A rainbow of books.

Over the past couple of months, I've started watching book-related videos on YouTube...I think these people call themselves "BookTubers." Anyway, I love books and I love watching people talk about books. I like to know what people like or dislike about the books they read, and I love seeing bookshelf tours. If I wasn't so incredibly camera-shy and one of the most awkward people in the universe, making bookish videos is something I would totally do. :)

In case you're wondering, some of my favorites right now are: Books and Quills, Get Bookish, and Bookables. It's not like I read a ton of the same books as these girls or agree with everything they say. It's just that they're just entertaining to watch and I enjoy hearing them talk about books. :) By the way, if you watch these kinds of videos, too, leave me your recommendations for other bookish channels!

I've been seeing a lot of awesome tags lately in these videos, and I've often thought what a shame it is that I can't participate because I don't make videos. But then it hit me...you have a blog, goober! So I decided to do my favorite tags in written form. :)

Up first was the Rainbow Spines tag. (I can't remember which BookTuber that I watch did this tag, but lots of people have.) Basically, you go through your books and pick out seven that make a rainbow with the colors on their spines. Roy G. Biv, remember? :) By the way, I might have messed up a bit with the indigo and violet thing. Oh, well.

I know, there's no real point to this. It's just fun. And it gives you an excuse to look at your pretty books! Here's my rainbow:

Mary Poppins, by P.L. Travers. I love this book. Book Mary Poppins is almost nothing like Disney Mary Poppins. The original nanny is quite snarky and conceited and she gets cross with the children often. :) I read this first one a couple of years ago, and I own the second and third but haven't read them yet. This book is incredibly charming in the way that only English children's books can be. And the best part is that they rereleased them to look the originals...small hardcovers with lovely colored dust jackets and the original illustrations.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry. This was the first dystopian book I ever read. :) Earlier this year I reread it, along with the rest of the series: Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. I love this entire series...Son was the recently released finale to the quartet and it was a perfect conclusion.

The Casual Vacancy, or One of the Biggest Book Disappointments of My Entire Life, by J.K. Rowling. Yes, I think that should be the subtitle. This book sounded promising, and of course it's by the author of the Harry Potter series, which are among my most favorite books ever. But...no. It's too long and depressing and full of unlikeable characters and awful language and inappropriate situations. If this book had not been by J.K. Rowling, I wouldn't have finished it. Also, I preordered it new from Amazon and I want my $20 back! That's all.

Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell. First of all, I love these Penguin clothbound classics. They're all gorgeous. I blame Penguin when I end up with multiple copies of books, because they're always releasing classics with different lovely covers. {The only bad thing about these covers is that the design tends to get damaged and start to peel off really easily.} Cranford was the first Gaskell book I read, and while I liked it, I didn't find it quite as entertaining as the BBC adaptation. :) Same thing with North and South.

Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. This book got a lot of buzz, and I wanted to read it for a long time before I finally got my hands on it. It's about a boy named Auggie who was born with a facial deformity. He is just starting public school for the first time, and the story is basically about how the people around him react to and treat him. It was really good, but not quite the amazing 5 star quality it had been pumped up to be.

Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. These Puffin hardcover editions are sort of like the children's book versions of the above mentioned Penguin clothbound books. They are so charming. Just look at it! During my recent visit at the bargain outlet, I also found these editions of Black Beauty and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and got my mom to get them for me for Christmas. :) {If I came across more, I would snatch them up in a heartbeat...especially Robin Hood, The Wind in the Willows- my copy of that is very ugly, The Wizard of Oz, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.} I've only read Peter Pan once, several years ago, but I loved it and I'm definitely due a reread. And yeah...thanks to Puffin, I own two copies now.

The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. I bought this edition (the dust jacket was ugly and I think I threw it away years ago *ahem*) probably at least ten or fifteen years ago. I was a kid when I bought it at Goodwill. I've never actually read it all the way through...

Feel free to make a rainbow from some of your books and post about it! And if you do, be sure to leave me a link in the comments. :)

Until next time,