How I Choose My Books Tag

By far the most interesting tag I’ve ever done…

There’s a lot to think about when choosing new books. I used to purely go off interesting covers, but then I got into blogging and Goodreads, and now mostly go off recommendations. Or my ever expanding WTR pile! It was also fun to revisit why I picked books in the first place, so a big thank you to Madeline over at the Bookish Mutant for nominating me for this tag. Her site is without fail brilliant, and you can check out her attempt at this tag here. And here is mine!

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How I Choose My Books Tag

Think of a book you didn’t expect to enjoy, but did. Why did you read it in the first place?

When you type ‘Eden book’ into the internet, it mostly comes up with the Bible. I’d never even heard of Joanna Nadin, who wrote Eden, when I found it in a charity shop. The cover had a suitably bloody cover for 12 year old me (it was also 50p) so I thought I’d give it a go. That was a very good choice! The mystery was chilling and I loved the setting. You can find my original review here.

What book did you discover through a film/TV adaptation?

This was a tricky prompt? Normally, I try and make sure I’ve read the book before I see the film adaptation, but after watching A Picture Of Dorian Grey purely for Ben Barnes I really want to try the book by Oscar Wilde.

Pick a book that you discovered through booktube/bookstagram/book blogs. Did it live up to the hype?

I distinctly remember first hearing about From Blood And Ash on three Instagram posts in a row. The romance was certainly as… intense as they promised (and I did actually go on to read the sequel), but I had a few problems along the way. Find my full review here and of Kingdom Of Flesh And Fire here.

Pick a book that someone personally recommended to you. What did you think of it?

One of my friends thought that I’d really enjoy A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder because I loved Truly Devious last year. They weren’t wrong! (And even better you don’t have to wait three books to find out who the murderer was…).

Find a book on your bookshelves with a blue cover. What made you want to pick up this book?

One of the first YA books I ever read – The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. I think that was why I originally picked it up, because it was aimed at older readers than myself! (We’ve all been there…). Also because the cover is *chef’s kiss*.

Stand in front of your bookshelf with your eyes closed and pick a book at random. How did you discover this book?

Mainly because it took up most of the shelf, I landed on Priory Of The Orange Tree. A few months ago, I read it because I wanted to challenge myself – and also the ‘game of thrones but everyone is queer’ blurb sounded like something I’d be very interested in…

I wasn’t disappointed.

Find a book on your shelves with a one-word title. What drew you to this book?

I don’t have a lot of one word titles, but my favourite one has to be Pet by Akwaeke Emezi. I really remember being drawn to it because of all the reviews saying it was out of this world and an experience to never forget. I wanted to experience that! Find my raving review here.

Think of your all-time favorite books. When did you read these, and why did you pick them up in the first place?

My all time favourites… is quite a long list. But for the ones that have the most interesting backstories, I remember seeing my friend’s copy of Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and thinking that’s a book I’d like on my shelf, without even knowing what it was about. Have you ever done that?

Another one: I got Carry On by Rainbow Rowell from the library originally. I remember being so confused because Fangirl was also there and I didn’t understand at all why they had the same character. Ha, it’s funny retelling this because I remember the exact moment when I put it back on the shelf, but then the cover fell open and I read the blurb. In fact, the only reason I brought it home was because it said Simon had a girlfriend and I was in a phase where I refused to read a book unless it had romance in it!

Let me know in the comments how you remember finding your favourite books because this was a very fun process!

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I Tag…

• Another Bookworm Site
• Blogging With Reese
• Deity Of Books
• The Incessant Bookworm
• The book worm
• Bookworm Blogger
• Bookworms Anonymous
• Phannie the ginger bookworm
• The bookworm girl
• One book more
• Meg’s Magical Musings

You! If you fancy having a go, let me know in the comments and I’ll add your site to the list 🙂