I was tagged to do the Summer Reader Tag by the lovely Heather @The Frozen Book Blog. I am glad I am getting to this while it is still summer, because some of my tags stay in the drafts forever (sorry about that by the way). Let’s see some questions and answers!
Lemonade: pick a book that started off bitter but got better.
Please don’t hate me for this answer, but it took me like a millennia to get into The Song of Achilles. It was super slow and everything in it just sounded so mean (especially everything concerning women) and I know this is so close to actual Greek mythology, but I was just not in the mood for it. That is not to say that the story isn’t absolutely heart-wrenching and beautiful in the end, but it was a rocky start for me.
Golden Sun: pick a book that made you smile beyond compare.
I smiled A LOT while reading To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. I am pretty sure I laughed out loud in the middle of the night even though the rest of my household was sleeping, but I just couldn’t stop reading once I really started it. (Also, cannot wait to see the story unfold on screen this August!!)
Tropical Flowers: pick a book set in a foreign country.
Okay, let me set one things straight: I am pretty sure 99.9% of the books I read are not set in Austria, so this is like the easiest pick ever? A book I have read this year and that really made me want to visit the place though is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It is part of the Channel Islands and sounds absolutely lovely (even though I have heard they didn’t film the movie on the island itself?)
Tree Shade: pick a book in which a mysterious or shady character was first introduced.
My absolute favourite shady character was Dustfinger from the Inkworld trilogy when I was little. He was also my first real fictional crush, but I suppose that’s a different story. Anyway, it wasn’t always obvious if you could trust him or not and what his motives are, so he seemed the perfect pick for this category.
Beach Sand: pick a book that was grainy, and the plot barely developed.
Like Heather, I have a bit of difficulty understanding what grainy means in regards to books, but my first thought went to The One Memory of Flora Banks. That book was chunky, repetitive and oddly structured and I had such high hopes for it, which were all crushed when I finally got to read it.
Green Grass: pick a character(s) that were full of life, making you smile.
I don’t know why he comes to mind, but Finnick Odair from the Hunger Games is a strong contender. I always loved him. It’s a classic case of “he deserved better” but while I got to read about him, he made me laugh and care for him and his struggles. He was such a positive character even through hardship.
Watermelon: pick a book that had some juicy secrets.
I don’t know if you know Trial by Fire from the Worldwalker trilogy, but there were secrets kept pretty much for the entirety of the series. Not in a bad way, just in a way that created tension and kept you intrigued.
Sun Hat: pick a book that had a vast, big universe/setting.
The Illuminae Files has a really vast setting. They try to make up for it with schematics and plans, but I still confused the different galaxies and ships all the time. That in no way means I didn’t have a ton of fun exploring the universe with the characters. I love those books!
BBQ: pick a book in which a character was portrayed as a hunk.
Uhm … I don’t know? Charlie from the Jackaby books?? At least I imagine him to be quite a hunk, while being the perfect gentleman at the same time?
Summer Fun: pass the tag on.
I tag whoever wants to do this! I realise that it’s not summer everywhere on earth at the same time, but if you are reading this and feel like you’d have fun doing the tag – YOU ARE HEREBY TAGGED!!!
What did you think of my answers? What would yours have been like? Do you agree or disagree on anything? Let me know in the comments below!
Life and Other Disasters 
I also loved The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. It made me want to see the location too.
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It’s such a fantastic story, right!? I wish it would release on Netflix worldwide in August, but unfortunately it will only release in the US.
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It’s so great. I’m looking forward to seeing the show. Wish you could too!
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FINNICK 😭😭 I think I need a moment 😭 I love him so, very very much ❤
I'm so glad that Lara Jean had that effect on you – I think it does on a lot of people, thankfully, it's such an adorable read overall and I loved it so much. I couldn't stop smiling and I can't wait to see the adaptation, I'm pretty sure with that cast it will be great and I can't WAIT 😀
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I dug deep for that one and tried to not only use recent examples. But Finnick, despite what happend, will always be the representation of life for me. He was the best!
THAT MOVIE ADAPTATION WILL BE FABULOUS AND I NEED IT NOW! (but soon is also fine)
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I suppose if you had to feature The Song of Achilles for one of these prompts at least it wasn’t the Beach Sand one! 😀 I do agree with your answer for that prompt though, I feel like The One Memory of Flora Banks had a lot of potential, the concept sounded really cool which is why I picked it up, but it just wasn’t made into anything.
