The Chinese New Year Book Tag

Thanks to Priyasha who tagged me to do this, it was a lot of fun to do!

The Rules

1.  Answer the questions and share your zodiac animal (Only if you’re comfortable with it! If you don’t know, you can look it up online based on your birth year!)

2. Pingback to the creator of the tag (hammockofbooks) and whoever tagged you so we can read your responses!

3. Tag some of your friends! (But not four because that’s unlucky!)

1. New Year | A book with a phenomenal beginning

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Whoever saw this coming, I’ve got to cheer for you. That aside, I could not just resist “It was a dark and stormy night”, a saying drilled into my head by the Peanuts comics. Besides, I find it thrilling to have it being a dark and stormy night where a quirky and weird old woman pays you a visit and talks about tesseracts.

2. Chinese New Year | A book by an Asian author

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. I definitely need to read more English books written by Asian authors, because currently I only have one or two on my list. I’m thinking of reading some Haruki Murakami, starting with Norwegian Wood and Kafka by the Shore. I’m thinking of reading more books in Mandarin as well.

3. Lunar New Year | A book that takes place in space

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This classic is one I simply love and have to keep revisiting. It just holds so much meaning which would not, I think, be as easy to interpret as expected. Perhaps it is because “what is essential is invisible to the eye,” as the Fox wisely says to our innocent protagonist.

5. Zodiac/Year of the Pig | An animal sidekick

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Technically the dæmons are not animal sidekicks, and they’re part of the human they belong to (or the human belongs to them). I love the dæmons that appear in the books, and the whole concept of dæmons are simply fantastic.

6. Lucky Color Red | A book with a red cover

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin. Much though I thought A Song of Ice and Fire was too dense and was too lavish in detail, I have to admit I still want to know how it all ends and what happens in order to get to the end. I don’t particularly remember what exactly happened in A Feast for Crows, but I think it had to something to do with a lot of battles and killings (this description being written at my most vague and random. Of course there are many killings because this is a Game of Thrones book).

7. Firecrackers | A book exploding with action

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. Where Six of Crows was intriguing and was already full of action and excitement, Crooked Kingdom brought it to a whole different level. It was simply bursting with action, but it wasn’t overwhelming, which makes it all for the better, and much more fabulous.

8. Red Envelopes | A book you can’t wait to open

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. I remember reading a simplified version when I was younger. It was ridiculous and fun, from what I remember. Hopefully this time around, when I finally get to reading it, it will prove to be as amazing as I remembered.

9. Delicious Food | A book that made you so hungry

The Food of Love Cookery School by Nicky Pellegrino. The amount of detail that went into describing the food was awesome. The mentions of food could go on for pages and pages, but never felt forced. Instead, it was a good case of activating one’s appetite! (If an appetite can be activated, that is)

10. Gathering with Family | An amazing fictional family

The Endless in Neil Gaiman‘s The Sandman. The Endless consists of seven siblings (Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium) who embody a few of the natural functions of the universe. As described by Destruction, “The Endless are merely patterns. The Endless are ideas. The Endless are wave functions. The Endless are repeating motifs. The Endless are echoes of darkness, and nothing more…”

By now, the most part of Chinese New Year would have past, which does make things a little weird so I’m going to break a rule and not tag anyone unless, of course, you want to do it. If you do, please let me know, I’d love to read your answers!