An embarrassingly long time ago, Ava of Always Ava and Stephanie of Stephanie’s Ninth Suitcase both tagged me for the Oddly Specific Things I Love in Books Tag! It’s taken me extraordinarily long to get this post up, so let’s jump into it now with no more shilly-shallying.
The Outline (unspoken rule is to avoid saying ‘rules’ to avoid sounding stiffish)
1. Link back to who tagged you.
2. Share the Graphic on your blog
3. Share the Outline on your post.
4. Share a detail you love about the season of summer into fall.
5. List at least 7 random/ specific things YOU love to read about in books, big or small.
6. Tag 7 people who would enjoy taking part/whose answers you are curious to read!
Since it has (as I’ve already mentioned more than once) taken me so long to do this, it is no longer the season of summer into fall, but the season of fall into winter…so I’ll share a detail about that instead. A detail I love about this current season is the feeling of festive-ness. You can just feel Thanksgiving and Advent and Christmas approaching, and it’s lovely.
Now for my seven oddly specific things I love in books. Some of these are more just random than really oddly specific, but hey. We do our best.
1. People’s schedules
I’m one of those people who loves schedules and routines and orderly structuring of time (in theory, at least) and I think it can be fun to see how characters are structuring their day. A concrete example of this that I can think of is in Noel Streatfeild books, particularly Ballet Shoes – I remember her taking the time partway through to give us a pretty detailed description of the main characters’ daily routine.
2. Cozy nighttime scenes in the midst of a trek
There’s just something about characters getting a respite from their travels and relaxing in some cozy, candlelit setting that makes me happy. One of my favorite instances of this is in Following the Phoenix by Meriol Trevor, and although it doesn’t stay cozy I qualify the hobbits’ stay at The Prancing Pony in Bree (in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien) as at least similar to this.
3. Seeing a couple’s relationship after the wedding
It’s a shame that so many books end with the characters getting married, since I love getting to see married characters’ relationships with each other. It’s not an essential that they always get along – in fact, it can be more interesting and a better story if they sometimes don’t – but I like to see them growing and becoming stronger together and ending the story unified or at least on the way to becoming so. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is a good example of this, as is Meg’s storyline in in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
4. Clear communication between characters
Few things are as frustrating as misunderstandings that occur because characters refuse to just talk to each other. So on the flip side, it’s so refreshing when characters DO talk to each other, and manage to prevent frustrating and easily-fixed catastrophes from happening by some simple communication. I’m having a hard time thinking of concrete examples of such communication – my brain is only giving me an example from a movie, not a book, though I can think of plenty of book-examples of lack of communication – but I’m sure we’ve all encountered it at some point. (And I know that’s a cop-out. Sorry.)
5. Recurring motifs, but heartbreaking
This one truly is oddly specific, but you know how sometimes there’ll be a certain situation/ interchange/&c. which isn’t necessarily immensely important, but is then hearkened back to or paralleled at a later point in the story in a way which Hits You Right in the Feels? There are excellent examples of this in Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott, and Random Harvest by James Hilton.
6. English country house settings
What can I say. An English country house – particularly in the 1910s-1930s – just makes everything better.
7. Love triangles where the less flashy person wins
My preferences in fictional characters have always tended more towards the compassionate and dependable rather than the dashing, so it stands to reason that it always pleases me when the member of a love triangle (whether male or female) who is less exciting but has more real worth gets chosen in the end. I feel like Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is the example of this par excellence, though of course there are plenty of other good examples for this one too.
Now, to tag seven people…
Autumn Grace at Shades of Art
Cecilia at Craft, Coffee and Cake
Emi and Julie at The Idlewood Archives
Hannah at Inkling Corner
Ruth at The Bend in the Road
Sarah at In Cordibus Jesu et Mariae
The Hopeful Pen at With Joy for the Work
…and anyone else who wants the tag! Do tell me if you decide to steal it, so I can see your answers.
What’s your favorite thing about late fall/early winter? What are some of your favorite oddly specific things in books?
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Married! Couples!!
Clear! Communication!!
Heartbreaking! Motifs!!
I love you and I love these.
…. The Lantern Bearers shows married life and has heartbreaking motifs, wink wink wink. Its characters do not do very well in the communication department, but this adds to the heartbreak rather than annoyance for me.
*flails and blushes*
Oho, does it now? Hmm. Well, I shall have to keep that in mind. ;P Fictional married characters *do* tend to have horrible communication…I find that they often fall into the “we love you but gosh you are IDIOTS” category.
Hehe! That’s what our oven looks like if we don’t choose the right size bird. We have a single small oven and have to make sure it isn’t too big when we get our turkey. XD
I agree with schedules, and while I can’t remember any in fictional books, I love reading about the schedules of religious sisters and nuns. Usually the religious life is very specific in the schedule of the day.
Yes! Cheers for married relationships in the books! (Especially Meg and John’s <3) Also, have you read "Little Men"? If not, you simply must. So SO good!! :'-)
Oh no! In the feels? I just finished "Eight Cousins" and loved it, but I have yet to read "Rose in Bloom". I am falling more and more in love with L.M. Alcott, but now I'm almost low-key dreading reading this! (:
I also agree with the love-triangle opinion. I have "Sense and Sensibility" on the top of my TBR since it's coming back to movie theaters next month! 😀
Thank you again for the tag, Lizzy! I can't wait to complete it! <3 God love you!
