#IDareYou Book Tag

I stole this tag from Cait at "Paper Fury" (with her permission, of course). Feel free to take this for yourselves later, for your own blog or to do in the comments. Have fun!

1. What book has been on your shelves the longest?

If we're talking about a TBR shelf, probably something like Legend by Marie Lu. I bought it during my dystopian craze, but now that YA fiction is completely saturated with that genre, I'm waiting to read it until I gain interest again. I'm sure it's great, but I read so many dystopian books, I can't even think about reading another one right now.

2. What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

Current read: Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven (I like it okay so far, but All the Bright Places is so much better.)

Last read: History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (A little long, but oh-so-very good!)

Book I'll read next: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus (A "Breakfast Club"-esque murder mystery? Yes please!)

3. What book did everyone like, but you hated?

I won't say I hated these books, but I disliked them enough to either not finish or barely finish them: The Book Thief, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Catcher in the Rye, The Maze Runner, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.


4. What book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?

Demon Road by Derek Landy, but only because I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE. Not a single bookstore nor library I've been to has carried it. Grrr.

5. Which book are you saving for retirement?

Why save any book for retirement when you can read it now?

6. Last page: Do you read it first or wait until the end?

What kind of monster reads the last page first???????????????

7. Acknowledgements: Are they a waste of paper and ink or interesting?

SO fascinating! I never used to read them, but I read them all the time now. I mostly scan them, but it's super fun seeing which authors are friends with each other, because it makes them seem like real people as opposed to a pair of disembodied hands at a keyboard. I also like to see which agent represents them if it's a book similar to one I'm shopping around, because I can query them.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

Um, none of them. All of my favorite characters either end up dead, watch their friends and family die, or have to save the world and that is wayyy too much pressure.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life?

I have tons. I love how books evoke emotions so strong, I'm instantly able to recall where and when I read them and what was going on around me when I did. It's super fascinating.

I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone countless times on the stairs at night after my brother had gone to sleep. We used to share a room, so if I wanted light to read, I'd have to sneak out of my room and sit on the stairway. It was closed off from the downstairs, with a door leading to the living room, so sometimes I'd pause my reading and try to listen to what my parents were watching on TV.

Both Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli will always remind me of my birthday, because I read Simon on my sixteenth and Upside on my seventeenth.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver was read in the car on long rides to and from string orchestra when I was about eleven or twelve.

I read Starflight by Melissa Landers at a writer's camp. All of the kids there loved horror movies (I have no real interest in watching them), so at night when they camped out in somebody's room to watch, I'd hang out in my room and read until they were finished and we moved on to a different activity.

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum was the exact fluffy read I needed when I was lying on the couch, super tired and very sick.

Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz and When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon were books I read on the train to New York City to see Broadway shows.

Cress by Marissa Meyer and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart were the only books not packed away in boxes when my family moved, so when I was in an empty house with no internet, I didn't have a hard time finding things to do. Both books were excellent.

Books I vividly remember reading over the years during my family's annual beach vacation: Paper Towns by John Green, The Krillitane Storm by Christopher Cooper, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, Made You Up by Francesca Zappia, and Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia.

On the topic of beach vacations, we always made a trip to the indie bookstore on the boardwalk before leaving. I remember one year I bought a copy of Divergent by Veronica Roth and read at least half of it, if not more, on the car ride home. I was instantly sucked into that world and the trip flew by.

I read most of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas when extended family came out to visit. It was a great way to snatch up a few minutes here and there of much-needed introverted recharging.

We Know It Was You by Maggie Thrash was read while the "Beauty and the Beast" soundtrack played in the background so I could memorize the songs for the show I was in.

I distinctly remember finishing The Catcher in the Rye one morning in bed, slamming the book shut with a groan, and tossing it across the room.

I read most of Passenger by Alexandra Bracken during slow shifts at work (I work at a movie theater and it is dead on school days).

My family went to Washington D.C. for the cherry blossom festival, and since there was so much traffic on the way home, I was able to read most of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

I read The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong in every spare moment during a homeschool group trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

This past Halloween, I went out on the front porch with a bowl of candy to hand out to the neighbor kids while I read Misery by Stephen King while the sun went down. It was an excellent way to spend the holiday.

My brother and I volunteered to help out at our local library's book sale, but it was so slow, I ended up spending most of my time reading Carry On by Rainbow Rowell.

10. Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way.

Nothing comes to mind right now. My books come in pretty usual ways: gifts, bookstores, giveaways/contests, etc.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

I buy my friends books I think they'd like for most birthdays and Christmases.

12. Which book has been with you the most places?

Definitely any of my Harry Potter copies. I used to take paperbacks with me on every long road trip.

13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad two years later?

Since I'm still in high school, I can't answer this question yet. But I have a feeling some of the classics I felt pretty "meh" about I'll end up liking once I'm older.

14. Used or brand new?

Both! Brand new is nice and shiny, totally yours, and handy when you want to read a new book. Used copies are cheap and sometimes it's interesting wondering who underlined that quote or who wrote that message on the inside cover?

15. Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?

I'm reading The Da Vinci Code now.

16. Have you ever seen a movie that you liked more than the book?

If I have, I don't remember it. Most books are wayyy better.

17. A book that's made you hungry?

Anna and the French Kiss. I wanted so many crêpes! Also Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda for Oreos, The Upside of Unrequited for cookie dough (Becky Albertalli is on a mission to make me crave desserts), and The Inexplicable Logic of My Life for homemade tortillas.

18. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?

Cait, Lara Liz, and my mom.

19. Most read authors?

J.K. Rowling, Rainbow Rowell, Cassandra Clare, and A.S. King all come to mind.

20. Ship from two different books?

This is too hard to answer because most of my favorite characters who are extremely shippable I end up shipping with another character in the same book!

Tag, you're it! If you don't want to do the whole tag, you could always answer a couple questions I'm especially curious about in the comments: What are your answers for #9 and #20?