#BIBLIOMANCER 4EVUR

[comicreliefmorlock]

QUESTIONS ABOUT BOOKS

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

...oh lord... I have so many. I'd have to say Ender's Game because I've ALWAYS had a copy of it. I don't even remember when I first read it; my mother threw it at my brother and I both when we were smols and it's been a yearly read ever since.

2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you'll read next?

Let's see... I won't count all the rereads I've done because I reread a LOT of books. The current read is "Sideshow U.S.A" (nonfiction) and my most recent read is "The Last Wish" (fiction). The upcoming read is "The Prince of Darkness" (nonfiction) and I haven't gotten anything set up after that.

3. Which book does everyone like and you hated?

...

Fuck you, Patricia Cornwell. Fuck you.

{"Portrait of a Killer" and I will ALWAYS cover it up when I find it in bookstores.}

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

"The House of the Seven Gables" has been my Mt. Everest for nearly twenty-five years. I just canNOT get past that opening chapter, my GODS.

5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”

None. If I have a book, I'm going to read it. If I hear about a book that interests me, I am going to read it. I do NOT put off books. Reading is LIFE.

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?

I wait until the end. To be fair, I read very, very quickly, so it's not much of a "wait" for me to reach that last page. Plus it's fun to make guesses and collect evidence to see if I'm right or wrong at the end!

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

Interesting asides! I always glance through the acknowledgements to see who was influential to the author, who they thought of when they finished penning that last word and who the book wouldn't be in my hands without.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

...oh gods it's so hard... >.< Ummmm... either Kassafeh or Dunziel from "Tales from the Flat Earth" and yes, it's entirely because I'd HAPPILY take Night's Master or Death's Master as my eternal lover, thank you very much.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

So very many... SO MANY.

"Alanna: the First Adventure" literally reminds me of my first period because I read it shortly before and oh boy, when that time of the month first came, I reread that scene with Alanna many times. It was surprisingly helpful for coping with the whole "wait what do you mean this happens forever and I'm now a 'woman' excuse you???"

All of my White Wolf rulebooks remind me of my college years when I'd read them at my ex-boyfriend's house. "Rose Red" reminds me of my second ex-boyfriend's house because it was the only book I'd left there, so I read it a LOT. "The Blue Sword" reminds me of my mother--she told me to read it, said I'd like it and she was SO right. "The Tales of Peter Rabbit" makes me think of my maternal grandmother's house. The Dragonlance Trilogy reminds me of my brother, as does the Sword of Truth series--we have dissected and discussed those books for YEARS.

Even though I've read it once and haven't really read it since, "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad will ALWAYS remind me of when @tlbodine and I met. (She knows why. :D) And rereading the play "Hamlet" is always guaranteed to make me grin because of that shared Shakespeare class and the tangent about fruit.

...I read a lot. A LOT. So I make a lot of associations to books. :D

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

-ahem- I hope I can't get in legal trouble for this now, but... >.>

I have a book called "Superstitions" that I found in the middle school library when I worked there. I fell in LOVE with it; it was my first introduction to folklore research and the details involved. I was never able to FIND a copy of the damn thing.

...so when I graduated high school, I went BACK to the middle school during the summer and... quite frankly, I stole the damn thing. :D (I know, I'm a horrible person.) It's still on my shelf and is consulted quite regularly.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

Ask @tlbodine about the shiny new copy of Les Miserables I got her. :D Books, to me, are always a viable gift. I've bought and shipped copies of Tanith Lee (my goddess) books to people; I read one about the French Revolution and sent a copy to @house-leours because she is a History Buff™. And there was a book on dollmaking that my mother and I spent MONTHS hunting down via a rare book finder for my paternal grandmother.

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

Considering how many books I have and how often I drag them all over the place, I don't think any ONE book has been with me to a ton of places. Except maybe my copy of "Paradise Lost" because I used to care about looking 'smart' and I'd read it in public places.

13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?

"Romeo & Juliet" drove me nuts because EVERY FUCKING YEAR involved reading or analyzing it. I don't mind it so much now, but I still kind of wrinkle my nose when I pick it up. (I don't read it often.)

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?

A voucher for a D&D book given as a prize at a convention from 1987--it's still in a book on my shelf somewhere.

15. Used or brand new?

If the book is in my face and I want it, I'll buy it. Thriftbooks.com owns my soul, Amazon knows me intimately and the library book sale can hear me coming a mile away. Anywhere books are to be found, I will buy. I do like used bookstores better because I get MORE BOOKS for the same amount of money.

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

I wouldn't call Master King a "literary genius." What I would call him is a damn good storyteller who creates PEOPLE, not characters. Even if I don't always find his books frightening, I find them enjoyable to read. {But that line in "The Green Mile" about "I can hear them screaming" will for-fucking-ever give me chills.}

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

Jurassic Park. (@tlbodine  --I TOLD YOU.) And Jaws. Those books were soOO tedious.

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

My personal feelings on this may have little bearing to do with what others enjoy, but "The Legend of the Seeker" (it was a TV show that SURPRISE didn't last) was the worst mistake of all time. And Ender's Game just pissed me the hell off because it missed sO MUCH of what made the book a staple of my life.

19. Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?

"Personal Darkness" by Tanith Lee. I canNOT read that book without eating something, gawd. EVERY TIME.

20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

@tlbodine because she knows what I like. I'll always listen to my mother about science fiction (even if I don't dare confess to her that I didn't find "Rendevouz with Rama" riveting...) and my brother knows my book tastes very well, too.