Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Milk Tea Book Tag

  
    Back at the beginning of August, Alyssa tagged me for this amazing quiz. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to do this, but better late than never, right?



Tea: The foundation of your reading life
The Lord of the Rings. My mom read the books to me and my sisters when I was six-ish (right around the time the movies were coming out) and I LIVED in Middle Earth. I’m not exactly a Tolkien purist (in some ways I prefer the movies) but those books solidified my love of fantasy. You can’t ask for more than that.



Milk: A rich, smooth book
Most anything by Jane Yolen, but for today I’ll pick The Mermaid’s Three Wisdoms, which I just finished. It’s out-of-print and apparently very hard to find, but luckily for me our library still carries a ton of out-of-print books.  The story is about a mermaid and a deaf girl who become friends and communicate through sign language (according to some folklore, mermaids have no tongues). The language is simple, but gorgeous all the same. I got jealous reading it.


File:HP1 Cover.jpg

Sugar: A book you love but is controversial
I’m going to cop out here and go with Harry Potter. I don’t think this needs much explanation—it’s still pretty controversial in some circles.



Ice: A book just for fun
If a book doesn’t have at least some fun parts, chances are I won’t finish it. That said, Surviving the Applewhites is a ball to read. A juvenile delinquent is dumped into an insane family of artists and unschoolers who must all work together to put on their own production of The Sound of Music.



Silk Stocking: a book that’s much better than it sounds
I thought Entwined would be a pretty typical YA fairy tale retelling. Then I stayed up until after midnight to finish it. It’s whimsical, funny, sweet, surprisingly dark, and incredibly creepy. The characters are wonderful, the setting to die for (a Victorian fantasy kingdom!), and I can’t think of another story quite like it.



Yingyang: A book with foreign influence
Wildwood Dancing, another fairy tale retelling (same fairy tale, too—The Twelve Dancing Princesses), is set in 1500s Transylvania. There’s a lot of culture and folklore mixed in, which was super fun. The sequel, Cybele’s Secret, is set in Istanbul.


I Tag: Anyone who want to join in! What are your favorite books? 

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for doing the tag, Alex! Oh yes, LOTR was definitely an important foundation of my fantasy reading as well, although I do agree the movies were very very well executed, so much so they did supersede the books here and there. I can't believe most of the HP controversy, to be honest. Have you heard of the Hogwarts School of Prayer and Miracles or something like that? Read that the other day and couldn't read past the second chapter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, I have heard of it, and I've read the first chapter. To be honest, it made me crack up, but I really, really, really, REALLY hope it's a parody and not actually supposed to be taken seriously. I honestly think that most of the people who say Harry Potter is "Satanic" have never even read the books and are just going by knee-jerk reaction to the word "witch".

      Delete
  2. LOTR is indeed a rather tiresome book to read, but I am glad that I can say I have read them so that I can enjoy the movies in peace. Because those movies are excellent. Usually when I hear about the "Harry Potter controversy" I just want to let my anger fly, which is unfortunate of me, but you know. Whatever. I WILL CHILL OUT. Aaaaaaaaaand... Yeah. I don't know the rest of the books, but thanks for giving a little insight into your reading life, anyway. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no problem with people who don't like Harry Potter because it's just not their cup of tea, but I do have a problem with people who seem to see all kinds of "sinister" and "pagan" things in them that just aren't there. Of course, that's just my opinion, but still...I hope you get a chance to read some of the other books; they're all very good!

      Delete