The Book Blogger Memory Challenge

Happy Friday, everyone!

Thanks to an insanely busy week and a Tawny Man trilogy review that is still nowhere near finished despite continuously getting longer and longer and longer, I‘ve decided I get to take a bit of a break from word-vomiting! Today, I’m here with something a bit shorter, and doing Laura @ Laura’s Book Reviews‘ The Book Blogger Memory Challenge! Georgia @ Lost in Neverland was kind enough to tag me in this a couple of weeks ago, and since knowing random literature trivia is kind of my thing, I knew I had to do it!

(Yes, I know – a miracle has occurred! I’m actually doing a tag before a year has passed since I was tagged in it 😁 Don’t expect this to become a regular occurrence, though…)

You have to answer the prompts without using the internet or looking at your bookshelves. Your answers all have to come from memory! Make sure to link to the person who originally tagged you and, once you’re done, you can tag five other people if you’d like.

So yeah – let’s get into the thick of things! I have a feeling that I’m gonna be good at this, because the more useless remembering something is, the deeper it tends to be entrenched in my memory 😎

Like, the first ten digits of pi? No problem – that’s 3.141592653. But remembering to take my laptop charger with me when leaving my 7th graders’ classroom? Not a chance. Which also means that the majority of the post you are reading right now was probably written by a severely annoyed me on my phone, since I am too lazy to cycle all the way back to school to fetch the charger and my laptop’s survival is limited to about an hour when it’s solely running on battery… Priorities, people!

But anyway, let’s get started!

Easy! I pick Momo by Michael Ende 🥰 Although the book has a plot so bizarre it‘s almost impossible to explain – it involves an orphan living in an amphitheater, a magical tortoise, a street sweeper, and evil gray men who obsessively try to force people to save time – it is one of my big childhood favorites, and I would highly recommend it to everyone!

(Also, while we’re at it, Michael Ende’s name is not pronounced /ˈmaɪkl end/ but /ˈmɪçaːʔeːl ˈɛndə/, dear English-speaking audience! I know our “ch“ sound drives you to frustration, but approximation is still better than butchering everything beyond recognition! Besides, for everyone who is still puzzling over the pronunciation of my name, the “ae” in “Michael” is exactly the same as in “Naemi”… 😉)

Since I‘ve spent pretty much the entire month reading Robin Hobb‘s Tawny Man trilogy and am, as previously stated, still agonizing over finishing my already monstrous draft of a review, I would be an absolute dolt if I didn‘t remember that the cover of Fool‘s Fate had a dragon on it. So obviously, I‘m going with that!

Am I currently spending so much time with children whose English is barely comprehensible that picture books are at the forefront of my mind? Maybe 🙃

But Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are such an iconic author-illustrator duo that I couldn’t not go with their heartwarming tale about a scruffy giant who tries so hard to dress more nicely but ultimately fails because he sacrifices all of his new clothes to help animals in need… Apart from the fact that George’s terrible sense of fashion is very relatable, The Spiffiest Giant in Town is just the most adorable story ever!

Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith! My copy of this one is in a dire state indeed because it has been reread about a million times since third-grade me originally got it at my school‘s Scholastic Bookfair 🥰 It‘s about a pair of twins who are sent to stay with their super mysterious and eccentric uncle after their parents go missing – and who then proceed to go looking for modern-day dinosaurs in the Congo. Trust me, middle-grade sci-fi fans, you‘re going to love this!

That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott! I had never heard of this book until I encountered it during one of my university classes, and although I thought it dragged a bit at time, I‘ve retrospectively come to realize that I still learned quite a bit from it. A historical fiction novel that takes place in the early 19th century, That Deadman Dance explores the days of early contact between newly arriving European prisoners, American whalers, and the Aboriginal Noongar people, whom the author himself is descended from. It‘s a very eye-opening and grim book, but also a very impactful read!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow or something? I‘ve never actually read this book – and don‘t intend to, either – so I might be wrong about the author’s name… 🙈 But you‘ll see it once I insert the cover, so all is well!

EDIT, POST INSERTING THE COVER: OMG, I was actually right about the name!!! Please bow down to my amazing book trivia memorization skills 😇😎😇

(Also, I would like to sincerely apologize to Line @ First Line Reader for mentioning this book, but I literally couldn‘t think of anything else that fit this prompt! So yeah, Line, while I‘m very sorry for yet again reminding you of it, I guess I should also thank you for ranting about it so much that I at least had something month-related on my radar! 😁)

**Tries very hard to think of something other than the answer everyone goes with for this question, but then decides to pick The Knife of Never Letting Go anyway since all other cover candidates she can think of feature daggers, not knives** We have to be precise here!

And besides, I absolutely ADORE the Chaos Walking trilogy!!! 🤩 It is one of the best YA sci-fi/dystopian books out there, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! It‘s super unique, a bit weird, and it will really make you think!!

Just One Day by Gale Forman. Is it your standard super-cheesy, insta-lovey American-goes-on-a-road-trip-through-Europe novel? Maybe a little bit 😂 But I do remember enjoying some of the spins this one took on the trope!

