Hey guys! I was tagged for this by the lovely Liz from Out of Coffee, Out of Mind . Thanks so much, Liz! Ze Rules: The book(s) yo...

Tag Week: The Bookshelf Tag

Alexa Mintah

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Hey guys! I was tagged for this by the lovely Liz from Out of Coffee, Out of Mind. Thanks so much, Liz!

Ze Rules:

The book(s) you answer with must be from your bookshelf.

Include a picture of your bookshelf, if possible, or you could include pictures of your dream shelf.

I like these rules. Nice and simple. However, I will not actually post a picture of my entire bookshelf, because it’s sort of behind my bed, which makes it somewhat difficult to get to and even more difficult to take a full picture of. Still, I’ll at least include a picture of the top shelf where I actually keep most of the books:

And there it is. On to the questions!

Describe your bookshelf (or wherever it is you keep your books—it doesn’t actually have to be a shelf!)

As mentioned (and shown) above, I do actually have a bookshelf. But one thing I think I should say is that I do not actually own very many books. Although we have several bookshelves in our house, the books that are actually mine and I keep in my room only take up about one shelf. The rest of the books you hear me raving about are from the library or kindle copies, and the rest of the shelves on my bookshelf are filled with notebooks, art supplies, and miscellaneous papers and knickknacks I haven’t done anything with yet.

What’s the thickest (most amount of pages) book on your shelf?

That would be Night World No. 1 by L. J. Smith. I won it in my library’s reading program two summers ago and have yet to get around to reading it. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with vampires though.

What’s the thinnest (least amount of pages) book on your shelf?

Heartsongs by Mattie Stepanek. It’s a poetry book and comes in at only 32 pages, but every poem in it is beautiful <3

Is there a book you received as a birthday gift?

Tiger’s Promise by Colleen Houck and The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill. I got those on my kindle for my birthday last year, and, as my kindle is on my bookshelf, I believe that counts. *nods*

What’s the smallest (height and width wise) book on your shelf?

The Tale of the Talking Dog and other Stories for You To Write by Rebecca Gomez. I’m not sure about the exact dimensions (and I’m far too lazy to look them up), but it’s a pretty thin, slightly-larger-than-pamphlet-sized book and it’s maybe half an inch shorter than most of the books on my shelf. My mom bought it for me a few years ago, when I first got really interested in writing.

What’s the biggest (height and width wise) book on your shelf?

Funny tidbit, my really tall ones also seem to be really thin. So I’ll just give you my tallest one since I already mentioned the widest one above: Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley is the tallest book on my shelf, I got it for Christmas last year, and it is really awesome if you’re interested in drawing Manga-style art.

Is there a book from a friend on your shelf?

Kailey by Amy Goldman Ross. It’s an American Girl book, and an old friend of mine gave it to me years ago, when I was like 9 or 10.

Most expensive book?

Dude, I have no idea. Like I said, I don’t buy books often. But I recently got a pretty old-looking copy of The Brothers Grimm: One Hundred Fairy Tales from my library. It looks pretty and it looks antique, which generally translates as expensive, so I’m going to go with that one and call it good.

The last book you read on your shelf?

I am currently reading Resonance by S. Alex Martin (the bottom one whose spine is turned away from the camera. Sorry about that, guys). But I just finished Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (the top one whose spine is turned away from the camera, still sorry), and I think it's my new favorite historical EVER.

Of all the books on your shelf, which was the first you read?

Laylie’s Daring Quest by Kersten Hamilton. I’m not sure how young I was when I read that one, but probably somewhere between the 7-9 range.

Do you have more than one copy of a book?

Only two: I have two copies of Captives (second one isn't shown) and Outcasts by Jill Williamson. The second Outcast is on my Kindle, though. Actually, I might have three copies of Captives... *rethinks that* Wait, no. Nevermind. It's two.

Do you have the complete series of any book series?

I have the full Safe Lands series, the full Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series, and the full Dragons In Our Midst series. And yes, I listed them in the Order of Which Series I Like Best. Safe Lands is possibly my favorite dystopian ever (because Zane, okay?), Skylar Hoyt is amazing and reading her story really helped me during the mid-teen years of my life, and the Dragons In Our Midst series was one of my first fantasies. So yeah. Completely irrelevant backstory over.

What’s the newest addition to your shelf?

