Bookish Fun

I found these two Q&As while blog hopping today and had to participate.


Jillian @ Random Ramblings posted this Character Tag.  Here's my take on it:


1. Which character would you throw out the window?
Willoughby from Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen.  Arrgghh...he was annoying!


2. Which character would be your best friend?
Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  She's always been my favourite character.


3. If you could make a character come to life, who would it be?
So many options!  I would probably choose prot from K-PAX by Gene Brewer.  He could potentially solve a lot of the world's problems.


4. What traits do you look for in a character?
In a hero, obviously bravery, tenacity, but also a feeling of self-doubt and uncertainty that adds to the story's conflict.  In a villain, assuredness, confidence, and a wicked sense of humour.


5. What would you change in your favorite character?
I think in order to truly love a character, you accept him/her as is, so I wouldn't change a thing :)


6. Favorite male/female character?
Tough one!  When push comes to shove, I would say Anne Shirley and Col. Brandon (from Sense & Sensibility).


7. What two characters from different books would you put together?

Hmmm....this one is stumping me.


8. Favorite book couple?

Anne & Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables; Henry & Claire from The Time Traveler's Wife


9. Cutest character?
I love the conversations between Scout, Jem & Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  It definitely brings out nostalgic feelings :)




Dizzy @ DizzyC's Little Book Blog posted about a 30-day book talk.  I'm taking a shortcut as I won't have time to participate in the long term but here's what I came up with for the topics:


The best book you read last year
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.  I was lucky enough to read several "A+" books last year.


A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
The Firm by John Grisham.  Probably about 5 times :)


Your favorite series
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.


Favorite book of your favorite series
#7- The Deathly Hallows.  It makes everything come together so clearly.

A book that makes you happy
Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen.  *Ahhh* :)


A book that makes you sad
The Green Mile by Stephen King.  Despite being sad, it's one of my all-time favourite books.


Most underrated book
K-PAX by Gene Brewer.  Not enough people have read it.  Amazing!


Most overrated book
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.  Sorry, not for me.


A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
I was skeptical about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and put it off for way too long.  This was snorting milk out the nose funny :D


Favorite classic book
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  Very few books are this perfect.


A book you hated
I've written about this enough times but Jonathan Franzen doesn't cut it for me.  Freedom and The Corrections.  Ugh...


A book you used to love but don’t anymore
I'm not sure about this one as I haven't re-read old favourites in a while.  If I had to guess, I think The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger would probably be lukewarm on a second read.


Your favorite writer
In terms of the number of books I've read and liked by him, probably Stephen King.


Favorite book of your favorite writer
The Green Mile with Different Seasons a very close second.


Favorite male character
Col. Brandon from Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen.  He's gentlemanly, thoughtful, generous, and unwavering in spite of other people's feelings about him.


Favorite female character
Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  She`s spunky, romantic, passionate, and literary.


Favorite quote(s) from your favorite book(s)
One of my favourites (I may be paraphrasing) is "'What is the purpose of books,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?'" from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.


A book that disappointed you
I was really hoping to like Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut but I couldn't get into it.


Favorite book turned into a movie
It was actually a short story but my favourite movie, The Shawshank Redemption, was in Different Seasons by Stephen King.


Favorite romance book
I only like literary romances like by Jane Austen.  I'm not much for Danielle Steel or novels categorized as romances in bookstores.  With that being said, I would go with Sense & Sensibility.


Favorite book from your childhood
I gobbled up every single Babysitters Club book ever printed :D


Favorite book you own
I own a copy of all my favourites.


A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Too many!  I'm planning to (finally) read Jane Eyre for next year's Back to the Classics challenge.


A book that you wish more people would’ve read
I don't think enough people read books.  Period.  Read anything!


A character who you can relate to the most
I definitely related to Hermione Granger in Harry Potter with her booksmarts and being very studious :)


A book that changed your opinion about something
I can't say for sure that this has happened to me.  I think reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury made me realize just how important it is to protect and cherish the written word.


The most surprising plot twist or ending
Without spoiling anything, I loved how Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finished up, especially with Snape :)

Favorite title(s)
I have a top 25 favourite books list.


A book everyone hated but you liked
I don't think everyone necessarily hated it, but I actually liked The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, while most people seemed to find it boring.


Your favorite book of all time
Has to be Anne of Green Gables :)

Book Depot Haul!

Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking:  Teacher/Learner, didn't you just go there & get a big box of books in the spring?  Sure did.  See my March posting, Major Book Shopping Haul.  But you see, I had every intention of limiting (ha!) my purchases to children's books this time in preparation for potential job placement in just a couple of weeks.  I have a growing collection of kid lit and I wanted to get more kindergarten-primary level books. 

If I do say so myself, I was a very good bibliophile book shopper and the majority of my purchases were children's books (no really, they were!).  However...I couldn't just ignore the huge adult general section, now could I?  Especially when it was full of gems: a great number of classics and even some contemporary (i.e. last year!) fiction available at a great discount.

So, a few books for myself became....drumroll....30.  That's not too bad, right?  Right?  *cricket chirping*  Well, my bill might say otherwise.  There goes my tax credit refund.  But all for a good cause. 

Now that I've justified that to death, here's my haul:

The Bonfire of the Vanities- Tom Wolfe--My last stab at Wolfe's work.  I didn't particularly like My Name is Charlotte Simmons and I'm not too keen on trying The Kool-Aid Acid Test, so here goes nothing.

The Lacuna- Barbara Kingsolver--Great find!  I couldn't believe it was available.  I absolutely loved The Poisonwood Bible, so this will be my follow-up read.

