32 Book Meme :D

[amine_eyes]

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Terry Pratchett, but Bernard Cornwell is a close second :D

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit - we have a billion copies of each, I swear :P

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
*Goes and researches what prepositions are* Nope :D

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Ahhh ... Earl Pike ("Black Water Tranist" by Carsten Shroud), but that's because I have the image of him in my head as played by Karl Urban, in Armani ... *swoon*

5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
It's a toss up between "The Hobbit" and "Alice in Wonderland" :)

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
That would be "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" - I devoured that book :D

7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
Erm ... I think it was the Dragon one I pilfered from Nicola,where they basically retold the First World War with Dragons, not even well ... in fact I didn't even finish it! :D

8) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
"The Burning Land" by Bernard Cornwell - I fully recommend him to anyone, his historical fiction stuff is absolutely amazing :D

9) If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?
"Catch 22" - brilliant dialogue, brilliant work ... it's work to get through it, but it's worth it :D
That or "Alice in Wonderland" - love it :D

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Errrr ... do they have to be current books in the last year? If not, Yann Martel for "Life of Pi", or posthumous for JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and Edgar Allen Poe :D 

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
"The Warlord Chronicles" by Bernard Cornwell - it'd be tough, but awesome if it worked :D

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
"Twilight" ... oh wait ...

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
See my fanfiction :P

14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
"Mr Ben and the Submarine" - in my defence, I was babysitting my little sister :P

15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
"Wuthering Heights" - eurgh ... it took ages ...

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
None of the obscure ones - just Tempest, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet (and all due to my English GSCE and A Level!)

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
How? In coffee? Tea? On toast?

18) Roth or Updike?
No idea who they are, so ...

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
See above answer ...

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Hmmm ... toss-up between Shakespeare and Chaucer (The Miller's Tale is funny as heck :D)

21) Austen or Eliot?
I haven't read Eliot, so it'd have to be Austen - Mansfield Park is a good book :D

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? 
Erm the classics, or the new classics - I tend to stick to historical fiction or military or Sci-fi/fantasy, so any classics have been due to my English A level. I plan to correct this over the years though :D 

23) What is your favorite novel?
I have to pick one? Bugger ...

24) Play?
Brian Clarke - "Whose Life is it anyway?" - if you ever get to see or read this, do so!!

25) Poem?
Sometimes by Sheila Pugh - short, but hopeful :D (and she refused to let it be used in our GSCE exam - result!)

26) Essay?
"Original Intent and the European Court of Human Rights" by Danny Nicol - not just lawyer-y, historical too :D

27) Short story?
"The Tell Tale Heart" or "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe :D

28) Work of nonfiction?
"Fighter Boys" by Patrick Bishop, or "Fighter Control during the Battle of Britain" - I forget the name of the author - both brilliant accounts of how the Battle formed and went :D

29) Who is your favorite writer?
One? One? You serious? I mean, there's Pratchett, Tolkien, Cornwell ...

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Stephanie Meyer! xD

31) What is your desert island book?
"The Lord of the Rings" - I'd never get tired of it :D

32) And… what are you reading right now?
"Criminal Law" by Jones and Christie ... no fiction till after my exams :(

Comments

[goodbyemyfancy.livejournal.com]

I love a ton of the same writers as you - very cool!!!!!

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

*High-Five*

That's cos we're awesome! :D

[tikra.livejournal.com]

Hm. You really make me curious in continuing reading 'Life of Pi'. I started it about... 2 years ago but only read the first 30 pages or so....

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Do it! It takes a while to get into, but it's worth it :)

[gwynraven.livejournal.com]

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
That would be "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" - I devoured that book :D

Oh my gods. I am so very *very* old. I was 21 when that book came out.

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Well ... you're not as old as Dumbledore!

... that was clearly helpful Susan ...

Let's be honest though, it's not the pinnacle of fiction :P

[gwynraven.livejournal.com]

True. When I was 10, my favourite book was The Secret Garden. I literally read my paperbook copy so many times it fell apart. The year after that I discovered Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword and I've been a fantasy junkie ever since :)

That said, I *did* enjoy the Harry Potter books quite a bit. The movies less so.

