Oddly Specific Things I Love In Books Tag

    Why hello there :)

    An embarrassingly long time ago in a galaxy rather close by, I was tagged for the Oddly Specific Things I Love In Books Tag by my dear friend Miss Lizzie Hexam. Since there in fact are many I things I love in books, Let Us Begin. 

    (Because you know, we could be here all day.)

    First, allow me to present The Guidelines. 

1. Link back to who tagged you.
2. Share the Graphic on your blog
3. Share the Outline on your post.
4. Share a detail you love about the season of summer into fall.
5. List at least 7 random/ specific things YOU love to read about in books, big or small.
6. Tag 7 people who would enjoy taking part/whose answers you are curious to read!

    As you (hopefully) know, unless you have buried your head under a rock for the last few months (and as Lizzie pointed out as well) it is no longer summer into fall, but rather fall into winter. Autumn is of course my favourite season, but the feeling in the air when it’s slightly crisper (despite living in a Rather Warm Place), the rain, pumpkins everywhere and hot chocolate and tea (of which I have been known to drink an Uncivilised Amount) - it’s all just wonderful.

    Anywho, after having ado-ed for longer than necessary, shall we proceed?

    

    1. Faith content

Let me clarify on this one. I absolutely love it when authors include faith content that is not preachy, heavy-handed, or inaccurate. Well-done, like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien; or like some more modern authors such as Elizabeth Aimee Brown or Nadine Brandes, it is brilliant. I am all for good stories; and faith-filled fiction is even better :)

2. Cozy descriptions

I have a weakness for cozy things and for beautiful things. I tend to be attracted by anything warm, fuzzy, pretty—you name it. The beginning of The Hobbit is a wonderful example of this.

3. Loveable side characters

The main characters are great and all (or sometimes they aren’t), but everyone has their own story and I love seeing well-developed, relatable side characters who are actually people too. (Lewis does this really excellently. For example, Tumnus. And Puddleglum. You can’t go wrong with Puddleglum.)

4. Music… described correctly

One of my biggest pet peeves, as a classical musician, in any form of media (movies and books) is music represented or described incorrectly. So naturally I love it when it is done correctly all the more :D

(I still haven’t found a book that does this. Let me know when you do.)

EDIT: I  found one!  The Echoes of a Silent Song by Amanda Wen (an actual musician and also a Christian!) is a split-time romance and murder mystery and it’s actually really good ;D

5. Flawed and virtuous characters

One of the biggest problems in today’s modern literature is stereotypes. There’s the strong female character who’s better than the boys at everything; there’s the suave, dark male love interest who’s always got a suspicious past; and I’m tired of it. I love it when people do new and interesting things. Give me torn characters, flawed and indecisive characters, human characters. You know it’s a good book when you actually care about what happens to the characters, even if you don’t necessarily like them all the time. 

6. When characters repeat a phrase to each other

This one’s oddly specific and the title doesn’t make that much sense, but it just Does Something to me when one character says something that’s meant as a reproof or slight, and then the other character says it back to them at a later point. Example: in Enola Holmes, Sherlock tells Enola “you’re being emotional. It’s understandable, but unnecessary.” She later repeats it back to him and it’s just So Satisfying. (And yes I know that’s a movie but it’s a very good one and please don’t kill me because that’s the only example I could think of.)

7. After-marriage romance

I’m kinda stealing one of Lizzie’s points here, but… I love it when the author lets you see beyond the initial romance into the marriage relationship as well. In so many stories it’s like okay they fall in love and kiss and that’s the end… but really, in real life, it’s not. So I love seeing the characters fall in love with each other again continuously. (Love is a choice, after all.) L.M. Montgomery does this really well in the Anne series, and so does Alcott in Little Women. 

And there you have it - seven of the Oddly Specific Things I Love In Books ;P

I shall tag…

Hannah Ruth at Faith, Fiction, and Fairytales

Iona at Story Blossoms

Olivia at Meanwhile, in Rivendell…

And because everyone else I know has already been tagged, consider yourself tagged if you’d like to be! 

What do you think of tropes in books? What’s your favourite Oddly Specific Thing?