“WE WERE ON A BREAK!!!!”

Hiya! How’s everyone doing?

In an effort to try new things on my blog, I’ve decided to participate in the F.R.I.E.N.D.S book tag, which I saw done by the lovely Ashmita @ The Fictional Journal and created by Roxanne @ An Average Life!

Sitcoms are my guilty pleasure. I will rewatch episodes so many times and laugh as if I’ve never seen them before. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is probably my favourite. I watched it three times from beginning to end during university. I’ve cried so many times at the finale. I’m sure all my university friends will say I was borderline obsessed with the show.

I know F.R.I.E.N.D.S has a HUGE problem with diversity and is said to have copied the Black TV show ‘Living Single’. SO I’ve decided to try and include as many diverse books in relation to the characters and what’s being asked of me.

MONICA

The clean friend, the best host, the friend you hate playing games against because she takes everything so seriously.

A book based on a competition or game: So I had to think long and hard about this because I didn’t want to do the very obvious one, which would be ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne A Collins. Instead, I’ve picked three diverse books that have their protagonists go through some sort of competition. All of them are fantastic books.

Legendborn is one of my favourite books! I do not shut up about it and I’m very excited for Bloodmarked in 2022.

An Ember in the Ashes is the first in a quartet! Elias the main character goes through a bunch of trials.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is another great fantasy book where Malik the main character enters a competition.

Organisation Queen; How do you organise your bookshelf? Ah this is going to expose me! I actually have a very small bookshelf and so I just fit in books where there’s space! I would love to organise by author and then have a shelf (or a few shelves) dedicated to my favourite books and the fantasy genre. It’s very messy but I keep all series together! I used to organise by colour but it bothered me to see books in different series apart.

RACHEL

The fashionista, the one who defied all the norms and defeated everyone’s judgments. And the one who shares the same name as me and so becomes my favourite character by default!

A Book you read for the hype: Gosh, there’s actually quite a few. I’m always so scared to read books that have so much hype surrounding them. I picked up Serpent and Dove by Shelby Maulhan, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and The Poppy War by R.F Kuang

Shopping Addict; What Makes you buy a book?: Bookstagram. Booktok. An advert. The cover. Gosh, at this point it could be anything and everything. If the blurb is great and I’ve heard good things…I have no qualms about picking it up. I normally have my most anticipated books for the year and then I’ll buy a few books outside of them based on reviews, cover and blurbs.

ROSS

The paleontologist, a great brother, the soft-hearted friend, the divorce king…the one who clearly falls in love very fast.

A science fiction book: confession time…

I don’t actually read much of science-fiction books. Most of the books I’ve picked up just haven’t been great and have severely disappointed me. However, I’ve read two brilliant sci-fi books this year that I’m happy to share!

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson is a great story exploring classism, the multiverse and racism with sapphic representation. Absolutely brilliant.

The Upper World by Femi Fadugba explores time travel in South East London. It’s out this week and my review of this brilliant book will be out soon!

on a break; which books have you put down to pick up later: I’ll be honest. I’ve struggled with putting down books that I’ve started. I normally try to force myself to see the book through. However, I’ve DNF one book this year and I said to myself I’ll pick it back up later.

The Fortune Man by Nadifa Mohamed was sent to me and I really wanted to like it. But, I just got extremely bored and had to let it go. I do want to pick it back up, especially as it’s been long-listed for the booker prize…but we’ll see!

I’m such a firm believer in life’s still short. Reading is meant to be enjoyable. It’s a hobby, not a chore. I have to remind myself to make sure I read books that I enjoy or that I’m learning from. If it’s not one or the other, I’ll let it go.

CHANDLER

The jokester, the awkward overly-sarcastic friend, the one that will roast you but you know it comes from a place of love. His growth as a character was phenomenal.

A book that made you laugh out loud: Gosh there are many! Off the top of my head, I can think of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Brathwaite, Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas, The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, Power Play by Toni Aleo…Typically, it’s New Adult Romances that will make me laugh out loud and of course, they’re the ones I read most. I’ve also provided some below that have also made me laugh.

that time at space mountain; are there any books you’re embarrassed to admit you’ve read: I actually can’t think of any! Apart from Fifty Shades of Grey but even then, I guess the fact I’ve admitted it means it’s not that embarrassing! What about you guys? Let me know your most embarrassing reads below!

JOEY

Loyal, passionate, the one that feels all the emotions…a man-child, hates change and deserved a happily ever after! (Still annoyed about that!)

A scary book you’d keep in the freezer: I don’t read scary books and don’t ever plan to. I’m such a baby when it comes to horror that I actively avoid it. I can just about watch scary films now. However, instead of books, I’ll recommend some horror films that I actually enjoyed!

v is for encyclopedia; as an adult; have you read any books with words you had to look up to understand: Definitely, I even look up words that I’m meant to know but have forgotten the meaning! I do find it a little bit annoying as it disrupts my flow of reading.

PHOEBE

The unique friend with a strange sense of humour. The definition of weird but the one that would kill for you if you asked. A beautiful personality…Smelly Cat is underrated and deserves more praise.

A book with a spiritual or supernatural theme: I would love to use this opportunity to tell you to pick up LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn but I’m going to try and give a wider range of answers! All three books below have a spiritual or supernatural theme and I highly recommend them all!

JANICE

I can still hear her laugh…

a book with a shocking plot twist: I struggled with this one. What I will say is that a plot twist has never stunned me as much as Legendborn has…I legit screamed and threw the book across the bed.

These books also have some stunning plot twists and moments when you’re left gasping. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse was definitely the most shocking out of them all…that ending left me desperately wanting the next book.

GUNTHER

Poor guy…I genuinely felt sorry for him.

a book that nobody seems to be talking about: Boy’s Don’t Cry by Malorie Blackman, Taking Up Space by Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor and The Book of Echoes by Roseanne A Brown.

All fabulous books that deserve more praise.

CAROL and SUSAN

An LGBTQ+ author and book: I’ve read quite a few that I’ve enjoyed such as: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson.

MIKE

romance novel: Considering the romance genre is one of my favourite genres – I’ve done a blog post about ‘The Best Romance Books’

I’ve got so many favourite reads and I’ve read so many great romance reads recently including The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang! I’ve got the Brown Sisters Trilogy sitting on my shelf and I plan to do a series review of the books once I’ve read them! I am always open to new romance reads so please let me know your favourites in the comments below!

I loved doing this book tag and I have so many more that I’m looking forward to making/doing!

Do check out my latest blog posts and I’ve reviewed so many of the books mentioned in this post! You can see my full list of review posts @ Reviews A-Z

Until the next one x

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