The Last Ten Books Book Tag

And we are back with another tag. I rarely do tags, to be honest, but I always remember enjoying writing this one last year so I wanted to do it again.

The last book you didn’t finish?

This Is How You Lose the Time War – Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Yeah, I got about 75% of the way through this very short book and then put it down. You’re probably wondering why I didn’t finish it. I was just bored and the writing was way too confusing. I felt that it was trying to be super intellectual to the point where it started making no sense.


Plot: Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except, the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.

The last book you re-read?

Whose Body? – Dorothy L. Sayers

I listened to an audio version of this book last summer and I wanted to read it again but this time with the physical copy! I would say I preferred my re-read over the audio version.


Plot: The stark naked body was lying in the tub. Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder — especially with a pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What’s more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better.

The last book you bought?

A Day of Fallen Night – Samantha Shannon

I was in Amsterdam last week and I saw a paperback copy (hardback size) of this book and I knew I NEEDED IT. I am not a massive hardback fan so seeing this highly anticipated book in paperback just made it an instant purchase. Now I don’t have to wait a year. I still need to read Priory though…


Plot: Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory’s purpose. To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be. The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate. When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

The last book you said you read but didn’t?

I am going to say exactly what I said last year. Since working as a bookseller I have realised sometimes you just have to say you have read that book. Most of the times I am honest but sometimes I have pretended…. oop!

The last book you wrote in the margins of?

The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books – Martin Edwards

I am not a massive annotator but I did enjoy highlighting books that I was interested in reading in the future from the collection listed here.


Synopsis: This book tells the story of crime fiction published during the first half of the twentieth century. The diversity of this much-loved genre is breathtaking and so much greater than many critics have suggested. To illustrate this, the leading expert on classic crime discusses one hundred books ranging from ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ to ‘Strangers on a Train’ which highlight the entertaining plots, the literary achievements, and the social significance of vintage crime fiction. 

Readers who enjoy classic crime will make fascinating discoveries and learn about forgotten gems as well as bestselling authors. Even the most widely read connoisseurs will find books (and trivia) with which they are unfamiliar-as well as unexpected choices to debate. Classic crime is a richly varied and deeply pleasurable genre that is enjoying a world-wide renaissance as dozens of neglected novels and stories are resurrected for modern readers to enjoy. The overriding aim of this book is to provide a launch point that enables readers to embark on their own voyages of discovery.

The last book you had signed?

So I don’t go to many signings or buy many signed copies. So, I don’t have one to mention this year. I will say that my bookstore has loads of really exciting events coming up with some amazing authors so I hope to get some books signed then.

The last book you lost?

The Fires of Heaven – Robert Jordan

For a solid month after moving into my house, I couldn’t for the life of me, find my copy of The Fires of Heaven. I had placed it somewhere and then forgot about it. After looking in a random cupboard one day I finally found it hahaha.


Plot for Book 1: Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction. When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the village seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.

The last book you had to replace?

I have thankfully haven’t needed to replace any books recently.

The last book you had an argument over?

The Raven Boys – Maggie Stiefvater

Now, not an actual argument but I read this for my book club and I dnfed. I didn’t enjoy it and only got about 60 pages in. But the group discussions were so interesting and conflicting. I stand by my DNF but I do admit that book sounded to get better later on.


Plot: Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little. For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

The last book you couldn’t get hold of?

And exactly the same as last year. Basically any manga volume ever! I managed to get hold of an elusive first volume of Spy X Family which has been so hard to get in the UK but they had a bunch of copies in Amsterdam. But in general I am struggling to read the series I started as it’s hard to find the volumes you need.

One thought on “The Last Ten Books Book Tag

  1. “Whose Body” looks fantastic! This was a fun book tag! I am happy you shared it. I haven’t been able to get enough mystery/thriller reads so this is NEXT on the list (thank you). The LAST book I bought (and read) was “On the Sly: A Sylvia Wilson Mystery” by Wendy Koenig and I was really sad when it ended, lol. The good news is that there are more books to come so I will try and wait patiently in the meantime. The main character, Sylvia, is funny, relatable, strong-willed and super likable. The story starts with her trying to open up her bar “Smugglers” for a shift only to find the front door is being blocked by a dead body. She immediately calls her brother (a detective) and seems more upset that she can’t open the bar than about the blood bath she’s encountered. I think this is a good introduction to Sylvia and her demeanor. It becomes apparent that the police feel she is a prime suspect which doesn’t look good for her or her brother, being in law enforcement. When she begins to investigate the murder herself the killer reaches out to her and threatens those who are close to her. This book kept me hooked from start to finish. If you wanna check it out here is the link – https://wendylkoenig.com/

    Would love to hear your thoughts! Happy Reading!

    Like

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