Happy Friday!
I’m back with another fun and bookish blog tag today! This one was kindly pirated from An Ordinary Pen, right here (her site is always fantastic, so I definitely recommend checking it out!). As an avid reader, I’m always happy to talk about my favorite stories, so this looked like a neat tag. I’m also hoping to learn all about your favorite books and authors, too!
What are 1-3 of your favorite books of all time?
This is so hard. I’ve never been good at picking my favorite anything, much less books. In fact, I really don’t think I can pick all-time favorites. There are so many books that I’ve loved, and the ones I like best tend to change depending on where I’m at in life at the moment. So I’ll do this – and share three of the books I’ve loved most recently:
1. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
(The writing style of this is gorgeous, and I loved the characters and worldbuilding. The story itself was surprisingly simple, and yet gripped me the entire time. I had a very hard time putting it down. Content I didn’t care for was minimal and pretty easily overlooked.)
2. Fawkes by Nadine Brandes
(Nadine’s writing style is also beautiful, and I loved the mix of history and fantasy in this book. I can honestly say I didn’t see most of the plot twists coming until they were smacking me in the face. The unique magic system, Christian themes, and characters were my very favorite parts.)
3. Blank Mastermind by Rosey Mucklestone
(There’s a reason I bring this book up on my site so often. Most of the time, I don’t have a problem putting books down and getting some sleep, but this one kept me up for hours. I love the amnesia trope, but Rosey’s take on it was particularly fascinating – and humorous. Her use of Christian themes, and creative take on superheroes were other huge highlights.)
What are 1-3 of your favorite authors of all time?
Ahh, this is also very difficult. In general, I usually try to avoid having ‘favorite authors’ because I’m very aware that every author is also a flawed human, and just because they’ve written one book I love doesn’t mean that I’ll always love or agree with the rest of their works. That said, three authors whose books I’ve read consistently and trust their quality and themes are:
1. Daniel Schwabauer
(I’ve had the honor of learning from Schwabauer through his fiction writing curriculum (the One Year Adventure Novel course), as well as reading several of his books. I definitely recommend his works!)
2. Nadine Brandes
(I gushed a bit about one of Nadine’s works already, but I’ve honestly not found any of her books that I dislike in any way. Maybe I’m so engrossed in the excellent characters, themes, and plots, but really, how much else is there?)
3. C. S. Lewis
(Whether fiction or non-fiction, Lewis’ works always leave me feeling inspired. The influence of his faith is so evident in each of his books. There’s a very good reason his books have remained powerful classics over the years.)
***(bonus for non-fiction: Dr. David Jeremiah. His wisdom and godly teachings have blessed me countless times.)
Who is your favorite female character of all time?
Not counting one of my own heroines, simply because I’ve spent years ‘getting to know her’, I’ll say . . . Kate “Puck” Connolly from The Scorpio Races (for her determination and wit), Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia (for her faith, innocence, and courage), and Luna Lovegood and Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter (Luna is such an underrated, unique ball of kindness, loyalty, and light, and McGonagall is a such a good example of strength, snark, and compassion). I know that’s more than one, but I can’t pick.
Who is your favorite male character in a book?
Once again, I’m not going to count a character of my own, and I’m also going to pick more than one, haha. I’ll say . . . Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games (for his loyalty, goodness, and soft heart), Wolfgang Dankworth from Blank Mastermind (for his humor, love for his family, and – come on – that name), Aragorn from Lord of the Rings (for his integrity, honor, and gentle yet respectable leadership), and Rudolf Rassendyll from The Prisoner of Zenda (he’s witty, brave, honorable, and likeable – but would probably drive me crazy if I knew him in real life, haha).
What is your favorite mythical world?
My first thought was Narnia, but after thinking about it more, I’m realizing that the main reason I love Narnia so much is because of the characters (Aslan, for example) and not so much the world itself. So I’m going to say Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings. The sheer depth of it is awe-inspiring to me, and I’d love to spend a bunch of time exploring it. And of course, again, meeting the characters would be awesome too.
What book has your favorite cover?
Hm, another very difficult question. Again, I don’t have just one favorite I can think of, but here are a few that I do really like . . .
What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation?
The Hunger Games. Though I’ve watched the movies several times, I just read the original three books for the first time last month, and was very impressed with how true the movies stayed to the books. Obviously some things needed to be trimmed or condensed so the movies weren’t ridiculously long, but in my opinion, the things that stayed were very accurate. Even the casting of the actors seemed to match the character descriptions in the books very well. It just made me enjoy the movies even more – which was a pleasant surprise.
If you could make any book into a movie, what would it be?
It sounds very conceited to say one of mine, haha, so I won’t do that (although that’d be very cool). There are so many books that I’d like to see made into movies – it’s hard to choose one! A few that come to mind are Blank Mastermind by Rosey Mucklestone, A Time to Die, Fawkes, or Romanov by Nadine Branes, Dust by Kara Swanson, or the rest of the Narnia books that weren’t made into movies during the latest series years ago (Puddleglum, anyone?).
What was your favorite childhood book?
Oh, there are so many books I considered to be my favorites growing up. I actually wrote a post about some of them here, but to recap, they include: the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne, the Mandie series by Lois Gladys Leppard, The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner, the American Girl books, and Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. And of course, when I was first learning to read, I loved Dr. Seuss!
Fantasy or sci-fi? (Or neither?)
Definitely fantasy. There are a handful of science fiction books I’ve enjoyed, but in general, I consider fantasy to be my ‘comfort genre’. I love the depth and creativity usually put into the worlds and their inhabitants, and there are usually large casts of characters. As a character-loving author, I like that. I also have a great deal of respect for fantasy authors because, despite loving fantasies so much, I’ve always struggled to write them myself.
Thanks for joining me for this tag today! If you’d like to join in and share your own bookish favorites, I officially tag YOU! Whether you’d like to respond on your own blog or in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you, and learn all about your favorite stories!
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Oo, fun post! Yes, I totally consider fantasy to be my comfort gene as well!! Just feels so natural to write. (And Aragorn is one of my favorite male characters too!!!)
I think I will do this, though the movie questions I cannot answer!
It seems we have a similar approach/way of thought about favourites.
That’s okay! I would love to read your answers!
And how neat – we seem to be similar in a lot of ways when it comes to writing 🙂
Yes, it’s quite interesting, isn’t it?
Indeed!