Avenger's Blog Tag

As we all await the Avengers: Endgame movie, I thought it would be fun to fill out this tag I stole from The Mad Dragon Hatter. Hope you enjoy! Feel free to steal.


Iron Man
A book that made you laugh

The Pig Scrolls by Paul Shipton
Fourth grade humor (think underwear jokes) mixed with Greek Mythology and dry wit makes this one a fun read that you have to be in just the right mood to enjoy. Maybe my sense of humor is weird, but I about laugh my socks off every time I read it.

Thor
A character with strength you admire

Aragorn, from The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
I had a serious debate between Samwise and Aragorn on this one, but I think more ink has been spilled lauding Sam on this case. Aragorn might not be the character you pick for moral fortitude, but he shows remarkable moral strength. He refuses the Ring as a mortal man and refuses to give into temptation. Seeing as hobbits seem to be somewhat naturally immune, I think this is more noteworthy than most people would give him credit. He also is never depicted as whining about his lot in life, even though he faces a hard uphill battle to reclaim what's rightfully his, and his prospective father in law is rather demanding.

Captain America
A book set in another era.

The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak
This didn't fall under my fantasy/sci-fi theme on this blog, or else I would have reviewed it here (and perhaps I still will). I truly enjoyed it. Nazi Germany has been the setting of many, many novels, but I felt this one gave me a fresh take on it. This was the first historical fiction novel I had enjoyed for some time, so it was a nice change of pace.

Hulk
A book that made you angry

The Gladiator and the Guard, by Annie Douglass Lima
First, let me say I love this book. It wasn't the book that made me angry, but rather one of the characters who I had come to love in the previous novel. He just...regressed...so much. And it nearly cost the protagonist his life. I wanted to reach into my ereader and physically shake some sense into him. So, well written. Go read the series, or my review of book 1 if you want more info.

Hawkeye
An underrated book

C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy
I don't know if this is just an unknown series or if it's truly underrated. I was very surprised to find that I had scrolled through the entirety of my Goodreads list and not found a book that jumped out at me for this one. Anyway, if you like 20th century sci-fi or just C.S. Lewis' thought processes, go check this lesser-known trilogy. (And don't dislike Hawkeye. He's a cool dude because archery.) An alternate answer would be The Silmarillion, but I already picked one Tolkien item for the list.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch
Sibling Love

Meg and Charles Wallace Murray from A Wrinkle in Time. 
I don't have any siblings, so I've lived vicariously through books. I have to say that I found Meg and Charles to be quite charming. They disagree and fight from time to time, but they genuinely love each other without being creepily/unnaturally well adapted.

Antman
A book you want to read but can't

The War of Swords by D. Barkley Briggs
I have searched everywhere for this. Legends of Karac Tor is one of my favorite series, but it's gotten kicked around from publisher to publisher and very few copies of the final book were printed. Even Amazon doesn't have it. I finally managed to scrounge up a digital copy for NOOK, but I can't get the ereader app to work. *Headdesk*

Loki
An antagonist you like

Murtagh, from Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle
Honestly, I don't know how I haven't thought this before, but Murtagh's one of my favorite antagonists. He's one of those "between a rock and a hard place" antagonists who was forced to be a bad guy. However, he also displays how adopting the attitude that you were forced to be the bad guy can turn you into one at heart, though he redeems himself in the end--or perhaps all along. One wonders what his life would have been like if he hadn't been betrayed.

Who's your favorite Avenger? Do you have a burning answer to any of the tag questions?

What I've Been Reading

I promise I haven't entirely neglected the blog..there's about a half dozen articles and reviews typed out on my computer that I keep stalling on because I can't find the way to say what I actually want to say, if that makes sense. In the meantime, I'm going to follow some advice I heard a while back: if something's worth doing 100%, sometimes it's better to do it 80% than 0% if you can't quite muster full strength. So, here's my 80% post with some thoughts on my recent reads:

Children of the Blood Moon Trilogy

I just finished off this trilogy that I started reading over a year ago. It's an interesting Christian fantasy trilogy that, even if a little heavy handed on prophecies and special powers at times, is worth the read. S.D. Grimm manages to weave a tale that's well balanced with regard to action, character development, and a bit of romance. I look forward to reading more of her books in the future as her writing style continues to develop. Overall, I'd give the trilogy 4/5 stars. (Review of Book 1).

1984

This dystopian classic has been on my radar for a while now; it wasn't exactly on my personal reading list because I wanted to read it (I knew it was depressing), but because I feel it's one of those books that you should read if you claim to be a reader. While I don't think it's something I'll be inclined to re-read anytime soon, I'm glad I did finally pick it up. The story was less horrifying for its ending than its startling parallels to the 21st century--the best way to keep people missing holes in their logic is to keep them shouting about something. Stir up enough emotion and you can have them change which enemy they're facing and completely ignore objective truth. Not a light read, nor for those looking for a clean book, but nevertheless worthwhile to chew on for a bit. 

Rome: A History in Seven Sackings

This was a pure impulse buy; whenever I travel somewhere and find a local bookstore, I feel it's my bookish duty to support them. It's another volume that I won't be rereading for a while, but intriguing in its own right. If you have a general interest in history or in Rome in particular, the author's description of Rome's architecture and culture through the centuries through the lens of seven invasions was captivating enough to get me through the whole volume. 

Kiss of Deception 

My family generally tries to pick me up a new series every Christmas; this was one such book and may eventually make a full appearance on the blog. Although a little heavy-handed on the romance, it was an enjoyable read and I plan on continuing in the series. 

Upcoming

I'm looking forward to reading the very-long awaited Forsaken Continent by Wayne Thomas Batson. This third installment of the Myridian Constellation (formerly the Dark Sea Annals) is slated to arrive at my door in paperback on my birthday this week, which is pretty much the best bookish present I could ask for. 

As far as other long-expected books go, I'm working up the courage to open my copy of The Fall of Gondolin. It's the last Tolkien book to be released--probably ever--so it'll take the perfect day to read it. However, I'll probably tackle it just in time for the Tolkien biography movie set to be released in May.