This is one of the many “tag” posts I found months ago that I saved for when I had more time.

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I found this on Callum McLaughlin’s blog a while ago and put it aside to do later.  It’s currently later, and I’m excited to finally do this tag.  Like Callum, I encourage anyone to add me as a friend on Goodreads!

Let’s get to it.

• What was the last book you marked as “read?”

The Red Rose by Fia Black from the Submissive Beth Mysteries.

This book and the one before it got me into the mystery genre, something I need to do since I want to write in it at some point.  It also has the extra bonus of portraying the BDSM scene a lot better than some more well known series out there.

• What are you currently reading?

Four books right now:

• Sigil by Aidan J. Reid (who’s another blogger I follow)- murder mystery in a small Irish town is investigated by Father Regan, the local priest.
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – the young protagonist delves deep into his grandfather’s strange past and discovers what he thought were made stories are more than true.
• The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune – comprehensive study of Qabalism by the premier western occultist
• The Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton – collected compendium of Welsh mythology.

Since I discovered that I could easily fit some Kindle pages in during lunchtime at my job, I’ve added an additional book to my reading trio.  Oddly enough, now that I’m on my vacation I’m reading less of Sigil than I was during work.

• What was the last book you marked as “To Read?”

Chasing Embers by James Bennett.

I add an average of five books every week to my TBR list, but I’m trying to cut down since I’m over 550 books.  This one was one of two novels I threw on there that had to do with dragons, plus it came with a good review/recommendation.

• What book(s) do you plan to read next?

My goal prior to adding a fourth Kindle title was to read a fiction/fantasy, a reference, and a classic.  I intend to keep up this pattern, but I’m not sure what my next fiction/fantasy is going to be.  It’ll probably be one of the books I have on my physical book shelf to maybe The Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas or The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold.  The next reference will be The Poetic Edda, and the next classic might be something by Shakespeare or Beowulf.  I plan on reading Hunting for Spring by my friend and fellow blogger Katherine McIntyre after I finish Sigil on my Kindle.

• Do you use the star rating system?

I do use the star rating system, but I wish Goodreads and other sites had a way to give half stars.  My rating system usually goes as follows:

5 – I loved it and any potential issues were well overridden by the strength and majesty of the story.
4 – I really liked it, but there may have been a minor detail that kept it from being five stars
3 – I thought it was okay and/or there were some issues with it
2 – I didn’t like it and/or the issues were egregious
1 – I hated it and/or the issues were beyond egregious to the point of perpetuating harmful motifs

I don’t like to give a star rating without a review especially if I’m rating on the lower end.  I don’t believe in being mean in critiques either.  If I say something less than stellar, it’s because I’m trying to give honest feedback.

• Are you doing a 2016 Reading Challenge?

Yes, I challenged myself to read 20 books this year.  I’ve read 13 so far.  If I finish up the four I’m reading, that will leave just 3.  It’s starting to get down to crunch time, and I really don’t want to fail this.

• Do you have a wishlist?

Anything on my TBR list is fair game and I should really update my Amazon wishlist hehe.  I would really love a copy of Promethea though (something that’s already on my Amazon WL), and I’d also love some insight on the best version of the Sepher Yetzirah.

• What book do you plan to buy next?

The Winds of Winter by George R R Martin the instant it comes out.  I also want to buy The Ghost of Buxton Manor by Jonathon L. Ferrara who is another lovely blogger friend.  I’m awaiting the release of this, too.  I was making monthly trips to Barnes and Noble so that I can support a brick and mortar brick store, though I do wish it were an independent/smaller one.  Really the next books I pick up all depend on what I can find at the time.

• Do you have any favorite quotes?  Would you like to share a few?

I have a ton of favorite quotes.  The first one is my email signature that became even more poignant in these past two weeks:

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

There are quite a few from George R R Martin:

“War makes monsters of us all.”

“It all goes back and back,” Tyrion thought, “to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads.”

Then John Green:

“Grief does not change you, Hazel.  It reveals you.”

“The only way out of a labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.”

This only a small spattering of quotes I love.  The rest can be found here if you’re interested.

• Who are your favorite authors?

George R R Martin is my favorite author of my favorite series A Song of Ice and Fire.  Then there’s Phillip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy, and of course I adore Anne Rice.  JK Rowling is up there as is Peter S Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn. 

• Have you joined any groups?

I think I’m in this group with people from the blog I used to write for.  Ah yes, I still am.  Caffeine Crew Reads.  Unfortunately, none of us have time anymore to keep up with that and our own respective blogs.

• How many shelves do you have on Goodreads?

So all, read, currently-reading, and to-read are the standard four everyone has.  I have 15 more shelves besides those so 19 in total.  Two of them are exclusive: favorites and reviewed, but I mostly have them split up based on how I read at least three types of books at a time.

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There you have it!  Please feel free to do this yourself if you’re so inclined, and please tag me so I can see your answers and go through your Goodreads shelves 🙂