Back to School Book Tag

Hi friends! 👋🏻 Schools in my area start up again this week and although I haven’t gone to school for ten years now, I am starting an apprenticeship very soon so I sort of consider it to be like going back to school.

For any bloggers reading this who are still in school, remember that school is more important than your blog. The internet will always be there for you to come back to when you have free time. It may not seem like it right now, but school is very important and prepares you for adult life a lot more than you think it does.

I wish I could credit the creator of this tag, but I have no idea of who they are 🤷🏻‍♀️

ENGLISH – NAME YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR’S (OR BOOK’S) WRITING STYLE

Even though I have a BA and an MA in English, I’m having a difficult time putting Leigh Bardugo’s writing style into words. To me, she is a master of worldbuilding and her descriptive work has that perfect balance of being beautiful without being overly purple and not too plain. I wouldn’t say that her books are violent, but whenever they do have violent moments in them, I really feel them. The scene where Kaz plucks someone’s eye out in Six of Crows still makes me squirm.

MATHS – A BOOK THAT MADE YOU FRUSTRATED

I don’t know how many times I can trash talk this book, but I never get tired of it (as bad as that sounds, but James Joyce has been dead since 1941 so he’s not going to doxx me and show up at my house). I probably wouldn’t have hated this book as much as I do if I read it for leisure and not to study it. This was the first novel I studied for university and it really turned me off of modernist literature for good.

SCIENCE – A BOOK THAT MADE YOU THINK

The Hate U Give is a book that I think every non-Black person should read because it really shines a light on how privilege affects us all. Even though I can only experience police brutality through media because I live in the UK, it still is a disgusting thing to see wherever it happens. I live in one of the least diverse places in England with my city being 93.6% white and sometimes you need a book to be a reality check for you to realise how privileged you are compared to people who don’t look like you or live in other places.

SOCIAL STUDIES/HISTORY – YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK FROM A DIFFERENT TIME PERIOD

Frankenstein has a very special place in my heart because it is probably the only book I’ve studied that I actually enjoy studying and talking about in an academic way. I wrote four essays on Frankenstein in both sixth form and university, and it never felt like a chore because the book’s background is so interesting and when you learn about the Shelleys’ social circles and family life, a lot of the artistic choices make a lot of sense. When I visited the House of Frankenstein in Bath recently, my mother referred to Lord Byron as a “pig” and that piggishness can be seen in Victor Frankenstein’s whiny ass.

ART – YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK WITH PICTURES

Nothing pains me more than the fact that this series is released in print so slowly 😭 Wotakoi is a manga about two childhood friends – Narumi and Hirotaka – who find it difficult to be in relationships because they’re hardcore nerds. It sounds a little funny when you look at it from a Western perspective, but Japan sometimes still has that “nerd stuff is for children” attitude that we only really see in old people in the West.

I absolutely adore the romances in this book, especially Narumi and Hirotaka’s which is so sweet. It’s so heartwarming to see them go from two old friends who start dating out of necessity to being in a real relationship. I love them so much that this series is starting to make me enjoy slow burn romances. And I’m a pretty impatient person so that’s a miracle.

DRAMA – A BOOK YOU WOULD LOVE TO TURN INTO A MOVIE

I have been saying for years that I would love to see a movie series based on the Leviathan trilogy, but because my dream movies based on these books sound horrifically expensive to make, it’ll likely never happen. My dream for these books is for Studio Ghibli to make a trilogy of traditionally animated movies, but animation is very expensive to produce, and it looks like Ghibli are moving into 3D animation these days, which breaks my heart because traditional animation is becoming a lost art now.

MUSIC – NAME A CHARACTER YOU THINK (OR KNOW) WOULD HAVE THE SAME MUSICAL TASTE AS YOU

I had to really think hard about this one because my musical taste is completely off the walls and hard to pinpoint. I did remember that Charlie puts together a mixtape in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I enjoy 90% of the songs on it, so I guess we share musical tastes.

LUNCH – A FOOD YOU WOULD LOVE TO TRY

It’s been a while since I read Six of Crows but I do remember that every time Nina mentioned waffles, I ended up with a craving for waffles too. I’m not a foodie (I’m not even that fond of eating) but I do like some good waffles.

BUS RIDE HOME – A BOOK OR AUTHOR THAT IS RELAXING

The Lara Jean books always feel like a warm hug to me, even when they have their dramatic moments. They’re like drinking a big mug of hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows to me: it gets a little messy when stirred up, but the end is always satisfying and warming.

EXTRA CREDIT – A BOOK SOMEONE ELSE TOLD YOU TO READ AND YOU ENDED UP ENJOYING

When I was in school I tried to get into the Uglies series by reading the third book, Specials, first. Why? I have no idea because I was told that it was the third book but I tried reading it anyway. One of my fellow student librarians told me to go back and start at the beginning like a normal person and I’m glad she told me that because this is still one of my favourite series ever.

talk to me! 

How are you dealing with back to school time? Are you going back to school yourself or are you getting anyone else ready to go back?