Birthday Book Tag 2022

Good morning everyone! It does not look nice outside, but when does it ever on a cold early January day? This is the perk of being born in the winter.

I have chosen to do this birthday book tag again that was one of the first posts I did last year after an almost 2 year hiatus from the blog. It was a lot of fun and I thought I would give different answers now that I’m a year older with answers reflecting my last year.

I also wanted to take this time to thank all of you new friends who joined us on this journey in the last year. I have loved interacting with your blogs, the books you read and just sharing things with all of you.

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Birthday Cake – a book with a plot that seems cliche but you adore it anyway

If I’m Being Honest was such an unexpected contender for top books of last year because it seemed like such a cliche. Mean girl can’t get the guy she likes so she tries to make him think she’s not so bad by helping the nerdy guy she made fun of previously. And then falls for him unwittingly! When I put it like that, yeah, it doesn’t sound like much, but I loved the way the authors went about this, especially because Cam wasn’t necessarily likable at first but I got to understand her. Plus, the nerdy “loser” isn’t just your typical stereotype, and their relationship felt so organic to me.

Happy birthday song – a book that certainly deserves all the hype it got

The Love Hypothesis has topped so many people’s lists last year, popping up literally everywhere in the book community. Being a scientist myself, I had wanted to check this book out solely for the fact that the protagonist is a Ph.D. student with an author who is in scientific academia. The hype actually made me wary it wouldn’t meet my expectations. But lo and behold, this was everything I wanted for the science references AND the romance was too adorable! It makes so much sense that so many adored it, and I feel it’s 100% well deserved.

Happy music – a book with some very beautiful and truly meaningful quotes

I talked briefly throughout a number of posts that I was dealing with some betrayal from people I’ve known for many years. We didn’t get to meet in person (thankfully because I would’ve been an absolute mess) in the aftermath of everything so I always felt like I didn’t have closure, but I didn’t want to hold onto the anger and hurt when they lived their lives like hurting me was no big deal. Forgiving What You Can’t Forget came right at the time I needed it in the aftermath of this storm (God’s timing!), and it has wonderfully quotable lines (and tips) that stuck with me – even when the rhyming got a little annoying.

Getting older – a book that you read a long time ago but you think you would appreciate more if you read it as a more mature reader

I actually did in fact re-read this book last year when I took on tutoring a friend taking senior year English class. Let’s be honest, I wasn’t particularly enthused to have to pick up The Great Gatsby again. I didn’t much like it the first time around when I had to read it for class. But when I did look at it again now as a mid-twenty something year old, I understood more of what the book was trying to say? Maybe it helped that I’ve read so much more since then, and I’ve experienced more in my life that made me empathize with the depictions in this classic. Nonetheless, I can fully say I enjoyed it more as a more mature reader.

Party guests – your most anticipated book release for this year

Book of Night, hands down. In lieu of the fact that I have yet to see ANY new news about the sequel to Ninth House, I will have to settle with this release that is apparently in the same vein as Ninth House. I haven’t forayed too far into dark academia books but the synopsis has me super excited for this one to hopefully fill the void in my heart.

Sweet birthday memories – a book that kept you incredibly happy during a sad or demanding period of your life

I was dealing with some anxiety earlier in April that even led to wearing a 48-hour heart monitor. Needless to say, it was a darker time in the year. But it was around this time I got to reading this gem of a book, Counting Down with You, that helped me forget a little about my anxieties even for just a tiny while. I loved the cultural insight, the romance, and everything in between – you can read the full review here.

Birthday presents – a book that surprised you with how much you loved it

One of my earliest reads of 2021, Vicious Spirits caught me by surprise because I didn’t really like its companion novel so much? With this book, I already met most of the characters and I actually much preferred the two leads in this one over the leads for the other book. I am always an advocate for more Asian stories, especially written from an Asian author with some of their experiences imbued into it, but this one just blew me away. I think the romance made more sense in this book and there was more closure for the major plot arcs.

Well, friends, that wraps up my birthday post for 2022. I hope you enjoyed. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart (and Fives’) for being a part of our book community in sharing who we are and what we love.

Much love to you all! XX