Tuesday 21 August 2007

A bookish meme

After a busy day looking after my ten month old grandson I ought to be heading for bed... so of course I'm doing a meme that I pinched from Bookgal. 8-]

What are you reading right now?
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin after abandoning my last read.

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
LOL!!! No. Ideas include two from the library pile - Made in Heaven by Adele Geras or Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. Or I could start the 'books to movies' challenge with To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Or there's any one of about 300 other choices on the tbr pile...

What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
None, I don't keep magazines in the loo - I can think of more comfortable places to curl up with Waterstone's book review mag. :-)

What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Um, I really didn't enjoy Paradise Lost when we had to read it for A level.

What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
It very much depends on the person. Most RL people I know don't read much or are firmly entrenched in their favourite genres. Online I tend to recommend The Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan and The Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix to fellow fantasy fans who tend not to have heard of these Aussie series. Both are excellent.

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
No, not here in this town but they did in our previous town because my youngest daughter worked there.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Yes, I recommended Fingersmith by Sarah Waters to a friend and she absolutely hated it. It was too dark for her, whereas I kind of like dark from time to time. I should have known she wouldn't like it and am more careful when reccing books to people now.

Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
No to most of those! I'm very boring. I sometimes read when I eat but only if I'm alone. Not while the TV is on because I prefer quiet reading time. I think reading while you're driving would be an extremely dangerous exercise...

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Not until I was 15 or 16 and then it wasn't teasing. Rather I was thought a bit odd for enjoying Jane Austen and The Bronte sisters. This was because I was at a secondary modern school not a grammar (the English system has since changed) and we weren't supposed to be bright enough to read classic authors. Plus, I had a taste for science fiction which my teachers thought very odd in a girl. (This was the 1960s.)

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Much as I hate to be predictable - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. One thing I really hate is to be within a dozen pages of finishing but you just can't keep your eyes open long enough to finish this fantastic book. It's never the same the next morning.

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