The Bibliophile Sweater Tag! (SHHH, it’s still sweater weather, peasants)

good morning, Cyberspace!

You know what goes great with April? Sweaters. Fuzzy sweaters, stripe-y sweaters, sweaters with short sleeves, no sleeves (that’s a vest, kenzie), long sleeves. Sweaters with fluffy kittens on them. Sweaters with owls. Hufflepuff sweaters. SWEATERS.

I love sweaters. Especially when it’s the middle of Spring and the sun is practically searing my skin off with its fiery rays of inevitable death.

Aha…haha…ha.

Okay, so technically I was tagged back in the frozen tundras of February by the whimsical, preciously smol bean known as Christine to do the Bibliophile Sweater Tag, which is, in a nutshell, a glorious tag filled with cuddly sweaters and happy little books. Both of which are truly wonderful things to think about in an ice-covered month like February. Or even March, seeing as though our weather has been demented this year.

But–as is the usual around here–I failed. March was, as I’m sure we can all attest, not exactly my finest hour. It was crazy and hectic and home to one too many sporadic panic attacks and pitchfork stabbings, and in the end, this beautiful tag got pushed back to–you guessed it–April, when there is miraculously no more snow or chilly sweater weather because obviously the universe hates me.

But shall something as insignificant as the fact that wearing a sweater in 70 degree weather is both extremely painful and highly inconvenient stop me from doing this tag? I SHOULD THINK NOT, SIR.

And so I am here, scoffing in Mother Nature’s face whilst slapping her with my Hufflepuff sweater as I prepare to throw a bunch of happy little books your way. But before we dive straight into the tag, there are a few rules that we should probably go over.

Ahem.

— The Rules —

• Give the person who tagged you a never-ending supply of cookies (or just thank them – either works) — THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR TAGGING ME, CHRISTINE!!!! And as I am a proud flinger of cookies, it would be my honor to give you a never-ending supply of them!  *flings cookies in your face for eternity*
• Answer all the questions and use the blog graphic for this tag somewhere in your post
• Pass along the tag to at least five other people
• Wear a sweater (okay, this is optional…but why wouldn’t you want to??) — I CANNOT DO THIS OR I WILL PROBABLY DIE. I am sorry. I shall go stuff my face in a paper bag of shame now.

And now, ONTO THE TAG!

 

This is the absolutely adorable graphic that was made by the tag’s creator, Mary! (I wish I could make graphics like this…. [and also I’ve read that Resistance book and it was amazing so obviously Mary and I would be great friends. I’ma go stalk her blog now…])

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The Bibliophile Sweater Tag!

— Fuzzy sweater. . .(a book that is the epitome of comfort) —

The Princess and The Goblin by George MacDonald

Okay, now this MIGHT seem like an odd choice for a book that is supposed to radiate comfort–what with the fact that it is about CREEPY GOBLINS WHO LIVE UNDERGROUND WITH THEIR MUTATED ANIMAL BEASTIES??? and a bizarre, very-great grandmother who lives in an attic with pigeons and a boy named Curdie (poor soul), and a smol princess with invisible string–BUT. When I was but a smol bean, overly-prideful in the fact that I was a “reader”, this happened to be one of the “big” books* that I read. And fell irrevocably in love with.

And then promptly forgot about. You know. As you do when you truly love something.

But a little less than a year ago I started to remember vague snippets of the story (and got super excited about it, as is the Kenzie Way [much laughing and inward squealing and flailing.]) And because of my intense excitement, my mom actually did some sleuthing, figured out what the book was called (as I could not for the life of me remember [#marshmallowbrain]), and bought it for me for my birthday! Which basically just added about a billion more happy memories to the book of immense happiness.

So now every time I look at this book, I’m reminded of A) my childhood, B) Curdie (who’s rhymes I believe I tried to memorize as a wee child), C) my birthday, and D) my mom, who is the absolute most amazing human I have ever known.

So yes. Long story short, this book gives me the fuzzies.

(*why yes. I am now aware that this is pretty much a children’s story. do not judge me, Smithy.)

— Striped sweater. . .(book which you devoured every line of) —

Winter by Marissa Meyer

THIS WAS SUCH A HARD CHOICE. ACK. There are literally sooooo many books that I’ve devoured every line of. The Hunger Games, Divergent, Harry Potter, The Peleg Chronicles. . .

But. If I am only allowed to pick one, it has to be Winter. This book is the fourth, final, and longest installment of The Lunar Chronicles, and though it took me about a week to read the entire thing (i was pacing myself, peasants), I devoured every. single. line. of it.

Because THORNE. And CRESS. And WINTER. And mostly THORNE.

This book was just everything, okay? It was absolutely everything, and I still find myself stroking it lovingly as I pass by my bookshelf. (i am normal)

— Ugly Christmas sweater. . .(book with a weird cover) —

Ummmmmm. . .

