The Christmas Stocking tag

Two years ago during Blogmas, I created my own original tag: the Christmas Stocking tag.

The tag is all about things you’d find in a Christmas stocking and books of course!

Rules

Link to the person who tagged you
Link to me, as I’d love to read your answers
Answer all 10 questions, choosing books for each theme
Tag five people to do this

You get up on Christmas morning and your stocking is full! You take it down and start to unwrap the treats inside. The first thing you see is…

An orange! Which book is refreshing and vibrant, both inside and out?

This book was so refreshing for me personally because I’ve never really been a big gamer, but I got SO into the video game scenes in this book. Learning about the world of the game and how everything worked was really fun and that made this a really memorable book for me. I also think the cover is fantastic and really matches the themes of the story well.

The next thing you see is a bag of chocolate coins. (Yum) Which book have you recently bought that was a little expensive, but totally worth the price?

I recently treated myself to the Illumicrate editions of The Poppy War trilogy and they were slightly more expensive than standard hardbacks, but completely worth it.

All three books had sprayed edges, signed end pages, and dust jacket art. They also came with a stunning print, pin, and metal bookmark, so I definitely think the set was worth the price.

You also pull out a bath bomb. Tell us about a book that had explosive action scenes.

Book cover for The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang

It’s no secret that I love this series (probably because I talk about ALL THE TIME), but the second book in the Tensorate series had some of the best action scenes I’ve read in 2020. They were exciting, tense, and made me fear for my favourites,

Next is a pack of playing cards. Which series won you over?

I’m cheating a little bit with my own question here because although Forest of Souls is a series, it’s the first book in the series. So technically the full series didn’t win me over, but this book did with it’s dramatic ending.

I wasn’t fully sold on the plot or characters, but then I read the climactic final chapters and that convinced me to pick up the sequel.

You also get a candle. Which character is a symbol of hope in their story?

When I read Furia, I felt like Camila was a symbol of hope for her soccer team. She’s one of their star players and they have hopes that she’ll lead them to victory in national competitions. As the story progresses, she begins to believe in herself more and more and become her own symbol of hope too.

There are socks inside too. Is there a book that you think really encompasses all the distinctive tropes of its genre?

I finally read The City of Brass in 2020 and really enjoyed it. It felt like a modern, exciting fantasy that included a lot of typical fantasy tropes without seeming overdone or repetitive.

There’s the classic quest trope, the ‘arriving in a new world/new city and everything is different’ trope, the chosen one, hints of a love triangle, enemies-to-lovers, and newly discovered magic. So this book really encompasses a lot of the tropes you’d expect to find in fantasy, but it does it in a fresh, intriguing way.

There’s also a notebook. Which author’s writing process do you find most interesting/inspiring?

Book cover for The Empress of Salt and Fortune

I only discovered Nghi Vo’s work this year but I absolutely love their writing. Their style is beautiful, lyrical and expressive all at once, and I get sucked into their world-building instantly. I read The Empress of Salt and Fortune in spring, then recently read When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain in winter and I loved both novellas.

I was already excited for The Chosen and the Beautiful, but having read the second book in the Singing Hills cycle recently I’m looking forward to it even more.

To go with the notebook, there’s a fancy pen. Is there a book or a series that you’d change if you’d written it yourself?

Cover for The Revolutionary and the Rogue

I would change quite a lot of The Revolutionary and the Rogue if I could rewrite it because some of the plot just didn’t make sense and the dialogue wasn’t cohesive. So, yeah I’d probably rewrite most of this book.

There’s also a small bedside clock. Which book took you a long time to pick up but was worth it in the end?

I’ve had a copy of An Ember in the Ashes for a couple of years now, and I finally picked it up in spring 2020. And it was 100% worth the wait. I loved the world-building, characters, and action scenes and I’m really enjoying the series (I’ve now ready book 2).

Your pile is getting really big. You reach in to pull out the last gift and it’s… a lump of coal? You’re a little disappointed. But you look closer and realise there’s a seam running through the coal. You crack it open and sitting inside is a tiny golden gem. Tell us about a book that surprised you in some way.

(Note: This question originally contained a reference to HP, but I no longer want to support JK Rowling after she expressed transphobic comments and views, so I’ve updated the question to remove the reference.)

Cover for A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

I knew I would enjoy this book going into it, but I was still surprised by how lovely and wholesome it was. The main characters were likable and the romance was so soft. The main group of characters had a great friendship dynamic too.

That’s it for this tag. All that’s left to do is actually tag some people.

I’m tagging:

Alison @AntariReads

Sarah @SarahWithersBlogs

Amy @AmyJaneAlice

Hollie @Hollieblog

Kirsty @KirstyReadsBlog

Do you celebrate Christmas? Have you read any of these books?