Harry Potter Book Tag

#blogging, Awards & Tags, Book, Book issue/livre, Me & the Blog, 67 Comments

Published by 3C Style

Scientific journalist, author and fashion blogger from Montreal - Journaliste scientifique, auteure et blogueuse mode de Montréal

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My friend Darren (a.k.a. The Arty Plantsman) has nominated me for this tag. I’m glad he did. I normally don’t do these things, but this time I just couldn’t resist. I am thrill to take part in this Harry Potter Book Tag as I am a huge J. K. Rowling fan and an eclectic reader.
The Harry Potter Book Tag was created by Trang and Lashaan at Bookidote (who also made these wonderful graphics for us to use). Important rule: you can’t use any of the HP books in the answer. *smirk*hp-flagrate

A book you found the theme interesting, but you’d like to rewrite it.

Beauty and the Beast. What if the beast was the woman? We’d probably have a different ending.

Beauty Beast

alohomora

The first book in a series that got you hooked.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Epic. World Without End is also remarkable. Beautiful characters, romance and intrigue makes for a full experience.

Pillars

accioA book you wish you could have right now.

Perfume: the story of a murderer by Patrick Süskind. I recently order it for a friend and I can’t wait to give it to him. I read this novel when I was a teenager and that got me thinking a lot about social isolation. This is a story about not belonging in the world and the negative effects this can have on one’s mind. It’s also a story about obsession, a singular pursuit of an ideal regardless of the costs.

Perfume

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A killer book. Both senses. Take it as you like.

Agatha Christie’s novels introduced me to the joy of fashion at a very young age. Christie brings characters to life through her descriptions of deco fashions from the 20s & 30s – dainty dresses, beaded frocks and glamorous evening gowns. I got hooked, both on fashion and the Queen of crimes. Pick any Christie book and I’m happy. Here’s Christie’s first novel.

The-Mysterious-Affair-at-Styles

By the way, did you know that Agatha Christie and her first husband Archie called their house Styles after The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

confundoA book that you found really confusing.

Illuminatus. None of it made sense!
And since I am feeling a bit rebellious…

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I shall name another really confusing book:
How to talk about books you haven’t read by Pierre Bayard. The author’s premise is, “Why waste time reading Joyce and Proust when you can skim the work of others?” Definitely not in my wheelhouse, but some of Bayard’s arguments made me giggle.

How to talk about book you haven't read

epectopatronum

Your spirit animal book.

My spirit animal is a fox – emblematic of intelligence! Maybe I should actually own some books with a fox in them. Wait! I have Fox in Sox by Dr Seuss. I also have yet to read The Fantastic Mr Fox by Ronald Dahl. Ok – I’m not a very good fox!

Fantastic Mr. Fox

hp-sectumsempraA dark twisted book.

You pick one for me! My dark and twisted may be your sunshine and rainbows.
adaasd

A book that surprised you in a great way, reveals more than it is.

Every good book reveals something more upon multiple reads – too many to count! But if I have to pick one that really surprised me I’d say Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I’m not a ‘tragedy – struggle to fit in’ type of reader, but I thought maybe I’d better read this one book because so many loved it… It moved me tremendously. It’s all about acceptance and the courage it sometimes takes to be a friend.

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Thank you Darren for giving me the opportunity to talk about one of life’s simplest but most satisfying pleasures: books –this was fun. Now, I fell light as a feather!

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I tag these three keen readers: Lisa, Ortensia and Cathi.
And anyone else who wants to take part too! 🙂

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Much love to you all!
 02-stay-strong-webLet’s stay connected: Bloglovin – Instagram @3cstyle_fashion

If you liked this post, you’ll love these

My To-Read List For The Summer
My home Tour – part 1
If I Was a Flower

  1. As an avid book reader, I find that most of Bayard’s arguments are ludicrous. While I agree that you can convince a lot of people that you have read a certain book by just using your superficial knowledge of the book (since they most likely haven’t read it too!), I wouldn’t do that. I’d rather admit that I haven’t read a book and look like a fool at that moment than to pretend that I read it by talking about some of the miniscule information that I know about the book with a sprinkle of BS.