Oh The Illuminae Files is amazing, and yes Finnick definitely deserved better! So did so many characters in that series though. I’m still bitter about one of the deaths that happened at the end of Mockingjay.
Great post, and great answers for this tag as well. 😀 ❤
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Hahaha no, no! I would never have chosen The Song of Achilles for the Beach Sand one haha Flora Banks fit that category way better.
I have to say that I loved the Hunger Games series sooo much when I read it. It gave me a lot of strength somehow, but the fate of a lot of characters was undeserved 😦 and the ending .. well I wasn’t ever fully on board with that.
Thanks so much for always stopping by, Beth!
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Yeah I probably would have picked Flora Banks for that one too! 😀
Oh the ending pretty much destroyed me, but I feel like it was more realistic that way you know? As much as it broke my heart the ending felt true to the characters and the story.
That’s all right. 🙂 ❤
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I know what you mean, but to me not everything felt true to their characters. But it doesn’t matter. The book ended the way it did 😀
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So happy that you read both To All The Boys and The Song of Achilles, not happy that you did it while I was on hiatus and didn’t get your live reactions 😭 But I’m happy that you liked them both.
Great tag! ❤
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MARTY!!! For some reason your comment was in my spam 😦 but there will be other books you’ll get all the reactions for. I PROMISE!
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UGH. All the comments I left on various blogs these days went to spam, it’s so annoying. You better do it because I want all your reactions!
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Mine have landed in spam before as well. It happens to all of us at some point *shrugs at the decisions WordPress makes*
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AHHHH! You actually did it! I’m so happy! 😀 And thanks for the shout out! (Awe, she thinks I’m lovely! *blushes* :P)
And I’m so glad you mentioned The Hunger Games! 🙂 It totally sums up my teenage years! XD
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Of course! You always tag me for such great things 🙂 I am sorry if I don’t always seem responsive or interactive on your blog, but blogspot hates me and won’t let me comment half the time, so I have given up haha
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[…] found this tag on Life and Other Disasters, and I thought it looked like fun. Since the weather here in NYC right now is sunny and HOT, I am […]
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Okay, I’m like way too excited to see Dustfinger on this list. He was a fictional crush for me too as a child, and I loved his arc in the series. Shady, but awesome. 😉 And it’s so interesting that you found Song of Achilles slow at the beginning! I personally thought it was very fast, so it’s intriguing to hear someone who had an opposite experience. I’m glad you found it fulfilling though!
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Dustfinger is way too underappreciated in this day and age haha I couldn’t resist getting him into that tag now.
That really is interesting about SoA. I don’t know. Nothing was happening? I was just kind of bored and that made it slow? I mean … year passed, many many years. haha
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Ahhh, I see what you’re talking about now! Yeah, if you’re not a fan of nothing really happening, then I can definitely see how the beginning was slow for you. 😊
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Oh I just saw the trailer for The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society yesterday when I went to the cinema and it sounds like such an interesting movie/book! Oh and Dustfinger, he was one of my original favorites 😍😍😍 I really need to reread the Inkworld books!
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IT IS SO FREAKING EMOTIONAL AND BEAUTIFUL!!! They did such a great job with the movie and I haven’t even seen the entire thing, but only clips and pieces. It’s not 100% like the book, but it’s very close in spirit.
Dustfinger is the OG book crush. He deserves more recognition these days haha
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The Trailer makes it out to be super emotional for sure and I always cry during those movies 😅
Dustfinger was one of my earliest favorite characters and I really need to reread the books because I don’t remember much!
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I am always so cautious rereading childhood faves, just because I am scared they’ll get ruined. I hope that won’t happen for you!!!
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That’s always a fear of mine as well, but we’ll see 😱
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Great Answers 🙂
Totally agree with you on To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, I laughed so much while reading it and I can’t wait for the movie to come to Netflix! Also have to agree with The One Memory of Flora Banks, I didn’t like the story at all and it just became really repetitive.
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Flora Banks was a huge disappointment. I was so curious to see something from the perspective of a person with memory issues, but it just did not work at all.
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No! And that thing with her parents and her medicine and her brother, it was just all kinds of messed up!
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