Born Standing Up- Steve Martin--Came in a cute pocket paperback edition.  I love this "wild and crazy" guy :D  I also got An Object of Beauty and his children's book, Late For School, which came with a CD of his banjo-accompanied song.  Hilarious!

Me Talk Pretty One Day- David Sedaris--This was reviewed so much, I had to give it a try.  My first foray into Sedaris's humour.

The Old Man and the Sea- Ernest Hemingway--Hopefully not too overwhelming a classic.

The Odyssey- Homer--See comment for above title :)

All's Well That Ends Well- William Shakespeare--I haven't read Shakespeare since university and the comedies were always a favourite of mine.

Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson--I've only seen the Muppet movie version :D

The Last of the Mohicans- James Fenimore Cooper

Pygmalion and Three Other Plays- George Bernard Shaw

An Object of Beauty- Steve Martin

The Taking of Pelham 123- John Godey--So fortuitous that I should find this as its one of my favourite movies and I thought the novel was likely long out of print.  Yay!

The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath

The Other Boleyn Girl- Phillipa Gregory--This author was recommended for my blogoversary.  I saw many Phillipa Gregory books, but this one is most familiar to me, making it an obvious starting point.

Moby Dick- Herman Melville--Hilarious edition cover--see its entry in my Goodreads list :D

The Count of Monte Cristo- Alexandre Dumas--This has gone right to the front of my TBR shelf.  I really need to read this!

Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis- Ed Sikov--A doctored picture of Joan Crawford with her eyes bugged out & crossed made me laugh out loud :D

Send Yourself Roses- Kathleen Turner

The Hour I First Believed- Wally Lamb

The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera

Celebrity Detox- Rosie O'Donnell

True Compass- Edward Kennedy--Another surprising find.  I know very little about this Kennedy brother, yet he was so influential to American politics.  It should be an eye-opener.

An Exaltation of Larks- James Lipton--This is all about turns of phrase, especially in describing groups (e.g. a murder of crows, a pride of lions).  Learning about our language is fascinating to me.

Paul Simon: A Life- Marc Eliot--Wasn't looking for this but I love Simon's (and Garfunkel, too) music and it's a very recent publication.

In Her Shoes- Jennifer Weiner--I read a library copy a while ago and liked it.  Maybe I'll re-read it.

Columbine- Dave Cullen--I accidentally picked up the enlarged text edition.  Oh well...the pages will fly by faster :D

The Shipping News- Annie Proulx

Running With Scissors- Augusten Burroughs

I Know This Much is True- Wally Lamb

The Road Not Taken- Robert Frost--My dad introduced me to Frost's poetry from the time I could read and the title poem is my favourite.  I couldn't resist this book :)

Things I Love About the Harry Potter Series

To celebrate finishing Goblet of Fire just this morning, I thought I would share just 20 quick things I love about the Harry Potter series...

1) How it makes you feel like a kid again
2) How imaginative & unlike any other book they are
3) Remembering how to pronounce Hermione (her-my-oh-knee) :D
4) The entire red-headed family of Weasleys
5) The naughty prankster twins Fred & George Weasley
6) Feeling like not everything about Snape is all it seems to be
7) Hogsmeade
8) 'Ow 'Agrid talks like this, eh? :D
9) Transfiguration
10) Every Flavored Beans, including earwax :P
11) The beautiful phoenix, Fawkes
12) The knowing twinkle in Dumbledore's eye
13) Neville Longbottom's forgetfulness
14) Cutey-patooty Ginny Weasley :D
15) Addressing Harry's mail as "in the Cupboard"
16) Quidditch!
17) The Riddikulus spell
18) Time travel
19) The Fat Lady's silly passwords
20) Flying on Buckbeak

Keep the list going!  Add your favourite things about the HP series to the comments :)

Four Things

...to jumpstart my brain this morning.  I spotted this over @ Dizzy C's blog.  These random little exercises are too fun to resist :)

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1)  Little league softball umpire (one summer)--over-involved, argumentative parents drove me nuts :P

2)  Campus library processing assistant (three years)--this involved creating & applying labels to all new library materials (which means I got to preview everything that came in first!), finagling security strips in the spines (arrgh...), packing & shelving new materials, and other odds & ends in cataloguing.  This job kept me sane and on a routine for 3/4 years of my university schooling.

3)  K-8 substitute teacher (three years)--my current job until I can get my own classroom *crossing fingers*

Four places I have lived:
Only one & that's Ontario, Canada for about a 1/4 century :D  In fact, I've been in the same house, too.

Four books I would recommend:
Hoo boy...if I can only name 4:

1)  To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee--I just finished re-reading it & it's a definite must-read
2)  Harry Potter series- J.K. Rowling--adventurous and nostalgic
3)  Different Seasons- Stephen King--breathtaking and not as gory as most of his books
4)  Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury--for everyone who loves books

Four Places I have been:
I'm afraid I'm pretty dull when it comes to travelling and have only been within Ontario.  I'm definitely gearing up for future escapades & would love to visit all of Europe, Hawaii, Australia, China...

Four of my favourite foods:
Gino's chicken wings, my mom's homemade lasagna, scalloped potatoes, quesadillas

Four of my favourite drinks:
Tim Hortons double-double, Diet Pepsi, freshly-made ice cold orange juice, martini :D

Four places I would rather be right now:
My pool, my deck, a beach, basically anywhere where the weather isn't muggy like it is today.

