The Book *heart* Tag

I tried to “BookTube,” but I realized that I’m not really a video girl. I prefer to write. But I have a bunch of BookTube channels I follow. One of my favorites is “booksandquills” which is by Sanne, a young woman from the Netherlands who lives in London. One of her recent videos was on the topic of romance in books and featured a series of questions that folks could answer and reply, filing their videos (or, in my case, blog post) with the “Book tag.”

Below are the questions and my responses…

1. Who is your favourite literary couple?
   • Zuzana and Mik from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, and featured in the out-take novella Night of Cake and Puppets
2. What’s your Top 3 of fictional boyfriends/girlfriends?
   • Jamie from Outlander
   • Po from Graceling
   • Levi from Fangirl
3. What’s a romantic trope you wish people would stop using?
   • The love triangle. I am so sick of the love triangle. Especially when it features female lead character trying to pick between two boys, usually a “good guy” and a “bad boy” type character.
4. Which literary couple are terrible for each other?
   • The first pair that come to mind are Bella and Edward from the Twilight series…
5. Best romance book to movie adaptation?
   • I am partial to the Keira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice… I know, I will probably take some crap for that. But I really love that movie, and I really love the soundtrack.
6. What is the best book to read to your boyfriend/girlfriend?
   • The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion — I say this because I actually did read this out loud with my husband and it was so much fun.
7. Which book would you say is your favourite on a first date?
   • Dune by Frank Herbert — because it’s true, but also because there’s loads to talk about, assuming the person I’m with has also read it… Side note: the first time I went to my husband’s apartment when we were first dating, I noticed he had a hardcover copy of Dune on his bookshelf. I was thrilled until I figured out that he hadn’t actually read it. It took him about ten more years before he finally read it, and could finally agree with me that it’s a great book.
8. Best book to read after a break up?
   • I’d either go with something that (to me) represents the perfect romance to remind myself what I want (something like Suddenly Royal or Outlander)… or I’d go the other extreme and go with an independent female main character who is out there making things happen to remind myself of my own awesomeness (something like Sassinak or Trading in Danger)
9. What is your favourite same sex or queer couple in literature?
   • This question is reminding me that I haven’t read a lot of books that feature a same sex or queer couple… BUT… I will say that Ursula LeGuin’s book of short stories called The Birthday of the World features a TON of great examples and is probably my favorite book featuring same sex or queer couples…
10. Which book would you give to someone as a symbol of your affection?
    • I always give books as a symbol of my affection, but they are almost always books that I think that person will love and not always ones that I have loved. Two of the books I’ve given my husband were about natural disasters and featured lots of great photos, drawings, data, and maps: The Orphan Tsunami of 1700: Japanese Clues to a Parent Earthquake in North America and Bracing for Disaster: Earthquake-Resistant Architecture and Engineering in San Francisco, 1838-1933 — I know, neither of these sounds very romantic, but these were both a big hit with him.

Okay… tag! You’re it! Your turn… what are your responses? Post on your blog and link in the comments, or post a comment either agreeing or providing alternative suggestions…