“Never Have I Ever” Book Tag

I was tagged by Zeezee @ Zeezee with Books, but this tag was created by Madame Writer/Anne with a Book. The rules are pretty straightforward:

1. Link back to the original creator (Madame Writer)
2. Link back to the person who tagged you (Zeezee)
3. Answer all prompts
4. Add one more prompt of your own.
5. Tag at least 5 people
6. Don’t lie.
7. Have fun!

Let’s go!

Never have I ever… read a later book in the series before reading the first book.

The Cage by S. M. Stirling and Shirley Meier is actually the fourth book in the Fifth Millennium series. This is both the first book I read in that series (which caused me to fall in love with the entire thing) and also the first book I ever read that featured a sapphic couple as the protagonists. It will hold a special place in my heart for the latter reason forever and ever and ever, but it’s also just a really great adult fantasy adventure story about a woman (with the help of her lover) both taking revenge on her former abuser as well as creating a family as she moves on from her obsession with revenge.

Never have I ever… burned a book.

Nope! I’ve never burned a book.

Never have I ever… read a book I knew I would hate.

Again, nope, unless you count a psychology textbook for a university class.

Never have I ever… wrote fanfiction about my favorite books.

Guilty! At one point when I was much younger I wrote fanfic for The Lord of the Rings, but nowadays most of my fanfics use movies or video games as source material. Books tend to have smaller fandoms, I’ve noticed.

I think this is a good time to highlight the bookish fanfic-writing club After the Story, which is populated with a really nice, fun group of people who want to find out what happens after the endings of their favorite books.

Never have I ever… loved a book when I was young and hated it when I got older.

Oof, this is tough. The only books I’ve kept from my adolescent years were ones I knew I would continue to like. Hmm… when I was about 14 years old, I had a World War II phase where I was obsessed with trying to understand the psychology of German soldiers and why they committed the atrocities they did. I ended up buying a lot of translated memoirs/diaries that, in hindsight, were a waste of my time. As an adult, I now have ZERO interest in most aspects of World War II and have donated those books. I can’t say I hate them, though; I just… do not care about them at all.

Never have I ever… dressed up as one of my favorite literary characters.

Nope! I’ve never cosplayed. I think it would be cool, but I don’t have the supplies/technical skill to create a costume or the funds to commission someone to create a costume for me.

Never have I ever… hated a book by an author I loved.

I really, really like Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher), since her stories and methods of storytelling are so quirky and charming. However, I ended up being pretty disappointed with Bryony and Roses, which is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I can’t say I hated it, or even that it was bad, but the way the aftermath of a suicide is treated in this book really rubbed me the wrong way and was thoroughly disappointing. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this kind of betrayal from an author I expected nothing but good things from.

Never have I ever… gone into a bookstore to buy one book and come out with many more.

See, when I go into bookstores I know my poor impulse-control is going to come into play. I know I will come out with an armload of books. I know my bank account will hate me. Whenever I enter a bookstore I completely and totally intend to purchase multiple books. I am not guilty of this charge because I am, unfortunately, all too aware of my flaws as a human being.

Never have I ever… read the end of a book before I read the beginning.

I flipped to the end of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke to check the page count, and ended up reading the final page by accident. Whoops.

Never have I ever… read a book without the dust cover.

I actually don’t like reading books with the dust jacket still on! They slip around and aren’t perfectly even and get in the way; I find them supremely annoying and will 100% remove them unless they’re VERY pretty and I worry about losing them.

Never have I ever… skim-read nearly half of a book.

Nope, thank goodness. I would die of guilt if I did this.

Never have I ever… pretended to have read a book I haven’t read.

I’m paranoid that someone would call me out if I did this, so no, I haven’t. I’m too anxious to try faking this one, haha!

Never have I ever… saw the movie before I read the book.

Guilty again! I saw The Lord of the Rings movies (the ones directed by Peter Jackson) as a child before my reading level was sufficient to tackle the books. I also watched The Thirteenth Warrior before reading Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead, and watched the Jurassic Park movies before reading the books (also by Michael Crichton).

Never have I ever… had a book boyfriend.

I am not 100% sure what a book boyfriend is, but I can assure you that I have never imagined myself in a relationship with a fictional character. The part of my brain dedicated to realism would immediately call BS and say that the characters I admired would never stoop so low as to have a relationship with an anxious and wimpy human like me.

Never have I ever… read a history or anthropology book for fun.

I actually read Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie when I was in high school, because my AP European History teacher loaned me the volume. It’s massive and the paperback edition clocks in at just over 900 pages, but I ended up really enjoying it; from what I remember, Massie writes very eloquently about 17th century Russian life and this particular monarch, and in spite of not having much of a background in Russian history I was never confused or lost. I ended up buying my own copy, and I have recently been thinking about re-reading it.

Never have I ever… picked up a book based on the cover alone.

Covers are very pretty, but nope! This isn’t something I’ve done. I remember being very frustrated with book covers as a kid because the cover image (when it had a portrait of the protagonist) didn’t exactly match the book’s description of how the protagonist looked. That’s my working theory for why I’m distrustful of book covers as an adult, haha.

Never have I ever… bought multiple books in a series without starting it.

When it comes to the contents of my own personal bank account, no, I don’t do this. My impulse control isn’t that bad, thank goodness. However, I did persuade my dad to buy the entire Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb on kindle for me. It took a bit of discussion, since my dad is kinda… well, actually, no, he’s outright misogynistic because he’s suspicious of women F/SF writers, but he ended up enjoying the series and I’m eager to get started on my first Robin Hobb book once I have a little more free time.

Never have I ever… kept reading a series even if I didn’t love the first book.

Nope again! If the first book doesn’t sell me, then I’m not going to pick up the rest of the series. I think the approach of “it gets better in book two” is valid, but I don’t have the patience for it about 80% of the time.

Never have I ever… read a book so quickly that I don’t remember what happened by the end.

I haven’t done this… recently. I’m trying to write a substantial review for every book I read, which means that nowadays I take notes as I read (or at least try to) and have to make an effort to remember things — so I have to read slower. I can’t really remember doing this when I was younger, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did.

My question: never have I ever… eaten/drank while reading and gotten some sort of food or beverage onto the book.

I once splattered a book with spaghetti sauce. Yes, I am wracked with guilt to this very day.

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And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed reading through this tag. I nominate:

Lil Sushi Roll @ Twirling Pages

Ahaana @ Windows to Worlds

Sarah @ Suits of Stories

Prathyusha @ Life of a Solivagant

Althea @ Althea is Reading

Have fun with the tag if you choose to do it!