“The man who called himself Bors, at least in this place, sneered at the low murmering that rolled around the vaulted chamber like the soft gabble of geese.”
First line in The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
I might be a day late but this week’s post is a book tag! The Joy of Christmas Book Tag to be exact which I was tagged by Maria @The Character Study to do. I had been looking for a Christmas tag and also needed to procrastinate watching the new Wheel of Time episode (I don’t like it), so this was the perfect time to do this tag. It was originally created by Sam @ Sam’s Nonsense.
Anticipation: The Christmas excitement is real, what book release(s) are you most anticipating?
There are a few books coming out next year that I am beyond excited about. My top 3 are To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara, The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley and The Hourglass Throne by K. D. Edwards.
Christmas Songs & Carols: What book or author can you not help but sing its praises?
Again, there are a few I can’t shut up about so I tried to think of something I don’t mention in every single tag I do so I’m going to say Megan Whalen Turner and her Queen’s Thief series. It’s a very divisive series and it’s definitely not one everybody loves and that’s fine, but I’m obsessed with it. Turner is such an expert on subtlety in her writing and that just makes this series so damn interesting.
But my answer is also Winternight Trilogy.
Gingerbread Houses: What book or series has wonderful world-building?
Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman. The whole idea behind this trilogy is so fascinating to me, and in a world where people can’t die naturally, it was so interesting to explore the societal changes that come along with that. I didn’t even need these books to have a plot, just tell me about how the people live their normal lives.
A Christmas Carol: Favorite classic or one that you want to read
I don’t think I’ve read enough classics to truly name a favorite, so one that I want to read is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. All I know about is that there are books involved and that means I’m reading it.
Christmas Sweets: What book would you love to receive for Christmas?
I don’t usually wish for books for Christmas because my parents would rather buy me something else, but this year I’ve actually wished for Sistersong by Lucy Holland. I desperately need it so I hope my parents come through.
Candles in the Window: What book gives you that warm fuzzy feeling?
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I reread it this year and it gave me even more of that warm fuzzy feeling than the first time. I think it’s that we follow a fellow reader in this book, one who checks wardrobes for passages to Narnia and who loves exploring grand underground libraries, that does it for me.
Christmas Trees & Decorations: What are some of your favorite book covers?
The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith, Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare and Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde. I don’t think I can say from those that I have a specific preference when it comes to book covers, but I do like it when they do something different.
Christmas Joy: What are some of your favorite things about Christmas?
Well, maybe I’m a bit weird here, but my favorite thing about Christmas is the lead up meaning December 1st to 23rd. I love all the traditions you do throughout December, from opening my advent calendar every morning to making and eating Christmas cookies while listening to Christmas music. It’s the best, while Christmas Eve itself for an introvert with social anxiety is the most exhausting thing I’ll do all year. It’s still great, of course, but I want to sleep for a week afterward and I can’t.
I didn’t actually mean to post anything this weekend so if this looks like it’s filled out rather quickly, it’s because it is. But Maria tagged me on Friday so I figured I might as well do it. We’re so close to Christmas now that I don’t want to tag anyone else but feel free to do it if you want to, and also don’t forget to check out Maria’s version.
Let me know what you thought of my answers and whether you’ve read any of the books.
First Line Reader 
I hope you get Sistersong for Christmas. I’ve also been eyeing it, it sounds super intriguing and the cover is simply stunning! Also, I totally get why you like the build-up more than the actual celebration because, although I enjoy the 24th, it is also exhausting and I have no energy left on Christmas day 😅
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At least half the reason I want to own Sistersong is that it’s so beautiful 😍 I need to be able to look at that every day. And I’m glad someone understands my reservations about the 24th. I do like it as it’s happening but the cost is just so high.
