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Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the library. (There’s no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with my book habit when I was 10.) So … What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?
Well, to be honest, I don’t remember getting books from the library when I was little. I know that I got books from the school libraries occasionally, but my main memory of the public library involves getting out movies. My parents never objected to buying me books and I was an intense re-reader back then, so mostly I read my own books over and over and over, until the magical day that a book order came in or the book fair stopped at my school, at which point I’d acquire a small pile of 7-10 books that I would read and read and read. So I don’t have any good memories of the library from when I was little, unfortunately. I’ve always preferred to own my books and maybe that’s where it started.
I think another reason we never got books from the library is because of an incident that happened when I was in between first and second grade. We were moving to another state and I had checked out some books from the school library. One of them didn’t make it to check-in. Since we’d just packed everything up, my mom was convinced we didn’t have the book and that the kid whose duty it was to return the books must have misplaced it or something. She didn’t end up paying for it, but we did find the book when we unpacked in New Jersey. Oops. I guess I hadn’t returned it after all, although it was an accident!
And that is about all there is to the story of my youth in the library.
First:
- Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general?
- Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both?
And, Second:
- Do you consider yourself a sports fan?
- Because, of course, if you’re a rabid fan and read about sports constantly, there’s a logic there; if you hate sports and never read anything sports-related, that, too … but you don’t have to love sports to enjoy a good sports story.
- (Or a good sports movie, for that matter. Feel free to expand this into a discussion about “Friday Night Lights” or “The Natural” or whatever…)
I have read exactly one book about the Olympics and I think sports in general – a biography of Dominique Moceanu when I was young, probably a pre-teen. I really liked gymnastics back then. My favorite is probably ice skating, but of course these are the summer Olympics on right now. I haven’t watched any of this year’s Olympics, not even the opening ceremonies. My dad is away this week and my mom and I have pretty much no interest, especially not when the events aren’t live and we can hear the results on the radio before they air the event on TV. Fiance’s not watching them either, so next time the Olympics are on I’m sure things will stay the same.
So, you can probably guess that I’m not a sports fan. That is definitely true. There were, however, four years during which I was a football fan. I was in marching band in high school and it’s extremely difficult to be in marching band and not care about how your football team does. You are, after all, another type of cheerleader when you’re at the game, although we always had our show and did competitions. Our football team didn’t do very well my first two years, but by junior year our quarterback had become very, very good, and senior year we went as far as it’s possible for a football team to go in our district and won our final game at Giants stadium. That was a wonderful moment – the football team always cheered for us during our shows and we obviously were always there to cheer them on. It was fun. In my high school, we even got a varsity letter for being in marching band, so it sort of counted as a sport.
Now, though, I pass on watching most sports. My fiance and I watched the World Cup final a couple of years ago, but that’s about it for our interest. I don’t really watch movies centered around sports, or even play sports video games. I like my leisure activities sport-free, I guess!
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If you’re like me and interested in history instead of sports, check out my giveaway for Marie-Therese: Child of Terror by Susan Nagel!
Are there any particular worlds in books where you’d like to live? Or where you certainly would NOT want to live? What about authors? If you were a character, who would you trust to write your life?
I’ve given some thought to this before. I think I’ll have to echo everyone else, though, and say that ideally I’d like to live in the world of Harry Potter, if I was a witch. I love Hogwarts and the atmosphere has always been my favorite part of the Harry Potter books. My friends tell me this makes me weird, but I just really like the feel that the school parts give me. Other than that, I think I’d like to live in the Shire from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. In all honesty, it’s hard to say I’d want to live in most fantasy worlds because usually in books, there is a lot of conflict, and I’d just like a peaceful, happy existence. There are some utopian worlds I wouldn’t mind living in, although I don’t think Utopia is one of them, but they always seem a bit dull instead of happy. In terms of real-world, I occasionally think I’d like to transport myself back to the fifteenth century, but only if I could be nobility and ensure I’d survive past the age of five. I don’t think I’d really like to live there though, I’d just like to visit and perhaps meet Richard III. I have some questions I’d like to ask him.
There are plenty of places I would not like to go. Arthurian Britain is a definite no; I just finished Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord trilogy and there seemed to be way too much pillaging, raping, and murdering for me. Any dystopian world is a similar no. I don’t think anyone would like to live in the world of 1984, not even for a visit. Same goes for The Handmaid’s Tale. There are other dystopias, and I’ve probably read some, but they don’t spring to mind just now. I wouldn’t really like to live anywhere with lots of conflict.
