Strictly Book Tag

This little nerd hasn’t done a book tag in quite awhile so I thought it was about time to get tagging. The Strictly Book Tag was created by Stephen Writes and even though I don’t watch Strictly, this looked like a lot of fun. So without further ado, let’s dance!

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Waltz – A Book With An Elegant And Graceful Writing Style

Everything that Toni Morrison wrote was beautiful and moving. In my opinion, she is one of the most incredible writers of any generation and her death is a massive loss to the literary world. While not her most popular book, my favorite of hers is The Bluest Eye. This was a heartbreaking tale and Morrison’s lyrical writing style is mesmerizing. For an added bonus, listen to the audiobooks she narrates herself. They’re absolute treasures.

Cha Cha Cha – An Outstanding Trilogy

There’s a reason The Broken Earth trilogy won the Hugo Award for Best Novel three years running. The world building was staggeringly powerful (and not just because of the earthquakes). I still haven’t finished the third book, but if the first two are anything to go by, it’ll be just as phenomenal.

Quickstep – A Book That Has A Very Fast Pace From Beginning To End

Like many reviewers before me have said, reading Leviathan Wakes is as close to reading a Hollywood blockbuster in book form as you can get. It’s non-stop space action that will keep you riveted page after page. I absolutely adore this series, the characters, and the world building. The TV adaptation does it major justice as well.

If you haven’t read these books, do yourself a favor and pick Leviathan Wakes up. I promise you that once you start it, you won’t stop.

Paso Doble – A Book With Striking Cover Art

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock has received a lot of mixed reviews, but I liked it. Sure, there were some plot issues and some odd character development here and there, but overall it was a great piece of historical fiction. And that cover. I could stare at it all day.

Viennese Waltz – A Book With Lots Of Twists and Turns

Part of the reason The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was so twisty for me is I had no idea what it was about. I kept seeing people raving about it so I started it without reading the synopsis. Let me tell you, I was more than surprised once I realized the plot of the book. The twists kept coming and even though I’m still not 100% sure what was going on, I really enjoyed it.

Tango – A Book With An Intensely Gripping Plot

I will never not find a way to talk about The Martian and how much I love it. Regular readers of my blog are probably sick of me finding ways to bring up Andy Weir’s stunning book, but sorry guys- it’s going to keep happening.

This science-fiction novel was heart poundingly claustrophobic. I was often holding my breath as I followed the trials of the affable Mark Watney as he tried to survive stranded on Mars. The book was full of ingenius science and a lot of humor to boot, too. There is literally nothing negative that could ever be said about this book- it’s perfect.

Also, I don’t hate the Matt Damon movie adaptation.

Rumba – A Book That You Have A Strong Emotional Connection With

This will be short because I honestly can’t talk about this book without getting choked up. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but once I did my heart belonged to the incredible characters within The Book Thief. One of these days I’ll try watching the movie, but as it stands I saw a trailer for it on a movie channel a few months ago and burst into tears so I’ll probably wait a little while longer.

Samba – A Book That Made You Smile And Feel Cheerful

During a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, this book popped up on my suggestions and I’m so glad it did. It was HILARIOUS. Space Team was a delightfully bizarre interstellar romp that actually had me laughing out loud. I can’t wait to read more space books in this space series! (you’ll get the reference once you read the book, which you should go do right now)

Charleston – A Book Set In The 1920s

The Diviners series is the bees knees! Atmospheric, gripping, and often quite funny, these books are a blast. I’ve only read the first two but I seriously enjoyed them.

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The book tag ended here but left a few prompts for future taggers to come up with their own twists. Here are the ones I came up with but feel free to give me better ideas if you think of some!

Salsa – A Book Set in Cuba

It’s hard to think of Ernest Hemingway and not think of Cuba as well. In 1940, he and his wife purchased a home near Havana, Cuba. He soon became a common sight for locals and continued living there long after relations between Cuba and the United States turned sour. He spent his time there fishing, writing, and even war reporting.
To Have and Have Not takes is about an American man who, faced with no other economic options, begins running black market trade between the US and Cuba aboard his fishing boat.

Argentine Tango – A Book Set in South America (bonus points if it’s from Argentina!)

Even though I don’t agree with the cult reverence of Che Guevara, I can admit that this was a thoughtful and interesting book. The movie adaptation with one of my favorite actors, Gael García Bernal, was a good watch as well.

Jive – A Book About WWII

The Jive was a lively dance born out of swing dancing and the jitterbug. It was brought to Europe in the early 1940’s by American soldiers and it became an instant dance craze. So I thought I should pick a book about WWII that features American soldiers in Europe! Slaughterhouse-Five is a classic and is half the reason why I ended up visiting Dresden the first time I went to Europe.

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Stephen had a couple more dance suggestions but my creative juices weren’t flowing enough to come up with anything. So I will leave these two dances in your capable hands: Foxtrot & American Smooth. If you come up with book ideas for these or if you do the tag, be sure to link back to me so I can see your answers!

Jump, jive, and wail, y’all!