Four things that are special in my life:
My family, things that make me happy like reading, my job that I love, and of course, blogging!

Four bloggers I hope will do this meme:
Anyone who wants to take part!  Leave your link in the comments section below.

TBR Alphabet

I spotted this exercise over @ Sarcastic Female Literary Circle.  I won't be turning this into a challenge (I mean, other than what it already is!), but I'll try to come up with an author for each letter (the first letter of their last name) and at least 1 title for each.  Here goes...

Atwood, Margaret- Oryx & Crake, Year of the Flood, Blind Assassin...
Blume, Judy- Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Summer Sisters
Capote, Truman- Breakfast at Tiffany's, In Cold Blood
Dickens, Charles- A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Pickwick Papers
Eliot, George- Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner
Faulkner, William- The Sound and the Fury
Gould, Stephen Jay- The Stones of Marrakech
Hemingway, Ernest- The Old Man & the Sea, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises
Ishiguro, Kazuo- Never Let Me Go
James, Henry- The Bostonians, The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw, Wings of the Dove
King, Stephen- It, Cujo, Bag of Bones, Christine, 'Salem's Lot...
Lawrence, D.H.- Lady Chatterley's Lover, Sons & Lovers, Women in Love
McMurtry, Larry- Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, The Last Picture Show
Nin, Anais- Henry & June
Ondaatje, Michael- Anil's Ghost, The English Patient
Pynchon, Thomas- Gravity's Rainbow
Qunidlen, Anna- Blessings, Black & Blue, Every Last One...
Rushdie, Salman- Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses
Steinbeck, John- East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice & Men
Tolkien, J.R.R.- The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings series
Updike, John- The Witches of Eastwick
Verne, Jules- 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Wells, H.G.- The Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds
X??
Y??--the closest one I have is Yann Martel- Life of Pi
Zusak, Markus- The Book Thief

Lil' Book Survey

I found this over @ Sarah Says.  I like these quick book surveys.  Here goes...

Book next to your bed right now: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, My Life by Bill Clinton, a poetry anthology by John Lithgow, and a book published by AFI about movies (can't remember the title).

Favorite series: Harry Potter...I know, I'm a cop-out :D

Favorite book: ONE?!?  Under pressure, I'd probably say Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  Or The Green Mile by Stephen King.  Or...

The one book you would have with you if stranded on a desert island: Probably the Harry Potter series for entertainment value (hopefully they come all in one book!), or The Firm by John Grisham, because I could re-read that book for infinity, it's so interesting.

Book/series you would take with you on a long flight: An epic-length book I've never read, maybe Gone With the Wind.

Worst book you were made to read in school: I really didn't care for Animal Farm or Macbeth, both read in 11th grade and both taught by a student teacher I couldn't stand.  I probably didn't like the books because of the teacher, so maybe I should give them another chance.

Book that everyone should be made to read in school: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (borrowing from Sarah here--brilliant choice), The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein...

Book that everyone should read, period: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, K-PAX by Gene Brewer, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Favorite character: Not to be too repetitive, but Anne Shirley is hands-down my favourite literary character. 

Best villian: Nobody quite lives up to Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.  Some come very close: Voldemort in Harry Potter, Annie Wilkes in Misery by Stephen King, Pinky in Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, August in Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey...

Favorite invented world: Technically, all fictional settings are invented worlds, but I think the idea is to name a fantasy world.  I would say Hogwarts in Harry Potter is a definite stand-out, but also Susie's version of heaven in The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold comes to mind.

Most beautifully written book:  Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Atonement by Ian McEwan...

Funniest book:  Oh boy...Earth by Jon Stewart & the staff at The Daily Show was hilarious.  Also very funny: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda, This Time Together by Carol Burnett, Last Words by George Carlin, Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding, Marley & Me by John Grogan (also sad in parts but mostly chockful of hilarious antics).

55 Book-Related Questions

To get me back in the swing of things after a long book blogging break, I thought I'd answer these bookish questions I found from 2 weeks ago (ugh...this is my attempt at playing catch up) @ Sarah Says.  Here goes...

1. Favorite childhood book?
Curious George, especially Curious George Goes to the Hospital.  I used to plunk myself down by the CG books in my school library and go to town :D

2. What are you reading right now?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and My Life by Bill Clinton (plugging away occasionally for 8+ months).

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None.  I haven't used the library in some time since my town nearly cut it in half :/

4. Bad book habit?
Creasing the spines of paperbacks.  I don't mean to (really!) but it happens naturally as I read and sometimes they're really deep.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
See #3.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
Nope.  I'm not too interested in getting one, either.  I don't have anything against them, per se, but I think nothing tops the real deal.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Usually one at a time is all I can handle but sometimes I dip into something else if my current read isn't catching on.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Just my reading pace & the number of books!

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Rabbit, Run by John Updike.  I finished it and liked the prose style but I found the characters very empty and the plot was almost nonexistent.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I've been very fortunate to have read lots of amazing books so far in 2011.  If I had to choose, I would say Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  It's the most important book I've read and every book lover should read it.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Only if someone has highly recommended a book to me that is otherwise not something I would normally pick out myself.  It would have to be a really convincing recommendation ;)

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I'm very open to most genres, fiction & nonfiction.  I love reading literary fiction, modern classics, some bone-dry classics (ha ha), biography, autobiography, even sci-fi, mystery & popular fiction if the book is right for me.