For some reason, my treacherous brain immediately jumped to Daniel Defoe‘s Robinson Crusoe for this one, in spite of my rather unfavorable views on it… The novel is boring, racist, extremely religious, and full of glaring scientific flaws – one of my “favorite“ scenes is still when the current that has caught Robinson‘s canoe thankfully turns around and carries him back to his island before he is lost at sea forever 🙄 – and literally the only thing I found interesting about it is that it IS a novel! Robinson Crusoe played a tremendous role in establishing this literary form – some people even say it was the very first novel ever – so I guess I am hugely indebted to its existence. Just imagine a world without any novels in it!

The Percy Jackson series was, unfortunately, turned into movies. I still haven‘t forgiven the people in charge for what they did with it.

  • Anoushka @ Dipped in Ink – If you do this, I expect ✨EXCITED SCREAMING✨ about something or other!!!
  • Ash @ Ink Words and Ash – I mean, now that I know you’re a fellow Winternight fan, I kind of have to tag you!
  • Carl @ The Pine-Scented Chronicles – I feel like you’ll have a lot of unique books to bring to the table, so yes, my motivations are pretty selfish here!
  • Riddhi @ Whispering Stories – I don’t even know how many undone tags of yours I have sitting in my drafts folder at this point, so I thought I’d return the favor! 🙂
  • Suhani @ Random Reader’s Rambles – Now that you’re older, I feel like I need to check whether your memory skills are still working… Happy birthday! 🥳🎂🎉🎈🎊🥳

As always, you are under no obligation to do this unless you want to, but I, for one, would love to see your answers!

So yeah, that was it for today! Let me know down below how you would have done or did on this challenge, and what you thought of my answers! Have you read any of these books? Do you agree with my thoughts on them? I would love to know!

32 thoughts on “The Book Blogger Memory Challenge”

  1. Lay @ bookshelfsoliloquies says:
    Reply

    I love Momo! We have a really old copy of it and I vividly remember my mum reading the story to us. I’ve seen a few people do this challenge and every time I am in awe of how people actually remember specific books, I would fail so hard! As soon as someone asks me for any kind of book my mind magically goes blank😂

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Our Momo-copy has definitely seen better days as well… 😅 I also vividly recall my parents reading it to us – my dad had these special voices for all of the characters, and my next-oldest brother and I kept asking for the Bibi-Girl scene in particular because the way my dad read it was so hilarious! So I’m glad to hear the book was similarly beloved in your household! 🥰

      And lol, if you ask me for weirdly specific book recommendations, I will literally never shut up 😁 It’s when people come at me and ask me to recommend them something without providing any further background on what they’re interested in that my mind starts freezing up 😂

      Like

  2. Rachel says:
    Reply

    ok i used to think i had a pretty good memory but you dispelled that misunderstanding because literally all these questions are SO HARD,, i could never just randomly name a book written by a micheal or a smith so hats off to your amazing memory, i am pleased to say you have officially PASSED this challenge with flying colours!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Haha, I’m very sorry to have dispelled your illusions of having a good memory, Rachel! 😁🤣 Though I’m sure you’re nowhere near as bad at this as you think – just think of all the great random bird facts you know! I’m sure book trivia will be no problem in comparison 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Meena Green says:
    Reply

    Loved your answers! I don’t think I’ve read a book by an author named Michael which is strange because it’s not a super uncommon name, there are so many Michaels!
    Some books here I haven’t read but seem pretty cool, might have to 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Line @First Line Reader says:
    Reply

    While I’m intrigued by the very long Tawny Man review, I also appreciated it very much that we got a post I could actually read today and not several months in the future 😁 Until I saw a certain book at least… 😒 You apologized in the post so I guess it’s okay. I’m glad I helped you answer the question and want to tell you that there is a book called The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. You know, just in case you’re ever asked that question again so we can avoid this whole situation 😉

    I’m very impressed you came up with a book about a George! I’ve seen people doing the tag unable to do that, and I also can’t for the life of me think of a book with a George as a main character. People in fantasy books just aren’t named George 😂

    And the pronunciation guide for Michael Ende 😂 I don’t think you can fault people for not wanting to pronounce that ‘ch’ the way you want them to. Germans clearly love choking themselves which is fine but you can’t expect that of other people 😉 We also pronounce it as a ‘k’ but then we’re too busy to pronounce the ‘e’ so I was momentarily scared I had mispronounced your name anyway until I realized it made sense 😅

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Well, considering the rate I’m writing that review at, several months in the future doesn’t sound like the worst estimate of when I’ll be done… 😅 The thing is, I really liked the reaction log style I used in my Liveship Traders review, but got so caught up in the story that I couldn’t be bothered to take long notes – which means I am now going over a handwritten mess of papers that say stuff like “341 chapter title” or “361 Fool!!!! So traurig!!!” and wondering what the heck this meant and how to formulate it into coherent sentences that might actually convey that meaning to other people… Never again am I taking “the easy option”, that’s for sure! 🙈🙈🙈

      And now that you mention it, I do actually know that The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August exists! It had just completely escaped my memory 😂 But if it mollifies you, I’m actually way more open to reading that than a certain other book, especially since I think Regan @ Peruse Project gushed about it quite a bit in some of her older videos…

