 Hello hello everyone, my name is Laura and this is my channel Laura's Level Library and welcome to today's video, which is the Splendid Spring Book Tag. It's created by Victoria Mann and I will have that channel linked down below so you can check out the original. I was not tagged specifically by somebody, but I saw Shelby over at Grace With Books do this tag and then just kind of say anyone who wants to do it. So I am taking that and I'm doing it because I want to. It finally feels like spring here, so I was really excited to see this beautifully written tag. Like the questions are so intricate and so I saw this and I was like, I have to do it. It's the perfect thing to do while it actually feels like spring outside. So let's just jump right into it. The first question, everywhere you look, flowers are blooming. Choose a book you love or think you'll love with flowers on the cover. And this is not a spring video on my channel without talking about Girl Serpent Thorn by Melissa Bouchardus. I have recommended this every spring since I've read this book and this is going to be the last year. Like when next year rolls around I am not going to allow myself to put this in any spring videos because I talk about it so much in the month of spring purely because of the cover. It's beautiful. Like I love the book. It was a five star read. I very much enjoyed it, but I mean, and our main character, it's like a sleeping beauty retelling except she's not asleep but she is like, she can't be touched otherwise whatever touches her will die unless it's a plant. So she very much is in the habit of gardening and gardening is her favorite hobby because she could be around living things without killing them. And so that just brings like very natural elements to the story, which is another reason why I think it's a perfect spring read and it is a fantasy standalone. It's actually quite political, plus it has bi rep. Like the main character is bi and so like this just takes so many boxes that I love and makes it really easy to recommend because of that. So I would be remiss if I went through this video without mentioning this book at least once. Here it is, done off the bat, no more. Question number two, spring is the perfect time for a fun trip. Choose a book you've read or would like to read while traveling from one place to another. So I will talk about a book that I brought with me when I traveled last summer. So last summer, my husband and I took a trip to Ecuador. It was our delayed honeymoon as we had a COVID-19 kind of quarantine wedding. So we weren't actually able to travel right afterwards. So for a one year anniversary slash delayed honeymoon, we went to Ecuador. And I specifically bought and picked out this book for that trip. You Had Me at Ola by Alexis Daria. None of the main characters are Ecuadorian per se, but this follows a telenovela star as well as an upcoming actress who both are trying to rekindle their careers in some way. Like he is like very well off. Everybody knows who he is, but he is going through some struggles and wants to re-enter the scene in a new light, whereas she is just trying to find her big break. So this is very soap opera telenovela style and it's about these two characters falling in love as they film a telenovela and they don't get off on the right foot. Like it's not enemies to lovers, but they don't have the best first impressions to each other. So just with the cultural aspects, I thought it was very appropriate for my trip to Ecuador. So this is what I read while I was there. I do have a vlog of that. So I'll have that linked up above for you to check out if you're interested in me reading this book while being in Ecuador for like two weeks. Question number three, who doesn't love a good spring fling? I don't know, who doesn't? Choose a book you are obsessed with with a short period of time, but you swiftly cast it aside. For me, that was The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I read this book and I loved it. I still love this book. I read the whole trilogy. I even read How the King of Elphane came to hate stories. Like I loved everything in the Air the Folk trilogy written by Holly Black. The reason I cast this aside so quickly was because I had heard about it and I immediately bought this and read it. And then I saw that everyone was talking about it. And I'm saying like everyone. It was huge on book talk, bookstagram, booktube, Twitter. Like this book was blowing up so much it was impossible for someone in the community to not have heard of this book at the very least. So I decided that if I talked about it, it would just be like too much. It would be boring and not interesting content. You know, wouldn't be that unique. So I read this and I loved it, but I didn't want to talk about it all that often because I didn't want to bore people or be repetitive. So that's why. But like seriously, if you haven't read this and you like fake stories or enemies to lovers like true enemies to lovers, you should still pick it up. You should. You just totally should. Number four, everyone loves the smell of freshly mowed grass, but not at an ungodly hour and ain't that the truth? Choose a book that personifies as a Middle-aged dad waking up at 7am on a Saturday morning to mow the lawn when he should be sleeping like the rest of us. What a question, but also so incredibly relatable. And I can remember waking up on Saturday mornings in the summer and looking out my window and it would be my dad mowing the lawn at like 8 o'clock in the morning. And me just being like, why? And then my parents wrote me into