13. Can you read on the bus?
Yes and I love to!

14. Favorite place to read?
Curled up in bed or on the couch.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I've never been asked but after a friend borrowed a DVD from me & didn't return it for a year (!), I'm a bit hesitant to do so unless I know the person very well and live near that person.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
No, I don't like the beat-up look it leaves behind.  I bookmark my spot.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Only if I'm reading the book for work or a course.

18. Not even with text books?
See #17.  Yes, I did highlight, underline or jot in the margins religiously during university.  I had to if I wanted to get anywhere with the readings!

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
I'm only fluent in English.

20. What makes you love a book?
When it's irresistible, when the story makes me think/feel/laugh/cry, when the characters feel like friends or closely relate to myself.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
When I'm asked or it comes up in conversation, I immediately think to the newest A or A+ book I've read.

22. Favorite genre?
Literary fiction.  That's a broad one, but it represents most fiction that is somewhere between populist and classic.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Science fiction.  I love the imagination that oozes out of this genre but I often think to read it last.

24. Favorite biography?
I love Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder, Me by Katharine Hepburn, and Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda.  Those would be considered memoirs or autobiographies, but they count, right? :)

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
I used to read Chicken Soup books in my teens but lately I feel they're mostly money-grabbers.  Not too interested.

26. Favorite cookbook?
The recipes off the box :D  I love my grandma's old recipes and Company's Coming.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen inspires youth and exuberance in the human spirit.  I also really liked A Twist of Lemmon by Chris Lemmon, which spoke eloquently about the parent-child relationship (especially father-son).

28. Favorite reading snack?
I don't normally eat while reading but anything "chocolatey" is an added bonus :)

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Probably Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.  Should have known that not liking The Corrections would foretell my dislike of Freedom.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I don't pay much attention to book critics, but I definitely do book bloggers :)  About 95% of the time I agree with the blogger's review of a book.  Sometimes you might feel differently but it's amazing how many people think similarly about a book (either positively or negatively).

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I don't have a problem with giving them.  I'm fair but firm about my opinion and I don't badmouth anyone.  I also tend to keep my C, D & DNF posts short & to the point.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
French would be glorious!  I'd love to read all the romantic writers in their original language.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
In a good way:  The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks.  It was outside my comfort zone but I really enjoyed it.  In a bad way:  The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Anything by James Joyce.  Yikes!

35. Favorite poet?
Poe, Keats, Shakespeare, Percy Shelley.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
See #3.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
I rarely did.  I would renew them to the max before that happened!  I think I might have had to return one once or twice but not often.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Is it even possible to pick just one?  Here's a top 10: Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables), Christopher (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Morag Gunn (The Diviners), Lizbeth Salander (Millennium trilogy), prot (K-PAX), Hassan (The Kite Runner), McMurphy (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Leah (The Poisonwood Bible), Duncan Garp (The World According to Garp), Judith (Wild Geese).

39. Favorite fictional villain?
That's another tough one to single out just one favourite.  My top 10 would be:  Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs), Mr. Hyde (Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Jim Rennie (Under the Dome), August Rosenbluth (Water for Elephants), the Warden ("The Shawshank Redemption" from Different Seasons), Annie Wilkes (Misery), Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Percy Wetmore (The Green Mile), the cult of Gilead (The Handmaid's Tale), Jack (The Lord of the Flies), Nathan Price (The Poisonwood Bible).

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Anything I'm itching to read at the time from my TBR shelf.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Maybe a week or a few days.  It depends on how busy work & life get :)

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Unfortunately this happens from time to time.  The most recent was Slaughterhouse-Five, which I may pick up again some day.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Usually background noise or the TV if I'm sneaking in some reading during TV commercials (of course, I mute the sound).

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
The Shawshank Redemption, though technically that was a short story.  If you want to be from a specific novel, I would say The Green Mile, ironically both written by Stephen King.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
I found the Roman Polanski version of Macbeth very gruesome and unwatchable.  The Great Gatsby was a pretty dull movie.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Probably between $100-$200, usually a birthday cheque ;)

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Very rarely.  I sometimes read the last sentence of the book (and to be honest, it's never been a big spoiler) but other than that, unless it's nonfiction and I'm mainly interested in a particular topic from the book, I read it from page 1, word 1 on :)

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Boring or nonexistent story, dull, uninteresting characters, not relating to a single character (especially if the preceding two points exist), having no clue what is going on with it & not wanting to find out

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes, I shelve my books by like authors and genres on my bookshelf, and keep my TBR books on a separate shelf & my nightstand.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I keep all my favourites, any I liked & might like to reread or refer to another time.  Any "meh" or disliked books are given away, boxed for a future garage sale, or donated to amity.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
I feel like I'm avoiding any book or author that is particularly intimidating, such as James Joyce.  Ulysses seems daunting to me.  Also, the major Russian works--War & Peace, Crime & Punishment, Anna Karenina (which I have a copy of but haven't started yet).

52. Name a book that made you angry.
I can't think of a book that made me angry in its entirety, but I have read parts of books that anger me, such as (spoilers ahead--highlight betwen the brackets to read) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Mikael pretty much abandoning Lizbeth at the end) or how Amir treats Hassan in The Kite Runner or how Mrs. Bennet demeans her unmarried daughters in Pride & Prejudice.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.  I was a bit afraid that it would be too dark & depressing but it was quirky, often delightful, and full of fascinating family lore.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell.  I thought the movie was sweet and lots of fun, but the book was flat, not at all funny, and took itself too seriously.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
People magazine every week :D

Book & Blogging Quizzes

I spotted these @ Roof Beam Reader and The Eye of Loni's Storm.  I'm a bit dubious about the results of these type of quizzes but they're fun :)

You Are a Hardcover Book

When it comes to reading, you tend to stick to old and modern classics.  You are picky about what you read.  You probably anticipate certain books' releases, and you snatch them up the moment they're available.  You have been building a library of books that mean a lot to you. You carefully consider every book before deciding to add it to your collection.  You believe that if a book is worth reading, it's worth paying more to have it in hardcover.

