Booking Through Thursday

It's been a while since I did one of these, but this one is a list, and I love me some lists :)

Here's the explanation from http://btt2.wordpress.com/

“This can be a quick one. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.”

1) The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien

2) Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

3) The Belgariad :( by David Eddings (Rest in peace)

4) Magician by Raymond E Feist

5) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

6) The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

7) A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

8) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

9) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

10) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

11) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

12) The Stand by Stephen King

13) On Writing by Stephen King

14) A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

15) Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes

That was fun!

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question is here: http://btt2.wordpress.com/

1): Currently, yes, I am reading more than one book. Quite by accident. I tripped. I'm reading The Matriarch by Witi Ihimaera, in my break at work, Latro in the Mist by Gene Wolfe and tonight I started City of Bones, the first novel of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.'

2): Oops. Um. Three.

3): Yeah, this is pretty normal for me. I have a short attention span.

4): Depends where I'm reading. Near the couch, if I'm on the couch, or on the bed if I'm reading in bed.

Happy BTT :)

Booking Through Thursday

"I saw that National Library week is coming up in April, and that led to some questions. How often do you use your public library and how do you use it? Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library? Did you go to the library as a child? Do you have any particular memories of the library? Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries?"

Oh ... I love the library. They let you take books, like, for free!!! I mean, you have to bring them back, but still ...

When I was a youngster, we had a poky cosy sort of library, with lots of books, but very little space. The children's library was upstairs, where I'd browse while my mother would be downstairs. On one of the landings, I'd stop at the window to see if I could fix her position so I could go straight to where she was.

Now, the public library here is a lot more spacious. It lends books for a month, but I would say we end up going every 2 to 3 weeks. It's kind of our Saturday morning thing, if we go out on a Saturday morning. We start at the library and go from there.

As long as the library has plenty of books, I really don't care about the design of it. Easy to get around would be the top of my list. And no, I don't think the coffee/bookstore has replaced the library. Partly because we don't have one here, and partly because I'd always use the library, no matter what.

Booking Through Thursday

We’ve all seen the lists, we’ve all thought, “I should really read that someday,” but for all of us, there are still books on “The List” that we haven’t actually gotten around to reading. Even though we know they’re fabulous. Even though we know that we’ll like them. Or that we’ll learn from them. Or just that they’re supposed to be worthy. We just … haven’t gotten around to them yet.
What’s the best book that YOU haven’t read yet?

Oops, I answered that wrong. Uhm ... one book on my should-read list is A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth. I have it, and I admire it greatly. It's on my classics list for the year, so hopefully it's one I can cross off.

I haven't done BTT for a while, but if there is one thing I do *heart* it's a list. I've let my Wednesday Wants slip lately, but here are the books I've added to my List (ie: a red indexed notebook that I've had for a very long time):

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

Memoirs of a Master Forger by William Heaney (aka Graham Joyce)

An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe

The Mystery of Grace by Charles de Lint

Lamentation by Ken Scholes

And here is my trusty notebook:

Not much to look at, but really, really handy. :)

Booking Through Thursday

This week's BTT question:
I’ve asked, in the past, about whether you more often buy your books, or get them from libraries. What I want to know today, is, WHY BUY?
Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. I’m betting that no real book-lover can go through life without owning at least one book. So … why that one? What made you buy the books that you actually own, even though your usual preference is to borrow and return them?
If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?

I don't buy books very often. We have a pretty good public library and I do book reviews for work, so I get a lot of my books from there.
If I do buy books, I try to go for specials, or secondhand ones, because books can be prohibitively expensive to buy here.
However, once in a while one slips past my radar and the conversation I have with myself looks something like this:
"Hey look! The new -- "
"No!"
"But it's payday! I have monies!"
"You have bills! No!"
"It's the new Terry Pratchett one. And it's on special."
"N- wait ... Terry Pratchet?? That's different. On special you say? So we're saving monies?"
"Yes."
"Then what are we waiting for???"

