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 What, if any, memorable or special book have you ever gotten as a present? Birthday or otherwise. What made it so notable? The person who gave it? The book itself? The “gift aura?”
I love getting books as gifts and I get them a lot. I usually pick the book these days, though, and specifically ask the giver for that book, or I give them a list. I’d love if I got surprised a bit more, especially since my entire catalog is now up on LT so you can check if I’ve got or read something, but it’s hard and an extra step for people, rather than just having a list. I think my parents used to surprise me with books but I have too many for them to do it now so they have a list to pick from. I particularly remember a few of the Harry Potter books in hardcover one Christmas that I was very happy about.
I think the last books that I received as a surprise were from my boyfriend. We’d only just met and I’d never been to England, but he knew I liked to read, so he sent me a Red Dwarf book. I love Red Dwarf now, but I hadn’t seen it at the time, so that wasn’t what made it special. It’s because he wrote in it, before he knew I hate when books are written in. I like this one though because it’s the only one I have inscribed to me, except for books signed by authors. I don’t think I’d like many more of them, given the purist that I am, but I like my one example. He also sent me one of my duplicates, Abhorsen by Garth Nix. I don’t mind that I had it and had already read it, I liked that he went out and got something he thought I’d like. No one does that because I’ve read practically everything they’d think of (as you can see by this example), but it was sweet. I don’t think he quite realized the extent of my reading and/or library at the time.
Overall, I think I’d like to continue dictating what books I receive as gifts, but I do like the occasional surprise, especially if the giver has a look at my LT to see what I have first!
Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?
I like to keep my books in good shape. I don’t really go out of my way to make them remain pristine, nor do I expect them to be white and new for too long, but I do not crack the spine and I do not dog ear the pages. And yes, it makes me wince when other people do so! I think the worst is bending the cover all the way around. There really is no need for it, it just makes the book look bad and I think it’s more irritating to hold the cover back there than it is just to crack the spine and hold it wide open, as that’s what you’re basically doing anyway. If you have a reason that you fold the cover back, please let me know, I have often wondered why people do this.
I am a bit of a hypocrite actually, because I did crack spines and dog-ear pages regularly when I was younger. I’m not sure why I stopped or why I did it in the first place, but it was as if all of a sudden I decided I wanted my books to look nice and last longer. Now I look on those poor cracked spines and bent pages from my teenage years with sadness. On the other hand, I love used books because often the spine’s already been cracked, so they’re easier to read and I don’t feel guilty that I defaced them since someone else got there first. Same with library books, but if the book is in good condition, I’ll do my best to make sure it stays that way. I only take advantage when it’s already been done.
Does that make sense at all? Probably not.
I almost always use bookmarks nowadays and I really love them; I’m trying to build a little collection. They do get beat up from time to time, but I have a lot of them now so I don’t feel too guilty about using them. If I don’t have a bookmark to hand, any scrap of paper will do, although I do my best not to put money in a book because I’m sure that’s when I’ll decide to stop reading that particular book and lose the money.
I don’t write in books either. I had the hardest time learning to do it in college and I’ve since rejoiced that my English lit degree is over and I can read my books without notes for the rest of my life.
What about you? Do you keep your books pristine or do you bend pages and crack spines?
“Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.”
No, it is quite difficult to narrow down a list! I do have a specific favorite though. I’ll reference my favorite literary couple, Phedre and Joscelin, from Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series. This is a bit spoilery here. I like them in their own trilogy; they get a bit more boring in Imriel’s. It’s hard to say why exactly they are my favorite. For one I think they have quite a believable love story going on. They’ve been through so much together over the course of the books that it’s very diffiult to imagine them not forming such a bond. Furthermore, they will go through anything just to be with one another, particularly Joscelin (Phedre is a bit more concerned with saving Terre d’Ange). All of that would fall flat if the emotion Carey portrays wasn’t so true to love, but it is. This fantasy series is far beyond a love story but without that love story it would lose a lot of its emotional appeal. I think another thing that I love about them is that they are not perfect. Of course they are typically beautiful, but they have distinctive, screwed up personalities of their own that are, to me, completely believable. Maybe Joscelin is the best warrior ever, but he’s been trained to be the best warrior ever and it’s genuinely interesting to watch him combat the philosophies imparted with his skills when he falls in love with Phedre. Similarly, Phedre struggles with monogamy because she was brought up to embrace love in all its forms. Besides that, they are both exceedingly stubborn. In other words, they feel human to me, and that makes their love much more real. They may appear to be perfect on the outside, but I like that the books reveal extra dimensions to their characters.