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That’s a very valid reason, in my opinion hehe
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I loved that crossed out Winternight answer 🤣🥰
I’m kind of worried about you not enjoying Wheel of Time, though. I was planning on starting this week, thinking it might help me get back into reading the books, but maybe I’ll just stick to terrible Christmas movies instead. I’ve recently discovered that quite a few of them have good Russian dubbing, which has given me an excuse to rewatch them despite their awfulness… 😁
And I agree with you on Scythe. As long as there was lots of Thunderhead content as well, I’d be perfectly satisfied just reading about people going about their daily lives 🤗 But who knows, maybe those dystopian cravings will mean you’ll really like Fahrenheit 451, too! Personally, I wasn’t a blown away by it, but after this month, you maybe shouldn’t trust my opinions too much anymore (Spoiler alert: I absolutely adored The House in the Cerulean Sea and thought Piranesi was just okay 😅 If it makes you feel better, though, I did also love The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, and if you had told me how many owls were in that book, I would have read it much sooner!)
Finally, I also love everything leading up to Christmas, so I definitely see where you’re coming from 😊 I’m actually kind of glad my brother decided to be born on Christmas Day, because it means we always skip the big family Christmas celebration that takes place then. We only have the quiet, immediate family one on Christmas Eve, which is always so relaxed and cozy that I can’t help but love it! 🥰🎄
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Well, you might like Wheel of Time even if I don’t. At this point, though, I’m only watching because I need to write a post about how bad it is 😅 A lot of people like it though. I’m mainly disappointed with the low quality of the writing and the acting because I expected more from a show of this scale. So I’d say just continue with the terrible but Russian dubbed Christmas movies for a few days more 😄
And then you gave a lot of opinions I’ve been waiting a long time for! I knew you’d love The House in the Cerulean Sea so no surprise there. But you thinking Piranesi was just okay hurt me a lot. I’m not sure I can recover from this but I guess you loving Pepperharrow does help a little 😅 And the reason I didn’t tell you about the owls? I read it a year ago and you know how my memory is: I remember absolutely nothing about owls in that book 😅
So good of your brother to decide to be born on Christmas Day 😂 But I see how that eases the stress a bit. My parents are divorced and both live in small apartments so we never celebrated Christmas at home when I was younger. We always had to go somewhere else and that was anything but relaxing for me 😬 And I still do love Christmas Eve, just not as much as the rest of the month.
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In that case, I might need to watch it, for the sole reason that I can then read your post about how bad the series is and know exactly what you’re referring to 🤣 If it’s too bad, I can always quit after one episode and go back to the Russian Christmas movies…
Also, I think you not remembering the owls in Pepperharrow kind of makes up for me not absolutely loving Piranesi from the bottom of my heart – those owls were important!! 🤩 Six even had an almost-pet owl that she named Owlbert, who was so cute that forgetting him is a heinous crime indeed! And as for Piranesi, I thought the narration was super interesting and really loved the whole storyline relating to the real world. I was obsessed with finding out what was going on there! But reading about Piranesi walking from hall to vestibule to hall and staring at statues and wondering how much time had passed since the albatross came eventually got EXTREMELY tiring 🙄 I was so bored of that labyrinth! Couldn’t this other world have had some purpose other than being weird and making readers question what on Earth was the deal with Piranesi? Though I do think it makes sense that you loved it so much, considering that you also liked The Starless Sea ending way more than I did. That kind of atmospheric bizarreness apparently just confuses me more than it captivates me 😅
And I definitely understand your Christmas reasoning! Being home all day is a big part of why I love Christmas Eve so much; in fact, as sacrilegious as it might sound, I am kind of thankful to COVID for ensuring that this will be the second year in a row that we won’t be going to church on Christmas… I mean, I do love singing the carols, but that’s about as deep as my connection to religion is probably ever going to get, and not having the evening ruptured by having to go somewhere is really nice for a change 😅
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Oh, right, Owlbert 😂 Still, I think I only remember two scenes from that book despite loving it so much (that’s how bad my memory is when it comes to books), and both of those broke my heart so that’s why 😄
And Piranesi did give me a lot of Starless Sea vibes 😍 But my favorite thing was the unreliable narrator aspect! So much mystery! I spend a lot of time analyzing the statues as well so I guess I didn’t mind his wandering.
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