Oh dear, that’s too funny xD Well, I hope your turkey this year is just the right size!
I enjoy hearing schedules for nuns too! I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m probably not called to the religious life, but the simplicity and structure of their day is quite appealing in some ways.
I have read (and enjoyed) Little Men! Eight Cousins is one of my favorite L.M. Alcott books, but I didn’t like Rose in Bloom quite so much…and yes, I must warn that there is a rather heartbreaking bit!
Ooh, exciting! Is this a new version of S&S, or are they re-showing one of the old ones?
You’re very welcome, and thank you for your lovely long comment! Have a blessed feast of Christ the King and Thanksgiving <3
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Jumping back in to comment shamefully late, for which I can only apologise and say that Life Lifed again.
Anyway. Married couples. Yes. Exactly. That is spot on, and we need more of them (for instant, your own TLWILN ;D). In fact, our tastes are similar as I can only one hundred percent agree with you about every last thing here. Including, naturally, the English Manor House setting.
I feel for that couple with the turkey. Our Christmas goose last year had a similar shoving into the oven…
Enjoy Advent Sunday!! And Thanksgiving, too (which is today, right?). May your turkey be tender and un-crammed into too-small ovens. I’m off to catch up on some much-needed sleep :D. I’m about a 1 on the Sleep Deprived Owl Scale, including crazy hair as I forgot to pack a hairbrush…
Life has a bad habit of doing that, doesn’t it? ;P
Aw, thank you! 😀 And I am glad to have your support on the English manor house setting. Have you ever gotten to visit one?
Oh no, it sounds like this is rather a prevalent problem! xD (Also, do you have a goose every Christmas? That’s so neat! I’ve never tasted goose, believe it or not. What’s it like?)
Yes, happy start of Advent! It was indeed Thanksgiving, and our turkey did (fortunately) fit perfectly into the oven. Ooh, are you visiting family or vacationing or some such? And oh dear, that *is* unfortunate…hopefully you can temporarily share a communal hairbrush with Miss Caroline?
Yes, I have visited quite a few; I don’t know if you’ve heard of the National Trust, but it’s basically an organization that owns many English manor houses/country estates that would otherwise have been demolished or sold off, and they maintain them and keep them open for the public. Membership isn’t free, and there are many problems with it, but it does at least mean that one can visit many historic places which is Rather Pleasant.
We have had goose for the past few years – it’s like poultry, but red meat, if that makes any sense. I prefer it to turkey, I have to say…
Oh, I’m glad your turkey fit the oven 😀 We went on a last-minute trip to family… and I did borrow Caroline’s (not only I, but my mother and my other sister forgot hairbrushes XD. The perils of spontaneity… )
Happy Advent!
Ooh, that sounds amazing! Now I wonder if we have something like that here in the US, because I would love to be involved in an organization like that…I LOVE historic old houses, and it hurts me when they’re torn down or
ruinedrenovated to look completely modern. (Visiting many historic places does sound Rather Pleasant, indeed ;D)Hmm, interesting! Is it much like duck? I have tasted that and didn’t care for it…but that was a few years ago, so my tastes may have changed since then.
Oh dear – well, thank heavens for Caroline’s hairbrush! xD I hope it was a lovely trip?
Happy Advent! (I can’t believe we’re half-way through the second week already…)
Thanks so much for tagging me!! This was a lot of fun!
Yes to cozy nighttime scenes!! I love it when we as the readers plus the characters can have a little break from the plot to just chill and maybe have a deep conversation or two. (or a meaningless one, ’cause those are pretty entertaining, lol!)
And yes to more married couples!! I actually don’t often like watching the journey of two characters getting together. (it wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t always written as super awkward! XD). I prefer to watch couples who are already established and sure of their relationship, whether that’s dating or married.
I can’t think of an example of bad communication either, LOL, but I know I’ve seen it! Funnily enough, I was just watching a show a few days ago and the MC clearly communicated something to another and I was in awe! Like, what? Actual emotional maturity? I was floored and highly impressed. We need more of it! XD
Yes, I know what you mean with recurring motifs! They’re one of my favorite story elements! For some reason, I’ve seen a lack of them in recent books/films, and I can’t fathom as to why. It’s a tool I wished more people used.
Again, thanks for the tag!
You’re very welcome, and thank you for the lovely long comment!
I know, why DO they always make progressing relationships so awkward? xD I really enjoy seeing couples in established relationships too…there’s so much you can explore in that, I don’t know why it’s not done more often.
Hehe, that’s funny – it’s always such a pleasant surprise when characters in movies and TV shows actually show emotional maturity and actually express themselves clearly. xD The movie example I was thinking of when I wrote the post was like that too – it kind of came out of the blue and surprised me, especially since it was in a rather fluffy classic Hollywood musical, where – I must admit, though I do enjoy them – bad communication and lack of emotional intelligence usually just run rampant, lol.
It’s such a cool thing, isn’t it? I can’t imagine why people don’t do it more often!
By the way – I meant to tell you earlier, but I’ve been very disorganized with my blogging of late! – I’ve actually tagged you again, for a Christmas blog tag: https://starlightandsaucepans.org/winter-wonders-a-christmas-blog-tag/
No pressure, of course!
Thank you for another tag! The Christmas season is already coming to a close, so I won’t get to it in time, but maybe I’ll save it to bring back next year!