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Oooh the Secret Garden, so long since I read that ... I think this summer may be spent catching up on my reading :D

They are quite good, bt the movies ... eurgh don't get me started (There are rants ... in fact I may post it soon as it's vaguely humourous what with scheming parents and siblings in the process of watching them xD)

I can honestly say I've never read the Robin McKinley book, do you recommend it? :)

[gwynraven.livejournal.com]

Definitely!! Drop everything go read those two books. They're companion books - and there's actually a great deal of division on the topic of which you should read first. Chronologically, The Hero and the Crown comes first. But The Blue Sword was published first. Personally I read them chronologically and I think I got more out of them that way, but it's up to you.

As for what they're about -- Let's just say that The Hero and the Crown is almost your typical high fantasy novel. There's a princess, and a hero on a white horse, and a dragon, and an evil sorcerer, and a good king whose kingdom is beset by evil creatures.

The difference? The hero on the white horse who slays the dragon, defeats the evil sorcerer, and brings peace to the kingdom? That *is* the princess :)

Robin McKinley's books were the first time I really read strong non-traditional female characters. They made a huge impact on my life. So yeah. Definitely worth reading. So is Robin's novel Deerskin although it's for an adult audience and has some very disturbing themes of rape and child abuse. Amazingly done though.

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

ooh they sound really good! i've read her "Spindle's End" book - it's actually on my uni bookself - loads of times and love how her characters are all developed, so I shall definetly read them, thanks for the recommendation! :D

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

You know, I could very easily have put down Wuthering Heights as most overrated book ever, had that been an option. I mean, two thoroughly unlikeable people fall in love(?) and make each other miserable. The only way it could have redeemed itself would be for Heathcliff to have died, too.

And Twilight was an awesome choice for no movie. I went with WWZ because I love it to death and it would be impossible to make decently. They can trash bad books all they want.:)

Mansfield Park, for all that it's almost unknown, is possibly my favorite Austen. And I've read all of them, even the short stories and unfinished novels. Even her letters. Everything she did, she did with class. Have you read Northanger Abbey? If you can get through The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, Northanger is an awesome parody.

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

If only ... the problem was that I was told to read it by my English techer so I could be prepared for "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" - which is a plane crash of a book anyway, "French Lieutenant's Woman" which we had to compare it to was much better :D - and I kinda forced myself to read a chapter or two a night just to get through it - not fun ...

aha very true :D

I know! I love it so much, I took it with me to Annual Camp once and read it while everyone else was off getting wet and muddy - I had biscuits and heat in the tent nom nom nom xD. I must say that is the only Austen I've sat and worked my way through, I do plan to correct that though :D

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

I just peeked at your profile, and it tells me that you're just getting to the age where one appreciates Austen more. I wanted to read her as a teenager and failed utterly, attention-span-wise, but by 23, it had gotten easy. Still, Mansfield Park is just the most fun. Evil aunts ftw!

I've not read The French Lieutenant's Woman, but I didn't entirely hate Tess. It was the second Hardy I read, after Jude the Obscure, and it did seriously make me wonder if a girl could ever catch a break with this guy. But then I got The Mayor of Castorbridge, and that made up for a lot.

Also, I love how you always seem to be reading when other people are off doing things! It reminds me so much of myself in school, hiding in a tiny corner of the playground trying to get through my book before the teacher came and made me run around or something. Spending lunch recess in the library wasn't an option until grade 7, but I was begging for it by grade 2.:)

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Fair enough, I mean, I can stand a lot more books now than I could even a year or so ago (Thank you A Level English Literature!), so i's just taking a while! :D

And indeed! I love how the whole thing plays out, and how there is a bit of snark etc., I think the only problem I have with it is that Fanny tends to just lie there and take it (but that is of course her general personality anyway), otherwise it's a lovely book :D

Oh the French Lieutenant's Woman is amazing, it's John Fowles doing a pastiche of the 'great' Victorian Novel, so it's very snarky, completely messes with convention, has a billion random quotes, many endings - it's one you do have to read twice in order to understand it, but it's well worth it :D. Well, we were studying it, so that probably didn't help, but I do love how Tess is intelligent, it's just very obvious how much Hardy loves her (I mean, sending Angel to Brazil 'cos he was a hypocrite - that author doesn't mess around xD)

Not an option till grade 7? Ouch! Reading is excerise for the brain, if only the teacher knew that xD
I was in there from about year 5 onwards constantly due to RL being a moo, but I have to be dragged away from the library whenever we go along, I go in for five minutes and stay for about an hour xD

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

I admit, Fanny is a bit of doormat, but the story wouldn't work if she wasn't. Imagine Elizabeth "Pride & Prejudice" Bennet in that fix. She'd be kicking ass and taking names.