it. So I have a very weird answer for this book because I'm choosing A Light by Scott Sigler. This is alive. This is the first book in the trilogy, but I'm choosing A Light, the second book. I don't own it. And that's because I feel like to me, the fact that a man has woken up so early in the morning to mow the lawn, like he needs to mow the lawn and we enjoy a good mow of lawn because it smells nice and it looks nice. But it just doesn't quite hit the right mark. Like, why are you doing at 7 in the morning? Why can't you do it at like 9 or 10? Like, like I get it probably because like the sun is out and it's hot. But like, like so for me personifying a book for that is like everything about it is great except for one major point and that is what drags like everything down. And I think that's kind of what happened with this series kind of specifically with the second book. But like the first book is all the elements we love. We love the freshman grass. We love the smell. We love the look of it. But like 7 a.m. really. And there are some elements of here. And I'm like, this could have been done better. If this was done slightly differently, I would have loved it so much more. So that's why I'm choosing this. This is a sci-fi and it follows a main character who wakes up in a coffin and like remembers that it's their 10th birthday. But then they look down and they're like a 20 year old and they're confused. So they just are wandering the halls. I'm not going to say much more than that because I don't want to give away the book because like everyone just has like a billion questions. Question number five, a surprise rain shower might spoil your outdoor fun. But don't worry, the sun will be back. Choose a book that made you sad, but the sun still shines in the end. So the book I've chosen for this, I'm not going to talk too much about because when I tell you what it is, you'll understand. So it starts in April by Peggy Wargo. And this is the true story of a Titanic survivor. So you see why, you see why it makes me sad. But the fact that it's a true story kind of tells you that the main character survives. So that's a good thing. And like, yeah, I'm not going to say much more than that. Beautiful historical fiction of a Titanic survivor. Very much recommend it. Might even be a yearly read for me. Who knows, but this one. Plus, surprise rain shower there in the ocean. Number six, it's that time of year when all the animals stretch their limbs and come out of hibernating. Choose a book that pulled you out of a reading slump. And for me, that book was Isn't it Romantic by Lisa K. Adams. Recently, I have been reading a lot more books than I am used to reading. So when I stumbled upon a book that took me more than a couple days to finish, I kind of got into a slump. I was not excited. I was put into a slump by like Siege and Storm, and then like Ruin and Rising. And just a couple other long books I just wasn't feeling, but I forced myself to finish for one reason or another. Then I picked up Isn't it Romantic? And that is the fourth book in the Bermans book club series by Lisa K. Adams. I, I listened to the audiobook and I kept coming up with excuse after an excuse of what I can do to just keep listening to this audiobook because I was so enthralled. I loved it. I loved the characters. I love the story. I love the steam. Literally everything about this book was just right what I needed in the moment and just was something light, fluffy, slightly emotional, but like, it just picked me right up out of that reading slump and I just kept going. Question number seven, students all over at exhale sigh of relief knowing they get a break from school. Yes, pretty, yes. Choose a book whose friend group you'd like to spend spring break with. So normally when thinking about this, I was like, oh, a fantasy friend group that would do something epic and entertaining. But honestly, this year I'm good with going just a little more chill. So I wanted to do the friend group from Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant. The second or the companion novel to this book, One True Loves just came out and I also read that and I also enjoyed it and it followed a different person in the friend group. So in this book, we follow our main character Tessa, who is a romance writer and she ends up moving and her parents surprise her by telling her that she got into this really great art school as a writing student. But then when she goes to the school, she has huge writer's block and she cannot find herself writing and she just has a really hard time with it. And then she meets her friends and they are great people. They're a lot of fun, just kind of chill, unique people to hang out with. Like they're all very creative and artsy and they're very accepting of each other and they're kind of they're not quite the outcasts. But so I just thought, you know, it might be fun to spend a couple days just chilling with them, working on art projects, maybe get some advice from Tessa about writing and just, you know, hang out and have a casual couple of days with this friend group. Number eight, spring is all about rebirth and blooming. Choose a book that made you grow as a person. And I'm choosing Forest of Souls. I know, which doesn't make any sense, but hear me out. I didn't like this book. I was so excited for this book. I thought it was going to be five stars. I was like, I'm not even I want to buy it before I read it because I know I'm going to love it. And then I ended up reading it before I bought it, which I'm very thankful for because I ended up not liking it at