Are You a Hardcover Book or a Paperback Book?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

You Are Mystery

You are a natural problem solver. You like figuring out the best way to do something.  You are very intuitive. You are good at picking up on people's moods and predicting the future.  You can't help but being a bit of a detective and a snoop. You always want to know what's going on.  And while you may have the scoop on everyone you know, you're not a gossip. You're a pro at keeping secrets.

What Kind of Book Are You?
Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Your Blogging Type is Confident and Insightful

You've got a ton of brain power, and you leverage it into brilliant blog.  Both creative and logical, you come up with amazing ideas and insights.  A total perfectionist, you find yourself revising and rewriting posts a lot of the time.  You blog for yourself - and you don't care how popular (or unpopular) your blog is!

What's Your Blogging Personality?
Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

You Are a Couplet



You're not much for words, so you write a little ditty.
It might not be a novel, but at least it is witty.

What Type of Poem Are You?
The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

A Night at the Oscars

Ever since I was 12 years old, I have tuned in every Sunday night in February to watch the Academy Awards, affectionately known as the Oscars.  There is so much to see: the stars, the gowns, the best movies of the year, the montages (I actually love them--the more creative the better--and hope they won't do away with them!)

As a break from book blogging, I hope you enjoy my post on this year's Oscar race and my top 10 (or so) lists of Oscar contentions.

For movie fans, there is an impeccable account of Oscar history on FilmSite.org that offers a number of perspectives on the gold statue--who won, who was nominated, who got snubbed, and all the records fit for Guinness.  Internet Movie DataBase (IMDb) also offers a complex history of the Oscars and the results of their annual Oscar poll are up.

This Year's Nominees in Major Categories:

Legend:
*= best odds to win
#= IMDb Oscar Poll winner
@= possible dark horse
^= sentimental favourite
%= has a better chance of being hit by lightning
&= who I wish would win
$= who I have my money on (so to speak)

Best Picture:
#&Inception
$^The King's Speech
*The Social Network
@Black Swan
^Toy Story 3
@True Grit
%127 Hours
@The Fighter
%Winter's Bone
%The Kids Are All Right

The only movies from this list I have seen are Inception and Toy Story 3, both incredibly good movies.   Despite The Social Network being the critical favourite to win the Oscar, I think the Academy is more inclined to go with an old-school sentimental favourite, The King's Speech.

Best Actor:
*^#&$Colin Firth- The King's Speech
%James Franco- 127 Hours
%Jesse Eisenberg- The Social Network
@Jeff Bridges- True Grit
%Javier Bardem- Biutiful

It's all about Colin Firth this year.  He was spellbinding in A Single Man last year, but Jeff Bridges was the sentimental favourite & won for Crazy Heart.  This year, the tables have turned.

Best Actress:
*$#Natalie Portman- Black Swan
^&Annette Bening- The Kids Are All Right
@Jennifer Lawrence- Winter's Bone
%Nicole Kidman- Rabbit Hole
%Michelle Williams- Blue Valentine

My reason for secretly hoping that Annette Bening will win is more for her career achievement than this particular performance.  If the award is truly about the singular film role, then Natalie Portman is sure to win.  But because Bening has never won (despite being nominated 3 times prior), I wonder if this will be a consolation prize--in my opinion, she should have won for The Grifters back in 1990 and maybe even for American Beauty in 1999.

Best Supporting Actor:
*#$Christian Bale- The Fighter
^&Geoffrey Rush- The King's Speech
%Jeremy Renner- The Town
%Mark Ruffalo- The Kids Are All Right
@John Hawkes- Winter's Bone

All odds are in Christian Bale's favour, and even though Geoffrey Rush has already won an Oscar (for Shine in 1996), it strikes me as a bit too obvious for Bale to win, and this could be the biggest surprise of the evening--there is always at least 1 diversion from the iron-clad predictions, and I wonder if this will be it.

Best Supporting Actress:
^&#Helena Bonham Carter- The King's Speech
@Hailee Steinfeld- True Grit
*$Melissa Leo- The Fighter
Amy Adams- The Fighter
%Jacki Weaver- Animal Kingdom

This could also be a surprise win for Helena Bonham Carter, whose longevity as a fabulous actor may outshine relative film newbie Melissa Leo (known in past years for TV work), who remains the odds-on favourite, yet came in 3rd in IMDb's Oscar poll behind possible dark horse, Hailee Steinfeld, a 14-year-old newcomer, and Bonham Carter.

Best Director:
*^&$#David Fincher- The Social Network
@Darren Aronofsky- Black Swan
%Tom Hooper- The King's Speech
%Joel & Ethan Coen- True Grit
%David O. Russell- The Fighter

All bets are off--David Fincher is the odds on & sentimental favourite to win as his previous work on Zodiac, Se7en, Fight Club, and even Panic Club and The Game (let's just forget he was also responsible for Alien3) has gone without awards recognition for the masterful director.  Darren Aronofsky has accomplished a lot for such a short career (Requiem For a Dream, Pi), making him a possible dark horse but is not established enough to clinch it this year.  As for the Coen brothers, they have already won (No Country For Old Men).