Booking Through Thursday

Ooooh, a meme! I don't do a lot of memes, but I do like them :)

I’ve seen this series of questions floating around the ‘net the last few days, and thought it looked like a good one for us!

What was the last book you bought?
Um. H'm. I don't buy a lot of books, because of the library, and getting them from work. Um ... Oh! An Unfinished Woman by Lillian Hellman _ bought it off Trade Me.

Name a book you have read MORE than once
Lord of the Rings

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
I don't think so, no

How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews
If the story summary makes my ears prick up

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
I read more fiction than non-fiction, but I do read both

What’s more important in a novel - beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
I'm a sucker for beautiful writing

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Odd Thomas, from Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
Uhm ... Up Till Now by William Shatner, The World of Jeeves by P J Wodehouse, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
Twas ... The Vintner's Luck. I finished it on Saturday? Sunday?

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
Yes. Sometimes sooner than that.

Booking Through Thursday

I haven't done this for a while, but the question this week interested me:
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?

The most unusual book I have ever read (and I believe I've mentioned it here before) is Pale Fire, by Nabokov. It was part of my Modernist Fiction course in my last year at university and I remember almost none of it. Except that it was painful to read. It's a novel, told in poetry, that's a whodunit. The narrator is untrustworthy at best and, according to our lecturer there was a big payoff at the end. The only payoff I got was from finishing the damn thing!
So. Um. It's Pale Fire. :)

Booking Through Thursday

A combo of two suggestions by: Heidi and by litlove
Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (ot, 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've never been a book club member. I like the idea of them, but I'd rather have a one-on-one discussion with someone about a book we've both read; I love doing that and don't get to do it often enough. :)

If I were obliged to read books for a book group, I think I'd feel as though I were back at university with a set list, so yes, I think that would affect my experience. :)

Booking Through Thursday

Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance?
I’ve been mulling this, as I read other entries, and as I wait for my second wind to kick in after work.
I don’t think my book tastes have changed so much over the years, as evolved. As I get older, and my circumstances, and sometimes my interests, change; so do my reading habits. I have my old favourites, my go-tos, that I go back to time and again when I need something familiar and comforting.
What I really look for now, is a great story that can hold my attention. This has made me both more picky and more prolific in my reading as I look for The One _ that story that keeps you reading until 3am, or when you’re drifting off on the couch on a drowsy afternoon, but you just can’t bear to put your book down. Or when you’re at work, and all you want to do is go home, and pick your book up again.
As for fiction/dark/series/light/frivolous/challenging/easy/how-to/mysteries … yes, please.
I left out romance, because it’s never been a genre I’m interested in. It was quite a revelation to me when I discovered I could read historical novels without all the hysterical bodice-ripping.
Happy Thursday!

Booking Through Thursday

What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks — which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be “reading” — why? If something isn’t reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don’t consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance.
(Two weeks late for Reading is Fundamental week, but, well…)
Bear with me. I’m all out of energy, so this may not make much sense.
At its most fundamental and basic level, reading is words on a page. Anything you’re casting your eyes over; you’re reading. You’re reading right now. :)
All of the forms above count as reading; even audiobooks. If that’s your only means of being able to access books, then you’re reading.
Book/newspaper/magazine/comic/graphic novel/audiobook in hand _ congratulations! You’re reading!
I don’t have a stance on it particularly. I’m not really given to analysing the things I like to do that closely. I enjoy them, they make me happy. That’s all I need to know. :)

Booking Through Thursday

It's that time of the week again ....
Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

I want the same thing from both books and movies: a good story, well told, that doesn't treat me like an idiot. I want to be transported, to escape, to be inspired. Whether I'm holding a book in my hand, or sitting in the dark with the smell of popcorn, that's what I want. :)

