Christmas Book Tag (ORIGINAL)

Christmas is a month away! That's exciting for some and terrifying for others, and I definitely fall into the former category. I love Christmas. I love the atmosphere and the carols and the cheesy songs and the lovely movies and the warm fuzzy feeling it gives me.

So to celebrate I've created my very own Christmas Book Tag. I feel I should say I'm sure there are other such tags out there, but this is one I've made entirely on my own and if there are any similarities to any other tags I promise that's pure coincidence.

I'll tag a few people once I've given my own answers, but whether you're tagged or not please feel free to do this tag and share the festive love!

I have to go with Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop by Jenny Colgan. It's cheesy and festive and lovely; I read it over Christmas a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the experience.

I didn't really like The Great Zoo of China that much - which is a shame because it's essentially Jurassic Park but with dragons - but it was a shamelessly fun, quick read. If you want to know my thoughts in more detail you can check out my review here!

I don't know why, but I feel like Taylor Swift's 'Style' would be a great movie. It's one of my favourite songs from 1989 and something about it always makes me think there must be a bigger story someone can write in there somewhere; the lyrics make me think it'd be a great movie about a pair of doomed lovers who appear in different incarnations every century throughout history.

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged features a heroine who is a practicing muslim, and it's one of the best contemporary novels I've read in a long while. Check out my review here!

I have to go with The Disreputable Dog from The Old Kingdom series, who first appears in Lirael as Lirael's much-needed companion. She's so much fun and I love her, although Mogget is a very close second.

I read Burial Rites over new year a couple of years ago and it was the perfect read for those cold winter months. The setting was one of my favourite parts of Hannah Kent's debut - it was as much a character as all the people within it - and she writes those bleak, Icelandic landscapes beautifully.

Maia is one of my favourite fictional characters from one of my favourite books of all time. I adore The Goblin Emperor, it's like Rivendell meets the Tudor court, and when I was poorly with quinsy earlier this year the thing that comforted me most was curling up in bed and listening to the audiobook. If you haven't picked this up yet, I highly recommend that you do!

There are plenty I could have chosen, but I've always had a soft spot for The Secret Garden. I adored the 1993 adaptation when I was little and I finally read the book for my Popular Victorian Fiction module at university and loved it. I love Mary Lennox; she's grumpy and heartwarming, and a very good gardener to boot!

I'm still not over it.

I'm sure my lovely friend Natalie @ A Sea Change won't be too impressed with my choice, knowing how much she loved this book, but Uprooted was one of those books I really had to struggle through to finish. I liked a lot of things about it but the writing style and I just didn't get along very well which is a real shame, but I'd like to try more of Naomi Novik's work in future.

Okay so The Nutcracker certainly isn't without adaptations. Not only is it one of the most famous ballets around, but it also has numerous film adaptations - I just haven't found one I've completely fallen in love with yet. I want an adaptation that's nostalgic rather than juvenile; I'm a big fan of slightly creepy fairy stories, so I'd love to see someone like Henry Selick direct a stop motion adaptation of it.

I think The Good Immigrant is such an important book right now, so I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy of it over the Christmas period! Then again, there are a bunch of other books I want to get my hands on, too...

If you'd like to have a go at this tag then please do! I'd love to know what your answers would be. For now I'm going to go ahead and tag:

Natalie @ A Sea Change

Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews

Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Mallory @ The Local Muse

Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

Top Ten Tuesday | Stories & Songs

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is all about music and books, and I just happen to have a feature on my blog called Stories & Songs where I pair a book with a song. Today I've made a new list; there are a couple of books I've done before that I think fit particularly well, but most of them are brand new. I'm quite pleased with this list! As always book titles will take you to Goodreads, and song titles will take you to the song on YouTube.

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier + Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift: Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe. Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen + Girls & Boys by Good Charlotte: Educated, with money. He's well-dressed, not funny. And not much to say in most conversations, but he'll foot the bill in all situations, 'cause he pays for everything.

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia + A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum: And so it was that later, as the miller told his tale, that her face, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins + Glory and Gore by Lorde: You could try and take us, but we're the gladiators. Everyone a rager, but secretly they're saviours. Glory and gore go hand in hand, that's why we're making headlines. You could try and take us, but victory's contagious.

Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov + Missed Me by The Dresden Dolls: Missed me, missed me, now you've gone and done it; hope you're happy in the county penitentiary. It serves you right for kissing little girls, but I will visit. If you miss me.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman + Halo by Ane Brun feat. Linnea Olsson: Remember those walls I built? Well baby they're tumbling down; they didn't even put up a fight, they didn't even make a sound.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman + Black Magic by Little Mix: Take a sip of my secret potion, I'll make you fall in love. For a spell that can't be broken, one drop should be enough. Boy you belong to me, I got the recipe, and it's called black magic.

Feed by Mira Grant + O Children by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Pass me that lovely little gun, my dear, my darling one. The cleaners are coming, one by one, you don't even wanna let them start. They are knocking now upon your door, they measure the room, they know the score. They're mopping up the butcher's floor of your broken little hearts.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng + I'm Still Here by Goo Goo Dolls: I am a question to the world, not an answer to be heard or a moment that's held in your arms. And what do you think you'd ever say? I won't listen anyway. You don't know me, and I'll never be who you want me to be.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli + It's Time by Imagine Dragons: It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then, I'll admit, I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand that I'm never changing who I am.

What did you talk about this week?

The 1989 Book Tag!

Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm created the 1989 Book Tag, and as someone who's been a fan of Taylor Swift for around eight or nine years and a fan of books even longer, I couldn't resist doing it. I'm weak for tags.

In the original tag there are sometimes several topics for one song, but I decided to just do for each. Check out the original tag for all of them!

Welcome to New York

You can want who you want, boys and boys and girls and girls

A book with LGBT* themes

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters: Sarah Waters' specialises in historical fiction with LGBT* characters at the centre. Out of her six published novels, five have an LGBT* protagonist and even the one book without an LGBT* protagonist could be argued to have an LGBT* secondary character. I decided to go with Tipping the Velvet, despite not having read it yet (though I will be getting to it soon!), because of two reasons: firstly, it's Waters' first novel so I think that makes it pretty special, and secondly, the characters in this book are not only queer, but they perform as cross-dressers too which I think is very cool. I don't think cross-dressing is explored often in books, so it's even cooler that it's being explored in a book set in the 19th century.

Blank Space

You can tell me when it's over if the high was worth the pain

A book that hit you right in the feels... but was totally worth it

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: This was the first book I read this year. I finished it on the train home from York after visiting my best friend for New Year, and I was glad to have a couple of seats to myself because this book made me cry. It's heartbreaking and haunting but oh so beautiful.

Style

We never go out of style

A timeless classic you love

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: This book is a masterpiece. It's one of those books, similar to To Kill a Mockingbird I think, that you carry on thinking about long after you've read it, and the more you think about it the more you realise just how brilliant it is.

Out of the Woods

The rest of the world was black and white, but we were in screaming colour

A book with vivid world building

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom: This may seem like an odd choice considering it's not a fantasy or sci-fi book, but I do think C.J. Sansom has a real talent for bringing Tudor England to life throughout his Shardlake series. In terms of setting he's one of my favourite historical fiction authors because it's so easy to get sucked into the past he's created.

All You Had to Do Was Stay

You were all I wanted... but not like this

A book you were eagerly anticipating, but ended up being disappointed by

Lumberjanes, Vol.1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen: I didn't dislike this book, I just didn't like it as much as I was hoping to. You can check out my review here if you'd like to!

Shake it Off

The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate...

A book/series that everyone seems to love that you can't help but hate

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I just don't like it, it's not my cup of tea at all.

I Wish You Would

I wish you knew that I'll never forget you as long as I live

A book/series you know you will always love

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: Always.

Bad Blood

Now we've got bad blood, you know it used to be mad love

A character you once loved but grew to hate

Albus Dumbledore is a tool. He's a brilliant character, when you first meet him he's like a loveable grandfather, and then you slowly learn more and more about him and realise he's actually not a great guy.

Wildest Dreams

Nothing lasts forever but this is getting good now

A book/series that you wish could have gone on forever

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison: This book is one of my favourite reads of 2015, and one of the best books I have ever read. I don't necessarily want it to go on forever, but I was disappointed to discover this was a standalone because I didn't want to leave these characters behind, then again I'd much rather have one amazing book than a book ruined by crappy sequels.

How You Get the Girl

That's how it works, that's how you get the girl

One of your favourite books where they 'got the girl'

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: This was a difficult one for me because I don't tend to read many 'got the girl' books. Even when I do stray into contemporary I don't necessarily read books that I'd consider my favourites; the last contemporary that I really enjoyed was If I Stay, which isn't exactly a 'got the girl' kind of book. In the end I decided to go with The Moonstone which was considered a romance when it was first released - it was even sold as The Moonstone: A Romance - but it also just happens to be the very first detective novel and it's fantastic. Really recommend checking it out.

This Love

In silent screams, in wildest dreams, I never dreamed of this

A book that completely shocked you

Feed by Mira Grant: I'M STILL NOT OVER IT.

I Know Places

Something happens when everybody finds out. See the vultures circling dark clouds.

