Ms. G asks: if a store charges me 8% tax on 5 different novels I buy individually, will it cost me the same amount as if the store charges me 8% tax on all the items together?

It WON'T cost the same amount because the tax that comes after Ms. G buys the 5 books would just be adding the 8% tax once while adding the 8% tax to each book would cause the payment of the 5 novels to be higher.