The ‘How I Choose My Books’ Tag

Nine times out of ten I pick up books because the cover has caught my eye, and the blurb sounds like something I’d love. Occasionally though there’s a recommendation I can’t ignore or hype I can’t resist. I was tagged by Dani at Perspective of a Writer, and Anatomy of a Book Thief. Thanks both so much for the tag, I had a lot of fun with this one so I hope you enjoy reading my answers just as much.

Find a book on your shelves with a blue cover. What made you pick up the book in the first place?

It was harder than I thought finding a blue book on my shelves that wasn’t a sequel, and the reason I picked up those should be obvious.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

I saw a review for this book on WordPress. I can’t remember who posted it but it was a glowing, five-star review and I read it at a time I was looking for new books/series to pick up so I figured I’d give it a go. Luckily I did because it’s one of my favourite series now.

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Think of a book you didn’t expect to enjoy but did. Why did you read it in the first place?

I don’t actually read books that I don’t expect to enjoy (does anyone?) so I picked a book I didn’t have any expectations for but ended up loving.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

This was one of the books I got in the Owl Crate box when I was still subscribed. I put it on my to-read list, thinking I’d get around to it one day, but then I kept seeing positive review after positive review on WordPress so I moved it up my to-read list.

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Stand in front of your bookshelf with your eyes closed and pick up a book at random. How did you discover this book?

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

I saw this book on my Goodreads feed. One of my friends had marked it as ‘Read’ and rated it really highly, the cover intrigued me so I decided to check out the blurb and The Burning Sky sounded like something I’d really enjoy so I added it to my to-read list. I ended up really enjoying it.

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Pick a book that someone personally recommended to you. What did you think of it?

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

My friend doesn’t normally recommend books, so when she told me to read Red Rising I knew it was going to be incredible. At first it was so slow, and I was tempted to DNF it (the only reason I didn’t is because I don’t do well with confrontation and I didn’t want to tell my friend I’d given up on this book she loved so much), but then the plot kicked into high gear and I was addicted.

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Pick a book you discovered through book blogs. Did it live up to the hype?

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Everyone who’s read this book has loved it. I’ve yet to see a negative review for it and I was half convinced even before I read it that I loved it too. It definitely lived up to the hype, and thank god for that because my expectations were high.

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Find a book on your shelves with a one word title. What drew you to this book?

Warcross by Marie Lu

It was by Marie Lu, simple as that. I really enjoyed her The Young Elites series and loved her Legend trilogy, but so far Warcross is my favourite of all her books. I can’t wait for the second in the series to be released, after that cliffhanger I need to know what happens next.

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What book did you discover through a film/TV adaptation?

Quite a few, but most notable is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

I’d always see this book whenever I went into Waterstones, and I was always a little intrigued by the cover, but I never went as far as actually checking out the blurb. Then I saw a film was being released and before I could see it I needed to have read the book, so I finally got around to picking it up.

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Think of your all-time favourite books. When did you read these and why did you pick them up in the first place?

One of my all-time favourite books is Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I first read this around the time it was released so I can’t remember the exact reason but this is a fairytale retelling, which I am weak for, so it was probably that that led to me picking this book up.

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I’m not going to tag anyone in the ‘How I Choose My Books’ Tag, but if there’s anyone out there who wants to take part consider yourself tagged.

Have there been any books that you’ve expected not to enjoy but been pleasantly surprised by, or are you like me and you don’t pick up books you don’t think you’ll like? What was the last book you read that lived up to the hype, and why did you pick up your all-time favourite book? Let me know.