The Chocolate Book Tag

I saw this tag on a twitter post by Amanda at Chocolate Pages (also found on Twitter at @Chocolate_Pages) and thought it sounded fun. I love hearing about peoples’ book choices and I’m always looking for recommendations for future reads. I also like the fact that this tag does not necessarily ask for my favourite books, but rather books I have read which may fit into the given categories. I hope you find my choices interesting.

If anyone would like to join in, feel free to do so. Don’t forget to send me your links after you have written it so that I can read your choices.

So, here goes…. 

DARK CHOCOLATE: a book with dark content or theme.

My choice for this category is Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind. Set in 18th century France, it tells a terrifying tale of a young man with a remarkable nose who becomes obsessed with the possibility of capturing the scent of young womanhood. This is a vile, disturbing yet gripping read, a real modern classic. 

WHITE CHOCOLATE : a light hearted read.

I read pretty much anything and I like to vary my book choices, however for a light hearted read there is nothing I like more than a good chick-lit/romcom. I have a number of favourites including Jill Mansell, Freya North, Janet Evanovich, Jana DeLeon etc… 

It is very difficult to decide on this category, however I’m going to choose Hot Six by Janet Evanovich. For those unfamiliar with Evanovich’s work, this is the sixth book in the Stephanie Plum series and the first of the series that I read. I remember feeling particularly low when I started reading this book and it cheered me up so much. It’s a real laugh-out-loud story about a bounty hunter who gets into scrapes, blows up cars and generally survives through sheer luck rather than skill. In my opinion this is one of the better books in the series and however many times I read it, it still makes me laugh. 

MILK CHOCOLATE:  a hyped popular book that you really want to read.

I really want to read A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, book 1) by George R R Martin. I love the tv show and I’ve had this book on my Kindle for about a year waiting to be read. I know it’s long and there are a lot of characters, as such I’m waiting until I have some uninterrupted time to sit down and wade through this one. I think this may be my Christmas book. 

CHOCOLATE WITH A CARAMEL CENTRE: a book that makes you feel goey inside.

My choice for this category has to be Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding. This is the ultimate in comforting romances – an awkward girl who finds her Prince Charming. I love this book and feel totally goey after reading it. 

A WAFER FREE KITKAT: a book that surprised you.

I had a lot of difficulty in choosing a book for this category as I honestly cannot the of a book that surprised me. I’m sure there are a few that did which have now slipped from my memory. So, my choice for this category is Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen. My reason for this choice is not so much that the story surprised me but rather that it is the only one of Hiaasen’s books that I have read and his writing style came as a bit of a surprise. The story is about a retired state policeman who’s lazy days are disturbed when a hit man is sent after him. The humour is dark, dry  sarcastic and witty. It’s unusual, dark, violent and, in places, very funny. 

A SNICKERS BAR: a book you’re going nuts about.

My choice for this category has to be The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. This was my husband’s holiday book and I read it after running out of my own books. It is such an interesting book that both myself and my husband have recommended it to numerous people. Ronson is a journalist and you can guess this by his style of writing. He uses great observational humour whilst also dealing with the subject matter in a compassionate manner. The book did leave me slightly worried as to whether any of my colleagues are ‘psychopaths’  but left me reassured that I was not. I would definitely put this book on my ‘must read’ list. 

HOT CHOCOLATE WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND MARSHMALLOWS: a comfort read that you turn to again and again.

For this category, I’m going to refer back to my childhood and to a series of books that I’ve not read for years – The Famous Five by Enid Blyton. One of my favourite childhood memories is of early evenings with my mother sat on a recliner chair, my baby sister on her lap and myself and my twin sister each sitting on an arm of the chair. My mum owned a full hardcover set of The Famous Five books and would read us a couple of chapters most days whilst waiting for my dad to arrive home from work. We must have read those same books over and over again, yet we never asked her to read anything else to us. A truly perfect childhood memory. If my husband and I have children, there is no doubt that we would repeat this experience for them. 

A BOX OF CHOCOLATES: a series that has lots of things that many readers will like. 

This may be a bit controversial, but I’m going to say the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. I know that ultimately they’re kids books but the have a fantastic mix of humour, friendship, romance, suspense, intrigue, drama, death, fantasy, magic and much more. 

I would love to hear what you thought about my choices and about your own choices, so please carry on the Chocolate Book Tag and share your answers.