This tag was originally created by Ola G and Piotrek at Re-enchantment Of The World as a new spin on The Seven Deadly Sins Book Tag. Thank you to Lashaan at Bookidote for tagging me!
Chastity
Which author/book/series do you wish you had never read?
Listen. It’s rare that I one star a book. I picked it up because something about it interested me. It’s so rare there are only four books out of four hundred on GoodReads I’ve listed as one star. Even my DNFs I usually give three stars to because I’m more likely to DNF something that’s simply boring me rather than something I straight up hated. (I guess I am sometimes fueled by rage in my reading…) So here are three that I did in fact finish (or at least skimmed to the end) and wish I could get back the hours of my life I wasted on them.
Blindness by Jose Saramago – I realize this is supposed to be literary and ooo SYMBOLISM!!! But OMG GIVE ME A BREAK GUY. This book is ludicrous, the symbolism is obvious, the portrayal of the wife, sickening… I just wouldn’t even recommend this to my least favorite person. And don’t even get me started on the lack of punctuation.
Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James – I won’t even lie about it. I read it. I held a funeral for the brain cells I lost in the process.
Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich – I read this book in it’s entirety, and it’s probably the least deserving read here, but the ending was rage inducing enough to make me retroactively hate the whole book.
Temperance
Which book/series did you find so good, that you didn’t want to read it all at once, and you read it in doses just to make the pleasure last longer?
Uhh yeah. It just occurred to me that I don’t actually embody any of these seven heavenly virtues… I just don’t practice that level of self control. If I love something, I love it til death do us part:
And if it’s a series, forget it. I’m not reading anything else until I’ve finished the whole thing.
So instead, here are three books I loved enough to read more than once:
Under the Dome by Stephen King – I know I’m a broken record with this one. I’ve read it three times. I don’t care if the ending sucked. Which by the way I found totally reasonable (hasn’t every kid who remembers the year 2000 played The Sims and devised 7,293 ways to kill them?). Anyway, it’s not about the end. It’s about small town dictators and all the little people that overthrew him.
The Green Mile also by Stephen King – I’ve read it twice. When people tell me they haven’t read Stephen King, this is usually my go-to recommendation. Because if you don’t like it, chances are you aren’t human and we probably can’t be friends. Ha. Just kidding.
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer – Okay so I’ve technically only read this one once so far, but I plan to reread it later in the year. (Like closer to when book four comes out, because I’m so going to fangirl all over that ish.)
Charity
Which book/series/author do you tirelessly push to others, telling them about it or even giving away spare copies bought for that reason?
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. Within five seconds of meeting someone, I will casually mention Vikings, segue into the related Last Kingdom Netflix show, and then insist that they read this book, because the show is good, but also the show is doing it wrong, and they should really read the book. It’s scary really, how often I manage to do this.
Diligence
Which series/author do you follow no matter what happens and how long you have to wait?
Yes I understand these are “complete”. There’s still prequels and novellas, and all kinds of stuff De Castell could do with the Greatcoats, and I’ll be over here. Waiting. And watching the clock. And waiting.
On a more serious note- most of my favorite authors put out a book at least once a year so there aren’t many I have to worry about waiting on.
Patience
Is there an author/book/series you’ve read that improved with time the most, starting out unpromising, but ultimately proving rewarding?
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy was a really frustrating read for me. I had trouble following the dialogue, the brutality was unspeakable, and the ending, supremely unsatisfying.
Despite that, I read (rather, listened to) The Road a few months later because I couldn’t get Blood Meridian out of my head, and very much enjoyed it.
My next planned read by McCarthy is All the Pretty Horses. I don’t know why. Seems romantic. I’m sure he’ll find a way to ruin it with brains spilled over cow dung and a lack of quotation marks but I’m willing to give it a try.
Kindness
Which author would you consider your role-model in the hassle of everyday life?
Because it’s my dream to be blocked on twitter by @POTUS. At least once. #LifeGoals
Humility
Which book/series/author do you find the most under-rated?
The Moon and the Other by John Kessel – Of the books I’ve ever rated 5 stars (okay, technically I gave it 4.5) this book has less than 1,000 ratings and it’s not because it’s brand new. I think the issue is this one is harder to find. If you have an opportunity to read it, please do. Life on the moon is brilliantly imagined, the writing feels literary without being obtuse, and it provided a lot of food for thought.
And that’s it! I know there weren’t many new books to look at here, if you’ve read any of my Top Ten Tuesday posts, but I still had a lot of fun with this! I’m not going to tag anyone- mostly because I can’t keep straight who’s done what tags, but if you’d like to participate, please consider yourself tagged. I’d love to read your answers!
You wish you’d never read Fifty Shades? I get the feeling that’s a fairly common regret amongst anyone over the age of fifteen.
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Yes. I regret everything. Although I did get a few laughs out of it!
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Oh, sounds like the same deal when I played Ride to Hell: Retribution awhile back.
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Haha! I’ve never played that one but this made me laugh anyway!
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It’s easily one of the worst games of the 2010s, though it isn’t quite as bad as some of the worst 1980s and 1990s games I’ve played.
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I read about half of Fifty Shades, because of curiosity. I just wanted to see why the bookstores literally could not keep it in stock when it was first published. (I never did figure that one out!) I think I laughed and cringed and raged while reading it, then just gave up😁
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Yeah that sounds about right! And that’s pretty much why I read it too. Unbelievable.
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I did the sins half of this tag and just never got round to heavenly virtues.
Mr Jingles in The Green Mile 😍 and poor John! All he wanted to do was help.
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Ugh I know. That book makes me so sad. But I still love it.
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LOL on the funeral for the brain cells lost to Fifty Shades! Their sacrifice will not be forgotten… 😀 😀
As for Bernard Cornwell, I’m one of those lucky ones who were encouraged to read him, and I thank you 🙂
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Haha- was it me who encouraged you? I love that! Which one did you read? He’s one of my favorites.
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Not yet… Not yet… But it’s on my to-do list, the one with “too many books, too little time” at the top… 😀
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Haha- well please get to it soon!! I can never find enough people to gush about Uhtred with.
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Hahaha love your answers, Sarah! I Your comment on E.L. James` book had me laughing out lourd too hahah Definitely want to try De Castell`s 3 musketeer series though. I also love your love for King and I too find his thoughts on the current POTUS quite accurate and necessary! 😛 Thanks for doing this tag! 😀
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You absolutely must read the Greatcoats when you have some time!! They are some of my favorite books around with some of my favorite characters ever.
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This tag is so cool, I hadn’t heard of it before!
“I held a funeral for the brain cells I lost in the process.” is such a damn mood – that book was dreadful! Did I read it because it was popular? Yes. Do I regret it? More than life itself!
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Sorry for the late comments!
– Emma 🙂
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Don’t ever be sorry- always happy to hear from you whether it takes a day or a month! And yes- 50 shades… dreadful. Nothing but regret!
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So glad you enjoyed the tag! And I laughed at the brain cells funeral, though I should’ve rather kept a respectful minute of silence for your loss… 😉
I do need to read Cornwell at some point, I’ve heard so many good things about his books!
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Yes! Please do give Cornwell a try! A lot of people enjoy his Sharpe’s series too, which I have not gotten around to trying yet (although I am collecting them slowly).
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