Bookish Christmas – Book Tag

Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing my answers to the Bookish Christmas Book Tag prompts. You can find the original post here. I know it’s from a while ago, but it was linked to in this master list, and I loved the questions.

So let’s crack on.

Father Christmas: Name a book you received as a child that you treasure to this day.
When I was very young, I was gifted a book of Aseop’s Fables, and I loved it. It was the most beautifully illustrated edition, and almost as big as me, and I would sit there curled up in bed, learning about all the different myths and stories, with all these brilliant characters. I still have the book, and while I don’t look at it very often any more – it’s away safely now in case we have grandchildren down the line – it makes me smile to think about. Funnily enough, a close friend of mine bought my son an old, beautiful edition of the same book for his first Christmas, and I’ve kept that one too.

The ghost of Christmas past: Is there a book or series you like to revisit each year at Christmas time?
I’ve said this many times but I’ll never tire of saying it. Every Christmas Eve, I sit down and read A Christmas Carol. It’s a tradition that I’ve kept since such a young age, I can’t remember a Christmas Eve without it! There’s so much to be taken from such a short book, and I’m already excited for this tradition to roll around. Even last year without access to all my books, I bought the audio version to carry me through, which was particularly beautiful, I have to say.

Christmas tree: Name a series that reaches new heights with every entry.
I’m very early on in the Chronicles of St Mary’s series (you can find my review of book one, Just One Damned Thing After Another, and my review of book two is upcoming), but this is one that absolutely gets into your head and won’t get out, in all the best ways. I’m planning on reading the rest of the series in 2023 if I can, and I’m making the most of all the novellas on Audible as I make my way through them too.

The second series I’d add on to this, as I don’t see it praised anywhere nearly highly enough, is the Spellslinger series. This series honestly just has everything you could possibly look for in it; humour, found family, magic, clever plot lines… There’s nothing lacking from it, and honestly I wish I saw more people talking about it.

Friends and family: Name a book with fantastic characters.
Where to even begin? I’ve read so many brilliant books, even just in the last year, that looking back over them and picking out ones that meet this prompt is overwhelming! So here’s a quick list ones ones I absolutely swear by:

• Mina and the Undead
• A Court of Thorns and Roses series
• From Blood and Ash series
• Rivers of London series
• Truly Devious series
• Midnight’s Twins trilogy
• Little Thieves
• Sixteen Souls

Decorations: Name a book with a gorgeous cover you would proudly display on your shelves.
Well, as we’re talking Christmas, the first book that comes to mind is Midnight In Everwood. It’s absolutely stunning, and I would gladly frame it and hang it up during December!

Other covers I absolutely love are Ariadne, Six Crimson Cranes, Gallant and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels (review to come!).

Christmas cards: Name a book that carries a great message.
One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read, and one that carries one of the most important messages, is The Ten Thousand Doors of January. I wrote about this book early in my book blogging days, but I absolutely haven’t forgotten this book, and I remember especially the last couple of pages, where the character development and shift in the story really drew to a peak.

Another book that has really stayed with me, and talks about being who you are no matter how hard it is, is Threadneedle. I know I’m not the only one of my blogger friends anxiously anticipating the next installment of this beautiful, powerful book.

Ice and snow: Name a book that you were hoping to love but which ultimately left you feeling cold.
I’m probably going to get some hate mail for this, but I’m going to have to say The Starless Sea. I read this two years ago and I’m still bitter about the time I wasted on it. I really wanted to enjoy it, and the cover is absolutely stunning, but it was just so… meh. I just couldn’t fall in love with it, despite pushing all the way to the end. Sorry, fans.

Christmas lunch: Name a book that was big and intimidating but oh so worth it in the end.
I could pick many books for this one as I do love a big book, but the first one that jumps to mind is Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood. This one will always have a special place in my heart because it introduced me both to reading fantasy as an adult, and to the world of SJM. My love for A Court of Thorns and Roses is well recorded, but it was Crescent City that first introduced me to her work, and I will always love that big chunky book (even if book two missed the mark for me somewhat).

Mince pies: Name a book you found sweet and satisfying.
The House in the Cerulean Sea. I read this almost exactly a year ago, and it still makes me smile when I think about it. It has everything you want in it, and hits all the right notes. The absolute sense of satisfaction I felt when finishing that book was something I wish I could pass around and share, as it felt so good. It was a beautiful, special book, and there was just so much love in it. Yes.

Presents: What book do you wish you could give everyone to read?
Interestingly, my husband and I were having this discussion recently. We both gave the same answer: The Appeal. This is one of the best books I have ever read, not just recently, but ever, and my husband said the same thing. It’s a murder mystery like none other, and Janice Hallett is an utter genius. Whether you normally read crime fiction or not, this really should be on your list.

Spreading the festive cheer: Tag some friends to help spread the festive bookish love.

• Fiona over at Fi’s Bibliofiles
• Danni at For Book’s Sake
• Amy Louise at The Shelf of Unread Books
• Esther at Cozy with Books
• The Strawberry Post
• Tiffany Gazer of Books
• Ashlee at Books Are 42
• and anyone else that would like to join in!

Thanks for stopping by for this festive book tag! I haven’t done a tag in ages, and haven’t done a festive one in a year (obviously….), so this really made me smile. Hope it brings some smiles to faces when reading too.

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