Twenty Questions Book Tag!

I was tagged to answer these twenty questions a good while back by Judith at Dead Good Book Reviews, who is not only an excellent booktuber but also one of my real life best friends – you should check her out! I’m not usually much for tags, but I like these questions a lot, and it’s been a long time since I’ve answered any bookish questions, so here we go…

1. How many books is too many books in a book series?
I can already see so many of my answers to this being “it depends”, but let’s start as we mean to go on: it depends! Some series can stand to be longer, and some need to be shorter as they have more focused plots to tell. I like everything from standalones to trilogies to super-long series! Some of my favourite series have upwards of a dozen books: Lindsey Davis’ Falco books have 20 (and then a spin-off series that’s already up to 9 books and still going!), while The Chronicles of St Mary’s by Jodi Taylor is up to 12, and I think there are more planned. If the series is good and the structure suits more adventures, then I’m happy for it to keep going.

2. How do you feel about cliffhangers?

Despite my extremely funny joke there with the ‘read more’, I’m not generally a fan. I like an ending that leaves some threads for the next book, but pauses the main plot in a satisfying way. Otherwise, I tend to feel like it’s just one story split into parts for a cashgrab or for the sake of the word count, and not actual separate books!

3. Hardcover or paperback?
Paperback! I’m very gentle on my books so my paperbacks stay nice and neat, and you can fit far more of them on a shelf. Plus, they’re a lot easier to hold in one hand, which is good as I’m usually multitasking.

4. Favourite book?
What, ever? My answer changes all the time, and if you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know I’m the sort of person who picks twenty favourites of the year rather than one! Pass on this one. Too many to name.

5. Least favorite book?
I also don’t think I have one of these! I DNF a lot so I don’t read a lot of books I’m not enjoying, so I guess for something I really hated we’d have to go back to one I was forced to read in school, To Kill a Mockingbird.

6. Love triangles, yes or no? 
I don’t mind a love triangle! I think a lot of the hate for them is people being fed up with the same-y subplot of so many post-Hunger Games YA books, but a well done love triangle doesn’t have to be like that. Josie Jaffrey’s May Day has an excellent bi love triangle where I genuinely found it hard to choose which pair I was rooting for. My only problem with it as a trope is that I usually end up choosing the losing side to ship, haha.

7. The most recent book you just couldn’t finish?
How to Catch a Duke by Grace Burrowes. It wasn’t so much that it was a bad book, just that it really didn’t standalone in the series as I was expecting (most historical romance you can start anywhere in the series because each story is a new couple even if they’re linked by an overall plot, but this felt like I really had walked into the middle of several books’ worth of character development). I might pick it up again if I get hold of the earlier books.

8. A book you’re currently reading?
I’m currently between books, but when I’ve finished writing this post I’m going to pick up Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh for a reread as part of my Duology Do-Overs challenge.

9. Last book you recommended to someone?
The Bachelor’s Valet by Arden Powell! I’ve been recommending it lots but I definitely recommended it to a friend yesterday.

10. Oldest book you’ve read? (Publication date)
I mean, I did Classics at university so… probably The Iliad or something similar?

11. Newest book you’ve read? (Publication date)
I think it’s probably The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh, which comes out on the 22nd February. Plus, I was organised enough to review it already!

12. Favorite author?
Oh, that’s another impossible one! So many favourites across so many genres. Tamora Pierce holds a very special place in my heart if you were going to force me to choose.

13. Buying books or borrowing books?
Both! I love to own books but it’s just not possible to buy them all, so I’m very glad to have friends who let me have the run of their libraries (and I lend them out in return if I trust someone not to ruin them!!)

14. A book you dislike that everyone else seem to love?
I can’t stand Six of Crows or anything to do with it! I probably have a ton of unpopular opinions about popular YA, but that’s the one that people tend to seem most upset by.

15. Bookmarks or dog-ears?
Bookmarks – they don’t need to be fancy, but I don’t like dog-earing unless totally necessary. I do have a bad habit of leaving books upside down to mark their place, though – usually not long enough to make a dent in the spine!

16. A book you can always reread?
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I actually haven’t had the chance to reread it for a few years, but I used to make a point of rereading it once a year, because it’s just gorgeous.

17. Can you read while hearing music?
No, not at all. I struggle to read if I have any distraction, and if I can hear music I will undoubtedly read the same sentence a dozen times before I take it in!

18. One POV or multiple POV’s? (POV’s = Point of views)
It depends on what suits the book! There are very few books where I’ve ever thought there were the wrong number of point of view characters; I suppose some very large casts where I might have thought there were too many to remember, but not that they should be reduced to a single POV.

19. Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days?
Most books I read in one sitting, unless they’re particularly long or I’m particularly busy. I love to be able to experience the whole thing in one go!

20. Who do you tag?
I never know who’s done these tags already and who likes to be tagged or not. If you see this and would like to do it, consider yourself tagged!