Thursday, July 14, 2016

By The Book Tag

Good day, all! I'm here to do the By The Book Tag, which I was tagged for by the lovely Raechel @ God's Peculiar Treasure Rae. Thank you, Raechel! ^_^

So without further ado . . .

What book is on your nightstand now?

Honor Redeemed by Christine Johnson. It's the second book in the KEYS OF PROMISE series, and I'm just thrilled to be reading a review copy from Revell!


What was the last truly great book you read?

I finished Valiant by Sarah McGuire about a week ago, and it was splendid! A retelling of The Brave Little Tailor ... clean, adventurous fairy tale!


And I know I've already mentioned Waking Rose by Regina Doman like a hundred times in the past couple weeks, but that was truly a great book. ^_^


If you could meet any writer – dead or alive – who would it be? And what would you want to know?

Goodness, do you really want me to name them all?? It would give me immense pleasure to meet Jaye L. Knight and Tricia Mingerink, both authors of Christian fantasy, because they've been such great online friends and writer mentors ... and I LOVE their books!

Nadine Brandes!!! Just because, I'm part of her ninja team and I love her, and love her books, and ... yes! ^_^

Yet-to-be-published writers ... I must meet Deborah O'Carroll someday! She's just a darling and very wonderful online friend! And Amanda Beguerie, Hannah Williams, & Raechel (who tagged me)!! And Hannah Rhodes!!! <3 And a host of others! :D

Also, Melanie Dickerson, because I think we have a lot of the same likes/thoughts - she said I was a kindred spirit after reading my review for her book, The Golden Braid. :)

Sarah Sundin, Laura Frantz, R.J. Larson, Anne Elisabeth Stengl, ... you know, just to chat, fangirl a little, get my books of theirs autographed and all that! :D

What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?

Um ... I don't know? Some of the Sisterchicks series by Robin Jones Gunn? I usually don't read much for contemporary-fiction, but I read one of these books, and they're really humorous and light. :)


How do you organize your personal library?

I rearrange it often, so it depends ... But right now, I have it organized into genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling, Historical, Contemporary, Dystopian, and lastly, Christian Living/Self-Help. Each genre is organized in alphabetical order by author's last name. I've been quite pleased with this arrangement.

What book have you always meant to read and haven’t gotten around yet?

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm going to give it a try sometime!!


Anything you feel embarrassed never to have read?

Not really. I don't need anyone telling me what to read. I know what I like! :)

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you are supposed to like but didn’t?

I don't know. There's definitely some books I don't like, but it's probably not because they're not good, and just because they're not my kind of book.

Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

Luther and Katharina by Jody Hedlund. Yeah ... not my kind of book. It infuriated me to no end. And some of the romance content I really don't prefer to read. This is one of those authors I will probably just stick to their YA books.

What kind of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?

Fantasy, fairy tale-ish-ness! Deep, real, soul-stirring stories of faith & journeying to God's heart. Novels that explore relationships between father and daughter, mother and daughter, brother and sister, and friends are favorites for me. Rich historical, regardless of the era, captivates me. I adore a sweet romance.

My reads need to be clean! It can't have swearing in it (if there's just one or two minor ones, I'll black them out with a marker). No dark magic/witchcraft being portrayed as good. I don't like when romances get too focused on the physical, detailed, or sensual. There are quite a few Christian author I've chosen to no longer read by, or I just read their YA novels.

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

Going with Raechel's answer: the Bible! Great answer! After all, I believe it was our first president, George Washington, who said it's impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible!

What do you plan to read next?

Most likely To Love a Stranger by Colleen Coble, which is my next review book! :)


I TAG ...



Deborah O'Carroll @ The Page Dreamer

Christine @ Musings of an Elf

13 comments:

  1. Awww, I totally squealed when I seen the "Yet to be published" thing!! *squeals* That made me so happy! *grins*

    Oh, oh, and thank you for the tag!!! *is excited* I really had wanted to this when I first seen it too! Hopefully I'll get to doing it soon!

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    1. *big smiles* Some day all of us writers need to get together and talk in real life about books, our stories, and everything else!!!!! :D <3

      And you're welcome for the tag, Hannah! I hope you can do it soon so I can read your answers! :) :) It's a fairly quick, enjoyable tag ... hope you have fun!