Waking Beauty by Sarah Morin

I FEEL SO GUILTY ABOUT THIS ONE. I love this book, okay? It is literally THE BEST Sleeping Beauty retelling that I have EVER read. 10/10 recommend. I will physically slap you in the face with this book in order to get you to read it.

However, WITH THAT BEING SAID. This book has a really weird cover, guys.

I mean, I understand the basic concept of what they were going for, here, but. . .there’s just too much happening.

First of all, you’ve got the briars. And I actually really like the briars. They’re all warped and twisted and kind of crawl up the side of the book, and they’re just very aesthetically nice, in my opinion. The briars are good. No complaints here.

And then you have the random dude at the bottom right corner with the sword, which I’m just going to take a stab in the dark and assume is Arpien with the vademecum blade. But–and this is a really nitpicky ‘but’–he looks like a child. . .? Perhaps it is the hair. Or the fact that he looks like a tiny King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone.

Or perhaps it is the fact that there is a GIANT DISCONNECTED WOMAN FACE RIGHT ABOVE HIM???

I’m good with the brambles. I’m even okay with boy-Arpien. I AM NOT OKAY WITH THE GIANT BRIERLY FACE. She’s not even connected to anything. She’s just. . .there. Staring at you. With some random arm resting against her head.

And is it just me, or does it look like her face is literally growing out of the briars?

I personally think this book could have been a lot less. . .odd-looking. . .had they just kept the brambles and Arpien and left out the floating orb head. I can’t help but think of the sun from Tele-Tubbies every time I look at it.

— Cashmere sweater. . .(most expensive book you’ve bought) —

Jane Austen Novel Collection by Jane Austen

(unfortunately I do not have a picture of this. . .)

Now, I’m not sure if this one counts or not, since I wasn’t actually the one who bought it, but it’s probably the most expensive book I own, so. . .?

But if we’re going by the most expensive book that I, myself, have bought with my very own money, it would probably be something like Cinder? Or. . .yeah, probably Cinder. Or maybe like a writing craft book or something?

I honestly don’t buy a lot of my own books. I demand kindly ask for them for Christmas and Birthdays and hoard them like the fraudulent dragon that I am.

— Hoodie. . .(favorite classic book) —

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I think I just found a new contender for weirdest book cover. . .)

AHA! Finally! An easy answer! Pride and Prejudice is by far my ultimate favorite supreme classic novel. It took me forever to finally read it, but once I did. . . *mind explodes*

If you haven’t read this book already, READ IT. READ IT NOW. It is perfection in every sense of the word.

— Cardigan. . .(book that you bought on impulse) —

ALL OF THEM. Hahahahahahahahaha. #helpme

Actually, I think for this one I’ll have to go with —

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This book is, without a doubt, the most amazing impulse buy I have ever made. I bought it as a reward to myself after winning my first (first time winning, second time participating) NaNoWriMo (April Camp of 2016, BOOYAH!), and BY GOLLY WHAT A REWARD THIS WAS. This beautiful, precious book opened up a whole new world for me. I was immediately captured by the universe, the characters, the whole uniqueness of the story and plot. And even though it’s been over a year since I’ve read this series, I am still eternally in love with it. The Lunar Chronicles is, forever and always, one of my absolute favorite series of all time, and it all began with this book.

— Turtleneck sweater. . .(book from your childhood) —

Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park

THESE BOOKS, GUYS. THESE BOOKS. I’m pretty sure these were the books that started my obsession with binge-ing. I used to sit up in the hallway at the top of our stairs for hours on end just reading Junie B. Jones book after Junie B. Jones book. (and also Goosebumps books, as well, because I’m normal like that.) Junie B. is hilarious and unique and quirky, and she was pretty much my childhood hero.

It was also slightly strange because my best friend at the time was named Grace. I never called her That Grace, though. . . I obviously missed a wonderful opportunity, here.

— Homemade knitted sweater. . .(book that is Indie-published) —

Oh goodness, this is a hard question. I really don’t read an awful lot of books that are self-published (this is something that I’m trying to work on, though), but the ones that I have read were absolutely AMAZING.

Or not so amazing. Because apparently there is literally no in-between with Indie-publishing.

But I think one of the best Indie-published books I’ve ever read was

The Blood Race by K.A. Emmons

I’m not even sure what words I should use to describe this book, other than the fact that it was absolutely nothing like anything I’ve ever read before. It was original. It was action-packed. It was slightly whimsical and dark and basically one of the best books I read last year. The sequel, Worlds Beneath (I think this is the name??), is coming out I THINK sometime this year, and I am SO beyond excited to get my hands on it. Especially since THE LAST BOOK ENDED WITH A HUGE CLIFF HANGER ASDFGHJKL!!!

