Music

Midnights ✨ Taylor Swift Book Tag

Sooo… I was originally aiming to post a book review today, but I’m not finished with the book yet. 😅😂 But today, Taylor Swift released her latest (double) album The Tortured Poets Department, so I thought there couldn’t have been a better time to do this tag. Thanks again Leslie for introducing me to the TS tags!

I haven’t had the chance to listen to the new album(s) yet, but I have had multiple chances to listen to ✨ Midnights ✨, Taylor’s tenth studio album. And I’m super excited to participate in the Midnights Taylor’s Version Book Tag created by Star is All Booked Up. This is the second TS book tag I’m doing – the only other one I’ve done so far is 📷 1989 📷.

My favorite songs from the Midnights album are: “Anti-Hero”, “You’re on Your Own Kid”, “Vigilante Shit” and “Mastermind”.

❃ a book you will always love and defend ❃

I love this series, and a crappy movie that I’ve never seen nor am planning on ever seeing isn’t gonna ruin that for me. Ever.

❃ a spicy book ❃

I’ve never seen as many sex scenes or sexually charged interactions in a book than I have while reading this book. I mean, Nesta and Cassian are constantly making passes at each other. (Not that I go looking for spice books or anything – I really don’t. Which is why this is the one on my list.)

❃ unreliable narrator ❃

Considering the book is first person and the character POV spends nearly the entirety of the book lying to the reader, I’d say this counts as an unreliable narrator! (I’d also say the MC is a bit of a literal antihero.)

❃ an unexpected surprise ❃

This was my first proper delve into one of Gaiman’a works (I read part of Coraline in like 2009, I think?). I don’t know why I chose for Neverwhere to be the first of his works that I experienced, but I fell hard for this novel. I liked it so much I sought out the crappy TV series it was published simultaneously to. Now, if only Gaiman would actually work on a sequel to this (allegedly titled The Seven Sisters) like he claims he does.

❃ a character that really needs a hug ❃

I don’t think I’ve read a book with a character that needed a hug as much as Holland in the last few years. And. That. Ending. 🥹😭

❃ star-crossed lovers ❃

It’s been a very long time since I read this book, but I remember really enjoying it. The plot twists. The weird and awesome magic stuff. And of course the star-crossed lovers B-plot/backstory.

❃ grumpy x sunshine (or neurodivergent rep) ❃

Whenever I think of Grumpy X Sunshine lately, the first couple that comes to mind is Rook and Sun from Spell Bound. I dunno why.

❃ favorite character out for revenge ❃

I had so much trouble with this one. I guess I don’t read books with characters after revenge really at all, huh? So I had to really go back into my brain, and slog through all the books I’ve ever read – and look back at the stuff to read in college for my English degree even. And whaddya know, I remembered that I read Hamlet in my Shakespeare class!

❃ strong character development ❃

Artemis’ character arc still sticks in my brain to this day. It’s because of this book that I can look at unlikeable protagonists/MCs that are assholes and want to see how they become compelling characters that I want to follow.

❃ second chance romance ❃

… … …I got nothing. Sorry, I don’t really read romance. (Though I have had The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling on my radar for a while. I haven’t read it yet however, so it doesn’t count!)

❃ favorite full circle moments or parallels ❃

I’m struggling to think of books that work with this one. Like, for whatever reason, I can’t think of any books with moments that parallel earlier moments in the book or have a plot that comes full circle. But I remember that The Outsiders starts and ends the same way, even though it’s been over a decade since I read it. So this is what I’m going with for this one.

❃ favorite fluffy/cozy read ❃

This was such a cozy and fluffy set of graphic novels, and absolutely perfect for reading in the fall. I got some Mooncakes vibes with these.

❃ perfect world building and storytelling ❃

This is a perfect book. Like, there’s nothing else I can say about it. Go read it.

This was another fun post to do, even though I definitely struggled with a few of these. Midnights might not be one of my favorite Taylor Swift albums, but I still enjoy some of the songs, and I love this tag. (And just wasn’t able to come up with anything for one of them – curse my lack of interest in romance!) I can’t wait to do the rest of the TS albums!

