Book Meme!

[ladymercury_10]

Ganked from ninjaunicorn201 :

 

What's the first book you remember really loving?
I remember repeatedly making my mom read me Sharks and Other Creatures of the Deep as a bedtime story, even though it is not in any way a story book, and it contains many frightening pictures.  Man, I loved that book.

Name three authors who feature strongly in your reading history:
C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, Laurie Halse Anderson

Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
Um....I really have no idea.  

What is your current read, your last read and the book you'll read next?
Current: Atonement, by Ian McEwan.  Also, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs.  There are others, but they are more unfinished than being actively read.  
Last: Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
Next: I don't know.  I am reading too many books at once to plan ahead.

What book did everyone like and you hated?
The Catcher in the Rye

Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?
I don't know...maybe Romeo and Juliet?

Which book are you saving for "retirement?"
I don't think I'm saving any books for "retirement" yet, as strictly speaking I haven't even started my career.  

Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
I'm more likely to spoil a book by reading Amazon reviews or the Wikipedia plot summary.  I don't really have the patience for surprises.

Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
They're okay, I guess.

Which book character would you switch places with?
I don't know...does Calvin from the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strips count?

Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
I have specific memories associated with Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson.  I remember telling my mom about it and rereading it quite soon after first finishing it and reading it on the bus on the way to the library.

Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
I got The Complete Persepolis through Swap.com.  Is that interesting?

Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
I've given Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, to a few people, including one friend who was such a sweet person that she reminded me of the main character.

Which book has been with you to the most places?
I really don't know.  

Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad ten years later?
Well, I wouldn't know yet.  It's possible that in another few years I might have better feelings about A Thousand Acres.  Or not.

What is the strangest item you've ever found in a book?
A Netflix DVD of the third season of Mad Men.

Used or brand new?
From the library!  

Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
I'm not much for horror.  I've never read any of his books.

Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Pride and Prejudice.  Yes, I realize this is probably heresy.  :P

Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was a pretty boring movie.  Granted, I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on the quality of the adaptation.  (I know, I know...I like C.S. Lewis a lot, but The Chronicles of Narnia were never really my thing.  I like his adult fiction and nonfiction better.)

Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
The Language of Baklava, by Diana Abu-Jaber.

Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?
Um...if a professor recommends a book to me, I'll usually at least check it out.

 

Comments

[owlboy]

Catcher in the Rye UGHHHHH

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Indeed! Haha, I think we have shared our hatred of Holden Caulfield before. :P

[owlboy]

Catcher in the Rye and Brave New World are my literary mortal enemies.

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

You should challenge them to a duel. Or maybe you should force them to fight each other to the death. :P

I never read Brave New World. I got assigned 1984 instead, which I enjoyed.

[light-frost.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised at The Catcher in the Rye. I was under the impression that most people hated it.

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Oh, really? I guess I don't really know how popular it is. Have you read it and disliked it as well?

[light-frost.livejournal.com]

Well, when I first read it I couldn't understand what the big deal was (the big deal being its title as a literary classic). But after reading various literary analyses and rereading the book, I found that I'm able to appreciate more. I quite like it, now.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

Ha, I just started Catcher in the Rye. I happened to spot a cheap used copy in good condition, and it's one of those books most people have read but I never have, so I decided to give it a try. I'm less than 20 pages in so I don't really have an opinion yet.

I share your Pride & Prejudice heresy! I really enjoyed the book, but it's the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle movie that sends me into fits of joy, and I quite like the Keira Knightly version too.

You should read Romeo and Juliet! I sort of amazed you managed to graduate high school without being assigned it. However, I keep meaning to read The Tempest and have yet to get around to it, so no throwing of stones over here. :)

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

I liked the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice, but I found the book rather boring. I am beginning to suspect that the cause of this is that Joe Wright directed that version, and perhaps I liked his direction more than the story itself. Or something.

I know! I really should read it. I should have read it in high school, but the school I attended assigned it in 9th grade, and I transferred in at the beginning of 10th grade, so I missed out. I read The Tempest in my first year of college. I don't particularly remember it, other than it having some nice lines and a lovely poem called "Full Fathom Five." My favorite Shakespeare play is Hamlet.