Best Animated Feature:
*#^$#Toy Story 3
%How to Train Your Dragon
%The Illusionist

Are there even any other nominees?  It's in the bag.

Enjoy the show!

TBR Authors List

Adam @ Roof Beam Reader has done it again (bravo!), this time making a fabulous list of authors as part of his TBR list (alphabetical by first name) with an overwhelming, ambitious & inspiring goal to read the complete works of each author!

I've posted a similar version (some of Adam's choices being omitted) with my own comments and some additions from my own TBR list.  Though I don't aspire to read the complete works of every author on the list, I am interested in many of their books and hope to at least dabble in most of them ;)

Here is my complete list (to date) of authors whose books I have read & reviewed.

Here is my complete TBR list (to date), which goes with my wish list.

Authors I've Read At Least 1 Book By= 26 (books read follow with links to reviews, if applicable)
Authors on my TBR List= 118 (books to read follow)
Authors I've Read & Still Have More to Read= 18 (books read, books TBR)
Authors I Probably Won't Read More Of= 8

Alexandre Dumas- The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo
Amy Tan- The Joy Luck Club
Anais Nin- Henry & June
Anne Frank- Diary of a Young Girl (I read this in high school; it's one of the most important books to read)
Anne Rice- Interview With the Vampire
Arthur Conan Doyle- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Miller- Death of a Salesman (I read this in high school; excellent play!)
A.S. Byatt- Possession, The Children's Book
Ayn Rand- The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged
Bram Stoker- Dracula
Bret Easton Ellis- American Psycho
C.S. Lewis- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (I may read the entire Narnia series if I like this one)
Charles Dickens- Bleak House, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Pickwick Papers, A Tale of Two Cities
Charlotte Bronte- Jane Eyre
Daniel Defoe- Robinson Crusoe
Dante- The Divine Comedy
Daphne du Maurier- Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel
D.H. Lawrence- Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Sons & Lovers, Women in Love
E.L. Doctorow- Billy Bathgate, Book of Daniel
Edgar Allen Poe- Complete Tales & Poems, The Fall of the House of Usher
Edith Wharton- The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, House of Mirth
Elie Wiesel- Night
Elizabeth Gaskell- North and South
E.M. Forster- A Room With a View (whimsical, romantic, lovely!), Howard's End, A Passage to India
Emily Bronte- Wuthering Heights
Ernest Hemingway- A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man & the Sea, The Sun Also Rises
Evelyn Waugh- Brideshead Revisited
F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby (read in high school; just okay for me)
Ford Maddox Ford- The Good Soldier
Frances Hodgson Burnett- The Secret Garden
Franz Kafka- Metamorphosis, The Trial
Fyodor Dostoevsky- The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment
Gabriel Garcia Marquez- 100 Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera
George Eliot- Scenes From a Clerical Life, Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch
George Orwell- Animal Farm (read in high school; didn't like it then but may re-read it), 1984
Gore Vidal- Myra Breckinridge
Graham Greene- Brighton Rock (deep, dark mystery with an incredibly evil character), The Power and the Glory, The End of the Affair, The Quiet American
Gunter Grass- The Tin Drum
Gustave Flaubert- Madame Bovary
Haruki Murakami- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles
H.G. Wells- The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau
Henry David Thoreau- Walden
Henry Fielding- Tom Jones
Henry James- The Bostonians, The Turn of the Screw, The Art of the Novel, The Portrait of a Lady, Wings of the Dove
Herman Melville- Moby Dick
Homer- The Odyssey, The Iliad
Honore de Balzac- Le Pere Goriot
Iain Banks- The Wasp Factory
Ian McEwan- Atonement (absolutely amazing!)
Jack Kerouac- On the Road
Jack London- The Call of the Wild
James Fenimore Cooper- The Last of the Mohicans
James Joyce- Finnegans Wake, Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice (sweet, satirical & enjoyable classic), Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion
J.D. Salinger- The Catcher in the Rye (liked the prose more than the protagonist but still very much worth a read), Franny & Zooey
J.G. Ballard- Empire of the Sun
Jean-Jacques Rousseau- The Social Contract
Jeffrey Eugenides- Middlesex (currently reading)
J.K. Rowling- Harry Potter series (#1-3, #4-7)--really enjoyed the first two books and liked the third--I'll be rereading the 1st book for a challenge & will finish off the series hopefully by next year.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe- Tragedy of Faust
John Fowles- The French Lieutenant's Woman (I saw the movie recently & it was slow starting but turned out to be quite wonderful)
John Irving- The World According to Garp (incredibly unique & amazing story), A Prayer For Owen Meany (fascinating story, somewhat intolerable protagonist), The Cider House Rules, The Hotel New Hampshire, Last Night at Twisted River
John Le Carre- The Constant Gardener, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, The Tailor of Panama
John Milton- Paradise Lost
John Steinbeck- The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men
John Updike- Rabbit, Run (not all that impressed, am not too enthusiastic about continuing the series), The Witches of Eastwick, A Month of Sundays
John Paul Sartre- Being & Nothingness
Jonathan Swift- Gulliver's Travels
Jose Saramago: Blindness
Joseph Conrad- Heart of Darkness (very disturbing & bleak, not my cup of tea), Nostromo
J.R.R. Tolkien- Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
Jules Verne- Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea
Karl Marx- Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital
Kate Chopin: The Awakening
Kazuo Ishiguro- Never Let Me Go, The Remains of the Day
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.- Slaughterhouse-Five (DNF), may try Cat's Cradle but I'm not prioritizing it
Leo Tolstoy- Anna Karenina, War and Peace
Lewis Carroll- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass
Louisa May Alcott- Little Women (really want to reread sometime; loved the characters & the story was heartwarming), Little Men
Marcel Proust- Remembrance of Things Past
Margaret Atwood- The Handmaid's Tale (breathtaking dystopian story with a heroic protagonist), Alias Grace, Cat's Eye, The Edible Woman, The Robber Bride, Surfacing, Oryx & Crake, The Year of the Flood
Margaret Mitchell- Gone With the Wind
Mark Twain- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (wonderfully nostalgic), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mary Shelley- Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft- Vindication of the Rights of Women (I read this, probably in my 19th century lit class; the cornerstone of feminist theory)
Miguel de Cervantes- Don Quixote
Milan Kundera- The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Molière- The Misanthrope
Nathaniel Hawthorne- The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables
Norman Mailer- The Executioner's Song, The Naked and the Dead, Marilyn
Oscar Wilde- The Importance of Being Earnest (read this in a 19th century lit class; loved the wordplay and timeless humour!), The Picture of Dorian Gray
Percy Bysshe Shelley- Complete Poetry, A Defence of Poetry
Philip Roth- The Human Stain
Plato- The Republic
Ralph Ellison- Invisible Man
Ralph Waldo Emerson- On Nature & Selected Essays
Rudyard Kipling- Kim, The Jungle Man
Salman Rushdie- Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses
Simone de Beauvoir- Second Sex, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
Sinclair Lewis- Elmer Gantry
Sir Walter Scott- Ivanhoe, Lady of the Lake, Rob Roy
Sophocles- Oedipus Rex
Stephen King- Carrie, Cell, The Dead Zone, Different Seasons, Full Dark No Stars, The Green Mile, The Mist, On Writing, The Shining, Under the Dome, Bag of Bones, Christine, Cujo, Dolores Claiborne, Duma Key, Firestarter, From a Buick 8, Gerald’s Game, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Hearts in Atlantis, Insomnia, It, Lisey’s Story, Misery, Needful Things, Night Shift, Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, Skeleton Crew, The Talisman--absolutely one of my favourite writers!
Sylvia Plath- The Bell Jar
Tennessee Williams- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Thomas Hardy- The Mayor of Casterbridge, Far From the Madding Crowd, Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Thomas Mann- Death in Venice
Thomas Pynchon- The Crying of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow
Thornton Wilder- Our Town, Bridge of San Luis Rey
Tom Wolfe- The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Electric Kool-Aid Test
Toni Morrison- Song of Solomon (a bit too bizarre for my taste), Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Sula
Truman Capote- In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany's
Umberto Eco- Foucault's Pendulum, On Literature
Victor Hugo- Les Miserables, Hunchback of Notre Dame
Virginia Woolf- A Room of One's Own (reflective yet critical of the state of women writers), Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando
Vladimir Nabokov- Lolita
Voltaire- Candide
Walt Whitman- Leaves of Grass
Wilkie Collins- Woman in White
Willa Cather- My Antonia
William S. Burroughs- Naked Lunch
William Faulkner- As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury
William Golding- The Lord of the Flies (read in high school; very powerful & extraordinary book)
William Makepeace Thackeray- Vanity Fair
William Shakespeare- Antony & Cleopatra, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Henry V, King Lear, Macbeth (D), Midsummer Night's Dream, A, Othello, Richard III, Romeo & Juliet, Titus Andronicus, Tempest, The, Twelfth Night, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, Troilus & Cressida-- read many plays in high school & my university Shakespeare course
W. Somerset Maugham- Of Human Bondage, The Razor's Edge