Edited to add (because I may have misinterpreted the question); as for adaptations, I don't think about it most of the time. If I've read the book first, I compare the movie, but I try not to think "but they left that bit out!" and if I see the movie first, then read the book, I find the differences interesting. But I don't deliberately avoid adaptations. I love both mediums, so either way, I'm happy. :)

Booking Through Thursday

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

Um ... I think there's a dictionary/thesaurus around here somewhere _ a small one. But, no, I don't read them. Haven't for quite some years. We have hefty Oxford dictionaries at work, for reference. Otherwise, I think my existence is largely dictionary-free. :)

Booking Through Thursday

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??
And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember…. Oddly enough, I carry my passport in my bag. For no good reason.
Um _ if it were a big family crisis, I wouldn't be thinking about books. I'd be getting to the airport as fast as possible and ear-bashing ticket staff like the people on the Amazing Race until I got what I wanted.
However, if I was going to be stuck in the airport for a while, I'd probably people-watch, if it were a small airport, or search out the nearest airport bookstore, and buy a magazine, or something light to keep me occupied.
Or I'd compulsively shuffle through all the songs on my iPod while people-watching and flicking through a magazine.
But ... yeah. I wouldn't be thinking about books.

Booking Through Thursday

Well, here where I live, Spring is sprung–weeks early, even. Our lilac bush looks like it will have flowers by this time next week instead of in the middle of May as usual. The dogwood trees, the magnolia trees–all the flowering trees are flowering. The daffodils and crocuses are, if anything, starting to fade. It may only be April 24th but it is very definitely Spring and, allergies notwithstanding, I’m happy to welcome the change of season.

What I want to know, is:
Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?
Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

Hmm ... well, it's heading into winter here, so let me think ... I don't think I do read seasonally. I certainly don't read gardening books, regardless of the season. Possibly during summer I gravitate more towards light reading, as sunny days are conducive to books that don't make you think too deeply. Otherwise, as always, it's whatever catches my fancy at the time. :)

Booking Through Thursday

Suggested by Nithin:
I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

I think the only word I've ever come across that I was unfamiliar with, was this: Suppiluliumas I, King of the Hittites, who ruled about 1358 BC – 1323 BC. His name pops up in reference to Nefertiti sometimes, as she was rumoured to have sent letters, begging for his help after her husband died.
I have an on-and-off fascination with Ancient Egypt, which is how I ran into Suppiluliumas in the first place. Almost literally, as that word stops me every time I see it; and I can't help trying to pronounce it out loud. I've always been so good with vocabulary, that I can't quite believe there's a word out there that can get the better of me.
But I just cannot get my tongue around Suppiluliumas. No matter how many times I say it.

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question:
Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
Turn to page 123.
What is the first sentence on the page?
The last sentence on the page?
Now . . . connect them together….(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

The book I have at hand is Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker.
The first sentence on page 123 is:
I will tell you one more tale to earn myself that fire.
The last sentence is (actually last two sentences as it has an aside):
"Is that your idea of a life, Jakobok?" (He only called me Jakobok when he was spoiling for an argument; when feeling fond [on to page 124] he called me Mister B."

I'm not sure, to be honest, what is meant by "connect them together". By explaining their context? The demon, Jakobok Botch (Mister B.) is fighting with his fellow demon/friend Quitoon, about where on Earth _ in the 15th century _ they should go next to cause mayhem. The first sentence relates to Mister B. exhorting the reader to burn the very book they are reading, which he does periodically throughout the book. The last refers to Quitoon's desire to move on, and Jakobok's desire to stay put. So the connecting thread between the first sentence, and the last, would be conflict. :)

Okay. Let's try this one again. That'll teach me to do the BTT posts at midnight!
First line:
I will tell you one more tale to earn myself that fire.
What more do I have to do to convince you? I have told you of the horrors I have inflicted. And yet you keep reading. Do you not care? Are you also some kind of a monster? You must be, to still be reading this book. How many times already have I asked you to burn it and yet you keep reading?
Fine. Then what happens next, is your fault, and not mine.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Quitoon and I had been together for a long time. And I was content, in our little house in the woods.
"Is that your idea of a life, Jakobok?" (He only called me Jakobok when he was spoiling for an argument; when feeling fond [on to page 124] he called me Mister B."

