Sunday, April 30, 2023

The In and Out Book Tag...

This is a book tag I saw on both Fanda's Classiclit blog and Cath's Read-warbler blog, and I thought it looked like fun. Have you done this tag? If not, would you be In or Out on these:


Reading the Last Page First:  OUT
(Though I do admit when I'm not enjoying a book, 
I sometimes flip to the end to see if it's worth finishing.)

Enemies to Lovers:  IN
(This is always a fun romance trope.)

Dream Sequences:  OUT
(I just don't enjoy them.)

Love Triangles:  OUT!
(I find them frustrating and not at all fun; they make me want to shake the girl and say: Make Up Your Mind Already!) 

Cracked Spines:  IN-ish?
(I'm NOT advocating cracking the spine of a book...in fact, I try very hard not to do that with my paperbacks...but if it happens, it's not going to keep me from enjoying the book.)

Back to My Small Town:  IN
(Small town settings are some of my favorites, especially in a romance.)

No Paragraph Breaks: OUT!
(That's just annoying.)

Multi-generational Sagas:  OUT
(They're long and I usually don't enjoy them. Of course, there's always exceptions.)

Monsters are Regular People: IN
(I love fun supernatural and paranormal elements in books.)

Re-reading: IN
(Though I haven't had much time lately to reread any of my books; library books keep getting in the way.)

Artificial Intelligence: IN
(I love a good science fiction novel.)

Drop Caps: IN
(They're fine, but I really don't care either way.) 

Happy Endings: IN!
(Of course!)

Plot Points that Only Converge at the End: IN
(Isn't that the point of reading?)

Detailed Fantasy Systems: IN
(I grew up reading a lot of fantasy, and while I don't read it as much these days, I still love it.)

Classic Fantasy Races:  IN
(I also played a little D&D growing up, and always wanted to be an Elf.)

Unreliable Narrators:  OUT
(I feel like this trend has been way overdone lately, and I'm a little tired of it.)

Evil Protagonists: OUT
(Isn't 'evil protagonist' an oxymoron? I want to like the main character, not hate them.)

The Chosen One:  IN
(Like Buffy? I'm in as long as the chosen one isn't whiny about it.)

When the Protagonist Dies:  OUT!!
(Even if it's for a "good reason" literary-wise, I don't like it...and usually end up hating the book when it happens.)

Really Long Chapters: OUT-ish
(I don't love them, but if the book is well-written, I tend not to notice.)

French Flaps: IN? 
(I'm not even sure what these are.)

Deckled Edges:  ??
(Again, I don't really care.)

Signed Copies by the Author: IN
(Especially if you get to meet the author and have them sign the book for you; 
though I'm certainly not paying more for a book just because it's signed.)

Dog-earing Pages:  OUT
(Can I just say bookmarks!)

Chapter Titles Instead of Numbers: IN
(Especially when they're humorous!)

Happy Reading!



43 comments:

  1. Fun tag! I love a small town romance. I don't think I've ever read a book with no paragraph breaks, but no doubt it would drive me crazy! Not a fan of unreliable narrators. And chapter titles are interesting (and often funny).

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    1. I love when chapter headings make me laugh. And small town romances are so great. :D

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  2. I think we're pretty similar, surprise surprise! That's maybe because we both like fantasy and sci but also yeah... we have similar tastes and views I think. 😁

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    1. We really do! It's nice, because if you love a book, I know I'll love it, too. :D

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  3. Thanks Lark, this tag really got me thinking about what I enjoy in books and I agree the unreliable narrator right now is way overdone. I enjoy enemies to lovers romances but it takes a lot of skill to pull off this kind of romance and I have seen it done badly.

    No paragraph breaks are an out for me too because I have not had a good experience with stream of consciousness writing and above all I have to be able to understand what's happening in a book and some of these modernist writers I am not sure what is being said at all.

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    1. No paragraph breaks just make reading feel like work, not pleasure. And I agree with you about the whole enemies to lovers trope in romances. I've read some fun ones, and DNFed many others that were not so well done.

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  4. This is such a fun tag! I'm not the biggest fan of really long chapters, but I've noticed that the majority of my favorite authors write long ones. I don't know what that says about me, lol! I guess with a well written book, it doesn't matter so much.

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    1. That's the thing...if the book is well written I don't notice how long the chapters are, I just enjoy the story.

