Miscellaneous is the tagline to store random posts that don’t really belong elsewhere. They may involve tags, awards, challenges, and other book blogging nonsense.
What’s Miscellaneous Today?
The Disney Book Tag
I was tagged by Stefani @ Caught Read Handed. Thanks, you!
I think I’m a moderate Disney fan? I haven’t seen all the movies but a good chunk of them. I saw the Descendants this week and it was legit if High School Musical and Fairy Tales birthed a child. Plotting was questionable. Acting was what you expect from Disney. It was so-so.
But onward with this tag!
The Little Mermaid — A character who is out of their element; a “fish out of water”
Cam Scott of The Merit Birds (Kelley Powell). What would you do if you were picked up from your privileged first-world lifestyle and sent to live in a culturally dissonant landscape? You’d probably hate it there. This is what Cam has to endure, and more. (I rated it 3.25/5)
Cinderella — A character who goes through a major transformation
A.J. Fikry from The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (Gabrielle Zevin). This was a choice that I had to kind of think about. The reason why his change and path to redemption was incredibly earnest and powerful was because he’s an old fella. I have this notion that as you grow older, it can become difficult to embrace change. He gradually shifts from being a snarky old man jaded about life to one yearning for the best for Maya. Old people feels, dude. (I rated it 4/5)
Snow White — A book with an eclectic cast of characters
Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti. I stopped reading this book because I didn’t want it to end. I haven’t had a solid 4+ star read in half-a-year and this book is shaping up to be pretty up there. The cast in this story features 6 distinct, diverse, teenage voices (and POVs) from very different walks of life. Plus, super powers. Plus ships and bromances. It’s incredibly fun watching them mingle and intersect with each other. (Pending rating: currently skyward of 4+/5)
Sleeping Beauty — A book that put you to sleep
Most books put me to sleep because when I read at night or during the day post-eating (re: food coma), it’s just lovely to read a page then peace out. But I digress. In terms of a book that bore me to death, I guess I could say Lindsay Lane’s “Evidence of Things Not Seen”. There’s this mystery shrouding a missing teen but the story is [literally] told in 20 narrators that I couldn’t connect or find resolve to care about the events that were unfolding. (I rated it 2.25/5)
The Lion King — A character who had something traumatic happen to them in childhood
Ariel from The Alex Crow (Andrew Smith). (I rated it 3.8/5)
“How was your childhood, Ariel?”
“Oh, you know how it is being from war-torn Middle-East; living through massacres, firefight, hiding in fridges, taking each breath as if its your last. Alone.
Isn’t that what all kids go through?”
Beauty and the Beast — A beast of a book that you were intimidated by, but found the story to be beautiful
I don’t really enjoy reading beastly books because unless they have epic pacing, they’re usually daunting as heck. One particular book that was a beast when I first started getting into this book blogging business was Christos Tsiolka’s Barracuda. It hits all the notes of family, LGBT, sports, and particularly Australian-culture; all of with culminate toward Danny Kelly’s dream of becoming Golden at the Olympics. It’s not the longest book I’ve read but given it’s slow-paced writing, it did feel like a drag for the longest time with little redemptive value. (I rated it 3.8/5)
Aladdin — A character who gets their wish granted, for better or worse
A character in A Monster Calls (Patrick Ness). There are many great things I could say about this book. The majority of readers/bloggers who have read this will understand why I classified this book here. I can’t really say anything. So like all the great blurb-ers who have ever blurbed anything, I will also go with the super original: just read it. (I rated it 4.25/5)
Mulan — A character who pretends to be someone or something they’re not
Young-Adult Bourne Series is what Allen Zadoff’s Boy Nobody is all about. I’ve only read the first book in this series but it was fun and enjoyable. A rather mindless espionage-thriller with neat gadgets, hand-to-hand combat action sequences, and a lot of spying (of course). (I rated it 3.25/5)
Toy Story — A book with characters you wish could come to life
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say Brandon Sanderon’s Legion short-story series. It’s not his best work by a long shot but the Schizophrenic MC paired with all of his hallucinatory versions of himself was an experience that was incredibly fun to read; especially if you enjoy the penmanship of Sanderson. (I rated it 4/5)
Disney’s Descendants — Your favourite villain or morally ambiguous character
Mayor Prentiss (Patrick Ness, Chaos Walking Trilogy) is by far one of the best villains I have read to date. He’s not the wicked or sinister kind of evil. It’s how he swims in all the grey areas of morality and convinces Todd (among others) that his way is one that is justified. As a reader, I was able to empathize with his rationale…and rooting for most villains is a scary thought. (I rated it 4.25/5 for the entire series)
Get Tagged:
I don’t know if you’ve done it so if you have then you can just omit this and enjoy the shout-out LOL.
Ayesha and Monisah @ Twins Turn Pages
Brandie @ Brandie is a Bookish Junkie
Erika @ Erika in Bookventureland
Josephine @ Josie’s Book Corner
Jesse Nicholas @ Books At Dawn
JM Cabral @ Revelations of a Book Freak
Kelly @ Dancing Through The Pages
Kendra @ Student By Day, Reader All Night
Lauren @ SERIESous Book Reviews
Rachel @ Confessions of a Book Geek
…and you if you would like to do it (it’s a pretty solid schedulable-post!)
I upped this tag list to 20 bloggers because why not?
Afterthoughts:
This tag actually took a lot longer to write up than some of the other ones. But then again, I was stumped with some of these choices. A fair warning to you.