all. And it just kind of made me realize that, you know, even though fantasy is my favorite genre, it's OK if there are fantasy books I don't love and it's OK if books that I think I'm going to love. I end up hating or strongly disliking, really. And so it just kind of made me realize that I can be OK with not loving everything and not necessarily like hating it either. Like this book just missed the mark. It was not there for me. I wasn't excited about it. I didn't really care much. And so, yeah, it just kind of made me grow as a fantasy reader and continue on question number nine. That's too many fingers to hold up. I'm not doing that anymore. A picnic at the park is the perfect springtime activity. Yeah, I would love to go on a picnic. So choose a book with a character who you think would pack the best picnic basket. I am going to go with the main character from Red Wolf because her her mom and her sister run the town bakery. Honestly, I just think she would pack it full of a bunch of her baked goods and that they would be delicious, firstly baked, homemade, made with love. Like. And honestly, that just sounds wonderful and beautiful. And I myself am a baker. And so and I love trying almost everything that I make. So so, yeah, I love sweet things. And honestly, also some of the pies, like, you know, it would just be a cute little picnic basket. And it would just be a lot of fun. I have never packed anything more than food in a picnic basket. So that's all I'm basing it on here is the food that they bring. I'd love to go on a picnic with her and like her sister. It would just be a fun time. Question number 10, the last question of the normal set is for many spring is a first break from the bitterness of which her choose a book that is the embodiment of sunshine. And I decided to go with a manga for this. And that is the Silver Spoon by Hiromu Arakawa. I probably said that wrong. I'm sorry. This is volume four. This is the volume that I'm going to start reading next. But it's basically about this city boy who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. So he decides to go to an agricultural focused school for high school. And he knows nothing about agriculture. He knows nothing. I believe he's in the dairy program. He knows nothing about farm animals or farming or anything like that. But all the other kids there come from farming families. And so it's just been really fun to see him adjust, but also kind of just figure out what he wants to do with life. So it's just really sweet and really wholesome. It's a slice of lice. It's sunshine. It's wonderful. As I said, I'm on volume four, but I have a whole bunch borrowed from a friend to continue reading this. So if you're into manga or graphic novel, this is a really good one to just make you just sit there and smile. All right. And then there are also some bonus questions as well. And so I thought it'd be fun to keep going and answer those two. So bonus question A is a world around us is being reborn right before our eyes. Choose a book whose movie or TV show adaptation reignited a dormant obsession. And for me, it's one that I've been talking about quite a bit recently. And that is The School for Good and Evil by Soma and Che Nani. So I read this book in like middle school, like seventh, eighth grade, I think. And I read the first book and I liked it and I didn't realize it was a series. I like I just didn't know. So I didn't keep reading the series. But late last year, I learned that this was getting a movie adaptation. This coming summer, summer of 2022. So I decided that I would want to read the second book, even though I remember what happened in the first book and I'm sure the movie's only on what the first book is, but I thought it'd be fun to just at least read the second book. And now I read the first four books of this six book series. So I have been reading through these and these are kind of chunky. Like this is this is not as chunky as some of these later books are getting. But I've been really enjoying them and I hope to finish the series maybe even before the movie comes out. I've also realized I've been saying summer of 2022 and we're only a couple months away from summer. So I'm sure it has like an actual release date. I don't know what that is, but either way, I'm excited for it. And I would love to finish the series and then watch the movie. Question being there couldn't be a more perfect time to discard cluttering items with a little spring cleaning. Yes, I really need to do that. Choose a book you've held on to for too long, either physically or in your heart. Wait for it. Hold, please. I've had this book. Cobwebs, not my favorite thing in the world. So I've had this stack of books I've been wanting to get rid of. I've already put them in an official unhaul video, but they've been sitting in a stack next to my bookshelf covered in cobwebs because I haven't been able to get rid of them because they're all arc copies. They're almost all arc copies. So I can't sell them to a business. So I'm trying to figure out if I want to sell them online or just put them in little libraries around town. And so most of these are arcs that I received and just wasn't interested in. So I'm going to pass them along to someone who hopefully is. But one book specifically that I'm going to say is Deal with the Devil by Kit Roach. And I don't need to keep it on my shelf. And yet it's still here. Yeah, I've got a whole stack of books that I just need to just need to get them out of here. Yeah, I won't put them back in the corner. Yeah, I won't put them back in the corner. And then