The Chocolate Book Tag !

This is a tag I found on http://jackcroxall.co.uk/the-chocolate-book-tag/ when I was looking for a book tag to do. I chose this one as it was short and sweet (literally!) and quite creative. Enjoy! - and I tag you to do this too :) xx

1. Dark Chocolate: a book that covers a dark topic

'House of Silk' by Anthony Horowitz. This is a truly amazing book; Horowitz's take on Sherlock Holmes keeps all bits any fan loves about the originals, whilst making it his own. I was taken with it from the first chapter and it took me the entire book to figure out who the real criminal was. The darkness in the book is only truly revealed at the end - I won't say what it is, but if you read this book (and i highly recommend that you do), you will find that is a topic which is as relevant today as it was in the 1900's.

2. White chocolate: your favourite lighthearted/humorous read

I don't know if this is breaking the rules slightly, but I'm going to pick 'Much Ado About Nothing' by Shakespeare. I know it's a play, but I couldn't really see any book on my bookshelf that could be described as lighthearted or humorous that I liked enough to mention.

This play does have a slight dark side with the slandering of Hero and Don Jon's plot but it the banter between Beatrice and Benedick that really gets my vote. They are just so witty and quick to respond; it's obvious that they have great chemistry.

3. Milk chocolate: a book with a lot of hype that you're dying to read

'Sharp Objects' by Gillian Flynn - I've seen more hype around Gone Girl but SO is supposed to be similarly dark and mysterious. I have to admit I do like plots that keep me guessing.

4. Chocolate with a caramel centre: a book that makes you feel all gooey in the middle while you read it 

Right, I have two candidates for this and they're about 200 years apart. One is Finding Sky by Joss Stirling, the first book in a series. The other is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Quite different, apart from the romance.

I picked Finding Sky because the main guy, Zed, is just perfect. As well as being physically hunky dory, he is so caring and protective (not OTT) of Sky, the key protagonist. Also, I really like the
chemistry and humour between the two - I swear I have actually sighed or gone 'ahh' out loud whilst reading. (N.B it is not overtly cheesy - i wouldn't read it if it was!)


Pride and Prejudice's gooeyness comes from the little moments Lizzy and Darcy have (when they're not insulting each other), especially when he openly expresses his love. It does all backfire but it is still a high-octane dramatic moment.

I also massively just to mush over the scene when Lizzy is staying with the Collins' at Longbourn and she's alone. Darcy comes in and is just so awkward yet sweet and then leaves. gah.

5. Wafer free kit kat: a book that has surprised you lately 

I would probably say 'The Great Gatsby' by F.Scott Fitzgerald. What I was surprised at was the beauty of the writing - it had slipped me by the first time I read it. However, upon revisiting it recently, there were many phrases and passages that seemed to stand out because they were so beautifully written.

I mean, just take this paragraph from chapter 5 (pretty much sums up the story):

"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams -- not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” 

Well, you may not agree, but I think its written in a lovely way.

6. Snickers: a book that you're going nuts about

Ohh this is 100% 'The Magus' by John Fowles. It is such a complicated plot and so contradictory and confusing that you are constantly trying to make sense of what is going on. Given that the novel is about psychological 'games', it is fitting that you have to suspend your disbelief - it made me feel really sympathetic to the main character, Nicholas, which is saying something since to start of with, he is really not a very appealing character.


Both Nicholas and the reader go on an emotional roller coaster ride with Inception-style events. Right a this moment I am in chapter 74 of 77 and I am STILL not entirely sure what is going on - so yes it is driving me nuts!

7. Hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows: a book that you would turn to for a comfort read

I'm probably not in a minority when I say that I would put Harry Potter in this category. There is just something so familiar about it and the wealth of detail and character makes it very easy to fall into.

Every now and then I do use HP as a respite, when I just want to read something that I don't have to analyse the life out of and is so easy to imagine yourself a part of it.

Books 3,4 & 5 are the most popular, judging by their spines.

ALSO, I would say the 'Song of the Lioness' quartet by Tamora Pierce. My mum started reading the series to me when I was little and I immediately loved it.

I don't think that its a very well known series but its basically about a girl called Alanna who is a twin. They switch places so Alanna can pretend to be a boy and train to be a knight. The series recount that goal but also how she deals with becoming a woman, with a good deal of magic, cunning villains and a love triangle (a rectangle at one point).

What about you?

 x x