EW's Modern Classics List

Leeswammes' Blog posted an interesting set of modern classics as named by Entertainment Weekly as the top 100 books published between 1983-2008 (up to when the list was released).  I don't expect to get a high score as I have many modern classics on my TBR list, but here goes...

Books I've read= 15 (may be linked to my review)
Books on the TBR list or shelf= 18
Have read other books by this author= 6
*Other books by this author are on my TBR list or shelf= 26
-- notes following are mine

The rest I've either never heard of or don't have much interest in, unless someone wants to recommend them to me :)

*1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)--could not finish watching the movie (way too bleak)
*2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
*3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
*6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)--saw the movie
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
*11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
*14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
*16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
*17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
*18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
*21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
*24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
*27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
*36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
*42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
*45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
*46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
*47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
*48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
*56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
*57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
*64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
*66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
*67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
*73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
*77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
*88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
*89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Some Bookish Questions

Adapted from "How to Be a Perfect Reader" by Adam @ Roof Beam Reader

I love these reading questionnaires!  Feel free to post your own responses.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Typically, no, but a nibble of chocolate while reading is a great treat :)

What is your favorite drink while reading?
A steaming hot cup of coffee.  Mm-mm!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I used to mark up books for my English courses to find key ideas & discussion points, and I probably still would if I was in a book club, but not recently.  If I want to re-read a book just for fun, I don't want a lot of highlights & margin notes to distract me.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I have several bookmarks (all too short!) and always place it at the exact point where I left off.  I hate dog-earring pages--it makes the book look beaten up.  I sometimes lay the book down cover side up if I'm going away from it for just a short while but I sure don't like cracking the spines, especially on cheaper paperbacks where the pages fall out!

