Valentine's Day Book TAG!

   Hello there, lovely reader!

   Happy February 14th, also known as Valentine's Day! I'm not too big on V-Day but I saw Margot over on the Epic Reads channel on YouTube do this fun book tag themed around Valentine's Day so I though, hey, let's do it! Let's see how many times I'll managed to say Valentine's day in one blog post.

 

 1. First Book Crush

   I think my first ever book crush was, and I really don't like to say it, Edward Cullen from the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. This was the first YA quartet I ever read, which also got me truly into reading, so, no matter how differently I feel about these books and characters now, years later, it's thanks to them that I love reading as much as I do now. 13/4 year old Alice LOVED Edward to a weird extent so let's not talk about that too much!

2. What book would you want as your Valentine?

   If you've been around for a while, let's see if you can guess which book I could have possibly chosen for this question...3...2...1... The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, obviously. I love this book, I love the characters and the creepy atmosphere, and Noah Shaw is like one of my two fictional boyfriends (yes I can't decide, I'm sorry) so of course I couldn't have chosen any other book. Besides, you know me, I'll always find a way to squeeze this book in because I just love it that much.

   3. Candy Hearts or Chocolate?

   Cupcakes. Or doughnuts. ;)

   4. What book would you gift to your true love?

   Besides the Mara Dyer trilogy, I'd say I'd give my true love The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion by Chris McCoy because it's just a really hilarious book that's different from most things I've read and I would love to share it with someone I love. There is so much craziness going on inside that book that I' sure he'd enjoy it so, that's my choice.

   5. Favorite Rom-com

  10 Things I Hate About You. Love that movie so, so much. I mean, who doesn't love that embarrassingly cute while also slightly cringeworthy scene of Heith Ledger strolling along the bleachers while singing a song over the schools speakers for Bianca, played by Julia Stiles. I'm not the biggest fan of rom-com's but this one is amazing, every single time you watch it.

   6. Best Valentine's Day gift you ever received (or want to receive)

   I've never had a boyfriend during Valentine's day, and I also happen to not really care much about it, so I've never received anything, but if I'd have to choose something that I would like to get, then I'd say a book, because books are awesome no matter what day of the year it is.

   7. Favorite thing about Valentine's Day (if you love it) OR favorite thing to do on Valentine's Day (if you hate it)

   I am truly indifferent toward Valentine's day. I don't love it, I don't hate it, I just don't care so my favorite thing to do is stick to what I do any other day, so continue writing, prepare some interview questions, or binge watch some videos on YouTube.

   Also, I want to share a song with you that is very lovely, contains the magical three words and is very cute, nice and just a little bit sad. It's actually a cover by Gerard Way, whom some of you may know as the former lead singer of My Chemical Romance (still not over it), and it's magnificent. So treat yourself to some wonderful tunes right here.

   And that's it, that was the Valentine's Day Book TAG. I've managed to say Valentine's day a total of 9 times, which is 8 too much as for my liking. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and, if you want to do this TAG too, leave me a comment down below (or tweet me a link @Alice_Reeds) so I can check out your answers!

12 Days of Christmas Book Tag! (Blogmas Day #22)

   Welcome to blogmas day 22!
   Slowly we are approaching the end of blogmas, reaching christmas, but there are still a couple of days left. So, for today I'm bringing you the 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag which was originally created by LizzieLovesBooks over on YouTube. I think this looks really fun, and it's Christmas themed, so basically it first perfect. After yesterdays long discussion post a TAG seems like the way to go.

   #1 - A Partridge in a pear tree: Favorite Stand-Alone Book?
   Because I don't want to choose something uncreative like The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, because you all know I love this one lots and lots, I decided to go with Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling. I've read this book not that long ago and loved it so much! It is one of those books that tackles heavy topics and just does it so well while also having an intriguing plot and amazing characters. Love this one so you should check it out if you've not done so yet!

   #2 - Two Turtle Doves: Fictional OTP/Favorite Ship?

