The Christmas Song Book Tag

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! It’s Christmas Eve which means I am doing a Christmas-themed tag. There are several Christmas-themed tags out there but I am choosing only one for this year. This tag was originally created by Hails Hearts Nyc.
I may have used Rick Riordan’s books excessively for a few tags by now. But I’m in the Rick Riordan mood so Rick Riordan is all you will get.

“You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch”

Name a villainous character you couldn’t help but love.

I was going to go for Severus Snape from Harry Potter. But I don’t see him as a villain for the reason that would be a spoiler. Therefore, I’m going for Loki from The Sword of Summer. I may have been biased by Loki from the Marvel Universe, who was played by my favourite actor Tom Hiddleston. But I think Loki from the Magnus Chase universe is just as charming, even though he is a lot more evil. I’ve been tricked by him several times, in fact, I’m still unsure of his motives. It is great to have an unpredictable villain for once.

“All I Want for Christmas is You”

Which book to you most hope to see under your Christmas tree?

ONE BOOK?! This is difficult. Very, very difficult. If I’m forced to choose only ONE book. I would love The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan. Yes, the book isn’t out yet, that’s why I would love to be able to read it on Christmas so I won’t have to wait until May 2017.

“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”

Name a character that overcomes major obstacles and learns to believe in themselves.

Leo Valdez from The Heroes of Olympus Series. I’ve loved him ever since The Lost Hero. He is hilarious and kind and sensitive, but with such a tragic back story. By The Mark of Athena, he was told that he is the “seventh wheel” so unsure of himself that I couldn’t help but want to hug him. Despite feeling all the self-doubt and even blaming himself for what happened, he stayed loyal to his friends and was always the cheerful and helpful present on the ship. He even [spoiler]! I’m so happy that he developed a lot throughout his journey and became an even better person, where his humour is no longer a mere defensive mechanism.

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

Which character do you think would be on the top of the naughty list?

Zeus from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, and The Trials of Apollo series. I know what you would say – “What?! What about Gaia and Kronos who actually tried to destroy the world?” Well, they both got the punishment they deserved. So I’m thinking of someone who hasn’t gotten any of that and should really get a sock full of coal on Christmas morning. Zeus is the worst father ever. Think of one child of him who he is actually kind to. Right, there is none. He is also a horrible uncle, look what happened to Nico and Bianca! Percy will never be able to take the plane even though he did nothing other than saving Zeus’s ass multiple times. He blamed Apollo for a mess which was his own fault as well and cast him on earth when he needed his power to fix a problem that would affect the whole world. Really Zeus? Is punishing your son more important than making sure the world doesn’t end?

Which character do you think would be at the top of the nice list?

Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, and The Trials of Apollo series. Come on Santa, he stopped two apocalypses (TWO!) and still has to put up with ridiculous requests from the gods. I think he deserves something nice, like being able to live past the age 30 for example.

“Frosty the Snowman”

Which book just melts your heart?

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Character development and bonding are my kinds of fluff, even if they happen in the worst scenarios.

“Feliz Navidad”

Choose a book that takes place in a country other than your own.

This is easy. Most books don’t take place in my country, or continent for that matter. At least not the popular ones. But I am just happy that I don’t live in the time and place where The Book Thief takes place.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

Which holiday themed book do you use to spread the Christmas joy?

The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan

Ahh. I don’t think I have read any holiday themed books. At least if ‘holiday’ here means Christmas. Which means I am going with The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan, which features a hilarious short story which took place in Christmas in Camp Half-Blood. Hey, it’s about nearly dying in agony for several reasons during Christmas, but that’s the least any demigod should expect?

“Sleigh Ride”

Which fictional character would you choose to spend the holidays with (doesn’t have to be a love interest!)?

Nico di Angelo. I just really want him to be happy. Spending holidays with him would be a nice experience without a lot of partying that I won’t enjoy anyway. Maybe we can spend a quiet and peaceful Christmas somewhere that isn’t the underworld. I hope Will won’t mind.

