The Bookalicious Tag

Since this blog is still quite new, I thought I would do a book tag to give you all a better idea of the kind of reader/book buyer I am. I’ve seen this tag on a lot of book blogs in recent months, so I thought I’d answer these questions too.

1. What percent of books do you get from the library and what percent do you get elsewhere?

I haven’t actually borrowed a book from the library for years and years. So, in this moment, I’d say that 100% of my books are from elsewhere. I have been thinking about borrowing some audiobooks from the library, so the answer to this question might change sometime in the future.

2. What character would you want to be and why?

I’ve surprisingly never thought about this. I think I’d want to be someone kickass like Cinder from the Lunar Chronicles. She’s a gifted mechanic, with the most fun group of friends. A prince is also in love with her. So aside from all the terrible things that have happened to her, I think she’d be a great person to be.

I’d also want to be Tessa Gray because… you know… Will Herondale.

3. What is your favourite book from your childhood?

I definitely read Harry Potter A LOT. That was definitely a series that I grew up with. But before I discovered the Harry Potter series, I read a lot of Enid Blyton books. The Magic Faraway Tree was definitely one of my favourites.

4. What is your favourite book?

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I’ve written a review for it, which I’ve linked. I don’t think I can put into words why I love it so much… but it’s a combination of everything that I love.

5. Which book series do you have the most of?

I own a lot of manga, which all have lots of volumes, but I don’t think those count. My answer would probably have to be the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. And I also own all of the Infernal Devices, as well as the Bane Chronicles and the Shadowhunter Codex.

6. Do you buy used books or use swap.com?

I very very very rarely buy used books. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to the books I own. They need to be in perfect condition when I buy them. The last used book I probably bought was Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I got at a book fair in 2011 (and I still haven’t read it yet).

7. Who is your favourite/hottest guy or girl?

William Herondale

8. What is your favourite book cover?

I’d probably have to say All the Light We Cannot See. I have the hardback version, published by Scribner, and it’s just so beautiful. I also think the original Shadowhunter covers are beautiful too.

9. What is your favourite type of book cover?

I’m definitely drawn to hardcover books. Australian publishers only really come out with paperbacks so whenever I see a hardcover on the shelves, I’m automatically drawn to those first. But I also like shimmery covers… or covers with cool graphics.

10. What was the first book you read?

Oh gosh. I can’t remember. I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember so I have no idea what my first book was.

11. What is your favourite book to movie adaptation?

The one that sticks out the most in my mind is The Book Thief.

12. When did you start blogging/booktubing?

I started this blog around the beginning of June 2015.

13. Where is the best place to read?

I like reading in bed or curled up on a couch. But I also do a lot of reading on the train, to and from university.

14. Have you written your own fan fiction for a book?

I wrote one chapter of a Harry Potter fan fiction when I was about 15. I kind of quickly realised that I’m much better at reading than I am at writing fiction. I still read fan fiction on a regular basis.

15. If you could only read 3 books for the rest of your life what would they be?

1. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (which would be weird since it’s the last book in the trilogy)
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

16. What is the longest book you have read?

Goodreads tells me that it’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. But I recently read Ulysses by James Joyce, which is supposed to have over 1000 pages. My copy had teeny tiny text so it was condensed into 650 pages.

17. If you were to write a book, what would the title be and why?

I have nooooo idea. If I ever wrote a book, it would probably be a YA contemporary… so something with a cute name like Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (I love that book!). But I also love literary fiction titles like All the Light We Cannot See. I know I keep harping on about that book but I just really love it.

18. How many books did you read last month?

In June 2015 I read 18 books. I’m quite a fast reader and I don’t really get into any significant reading slumps. So I typically read 12-20 books a month.

19. What is the last book you read?

Ulysses by James Joyce. And I am now reading The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson

20. Do you fantasise yourself in books you like?

A lot of the time and especially if there’s a cute male love interest.