   Come on kids, say it with me: Mara Dyer and Noah Shaw from the Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin. I've talked about these two and those books so many times already I'm sure all of you knew I would pick them the second you saw the word OTP in the question. I love Mara and Noah because they are so broken and beautiful and just perfect for each other. I mean, I love those two enough to actually name my laptop Noah. If that's not enough of a sign for it then I don't know. I'm actually contemplating naming my phone Mara. HM.

   #3 - Three French Hens: Favorite Trilogy?
   This is a really hard one, even though I have a feeling it shouldn't be. I want to go with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, but that's like my default answer so to switch it up I'm going to say Legend by Marie Lu. I love that trilogy, despite the fact that I always imagine June and Day to be at least two years older then they are actually in the books since everything they do seems a little unrealistic if you remember that they are merely like 15. But, besides that tiny fact, this trilogy is perfect and the ending, the ending was pure perfection. Champion, so the final book in the trilogy, was brilliant and tied all the loose ends in an amazing way. Marie Lu is definitely one of my favorite authors out there so.

   #4 - Four Calling Birds: Favorite Fictional Beast/Creature?
   I have a feeling that answering this question would be way easier if I would actually read more/any fantasy so, as cheap copout, I'm just going to say Unicorns, because Unicorns are awesome.

   #5 - Five Golden Rings: Show 5 Golden Books.

   #6 - Six Geese a Laying: Rotten egg - What's your least favorite book?
   There are a few books I disliked but there is only one that just made me want to throw my book across the room or out of the window because I just had so many problems with it, and that book is Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. So many people love this book yet I hated every single page of it. The relationship between the two main characters was horrifying and just so abusive I cannot understand how anyone could think it's "cute" or "goals". Just no. I didn't like this book, I disliked it even more then Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James and Allegiant by Veronica Roth put together. 

   #7 - Seven Swans a Swimming: Show a Book with Water on the Cover.
   For this one, I could have had it really easy by just taking The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, because I'm cheap like that, BUT, I decided against doing that. Instead I'm going with Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer, a book I'm actually currently reading, even though I don't get much time to read recently which is a shame, really. This book is really good so far so I hope I'll find time to continue on with it really soon!

   #8 - Eight Maids a Milking: What fictional food do you wish you could taste?
   To be honest I have no idea about foods in books. I think those are one of those details that I don't really ay much attention to while reading. But I'm sure there's something in Harry Potter, like for example Butterbeer, which would be interesting to try.

   #9 - Nine Ladies Dancing: Favorite dance between two characters?
   I have no idea. I've honestly been thinking about an answer for this question for the past twenty minutes and I could not recall a couple dancing in any book I've read. This might be because there simply were none, or my ability to remember things like that just sucks on a major scale. Sorry!

   #10 - Ten Lords a Leaping: Favorite Book-To-Movie-Adaptation?
   This one is actually a tie between three movies because I cannot choose no matter how much I try: Catching Fire, The Martian and Fight Club (even though, first rule of the fight club, we don't talk about the fight club). I love these three movies and each of them has something amazing to them so choosing just one seemed like an impossible decision. Catching Fire is part of my favorite dystopian trilogy, The Martian is just all around perfect and science-y, and Fight Club is just a complete mind*ck on every scale with an ending I definitely did not see coming when I watched it for the first time. Love!

   #11 - Eleven Pipers Piping: Favorite Book-To-Movie-Adaptation Soundtrack?
   Another question that made me think for a moment to figure out my question. I think I will go with Twilight, or actually all four Twilight movies. The movies themselves might have been less then average but the music was really good! I was actually surprised by how good of a job they did with their music selection since some of the songs from the soundtracks are actually ones I still really like to listen to until today, and I don't mean only the MUSE song.