“Baby it’s Cold Outside”

Which book that you didn’t like would you sacrifice to a fire to warm yourself up in the cold?

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Ten Things I Hate About Me can be renamed as Ten Things I Hate About This Book. I have given it a zero stars review (my one and only zero stars review so far!), carved it up and lit it on fire on Halloween, and then called it pointless after the 2016 US Presidential Election. I won’t hesitate from sacrificing it to a fire even if I don’t have to warm myself up.

“Do you hear what I hear”

Which book do you think everyone should read?

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

One book?! Again?! This is really really difficult. I will go with The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan. Although I technically only recommended one book, people would have to read the 10 books preceding it to understand what is happening. Which means I actually made them read 11 books! I’m a genius!

So that was my Christmas Song Book Tag, I’ve done an anime tag as well which can be seen here.

Halloween Book Tag

As it is Halloween soon, I thought I should do my first book tag on this blog. This book tag was created by Naomi TheBookLover. I’ve also done the same tag with anime, which can be seen here.

This book tag is quite difficult for me as I haven’t started reading English books vigorously until well… this year, but I will try my best.

Carving pumpkins – What book would you carve up and light on fire?

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah. I have already done an entire book review on it on how much I didn’t like that book, mostly because of how bad the protagonist is.

Trick or treat – What character is a treat, what character is a trick?

For treat I would have to go with Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series. Powerful, sassy, hilarious, loyal. What’s not to love about Percy?

For trick I would have to go with not one character, but two characters who are practically the same person – Fred and George Wesley from the Harry Potter series. They are the ultimate tricksters of the series and they were who gave me the inspiration to be a bit of a rule-breaker instead of conforming to the authority all the time.

Candy corn – What book is always sweet? 

Again, haven’t started reading English books until recently, and what I read are not normally thought of as “sweet”. Call me weird, but I thought The House of Hades from The Heroes of Olympus series was sweet. The bond between the characters were the most evident in this book throughout the series as this is where they faced their worst moments. I thought the sacrifices they made for each other are a lot sweeter than fluffy romantic scenes.

Ghosts – What character would you love to visit you as a ghost? 

Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series. He was a very misunderstood character and although J.K. Rowling had provided us his back story, I had always hoped that he didn’t die so Harry Potter would have had the chance to understand thank him properly. So it would be great if he can come back as a ghost so he can be treated as the hero he is. I mean he would probably verbally abuse me for bothering him, but that’s what makes him so charming.

Dressing up in costume – What character would you want to be for a day? 

This is a hard one, as there are so many characters I would like to become, from witches to demigods. However, if I can only choose one, I would have to go with Apollo from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. What else is better to be for one day other than a god? And out of all the gods, who gets to drive the sun? Apollo. Who does the world literally goes around? Apollo. Who is getting his own series? Apollo. Who makes terrible haikus? Apollo. Who would totally fall for flattery if someone makes him a terrible haiku? Apollo.

The sun shines brightly

I want to be Apollo

He is so awesome

Wizards and witches – What is your favorite Harry Potter moment? 

There are so many Harry Potter moment I love. However, I have to choose when Hermione punched Draco in the face in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. On top of being a total badass (girl power!), I love how Hermione didn’t use her wand like a witch but instead taught the Muggle-hating Draco a lesson the Muggle way. Take it Draco!

Blood and gore – What book was so creepy that you had to take a break from it for a while? 

Again, I haven’t read a lot of English books, much less horror books. I tend to avoid any Stephen King books because I know they will keep me up at night. However, if there is one book that I found creepy enough that I had to put down, it would be The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl. I often find the children books are the one that tend to be creepy. I would have chosen a fairy tale for this question had I not read those in Chinese instead of English. In The Magic Finger, the part where a whole family becoming ducks while a bunch of wild ducks taking up their home had gave me nightmares as a child.