Birthstone Book Tag

Okay, so here's another book tag I picked up from booktube. This time, from Bookables. With the Birthstone Book Tag, each birthstone is associated with something (i.e. royalty, calm) so you select a book or character that you associate with those same things.

1) January - Garnet (Warding off Evil) - Who's the most evil character you can think of?

Agent Smith from the Ex-Heroes series. He is heartless and highly manipulative. Worst of all, he's highly intelligent and incredibly difficult to defeat.

2) February - Amethyst (Purple/Royalty) - A book or series with regal qualities.

For this one, I'm going to have to go with the Xanth series by Piers Anthony because every single Xanth book that I have read involves a prince, princess, king or queen. Also, the Xanth series introduced me to the idea that King and Queen could be labels that have nothing to do with gender. 

3) March - Aquamarine (Water) - A wishy washy character who'd be better as a follower than a leader.

I have to go with Cale'Anon from Looking for Group (a webcomic that I first discovered as a graphic novel). He goes through a couple of identity crises and I feel like he should just stand back and let Benny and Richard be the leaders of the group for the rest of the series.

4) April - Diamond (Diamond in the Rough) A book you love that doesn't get enough attention.

Definitely going to recommend everyone to the Realmsic series by Demethius Jackson yet again. It is a really good series that I feel should be more popular than it currently is.

5) May - Emerald (Balanced Energy) - Two characters that balance each other.

The first characters that come to mind with this, that I cannot think of a better example than, are Saint George and Stealth from the Ex-Heroes series. I tried to think of others because I want to diversify the books I draw examples from but his amiable, save everyone, let's-be-friends personality completely balances out Stealth's only-the-strong-survive, purely logical mindset. At the same time, she keeps him grounded (difficult to do because he can fly) by making him think instead of just reacting all the time.

6) June - Pearl (Loyalty) - Name a character that was loyal to the end.

I am again going to have to go to a webcomic for this. Quilt from Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire. No spoilers, of course, but there was no one more loyal to his friends and family than Quilt. No one more suited to help save the world. 

7) July - Ruby (Blood Red) - Name a book that made your blood boil or made you angry.

Nnede Okorafor has an amazing ability to make my blood boil for the characters that I am reading. The best example of this was The Book of Phoenix because I was so angry when her story was manipulated to the purposes of others and set about ruining what could have been a good world. It still makes my blood boil to think about it.

8) August - Peridot (Pales in Comparison to Other Gems) - Name a character that you like better than the main character.

The Weasley twins. No question on this one. I didn't read the Harry Potter series until just a few years ago, but had I known about the Weasley twins, I may have picked it up sooner. Those two made the series for me, which, of course, made the last book all the more difficult to get through.

9) September - Sapphire (Ocean of Calm) - Name a book that had a calming effect on you.

This is going to be incredibly strange, but I actually enjoyed Ethics by Spinoza. If you haven't read it, I don't blame you. It's a non-fiction philosophy book that is written in the style of geometric proofs. Definitely not for everyone, but I enjoy the mental exercise and feel so calm when I read it.

10) October - Opal (Iridescence) - Name a book that looks iridescent or has iridescent scenes.

While I didn't like the book, I have to give full credit to Dark Eden's cover art and setting. A world without a sun, where plants and animals are bio-luminescent. Definitely an iridescent book.

11) November - Topaz (Resilience) - Name a character that rises to the top in times of adversity.

I gotta give to Mark Watney from The Martian. He went through so many problems that even I was ready to throw up my hands and give in to the elements. And yet, through it all, he kept his sense of humor and worked through every single problem. 

12) December - Blue Zircon (Friendship) - Name a book with a friendship that you'd like to a part of.

I would love to be part of the friendship between Cinder and Iko from the Lunar Chronicles. Yes, they're more like sisters than friends, but I feel like I'd enjoy being friends with both of them.

So what are some of the books and characters you think of for these birthstones?

