Sunday, December 13, 2015

Unofficial Best Book Award

   Thanks to Olivia from the cwtch for tagging me!

.:
via

Rules:
Steal the tag.
Fill in the tag.
Tag people to steal the tag.
Be happy and have fun!

Best Male Character
   Today I’m rounding up three of my favorites: Ged from the Earthsea Cycle, Commander Vimes from the Discworld series, and Dr. Pellinore Warthrop from The Monstrumlogist. Ged is kind and wise, Commander Vimes is funny and wise, and Dr. Warthrop is also kind and wise (in his own eccentric, Sherlock-esque way).

Best Female Character
   This is even harder. I love Sissy from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Rachel Watts from Every Breath, Sorcha from Daughter of the Forest, Wendy from Peter Pan…At the moment, though, I guess my favorite might be Harley Quinn from the Batman comics. She somehow manages to be (almost) completely unhinged, yet still a joy to be around (assuming she’s not trying to kill you).

Best Protagonist (good guy/main character)
   Gen from The Queen’s Thief series. One of the things I find really interesting is that he’s always the main character, but not necessarily the viewpoint character, of every book he’s in. The guy doesn’t even have to be telling the story for it to end up revolving around him. If that’s not charisma, I don’t know what is.

Best Antagonist (bad guy/opposing party to main character)
   Long Lankin from Long Lankin. I can’t remember him without shivering.

Best Plot Development or Twist
   A Pack of Lies has a pretty fantastic twist at the end.

Book You Threw Across the Room the Hardest (in either a bad or good way)
   That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton. It’s a good book, but majorly depressing.

Best Romance
   I actually prefer friendship- and family-centered books to romance, but the three romantic subplots in Entwined are all wonderful. (And funny. I don’t think they’re nearly enough funny romances.)

Best Action:
   The Sisters Grimm books are packed with the wackiest action imaginable.

Best Other Book
   ???
   In the Heart of the Sea in a genre I don’t usually read (nonfiction), but I loved it.

Best Book That Made You Change the Way You Think
   The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I hadn’t thought much about poverty and class issues before reading it.

Best Inspiring Book
   Big Magic inspires me to create more.

Best Book That Made You Learn Something New
   Wallace: The Biography. Braveheart is a wonderful movie, but it'll never win four stars in the historical accuracy department.

Best Sad Book
   I cried every day while I was reading Betwixt and Between.

Best Funny Book
   I’ve been reading a lot of Batman comics recently, and Li’l Gotham is both adorable and funny.

Tagging:
+ Whoever wants to join in

11 comments:

  1. Yay, you did the tag!!

    I tried to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn a few years ago but couldn't get into it... I keep hearing incredible things about it though, so maybe I'll have to try again! I think I've read Entwined before though... and loved it. :)

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    1. Entwined is AMAZING. It took me a while to get into A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, too, but it is so, so worth it. Thanks for the tag--it was supper fun to do!

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  2. I don't think I've read any of these except Sisters Grimm, which is absolutely fabulous and made me laugh/feel all the feels. So you have my approval. xD

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    1. I love the Sisters Grimm so much, and I've just been rereading them, which is a blast. They're everything my eleven-year-old self could ever want jam-packed into one series.

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  3. Huh, I never really thought about how class issues much played into The Outsiders... I ought to read that book again, huh? I haven't read any of the others, though. *cheeks burn with shame*

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    1. Any reason is a good reason to reread The Outsiders :)

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  4. Thank you for tagging me, Alex! I'll try my best to do it :D Ooh, I've never heard of the Sisters Grimm -- that sounds super cool, though, so I will definitely look into it.

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    1. Do look into it--they're some of my absolute favorite books and HILARIOUS.

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  5. What a fun tag for an end-of-year round-up! Admittedly, I think the only books from this list that I've read have been The Outsiders and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but both of those were good ones, so. ;) I haven't read it, but I think that's super interesting about the protagonist of the Queen's Thief series and how it doesn't have to be his POV for the story to still be his. It reminds me of The Great Gatsby, how Nick's telling the story but it's really Jay Gatsby's story. So cool to see how different writers choose to craft their stories, isn't it?

    And speaking of writing, how was Big Magic? I definitely want to get to it sometime next year, and it's good to know you were inspired by it!

    (PS Thanks for commenting on my new blog post, and I hope you and your family enjoy a lovely Christmas!)

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  6. Big Magic was amazing--super encouraging and inspiring. I just loved it!
    It's so interesting to study the ways different writers craft their stories, especially if they do it in a way that's a bit unusual. I think the Queen's Thief series works as well as it does because you get to see Gen from all angles and points of view, not just his own.
    Thanks for commenting--I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

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