Blogmas Day 3: The Christmas Song Book Tag!

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

Today's Blogmas post is The Christmas Song Book Tag - you can watch the original one on Hailey in Bookland's YouTube channel! This is a great mixture of Christmas music and books - two of my favourite things to indulge in!! If you're reading this, I tag YOU to do this festive book tag - be sure to tweet me your post/video when you've done it, I'd really love to hear your answers, too. Now, let's get on with the books!!!

“You’re a mean one, mr Grinch” – name a villainous character you couldn't help but love

This question is actually kind of hard for me to answer, because I don't read that many books that have real villains in them. That being said, I have a weird love-hate relationship with Maven from the Red Queen series.

“all I want for Christmas is you” – Which book do you most hope to see under the Christmas tree?

This would have to be one of the illustrated edition Harry Potter books - when the first two were released, they somehow managed to fly over my head, but I saw some hype around Prisoner of Azkaban being released and watched some YouTube videos of people flicking through them - WOW, they are so gorgeous and definitely a must-have for a huge Harry Potter fan (aka me). 

“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer” – name a character who overcomes major obstacles and learns to believe in themselves

This is a really difficult question to answer, because so many of the books that I read, and those that I really love, have great character development. For this one though, I'm actually going to go for Vivian from Jennifer Mathieu's MOXIE. I really admired how Vivian went from being really shy and having no confidence in herself or her beliefs, to being really feisty and proud of her feminist values, inspiring so many other girls (and some guys) along the way.

“santa claus is coming to town” - which character would be top of the naughty list? And the nice list?

Top of the naughty list for me will always be Bellatrix from Harry Potter - I will never be able to get Frank & Alice Longbottom in the hospital with Neville out of my mind, and Sirius was one of the greatest losses of the entire series. Also, though, I've discovered a new fiery hatred for Maven from the Red Queen series. As for the nice list, there's so many options! I guess I'll give another Harry Potter one for starters; Molly Weasley, all the way!! As for YA, Lucy from The Names They Gave Us; that girl deserves a very merry Christmas.

“frosty the snowman” - a book that just melts your heart

This is tricky, because there are so many books that do this to me - I'm a very emotional person!! I think I'm actually going to go for Katherine Webber's Wing Jones, which I just read in November. I loved reading Wing's story and watching her not only fall in love with Aaron, but with herself - it was really beautiful and heart-warming (or melting, in this case) to see her step out of her brother's shadow and become a confident, successful young woman.

“feliz navidad” – a book that takes place in a country other than your own

Trying to answer this question really made me realise just how many books I read set in predominantly the US actually, but also the UK, with the odd summer holiday in Europe. If anybody has any stories set in other locations, I'd love to hear some recommendations. I'd really recommend Stephanie Perkins's Anna and the French Kiss series, as they're set across Paris, New York, Barcelona and more (plus they're just gorgeous books). I'd also recommend Abigail Haas's Dangerous Girls, which is a really cool YA thriller, set in Aruba. 

“it’s the most beautiful time of the year” – which book do you use to spread the christmas cheer?

I'd have to say the YA Christmas anthology, edited by Stephanie Perkins, My True Love Gave To Me; it's a really great mixture of all different festive stories, so you get to celebrate the season in all different ways, with all different characters, in all different locations. I particularly loved the Rainbow Rowell & Stephanie Perkins stories - incidentally, there's also a summer-themed anthology out, if you enjoy this! Fingers crossed we might have an autumn or spring one soon, too!!

“sleigh ride” – which character would you choose to spend the festive season with?

Well, I'm going to TOTALLY cheat here and say that I'd love to spend a day in Hogwarts or at The Burrow with a whole collection of wonderful Harry Potter characters (no Death Eaters, please). The Christmas scenes in all of the Harry Potter books - even that heartbreaking one in Deathly Hallows in Godric's Hollow - are some of my favourite bits. 

“baby, it’s cold outside” – which book would you sacrifice to a fire to warm yourself up in the cold?

Firstly, this question is savage!! Realistically, I would never burn a book, because even ones I hated, someone else might love. This year, one of my least favourite reads was Amanda Robson's Obsession, so it would probably have to be that! I talked about why I didn't enjoy it here in my July 2017 Wrap Up post.

“do you hear what I hear?” – which book do you think everyone should read?

I really want everybody to read The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord- and that would be my one pick for 2017, but also both of Jandy Nelson's YA books and Holly Bourne's Spinster Club trilogy. Also, in case it wasn't already really obvious, HARRY POTTER. Duh.

So that's it for this tag!! I really hope you enjoyed reading it and that you're enjoying my 12 Days of Blogmas so far!!! Leave a comment and please do follow if you enjoyed your visit!!

Till next time

Katie