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

I subscribe to a few booktubers and, every now and then, they do a Book Tag video. They have been tagged, or are starting a tag, with a theme. Aria Mia Loberti did a video on the Unpopular Opinions Book Tag and it sounded like fun. Not to mention, she and I have similar dislikes and I want to assure her she's not getting only hate from people who watch her video.


1) A popular book or series that you just don't like.

I can honestly say that I've never understood the appeal of Twilight. The first book was loaned to me by a friend in grad school who was certain that I would love it and want to immediately read the next book. After I read the first one I gave it back to her and said "no thanks" to the rest of the series. I seriously do not get why people like it.

2) A book/series that you love that others seem to hate.

This one is going to require a bit of a cheat because I've never really read anything that people really hated. I'm going to go with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter because I feel the movie generated a lot of negativity towards the story itself and it is a little embarrassing to say "I really liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter!"

3) A love triangle where the person didn't end up with who you wanted.

Again, I'm gonna cheat a little. I really did not care for Faramir and Eowyn. I didn't necessarily want her to be with Aragorn, but I still feel that Faramir deserved better than to be someone's second choice. I get that they were happy together and all that, but the way I read Eowyn's realization that Faramir was a better fit, made it really seem like Faramir was her "silver medal" and Faramir is too good of a character to be treated like that.

4) A popular genre that you never reach for.

Romance. If you know me, you know I like my love stories to be secondary or tertiary to other aspects of the story. I also don't generally read Historical Fiction, but I don't know how popular a genre that is.

5) A popular/beloved character that you just don't like.

Mare Barrow from Red Queen. This is another series that I just didn't care enough about to read past the first book and Mare was a big reason for it. I have never before felt so strongly the need to smack some common sense into a character. I consistently felt like she was overconfident in her plan and her overconfidence was definitely her undoing.

6) A popular author you just can't get into.

In line with the previous tag, I have to say, Victoria Aveyard. I really don't understand the draw to her series, but I also don't understand the draw to Twilight. To me it was impossible to become emotionally invested in her characters. I really didn't get a good picture of the world she was creating (apparently she was going for a bit of an Ancient Rome theme). If you enjoy her writing, continue reading, but I will not pick up any of her books. I just can't.

7) A trope that you are tired of reading about.

I'll admit, I'm a bit burnt out on dystopian future settings. It seems like so many books are based on a relatively near future where things have clearly gone wrong or are about to go very wrong. It's getting old and is making me look at every book and think "how is this going to all go wrong?"

8) A series you have no interest in ever picking up.

Game of Thrones. I know, I love the fantasy genre. I love adventure. But I'm not at all interested in the Game of Thrones series. I think it's because the entire thing feels more like a soap opera than a fantasy story and I have no interest in that much drama.

9) A movie or TV show you enjoyed better than the book.

There's gonna be a lot of hate from this one, but The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have often admitted that The Silmarillion is the only Middle Earth book that I didn't have to force myself to read. The trilogy just goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and it killed my reading speed. Now that I think about it, maybe that's also why I have no interest in Game of Thrones, I have trouble with 500-600 page books, regardless of topic.


So, how many of these do you agree or disagree with? How much hate have I generated with this post? Please feel free to leave comments. I will make sure I respond to all of them.

Mini-Review: Go Ahead & Like It by Jacqueline Suskin

I have to admit, "Go Ahead & Like It" was a lot more interesting and a lot less interactive than I thought it would be. I thought this was just going to be a bunch of blank pages where you were going to write a list of likes based on a theme. Instead, I got a true story about the effects of writing and collecting lists of likes.

The graphics of this book were very good. Just as the author collects her lists of likes, the book itself felt like a scrapbook of likes.

This book is fun for a quick, somewhat introspective read. I'll definitely be giving a copy of this to my mother. I recommend it for anyone who needs a technique to handle copious amounts of stress in their lives.


*This book was provided free in exchange for an honest review by Blogging For Books.