maybe I'll actually get rid of them like I want to. Question C, let's move on. Spring is a perfect time to try something new. Choose a book that features an activity you'd like to try or a place you would like to go. I'm still being affected by those cobwebs. I have tried many different activities and I find them all to be so much fun. So I decided to go on place for this one. The other issue is that I love traveling and there are so many places I would like to go. But one place that I have specifically been thinking about going to in the next couple of years, just as a small little trip, is New Orleans. We were thinking of going to New Orleans this year for spring break, but that just didn't quite end up happening. So the book that takes place in New Orleans is Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things. So this follows a girl whose father is dying and her and her father were always really big into vampires. And it was recently released that vampires are actually real and they do exist. And then there was like this little phase of vampires being out. And then all of a sudden they all go back and hiding. So you know, some people are like, oh, that was never real. And some people are like, yeah, and they still walk among us. So she decides that she's going to go to the last place that she heard of a vampire, which is New Orleans, and try and convince him to bite her father so that he can continue to live. It just takes place in New Orleans and she kind of goes around New Orleans doing all these kind of different things. But yeah, I'm hoping to get to New Orleans just as a small trip. Which, I mean, it's still a multiple day drive for us if we were to go. Like we live in Minnesota. New Orleans is the south. So it's literally the other side of the country. But because we love doing out of country travel, anything in the United States or Canada just seems like a smaller trip. So this is what I've chosen. And I should really get back onto planning that trip. Because yeah, I really want to do that. Question D, springtime may be lovely, but the allergies it brings are not. And that is just so true. I am allergic to outside and my allergies are starting up. Anyway, back to the question. Choose a book with a side character or a second POV character whose presence is unwanted. And I debated on going with a book that has just too many POVs. But in the end, I decided to go with Three Dark Crowns. I really don't care for Joseph. I'm not a fan of his. I like all the other characters. And it's not even a POV thing. Like Joseph doesn't get a POV, but we do kind of get his story-ish. And I don't know. I just, I don't need him. I really don't. So you can just, you can just stop being a thing. But I'm still going to read the second book in the series. And then the final question, final bonus question in this tag. Question E, with each new season comes a new color scheme. And Spring does it best with pastels. I am personally a very big fan of pastels. Choose a book with a pastel cover that you loved or think you will love. And the book I have chosen for this, I bought the UK edition specifically for the pastel colors. Like the American cover is fine. Like it's a nice cover. But when I saw the UK edition, like the UK cover, I knew that was the cover I needed to have. That was what I wanted on my shelf. So when I rearrange my shelves, this is going to be on display. And that book is Six Screams and Cranes by Elizabeth Lim. Look at this. Is it not gorgeous? Like I can't, I just can't. It's pastel, which is perfect for Spring, but it's also just gorgeous. So yes, I had to purchase this copy rather than an American cover. It is a story based off of Chinese mythology. Our main character has magic and on her wedding day it is revealed and that is not okay. And so her stepmother, who also has magic, basically turns her brothers into cranes. So she can't tell anyone about it or that every word she speaks is going to be a dead brother for her. And there's something about her wearing a bow on her head. I haven't read the book yet. So I don't know what that's about, but I am excited to find out. And especially with this gorgeous cover, I'm excited for so many reasons. Plus I love Elizabeth Lim's writing. I love her duology. So this is just the ultimate spring book for me right now. And I am so excited to read it. I almost don't want to start it, but like, I think I just want to be in the middle of it forever because it's just the perfect spring book. So I want to start reading this and not finish it until the end of spring. Not what's going to happen, but it's my feeling. So just want to look at it longer. So that is the end of the tag. Again, I will have the original video linked down below as well as Shelby's video because I referenced her in this video. So I thought it'd be nice to just link her down below just in case you're unfamiliar with her channel, Grace with Bucks. Otherwise down below I will also have all of my bookish social media. So my bookstagram, booktalk, book twitter, goodreads, all that jazz. So you can go ahead and follow me there. Feel free to subscribe while you're down there as well. I make and post videos on Sundays and Wednesdays and hit the bell to be notified so that you know when the video is uploaded and you can watch it or put it on your watch later or however you do things. Also give this video a thumbs up if you liked it and if you are interested in doing this tag then I am tagging you to do it. Feel free to do this tag. So again, thank you very much. And until I see you all in the next video, I wish you happy reading.