Answer the 30 questions with books.

The only rule is that you can’t use the same book more than once.

1. Favourite book from last year: The House In The Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune
   • This is such a beautiful book – a gentle journey of mild peril and heartwarming character development that regularly made me chuckle to myself and shed the odd tear. Just lovely and gives me the warm and fuzzies whenever I think about it.
2. Book you’ve read more than 3 times: I, Houdini: The Autobiography of a Self-Educated Hamster by Lynne Reid-Banks
   • Honestly, I have no idea how many time I have read and reread this book since I was a kid. I can remember finishing it and immediately going back to the start again on more than one occasion when I was younger. And I’ve read it multiple times as an adult, too. It’s like a comfort blanket in the form of an egotistical, sassy little hamster.
3. Your favourite series: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness (Wolf Brother) by Michelle Paver
   • Set in prehistoric Europe (during the Stone Age), the series follows an adolescent boy called Torak, his best friends Wolf (a wolf cub he saves from drowning) and Renn, as they grow and learn about themselves and the world they live in. There’s demons, magic, wolves, forests – all things I love best.
4. Your favourite book in the series: Ghost Hunter
   • Book 6 of 9, Torak, Renn, and Wolf face a shadow sickness that Eostra, the Eagle Owl Mage, is spreading amongst the clans, trying to kill all life in the forest. This was possibly the book that made me cry the most (followed by book 9) and it was a fast-paced and heart-wrenching adventure.
5. A book that makes you happy: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
   • This as pure, cheesy, popcorn romance fluff with sugar on top. Predictable? Yes. Adorable? Also yes.
6. A book that makes you sad: The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World by Various Authors & Illustrators, edited by Paul Goodenough
   • Made me sad, scared, and angry but also filled me with hope, in varying measures. We humans are doing an awful job of looking after our planet, and we need to sort our act out before it’s all too late.
7. Most underrated book: The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf
   • This is one of those books I feel should be in every classroom. It’s a sweet story of a young refugee coming to the UK and starting school, and facing all the challenges that come with not speaking English or knowing the culture on top of the hardship from living through the trauma of fleeing his home. It’s an accessible book that can be read/shared with anyone aged 7+ and I just wish more people had read it.
8. Most overrated book: 1984 by George Orwell
   • Just read Animal Farm. Seriously. Same story, better characters, less waffle.
9. A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving: English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
   • Historical fiction and a brick. When this was the Smut Club book I honestly doubted that I’d even make it to half way through, never mind finish it and enjoy!
10. Favourite classic book: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
    • I haven’t read all that many classics, or at least, I haven’t finished many. They just don’t usually hold my attention well enough for me to get through. But I LOVED this one. Probably because it is science fiction. Most of the ‘classics’ that I have finished and liked have been fantasy or sci-fi, or horror. Edgar Allen-Poe, H. G. Wells, H. P Lovecraft etc.
11. A book you hated: Generation X by Douglas Coupland
    • This is one of the few books I have actually thrown across a room in sheer rage. I was up to page 25 and it was just so totally up itself, self-important, and pretentious in tone that I hated every second I was reading it and every character in it. Amusingly, it was recommended to me by a friend who has it as basically their favourite and best book ever… we do have lots of book love cross-over, but are poles apart on this one.
12. A book you used to love: Little Beaver and the Echo by Amy MacDonald
    • A picture book about a little beaver who was lonely and wanted to meet the other little beaver that answered when he called across the lake, and all the friends he found along the way. Just writing out the title was enough for me to see the illustrations from this in my mind. They were beautiful and evocative, and the story was sweet and warm, and I wish I knew where my copy was so I could read it again.
13. Your favourite writer: Laini Taylor
    • Everything she writes is lyrical magic and makes my soul sing. That is all.
14. Favourite book by your favourite author: Strange The Dreamer
    • Okay, I changed my answer to this about four times because I can’t choose. Also the rules said I can’t repeat book titles, so I couldn’t use the other one I was maybe going to choose anyway. I just love then all. Stop making me choose between my babies.
