Welcome to another Thursday and another Tag Thursday! Lately I’ve been struggling to find newer tags to do but this one in particular felt timely when it saw it in my sub box on YouTube since I spent today watching a storm outside as it whipped crunchy golden leaves from the trees – this is the Finally Fall Book Tag! I saw this on Amy aka shoutame’s channel, originally created by Alina aka Tall Tales – please do check out their videos if you have time because they’re both delightful!
1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting!
I’m going to have to name Burial Rites by Hannah Kent – it is so atmospheric and evocative that it was as though I could feel the biting Icelandic winds roll across me as I was reading it. The setting is definitely a central character of the story in its own right and I think it will be a long time until I read something that is quite as vivid as that novel.
2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief.
I’d say All the Light We Cannot See is pretty damn heavy in its topic and beautiful in its execution.
3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.
I don’t read much non-fiction really, and the non-fiction I do read tends to be more of the memoir sort than straight-up non-fiction. However, I suppose both My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff and In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park opened my eyes in different ways – the first to the literary agency/publishing scene in 1990s New York, a world away from my own job at a university press in England, and the second to a completely different world that is North Korea. I can’t get over some of the horrific things contained within In Order to Live and I still think about passages from it, even though I read it a good couple of years ago now.
4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of.
I have three answers for this because I just refuse to narrow it down. I’d love to be part of the Weasley family from Harry Potter, or to hang with Blue and her Raven Boys in The Raven Boys, or to be a member of Kaz’s gang of merry misfits from Six of Crows – I’m not sure if I have any sort of criminal skill to be a useful member of the Dregs though!
5. The colourful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines!
6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.
The one that immediately came to mind was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It took me a good few attempts to truly get into this story and, even then, it was only thanks to the audiobook that I really got lost in the novel – most of that is because this narrative is set up as the main character, Kvothe, slowly recounting his story to the aptly-named Chronicler, and it helped to have a narrator telling you the story, as Rupert Degas does excellently as the narrator.
7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read.
I’m not really one for dark, creepy things, whether that’s films, TV shows, or books. However, I suppose some of Daphne du Maurier’s books could very well be considered dark and creepy – i.e. My Cousin Rachel takes a sinister turn and it’s quiet and insidious but no less creepy for it!
8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day.
I struggle to think of short heartwarming things so I’ve reverted to some of my favourite books as a child because they give me all the nostalgic feelings possible. In particular, I think I’ll choose Matilda by Roald Dahl which, for any book lover, is a must. Don’t get me wrong, there are scary bits (because Roald Dahl is a master of the insidiously creepy elements to even his children’s stories), but reading about a precocious child that so loves reading and learning is quite heartwarming indeed.
9. Fall returns every year: name an old favourite that you’d like to return to soon.
Given all the buzz surrounding the TV show which is currently filming, I NEED to return to Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett because I bloody love that book and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of re-reading it. And, in a completely different vein, it’s high time I revisited some Austen favourites, particularly Persuasion which is quite possibly my favourite of her novels, but I really ought to re-read it again just to make 100% sure it is!
10. Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favourite cozy reading “accessories”!
My huge grey men’s dressing gown because it’s downright necessary as the nights get colder. A nice cup of coffee or tea – I’m a simple girl, just regular ol’ breakfast tea with one sugar and a dash of milk please, or replace the tea with coffee if it’s in the morning. As far as snacks go, a biscuit or two (or three) will do, chocolate Hobnobs in an ideal world.
11. Spread the autumn appreciation and tag some people!
If you want to join in and do this tag, consider yourself tagged by me and link me to your post because I’d love to take a peek at it. But, for the purposes of actually answering this question, I tag the following people (though of course you’re under no obligation to do it if you don’t do tags!):
Ally from Ally Writes Things
Sarah from Reviews & Readathons
The lovely ladies from Thrice Read
Liz from Travel in Retrospect
Stephanie from Adventures of a Bibliophile
Amanda from MetalPhantasmReads
The Terror of Knowing 
One response to “Tag | Finally Fall Book Tag”
[…] to do the Finally Fall Book Tag. If only to remind myself that it actually is fall. I was tagged by Emma at The Terror of Knowing to do this tag, which was originally created by Alina aka Tall Tales. Thanks […]
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