Last month, I was scrolling through my blog feed and a post immediately caught my eye. I excitedly scrawled down the title in my blog planner, to be saved for another day. Lo and behold, the post was ‘Adventures of a Bibliophile’s’ Seven Deadly Sins Book Tag! I have never done a tag, let alone a book tag before, and I thought it was about time. At the bottom of the post, Stephanie at Adventure of a Bibliophile says you don’t have to be tagged to take part, just take part; so, here I go!
Greed – What is the most expensive book you own? Which is the least expensive?
When I started studying at University, I didn’t quite understand that you didn’t need all of the primary texts that were set. So, I have a lot of expensive academic books knocking about. Outside of those, my most expensive book is probably a first edition of How Green Was My Valley by Robert Llewellyn. My grandfather gifted it to me when I started talking about studying Literature at University. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s next to my bed, waiting to be read. It may not have been expensive then, but it certainly is now!
The least expensive book has to be Unspun Socks from a Chicken’s Laundry: Children’s Poems by Spike Milligan. If I tried to sell my copy now, I don’t even think it would get 20p. The cover is ripped, the pages are falling out, there’s barely any glue holding it together, but I adore it. It was one of my most read books as a child, and although it would probably be the least expensive, it’s priceless to me.
Gluttony – What book or books have you shameless devoured many times?
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (I genuinely think I need to create a ‘Rosie mentions The Bell Jar’ jar; I would save a lot of money). The first time I read it, I was awestruck; never before had a book resonated with me like that – and honestly, I don’t think a book has since. Every time I read it, it seems to teach me something, or reassure me, or surprise me. Like almost every millennial out there, I’ve also devoured the Harry Potter books in book, audio-book, and film form over far too many times to count, so I have to include it here too.
Lust – What attributes do you find most attractive in your characters?
I find relatability and individuality great character traits; it means we, as the audience, can relate to the characters and find them intriguing. I’m also a sucker for creative people in real life, so it makes sense I am a sucker for creative characters too!
Envy – What books would you like to receive as a gift?
I adore the Penguin Clothbound Classics series, but have never actually bought one for myself; strict admiration from afar. What makes these books so special are the covers; they each are a different colour with a different motif on the front, and all look so aesthetically pleasing. I can imagine them on my bookshelf now, siiiigh. I’d love to receive any of them as a gift, but my favourite one of the series has to be the teal and grey rose embossed cover of Wuthering Heights.
Pride – What book or books do you bring up when you want to sound like an intellectual reader?
The plays of William Shakespeare. I’ve performed in and directed various Shakespeare plays and projects in my time, so I should know quite a bit about them. I really enjoy talking about Shakespeare in some of my theatre circles, but other times, it just makes me sounds like the human embodiment of watching paint dry, and I’m not about that life.
Sloth – What book or series have you neglected out of sheer laziness?
Anything by Jane Austen. I know, I know, I can already hear the gasps of horror from some of you. I’ve tried to read them, but I’ve never had the energy to get through more than three chapters. I still have my fingers crossed that I’ll actually manage to read one of her novels, and fall head over heels with her writing; it just hasn’t happened yet…
Wrath – What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
J R R Tolkien. I saw the Lord of the Rings films first, and then read the books. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the books (maybe even more than the films) but goodness, there’s a lot of unnecessary waffling in the LOTR books. I genuinely skipped chunks of text so I could get around reading about dwarf family trees, and get on with reading the story.
I hope you enjoyed this tag, and if you fancy responding, go for it! Make sure to read the original post here, and let me know what you think of my choices in a comment below.
Rosie x
rosie abigail 