As always, thank you so much to everyone for reading, and I hope you have a fabulous day/night!

See ya ~Mar

1989 (Taylor’s Version) 📷 Book Tag

1989 (Taylor's Version)

For the first time ever (I’m pretty sure at least), I’ve been tagged to do a post! So well, I guess I gotta do it, huh? 😁 Thanks Leslie @ Books are the New Black for tagging me!

I’m a bit of a Swiftie myself, so I don’t mind at all! I’ve been a fan of Taylor Swift’s music since 2008 – maybe even 2007, I can’t really remember. Which is… Over 15 years. Uh, wow.

Anyway, 1989 isn’t my favorite Taylor Swift album, but I still love several of the songs on both of them. My favorite songs from 1989 in album placement order are: “Welcome to New York”, “Blank Space”, “Out of the Woods”, “All You Had to Do Was Stay”, “Wildest Dreams”, and “Wonderland” (this was on the special edition version also released in 2014 with the original 1989 album, so it counts!). Concerning the previously unreleased tracks from the vault, the ones I like best are: “Sweeter than Fiction” and “Now that We Don’t Talk”.

The song prompts on this book tag I got from Leslie’s blog, who got them from Elli @ AceReader. So, let’s get to it!

❃ a book with LGBT themes ❃

Mooncakes was such an adorable graphic novel, and the LGBT romance were cute. Yeah, Nova and Tam were okay, but I was personally super invested in Niva’s lesbian grandmas, lol.

❃ a book that hit you right in the feels… but was totally worth it ❃

This book made me cry – more than once – and if you know anything about the book or the hell that Jeanette McCurdy went through, then you know why.

❃ a book that you hated but you loved the cover ❃

Ugh, this book. Nightbane was easily the worst thing I read last year. I HATED it. But the Lightlark Saga book covers are, unfortunately, very pretty.

❃ your latest book boyfriend/girlfriend ❃

Wendell. Brambleby. He’s mischievous and pretty and has a silver tongue, and I couldn’t help falling head over feet for this man.

❃ a timeless classic that you love ❃

People will be remaking this book into a movie or TV series until the earth explodes. And I can’t help loving this book either. Sure, the writing is a bit archaic, but it was written in the 19th century, so you can’t expect too much modernity. Plus, it’s pretty short. And it truly is a bonafide classic.

❃ a book with vivid world building ❃

I stopped reading A Song of Ice and Fire about a third of the way through book two, but I still remember how absolutely vivid the world building was for this series. Too vivid, actually. (For me personally.) I got bored with how slow it was and opted out.

❃ a book where things weren’t exactly how they seemed ❃

I’m not going to say anything about the story, as I don’t want to give even the smallest iota away, even if no one that reads this post is ever going to read The Other. But I will say this: when you get to The Part, it completely recontextualizes everything you read before it.

❃ a book you were eagerly anticipating but ended up being disappointed by ❃

I was so, so, so looking forward to Witch King. Like, you don’t even know how much. It was my most anticipated book for ALMOST A YEAR, and it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. Ugh. I was so disappointed.

❃ a book/series that everyone seems to love but you can’t help but hate ❃

Ah, The Name of the Wind. I didn’t like it, and I DNF-ed. And I absolutely haven’t regretted it. I didn’t like Kvothe and I didn’t like the way he narrated the book. And seeing as Patrick Rothfuss might never even finish book three at this rate, I’m doubly glad I stopped when I did.

❃ a book series you love but everyone else seems to hate ❃

The Inheritance Cycle seems to get a lot of hate now, for being as derivative (and shameless – mostly/particularly in Eragon) of other works as it is. But it was huge when I was growing up, and I enjoyed the series well enough when I read it (though I’m not sure if it would hold up for me today upon a reread).

❃ a book/series you know you will always love ❃

I love The Book Thief so much. And I know that I always will. I have nothing else to say on the matter.

❃ an upcoming release you wish you could have right now ❃

First of all: the cover? 👨‍🍳💋 It immediately caught my eye. Second of all: the summary? It sounds amazing and fantastic and romantic and I really wanna read it.

I’ve been reading more Asian inspired fantasy throughout the past year or so, and I’ve been loving a lot of it. This one looks really good, too.

❃ a character you once loved but grew to hate ❃

Serilda. I really liked her as a protagonist in Gilded, but she got so annoying in Cursed. I hated every decision she made here, and her personality just started to irritate me in general.

❃ an author you haven’t forgiven for what they did to your favorite characters/books ❃

How dare you kill off Han Alister, Chima!! How dare you make him one of your two co-protagonists in your Seven Realms series and make him my favorite character, and then murder him in the first chapter of the first book in your Shattered Realms sequel series!!!! How dare you!!!!!!

This is the reason I DNF-ed Flamecaster! And after I was super anticipating this for weeks and bought this release day! This is the reason I can’t bring myself to try this series, even though every once in a while I kind of want to!

❃ a book that was far too predictable ❃

This was a retelling of The Nutcracker, so I wasn’t surprised to predict a lot of stuff. The story had certain plot points to hit, after all. And honestly? I actually really enjoyed this book.

❃ a book/series that you wish could have gone on forever ❃

I adored this story, and I loved Cerys and Fox. I could bask in this world that Ashley Poston created forever, and I still wish that a sequel would pop up sometimes.

❃ one of your favorite books where they ‘got the girl’ ❃

Yeah, I know, I’m kind of stealing my answer for this one from AceReader, but I honestly would’ve picked this if I hadn’t seen their post.

I’ve never read a book/series where I’ve been more satisfied with the relationship at the end of it than with PJO and Percabeth. They were just so perfectly written as friends and then as a couple. This series established the way that I like my romance in books, and the standard I kind of hold romances to.

❃ a book that completely shocked you ❃

I didn’t expect this book to go at all the way it did after A Court of Thorns and Roses. I thought this series was gonna go in an entirely different direction than it did. And the ending of A Court of Mist and Fury also surprised me – I didn’t expect it either!

❃ a book you thought you loved but quickly came to hate ❃

Speaking of derivative and shameless – I think Divergent is even moreso than Eragon ever was. Not only did it come out in the midst of the Hunger Games trilogy craze (so it was immediately shameless as opposed being shameless decades after the fact). But it also continued the ‘YA dystopian novels that are adapted to movies’ craze, and prompted a bunch of these to be shameless as well.

I didn’t love this book when I read it. But I liked it well enough and thought it was okay. However, my feelings for this book and series have since turned into a burning hatred. It hate the plot, I hate the characters, and I especially hate how the world building DOESN’T MAKE SENSE.

❃ a book you didn’t want to be seen reading ❃

Now, I wouldn’t mind if someone caught me reading this nowadays, but when I was a young teenager when I thought I was too old for middle grade? Yep, that was me. And that was the reason I never read it when I was fourteen.

❃ when the wait between books made you forget everything that happened ❃

So I read The Stardust Thief last year, and when I looked it up originally, the Internet said that The Ashfire King was coming out in 2024. Because of this, I was like: ‘Oh cool, that’s kind nine months away from how, shouldn’t be too hard for me to remember all the stuff from the first book.’

That date has since shifted.

Now, this book’s slated release date is next year – 2025. And I’m a little worried that I might forget stuff from book one in that time.

❃ a book/series you wiped from your memory ❃

Um, I think this was about witches that were Wiccan and folklore inspired? And the main girl’s parents die immediately, and she’s sent to live at a house with two other girls? And I’m pretty sure theirs three guys from a rival coven or something?

I barely remember anything from this series, even though I’m pretty sure I read the entire thing. In a day, or something. But yeah, it’s basically all gone.

So yeah, thanks again to Leslie for tagging me. This was a really, really fun post! I love Taylor Swift’s music, and am definitely gonna continue this with her other albums at some point. (And release Reputation already Taylor! ‘Cause then I know you’re gonna cap this all off with the rerelease of your debut album and I need “I Heart Question Mark” to be on it!!)

As always, thank you so much to everyone for reading, and I hope you have a fabulous day/night!

See ya ~Mar