    It would be akin to those mathematicians who talk about specialized topics they barely know anything about as if they know them just to impress other mathematicians who also don’t know those specialized topics. Sometimes, they’re unfortunate enough to talk to someone who really does know the topic. It’s so awkward and painful to watch them making fools of themselves…

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    1. I totally agree with you, Edmark. I was actually curious about what Bayard had to say and wanted to make my own mind about this book. As silly as his premise is, I think It is still worth the read… I wouldn’t recommend to buy it, but rather to borrow it from the library. About the lying, same goes with little things in life. While I was in L.A. I once heard a lady say to a friend that she spoke French. I was so happy to be able to speak my maternel language so I spoke to her in French. Unfortunately, she did not understand a word I said. It was an awkward moment to say the least. Thanks so much for your comment on my blog. Truly, I always enjoy reading you.

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    2. I borrowed it from a friend a few years ago. Bayard is a French literature professor so it’s a shame for him to claim to be a “non-reader”. The French literature is full of gems and it’s so deep to be understood by just skimming.

      I agree that there are books that are meant to be skimmed. Nevertheless, skimming the works of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Milton or Poe and claim that you read them is ridiculous. I personally have skimmed many books over the years either to find something, to have a broader understanding of it or to see if it’s worth reading. However, if I have to talk about a book that I have only skimmed, I won’t profess that I read it fully. I know that I can get away with it most of the time but I think that doing so is disingenious.

      Bayard argued that you don’t have to read the whole book to “understand” it. As a reader, you have to be creative enough to come up with your own interpretation. Also, it’s important that you’re aware of the public’s knowledge of a book (e.g. what people generally know about The Lord of the Rings) so you’d be able to also talk about it together with your own interpretation (the BS you came up with). I agree with it to an extent, but I’d only “analyze” a book after reading it as I’m not that pretentious to offer my load of wit on something I hardly understood.

      Yes, that’s what I’m talking about and it happens more often than many may think. For example, when people talk about classic literature with me, I can easily tell those who don’t know what they’re talking about. They assume that as a mathematician, it’s “safe” for them to talk about literature with me since I must barely know anything about it. I just don’t want to call them out since that would be too embarrassing for them.

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    2. Driving now. We were so close to Lisa!! I so wanted to message her, but we have a 10 hour drive and want to get to our destination before dark.

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  5. Such a fun post, Dominique! And it’s no wonder we get along so well – I looove foxes!!! 😄 Though my spirit animal is a wolf. 😉 And I didn’t know Agatha Christie named her house after her first book, what a wonderful thing to do! xoxo 💕

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    1. I think of you as a beautiful bird, but I love wolf! About Christie -It’s a cool thing to do indeed. I was thinking of doing the same but my first book title is Can love make you mad? (In French though) That means I would have to name my house The Mad House! Hehe… That’s not far from the truth. 💕

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    2. LOL! The Mad House actually sounds rather good to me, definitely memorable. 😉 And now I need to see if I can get my hands on a copy of your book!! Even if my French won´t be good enough to read it, or at least to understand it very well. 😉 xoxo

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    3. Haha, that’s what my hubby said! It would be my pleasure to send you a copy of my book. Good way to practice your French. Just send me your address by email. 😊💕

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  6. I read this soon after you posted it but am now just getting round to commenting. I really enjoyed this post Dominique. It gives a great deal of insight into your intellect and I like what it tells me. Most of your choices are not familiar to me but I know how much you liked The Perfume, and that you are a huge Agatha Christie fan.
    The fox? Interesting and appropriate. Lovely reading more about you. x

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  7. Your choices were wonderful and I agree with Darren. Roda was so close to me! We will definitely have to meet up soon 😊 Thank you for the tag! I love the Harry Potter theme. I had always hoped for a letter from Hogwarts 😘😊

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    1. Glad you like it Cris. Have a gorgeous weekend too. I saw your last post. Boots and coats season for you already? The winter in Australia looks like our Summer in Quebec. Lol!

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  12. I read this and thought I wrote it – I love all your choices! Perfume was excellent, I’ve loved Agatha Christie since I was ten. I binge re read her!
    I’m going to recommend The Athenian Murders by Juan Carlos Somoza as a dark and twisted story. It’s one of the cleverest books I’ve ever read and literally took my breath away with the end twist. Based on the above I think you’ll love it 😊

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    1. Thanks. I will add this book to my To-Read List for sure as it seems we have similar tastes in literature. Watch out for my post tomorrow. It is my monthly collaboration with three of my WP friends, When Fashion and Nature Collide, July edition.

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  13. Pingback: Harry Potter Book Tag – The Corner of Laura

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