I didn’t come up with this and in fact, found it first on Instagram and then saw it on another bookish blog! It’s the perfect tag for those of use who love the perfect aesthetic of things that come in threes! (Or for those of us who can’t count very high, whichever applies, maybe both.) I’ve got books to read and review, manuscripts to edit, and stories to tell which means three items per category is perfect for me—the editorial do-it-all person that I am. Call me an editorial renaissance woman or jack of all (written word) trades, but all I’m getting at is that I’ve only got a little time to accomplish everything and if you’re the same way, then this tag is awesome for both of us! Let’s get on to the tag, already! Of course, I have some honorable mentions in this list because I just can’t pick favorites, apparently. What can I say? I love them all.

3 Favorite Authors

• Richard A. Knaak. Of course, I adore everything he’s done in the World of Warcraft book universe —the game has such a special place in my heart and his incredible, fantasy writing does as well.

• J.R.R. Tolkien. I don’t have to read a series more than once to know it will be a favorite. I’ve treasured the Peter Jackson films since I was a little girl and I always knew when I finally sat down and read the novels, I would love them just as much, if not more. 2019 was my first year reading the Lord of The Rings trilogy and while I am still working on it (yes, in 2020) it already is a favorite of mine and will be for years to come.

• Becca Fitzpatrick. I love every.single.book. she writes—especially the Hush, Hush saga. Black Ice and Dangerous Lies a VERY close second and third. I just wish she’d write more because I absolutely adore her paranormal romantic thrillers!

Honorable mention: James Patterson. I knew this one would be swapped out for another author eventually, but before I discovered Fitzpatrick, Patterson was my all-time favorite author, with Maximum being my all-time favorite series. I’d read it several times, and while I do still enjoy the series, I don’t again see it being a forever favorite.

3 Weirdest Things You’ve Used As a Bookmark

• Okay, seriously? An empty Kit-Kat wrapper. Or was it a Hershey’s? I don’t remember. All I know is that the book still smells of chocolate, even though I got zero candy in the pages.

• A faux tortoise shell bracelet. Okay, maybe this isn’t an uncommon household item, and well, neither is chocolate, but it’s still a pretty strange bookmark, if you ask me. It was just laying on my desk, and when I needed a bookmark, it seemed a likely contender. Of course, that was until I put the book back and lost the bracelet until I reopened the book and it fell out. Oops!

• Receipts. Yes I, like every other stylish, bookish girl out there, go shopping on occasion aaaand I may have a few receipts laying around at any given time. So, I just used one of those! It was likely a Taco Bell receipt though, let’s be real.

You think bookworms use actual bookmarks? Hahaha, you’re clearly joking. Right? I don’t even remember the last time I used a proper bookmark.

3 Series Binged

• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. If you read the first part, then you already know what I am going to say. This is my absolute, indisputable, all-time favorite series and I devour it every. single. year. I love this series and it never gets old.

• Maximum Ride by James Patterson. Although it’s been a few years since I’ve reread the series, every time I do, I burn through all nine books in about two weeks’ time. The books are so action-packed, and the pacing is so good, I can’t not get stuck in them and neglect my adult responsibilities until I’ve finished the novels and have nothing else to do with my life. It’s the obvious reaction.

• Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan. I read this series around the same time I’d discovered Maximum Ride (in early high school) and I blew through them so fast, and somewhat out of order, oops! I hardly remember what happened and in what book. It’s about time to reread this series as well because everything is a sort of Percy-shaped blur.

3 Characters You Love

• Patch Cipriano from Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. Duhhh. Tall, dark, brooding, and handsome? Angsty angel of my dreams? Helloooo. of course, he’s my all-time favorite novel character. Truth be told, I wish he was real.

• Ares Lavrenthea from Mooncallers by Leda C. Muir. I’m sensing a theme going on here, but I don’t even care. Ares is dragon daddy and honestly one of my favorite book characters. He’s such a dynamic fantasy character and when he’s not sipping tea or smoking roseleaf cigarettes, he’s out on an adventure with Luxea and I love both his personality and their relationship. Besides, his backstory is so good. If you haven’t read this book, you must.

