What’s a book you love so much that if someone *doesn’t* like it, you know your reading tastes don’t align?
Tress of the Emerald Sea, by Brandon Sanderson.
8. Do you have any dealbreakers in books?
Gratuitous sex and language. Boring books. Gaping plot holes. Terrible writing.
9. How do you decide what to read next?
I have four categories that usually stay the same when I'm choosing what to read for each month: one nonfiction, one "national month" book (e.g. Black History Month, Women's History Month, etc.), one book for book club, and one book from my paper TBR (my handwritten list from before I started obsessively using Goodreads). I'm also doing the 2025 Fantasy/Sci-Fi Reading Challenge this year, so I always have a book from that on my list. Any other books I can squeeze in are mood reads!
10. What makes a book stand out to you?
Fantastic writing and character development! I also appreciate a well-constructed plot, as that's something I struggle with as a writer.
I was forced to read Mrs. Dalloway several times in college. I still don't understand the appeal of that book. It seems to have a chokehold on college professors.
ReplyDeleteSeveral times?! Oh dear. Once was quite enough for me!
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