I love an opportunity to talk about books, and this meme is courtesy of sarahcastically
These are the rules, because Myspace surveys always have rules:
1. Post these rules
2. Post a photo of your favorite book cover
3. Answer the questions below
4. Tag a few people to pass the Q&A on to: Well if you want to continue it, go forth!
Favorite book cover:
I know I’ve spoken about this book before, but it’s influence on my life was so profound.
And it really does have a great cover.
It sums up this book so well.
What are you reading right now?
I’m still trying to read the Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler.
I’ve started it so many times, but each time I get to the end and have no idea what has happened.
Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
I have a lot of books which need a first read but I’ll probably end up reading Persuasion again. It’s such a comfort book, which starts calling to me in winter.
What 5 books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
On my shelf I have Game of Thrones by George R Martin, The Red Queen and The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory, The Captive Queen by Alison Weir, and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams, all sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.
What magazines do you have in your bathroom/lounge right now?
I have a readers digest knitting pattern book. I don’t really buy print magazines much, I prefer to read them on my iPad (love Mollie Makes).
I do have a fishing magazine and some Simpsons comics, but they’re not exactly my taste.
What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?
There’s only about 3 books that I’ve taken back to the second hand bookshop, and none of them I really remember their names.
There was one i think called 20 times a lady, who had made a pact with herself to never sleep with more than 20 men, and when she gets to her 19th she figures she should have found her ‘soulmate’ by now and so hunts them all down.
It’s a flimsy premise, but the narrative style and writing style were horrible. As well as it having a really predictable ending.
What book seemed really popular but you actually hated?
Wuthering Heights. I really didn’t get that.
What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
I want to be really profound and say some classic book but Milk Run by Sarah Mlynowski gets recommended the most in real life.
It’s a chick flick waiting to happen.
But seriously everyone should read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – its wonderful.
What are your 3 favorite poems?
I tried to like Walt Whitman in high school. Song of Myself I can still quote parts of. But the only poetry I’ve really read was in Lord of the Rings.
Where do you usually get your books?
I have a second hand book exchange love and hate within walking distance of my house.
But I recently bought my first ebook for my ipad (the latest Sophie Kinsella), which wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be.
Where do you usually read your books?
The couch, in bed, in the sunshine on the banana lounge, at the dinner table, doing the dishes… If I’m in the middle of a book just try and make me out it down, I dare you.
When you were little, did you have any particular reading habits?
“Just one more chapter!” And then 5 chapters later, “just one more chapter”, until mum or dad had to put the light out, and I would read under the covers, usually until I tried to fall asleep with a book in my hands (it sounded so romantic in books, but never worked in practice), or I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.
What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
I read the Deathly Hallows twice in one day when it came out. I read all three of the Hunger Games within a week, and I’ll devour any Sophie Kinsella or Maggie Alderson novels when they come out.
Have you ever “faked” reading a book?
Not really. I’ve faked reading a book before seeing the movie, but I’m always scared someone will ask me how did you like ‘this part of the book the movie left out’.
Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the cover?
Not just because of the cover, but I have hunted a particular version of a book to match a set.
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
Anything by Enid Blyton, particularly the naughtiest girl in the school series, or cherry tree farm series, or the faraway tree series.
Then later Guitar Highway Rose (above) and The Wind Blows Backwards by Mary Downing Hahn
What book changed your life?
I’d say without The Famous Five books my childhood would have been a lot more dull.
What is your favorite passage from a book?
The last line of Northanger Abbey.
That book is so full of wit and catchy one liners.
Who are your top five favorite authors?
1. Jane Austen
2. Enid Blyton
3. Sophie Kinsella
4. Maggie Alderson
5. Lauren Weisberger
What book has no one heard about but should read?
Milk Run.
Why it’s not a movie already I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve been reading and re-reading it since I was in high school I overrate it, but I still relate to it and keep finding that it strikes that balance between funny, and romantic.
It would make a great chick flick.
What are your favorite books by a first-time author?
Is this debut novels? I don’t know.
What 3 books are you an “evangelist” for?
I think everyone should read Anne of Green Gables. It’s such a wonderful series, and I’m always sad when I meet someone who has only read the first one, or hasn’t even read that. So everyone should read Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island.
You don’t get the full Anne and Gilbert story otherwise.
And the read Rilla because it’s so full of romance against a hideous backdrop.
What is your favorite classic book?
I think I’ve mentioned two of the 6 Austen’s by name, but Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey are special friends.
Pride & Prejudice because everyone needs some Darcy in their life.
Sense and Sensibility, I swing back and forth who to relate to.
Mansfield Park gets a little squicky and as for Emma, I’d rather watch Clueless.
5 other notable mentions?
1. Mad About The Boy – Maggie Alderson, I still remember reading the first chapter in the book store and laughing hysterically. This started me on the Maggie bandwagon
2. Twenties Girl – Sophie Kinsella, I know I’ve mentioned Sophie before but I never really read the shopaholic series. But I have got 4 of her others, and I think this is my favourite. It really made me laugh, and reminds me of holidays.
3. Chasing Harry Winston – Lauren Wiesberger. It has a chapter title ‘panties is a vile word’
4. Ethel Turner – Seven Little Australians. It’s an Australian classic and one of the first books to make me cry
5. The Constant Princess – Philippa Gregory. Apparently it’s the most fictionalised of the Tudor novels, but I like the story and it’s got me more interested in historical fiction, which I never was previously. But mostly I like the story, even if it isn’t true to history.
Well that’s a bit of a walk through my bookshelf. It’s been pretty culled over the years and it’s not as diverse as I would like, but I do tend to gravitate towards easy reads. And I do love a good romance story.
polka-dots & sparkles 