I just picked up the first Avatar comics from the library. As far as books I actually own, I recently bought Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John from my library’s used book section. I’ve read it before, and it’s super good (though, caution: there is some cursing)

What book has been on your shelf FOREVER?

Probably Dragons In Our Midst again. I would say my Little House On The Prairie series, but they’re not on my shelf right now. In fact, I need to go find those... WHO STOLE MY LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE BOOKS????

Ahem. Moving on.

What’s the most recently published book on your shelf?

Resonance again! It just came out less than a month ago actually. On the 16th of October.

The oldest book on your shelf (as in, the actual copy is old)?

Erm, I don’t really know. Probably that copy of the Brothers Grimm. It’s copyrighted 1980, so it’s probably not as expensive as I thought, but I’m not going back to change that answer. Most of my other books are pretty new though (like at least in the last 20 years), so I don’t think I have any older than that anyway.

A book you won?

Hehe, I’ve actually won a lot of books online. Like in the past year, I’ve literally won somewhere between five and ten online contests. I am really lucky for some reason.

But anyways, just to name two: Colored Highlights and Drifting Shadows and Writers’ Colors and Dreams both by Ophelia-Marie Flowers. I won them from her blog giveaway a couple of months ago.

A book you’d hate to let out of your sight (aka a book you’d never let someone borrow)?

I kind of have a problem with letting people borrow my books unless I really trust them--the people, that is--but I don’t know if there are any books that I would absolutely never let anyone borrow. Except maybe my copy of Bluefish by Pat Schmatz because that is basically my favorite contemporary ever and it is autographed by the author: she stumbled upon my raving review on Christmas Day, then sent me a signed copy of the book that says really nice things about me. All that long backstory to say, I really love that book and I don’t think anybody will ever touch it. *holds book to chest* It is mine.

Most beat up book?

I actually take really good care of my books, if I do say so myself, so I don’t think any of them are really that beatup. Some might have food stains in them though. Because there is nothing like drinking a hot beverage (coffee, tea, or hot chocolate), snacking on something sweet, and reading your favorite book.

Most pristine book?

Probably those on my kindle.

A book from your childhood?

I already mentioned Laylie and Little House on the Prairie (which is technically STILL not on my shelf), so I’ll go with the Adventures of the Northwoods series by Lois Walfrid Johnson. I have the first five books, and they’re more like stories from my preteens than my childhood, but they’re as close as we’re gonna get right now, and I really want to mention them. So.

A book that’s not actually your book?

All the library ones of which there are at least 10, possibly more.

A book with a special/different cover (e.g. leather bound, soft fuzzy cover etc.)?

Well, there’s the Brothers Grimm one. It’s leatherbound. But I think that’s it.

A book that is your favorite color?

I am a total girly girl in this respect and my favorite color is pink. So the only ones that have a lot of pink are Laylie, Colored Highlights, and Spring by Mark Crilley.

A book that’s been on your shelf the longest that you STILL haven’t read?

So like 3 years ago I won Children of the Lamp by P. B. Kerr in my library’s summer reading program, and I still haven’t read it. I’ve meant to, but there are always new books or library books or fanfiction or something else that I can read and I just haven’t gotten around to it. Sorry Children. 

HOWEVER. I did let my brother read it, and he enjoyed it. So it hasn’t just been sitting forlornly on the shelf for the past 3 and a half years; it has had the chance to be read and enjoyed.

Any signed books?

I actually have several and I’m quite thrilled about them all: My entire Safe Lands series is signed as is Bluefish, of course, and my copy of Resonance. *hugs books* My precious babies.

I’m going to add a question just because I feel like answering it, but you do not have to use this one if you do the tag:

Do you have an equal amount from every genre or does your bookshelf lean more towards one specification or another?

I have mostly fiction with an emphasis on speculative, though I do have several contemporaries, along with a spattering of historicals, art books, poetry books, and writing instruction books.

***

And that’s the tag! That one was really long, but really fun. Thanks again for tagging me, Liz!

For my part, I nominate Koko, Bailey, and Anne Marie. But if I didn’t nominate you and you want to do the tag, feel free. :)

So what’s your bookshelf look like? Pick one or two of the above questions and answer them in the comments! I’m off to find my Little House books, but I shall return to reply to comments later. Ciao!

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