   #12 - Twelve Drummers Drumming: It's the end of the song; what's your favorite book ending?
   There are many books that have perfect endings, surprisingly enough, but because I didn't want to repeat myself I decided to go with Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead, the sixth and final book in the Vampire Academy Series. I love this series, it's definitely one of my favorites, just like Rose and Dimitri will forever be one of my favorite OTP's, and Dimitri my fictional boyfriend, closely tied with Noah. The ending of this series that utter perfection and I could have not wished for a better one. I definitely want to re-read the series again sometime soon because I miss it.

   And that is it, the 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag. I hope you enjoyed my answers. Leave yours in the comments below, or do the TAG on your blog/YouTube channel, but don't forget to leave a link in the comments or tweet it at me (@Alice_Reeds) so I can check it out!

Ed Sheeran Book TAG (Blogmas Day #20)

   Welcome to blogmas day 20!
   Today I'm bringing you a book TAG related to one of my absolute favorite artists...the brilliant Ed Sheeran, which you know if you've read the title of this post. I've seen this tag float around on the Spanish side of the BookTube community and decided that I want to do it to. Of course, seeing as I don't really speak Spanish, and my blog is in English, I had to ask a friend to translate the questions for me and I've tweaked them a little.
  If you want to check out the original TAG click here.

   #1 - This - The book that started your reading adventure.
   I would say there are several books that did the trick for me, but the one that sticks out the most is definitely Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I'm not ashamed to admit that I used to love this series like the twiheart that I used to be at 14. When a friend of mine first mentioned the story to me I wasn't sure if I would like it and I didn't know about the growing hype for it yet. Once I started to read Twilight I couldn't stop until I was done with Breaking Dawn. Like many of us in the book community Twilight introduced me to the YA section and since then I never wanted to leave again. Sure, they might not be the best books out there but they will forever have a special place in my mind.

   #2 - Give Me Love - A book with which you lived and suffered through relations between the characters.
   I love this song, it's probably my favorite Ed Sheeran song to be honest, so of course I had to pair my favorite Ed song with my favorite trilogy that fits perfectly with the task. Of course I'm talking about the Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin, how else could it be. You know me, I always find a way to mention these books in TAGs and lists. The emotional journey onto which we go with Mara and Noah in these books is just one hell of a rollercoaster that will, at times, make you swoon and, moments later, rip out your heart. It's magical. I love the relationship that Mara and Noah have, I lived through it, I suffered thanks to it, but I enjoyed every second of it.

   #3 - Sing - A book in which they mention songs/music.
   As someone who loves music I'm always on the hunt for books that incorporate music, are centered around musicians, rock bands, or just characters that love music. My recent absolute favorite when it comes to these types of books, and fitting perfectly into this question, is For the Record by Charlotte Huang. In this story we follow Chelsea who is the new singer of a famous rock band. Through her eyes we experience what it means to stand in the spotlight, to be a rockstar, and it's absolutely amazing. Charlotte Huang did an amazing job at making the story feel incredibly realistic and just a hell of a lot of fun. 

   #4 - Thinking Out Loud - A romantic book.
   I guess the choice of book for this one is kind of very obvious, and extremely uninspired and unoriginal, but of course I have to go with The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Let's face it, The Fault in Our Stars is perfection. John did an amazing job at creating brilliant characters that make us fall in love with them within pages. The story is both heartbreaking but also so cute, romantic and swoon worthy in so many ways. I mean, Augustus Waters, need I say more? Loved this one and it's definitely my favorite contemporary romance book, despite the heart shattering ending and all.

   #5 - Tenerife Sea - A book which is set in an ancient era.
   This one was quite a hard one for me because, as you all know, I don't really read historical fiction/fantasy novels so I wasn't quite sure if I should just skip this question or choose a book I've heard nothing but good things about. Obviously I went with the latter and my choice fell onto An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Around the time this book came out and flashed everybody with its amazingness, and the fact that originally it was planned as standalone, I heard floods of positive opinions about it. I've not read it myself and I highly doubt that I ever will but it seems like a good choice for this song/question.

