As usual for January, I’m in the middle of lots of books but hardly finishing anything, so consider this a placeholder until my Love Your Library and January releases posts later in the month. It’s a fun meme that goes around every year; I first spotted it on Annabel’s blog and Susan also took part. I’ve never had a go before but when I looked at the prompts I realized some books I read in 2024 have titles that work awfully well. Links are to my reviews.
In high school I was [one of the] Remarkably Bright Creatures (Shelby Van Pelt)
- People might be surprised by All the Beauty in the World (Patrick Bringley)
- I will never be A Spy in the House of Love (Anaïs Nin)
My fantasy job is To Be a Cat (Matt Haig)
- At the end of a long day, I need [a] Cocktail (Lisa Alward)
- I hate being [an] Exhibit (R.O. Kwon)
- Wish I had Various Miracles (Carol Shields)
- My family reunions are The Grief Cure (Cory Delistraty)
At a party you’d find me with Orphans of the Carnival (Carol Birch)
- I’ve never been to Jungle House (Julianne Pachico)
A happy day includes The Old Haunts (Allan Radcliffe)
- Motto I live by: I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself (Glynnis MacNicol)
On my bucket list is A Bookshop of One’s Own (Jane Cholmeley)
- In my next life, I want to have A House Full of Daughters (Juliet Nicolson)
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
Some of these answers do sound tailor made for you particularly the last one! By coincidence, I bought a copy of All the Beauty in the World yesterday.
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It’s such a lovely book, especially for a dedicated museum-goer like you!
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Reading as much as you do, you had plenty of scope for this challenge. Even if your last response is a complete lie!
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I’m not sure what you mean. In an alternative life, I would have loved to have had a bustling house of several children (all well-behaved, book-loving girls).
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You’ve often stated that being child-free is a positive choice for you. And be careful what you wish for. I have three chidren (all in their late 30s and 40s but you know what I mean) – two girls and one boy. And though reading is important to them all, it’s my son who takes the prize for bookishness
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Yes, for many reasons I’ve ended up not having children in this life. But in the next one… 😉
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Nice!
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This is such a fun post! I can imagine it was great to come up with all the different endings…
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It was a lot of fun to put together! I know bloggers who do this annually at the end of the year.
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The titles worked brilliantly. Especially I’m Mostly Here To Enjoy Myself! I really enjoyed that book.
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I had a few more sensible options I could have put for that prompt but decided to go with the cheeky one instead 😉
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Well done. I love playong with these every year. I have 3 sets, and really enjoy the last one, as it makes a full story:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/01/03/year-of-reading-2024-part-3/
Feel free to use next year!
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Oh, how neat! Thanks for sending me that. I like the philosophical turn of the middle set, and the last one is like a poem. I’ll have to have a go late this year.
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Nice work with these ones! I used to do this meme way back but haven’t tried it for a while. I totally hear you on a house full of daughters… that’s my alternate existence as well.
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Cocktail just made me laugh! (But I also love to see a mention of her stories…soooo good.)
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I couldn’t not include it. Too perfect! Plus I have been enjoying a range of gin cocktails recently.
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