A book you didn't want to be seen reading

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: This is a difficult one because I'm not the kind of person who's ashamed of what they read, it really doesn't bother me if other people can see what I'm reading, but I felt like the other topic for this song was very similar to a previous topic so I went with this one. I picked Northanger Abbey in the end, which I read on my kindle so unless someone was reading over my shoulder they wouldn't have known what it was anyway, just because I think my dislike for Austen's novels is pretty well known by this point, and I think if my dad in particular had seen me reading an Austen he wouldn't have let me hear the end of it. Since reading it I'm still not the biggest Austen fan, so not much has changed!

Clean

The drought was the very worst, when the flowers that we'd grown together died of thirst

When the wait between books made you forget everything that happened

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy: This is less the series' fault and more my own. I love this series, but somehow I managed to stop reading it when my uni work began to pile up and I still haven't finished the series. I'm planning to, but I think I'm going to have to start from the beginning.

If you want to have a go at this, consider yourself tagged!

Stories & Songs #7

I'm back today with another instalment of Stories & Songs - enjoy!

American Vampire, Vol.1

by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Stephen King

"Born in the USA"

Bruce Springsteen

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam so they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land to go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

Ms. Marvel, Vol.1: No Normal

by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

"Cartoon Heroes"

Aqua

We are what we're supposed to be
Illusions of your fantasy
All dots and lines that speak and say
What we do is what you wish to do

We are the color symphony
We do the things you wanna see
Frame by frame, to the extreme

Our friends are so unreasonable
They do the unpredictable
All dots and lines that speak and say
What we do is what you wish to do

It's all an orchestra of strings
Doin' unbelievable things
Frame by frame, to the extreme
One by one, we're makin' it fun

We are the Cartoon Heroes - oh-oh-oh
We are the ones who're gonna last forever
We came out of a crazy mind - oh-oh-oh
And walked out on a piece of paper

Rat Queens, Vol.1: Sass and Sorcery

by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch

"Bad Girls"

M.I.A.

Live fast, die young
Bad girls do it well
Live fast, die young
Bad girls do it well

My chain hits my chest
When I’m banging on the dashboard
My chain hits my chest
When I’m banging on the radio

Get back, get down
Pull me closer if you think you can hang
Hands up, hands tied
Don’t go screaming if I blow you with a bang

Saga, Vol.1

by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

"Out of the Woods"

Taylor Swift

Looking at it now
It all seems so simple
We were lying on your couch
I remember
You took a Polaroid of us
Then discovered (then discovered)
The rest of the world was black and white
But we were in screaming color
And I remember thinking…

Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet?
Good

Stories & Songs #5

Today I'm here with another installment of Stories & Songs, and this one is made up entirely of classics and 21st century music!

Gone With the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

"Blank Space"

Taylor Swift

Nice to meet you

Where you been?

I could show you incredible things:

Magic, madness, heaven, sin

Saw you there and I thought 'oh my god

Look at that face, you look like my next mistake

Love's a game, wanna play?'

New money, suit and tie

I can read you like a magazine

Ain't it funny rumours fly

And I know you heard about me

So hey, let's be friends

I'm dying to see how this one ends

Grab your passport and my hand

I can make the bad guys good for a weekend

So it's gonna be forever

Or it's gonna go down in flames

You can tell me when it's over

If the high was worth the pain

Got a long list of ex-lovers

They'll tell you I'm insane

'Cause you know I love the players

And you love the game

'Cause we're young and we're reckless

We'll take this way too far

It'll leave you breathless

Or with a nasty scar

Got a long list of ex-lovers

They'll tell you I'm insane

But I got a blank space baby

And I'll write your name

Little Women

by Louisa May Alcott

"Unwritten"

Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined

I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

Persuasion

by Jane Austen

"Just Give Me a Reason"

P!nk feat. Nate Ruess

I'm sorry I don't understand

Where all of this is coming from

I thought that we were fine

(Oh, we had everything)

Your head is running wild again

My dear we still have everything

And it's all in your mind

(Yeah, but this is happening)

You've been having real bad dreams, oh, oh

You used to lie so close to me, oh, oh

There's nothing more than empty sheets

Between our love, our love

Oh, our love, our love

Just give me a reason

Just a little bit's enough

Just a second we're not broken, just bent

And we can learn to love again

I never stopped

You're still written in the scars on my heart

You're not broken, just bent

And we can learn to love again

The Tenant of Wildfell Fall

by Anne Brontë

"Roar"

Katy Perry

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath

Scared to rock the boat and make a mess

So I sat quietly, agreed politely

I guess that I forgot I had a choice

I let you push me past the breaking point

I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, but I got up

Already brushing off the dust

You hear my voice, you hear that sound?

Like thunder gonna shake the ground

You held me down, but I got up

Get ready 'cause I've had enough

I see it all, I see it now

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter

Dancing through the fire

'Cause I am a champion

And you're gonna hear me roar

Louder, louder than a lion

'Cause I am a champion

And you're gonna hear me roar