The Harry Potter Tag

I was tagged by the lovely (and Harry Potter mad!) Emily @ The Paperback Princess.

Right, here we go then:




Flagrate - Writing Charm 

A book you found the theme interesting but you'd like to rewrite:



Urm... let's see... ooh! I know!

I'm going to go with These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly (UK - US), just because in places I found the prose slow and restrictive (which, in fairness, reflected the character's situation very well, but made for slow reading.)

(You can read my review of These Shallow Graves here.)

Alohomora - Unlocking Charm 

A series where the first book made you hooked:



For this one, I'm going to say The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (UK - US) because it started a love affair with A Series of Fortunate Events that had me buying the new one whenever it came out :)

I loved these books as a kid (and still do!)

Accio - Summoning Charm

A book you wish you could have right now:



The Fireman by Joe Hill (UK - US) - dudes I need this book! I had a preview and it's so so so so so so GOOD!

I need to read the rest of it; I'm a Joe Hill junkie and I need my fix dammit!

Avada Kedavra - Killing Curse 

A killer book:


I'm not sure what's meant by 'killer' here, so I'm going with a book that killed me with feels:

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult (UK - US) has so many the feels! It's like 'NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE NOW, THAT'S ENOUGH! STOP IT!'

...or something like that, anyway ;)

(You can read my review of Salem Falls here.)

Confundo - Confusing Charm 

A book that you find very confusing:



Golem by Lorenzo Ceccotti (LRNZ) (UK - US) - an exceptionally beautiful graphic novel... but I still have no freaking idea what was going on.

(You can read my review of Golem here.)

Expecto Patronum - Patronus Charm 

Your animal sigil* book:


*The original wording for this category was 'your spirit animal book.' But I'm aware that many Native Americans find the use of the phrase by non-native-peoples offensive.

Doubtless, I've used this phrase before myself, as I wasn't aware it was problematic, and if I find any instances where I have used it, I'm going to remove them. I just feel like I don't know enough about the culture to use this phrase correctly, so I'm not going to use it at all.


In terms of this tag-category, I'm going to interpret the 'patronus charm' as a personal sigil or emblem (or, in this case, a book) which symbolises an aspect of the bearer.

Righty-o, I'm gonna throw you lot a curveball here (Bookish Rebel and all that) and go with Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's Umbrella Academy series of graphic novels (Vol 1: UK - US)... because it's just me all over.

There's a girl who's part-violin. The mental hospital is called Shinyview. There are vampires in the Vietnam war in the second volume (Vol 2: UK - US.)

As The Bestie assured me: 'Gerard Way is officially in your head!' (You can always count on your Bestie to believe in the catastrophic levels of your randomness.)

Sectumsempra - Dark Charm 

A dark, twisted book:



Right... I read a lot of dark and twisted books. (I'm kind of a goth at heart. (Yes, a goth-punk nerdgirl, it happens dammit!))

So... which one to pick...

Right! I'm going to go with The Crow by James O'Barr (UK - US.)

The Crow is a darkly beautiful book. It's blood and pain and love in book form. It takes the darkness and makes it somehow awfully beautiful, and beautifully awful.

I met James O'Barr at a Con a few years ago.

It's one of the best moments of my life, in honesty. He's a very dark person - but a very beautiful one, all the same. And I have a pic with him, me, and The Bestie, which is one of my most prized possessions.

Aparecium - Revealing Charm 

A book that surprised you in a good way:


Straight James/Gay James by James Franco (UK - US) - somehow, James Franco, that uber-skilled filmmaking human bean, can also write AMAZING POETRY.

I mean, how is that even possible?!?!?!

(You can check out my review of Straight James/Gay James here.)




I'm not going to tag anyone - do it if you want to!

Like this post? Try these:

• Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag
• The Diverse Books Tag