The Ultimate Book Tag

I saw this tag over at Lili Lost In A Book and loved the questions so had to join in!

Like Lili, I'm not tagging anyone in particular so if you want to give it a go, consider yourself tagged!

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1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?

Yep! The only form of transport I can read on are planes and trains.

2. Which author’s writing style is completely unique to you and why?

Erm... I don't really know.
I guess Mariana Zapata's writing style is pretty different from most and definitely wouldn't suit a lot of people.
Kristen Ashley is another that takes a lot of getting used to. The way she phrases things and her characters' speech tends to be pretty whacked.

3. Harry Potter Series or the Twilight Saga? Give 3 points to defend your answer.

Harry Potter because it's British, it's magic and it's a part of my personal history in a way that Twilight is not and will never be.

4. Do you carry a book bag? If so, what is it in (besides books...)?

I have a bag that can hold my kindle and since I predominantly read on my kindle, I don't worry about whether my bag is big enough for books anymore (but my bag is big enough for a paperback).
It also carries my phone, wallet, hairbrush, lip balm, headphones, a notebook, pens, keys etc.
Usual bag bits.

I also have a bookish tote bag that I fold up within my handbag and can pull out if I need more carrying power as well as some fold-up bags for when shopping.
(Our stores don't do free plastic bags so we need our own or to buy them each time.)

5. Do you smell your books?

Nope. I'm not gonna judge those that do but I just don't get the whole book smell thing.

6. Books with or without little illustrations?

I really don't care. I guess they can enhance the story but I can take or leave them.

7. What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

Nothing jumps to mind and I don't think I really like the judgement of "quality writing".
Some authors can write beautifully but their stories are boring af.
Other authors may not write well but the story engages you regardless.
I tend to just take things as they come. That's not to say I haven't read books and wished a better writer had written them (hello Fifty Shades!) but it is what it is.

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!

Not really.
Back when I was a kid, I was the only reader in my house (my mum didn't take to books until I was in my teens and convinced her to read Harry Potter) so most of my bookish stories revolved around late letters from the library because I'd forget when they were due to be returned.
Those letters weren't funny.

9. What is the thinnest book on your shelf?

These two!

I bought them when they were released as a special editions for Comic Relief.
They are tiny little things... I think they were re-released later and bulked up a little but I still have these versions.

10. What is the thickest book on your shelf?

This one!

And I still haven't read this series... I bought them as they released with the intention of reading them when the series was complete but still haven't gotten to them. 

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?

I attempted NaNoWriMo once! It was a bit of a disaster.
I wouldn't class myself as a writer and I'm extremely unlikely to ever strive for a future as an author but I will admit that I've periodically picked at that book I started during NaNoWriMo 18months ago so who knows?

12. When did you get into reading?

I never "got into" reading. I've been a reader as long as I can remember.
I used to get off the school bus at the library and stay there until my mum finished work and would pick me up so I could sit and read books (rather than head home to the grandparents).
I'd have been no older than my son is now when I did that... aka nine-years-old.
I became an absolute book fiend when I hit university and had funds and constant access to bookstores and a fledgeling Amazon.
Good times.

13. What is your favorite classic book?

I'm not a big classics reader but I love Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
Can't really choose between them. 

14. In school was your best subject Language Arts/English?

Nope, I excelled at science - Chemistry, Biology and Physics.
I  also got an A in History so I guess that's an Arts subject but I went the science route with my education.
With hindsight, I should have gone with History for I love it! Science got me where I am but it's not my passion...

15. If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated... what would you do?

Nod politely, smile and say thank you?
Then, later, I'd pass it onto someone else who hadn't read it and might like it.

16. What is a lesser-known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?

Pass.
I have no idea.

17. What is a bad habit you always do while blogging?

I'm going to have to echo Liliana a little and say tabs! I open a million tabs... I read comments on my blog then open a tab for that person's blog to return comments, I click on linked posts on people's posts and open them in new tabs, I have social media tabs, Goodreads, Amazon, picmonkey... You name it. I steadily work my way through it all before closing my browser but it's chaos.

I'm also really bad for saving everything to my desktop and sorting it out later. Much much later.

18. What is your favorite word?

Fuck.
I don't use it much on the blog - or not on published versions of posts - but I think it's my all-time favourite word. I use it plain and I spice it up in many interesting configurations.
I can genuinely make an entire sentence where every other word is fuck.
It's a skill.

19. Are you a nerd or a geek?

Aren't these two pretty much the same thing?
Or is there something fundamental about one of them I'm missing?
Either way, you can call me whichever you please as I'm sure they both fit. 

20. Vampires or Fairies? Why?

Vampires. No Fairies! No... I don't know.
Actually, I do. I'll go faeries.
I'd rather be a living, breathing creature, even if I'm full of trickery and can't lie, than be a reanimated corpse.
Unless we're talking living vampires like the Black Dagger Brotherhood? In that case, I may have to review my answer.

21. Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?

I would say shapeshifters! I'm not one for theological beings... But if we're talking Nephilim then I'm changing my answer! I like angel spawn stories.
Oh hell... Why do I have to choose?
Gah! Okay. Angels.

22. Spirits or Werewolves? Why?

Werewolves!
I don't like ghosts.

Ghost stories can never end well for a romance reader.

23. Zombies or Vampires? Why?

Vampires.
Even when vampires are the reanimated dead kind they aren't typically portrayed as mindless, brain eating, beasts... But I much prefer the different species or the altered by magic kind of vampires to the brought back from the dead ones.

24. Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?

Forbidden love! Oh my! The feels...
Love-triangles just piss me off.

25. AND FINALLY: Full on romance books or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?

Why do I have to choose?!
I like full-on romance. I love action with a few love scenes mixed in.
At the end of the day, I'm a romance junkie, I need it. However, I don't like zero to full blown "I'll die for you" in the span of two minutes. Build it up! Mix the action in! Make them earn it. Make me believe it. Slow burning romantic UF is my absolute favourite everything for this very reason.

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PS - I have no idea where this tag originally originated from. Liliana found it on two other blogs (tagged in her post) and they seem to have found it on another blog and... Yeah. You get the idea. Many many thanks to whoever came up with it though!