Ultimate Book Tag

It appears that this book tag was created by someone called Megan on Goodreads but as her profile is set to private, I can't give a link to her blog. Anyway I saw this tag on Nicci's blog at  https://www.sunnybuzzybooks.co.uk/ and decided to join in. I might have taken part already but who cares!

If you want to join in, consider yourself tagged!

1) Do you get sick while reading in the car?
I don't read in the car. I only travel with my dad when he is driving and I prefer to talk to him. I only feel sick in the car if it is a really hot day and no air is coming in. I usually avoid the car on days like that anyway.

2) Which author's writing style is completely unique to you and why?
I tend to read genres where the only unique thing is the different plots and characters each author creates. I guess I could say that JK Rowling's world-building was way ahead of anything I had read before in books for children, and her books appeal equally to kids and adults. Not everyone can do that.  

3) Harry Potter or Twilight? Give three points to defend your answer.
I'm not sure why there is any need for us to defend our answers when this is asking our opinion on a book. I choose Harry Potter-great world-building content, exciting magical adventures and British characters with lots of humour.

4) Do you carry a book bag? If so, what is in it beside books?
I carry a rucksack with me. In it I have a drink, one of my monkeys, a canvas book bag folded up in case of purchases, a small first aid kit, small food package, money, list of books I'm looking for, medication.

5) Do you smell your books?
Yes! In a bookshop, that new book smell just makes me anticipate taking that shiny book home and getting started on a new adventure! I wish books could be scented...imagine a favourite book with a nice pine scent or something!

6) Books with or without little illustrations?
I'm not really that bothered. Illustrations are only useful if they are good ones that relate to the story and not any old rubbish.

7) What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn't quality writing?
I find this nonsense. Reading for me is about enjoyment and if I love a book, I don't give a crap if anyone thinks the quality of writing is poor or the book didn't win awards or get love from critics. I'm not ashamed of my reading and I'll read cheesy fluff, horror gorefests, or whatever I feel like and enjoy what I get out of each book.  

8) Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share?
I don't know if it would be regarded as funny but my mum got mad at me for trying to hoist my grampa's chair out into the garden so I could pretend it was Enid Blyton's Wishing Chair. I also read the last two Harry Potter books on the days they were published wearing ear defenders just in case a random child walked by the house and shouted out a spoiler. My dad found that funny...

9) What is the thinnest book on your shelf? 
Stan Berenstain's Bears In The Night, my favourite book as a kid.

10) What is the thickest book on your shelf?
It'll come down to a toss up between Stephen King's IT and The Stand, or one of the George RR Martin creations. I'm not including encyclopedias and illustrated editions.

11) Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?
I used to write SF, horror and crime and dabbled in YA high school stuff. My pride and joy was my SF novel that was a homage to Blake's Seven. But when I left college and had to work shifts, all that went out the window and I was never able to find the time to write. It's still sitting unfinished in my bedroom but I doubt I'll get back to it.

12) When did you get into reading?
I was always a reader thanks to my dad's bedtime stories and the books my parents bought me at an early age. They got me into a mail order book club through my school (anyone remember the Chip Club?) and bought books for birthdays and Christmas. I don't remember a time when I wasn't reading.

13) What is your favourite classic book?
I don't read what are termed as the classics. As a child I devoured Black Beauty many times so that was a favourite then. Now I'd say that The Fellowship of the Ring would be right up there as I've read it many times. 

14) In school was your best subject Language Arts/English?
I was decent at English and passed my exams in it but I hated all the punctuation stuff. My best and favourite subject was History. I especially loved the two World Wars when we studied it but didn't greatly enjoy the Russian revolution stuff or the Spanish Civil War. I feel the exam board focused too much on things outside Britain. I mean how can you study the second world war and not do the Battle of Britain? 

15) If you were given a book as a present that you had read and hated, what would you do?
Everyone I know would ask me first or give me a gift card! If I was given one I didn't want, I'd donate it to a charity shop so it can find a reader that appreciates it more. 

16) What is a lesser-known series that resembles Harry Potter or The Hunger Games?
I've never found anything like Harry Potter though lots claim to be the new Harry Potter. For those who enjoyed The Hunger Games, I'd suggest things like Wolf by Wolf, which has the across the world race where dirty tricks are used to win, The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau, which has trials and a Hunger Games style game zone task, The Extinction Trials which has a dinosaur island and tests and tasks, The Valley, a dinosaur reality TV show where you must survive the beasts and other contestants to win.

17) What is a bad habit you always do while blogging?
I always use !!! a bit too much...

18) What is your favourite word?
Book, of course! My favourite phrase would be someone saying 'can I buy you a book or ten?'

19) Are you a nerd or a geek?
I don't classify myself as anything.

20) Vampires or Fairies? Why?
I've never liked the Tinkerbell or bottom of the garden fairies in my books-too fluffy and girly maybe. I don't much like the Fae either-they are just such cold and horrible characters. I hate books based at Fae Courts. Vampires are much more interesting for me as there are so many different kinds to enjoy. 

21) Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?
Shapeshifters for sure. Angels are things I'm not really keen on for fiction books. I read too many YA books about relationships with angels and nasty angels and guardian angels to be sick of seeing them. Adult angel books can often be too heavy on religious subjects for my taste, when I like lighter topics for fun reading. I love shifters-coyotes, wolves, bears, dogs, big cats, monkeys...so many choices and plot variations to enjoy!

22) Spirits or Werewolves? Why?
No I'm just not a fan of ghosts and haunted places in my horror or UF reading. Yes there are a few good exceptions but mostly I'm not a fan of ghosts. I've always loved werewolves-that scene in the underground in An American Werewolf in London still freaks me out. I like werewolf packs that aren't all about orgies in the moonlight and sex crazed soulmates though.

23) Zombies or Vampires? Why? 
I LOVE zombies! I'm obsessed with zombie books-the shambling masses, the deadly sprinting versions, the range of ways an apocalypse are triggered, the breakdown of society. I love it and can never resist trying new zombie series.

24) Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?
I hate both of these tropes for the most part as they dominate the story too much. The occasional forbidden love is preferable if it doesn't overshadow the plot. A good example is DelSheree Gladden's 'Someone Wicked This Way Comes' which basically has the three siblings each having a forbidden love issue but these books were so much more than that!

25) Full on romance books or or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?
I'm not really a fan of romance in any form really but I certainly don't read romance novels of any kind. If the book is action packed I can at least skip past any sex scenes. I really do prefer where the relationship has been established before the book starts and we can skip all the angst that really drags down the books for me.

I TAG YOU!!!!!!!!!!