Booking Through Thursday

It's that time again ...
When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?) Um. My Modernist Fiction lecture at university. Seriously. Or poncy, incomprehensible novels that everyone pretends to have read and enjoyed but really hated _ or didn't read at all, because they made their ears bleed.

Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must? If we're talking poncy novels, then no. I don't categorise what I read for pleasure by that standard. All a book has to have to hook me, is a good, readable story. Also, I'm a bit of an eclectic reader. Right now, my reading list consists of Duma Key by Stephen King, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens and Mister B Gone by Clive Barker. So I don't read literature on purpose. Not at all, if I can help it.

Booking Through Thursday

This week’s question comes from Julie, who asks:
While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?

I don't usually notice. I think I've only been put off a book once, because of the cover: The Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick. I understand that the book is very good, but I just can't get past the coal-smudged smiling urching on the cover. Sets my teeth on edge.

Font, I don't notice, really; as long as it's readable, and as long as I can hold a book up, I'm not worried about paperback vs trade paperback vs hardback.

The only other thing that puts me off is when there are review snippets on the back cover instead of a plot synopsis. THAT really fries my onions.

I forgot! I have a quirk related to this. If I'm reading a book with a cover that I feel is "staring" at me; say, a horror novel or something, when I put it down, I'll put it down face down, with the spine facing away from me. Weird and sad, but true.

Booking Through Thursday

You’ve just reached the end of a book . . . what do you do now? Savor and muse over the book? Dive right into the next one? Go take the dog for a walk, the kids to the park, before even thinking about the next book you’re going to read? What?
(Obviously, there can be more than one answer, here–a book with a cliff-hanger is going to engender different reactions than a serene, stand-alone, but you get the idea!)

Hmmm ... it depends on the book. If it's one that I've been particularly invested in, I'll pause for a bit, and muse, before moving on, so I can digest it properly. Or if the ending is unexpected or sad, then I have to stop for a bit, and chew over what was and what might have been.
If it's something light-hearted, like a Star Trek novel for example, then I'm happy to move on straight away.

I run into a dilemma if I don't have something lined up, and sometimes I don't read anything for two or three days. But that unhappy circumstance never lasts long.

Booking Through Thursday

Suggested by John :
How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:
__________ would have been a much better book if ______________________.
Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Hmmmm .... I was going to say Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would be much improved by a lot less bloody apparating and disapparating in the middle of the book. It seemed to go on forever! "Improved" though ... that's a tricky one. I can think of books where I would have preferred a different ending; Great Expectations, for one. I haven't read it for many years, but the ending struck me as feeble and pretty much put me off Dickens for quite some time. Until now, obviously, when I'm picking through The Old Curiosity Shop.
And the ending of Fight Club, the novel, seemed unlikely, given what they'd all just put themselves through. That was one case where the ending of the movie actually improved on the original story.
I'm stuck on "improved". I have no idea whether my projected changes would improve a book or not. Well. Apart from Harry Potter maybe.
And when you edit for a living, like I do (for a newspaper; I'm a layout/copy editor), then a question like this carries more weight. If you need to edit a story, to make it fit a certain hole on a page, you need to give that story full consideration, so that it still reads right, makes sense, and conveys the original message.
I think that holds true for books, too.
Oh! One more, and I've mentioned this before; Marian Keyes' Rachel and Claire in Anybody Out There? We're up to the fourth Walsh sister, Anna, and these two are sidelined as cliches, and played strictly for laughs. I would have liked to see a little more fleshing out of the characters themselves, and it wouldn't have hurt to make them a little more likable and a little less obnoxious.
NOW I'm done!