Harry Potter Book Tag!

Taken at HP Studio Tours in London back in 2013!

Tania at My Lovely Secret tagged me in this Harry Potter book tag so, obviously, I'm all in with that!

I have no idea where it originates from but thank you to the little wizard who conjured it!

😘

Onto the questions!

(These were actually freakin' difficult to answer!!)

EXPECTO PATRONUM: A childhood book connected to good memories? 

When I was a kid (like 10/11), I used to get off the school bus in the town next to the village I lived in and go to the library. I'd spend hours in the library going through the books, reading sections, working on projects and just generally living amongst the books. The librarians were witchy bitches but I tried to ignore them as much as I could and stay hidden in the stacks until my mum came and picked me up after work - or until it was time to leave for the bus.

I found Both Sides of Time by Caroline B. Cooney on one of these visits and started reading it in the library. It was one of the first books that I couldn't put down and it was one of the first books that broke my adolescent heart it was such a bittersweet romantic tale.

I've never revisited it as an adult but one day I just might.

EXPELLIARMUS: A book that took you by surprise?

Engines of God by Jack McDevitt.
What took me most by surprise with this book is the fact that I actually read it!
It's sci-fi! I don't read sci-fi.
It isn't even sci-fi romance. It's a proper sci-fi.
It's one of the professor's books and he suggested I read it back when we were in uni. I took up the challenge and really didn't expect to enjoy it but after a super slow start, it surprised me by being interesting and enjoyable.

PRIOR INCANTATO: The last book you read?

The last book I read was a novella, Diamond Fire by Ilona Andrews. It's a bridging novella in the Hidden Legacy series marking the change in narrator/pov from Nevada to her sister Catalina.

ALOHAMORA: A book that introduced you to a genre you'd never considered before?

I know people love to hate Dan Brown but his Robert Langdon books introduced me to the adventure/thriller/mystery type novels. Before reading Angels and Demons, I wouldn't have touched the genre with a 20ft pole. Now? I'll poke a toe into that pool every once in a while.
They're not my preferred reading and I've found so many of them super boring but occasionally the mood strikes and I pick one up and I'm lost, addicted, on a thrill ride of suspense-filled adventure rooted in myth or history (sometimes both) and I thoroughly enjoy it.

P.S - I know there two more Robert Langdon books but I haven't read them yet.

RIDDIKULUS: A funny book you've read?

Dummy: Parenting for the Inept and the Clueless by Matt Coyne.

Matt Coyne started posting random updates on Facebook when his son was about 3 months old. It grew into the Facebook page, Man vrs Baby and eventually into a book deal.
I actually had tears of laughter rolling down my face at various points reading this book.
His descriptions and anecdotes are relateable but written in a flamboyant and ridiculous fashion designed to entertain.

SONORUS: A book you think everyone should know about?

I really don't know... This changes depending on my mood and what I'm currently fixated on.
My current bookish obsession is The Guild Codex books.
I find them thoroughly entertaining... The perfect escape from reality.

OBLIVIATE: A book or spoiler you would like to forget you ever read?

Erm... I don't think there are any books I'd like to forget I read but there have been many that just were not memorable!

As for spoilers, I just don't care. Spoilers don't spoil things for me really. In a lot of cases, I actually find them soothing to my nerves, lol. I don't care if I know how something ends - in fact sometimes I flick ahead to deliberately find out - what I care about is how you get to that point... It's the journey, not the destination.

However, one series I have decided never to read - despite having wanted to - is Divergent as I found out the ending of the series when the final book released (because everyone was screaming over it) and I was outraged alongside everyone without ever having read a page! I don't invest myself over multiple books to have that as the ending so I was definitely not going to bother.

IMPERIO: A book you had to read for school? 

I think the most memorable books I had to read for school were To Kill A Mockingbird, Wuthering Heights and The Diary of Anne Frank. 

Wuthering Heights I like to think I'd have read anyway as I've been entranced by the story since I was a little girl and my mum would play Kate Bush but the other two I don't think I'd have ever bothered and that would have been a shame as they're wonderful thought-provoking books.

CRUCIO: A book that was painful to read?

Okay, it's not a single book but as series and they collectively wrecked me!
I'm talking about the Boudica series by Manda (MC) Scott.

How a fictional take on a culture and fictional retelling of a period of history could do so much emotional damage, I'll never know but I love these books with every fibre of my soul but I've never been brave enough to re-read them despite finishing the series 10+ years ago.

There's joy, wonder and pain! You know that a book series told from the pov of the Celts will never end well when it's based around the second Roman invasion (i.e the successful one) of the British Isles but still... Did it have to hurt so much?!

AVADA KEDAVRA: A book that could kill (interpret as you will)?

The Priory of The Orange Tree.

Have you seen the size of this hardback? 

Have ya? Have ya, have ya, have ya?!

If you've got it in your bag and get attacked just swing that bugger and the attacker will be on the ground in 2.5 seconds. (Assuming you have the muscle mass to swing it!)

Hear creepy noises in your house at night? No problem! Scoop it up and hurl it at the offending party's head! They're unconscious and you can make your escape!

For similar reasons to the above, I wouldn't recommend storing it on a high self for if it falls and you're standing under it? It's lights out!

There is seriously no need for a book to be this large...

🌻

If you want to do the Harry Potter Book Tag then consider yourself tagged!