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shadowkatI swiped this book meme from an article posted from some journal or magazine on livejournal.
It was in a flocked post, so can't link to it. The journalist was interviewing a writer and I decided the questions would make a great book meme.
1)What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
Eh...I've been reading things on the go or in snatches for a while now. Also reading to meet emotional as opposed to intellectual needs - and often don't retain half of what I read. And avoiding anything that upsets me or is ultra violent. This includes newspapers, unfortunately.
So...recently? I'd say the Margaret Atwood book, Blind Assassin is the best written. The best or most enjoyable book would most likely be Courtney Milan's The Countess Conspiracy, which I just adored.
2)Do you share the same taste in literature with friends, family, flist or partner/spouse? Has it opened the other up to different kinds of book or favorite authors?
Yes, but it helps that I have widely eclectic taste, although it shifts with my moods. I go on binges. My family opens me up to all sorts of novels - and my mother is a well-spring of info, since she reads quickly and likes to discuss the books she's reading over the phone. My brother also provides new reading choices. As does my flist, and various online sources, and friends.
3)Sell us on your favorite overlooked or underappreciated writer?
Drawing a blank. Ponders. No, still drawing a blank.
4)What kinds of stories are you drawn to? And how would you describe the kinds of books you steer clear of?
At the moment, I enjoy books that deal with love and/or forgiveness, or have an emotional catharthsis or something akin to that. Not so much redemption as forgiveness, which is a bit different. Also books that focus on the heart more than the intellect. For some reason - I'm driven to those novels at the moment.
Right now, for some inexplicable reason, I can no longer read a book that has a lot of torture, or is focusing on a serial killer. Violence right now is a big turn-off. Also I can't currently read any novel where the protagonist is a sociopath or psychopath - used to be able to. Right now, it's a turn off.
5) Do you have a favorite poem?
Not really. Always had a fondness for Robert Frost's poem - the road less traveled by.
Can't remember titles of poems well. More a fan of rhythmic verse than free verse. Mainly because I used to write a lot of poetry and free verse is rather simplistic and has a tendency towards self-indulgence, while rhythmic verse or verse that has a definite structure requires a certain amount of thought, struggle, and skill. You can write free verse on the fly, rhythmic verse you tend to bleed over.
Dorothy Parker and Sylvia Path used to be favorites. Also have a fondness for TS Eliots "Hollow Men" and William Butler Yeats. But Ozymandias by Percy Blyshe Shelly will always be amongst my favorites. As will William Shakespeare's verse from MacBeth "Tomorrow, and tomorrow.." and from Hamlet ..."What is a man".
6) A favorite love story?
The big ugly cry novel - The Fault in Our Stars is amongst them. This is a hard one though.
Not sure I have a favorite love story. Ponders. No, not really. They all have flaws. Maybe the love story in the Lymond Series? Or the one in Shakespeare's Twelth Night? Maybe...
oh, wait, of course "Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen" tied closely with Sandition and Persuasion.
7) A favorite novel?
Don't have one. I have novels I love. Here's a list of 10 favorite novels, in no particular order. Top 10 favorites right now:
1. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell
2. Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters
3. Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett
4. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
5. Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
6. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
7. Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathem Lethem
8. Possession by AS Byatt
9. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Sandition by Jane Austen and Another Lady
Honorable Mention: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
8) What were your favorite childhood books?
1. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George - which turned out to be my neice and my brother's favorite, when I sent it to my niece for Xmas
2. Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander H. Key
3. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
4. Ann McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern
5. EB White's novels: Stuart Little, The Trumpeter Swan, and Charlotte's Web
6. Judy Blume's novels (I never read Forever...it didn't appeal to me - particularly since by that point, I'd already read Rosemary Rodgers and thumbed through Erica Jong's Fear of Flying (which was boring to my 12 year old self). My favorites were Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and Blubber.
7. The Witches of Worm by Zelphia Keatley Snyder
8. CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia
9. Nancy Drew novels (had to start somewhere)
10. The Perilous Guard
10) What was the last book that made you laugh?
Hmmm...possibly the Countess Conspiracy, or the one I'm reading now - The Proposition, it makes me smile though, laugh not so much.
11) The last book that made you cry?
The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan - that made me ugly cry, weirdly enough.
12) The last book that grabbed you to the point you found yourself telling others, “You must read this book”?
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
13) If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
Hmmm...I don't really know. He's well read. I think Kozol's non-fiction book about Children is the Chicago School system, but I'm willing to bet he's already read it. Or The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
14) What does your personal book collection look like? Do you organize your books in any particular way?
A crazy mishmash of hard-back, paper-back and kindle novels ranging from all genres, narrative styles, and colors, falling off my shelves, stacked in piles, and two rows. In no particular order at the moment - I had organized them some time ago, then well, gave up. Also have boxes of books under my bed.
15) Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
I put books down all the time and am often out of step with mainstream opinion. I stopped reading one beloved book on the penultimate page because I didn’t want to reward the writer by caring enough to finish.
The last book I could not finish that everyone appeared to adore was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Hated that book. Others include "Atonement by Ian McEwan" (not a writer that I like - too cold and smugly intelligent, there's no heart in his writing), and The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubois, Jr.
16) What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?
There’s so much. There’s so much that I’m beyond embarrassment. Too many books, not enough time.
17) What book are you most eagerly anticipating in 2014?
At the moment - the next in the Jim Butcher Dresden Files series: "Skin Game", and the next in the Kim Harrison Rachel Morgan series: "Undead Pool" - although the first chapter didn't look promising.
