12 Days of Christmas Book Tag

I always try to come up with creative holiday posts to do in December, and so I was delighted to stumble upon this Christmas-themed book tag. I found it at The Sassy Book Geek, and the original tag maker is Lizzie Loves Books on BookTube.



Partridge in a Pear Tree - Favorite Standalone

Obviously, I had to choose an Emma Mills book.


Two Turtle Doves - Your OTP


Anne and Gilbert



Three French Hens - Best Trilogy

This answer is a bit traditionalist, but it's such a strong trilogy.



Four Calling Birds - Best Series with 4+ Books

I have read a surprising lack of long series that I'd put up for this category. Thankfully, Kendare Blake's Three Dark Crowns counts.
 



Five Golden Rings - Favorite Villain/Antagonist
The Emperor from The Winner's Curse trilogy


Six Geese-a-Laying - Favorite World/Worldbuilding

Dark of the West



Seven Swans-a-Swimming - Favorite Animal Sidekick

I feel like I don't read a lot of books with actual animal sidekicks. Murphy from Second Chance Summer should count, though.



Eight Maids-a-Milking - Book with Best Food Descriptions




Nine Ladies Dancing - Favorite Female Lead
I did this category and the next specifically for 2019 releases.

Jo - The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee



Ten Lords-a-Leaping - Favorite Leading Lad

Nasir - We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal




Eleven Pipers Piping - Favorite Book with Musical Influence




Twelve Drummers Drumming - Favorite Read of 2019
I tried really hard to only pick one Emma Mills novel for this list, but I am powerless against my own reading tastes.




Let me know if you do this tag, too!

The Pie Book Tag

Surprise! I've created another book tag! This one is fueled by my love for something I can't shut up about - pie. And since we're about to enter the holiday season, which is often filled with pie, I thought this was an apt time to do it.

Caramel apple
A book that reminds you of fall.

If the caramel apple pie you eat is anything like the one I get at Proper Pie or Four & Twenty Blackbirds, then it is a quintessentially autumnal dessert.


The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo


Pumpkin
A book with a great family (biological or found).

Pumpkin pie brings back memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and so, since those are times spent traditionally with family, I thought this was a good pairing.



The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes



French silk
A book that's easy to read or rich with descriptions.

A good French silk pie melts in your mouth and is oh-so chocolate-y and sweet.


One of my favorite compulsively readable books is 

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia


Key lime
A summery sweet book.

Key lime pie is forever one of my favorites (I constantly want a slice from Daly Pie up in Brooklyn), and it's definitely a summer flavor.



The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo


Blueberry-peach
A book with a perfect pairing (romantic, friendship, mentor-student).

One of my other pie loves is a blueberry-peach lattice pie. Blueberry and peach are two fruits that pair together so effortlessly, which makes me think of...

Max and Paige in one of my favorite books:

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord



Oreo
A book that reminds you of your childhood.

Oreo pie always makes me think of Bakers Square restaurants (most of which are closed now). I loved their Oreo pie as a kid. So, for this category, I had to pick...


The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith
(Because my dad has always been very invested in the Cubs, and I was, to an extent, when I was younger.)




Lemon chess
A book with a very Southern setting.

Chess pie is a super Southern thing, but I had a lemon variation once that was the perfect blend of tart and sweet.


Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins



Dark chocolate orange
A book with a bittersweet ending.

Much like this book tag, every book has to come to an end. Although I love a good happy ending, sometimes conclusions have to be a little more bittersweet (like the delicious dark chocolate orange pie I got at Daly Pie once). One of my favorites in this category is...



Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake

So that's the pie book tag! I'm tagging ANYONE who wants to do it, as long as you link back to my original post. Feel free to tag me if you share it on social media (@AwkwordlyEmma on Twitter, @awkwordly_emma on Instagram) because I'd love to see what books you pick!

The Pancake Book Tag

It's a good thing I've already eaten breakfast, else doing this book tag would make me very hungry! :) This tag was originally created by Becky at Blogs of a Bookaholic, and she's graciously letting everyone who does it use the graphics she created as well. So without further ado, here's the Pancake Book Tag.

~A book that has a dusting of beautiful prose/descriptions.~

~A sharp character in wit or temperament.~

Cameron, from one of my favorite books this year...

~A comforting read you could devour again and again.~

~A novel that gave you a serious book hangover.~

~A book that gave you all the indulgent feels.~

~A character that seems all bad at first, but has hidden depths.~

Dean from...

~A book with a slippery plot that kept you guessing.~

(Or really, any of Megan's books.)

~A romantic pairing you weren't sure you'd like at first but ended up being a perfect match.~


Often I ship from the get-go, if I'm shipping a couple. But it took til I reread Fangirl for me to be on board with Cath and Levi. 

~A character that makes you recoil.~

Rowan in the TOG series. I said what I said.

~A book with wonderfully diverse characters.~

The obvious choice would be SoC. But I'm gonna go with Not Now, Not Ever. We've got an interracial romance, plus the supporting cast has more Black characters and a lot more that I'm blanking on at the moment.



Ok, now I'm hungry for breakfast food.

A to Z: A Book Tag

I seem to do book tags really close together but...no regrets. This one is super-duper long, which I'm excited for! The lovely Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner created this one yearssssss ago, but it's still totally relevant. Without further ado, let's get started. :)


A - Author you've read the most books from
Well you used to be able to track this via Goodreads, but they've gotten rid of the feature, so it's kind of hard to tell. 🙃 My gut instinct says Ann M. Martin or Gertrude Chandler Warner, because there are a heck ton of Babysitters Club books and Boxcar Children books.


B - Best sequel ever
Oh gosh... I'm really partial to Catching Fire, as well as Killer Instinct (in the Naturals series). Also The Winner's Crime continues to amp up the drama, and I'm so glad the To All the Boys I've Loved Before books are a trilogy.



C - Currently reading
As of working on this post, Songs from the Deep and Frankly in Love.


D - Drink of choice while reading
Honestly, I'm kind of boring, and I mostly drink water. But I do love a good PSL or a nice glass of wine or rosé cider.


E - e-reader or physical copy
Physical copy probably, but I got very comfortable reading books on my phone while riding the subway 12+ times a week.



F - Fictional character you would've dated in high school

Max Watson from The Start of Me and You, without question.


G - Glad you gave this book a chance
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls surprised me with just how much I loved it.
 


H - Hidden gem book
I routinely list these in #quietYA posts, but for this tag, I'll choose...

Not Now, Not Ever for the contemporary crowd and For a Muse of Fire for the fantasy lovers.

I - Important moment in your reading life
Maybe the first time I saw my name in the acknowledgements of a book? Sara Raasch thanked me in the author's note for Ice Like Fire, since I'd championed Snow Like Ashes from the get-go, so that was a special moment.

J - Just finished

A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai, which I loved!


K - Kind of books you won't read
Horror, straight up erotica, most adult romance, most adult fiction in general actually... Memoirs unless they have a good hook (travel, food, or something like Inheritance).

L - Longest book you've read
Les Miserables at 1,472 pages.



M - Major book hangover because of...
To this day, I still remember the book hangover that Prisoner of Night and Fog gave me in 2014. A more recent one was caused by Analee, in Real Life.



N - Number of bookcases you own
Well...if we count the one I get to use downstairs in my parents' office/library, I have seven. I only have two full-sized ones, though! Three are only two-shelvers, one is super narrow, and one is a nightstand/cube combo thing. But yeah, I own a lot of books.


O - One book you've read multiple times
P.S. I Like You by Kasie West. I reread it at least once every year.



P - Preferred place to read
I have one of those bowl-style chairs in my room, and it's pretty nice, not gonna lie.


Q - Quote that inspires you or gives you all the feels
This one gives me all the feels because it hits very close to home:

"Surely her purpose in life wasn't simply to read as many books as possible?" ~ The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman


R - Reading regret
Giving into pressure to read certain classics and then not enjoying them.


S - Series you started and need to finish
The Anne of Green Gables series. I even own Rainbow Valley, and every library has copies, so this shouldn't be that hard.


T - Three of your all-time favorite books
Hmmmmmmmm, this is hard. D:



Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
The Start of Me and You and The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord (They're by the same author, so it counts!)

U - Unapologetic fangirl for...
Emma Mills. So, so much. Ever since Foolish Hearts, she's written such consistently strong books, and I hope she never stops writing such soft, realistic, extraordinarily ordinary contemporary novels.

V - Very excited for this release
Supernova by Marissa Meyer for 2019 releases, and The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning for 2020.




W - Worst bookish habit
Skim-reading a book I don't like just so I can say I finished it, instead of DNFing. DNFing is a great thing, don't get me wrong, but I'm very stubborn, and I'd like to say I finished a book if I put enough effort into it.


X - X marks the spot - Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book.
I did this based off of my main YA shelves (which are done alphabetically).

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett


Y - Your latest book purchase
I wrote this post at the beginning of October, and it was The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys! :)


Z - Zzzz-snatcher book (Last book that kept you up way too late)
Hmm, it's been a little while but probably either Well Met or Five Dark Fates at the end of September.



Feel free to do this tag yourself! I never like tagging specific people. ;P