15. Favourite male character and from what book: Nikolai Lantsov from the Grishaverse series by Leigh Bardugo
    • Yes please. Rough around the edges Prince with secrets to hide and a (maybe) good heart. ^{I am the Monster, and the Monster is me.}
16. Favourite female character and from what book: Rachel Morgan from The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
    • Kick-ass, bisexual, sassy, clumsy witch who plays with demons, works with elves, vampires and pixies, is part of a werewolf pack, and screws up because she can get hot-headed and sometimes lets her heart rule her head. I just mostly want to be her, to be honest.
17. Favourite quote and from what book: ‘Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there’s no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.‘ from Daughter Of Smoke And Bone by Laini Taylor
    • See why I couldn’t use this book for Question 14.
18. A book that disappointed you: Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
    • Everyone in the world ever: This book is going to BREAK you, it is so good but so traumatic!
    • Me, at the end of reading: Uh… which bit was supposed to make me sad?
19. Favourite book turned into a movie: Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (Film was called ‘Love, Simon’)
    • It is a very rare thing for me to come out of the cinema after watching the adaptation of a book I loved and not have bad things to say about it. I had no bad things to say about this one. The things that were different from the book were done well and didn’t lose any of the spirit of the book in doing so. Also I literally had the entire cinema to myself on a Tuesday morning, which was both awesome and a tiny bit creepy.
20. Favourite romance book: They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera
    • So sweet. So romantic. So beautiful. So does exactly what it says in the title and yet breaks you anyway….
21. Favourite book from your childhood: Cub In The Cupboard by Lucy Daniels
    • Child me so wanted to be Mandy Hope. Parents both vets, animals everywhere, Yorkshire Dales, bliss.
22. Favourite book you own: Wolfsong by T. J. Klune
    • I haven’t actually read this yet, but it’s the most beautiful book I think I own. Decorated edges. Wolf on the cover. Gorgeous shade of green.
23. A book you’ve wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t: The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
    • I have been meaning to read this since it came out, which was before Tori was born. Tori has now read it herself and I still haven’t. I suck.
24. A book you wish more people would read: Countless by Karen Gregory
    • I literally don’t know anybody else who has read this, but it was beautiful and painful and hopeful and lovely.
25. A character you can relate to the most and from what book: Tori Bailey from How Do You Like Me Now? by Holly Bourne
    • This book hurt. It is a coming-of-age novel, just for 30-somethings. And it hit all the nerves and sensitive bits in my brain, and battered me. If anything I related to Tori a little too hard. I had to sit in the dark on my own for an hour after finishing it to recover from what felt like a very brutal therapy session.
26. A book that changed your opinion about something: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
    • The opinion was: ‘I never like historical fiction.’ Turns out that I do, so long as it is dark and gritty and not trying to romance me into wanting to wear a corset and go to Winter dances with self-absorbed men.
27. The book with the most surprising plot twist or ending: S. T. A. G. S. by M. A. Bennett
    • Obviously I am not going to tell you what it was. Because that would ruin it. Second choice for this was One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Same deal there.
28. Favourite title: A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
    • I feel like this needs no explanation…
29. A book that most people hate but you love: Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
    • This whole series gets so much hate and I really don’t know why. I mean, it is An Undertaking to read the whole series because it is 13 bricks long, and obviously it has issues, because what epic fantasy books don’t? But it is no worse than many, and I absolutely LOVED the series and have many fond memories of losing myself in the world and characters. I’m not sure I would pick it up now if I hadn’t read it already, purely because of the sheer volume of the series and commitment required, but I do keep getting tempted to reread my favourite books from the series every now and then because I miss the characters. Still. 10+ years since I read the last book.
30. Your all time favourite book: I HAVE NO IDEA, WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?! ARGH!
    • Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. (Shut up, I did not use that one already, I used the series title, and another book from the set.)

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Have you ready any/many of these? Do you love the books I hate (or the other way round!)?