Hi there! I came across this on nosestuckinabook and was compelled to get in on it 🙂
THE RULES
- Please, please, please steal this tag and spread it around! I only ask that you link it back to The Literary Phoenix so that I can see everyone’s answers!
- Freeze tag was all the rage in the 90s. Tag someone (or many) you think would have fun with this!
- Have fun!
POKEMON
Back in the day, there were only 150 Pokemon.
The author you need every book from.
Brian K. Vaughn – he’s a graphic novelist, and I gleefully buy everything he puts out.
AIM
Back in the day, AOL Instant Messaging is how we communicated
A book that connected you with your best friend.
Dawn (Octavia Butler) – it was the first gift I was given by someone who was at the time a new friend. A few years later, she was my maid of honour… the book was that good. No, really. That good.
Come to think of it… she introduced me to Brian K. Vaughn, as well.
FURBY
Back in the day these were all the rage. They’re basically Gremlins.
A book that seemed like a good idea but was actually a monster.
Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood) – I’m not saying it’s bad, but I put it down after realizing it was going to be a gruelling and difficult read with lots of child abuse (sexual, and otherwise). I couldn’t handle it right then and there, but I am curious about where it was going.
N’SYNC
Wait… Does this count as one of our generation’s classics?!
A book you hated to say “Bye, Bye, Bye” to.
The Good Daughter (Karin Slaughter… probably not her real name) – This book had me on the edge of my seat, and when it was over I felt like I was coming out of a daze. I had been so sucked in I hadn’t realized I was coming to the end, so that was tough.
SLIMED!
Back in the day, this was a strange game show phenomenon.
A book everyone loved but you hated.
Divergent (Veronica Roth) – I picked this up because I was fresh off of a Hunger Games high, but this felt more like a bad Hunger Games hangover. I DNF’d it pretty quick.
OREGON TRAIL
Back in the day, games like this were trailblazers of the violent video games that are totally normalized now.
A book that made you wish you died of dysentery.
Betrayals (Kelley Armstrong) – Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good Armstrong book. My problem with her stories is that by book 3, they have wandered off on a strange tangent, entirely disconnected from book 1. Book 4 of the Cainsville series was tough to get through.
MIXTAPE / CD
Back in the day, being a good friend meant being the friend with the CD burner.
3 books you recommend to anyone, anywhere, no matter what.
1984 (George Orwell), Kindred (Octavia Butler), The Giver (Lois Lowry). Three classic food-for-thought numbers that are also fairly easy reads.
DIAL-UP INTERNET
The worst sounds society was ever accosted by… but we powered through. Gotta get on that AIM, after all.
A book that took FOR FREAKING EVER to finish.
Dracula (Bram Stoker) – The first time I read this it was for a Gothic Lit class and I had to do so in just one week, along with all the books I was reading for other courses. Having to rush through it was brutal. But, when I gave it a second read, not skipping passages was even more brutal.
KENAN THOMPSON
Mighty Ducks. Good Burger. Keenan and Kel. Everything.
That book that you see referenced everywhere and is in everything, but that’s okay because it’s awesome.
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) – This isn’t really the case anymore, but it’s the last book I read that was really popular.
THUMBS UP, SEVEN UP
Back in the day, this was the game you had to play in class when the teacher needed a break.
Book where you peeked just REAL quick at the ending because you don’t like guessing games.
I never do this. Never. I did CONSIDER it once.
Gathering Blue (Lois Lowry) – This is the second book in her The Giver trilogy. I was really tempted to read ahead to find the connection between the two worlds, but I resisted. Oh, and, spoiler alert – there’s no connection.
DUNKAROOS
Back in the day, cookies dunked in frosting was a perfectly acceptable snack. Because loading kids up on sugar makes perfect sense.
Your ideal bookish snack.
I usually just go for a cup of tea or coffee.
SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
Goosebumps, Fear Street, anything by V.C. Andrews…
A book that kept you up all night.
The Bloody Chamber (Angela Carter) – I’m pretty desensitized to the horror genre, I read and watch a lot of it. But, this book of short stories based on fairy tales is actually really chilling!
BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY
Science icon. 90s Hero.
A book that taught you something new.
Shell Shock Cinema (Anton Kaes) – This is a really intense read! Kaes lays out the ways in which every day life in Germany was impacted by WWI, and how shell shock (or PTSD) was embodied by the film industry during a period that we now refer to as German Expressionism. The book has a lot of interesting facts, like how cinemas used to dig trenches out front for people to “experience” war before the show.
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I tag all lovers of books and 90s nostalgia 🙂
Words & Stitches 