I’m not sure I’d like anyone to write my life story. I don’t really want to be widely known for that, especially not now because I haven’t defined myself enough yet. If I had to pick, I’d say Kazuo Ishiguro should do it in a work of fiction. I think I’d be an unreliable narrator. I don’t give up my secrets easily.
What are your favourite final sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its last sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the last line?
I’m not sure I like this question. I hate spoilers. Besides that, I have even more trouble remembering last lines than I have remembering first lines! Well, except for Gone with the Wind. That’s the only line that sticks in my mind (and I went in my book to check it anyway):
“After all, tomorrow is another day.”
I can’t remember any other sentences, and besides that, they might give the book away. Some of my favorite endings in general though:
– The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. The rest of the book was enjoyable, a bit boring for people who aren’t obsessed with Englishness and beautiful prose like I am, and then along came the ending, which he’d been subtly building up all along, and I fell totally in love with the book. Everything came together and the book just blew me out of the water.
– The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. It’s been a while since I read this one, but the ending moved me so much and is a big part of why this is one of my two favorite books. I’ve kept that mental image of Archer sitting on the bench since high school.
– Feather Man by Rhyll McMaster. I read this one recently and it was the ambiguity of the ending that I loved, but also the fact that it was definitely an ending. The cycle came full circle, and while you’re never sure if it happened in a good or bad way, it’s just a brilliant way to end the book.
And for balance, some endings that I didn’t like:
– The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry – I haven’t reviewed this one yet, and I loved it up until the ending, but I’m left trying to reconcile the rest of the book with the “surprise” ending. I don’t think there was enough groundwork laid for it. There was some, but not enough for the reader to say, “OH!” instead of “WTF?”. If that makes sense. Feel free to disagree with me, I’m very interested in discussion on this one.
– So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz. This ending just didn’t go anywhere and overall disappointed me, especially the last flashback. I didn’t get the point. Again, if you did, let me know! This was a case of bad ambiguity.
Have you read any of these books? What’s your opinion?
What are your favourite first sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its first sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the first line?
Shamefully, there are none that I can recall off the top of my head! I have definitely been struck by first lines, though, and I especially like the way the first line can sweep you up into the book. Even better, when you look back, sometimes they symbolize the point of the entire book. Of course, right now I’m thinking of Pride and Prejudice:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
And really, this line alone can show us how brilliant Jane Austen was. For a single sentence, it has so many undertones, and its implications are reflected throughout Pride and Prejudice. In my last literature class, probably ever, near the end of the course my professor handed out a paper with all the first lines from the books we’ve read. There was a steady progression there, from Joyce (Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man has a good one, much as I dislike that book personally) to Woolf to Beckett and on. One little sentence can say a lot!
I think most of what I like about first lines is that, even when I don’t remember them, they conjure up an entire literary world when I hear them again. My last review was of The Hours by Michael Cunningham, which links to Mrs. Dalloway, and that latter book has one of my favorites:
“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.”
Not for any particular reason, other than that it embodies the feel of the book. Sometimes, I don’t need to reread or hear more than that just to remember what a wonderful book I read and to relive the story.
What would you do if, all of a sudden, your favorite source of books was unavailable?Whether it’s a local book shop, your town library, or an internet shop … what would you do if, suddenly, they were out of business? Devastatingly, and with no warning? Where would you go for books instead? What would you do? If it was a local business you would try to help out the owners? Would you just calmly start buying from some other store? Visit the library in the next town instead? Would it be devastating? Or just a blip in your reading habit?
My number one book source is probably the internet, and if the internet vanished I’d have bigger problems than just losing my favorite source of books. I use Amazon, email to request/receive ARCs and review copies from publishers, and LibraryThing gives me virtually my entire wishlist. On the other hand, if the internet went down for a while, I’d get a lot of reading done. I have about a year’s worth of books, maybe a little less, on Mt. TBR. I use the internet for many other things, though, at least one of which is actually more important to me than my book supply. Shocking, I know!
My favorite bookstore is probably my local Barnes and Noble, mostly for nostalgic and atmospheric reasons, but I hardly ever buy books there. If it burned down, I’d be sad that my favorite childhood destination for book browsing was gone, but it wouldn’t actually affect me all that much. My newest favorite bookstore is a charity bookshop associated with a local hospital. It’s the only nearby used bookstore and it is brilliant. I’d be sad if it burned down because I can’t get $2 nearly new books anywhere else. I’d probably trawl Amazon for more used books instead, now that I’ve gotten used to a steady supply of my choosing. Or maybe I’d go to the library – I haven’t been there in a while.