Finally, I think another reason that I am biased towards this couple in particular is the fact that their epic, passionate, believable love story is something that doesn’t often – or ever – happen in real life, and that sort of escape that I can believe in is one of my requirements for the fiction I just adore. This couple does it the best.
Okay–here was an interesting article by Christopher Schoppa in the Washington Post.
Avid readers know all too well how easy it is to acquire books — it’s the letting go that’s the difficult part. … During the past 20 years, in which books have played a significant role in both my personal and professional lives, I’ve certainly had my fair share of them (and some might say several others’ shares) in my library. Many were read and saved for posterity, others eventually, but still reluctantly, sent back out into the world.
But there is also a category of titles that I’ve clung to for years, as they survived numerous purges, frequent library donations and countless changes of residence. I’ve yet to read them, but am absolutely certain I will. And should. When, I’m not sure, as I’m constantly distracted by the recent, just published and soon to be published works.
So, the question is his: “What tomes are waiting patiently on your shelves?“
This is a hard question. I have 257 unread books. Actually, I have a few more than that, as there are some I didn’t have a chance to catalog before I left, but those were new, mostly bought for the purposes of my collection rather than for immediate reading. I never purge my unread books either. I probably should, but I intend to give them all a fair shot eventually, even if it takes me a few years. Some of the ones that have been sitting around:
- Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
- The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien
- Death of a Stranger, Anne Perry
- The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (I’ve read about half of these but have always meant to go back and read them all in an order)
- The Shelters of Stone, Jean M. Auel
- Marie Antoinette: The Journey, Antonia Fraser
- The Skystone, Jack Whyte
Those are probably the oldest that I have. The vast, vast majority of my unread books are from this year, so they haven’t been sitting around nearly as long. Typically, I haven’t brought any of these books with me to England. I do have some that I purchased in 2007 though, so I am getting to them slowly but surely. Should I be reading any of these books soon (or over Christmas break)?
What about you? Which books have been waiting patiently for you to read them?
What was the last book you bought?
The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick. I have read exactly one of Chadwick’s books before and I liked it enough that I am bowing to the will of the masses and purchasing more. Apparently she writes really good medieval historical fiction. I’ll check out this claim soon enough.
Name a book you have read MORE than once
There are many, many, many. Probably my most read adult book is Jane Eyre.
Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
Not really. Actually, they probably have and I just can’t remember. I think sometimes reading a book shifts the world just a little bit, not enough to fundamentally change anything but enough to have an effect. The most recent was The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.
How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews
I choose them based on recommendations mostly these days. I go by similar authors, ratings, awards, or books I have heard of and would like to evaluate for myself. I try to avoid reviews and summaries and love to go into books knowing absolutely nothing about the contents. I do sometimes read reviews, but generally the time between I pick up a book and when I actually read it is long enough for me to forget what the review said, except for a “good” or “bad”.
Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
I prefer fiction but I like non-fiction too. It just takes me forever to read non-fiction. I’ve had two going for a couple of months and haven’t finished them yet, for example. Still working on it. I’ve probably read about 30-40 fiction novels in that time.
What’s more important in a novel – beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
Um, both? Plot is actually one of my least important considerations. I like it when the plot’s going, but I’m okay with a slow, nothing is actually happening plot too if the characters and atmosphere are good. So I guess I vote writing, but I think both.
Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Well, this is a tough choice. The obvious favorites: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Jane Eyre, Stevens (Remains of the Day), Eowyn (LotR). More obscure are Joscelin and Phedre from the Kushiel’s Legacy series.
Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
I don’t have a nightstand at the moment actually. I haven’t decided what to read next. I think it may be Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell. I also have to read Descartes’ Bones by Russell Shorto and The Fire by Katherine Neville in the near future.
What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
I just finished The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell. Such a funny book! And very relevant right now.
Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
I gave up on The Gunslinger by Stephen King at least twice. I finished it eventually, so maybe it doesn’t count for this question. I also gave up on The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett, which I hope to pick up again once my Latin is better, the first book of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, and I think that’s about it for fiction. In my entire library. I really don’t like those books.
Feel free to steal this meme, or better yet participate over on the Booking Through Thursday post.
What was the most unusual (for you) book you ever read? Either because the book itself was completely from out in left field somewhere, or was a genre you never read, or was the only book available on a long flight… whatever? What (not counting school textbooks, though literature read for classes counts) was furthest outside your usual comfort zone/familiar territory? And, did you like it? Did it stretch your boundaries? Did you shut it with a shudder the instant you were done? Did it make you think? Have nightmares? Kick off a new obsession?
Well, the weirdest book I’ve read recently was Erotomania by Francis Levy. It was completely unlike anything else I’d ever read, in an “intriguing but I’m not sure if I want to read any more of this” kind of way. It definitely stretched my boundaries and made me think, but I didn’t go out to find anything else by the author or in a similar style. Like I said, I don’t think I want more, and I’m not sure if there is anything else quite like it out there. I’ve certainly never encountered it.
I can’t really get introduced into new genres as I read almost all of them. The only ones I don’t particularly like are horror and science fiction, but I love Stephen King and have even found some science fiction to enjoy, like Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, so I am very willing to go through my boundaries in search of a good book.
Autumn is starting (here in the US, anyway), and kids are heading back to school–does the changing season change your reading habits? Less time? More? Are you just in the mood for different kinds of books than you were over the summer?
Well, this question is perfect for my good news – my visa came yesterday and I am officially headed to the UK on September 27th! I am beyond excited, although that little bit of nervousness is creeping in now too. Luckily, I have two weeks to spend with my fiance once I get there before school begins, so he should be able to calm me down until the moment of departure arrives.
This affects my reading a lot. I’ve got about 25 review books that I’m frantically trying to read before I leave. This has been tough given that I’m working a lot so I don’t starve to death before I find employment in York. To be honest, I want to bring my chosen books with me, not all the ARC copies I’ve acquired, since I’ll have enough work to do. I’m already prioritizing which I can leave behind (I have a few not required until December or later in 2009), some which my parents can send later on, and ones that I really have to read. I might just sigh and pack up a big flat-rate post office box for $35 and send myself some books before I go. We’ll have to see how much space I actually need for clothes and how much I can fill up with books.
I get introduced to my department on October 14th and begin classes shortly thereafter. I have no idea what time I’m going to have to read. I’ve been reading 20 books a month here at home, but I don’t expect that to continue when I’m attending classes, working, potentially volunteering if I can’t get a job in the right sector, and seeing my fiance every other weekend. I still don’t know what my commuting situation will be like or whether housing and my classes will be in the city or on campus or both.
I’m still in the mood for the same kind of books, that never changes, I just have no idea how many of those books I’ll be reading for the next year. We’ll find out soon!
Today is the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I know that not all of you who read are in the U.S., but still, it’s vital that none of us who are decent people forget the scope of disaster that a few, evil people can cause–anywhere in the world. It’s not about religion, it’s not about politics, it’s about the acknowledgment that humans should try to work together, not tear each other apart, even when they disagree.
So, feeling my way to a question here … Terrorists aren’t just movie villains any more. Do real-world catastrophes such as 9/11 (and the bombs in Madrid, and the ones in London, and the war in Darfur, and … really, all the human-driven, mass loss-of-life events) affect what you choose to read? Personally, I used to enjoy reading Tom Clancy, but haven’t been able to stomach his fight-terrorist kinds of books since.
And, does the reality of that kind of heartless, vicious attack–which happen on smaller scales ALL the time–change the way you feel about villains in the books you read? Are they scarier? Or more two-dimensional and cookie-cutter in the face of the things you see on the news?