Tess is great, but Hardy falls into that trap that so many men did then (and probably still do) where the woman has to be punished for her desires. Moll Flanders, The Mill on the Floss, Sister Carrie--they all did it. A woman is raped, forced into prostitution, or even thinks about having sex with any emotion besides disgust and/or wearing acceptance of her wifely duty, and she has to suffer forever. A girl just couldn't catch a break.

And there's nothing quite like a small town American school for churning out illiterates. I had teachers take my books away because I was reading too much. To this day, I don't understand. Had it not been for the public librarian, a woman who knew when to make exceptions to the 2 books at a time for kids rule, I'd have been a very unhappy camper.:)

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Very true - "If ANYONE even thinks of putting on a play here, you will rue the day you were born!", and then they all sit there and don't do it :P. Mary wouldn't be taking her horse either xD

Very true - that's part of the good thing about John Fowles book, he never condemns Sarah for having sex outside of marriage, he just starises the views of society :). And Hardy did try a bit by having it being against Tess' will, and showing her as strong anyway, but still ... I think I wouldn't have survived livig in the Victorian period xD

O_O ... Yeesh. Even Minster College (used to be the worst school in Britain, and that's an actual fact xD) let us read, as long as it wasn't in the lessons. Thank God for decent librarians recognising reading love and rewarding it :)

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

Ah, so you do know Lizzie. Good on you. A lot of people have trouble with that book, but if you get through it once, it goes down easier the second time. And Pride and Prejudice and Zombies isn't entirely awful.

I have read some Fowles, and I have a couple that I haven't read, and he is an equal opportunity kind of guy. I like that.

Our schools have all these silly ideas that kids, even handicapped kids who get beat up all the time, and who no one wants to play with, have to run around in the rain and get "exercise". Mostly I just got sick. But at least that was an excuse to stay inside and read. :D

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies isn't entirely awful

*snigger* My flatmate bought it ... not a good plan considering she's doing English, the rants were epic :P

Yay for Fowles! I must say, I have only read that book, but as with all the others (my summer's filling up fast), I intend to read more :D

Ah yes, this ... P.E ... I liked PE, right up until RL went down the pan - then it buggered. Luckily I had the library to console me

(though it did get better when we got to Minster, as the ones who actually went to PE were either goody-two shoes like me and my friends, or far more interested in sport-related violence than bullying ... Happy memories, and I still have the scars lol)

Me? Ramble about stuff? Never ...

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

Yes, an English major with P&P&Z would be a scary thing.:D I enjoyed it mostly because I've read all of her books so many times, it was a little bit like having a new one. Although the ninja stuff really bugged me after a while. I don't understand why the Brits couldn't fight of zombies with their own weapons and philosophy, instead of going all Japanese about it. But comparing certain passages side by side was fun.

PE was the worst. They finally let me off that in grade 7, but the damage was done. Still, I had my books. I never could figure out what all those non-readers had to talk about, but they sure talked a lot.:)

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Sounds amusing ... I may have to read it ... if only to annoy Lorna xD

Grade 7 ... how old is that? 'Cos we weren't allowed off PE till we finished compulsory education in YEar 11 (about 15/16). Indeed, at least the books were there so you could destroy the non-reader's with a well placed insult (and even better, they can't beat you up if they don't know what you're saying! xD)

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

7th grade is about 12 years old. But I have muscular dystrophy and never should have been put through that in the first place. (My parents just weren't that interested in fighting it when I was younger.) It was cruel and stupid and ate up a lot of muscle I could have used later in life. Not that I'm bitter or anything. ;)

People think I read a lot because it's the only thing I can do, but it's really just luck that I can do what I like best. Writing is a very close second. Or first, depending on the day.:D

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

Ah right, that makes sense :)

Ah ... okay, and of course you're not bitter at all ;). It's silly that none of the teachers didn't stop it, you'd think they'd be afraid of you suing them!

That's pretty good luck, especially when you can combine the two and have a nice lot of happiness :D

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

I used to fantasize about suing. That would have been awesome. I still have a list of gym teachers to spit on should I see them again. And in the meantime, I just trash them in my books. Yes, Chaucer is my hero. Why do you ask? :D

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

You could still do it :P

And Chaucer rocks! :D