Just a reminder – I am hosting a giveaway of Surviving Ben’s Suicide by C. Comfort Shields! If you haven’t entered yet, check it out here! It’s my first giveaway, so please take a look!
It’s a holiday weekend here in the U.S., so let’s keep today’s question simple–What are you reading? Anything special? Any particularly juicy summer reading?
Not really anything special, no, at least not yet. I noticed that I haven’t been reading much fantasy on my June wrap-up post, so of course I decided to change that. I’m reading Inda by Sherwood Smith as a consequence, and I’m enjoying it very much. This will be my third book for the July book blow-out. I’m also aiming to start within the next day or two The Power Makers by Maury Klein. That one looks very interesting, but it’s also huge, so it will probably take me a while to get through. My next choice for fiction will be My Antonia by Willa Cather, my first selection in the Classics Challenge. I’m thinking that I’ll be reading Nefertiti by Michelle Moran and The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent soon as well! Just a mental TBR soon list. =)
What, in your opinion, is the definition of a “reader.” A person who indiscriminately reads everything in sight? A person who reads BOOKS? A person who reads, period, no matter what it is? … Or, more specific? Like the specific person who’s reading something you wrote?
This is a hard question. When we add “er” to a word, what do we mean? A runner is someone who runs frequently. A writer is someone who writes frequently. A gamer is someone who games frequently. So, a reader is someone who reads frequently. Reading itself is a definition we posted about four weeks ago, so I’m not going to go into that again. So if you do it frequently and you enjoy it, you are a reader, although I think usually when we use that term we refer to someone who reads books. At least, I would, but I would understand its use in the many other contexts of “reading”.
Readers can also be more specific. People who read my blog are my readers, people who read Stephen King novels are his readers, and so on. It’s all still reading, but when someone takes possession of their readers, it tends to mean that those people are reading whatever that person is producing, regardless of what it is – magazines, websites, books, poems, whatever.
Okay, this question is a tough one, haha! What do you think?
Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?
My favorite authors without exception are ones that write absorbing stories that allow me to completely ignore my life and get lost in their world. Genre doesn’t matter. I have lately realized that the ones I love the most are inevitably sad and moving. I find that happiness is just not as affecting for me as sadness, so a story that ends on a bittersweet note is a more likely candidate for a favorite book, just because I am more engaged and my emotions are on edge.
Some specifics – I love Stephen King because I feel that he portrays characters magnificently. His plotlines are necessarily off-the-wall, but the personalities, reactions, and emotions of his characters jump off the page and make you really understand them. Robin Hobb and Jacqueline Carey are both up there for their fantastic world-building as well as brilliant characters. Actually, GRRM is on my list for those reasons as well as his brutality. I do enjoy authors who aren’t afraid of letting beloved characters die, although I think he’s pushing the envelope a bit. I suppose it just feels more “true” to me because in real life, the hero doesn’t always win, and I like that reflection of reality even in a fantasy novel.
I could go either way on quality of language. It’s very nice and I appreciate great prose, but simple can work too, as long as it doesn’t read like a five year old wrote it. It all depends on the quality of the author’s storytelling for me, not necessarily on their quality of language.
Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (or, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?
Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?
I haven’t been in a book club since I was in sixth grade, when we read the books our group leader told us to read. Her name was Mrs. Lloyd and that’s about all I remember of that experience. I obviously don’t think this is the best way unless your group is full of 11 year olds and you are a school-based group, which is almost just a class anyway. I’d like to participate in a real-life book club, but I didn’t think until it was too late at my university and I’m not staying here with my parents long enough to join one here. I expect I’ll join one for real once I get out of graduate school.
I’m not sure how my ideal book club would operate. I think that if it’s a relatively small size, the club could rotate months and each month one person would both pick the book and lead the discussion. Otherwise, if it’s bigger than say 12 people, there would have to be a vote. That is my best guess, anyway. A book club with the book selected by just one of the people each time would probably not attract too many members.
I think if the discussion was valuable and the book was interesting, I might enjoy it more in a book club. I know that some of the books I’ve read for classes have been much more enjoyable thanks to discussion and analysis. I guess I will have to see and report back when I do join one, whenever that is!
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