Not really. I do think it’s important to read both fiction and history centered around these conflicts. Most of us, even if we do watch the news, are not getting the full picture of what’s happened or happening out there, and memoirs, historical fiction, and non-fiction can help give us a better vision of conflict, personality, and true villainy. Not much about humanity has changed except that we discovered technology that helped us kill more people faster and sneakier. So, in that sense, recent events do not shock me. We’re not doing anything but repeating history, which happens so often it isn’t funny.
I didn’t personally know anyone who died on 9/11, but I know people whose relations were killed. I was in high school at the time, living in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City, so it was almost inevitable as many kids’ parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins worked and sometimes lived in the city. I know many people who live there now. It’s important to know that this happened. I haven’t read any books based on that day, though. I’m not sure I want to yet.
Most of the time, I don’t read books that have anything to do with the world today. I like to live in the past, not the present, and while that’s probably not my best characteristic, it’s the way I’ve always been. I don’t think recent events do anything to change how I feel about villains in books, it still depends on how the author portrays them. It’s important to remember that villainy has always existed and probably will always exist; it’s only personal to us because we’ve been attacked. It’s personal to people in other countries every single day and has been for thousands of years. We’re only special because of perspective and in reality I believe we are all extremely lucky to live here and now. We have all always suffered, though knowing that certainly doesn’t diminish the suffering of those who have lost loved ones in such a tragic way.
Today’s Booking Through Thursday question:
I was looking through books yesterday at the shops and saw all the Twilight books, which I know basically nothing about. What I do know is that I’m beginning to feel like I’m the *only* person who knows nothing about them.
Despite being almost broke and trying to save money, I almost bought the expensive book (Australian book prices are often completely nutty) just because I felt the need to be ‘up’ on what everyone else was reading.
Have you ever felt pressured to read something because ‘everyone else’ was reading it? Have you ever given in and read the book(s) in question or do you resist? If you are a reviewer, etc, do you feel it’s your duty to keep up on current trends?
It depends. If I’m interested in the book, popularity may cause it to loom larger in my book radar and I’ll read it faster than a different, less popular book. Sometimes I do read books to see what all the fuss is about – namely The Da Vinci Code, which I have to say, I didn’t like very much and I still don’t really get why it became so popular. I’ve read all the Harry Potter books and I’m not ashamed to say that I love them, but I was extremely resistant to hop on that bandwagon in the beginning. I only read the first one because I needed to read a new book for a school assignment and I’d read all my books, so I had to resort to my mom’s collection, and there it was.
I haven’t read the Twilight series. I don’t plan to unless I can find them for extremely cheap. I don’t mind vampires and paranormal stuff, but I do mind irritating heroines and completely unrealistic love, which I’ve heard this book has. The varying reports on the final book didn’t really persuade me that the series was a must read, either.
As a reviewer, I do like to read the books that everyone else is talking about and newer books, so that my reviews are more relevant. That doesn’t stop me from reviewing the books that I’ve had for a while, though, or that no one seems to have read but me. They are just as interesting and if I’m reading them, I might as well tell other people how they are while I’m at it.
Today’s Booking Through Thursday question:
If you’re anything like me, one of your favorite reasons to read is for the story. Not for the character development and interaction. Not because of the descriptive, emotive powers of the writer. Not because of deep, literary meaning hidden beneath layers of metaphor. (Even though those are all good things.) No … it’s because you want to know what happens next?
Or, um, is it just me?
Well, I like a good plot as much as the next reader, but I have to say that my favorite books always have something else going for them. I love good atmosphere; I enjoy the Harry Potter books mainly because I like the world, not because I’m very interested in the plot, although I can speed through them since it’s easy to get involved. I love unreliable narrators, flawed characters of all kinds, multi-faceted villains, and beautiful descriptions. I’m perfectly happy to read without anything happening in the plot as long as I’ve got the rest of it going on. My favorite plots always have many sides to them – I need multiple threads running through a novel to feel engrossed in it. Fantasy literature does this best.
Plot is just one of my many considerations when it comes to reading. I like a good story, but I want a whole lot more besides.
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