   #6 - Photograph - A book that made you feel melancholic.
   Melancholic/sad books are something I love wholeheartedly. I think they are beautiful and require an amazing amount of skill so they will make you feel all the feels and for the story and sadness to feel realistic. There are many, many authors who do an amazing job at writing sad stories that really make you think and feel what the characters are going through. Of course I had to pick my absolute favorite book from this category, one I've mentioned many times before on this blog: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay. This book is absolutely beautiful, haunting and perfect in every way. The characters are endlessly broken but seeing them work through their problems and get better, it's wonderful. I cannot recommend this book enough.

   #7 - Small Bump - A book that you anxiously await.
   For this one I have two choices, one is totally obvious if you've followed by blog for a while, or read my answer for #2. I am extremely looking forward to The Shaw Confessions by Michelle Hodkin, unfortunately for me and everybody else who loved the Mara Dyer Trilogy, this new trilogy/series isn't coming out until 2017, which is just so far away. Besides that I'm also really looking forward to The Last Star by Rick Yancey, the third and final book in the The 5th Wave Trilogy. Like many readers I've not beed the biggest fan of book two, The Infinite Sea, yet I really hope book three will turn it all around and offer us a worth ending to the trilogy that started out so well with The 5th Wave. There's also the movie coming out 2016 so let's see how that will go.

   #8 - Wake Me Up - A book that kept you awake reading.
   There are many books that would fit this one, but my choice fell onto Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky. This is the first book in the Awaken Trilogy, where I have to admit that I've still not read book three which is all sorts of tragic and awful. When I first got this book a couple of years ago, not too long after it came out in Germany, I couldn't get enough of it. I loved every single page of it, still love it to this day, and spend many sleepless nights reading this book, and it's sequel, Middle Ground. This book was my introduction to the dystopian section and soon lead me to discovering The Hunger Games and my undying love for the trilogy, but not the last two movies.

   #9 - You Need Me, I Don't Need You - A book you were anticipating to read but ultimately disappointed you.
   I loved Divergent by Veronica Roth. I liked Insurgent but I absolutely HATED Allegiant from the first until the last page. I think it was one of the worst final books in a trilogy I've ever read since it offered us the most convoluted and no sense making answers to all the questions we had regarding the story and history of the Divergent world I could have imagined. Many people give Ms. Roth credit for the move she did in the book, no spoilers, yet I saw it coming already the second I knew that this one would be written from two POV's. I didn't think it was a brave move, but rather one we could have all lived without since it didn't add anything amazing to the story. Basically what I'm saying is that Allegiant disappointed me in every way possible.

   #10 - I See Fire - A book with flames or fire on the cover.
   This one was another really hard one to find. I don't think I have any books on my shelves that have flames or fire on them, and if I do I can't remember. But, then I remembered a certain book that does have flames on it, but I unfortunately still don't own it, shame on me. The book I'm talking about is The Ables by Jeremy Scott, the guy behind the YouTube Channel Cinema Sins, a channel I love a lot. When I heard that he's coming out with a book about kids with disabilities that have superpowers I knew i had to have it, but I didn't get it for whatever reason, though one thing is clear, I definitely want to listen to the audiobook as he reads the book himself and we all know that he has an amazing voice.

   #11 - Sofa - A book that you take with you everywhere.
   For this question I don't have a single book as answer, and I don't want to repeat myself once more by saying all the Mara Dyer books by Michelle Hodkin, so I will simply say any and all books I have on my phone and iPad thanks to my kindle app. I have all sorts of books on there, ones I bought and others that I got as eARC's. I of course always have either my phone or both with me so whenever I feel like passing the time by reading I can just pull up the app and read any of the books I have on there.

   And that's it, that was the Ed Sheeran Book TAG. I hope you enjoyed this post and leave all your answers below or answer them on your own blog/YouTube Channel leaving a link to it in the comments, or tweet them at me, @Alice_Reeds.
   Thank you so much for reading and I will see you guys tomorrow, hopefully less late then today.