Bookish Smash or Pass Tag

Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. I haven’t done a tag in a while, so I thought it would be a good time to do one. This is the Bookish Smash or Pass Tag! It was created by Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog and I was tagged by Jan @ Inkspun Tales. Thank you, Jan!

Bookish Tropes

SMASH – Only for tropes I like. And they have to be written well! Some my favorite tropes that will immediately get me interested in a book are found family, enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, and morally grey characters.

Alternating POV

SMASH – If they’re written well. I’ve read some books where the alternating POVs sounded the same and it was hard to differentiate who was narrating. That just made it confusing. But in general, multiple POVs are fun. We’re able to get to know more of the characters more in-depthly.

Ambiguous Ending

SMASH-ish – Ambiguous endings are okay in some books, but they can’t be too vague and they have to be written well. It’s sometimes nice to have an ambiguous ending, so you can envision the characters in a certain situation afterwards.

Nonfiction

SMASH/PASS – I’m saying both for this one because I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, but I do like it and would pick up a nonfiction book if one interested me. Memoirs are always fascinating. Nonfiction isn’t a genre that I’m dying to get into more, but I wouldn’t mind it if I picked up a nonfiction book on occasion more.

Historical Settings

SMASH – Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, I will take a historical setting anytime. I think the time period I’ve read the most from is WWII/Holocaust. A lot of books are written during that time period.

Morally Grey Characters

SMASH – There is no other way to answer this question. If you don’t like morally grey characters . . . well then, you are missing out on a lot.

First Person POV

SMASH – Most of the books I read are in first person POV. I don’t know if I prefer it to third person, but there’s something about first person that makes you feel more connected with the main character. The first person narration really makes you feel as if you’re in the action and not just on the sidelines watching the main character.

Audiobooks

SMASH – I don’t listen to audiobooks to often, but when I do, I enjoy them a lot. There are some times when a reader hasn’t been the best, but I typically listen to a sample of the narrator beforehand, so I can see if I like it or not. I only really listen to audiobooks in the car, on load trips, so they aren’t something I use regularly.

Re-Reading

SMASH – I don’t really reread books that much, I just have way too many other books to get to, but when I do get the chance to reread a book, it’s so good. I’m planning to do a huge PJO reread at some point of all the books: the first series and Heroes of Olympus and probably Trials of Apollo as well. Rick Riordan is coming out with some new books and I need to remember what happened in the previous ones.

Classic Novels

PASS – I haven’t read that many classic novels and I don’t have too big of an interest in reading them at the moment. The ones I have read are Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Many of the classic novels were written in old English, like Pride and Prejudice, which makes it more difficult to get through. I’ve had excerpts of Pride and Prejudice on tests before and it was not easy to understand. So maybe when I get older, I’ll pick up some more classics, but for know, it’s a pass.

Annotating

PASS – I’m not one who likes to write in books or annotate in general. It always feels too much like school to me. It disrupts the flow of reading, in my opinion. I will mark down good quotes I find, though.

Cracking Book Spines

PASS – I know, this is what books are supposed to do and I have cracked book spines. But it doesn’t mean I have to like them. I get really annoyed when books get cracked spines because I think it looks bad. I haven’t had a problem with cracked spines in a while, which is a bit surprising because I’ve mostly been reading paperbacks.

Smut

PASS – I don’t read the romance genre much and don’t really have an interest in diving deeper into it. I’ve read some romance books (and YA fantasy has lots of romance), but none of them get too deep into the physical aspects. Like Jan said, I like the days beforehand better: the tension and pining.

Character Driven Books

SMASH – Character driven books are the best! I love a good character arc; seeing them grow and change over the course of the story makes them become so much more alive. This is also how characters end up breaking my heart, but that’s kind of the point sometimes, right?

Past/Present Split Timeline

SMASH – I haven’t read that many books that have a split timeline, but they sound really cool. I’ve read books where they do them periodically, but not a fully split timeline. If anyone has any recommendations for books that do have a split timeline, do tell me.

Heavy World Building

SMASH – I am all for heavy world building, as long as it’s not info dumpy, heavy world building. I love to immerse myself in a high fantasy novel, but not when they’re going to give me a ton of information at once. It can get boring, even if the world is interesting.

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I Tag:

• Suhani @ Random Reader’s Rambles
• Min @ Min’s Archives
• Saima @ Stories with Saima

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Would you smash or pass any of these?