Ben & Jerry’s Book Tag

Hi from Houston!  I haven’t been keeping up with blogging as well as I would have liked, but I do have some free time today because it’s snowing (in Texas?!) and the whole city shut down early.

Anyway, I couldn’t resist this tag.  I worked at the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont (the one where you can take factory tours and visit the Flavor Graveyard and all that jazz) for something like six years, as a diligent and underpaid gift shop employee.  So anyway, I saw this tag on Ally’s blog and I felt compelled.

Vanilla Caramel Fudge: Pick a light, fluffy contemporary

First of all THANK YOU Steph for reminding me that I HAVE actually read something that can be considered a ‘light, fluffy contemporary’ when I was positive that I’d never read anything that fit that description.  A Fugitive in Grass Valley by I.M. Flippy is a delightful M/M romance novel with clever, engaging prose, and two main characters whose relationship you’re actually rooting for the whole time.  Not my usual genre, obviously, but a friend of mine wrote this, and I was really hesitant but I decided to give it a shot anyway, and I was so glad I did.

Mint Chocolate Cookie: A new release that you wish everyone would read

Self-Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon which will be published by Scribner on February 6.  I still need to write my review for this one, but WOW.  I was completely blown away.  It’s about a photographer who accidentally captures an image of a young boy falling to his death, and the repercussions of her photograph.  Anyway, if you like literary fiction, anti-heroines, and art, you’re going to want to check this out!

Cherry Garcia: An ending that was bittersweet

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid.  This whole book is the very embodiment of the word ‘bittersweet,’ but the ending in particular is both hopeful and heartbreaking.  I don’t want to say anymore, but if you haven’t read this book, you really should.

 

Strawberry Shortcake: A book containing your OTP of OTP’s

Well, the Iliad has both Achilles/Patroclus and Hector/Andromache, so it’s the clear winner, obviously.  Yes, I am aware that I am the only person on the planet who would answer the Iliad for a question like this.

 

 

Milk and Cookies: Two authors who, if they collaborated, would go perfectly together?

Emily St. John Mandel and M.L. Rio.  I made this connection because I remembered that Mandel blurbed If We Were Villains, but I think this could be a really interesting collaboration.  Both authors have a very clear knowledge and passion for Shakespeare, King Lear in particular, but I thought Station Eleven and If We Were Villains had very different strengths – the former had a massive, massive scope, and the latter was much more intimate and character-driven.  But both were atmospheric with incredibly strong prose, so I imagine they could play off each other’s strengths well.

Boston Cream Pie: A book that had you turning the pages late into the night

Confessions by Kanae Minato was a thrilling, intense, creepy book that I couldn’t put down.

 

 

 

Chocolate Therapy: A book that makes you feel better after a long day of life

 

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne.  I mean, it’s sad, but it’s also hilarious and uplifting.

 

 

 

Coffee, Coffee, BUZZBUZZBUZZ: A book not yet released that you can’t wait to get your hands on

From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan, which will be released I believe in the summer.  Donal Ryan is one of those authors where I know I’ll eventually want to read every book by them, even though I’ve only read one so far.  But I found his prose so striking, I can’t wait to get my hands on this.

 

I’m tagging Steph because ice cream, and anyone else who wants to do it.

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