I’m all about a good Netflix night even though it’s very rare for me to find time for them, but I saw this fun tag over at Words About Words. It was originally created by A Darker Shade of Whitney on YouTube, and I had such a blast coming up with answers for this!

---

Recently Watched
The last book you finished reading.

I’d hoped to read a bunch this weekend, but I got sick and ended up on Netflix for an entire day, so the last book I finished was The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzi Lee.

It was an absolute delight, and I spent most of it giggling uncontrollably.

Top Picks
A book/books that have been recommended to you based on book you have previously read.

Alex and I read the same books, so we don’t necessary rec books for each based on books we’ve previously read, we just rec whatever we’re currently reading that the other would like. She just finished The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, though, and absolutely adored it, so that was her most recent rec to me.

I’ll definitely be picking it up eventually just based on her reaction to it.

And for a fun bonus, she just read a book I rec’d her, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, and literally binged half of it in one night because it’s that good.

Recently Added
The last book you bought

Oh! I was going to saying the last books I bought that were not preordered were from November, but I actually just bought An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson a couple weeks ago because I finally read Sorcery of Thorns, and it WRECKED ME.

I knew I absolutely had to read anything else she’d written, and though I haven’t read this yet, I’m super excited to have it on my shelf.

Popular on Netflix
Books that everyone knows about. (Two You’ve Read & Two You Have No Interest In)

Two I’ve read: The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black & Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

I feel like everyone and their mother has at least heard of these, if not read them already. I read both of them last month, and they completely blew me out of the park. I’ve been waiting for CDTH for literal years, and it was so fun not only to return to the TRC world, but to finally have a new Maggie book. QON was interesting for me, too, because I really wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or not. I had high hopes, but I’ve also had a spotty history with Holly, and I’m so happy to say that I loved it.

Two I’m not interested in: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas & Legendary by Stephanie Garber

It took me a hot minute to think of something that wasn’t SJM. I kept wanting to put Throne of Glass on here without realizing it’s also by her. I just have zero interest, guys. Beyond the boring summaries and questionable covers, everything I’ve heard about the content is just terrible, and I officially yanked it off my Goodreads earlier this year.

I also read Caraval, and though I didn’t hate it, I also really, really didn’t like it, and I have no interest in carrying on with the series.

Comedies
A funny book

I recognize this is going to be a strange title since it’s a romance, but RWRB destroyed me.

I was either cackling or gushing for the entire book, and it was the best experience ever. I need to reread it soon because damn. Everything about this book is feel good, and I need that in my life constantly.

Dramas
A character who is a drama queen/king.

There are so many YA characters I could pull for this, but Miss Bates actually had me wheezing for breath through some of her antics, so this definitely goes to Emma by Jane Austen. I read it this summer, and for real, Miss Bates killed me. She’s such a drama queen, and it’s the best.

Animated
A book with cartoons on the cover

I want to rec a book from earlier this year, so here I am, shouting about City of Islands by Kali Wallace again!

This is one of my favorite middle grade books from this year, and it was just such a delightful experience. Mara was a wonderful narrator, and I loved getting to experience her specific brand of sea bone magic.

Watch it again
A book/book series that you want to re-read

There are so many that I could list here, and there are a few that I meant to this year that I didn’t get around to, but one series that I’m definitely going to reread next year, no matter what, is The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.

• 

• 

• 

I’ve been embarking on fun project, An Adventure in Tolkien, where I try to read literally everything Middle Earth-related that Tolkien wrote. I’m enjoying myself immensely, and as I’m about to wrap up Unfinished Tales, that means The Hobbit and LOTR are up next, and I simply cannot wait!

Documentaries
A non-fiction book you’d recommend to everyone

Every single nonfiction book that I love with my whole being enough to rec is about an astronaut, so it should come as no surprise that the answer for this is An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. It’s such an excellent book, even if you’re not interested in space, and it really made me reevaluate how I look at some things in my daily life. I think about it constantly.

I also rec’d four other amazing space nonfictions forever ago, so check that out if you’re interested!

Action and Adventure
An action packed book

There are plenty of books that have been action packed recently, but none that gave me a very fun brand of whiplash like one of my absolute favorites of the year:

You heard it here first, if Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy isn’t on my Top 10 of 2019, that means someone kidnapped me and wrote a fake list. Not only do I love this book more than life itself, it is, hands down, the most action-packed book that I read this year. It’s an insanely wild space opera full of fast pacing and crazy plot lines, and I will protect it with everything in me.

New Releases
A book that just came out or will be coming out soon that you can’t wait to read.

As I write this, I just got Diamond & Dawn by Lyra Selene in the mail, and I am over the moon about finally having it in my possession, but since I’m posting this on Monday, I will almost definitely have already binge read the entire thing, so instead, my other December preorder that arrived on the same day is Children of Virtue & Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi.

I wanted to start this immediately, but Diamond & Dawn is also set in a desert, and that would have confused me way too fast to do at the same time.

I also have a list coming out right at the beginning of January of all my anticipated releases for the first half of 2020, so keep an eye out for that!