The Never Have I Ever Book Tag

And we’re back with another book tag on a Thursday afternoon! This particular tag was created by Madame Writer, and I just happened upon it this week while looking for a new book tag to work through.

If you’re not familiar with the game “Never Have I Ever,” it started out as a game of sorts. You sit in a circle, put all ten fingers up, and say “Never have I ever [some activity here].” Anybody who has done that activity puts a finger down. The one who has the most fingers remaining after the first person has put down all ten fingers is the winner.

Now we’re going to apply that same theme to some books.

Never Have I Ever…read a later book in a series before reading the first book

I’ve done this by accident more times than I can count. For example, Kiki Strike and the Empress’s Tomb. I was given this book as a present, and it was only after I finished reading it that I discovered it was a sequel! (Ugh, right?) So, that’s minus a point to me.

Never Have I Ever…burned a book

I’ve burned a few notebooks, but not an actual book.

Never Have I Ever…read a book I knew I would hate

Does re-reading count? If so, I’ve re-read To Kill a Mockingbird several times, just to see if my opinion would have changed, but I can’t get past my hatred for this book. I’m sure I’ve also hate-read some summer reading books, but for several of those I ended up liking them. Subtract another point. (That’s -2, if you’re keeping track.)

Never Have I Ever…wrote a fanfiction about my favorite books

While I may be a writer, I don’t mess with other peoples’ books. I’ll leave that to other people. I’ve written more fanfiction about video games than anything else, so I’m keeping my points for this one.

Never Have I Ever…loved a book when I was young and hated it when I got older

I can’t think of a book along these lines, if we’re being honest. All of my childhood books still hold a special place in my heart (and hopefully on my bookshelves at some point in the future). I guess if high school counts, then re-reading A Great & Terrible Beauty might count, but it’s not so much that I hated it as that it hasn’t aged well at all. I’ll keep the point for this one.

Never Have I Ever…dressed up as one of my favorite literary characters

Drat, take another point off. When I lived in Kansas, I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I ended up dressing up as her for Halloween one year. I probably still have the dress and the bonnet somewhere. Mom made the dress and the bonnet, too. (-3)

Never Have I Ever…hated a book by an author I love

Artemis  by Andy Weir. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was that the book I’d been looking forward to for months on end turned out to be a complete and utter disappointment. It was like he was attempting to capitalize on the success of The Martian‘s movie, and wrote the book like one would a screenplay. It’s an utter disappointment with a completely flat main character who reads like she was written by a twelve-year-old boy. I’m sorry, Andy Weir. You dropped the ball on this one. (-4)

Never Have I Ever…gone into a bookstore to buy one book and come out with many more

I don’t know if I ever go into a bookstore intending just to buy one book, or not intending to buy a book at all.  No matter how many books I go in looking for, I always come out with many more than I intended. Subtract another point. (-5)

Never Have I Ever…read the end of a book before reading the beginning

I’ve done this more times than I could count. I used to pick up a book, read the summary/back cover, and then read the very last page. To be honest, that’s a very bad habit to get into, and at some point I stopped doing that. I’ll still occasionally skip ahead in books in order to reassure myself that things will turn out okay, but that’s not as often as it used to be. (-6)

Never Have I Ever…read a book without the dust cover

I do this all the time. I don’t want the dust covers to get damaged, or bent, or torn, or any other sort of mishap while I’m reading. I’ve ruined a few covers by putting them in my backpack, and now it’s easier to keep a pristine cover if I don’t have it in my sweaty hands while I read a book. I can’t imagine creasing or damaging a book in any way. (-7)

Honestly, I’m not surprised. I end up with three fingers still up, which is just enough to flip someone off while putting the L sign on your forehead. I don’t particularly mind; I’ve done a lot of weird things over the years, and my reading habits are pretty all over the place.

What do you think? Would you have won the game? Let me know in the comments!

And as always, keep reading.