Monday, July 6, 2015

The Summer Reading Book Tag

The awesome Brittany over at This is the Story of My (Reading) Life tagged me in the Summer Reading Book Tag and since we're at the height of summer here and not to the point where all the plants look exhausted from the heat today seemed like the perfect day to participate!  I'm stealing her graphics because they're awesome.


Lemonade: Pick a book that was bitter at first but got better:
Heroes are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.  I almost DNF'd this about 3 times during the first half but in the end I ended up enjoying it.  Still I'm a bit leery of any books involving puppets from now on.

Golden Sun: Pick a book that made you smile beyond compare
Return to Goneaway Lake by Elizabeth Enright.  It's a children's book about a family who buys an old abandoned house fully furnished and the fun the kids have exploring it.  Her previous book in the series is actually better but I love the whole premise on this one so much.  Caught Read Handed by Terrie Farley Moran which I just read (review on Wednesday) made me pretty happy too!
Tropical Flowers: A book set in a foreign country
At first I thought this one would be easy because I read so many books set in England but when I think about it I don't really consider that a foreign country even though it's across an ocean from me. So my pick is City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn takes place partly in Damascus and then involves a trek through the Middle East.

Tree Shade: A book where a mysterious or shady character was introduced
First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh is the first book in the Huxtable Quintet and the first book where we meet Constantine.  Up until the very end of the series we don't know if he's the best of heroes or the worst of villains.  Plus this is one of my favorite Balogh series (with the exception of the 2nd book which I didn't care for)
Beach Sand: A book that was grainy and the plot barely developed
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James.  I feel bad about not liking this one because I've seen it on several lists of mysteries that you must read.  But I didn't like it - at all.  The only reason I finished it was because it was P.D. James and it was really short.  But there was almost no character development and once I figured out the mystery I couldn't have cared less.

Green Grass: pick a character that is full of life, making you smile
Penelope Featherington from all of the Bridgerton books but especially Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn.  I love how funny and smart and nice she is.

Watermelon: A book with juicy characters
In terms of juicy = secrets I'm going with When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries.  Victor and Isa have some serious secrets!  Plus, I really liked this book.

Sun hat: A book that had a vast universe/setting
Hmmm... Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?  Am I being too literal?

BBQ: A book in which the character was portrayed as a hunk
Pretty much any Lucky Harbor book by Jill Shalvis would count but my favorite guy in that world is probably Luke Hanover from It Had to Be You

I'm tagging:
Anyone who wants to do this one!  How can you pass up something that is that summery!

17 comments:

  1. What a great post and I love your choices!

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  2. Yay! Perfect day to see this as it's actually humid and disgusting out(the way I like it). Lol
    I plan to read my first Shalvis book this month. You saying that I'm guaranteed a hunky guy makes me all that more excited. Haha. Well with the babe on the cover I would hope he'd be the same inside too. :P
    Hitchhiker's Guide! Haha! Good choice! If that's not a vast universe than what is?
    Great answers! :D

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    1. I think you'll love Shalvis! Her books are so much fun and the guts are definitely of the hunky variety!

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  3. Oh my gosh, this tag was so much fun! Can I participate?

    I couldn't agree more with you about Penelope. She's just such an amazing character. And seriously, Heroes Are My Weakness. I didn't like that book as much as I was hoping to, but it was okay. But seriously the whole puppet business was weird. and how Annie would have conversations with them. WEIRD!

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    1. Please participate!! I'd love to see your answers. Yeah the whole puppet talking thing was just bizarre. I definitely could have done without all the chatting to the puppets.

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  4. Fun tag! Love your choices. If I had time I would totally join in!

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  5. What fun! I love your picks and I agree with (and have read) almost all of them! And you're right, the graphics are gorgeous!

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  6. What a fun meme! I haven't seen this one around - makes you really think.

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  7. I think I would be leery of books about puppets too. Ooo! I want to read City of Jasmine. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a perfect choice for that category. :-)

    What a fun meme!

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  8. That's a fun tag and I agree those images are perfect! Ohhh, juicy secrets! I think When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries sounds right up my furtive alley!

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  9. Fun post! Thanks for sharing.

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  10. I was a fan of Penelope in "Romancing Mister Bridgerton" but Colin rubbed me the wrong way unfortunately. Oh, and you can never go wrong with "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

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  11. I love all of your picks and yeah to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I love Mary Balogh 's series too!

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