— V-neck sweater. . .(book that did not meet your expectations) —

UGH. Another tough one.

Unfortunately for me, there have been a lot of books that have not met my expectations. What can I say? I am a tough cucumber to please. But if I had to pick just ONE that was just a tad bit less satisfactory than the rest. . .

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

This book right here has gotten rave reviews. And I mean RAVE reviews. Humans gushed. Cyborgs cried. One man probably died in his excitement. And yet. . .

No. I was not pleased.

I was expecting something action-packed and super interesting. I was expecting something filled to the brim with excitement and mystery. I was expecting something that would keep me on the edge of my seat late into the night.

What I got was a book that made me want to grow a grey hair rather than slug my way through yet another chapter.

And yes. That is an exaggeration. Perhaps it was my mood at the time, or perhaps police investigation stories are just not my slice of cheese, but whatever the reason, I decided to DNF this book about a third of the way through. It is now in the banishment pile, and though I have no intentions of trying to read it again anytime soon, I am still holding onto practically the entire series (HIP HIP HOORAY for garage sales!) in the rare case that someday I wish to try again.

#doubtful

— Argyle sweater. . .(book with a unique format) —

The book I am about to show you is a book that I am 99.9% certain you have never read. However, due to the fact that I’ve never really read a book with a unique format before–aside from this one, I guess???–this is the only book that I can think of to answer this particular question.

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

The first thing you will probably notice about this book is the name. And yes. I do find it severely disturbing. But it’s actually a pretty decent story. Aside from the fact that the plot-twist is also slightly disturbing, of course.

But anyway. I’m not sure if this even counts as a unique format, but the majority (if not the entirety) of this book is made up of letters. Basically, Daddy-Long-Legs is about an 18-year-old orphan girl who gets sent off to this rather prestigious school by some random, anonymous millionaire dude who decided to pay for her tuition, and in order to show her gratitude, she must write him a letter every now and then, telling him of how her education is coming along and whatnot. The only glimpse our heroine ever gets of Random Dude, however, was a very quick glance, and all she could make out was that he was severely tall, like a Daddy Long Legs spider. So. There you have the name of the book.

And also she calls him Daddy Long Legs throughout the entire story. Which I honestly just find very odd.

But overall it’s a pretty good book! The whole letter-writing aspect of it was highly intriguing, the cast of characters were interesting (I think?), the plot twist was. . .weird. . .? But I would definitely recommend this one to people who like older books, such as Anne of Green Gables or The Five Little Peppers or Jane Austen.

— Polka dot sweater. . .(a book with well-rounded characters) —

THE LUNAR CHRONICLES!!!!

. . .

Oh, fine. Since I probably shouldn’t use that particular series for every single answer, I shall pick a different book.

The Five Little Peppers And How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

Now, I know I mentioned this one up in the Argyle Sweater section, but I feel like it definitely deserves its own sweater.

The Five Little Peppers is adorable. Absolutely, positively adorable. The characters are my smol tiny children and are each so unique and precious and beautifully created and ASDFGHJKL!!! I just really love this book, okay? I think I’ve read it like four times already. Possibly more. And each time I fall in love with it all over again. This book is yet another 10/10 recommend for all you peeps out there who love the older stories. And also for all you peeps who don’t love the older stories. And also for the people who don’t like stories altogether.

JUST READ THIS BOOK, OKAY? Okay.

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And there you have it, folks! Those are my answers for The Bibliophile Sweater Tag! I just want to give one last GIANT thank you to Christine for tagging me! This was so much fun, and I am so sorry I didn’t get to this sooner.

Like when there was actually a need for sweaters. . . Aha.

Buuuut anyway, before I abruptly end this smudge, I must slap some of you in the face tag some people! And so, without further ado. . .

I tag. . .

• Jethan @ Rosedale Arts
• Phoebe @ My Myopic Heart
• Ruby @ The Sea Calls Us Home
• Madeline J. Rose @ Short & Snappy
• Jem @ Jem Jones, Writer

TAG! You’re It!

Now go put on a fuzzy sweater and possibly get heatstroke. #fun

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talk to me, peasants!

What book is the epitome of comfort for you? Have you ever read The Princess and The Goblin? (if you haven’t–DISHONOR ON YOU. DISHONOR ON YOUR FAMILY. DISHONOR ON YOUR COW. and also go read it. because it is amazing, obviously.) What is the weirdest book cover that you have ever seen? Have you ever read Junie B. Jones? And most importantly–DID YOU USED TO WATCH TELE-TUBBIES? (shh, this is totally important, Dipsy) Let us talk about ALL OF THE BOOKISH THINGS down in the comments below!

As always, until next time. . .

*flings cookies in the air and disappears*