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The Bookish Thanksgiving Tag.

Because we’re thankful for good books.

turkey

The Bookish Thanksgiving Tag was originally created by Erin and Becca – the premise is super simple. Each question lists a type of traditional Thanksgiving Dish and applies a type of book to said dish. Then you name the book. Ready?

Here are the Questions:

1. Bread: What book is purely fluff, and has no real plot line?

15749186To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han is pretty much the epitome of a light and fluffy read and yet it was soooooooooo good. I really want to read the second novel, but because of the intense light and fluffiness of it all, I remain firm on my plan to wait until there is a good deal being offered for it (or until I break down and get it from the library). In all seriousness, I really did love this book and the main character is someone I grew intensely fond of, but her love story is the supreme fluffiness that teenage romances often are.

2. Turkey: What book made you want to fall asleep?

17333230I wanted to love The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton because the cover is so gosh darned pretty but it was giving me severe Nathaniel Hawthorne flashbacks with descriptions so long and unnecessary that I could barely get through the first chapter in which nearly twenty pages go by and the main character is still standing in a doorway about to enter a room. About to enter a room, people. Friends who finished this one reported that the second half was better than the first, but I couldn’t even get through the first 1/24th of this one without nodding off.

3. Gravy: What book makes the whole series worth reading?

13125947Reached by Ally Condie! This was the third and final book in the Matched series and it really made the whole series, which had been giving me on again off again levels of interest up until book three. By the time the story had ended, the author had blown my mind, delivering a final plot that I still think about today. I usually find the third book or final book in a series a little disappointing, but I actually preferred this book over the previous two.

4. Stuffing: What book is stuffed full of action scenes?

13837The entire Songs of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce is pretty action packed but Lioness Rampant I recall being particularly filled with battles. I loved this series because Alanna was not really your typical female lead – she was the one rushing into battle, rather than waiting to be saved by her knight in shining armor, she was more likely to be saving the knight. Alanna kicks ass. This is the 4th in the series, so make sure you start with Alanna: The First Adventure.

5. Mashed Potatoes: What book looked good, and then wasn’t?

84917I was really excited to read Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women who Created Her by Melanie Rehak but I was pretty disappointed, mainly because it wasn’t really the book I thought it would be.  I loved one of Rehak’s other books Eating for Beginners so much but this didn’t have that same fantastic wit that I’d grown to love in EFB and the book was much more about feminism and women’s suffrage than it was about Nancy Drew – not an uninteresting topic, just not what I’d been hoping to read and ultimately it felt more like that stodgy traditional “nonfiction” that I was forced to read in school.

6. Cranberries: What book has the sweetest romance?

16068905This is really no contest. Cather and Levi’s romance in Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell will always be one of my favorites. A lot of love stories have to kind of trample everyone until you get to the good so that you don’t entirely still love everyone and a lot of teen or young adult romances give you that whole love triangle scenario and then play around with each angle, creating Teams that you inevitably side with, leaving some fans disappointed in the end when the main character finally makes their choice. In Fangirl though, Levi is simply perfection and there’s never much contesting that even if Cather doesn’t realize it right away.

7. Corn: What’s the corniest book you’ve ever read?

19085295Christmas at Copper Mountain by Jane Porter was good because Jane Porter is a terrific writer, but the plot itself required an enormous suspension if disbelief.  Everything ties into too perfectly of a bow too quickly so the realist in me was kind of heckling as I read – but again – Jane Porter is brilliant, so I kept reading anyway.

This is a short and sweet Christmas romance and if that’s what you are looking for, it’s totally going to deliver. But it might make you roll your eyes, too.

8. Green beans: What book is too long and needs to be shortened?

4407I loved Neil Gaimon, obviously and I really enjoyed parts of American Gods but petered out and never finished it. I think even Gaiman commented in the preface to the edition I was reading that he thought it should have been edited more than it was. I agree – it felt like the editor was too scared to touch it for fear of ruining any of the genius, but I think it really could have used a heavy hand of editing to pare down to the brilliance that was there if you had the time to dig through it.

9. Pumpkin Pie: What book do you read to get out of a reading slump?

I’m not much of a rereader so there really aren’t any books that I turn to with frequency so much as genres that I consider a sure thing. If I’m having a hard time finding a good book, I’ll turn to a beloved author like Janet Evanovich or a sure thing genre like a good dystopian young adult story or a celebrity memoir. Other times, I will think in terms of page length. If I just need something to get me back into a reading groove, I will sometimes look through my kindle or bookshelves for a smaller book that looks interesting – something that I can finish in a couple of days and then start something loftier. I also use this tactic to bridge the gap between book club selections or other reading goals so that I can finish a book club title closer to the time of our next meeting.

10. Dog/Cat: What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food that you would steal from the table?

I’m all about desserts so I’d be coming after the apple pie, especially if my grandmother baked it – or if dessert isn’t on the table yet, you know I’m eyeing that sweet potato casserole.

If you are playing along, comment with a link to your responses. You can also share your picks in the comments section below!