a meme sucker is born every minute
Jan. 21st, 2010 11:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merrilyGakked from toft!
1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
The answer should be my much-dogeared copy of Anne of Green Gables, bought when I was six (yes, bought by me! the lady at the book table was quite doubtful that I should have it), but alas and alack, it is missing from the shelf, and there is a quite less dogeared copy in its place. Foul play has happened, somewhere. (Probably I had a moment of coldheartedness, but I don't remember.)
Given its absence, the oldest book on my shelf is a copy of The Adventures of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting.
2. What is your last read, your current read, and the book you'll read next?
My last pleasure read was Lorrie Moore's A Gate At The Stairs (fabulous! esp. if you've spent time as an undergrad in a too-liberal-for-its-own-good college, or read any Don Delillo); my current read is Donna Tartt's The Little Friend; my next read is Libba Bray's Going Bovine.
3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
I'll assume here that "everyone" doesn't mean the hoi polloi (because everyone loved The Da Vinci Code, but gee whillikers, were they wrong), but instead means all the bookish people. In which case, Alan Hollinghurst's Line of Beauty. I don't know why it was such a big deal.
4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?
The Way By Swann's has been sitting on my to-read shelf for ten years. It's probably time I gave up.
5. Which book are you saving for retirement?
All of Anthony Trollope. He's delicious. I've read Can You Forgive Her? and I loved it, but I won't be able to dig in whole-heartedly 'till I've finished all the nonsense I'm doing now.
6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
Wait till the end. I learned my lessons about spoilers early.
7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
Sometimes interesting. I take notes on them so that when it's my turn to write them, I'll turn 'em out right elegant.
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
I want to be Kick Keswick in Marne Davis Kellogg's books. Yay, smart jewel thiefs who are also ladies of a certain age, who are charming and elegant and good cooks!
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
A dear friend once gifted me with a complete set of the Dune novels, in first-edition paperbacks. They've been read to bits by now, so they're not worth anything, but they remind me of him and of being 15.
10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
A SFF author, who shall remain nameless, once burst into my bookstore, having run in out of the rain. She was sodden and pissed off -- clutching three copies of her own book, which she had found in a bargain bin down the road. We commiserated about remainders, I made her tea, she gave me one of the three copies. It's out of print now, sadly.
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
Every time I give a book away, there's a reason, but I'm never entirely sure if I've managed to give the right book at the right time. So I keep trying.
12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
Edward Wilson's book of literary criticism, The Shores of Light traveled with me to Switzerland, Germany, Paris, Ireland, and then back home. It was good company.
13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad ten years later?
I was blessed with two excellent high school english teachers, and I loved everything we read together.
14. What is the strangest item you've ever found in a book?
A page from a World of Warcraft manual, marking someone's place in a psychology textbook.
15. Used or brand new?
Neither. I pick free, so I don't care if they're used or new. (This is an option b/c I work at a bookstore, and publishers throw stacks of freebies at me daily.)
16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
Genius. His On Writing is excellent.
17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Roald Dahl got to adapt the screenplay, and it is miles better than Ian Fleming's book.
18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
Any of Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat books. They're too precious. ETA: Misunderstood the question! My actually-makes-sense answer: the adaptation of Judith Krantz' Scruples was appalling. Not that it was a great book to start with, but it was a guilty pleasure of mine and it deserved better.
19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
Like Water For Chocolate made my mouth water incessantly.
20. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?
I try to be the person who's book advice everyone else takes, but I'm terrible at following other people's suggestions. I have to be in the right mood for something, and sometimes the thing I'll be in the mood for will be an acknowledged piece of crap. (Tonight I am reading J'Adore Dior, and you can just imagine.)
That was fun! It's almost inspired me to tackle my to-be-read shelf.... um. Tomorrow. Maybe.
This is what my shame looks like.
toft!1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
The answer should be my much-dogeared copy of Anne of Green Gables, bought when I was six (yes, bought by me! the lady at the book table was quite doubtful that I should have it), but alas and alack, it is missing from the shelf, and there is a quite less dogeared copy in its place. Foul play has happened, somewhere. (Probably I had a moment of coldheartedness, but I don't remember.)
Given its absence, the oldest book on my shelf is a copy of The Adventures of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting.
2. What is your last read, your current read, and the book you'll read next?
My last pleasure read was Lorrie Moore's A Gate At The Stairs (fabulous! esp. if you've spent time as an undergrad in a too-liberal-for-its-own-good college, or read any Don Delillo); my current read is Donna Tartt's The Little Friend; my next read is Libba Bray's Going Bovine.
3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
I'll assume here that "everyone" doesn't mean the hoi polloi (because everyone loved The Da Vinci Code, but gee whillikers, were they wrong), but instead means all the bookish people. In which case, Alan Hollinghurst's Line of Beauty. I don't know why it was such a big deal.
4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?
The Way By Swann's has been sitting on my to-read shelf for ten years. It's probably time I gave up.
5. Which book are you saving for retirement?
All of Anthony Trollope. He's delicious. I've read Can You Forgive Her? and I loved it, but I won't be able to dig in whole-heartedly 'till I've finished all the nonsense I'm doing now.
6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
Wait till the end. I learned my lessons about spoilers early.
7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
Sometimes interesting. I take notes on them so that when it's my turn to write them, I'll turn 'em out right elegant.
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
I want to be Kick Keswick in Marne Davis Kellogg's books. Yay, smart jewel thiefs who are also ladies of a certain age, who are charming and elegant and good cooks!
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
A dear friend once gifted me with a complete set of the Dune novels, in first-edition paperbacks. They've been read to bits by now, so they're not worth anything, but they remind me of him and of being 15.
10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
A SFF author, who shall remain nameless, once burst into my bookstore, having run in out of the rain. She was sodden and pissed off -- clutching three copies of her own book, which she had found in a bargain bin down the road. We commiserated about remainders, I made her tea, she gave me one of the three copies. It's out of print now, sadly.
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
Every time I give a book away, there's a reason, but I'm never entirely sure if I've managed to give the right book at the right time. So I keep trying.
12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
Edward Wilson's book of literary criticism, The Shores of Light traveled with me to Switzerland, Germany, Paris, Ireland, and then back home. It was good company.
13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad ten years later?
I was blessed with two excellent high school english teachers, and I loved everything we read together.
14. What is the strangest item you've ever found in a book?
A page from a World of Warcraft manual, marking someone's place in a psychology textbook.
15. Used or brand new?
Neither. I pick free, so I don't care if they're used or new. (This is an option b/c I work at a bookstore, and publishers throw stacks of freebies at me daily.)
16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
Genius. His On Writing is excellent.
17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Roald Dahl got to adapt the screenplay, and it is miles better than Ian Fleming's book.
18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
Like Water For Chocolate made my mouth water incessantly.
20. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?
I try to be the person who's book advice everyone else takes, but I'm terrible at following other people's suggestions. I have to be in the right mood for something, and sometimes the thing I'll be in the mood for will be an acknowledged piece of crap. (Tonight I am reading J'Adore Dior, and you can just imagine.)
That was fun! It's almost inspired me to tackle my to-be-read shelf.... um. Tomorrow. Maybe.
This is what my shame looks like.