21. What is your favourite bookstore?

There are two bookstores in Sydney that I frequent. I love going to Kinokuniya, where I can buy fiction, manga and cute Japanese stationery. I also go to Dymocks frequently because they always have sales and signed copies. They also often have discounts on new releases.

My favourite place to buy books online is Book Depository. They have free shipping on all orders so it’s just very convenient to order from them. Plus they have a huge variety, with UK and US covers. I find that shipping is also relatively fast.

22. Hardback or paperback?

Definitely hardback. However, hardbacks are very hard to get hold of in Australia. I usually buy my hardbacks on Book Depository. If I know that I’m going to love a book, I will probably buy it in hardback. If I’m not sure whether I’m going to like it or not, I will pick up the paperback version.

23. Do you have more than one copy of the same book?

I have two copies of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (one Australian paperback and one US hardback). I also have two copies of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (one Australian vintage paperback version and one Pulp classics paperback version with Ryan Gosling on the cover!)

24. Would you rather read about vampires or werewolves?

I’m not really sure. I’m not particularly into either of them to be honest. There are books about both that I like and others that I dislike.

25. Do you own more than 150 books? If not, would you?

I probably own about 500 physical books, not including manga… which is quite depressing because I’ve bought almost all of them with my own money. I also own about 140 ebooks.

Thanks for taking the time to read my responses! I hope you were able to learn more about my reading and book buying habits. I’m still new to the blogosphere so I’m going to tag everyone. Let me know if you’ve done this tag. I’d love to check out your answers!

Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Publisher: Scribner
Release date: May 6, 2014
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1476746583
Pages: 531
Goodreads || Book Depository

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When Marie-Laure is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

MY THOUGHTS

I think this book changed my life. I’m just not quite sure how yet. Everything about it was amazing; I don’t think there’s anything negative that I could say about it. It has definitely become my favourite book of all time.

First of all, the cover is amazing. I have the hardback US version and it might be the most beautiful book I’ve ever owned. The writing is exquisite and filled with metaphors and descriptions that I’ll never forget. “Jutta, six years old, with a round face and a mashed cumulus of white hair, crouches beside her brother.” Every single sentence just moved me so profoundly and you can tell that Anthony Doerr has considered every word of every line so carefully. As I was reading, I felt like I could picture everything that the characters were experiencing. I could see everything that Werner was seeing and I could also see everything that Marie-Laure couldn’t see. I could feel everything the characters were feeling.. the fear, the desperation and the resilience. I love the format of the book, that it jumped from present to past and every chapter alternated between the perspectives of Marie-Laure and Werner. I loved that the chapters were short, but yet none felt like they were lacking anything. Because of the short chapters, I also sped through this book in a couple of days.

I completely fell in love with all the characters, even the ones who I didn’t think I’d like at first. I thought the main characters were just perfect. They were young but so completely intelligent, strong and resilient. I went into this book, having read the blurb first, thinking that it was going to be a romantic story but it really wasn’t. And I’m really glad that it wasn’t because I don’t think it would have been as good. I did, however, spend most of the book anticipating their meeting. The first time Werner sees Marie-Laure was probably the best part of the whole book for me. Maybe only bested by their first actual meeting. I think that scene will stay forever in my heart, mainly due to that fabulous page-long sentence in the chapter (Anthony Doerr’s writing is just exquisite). And while the book didn’t have the romantic aspects that I had initially expected to read, I love that they saved each other in such different ways. If I had one criticism of the book… it would have to be what happened to Werner towards the end. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Overall, this book was absolutely breathtaking, and haunting, and all the good things in the world. There were times when I was so overwhelmed by the imagery and everything I was feeling that I had to put the book down to just breathe. Anthony Doerr did such an amazing job with this novel. I can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of research that went into writing this book. Reading this book, you feel like Doerr is an expert in WWII, locks and keys, radios and machines, shells and mollusks…. My mind is blown.

This is a book I’ll read over and over again, not only for its plot but for its brilliant writing. I wouldn’t change a thing about this book.