• Tom Bombadil from Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. I absolutely adore this guy. He is such an enigma. Tom’s lighthearted, charismatic, and benign demeanor was so fun to read in the series. I love all of his little songs and dances and I just want to spend a day with him because he’s essentially the Bob Ross of Middle Earth. How can you have a bad day when you’ve got someone like that at your side?

3 Unpopular Bookish Opinions

• Divergent genuinely did want to like the Divergent series and can fully see why they’ve been so successful. I just wish it was done better. The first chapter seemed promisng, but it sort of went downhill from there and I just couldn’t get into the books.

• Bookish Subscription Boxes. I just don’t understand these. Why would I subscribe to a book box subscription when I can just buy books I know I’ll love. And if this blog post has taught you anything, it’s that I definitely don’t need the subscription for the bookmarks. I wouldn’t use them anyway.

• The Hunger Games. I had a hard time figuring out this once, primarily because I didn’t even have these books on my shelf anymore! I donated them to the local library last year, and while I am probably going to get some hate for saying this, I can’t say I miss them. I read the first novel, and it was alright, but I just didn’t think it warranted all the hype. I tried to get into the second book and didn’t. When I caved and watched the movies, I realized I probably wasn’t missing out on much. For the record, I am not really a fan of the dystopia genre anyways.

Click here to read more of my unpopular bookish opinions.

3 Popular Bookish Opinions

• Hyped books. I love hyped books, just like the rest of us, and I tend to jump on the hype train along with everyone else. Sometimes the books suck, and I’ll be the first to point it out, but most of the time, hyped books are popular for good reason.

• Hardcovers are better. In my 7 Unpopular Bookish Opinions blog post, I say I like both hardcovers and paperbacks, but I will concede that the hardbacks are the superior of the two. They’re durable and they stand on their own like strong, intelligent, independent, bookish creatures. The only problem is that they cost more. :/

• Spin-off Series. I actually really love spin-offs. They’re awesome! My favorite spin-off is Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus. Spin-offs are a delicate balancing act between overdoing a story and not doing enough to it, but the HoO series is an example of one that does this balancing act well. I think the Harry Potter series has had enough spin-offs though, just let it go, Rowling.

3 Favorite Book Covers

I won’t even pretend to behave here. These are all my favorites. It was so hard to even narrow them down to 14.

Do you see what I did there with the color scheme? Just because I don’t follow the tag rules doesn’t mean my graphic can’t still be pretty. Truthfully though, I do love all of these covers. Another truth? I haven’t read most of these—Gasp!

3 Bookish Goals for 2020

Okay, I already have an entire blog post about this, but I think I’ll put my top three here anyways.

• Read 30 books. I truly do want to read 30 books and I think that goal will be easily surpassable this year. I figured out a way to get myself out of reading slumps quickly and I even beat my goal for 2019—23/20 books! I think I am ready to kick it up a notch.

• Join an IRL Book club. I know there’s a psychology book club at my school but this might be the year I charter and star up the official book club there, or at least join a club if I can find one. I’ve always wanted to be part of a book club and be around like-minded individuals where we can just nerd out about books and reading.

• Review more books. If you’ve been around this blog for any period of time, you can tell my book review section on the book blog is severely lacking. In 2020 not only do I want to read more books, but I want to  review them as well. I think thinking critically about novels is important to understanding the bigger picture part of them and not getting completely wrapped up in the little parts of the story.

Click here to read my 20 Bookish Resolutions For 2020 blog post.

And those goals bring me to the end of the 3 Bookish Things Tag! I broke some of the rules, but can you really blame me? I think some of these are almost too hard to pair down to three and to those of you who can do it—I both applaud and envy you. I just have too much bookish love to give to all of my wordy babies. (Shhh, it can be a thing—like fur babies. It’ll catch on, right?)

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and I’d also love it if you did this tag to let me know so I can check out your 3 bookish things!

Thumbnail photo by Marta Dzedyshko.

—Payton