In a surprise twist to almost no one, author George RR Martin announced that he missed the deadline which would have had The Winds of Winter, Book 6 of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, published before the airing of HBO's sixth season of the TV series Game of Thrones. 

Martin took to his blog to make the announcement. He wrote: 

“I blew the Halloween deadline, and I’ve now blown the end of the year deadline. And that almost certainly means that no, The Winds of Winter will not be published before the sixth season of Game of Thrones premieres in April.

 

I won’t make excuses. There are no excuses. No one else is to blame. Not my editors and publishers, not HBO. It’s on me. I tried, and I am still trying.” 

This should come as no surprise to book fans, many of whom have been waiting for a completion to this series since 1996. At this time, there is no true end in sight. Book fans will have to look for the TV show to give them an ending. Back in March 2015, show executive producer David Benioff confirmed that the show would spoil the ending of the book series: 

"We know where things are heading," said GoT executive producer David Benioff. "We will eventually meet up at pretty much the same place that George is going. There might be some deviations along the route, but we're heading toward the same destination."

For more info, read more here and here.

Since Nya and Troy were so kind to tag everyone on Booklikes (and also this looks like fun), I'm jumping on the bandwagon with this!

1. 1. What is your favorite childhood book?

This is a tricky one, since it is dependent on what part of my childhood we are talking about. I adored Madeline and Misty of Chincoteague, and then at nine I read Watership Down for the first time and it has been my absolute favorite book ever since.

1. 2. E-books or printed books?

Sorry guys, e-books for the win, here. I am almost tempted to track the number of physical books a year I read, but it is remarkably low (and this year has actually been overtaken by audio books, even, which I started in what, August?) My Kindle Voyage, The Normandy, does not leave my side. I carry it everywhere with me. It's sitting (open) next to me as I type this, even.

1. 3. What is your favorite place to read?

I love reading at coffee shops of almost any variety (as evidenced by this post), and in bed late at night, which is where I read most of my horror. Although I wouldn't say it is a favorite place to read, I do a lot of my reading at work.

1. 3. Is there any genre you would never read?

I never say never about reading, but the odds of my picking up a Western is exceedingly thin. I have a weird thing where I kind of hate cowboys. :x

1. 3. What’s your review rating system?

Et voila!

1. 4. What is your favorite fictional character?

Bigwig from Watership Down. He is absolutely amazing. There is no denying this.

1. 5. What was the best film adaption of a book?

You guys don't ask easy questions, do you? :/

If we're counting stories, then my obvious answer would be Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Otherwise, Watchmen if we are counting books I have yet to read, maybe Jurassic Park if I need to have read the book and seen the movie?

2. 6. How do you chose the next book to read?

Completely randomly. I generally start a bunch of things and see what sticks. I'm always reading several books at once, some more or less actively. I'm terrible at sticking to any kind of a schedule, and I go through phases where I want a particular genre and nothing else will do.

I have no methodology to speak of and it has been suggested that I read like a madwoman in more ways than one.

1. 7. Top 3 authors?

This is tough because there are so many ways I can take this. Hmmm.

Going with:

           1. Tana French (Yes, I've read one and a half of her books, but I love her writing so much.)

           2. Jane Austen (As probably evidenced by my re-read of practically ALL her books in audio form lately.)

           3. Brandon Sanderson (Apparently I cannot read something of his and rate it less than five stars? Which is insane for me.)

I could name dozens of others, and if you catch me at any other time of the day, I might give you a different answer. My tastes change depending on my mood.

1. 8. Is there any book release you are particularly looking forward to?

Is there any book release I'm not particularly looking forward to?

Okay, okay, I'll stop being facetious.

Both The Winds of Winter and Winter are on the absolute top of my list (the first one a little more than the second, admittedly, if only for all the theorizing it is going to bring to my life.)

Rick Riordan has the start of a new series coming out with The Swords of Summer, which I am psyched about.

The Doors of Stone is going to be a joyous event once it arrives. (Also, clearly I needed something on this list that wasn't a season.)

I'm stopping there, or I'm just going to start listing everything I have on my Goodreads "To-Read-Not-Yet-Released" shelf (which needs some major updating, I have just noticed. A bunch of new stuff came out and I didn't realize!)

Consider this a tag to everyone who reads it and wants to fill it out, because as hard as this was, it was also super fun. :)