It was in a flocked post, so can't link to it. The journalist was interviewing a writer and I decided the questions would make a great book meme.
1)What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
Eh...I've been reading things on the go or in snatches for a while now. Also reading to meet emotional as opposed to intellectual needs - and often don't retain half of what I read. And avoiding anything that upsets me or is ultra violent. This includes newspapers, unfortunately.
So...recently? I'd say the Margaret Atwood book, Blind Assassin is the best written. The best or most enjoyable book would most likely be Courtney Milan's The Countess Conspiracy, which I just adored.
2)Do you share the same taste in literature with friends, family, flist or partner/spouse? Has it opened the other up to different kinds of book or favorite authors?
Yes, but it helps that I have widely eclectic taste, although it shifts with my moods. I go on binges. My family opens me up to all sorts of novels - and my mother is a well-spring of info, since she reads quickly and likes to discuss the books she's reading over the phone. My brother also provides new reading choices. As does my flist, and various online sources, and friends.
3)Sell us on your favorite overlooked or underappreciated writer?
Drawing a blank. Ponders. No, still drawing a blank.
4)What kinds of stories are you drawn to? And how would you describe the kinds of books you steer clear of?
At the moment, I enjoy books that deal with love and/or forgiveness, or have an emotional catharthsis or something akin to that. Not so much redemption as forgiveness, which is a bit different. Also books that focus on the heart more than the intellect. For some reason - I'm driven to those novels at the moment.
Right now, for some inexplicable reason, I can no longer read a book that has a lot of torture, or is focusing on a serial killer. Violence right now is a big turn-off. Also I can't currently read any novel where the protagonist is a sociopath or psychopath - used to be able to. Right now, it's a turn off.
5) Do you have a favorite poem?
Not really. Always had a fondness for Robert Frost's poem - the road less traveled by.
Can't remember titles of poems well. More a fan of rhythmic verse than free verse. Mainly because I used to write a lot of poetry and free verse is rather simplistic and has a tendency towards self-indulgence, while rhythmic verse or verse that has a definite structure requires a certain amount of thought, struggle, and skill. You can write free verse on the fly, rhythmic verse you tend to bleed over.
Dorothy Parker and Sylvia Path used to be favorites. Also have a fondness for TS Eliots "Hollow Men" and William Butler Yeats. But Ozymandias by Percy Blyshe Shelly will always be amongst my favorites. As will William Shakespeare's verse from MacBeth "Tomorrow, and tomorrow.." and from Hamlet ..."What is a man".
6) A favorite love story?
The big ugly cry novel - The Fault in Our Stars is amongst them. This is a hard one though.
Not sure I have a favorite love story. Ponders. No, not really. They all have flaws. Maybe the love story in the Lymond Series? Or the one in Shakespeare's Twelth Night? Maybe...
oh, wait, of course "Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen" tied closely with Sandition and Persuasion.
7) A favorite novel?
Don't have one. I have novels I love. Here's a list of 10 favorite novels, in no particular order. Top 10 favorites right now:
1. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell
2. Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters
3. Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett
4. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
5. Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
6. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
7. Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathem Lethem
8. Possession by AS Byatt
9. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Sandition by Jane Austen and Another Lady
Honorable Mention: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
8) What were your favorite childhood books?
1. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George - which turned out to be my neice and my brother's favorite, when I sent it to my niece for Xmas
2. Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander H. Key
3. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
4. Ann McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern
5. EB White's novels: Stuart Little, The Trumpeter Swan, and Charlotte's Web
6. Judy Blume's novels (I never read Forever...it didn't appeal to me - particularly since by that point, I'd already read Rosemary Rodgers and thumbed through Erica Jong's Fear of Flying (which was boring to my 12 year old self). My favorites were Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and Blubber.
7. The Witches of Worm by Zelphia Keatley Snyder
8. CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia
9. Nancy Drew novels (had to start somewhere)
10. The Perilous Guard
10) What was the last book that made you laugh?
Hmmm...possibly the Countess Conspiracy, or the one I'm reading now - The Proposition, it makes me smile though, laugh not so much.
11) The last book that made you cry?
The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan - that made me ugly cry, weirdly enough.
12) The last book that grabbed you to the point you found yourself telling others, “You must read this book”?
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
13) If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
Hmmm...I don't really know. He's well read. I think Kozol's non-fiction book about Children is the Chicago School system, but I'm willing to bet he's already read it. Or The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
14) What does your personal book collection look like? Do you organize your books in any particular way?
A crazy mishmash of hard-back, paper-back and kindle novels ranging from all genres, narrative styles, and colors, falling off my shelves, stacked in piles, and two rows. In no particular order at the moment - I had organized them some time ago, then well, gave up. Also have boxes of books under my bed.
15) Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
I put books down all the time and am often out of step with mainstream opinion. I stopped reading one beloved book on the penultimate page because I didn’t want to reward the writer by caring enough to finish.
The last book I could not finish that everyone appeared to adore was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Hated that book. Others include "Atonement by Ian McEwan" (not a writer that I like - too cold and smugly intelligent, there's no heart in his writing), and The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubois, Jr.
16) What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?
There’s so much. There’s so much that I’m beyond embarrassment. Too many books, not enough time.
17) What book are you most eagerly anticipating in 2014?
At the moment - the next in the Jim Butcher Dresden Files series: "Skin Game", and the next in the Kim Harrison Rachel Morgan series: "Undead Pool" - although the first chapter didn't look promising.
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Date: 2014-02-21 10:25 am (UTC)Don't let them fool you!