Memememeeeeeeme

I need distractions as my boys _ large and small _ left today for five days in the North Island. It's where Jeremy is from, and his parents still live there. Apart from his mum and one of his sisters, they've never met Patrick. He'll be meeting his grandad for the first time. So it's a good thing, but man the house is quiet!!!!!!

So I totally stole this from Chris at http://www.dreamstuffbooks.com/blog/

1. What author do you own the most books by?

Agatha Christie, I think. I have 19 omnibuses that have three novels each in them.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?

The Hobbit I think, although I only have two. Oh wait _ I have two copies of The Lord of the Rings and The Wind in the Willows as well.

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

Nah :)
4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

Odd Thomas. Although my teenage crush was Legolas.
5. What book have you read the most times in your life?

The Lord of the Rings

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?

Ten? Um ... The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan maybe? Oh wait no. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The Dark is Rising came later. :)

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?

I don't know. If I'm not enjoying something I tend not to finish it. I found Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult annoying, though.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. And Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. And American Gods by Neil Gaiman. And The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox. Hmmm .... that's more than one. I was always bad at maths.
9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?

Un Lun Dun, because I don't think enough people have.
10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?

I'm with Chris on this one _ Neil Gaiman :)
11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

I don't know ... I'll have to muse on that a bit.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?

Once again, I agree with Chris _ American Gods by Neil Gaiman. But I think it could be a great TV series.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.

Okay. This is going to make me sound like a total stalker. And Paula Abdul, because describing dreams always makes me sound like Paula Abdul. I dreamed that Neil Gaiman was at my house, to sign my copy of The Graveyard Book, but I couldn't find my copy. I had a copy, it just wasn't mine. He kept insisting that it was okay, he'd sign that one, but I was determined to find mine. Then I woke up.

14. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?

Define lowbrow. :p Star Trek novels, I guess? I read them for fun sometimes.
15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

16. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?

I have no preferences. They both have rich histories, and literary traditions. :)

17. Roth or Updike?

Haven’t read either.
18. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?

Once again, I haven't read either, although I got a David Sedaris book at Christmastime as part of the Book Bloggers exchange. So Sedaris, because I have one of his books to read. :)

19. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?

Chaucer. I did three years of Medieval Literature at uni, and LOVED it. But Shakespeare is a very close second. Then Milton.

20. Austen or Eliot?

Jane Austen, although I haven't read Eliot.

21. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?

Um. New Zealand fiction. I do read some, but not as much as I would like.

22. What is your favorite novel?

I'm a walking cliche, but The Lord of the Rings.

23. Play?
Macbeth
24. Short story?

October in the Chair.

25. Epic Poem?

I'm not big on epic poetry. They kind of make me want to cross my eyes. So The Waste Land by T S Eliot, which isn't LONG long.

26. Short(er) poem?

Going with Eliot again: The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. And No Ordinary Sun by Hone Tuwhare. Oooh! And I'm Nobody by Emily Dickinson.

27) Work of non-fiction?

Um. The last non-fiction book I finished was Up Till Now by William Shatner, but my favourite is Richard Ellman's Oscar Wilde biography.

28. Who is your favorite writer?

Is it weird and stalkery to say Neil Gaiman again? I have this weird thing, though. As soon as I find a writer that I love, I stop reading their books. So I don't want to jinx Mr Gaiman.

29. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?

Wouldn't have a clue. :)
30. What is your desert island book?

Um. Um. Something long and involved that I can read, and then use to light a fire. War and Peace? (Never read it).

31. And … what are you reading right now?
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare; The Matriarch by Witi Ihimaera and Soldier in the Mist by Gene Wolfe.