Cheers,
Joey
connect: afterthoughtAn // twitter | anotherafterthought // goodreads
thoughts and afterthoughts. 
Although I can only relate to The Knife of Never Letting Go here, it was great to read all your answers. And I agree with Mayor Prentiss as a great villain. I must say though… Aaron. He was pretty insane!
Thank you for tagging me! 😄
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Huh? I thought you had read A Monster Calls too!
In all seriousness, Aaron was basically like a carbon copy of the Terminator or some undying entity. It was ridiculous! (Surely a robot theory is valid in New World…)
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Oh no yes, I have! Woops, I forgot about that. 😂
Yeah, he was ridiculous, I just could not understand how he could survive for so long in the novel after everything that happened.
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Thanks for the tag! I look forward to doing this one 😀
You are really making me excited for Zeroes! I can’t wait to read that one.
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I feel bad for adding more to the hype since I myself do not enjoy hype trains. Ahhhh.
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Yeah you should stop 😛
Hype trains = high expectations. Haha
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This looks like fun! Thanks for the tag!
Unlike you, I am a HUGE Disney nut so this is right up my alley 🙂
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Ha–enjoy!
I wouldn’t say I’m NOT a Disney fanatic but I’m not one of those crazy ones… (like yourself).
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Yes, there are very few people at my level 😛
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Joey, hi! Thank you so much for the tag! 😀 Your blog is one of new favourite things; I love your reviews; they are wonderful. I aspire to be as articulate as you! *u*
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FORGIVE MY DOUBLE SEMI COLON I AM FOODCOMA-ING.
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FOOD COMAING IS THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE.
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STOP. YOUR WORDS ARE OVERWHELMING ME; I AM MELTING.
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Food coma, LOLOLOL, I can relate. Oh, I need to jump on the Ness train ASAP. I’ve been wanting to read A Monster Calls, and the CW trilogy/series FOR THE LONGEST. I’m definitely going to start through his works end of this summer into the fall, and Barracuda interests me because I STILL haven’t read any of the Australian works yet, although I’m highly intrigued. I also want to get on the Brandon Sanderson train as well soon after your reccomendation, definitely August-Octoberish. Will you be reading The Rest of Us Just Live Here or are you not interested? Let me know. Love the new photo (I comment on everyone’s photos, I don’t even know why, OMG) & thanks for the tag, Joey!
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My hype is nothing more than just words. Don’t listen to me. I feel like you’d appreciate A Monster Calls the most out of all of his works; then perhaps More Than This.
Going into different national/cultural books was kind of a weird experience! I feel like I appreciated it more being an outsider looking in than someone from that country (and perhaps that’s a good thing).
I definitely will be reading Ness’ new book. WAS THAT A SERIOUS QUESTIONNNN. I’m so close to having read all of his stuff.
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No, I’m going to listen. Alright, I have A Monster Calls in transit (on the way to the library). OOOH. NOPE. That’s awesome! Hopefully you meet him one day!
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I would cosplay a doughnut if that opportunity presented itself. (I am under the impression that he, as a eater of doughnuts, would appreciate it.)
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Once this opportunity presents itself, pictures would be a blessing, thank you.
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I can’t get over you rating a book 4.5 right now. I have to see what this book is now. *Goes to Goodreads*
And I just added Patrick Ness to my TBR this morning. Not my typical read, but I’m convinced to try it now.
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Given the choices of what he’s written, I think you’d enjoy A Monster Calls the best. If you get a physical edition, you should totally get the one with illustrations and not the text-based ones. Perhaps your daughter will enjoy reading it in due time!
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I spy some Patrick Ness (no surprise). And I’m happy to hear that Zeroes is a more than just promising book so far, I’m really anticipating that to be a good read (I’m one of the select few that loved Uglies). And thanks for the tag, Joey!
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Or Tam-Tam?? (Looks like Shelumiel’s fighting back!)
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The community knows Lumi is better.
Do you want me to find a name for you too? Let me just spend 3-4 episodes supercharging my XingSings warcry.
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I like Lumi x Tam-Tam. I totally ship this e-bromance, haha. XD
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Negatory. He hates me ;(!!!
Plus I’m already in a polygamous love-shape with some Aussie/Kiwi bloggers…
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I feel like I’ve given away so many 2-3 stars that anything that merits a 4 from me is like “oh shit, it’s a serious rating” LOL…
It was actually my first Westerfeld/Lanagan/Biancotti book soooo I can’t really say whether or not who wrote what section but it was pretty enjoyable for a not-so-superhero-y book.
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I haven’t read most of the books you mentioned here but I do look forward to reading some more Patrick Ness. I’m a bit intimidated to do this tag because those specifications for each book are pretty specific. But thanks for tagging me anyways!
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I feel like I could have chosen one P.Ness’s More Than This and it would have theoretically fit for every single prompt above.
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This seems like a fun tag! Though I think I actually have it pending in my drafts folder right now, lol.
I haven’t read many of the books you mentioned, in fact the only one I’ve read is The Knife of Never Letting Go, which was amazing! Mayor Prentiss is definitely a great villain. I can’t wait to read Zeroes! I’m glad to see it’s leaning toward such a high rating.
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Mayor Prentiss levels up in villain-ness in the second book and nuances the archetype a whole lot. I’m turning into the type of person I hate: the flailing hype-r’s hyping up everything for no good reason haha. But as it’s been a mostly terrible reading year for me, Zeroes was the brightness in the dark! I do hope you continue with Chaos Walking and read Zeroes when it comes out!
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