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    1. Thank you, Sarah! You should do it and leave a link to your post!! ;) :) It was quite fun!

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  3. This was so fun to read! Looks like the questions are awesome too... :D Thanks for tagging me! ^_^

    And aaaww, you sweet thing! <3 I'd love to meet you as well!! That would be the best. :)

    I like how you organize your books by genre -- that's awesome. :D

    *happy squeal* I LOVE The Hobbit. :)

    The Bible would be a good idea... though just because someone reads something, doesn't mean they'd abide by it. :-/

    Ack, To Love a Stranger has a BEAUTIFUL cover! O_O So pwetty. :)

    This was fun! Thank you again for tagging me! ^_^ I'll have to do it sometime because it looks awesome. :D

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  4. Aaaand I couldn't resist doing it right away. ;) Here's my post: https://thepagedreamer.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/by-the-book-tag/ Thanks again! :)

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    1. You're welcome, Deborah! It is a really fun post! :)

      *hugs* Someday we'll have to meet each other in person!!! <3 Maybe a writer's conference? I really want to go to one sometime. It would be the best! ^_^

      Yes, it's been the organizing system I've liked best so far!

      Ah, I've had so many people tell me I need to read The Hobbit! I really want to!! But at the same time, I'm intimidated because it's so ... big and was written a long time ago and all that. Maybe if I find a copy for cheap at a book sale or something, I'll be more inclined to read it soon! :)

      That is true! Lots of people read the Bible but don't put any of what they read into action. :(

      Doesn't it?? I haven't read by Colleen Coble for a long time, but when I saw that cover, I was like, YES. I MUST GET THIS BOOK. XD Haha. It was a review book from BookLook Bloggers, I think. I'm excited to read it! And keep swooning over it's cover. :D

      Eee, you did it! Yay! I shall have to swoop on over and comment on your post sometime! :) :)

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  5. Thanks for doing it, Shantelle! I loved reading your list - and thank you for including me in that "Yet to Be Published" section!! That just made my day!. <3 Would love to meet you too!

    Annnd now I want to read "Valiant".... :D

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    1. Yes, thanks for tagging me, Raechel! It was a delight! ^_^ Aw, so glad you enjoyed it! And of course! It would be sooo fun to meet someday!! :) :) <3

      Valiant was really good! You totally should read it! :D

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  6. Oooh, this was so fun to read! All the fun bookish things! :D

    I couldn't help but smile at your answer to which authors you'd like to meet. I'm with you, I just want to meet EVERYBODY. Anne Elisabeth Stengl is definitely on my list. And I HAVE met Deborah O'Carroll which was like, one of the greatest things EVER.

    I love how you organize your books. What a wonderful system!

    Oh, girl, you NEED to read The Hobbit sometime. It's soooo fun! It's pretty much my favorite book. *huggles it*

    I love fantasy and fairytale stories toooo. They're my fave! ^_^

    Thank you so very much for tagging me. I'm honored!!

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    1. Thanks, Christine; so glad it was! :)

      :D Yes, so many awesome people we need to meet!!! We should just plan a big writer/reader/fangirl party ... ;) EEP! I'm envious! (hehe) I'm sure it was SO COOL for you and Deborah to meet in person!! ^_^ It always makes me EXTREMELY happy to see that online friends met for real at last! :D

      Why thank you! It has been my favorite organizing system thus far! :)

      I know, I need to!! I love fantasy, so I should just get The Hobbit from somewhere and start reading! Love Bilbo Baggins in the movies anyway! ^_^

      Something about those two genres ... Just make my heart happy! :)

      You're welcome! If you're unable to do it, I understand; but if you do, I'll definitely be hopping over to read your post! :D

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  7. Hi Shantelle! I tagged you for the Daily Quote Challenge! ^-^
    https://onesparrowssong.wordpress.com/2016/07/20/daily-quote-challenge-day-2/

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    1. Thank you for the tag, Sierra!! ^_^ I'm planning to do all the things I've been tagged for once my Hidden Gems blog series is over! :)

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