      Also, I don’t see the George problem at all – I had so many books to choose from! Like Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, The Curious George books, or (although I think it deserves even less of a shoutout than the January book 🙄) Paul Harding’s Tinkers… And I’d also argue there are plenty of fantasy books with Georges – like Harry Potter and Alanna – but that you’re probably right in saying those names don’t usually make it to the protagonist-stage… 🤔 So I guess I’ll be on the lookout for a fantasy hero named George now! 😂

      But hey, our “ch” is super easy to pronounce! If you’re doing it right, there’s no choking danger whatsoever 😜 Besides, the distinction is very important, especially when it comes to seemingly harmless words like “Nacht”…

      Liked by 1 person

      • Line @First Line Reader says:
        Reply

        Yeah, you really have to write everything down for that style to really work. Speaking of live reactions to Tawny Man: I’ve started Fool’s Errand and so far it’s my favorite book to do this reaction thing to! I’m having such a good time with it! And I always need breaks in my reading so I don’t have your problem 😅

        Apparently I’ve been talking about the January book too much then since it was the first book you thought of 🙄 I haven’t read the Harry August book but I’m 100% sure it’s better.

        And yeah, I haven’t read any of those books, and the only George I could think of was Weasley. I didn’t think I could argue George Weasley being the main character in Harry Potter 😅 But good luck trying to find a hero George. I’m thinking there must be one but it’s probably set in our world and not a secondary one 🤔

        This is a reminder to myself to never try and say “Nacht” out loud…

        Liked by 1 person

        • abookowlscorner says:
          Reply

          Well, I did write down a ton – just not exactly in the most complete sentences… 😅 I was so sure I’d be able to remember what I was referring to and could flesh it out later! And I do, kinda, but giving people enough context to get what I’m talking about requires going back and comparing my reactions to the page numbers I (thankfully) noted down, which takes forever! 🙈 But I suppose that alone should tell you I have A LOT of notes – because yes, Fool’s Errand was amazingly fun to react to!! I think I really experienced the full spectrum of emotions while reading that book, and I can’t wait to see what you think of it! 🤗

          Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Trust me, I was surprised myself by how easily I was able to come up with answers! I guess the more random something is, the better I remember it? 😂 Because when it comes to the more important stuff – like where I last saw my phone/laptop/current read – I am definitely not the most reliable! 😅😁

      Like

  8. Suhani says:
    Reply

    AHHH THESE QUESTIONS ARE SO DIFFICULT!!🙈 and you found an answer for every single one of them — I could NEVER 😂😂

    I have a pretty terrible memory regarding everything except school and my memory about books is out of the question hahaha. But thank you so so much for tagging me, it was a wonderful birthday gift 😂😂!!

    Even though it’s only been a day since my birthday, I must say my memory is declining by the second 💀💀( that’s a good sign right?? )

    And oh my gosh the Percy jackson movies !! I actually had the misfortune of watching them BEFORE reading the books and I started the third book after watching those two idiotic movies, needless to say I was confused as anything ( HEY DON’T BLAME ME , at least it was only the second and last time I watched an adaptation before reading the book 🙈🙈)

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Well, I guess we’ll see if your memory is truly as bad as you think, Suhani! 😁😂 I’m already very much looking forward to seeing your now-fourteen-year-old brain struggle MUHAHAHAHA 😈

      And oh my gosh, I can’t even imagine the horror of having those ABOMINABLE movies be the first Percy Jackson experience in one’s life!!!! 😱😱😱 Particularly if you went into The Titan’s Curse without reading the first two books first – you must have been so puzzled where all these kids came from and what their whole deal was!! So yeah, I really hope that Disney’s new adaptation will right the wrongs set by the first one! 😅

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Ash says:
    Reply

    like rachel, i too thought that i had an amazing memory uNTIL this post came around and shattered all my delusions 😭
    also, what “percy jackson” movies do you talk about? do you perhaps mean “PeTeR jOhNsOn”?? hmm?

    thank you for the tag! ❤ i need to read a book set in australia before i do it though, lol!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Well, you do have the chance to redeem yourself by giving this a go yourself! 😂 Who knows, maybe your memory is better than you think!

      And lololol, even Dionysus would have done a much better job directing a Percy Jackson movie than the one we got!!! Even if the main character might have been called Peter Johnson instead… 😅 Still, I would take that!

      And you’re welcome for the tag 💙 I hope you have fun and find a good Australia book! 😁

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Kal @ Reader Voracious says:
    Reply

    What a fun tag — and congrats to you for doing it sooner than a year after initial tagging! If I were to try this I swear my brain would go blank and I would forget literally every book I’ve ever read or looked at in my life, though

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Haha, thanks! I’m definitely proud of how soon I got around to this one 😂
      And I’m sure you wouldn’t do that badly! It was actually really interesting to discover how many books I hadn’t thought about in ages that fit these prompts were lurking at the back of my mind! 😁

      Like

  12. Pingback: The Trope Tag! (because i seriously don’t have a better name) [ORIGINAL] – Ink Words and Ash

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s