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
Definitely both!  I'm open to reading most anything.  If I had to break it down, I'd say I read about 1 nonfiction for every 3-4 fiction.  I tend to go in spurts, depending on my mood.  I rarely read more than 1 nonfiction before flipping back to fiction, usually because a nonfiction book's page count is long.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
It depends on the book, but more often than not, I feel my time spent reading is more valuable in the end if I make it to the end of a chapter.  Or two.  Or three.  Or...you get the picture :)

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
Oh, no!  Well, maybe in my mind :D  I simply close it & file it in the closet for donation to amity, and dive into a new book pronto so that I'm not discouraged.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Only if the word sounds intriguing & I must know or I can't understand the sentence without knowing its definition.  Most of the time, the word's meaning comes through in the context.

What are you currently reading?
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (just a couple of days ago--really liking it!) and My Life by Bill Clinton (started back in August 2010, still plugging away at it).

What is the last book you bought?
A few challenge books:  Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Gunslinger (Dark Tower series book #1) by Stephen King, and A is For Alibi by Sue Grafton.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I like concentrating on one book at a time, but sometimes I'll jump back and forth between them if one is not quite jiving with me at the moment but I don't want to give up on it.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
Time:  Any time I can squeeze it in!  Place:  My couch or bed, where the seating is comfy :)  If I'm bussing to work (like I did as a student), I'll read en route.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
Interesting question!  I think I prefer stand-alone books because a series, when prolonged to near infinity, can run its course and peter out in quality as the books continue to be churned out.  Or you might just burn out on them yourself.  It's a rare series (like Harry Potter) that stays fresh from beginning to end, and at least that series reached its end when the time was right.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Do I really need to recommend Stephen King?  Doesn't he get enough press? :D  I tend to read a variety of authors, but I will read & highly recommend anything by him, Jane Hamilton, Audrey Niffenegger, Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood...almost anyone I've given an A or A+ to in my reviews.

How do you organize your books?
I have a bookcase with 3 long shelves that are almost full to brimming.  I keep my favourites on the middle shelf organized randomly but with like authors together (all fiction).  Nonfiction, classics, postcolonial fiction & Stephen King books on the top shelf (no particular order within those categories).  Bottom shelf has a small TBR stack, my Folger Shakespeare editions, a Webster's dictionary, a Roget's thesaurus, and my wish list (books from the TBR list I want to read next) for my next shopping excursion.  My TBR list is too long & ever-changing to have a hard copy anymore, but I keep a copy on my computer & the blog.  I also have a row of TBR books on the top shelf of my desk unit with my silver READ bookends, and a couple of small yellow candles.  On my nightstand, I keep my current reads, though they don't stay there long as I lug them around with me to work or to a comfy reading spot in the house :)  I also have about 5 boxes of children's books in the guest bedroom closet for a future classroom of students to enjoy.

There you have it!

Paraprosdokian Sentences--Funny!

I received these in an e-mail forward from my aunt.  I had never heard of paraprosdokian before, but these remind me of Yogi Berra quotations.  I don't know who to credit for the following, but whoever it is, thank you!

A paraprosdokian sentence consists of two parts where the first is a figure of speech and the second an intriguing variation of the first.  They're used typically for humorous or dramatic effect.  Enjoy these!

Never argue with an idiot.  He'll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you.  But it's still on the list.

If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand at the edge of a pool and throw fish.

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

Women will never be equal to men till they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut and still think they're sexy.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

You don't need a parachute to skydive, but you do need one to skydive again.

The voices in my head may be fake, but they have good ideas!

Hospitality is making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.

I scream the same way whether I'm about to be eaten by a shark or seaweed touches my foot.

Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.

There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

You're never too old to learn something stupid.


Here are some more attributed to famous people:

"If I could say a few words, I'd be a better public speaker."—Homer Simpson

"If I am reading this graph correctly—I'd be very surprised."—Stephen Colbert

"You can always count on the Americans to do the right thingafter they have tried everything else."—Winston Churchill

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." —Groucho Marx

"He was at his best when the going was good." —Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor

"There but for the grace of God—goes God." —Winston Churchill

"I haven't slept for two weeks, because that would be too long." —Mitch Hedberg

15 Authors

I came across this activity at My Reader's Block & thought it sounded like an interesting exercise in literary self-analysis.  Here goes:

*Don't take too long to think about it.
*List fifteen authors (poets included) who've influenced you or who stick with you.
*Select the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. No particular order required.

Mostly, my list consists of novelists, but I included 3 of my favourite poets.  All of these authors are influential to me in a variety of ways too countless to name.  As an added bonus, I've also added a recommended title in ( ) if you are new to the author.  If I've reviewed the title, click the link :)

1)  Stephen King (The Green Mile)
2)  John Irving (The World According to Garp)
3)  Margaret Laurence (The Diviners)
4)  Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale)
5)  Percy Shelley ("Ode to a Skylark")
6)  Edgar Allan Poe ("The Raven")
7)  John Keats ("Ode on a Grecian Urn")
8)  Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife)
9)  Virginia Woolf (A Room of One's Own)
10)  Anne Tyler (The Accidental Tourist)
11)  Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
12)  Barbara Kingsolver (The Poisonwood Bible)
13)  Jane Hamilton (A Map of the World)
14)  Anna Quindlen (One True Thing)
15)  Mark Haddon (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time)

If you participate(d), include your link in the comments below.  I'd love to see what authors influence or stick with you :)

What Kind of Reader Are You?

I think my answer is pretty close to who I am as a reader, but a couple of the questions were slightly off, like the choices for the size of your TBR pile (4-10 was the maximum amount to choose from?!) and I actually hadn't read all of the books in any of the choices as it asked but was pretty close ;)

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz