The Bookish Bucket List Tag

It’s time for another tag…but not just any tag. Today, I’m doing a tag that I came up with called The Bookish Bucket List Tag. It has ten questions/prompts that are aimed towards both readers and writers. I hope you like it!

The Rules:

• Link to the creator in your post (Madison’s Inkwell)
• Link to the person who tagged you
• Tag as many people you want
• Have fun!

1. What books or series that intimidate you (because of length, density, subject) would feel like an accomplishment to finish? 

Most of my answers for this are classics. They’re intimidating because they’re so long and the writing style can be laborious and dense but I still love reading them. The first that comes to mind right now is War and Peace. Perhaps a bit of a cliche choice, but it’s over 1200 pages on Napoleon invading Russia. If that doesn’t sound slow and formidable, I don’t know what does. I am looking forward to reading it someday, though. I enjoyed Anna Karenina by Tolstoy quite a bit. Another intimidating read would be Les Mis.

2. What author would you like to coauthor a book with?

Laini Taylor because I’m currently obsessed with her beautiful writing and strange, unique ideas. Also, Sarah J. Maas because that woman can think up intricate plots and twists and turns like nobody’s business.

3. If you could interview any author for your blog, who would it be? What’s one question you would ask?

Madeline Miller. I’ve only read one book of hers, Circe, but I adore it, as you may know since I mention it all the time. I loved her writing and fresh take on the myth of Circe. I would ask her: What was it like developing a character who had an authentic, realistic voice and experience of their own within the confines of a myth already told? Was it limiting at all or did knowing how Circe’s story progressed make it easier to set the tone for her voice?

4. As a writer, what genre is out of your comfort zone that you’d like to conquer someday and write within?

Historical fiction. It’s my other favorite genre, besides fantasy, but it seems even more intimidating to write. What’s more difficult than having to create your own world and cultures? Easy! Having to research a real world time period and make sure every detail in your book is historically accurate while also portraying the events realistically and with a deep level of understanding. Also, I worry that I wouldn’t be able to write as emotionally as my favorite historical fiction novels (The Book Thief, All the Light We Cannot See, etc.).  Even though you’re sticking to the “rules” of the time, you’re telling emotional stories that need to resonate with readers. It seems like a hard balance but I would still love to be able to do that someday.

5. What specific edition of a book would you like to own someday? It could be rare, a first edition, an anniversary edition, signed, or one with a cover special to you, etc. 

 

I’d love to own the UK cover of Circe. I like how the US cover looks classically Greek, but I think the UK cover is more beautiful. Also, it’s so lovely with the dust jacket off. Look at that! 

6. Are there any books or bookish items that you’d like to collect? 

I’d like to collect the first edition Andrew Lang Colored Fairy Books. I go to a lot of book fairs and I’ve seen some of these around and love them. They’re unbelievably expensive, though. I found the set above for $13,000. You can find it here if you have some spare change lying around that you need to spend.

7. Name one bookish place you’d like to visit. (Not somewhere you’d like to visit because of a book and not a fictional place within a book. A library, bookstore, etc.)

Mine is definitely the town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales. This small town has over 20 dreamy, cozy, quaint bookstores and an annual literary festival. It’s a book lover’s paradise. I need to go there. Or maybe just move there.

8. Name one bookish event you’d like to attend. (A festival, a signing, a book fair, etc.)

Bookcon! This year’s Bookcon was just last weekend and it looked amazing. It’s in New York City and there’s just so much going on. Tons of authors, signings, ARCs, panels. People cosplay their favorite characters and get to show the authors who wrote the characters. It looks like a lot a fun. 

9. Your WIP is getting published and designing the cover is solely up to you. What does it look like?

I haven’t actually thought much about this but my book is YA fantasy and I think I can give a rough description of what I picture it being, though it’s kind of a vague, hazy image in my mind. It’d be matte black with the title in raised shiny gold letters. There would be gold swirls and twisted branches reaching from the corners toward the words with touches of dark purple woven throughout (also shiny so it stands out from the black) and little meaningful symbols from the book hidden within them. I’d want it to be pretty simple but striking. Definitely no characters standing on the front or anything. Book covers with primarily black and gold as the main colors tend to be my favorite but I’d want the purple in there because gold and purple are a color scheme that come up in my book.

10. What’s one thing you’d like to accomplish within the bookish world? As a writer, reader, blogger, whatever you want.

Well, of course, I want to be an author. Other than that, I’d like to someday open a small bookstore. But not until I’m old and gray and have years of successfully published books under my belt.

There you have it, my first original book tag! I made a real effort to ask questions I haven’t seen anywhere before which was a lot more time consuming than I imagined it would be. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you’ll do it and send me the links to your answers!

I tag all of you!

Thanks for reading, 

Madison