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So every once in a while I end up going down a BookTube rabbit hole of “tag” videos. In case someone is unfamiliar with any of those things I just said, let me explain: BookTube= YouTube videos about books (aka the best YouTube 😉 ) and “tag” videos are when the creator is given a series of prompts usually with an overall theme and then selects books that fit the various categories.
One of these “tags” that I recently rediscovered is the Taylor Swift Book Tag (which you probably already figured out from the title of this post). This is a bunch of prompts based off of Taylor Swift songs, which I find fun regardless of how you feel about her/her music, and no you don’t have to listen to the songs to understand the book choices- I explain it for you (and link to music videos in case you also want to listen to songs)!
I really enjoy these sorts of things and may do more of them because it gives me a framework for talking about books I’ve read in the past and not just my current reads/to be reads.
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together– pick a book or series that you were pretty sure you were in love with, but then wanted to break up with
We’ll just go with the obvious one here- the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I was obsessed with these books end of high school/early college, but honestly after I devoured the series I never had any desire to go back and read them again and there wasn’t anything about them that stuck with me.
Red– pick a book with a red cover
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke- I adore this cover so very much plus this is a fabulous story. It is like every book lover’s dream and nightmare rolled into one, it is beautiful and I love it.
The Best Day– pick a book that makes you feel nostalgic
The obvious choice here is Harry Potter, because who doesn’t feel nostalgic about Harry Potter. But the books that actually make the most nostalgic is the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. I love these books and it always feels like coming home when I pick one up for a re-read. What isn’t to love about an adventure story set in a medieval abbey with mice, otters, badgers, hedgehogs, etc. as the main characters.
Love Story– pick a book with a forbidden love
Alexia Tarrabotti and Conall Maccon from The Parasol Protectorate Series. Honestly one of my favorite book couples, I just love how they interact with each other, the biting wit, and the frustrated love- it is just a joy to read (even if sometimes their temperaments lead to unnecessary issues between them- seriously just chill and talk to each other once in a while it can do wonders for any relationship). But there are some fairly obvious reasons they shouldn’t be together according to the laws of this universe which also ends up causing problems at various points during this series.
Quick warning: although I adore this series there are a few somewhat sexually explicit scenes in Soulless (the first book of the series), they are fairly easily skipped over and it is never that graphic again in subsequent books, but just heads up if that is something that bothers you.
I Knew You Were Trouble– pick a book with a bad character you couldn’t help but love
Mogget from the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. I know that he is technically an evil (or at least a chaotic neutral) character but he is a fabulous character and he usually manifests as a cat which just makes him adorable (an endearment he would hate so much). Also if you listen to the audiobooks narrated by Tim Curry his Mogget voice is just fantastic- his entire narration is excellent but especially his Mogget.
Honorable mention: Magnus Bane from The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare- he is pretty fabulous in every sense of the word
Innocent– pick a book someone ruined the ending for
Mockingjay by Susan Collins. This is somewhat my own fault, I waited so long to read this series that by the time I got around to Mockingjay there were spoilers all over the internet. Confession time: I still haven’t read it and now I don’t really remember much about Catching Fire so I’d have to re-read that first but who knows when that will be.
Everything Has Changed– pick a character from a book who goes through extensive character development
Taran from the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. This whole series was a runner up for the nostalgia series but Taran goes through so much development throughout the series it couldn’t not be my choice here. In The Book of Three (the first book in the series) Taran is just a whiny kid who thinks he knows so much more than he does- leading to a whole lot of issues. By the end of the series he has grown so much as a character throughout the series (especially in Taran Wanderer) that he truly feels like a worthy hero.
You Belong With Me– pick your most anticipated book release
Cheating here a little bit just because I’m terrible at keeping up with new book releases but I’m excited for the illustrated Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban coming out this fall. It’s been so exciting to in a way revisit the joy and anticipation from the first time the Harry Potter books came out- but now with more pictures and British-isms that weren’t in the American editions first time around!
Forever and Always– pick your favorite book couple
Cath and Levi from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. There are so many things about Cath that I identify with and so many things about Levi that make him the most lovable character ever.
Teardrops On My Guitar– pick a book that made you cry a lot
The first book that ever made me cry, and forever my selection for tearjerker books is Dana’s Valley by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan. I read it in middle school and this book just killed me- it was beautiful and wonderfully written but it destroyed me and I literally can’t read it again.
Shake it Off– a book you love so much you just shake off the haters
Whole genre for this one. My “guilty pleasure” is inspirational romances- especially those with a bit of suspense. Yes, they are often called “fluffy” and “not very intellectual”- but I love them. Writers in this genre I recommend: Susan May Warren (Montana Rescue and Team Hope are some of my favorite series by her), Dee Henderson (love the O’Malley’s series), Karen Witemeyer, Dani Pettrey, and Julie Lessman.
Blank Space– most over-hyped book or series that didn’t work for you
Death at Pemberley by PD James. Look I adore Jane Austen and I tend to enjoy murder mysteries, so the two of them together should be good right? Wrong- this book failed for me on so many levels. It felt like there was almost nothing of the Bennet sisters in this book and it was ridiculously repetitive. The most interesting parts were the very beginning, when the death initially occurred and the ending when the story of what actually happened finally came out, the middle was just a constant rehashing of the same details over and over and over again without any actual detective work occurring. In fact the only reason the full story comes out is because of
some death bed confession- not because anyone else actually
figured it out.
Invisible– an under-hyped book or series that deserves the spotlight
Anything in the Tortall series by Tamora Pierce (Wild Magic is one of my favorites)- if you haven’t read any of her books, please do they are spectacular. If you need convincing beyond the synopsis on the back of the book, I love this post by Mark Reads about the first chapter of Alanna: The First Adventure (the very beginning of the Tortall books)- it doesn’t really spoil anything and I just love his enthusiasm (warnings for a little bit of language- in the post not the books themselves).
The Story of Us– a couple that should end up together
I generally tend to end up rooting for the couple that does get together in the end or end up being fairly ambivalent about any romantic pairings that occur (*cough* Grisha trilogy *cough*). But I’m still working my way through the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas and at this point I’d really like to see Celaena and Chaol end up together but I’ve only actually read through part of the second book so we’ll have to see if that changes any.
That’s all for my first “tag” post! Let me know what you think about my picks, tag videos/posts in general, or if you’ve ever done this tag feel free to link below I’d love to read about/watch your favorites! Also tell me if you’d like me to do more tags in the future- though I probably won’t need prompting but it might come sooner if you say you like it!
As always thank you for stopping by!
~ ❤ ~ MegRose
The Inky Scroll 