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  5. Checking out the last page to see if it's worth reading - I have done that but mostly for books that I am almost sure it wasn't worth reading.

    I enjoy a dream sequence now and then but I always hate it when they start a book with one.

    Cracked spines is signs that you've enjoyed reading the book, I think. Some books are printed with very stiff paper so do you have to crack the spine to read the pages.

    Happy endings - always in for me.

    Protagonist dying - definitely out, I see no point in this but then again, there is those books with sick protagonists so those I can accept but otherwise, nope.

    Signed books is out for me - I really see no purpose in this.

    Chapter titles in - humorous titles are just fun.

    Have a lovely day.

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    1. Fun to see how many of these we agree on! :D

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  6. I did this one back in January, and linked it to Kami (I saw it on her blog). https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2023/01/in-or-out.html

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    1. That's where else I saw this tag! I couldn't remember. I know I read yours when you first posted it, but I had to go back and see how many we agreed on...maybe half?

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    2. Lark, sounds about right :)

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  7. Dream sequences are iffy for sure. Love triangles- no mas! :) Yes to re- reading, I've been doing some of that lately. and yes to AI as well!

    Same with fantasy! I love it too but read very little these days. Kinda weird. And ooh you were a D&D player too :)

    I love shorter, punchy chapters lately.

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    1. Short chapters do make the book read faster, that's for sure, something I appreciate when I'm running tired. And yes, back in the day, I loved playing D&D...especially rolling for a new character and buying all their stuff. ;D

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    2. Same here- when I see short chapters I'm like yessss

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  8. Replies
    1. Can't wait to read your responses! :D

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    2. My post will be published this Friday.

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    3. I'm looking forward to checking it out. :D

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  9. We're definitely similar on our ins and outs. I have been known to flip to the last page if there is a dog (or cat) that seems like its in peril. I need to make sure that the dog is going to survive before I can become emotionally invested in the story!

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    1. I've done that, too! I don't want to read a book where the dog dies at the end.

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  10. Ha! I often peep in the ending when a book is dragging on. Just to see if it's worth to read on.
    I'm still puzzled too about the plot converging at the end. It doesn't make sense.

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    1. That was a strange one...isn't the plot supposed to come together at the end of a book?

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  11. I like the book tags. I do so many of these too.

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    1. This one was a lot of fun. I should do more of them.

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  12. Love this book tag! I've never done one, but I like this one. I'll just weigh in on a few: Love Triangles: out, reading the last page: sometimes I'm in, especially if the book is stressing me out and I'm worried about how it'll end. Happy endings: in. The protagonist dies: out! It's why I didn't finish the Divergent series. No thanks. Great answers, Lark! I line up with a bunch of them. :)

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    1. We do match up on the important ones! ;D

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  13. That's a fun tag and I enjoyed reading all your answers! :)

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    1. Thanks, Melody! It was an easy post to do...and I didn't have a book review written, so there you go. ;D

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  14. Love your answers. Regine

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  15. I have just been working on this book tag, and hope to get a post out soonish. Most of my answers are in line with yours.

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    1. Can't wait to check it out. It's a fun one. :D

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  16. What a fun book tag. I'm with you mostly, but for some reason I don't care for author-signed books, and I'm not that into sci-fi but I do like a good time travel story.

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    1. Gotta read what you love! :D (And I actually only own one author-signed book...I got to meet Novel Prize winner Kip Thorne a few years back which was awesome and he graciously signed my copy of his book Black Holes.)

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  17. Enjoyed seeing what you responded. I'd say we match on more than half. :) The ones we differ on are: I'm out on enemies to lovers, in on family sagas, in on evil or shades of gray protagonists, and in on unreliable narrators. I like deckled pages and French flaps now and then for something fancy and old-style looking.

    Fun tag! Thanks for posting it.

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    1. PS, This is Sophia Rose. Can't get my Avatar and account to work here, today. :)

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    2. Another Blogger frustration! I don't know why it works sometimes and not other days. And it's fun to know how we differ on these. :D

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  18. It's always fun to read others' answers to these!

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    1. It really is! I love seeing if I match up with other people's answers, and how we disagree, too. :D

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  19. I'm right there with you on no love triangles. They just frustrate me to no end. Fun tag!

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    1. Thanks. :D And here's to no more love triangles!

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