Saturday, July 05, 2008

Reading Meme...

PLEASE NOTE - this post is a mess as I used the draft.blogger option (in which you can schedule posts) and something has gone wrong with their line break coding, which seems pretty much impossible to fix. I'm still trying, so please bear with me.

I found this at Sam's blog and thought it looked fun - perfect for a Saturday post:

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

Not at all - I just remember reading all the time as a kid. What are some books you read as a child?
Anything by Enid Blyton (Famous Five, Secret Seven, St. Clares, Mallory Towers etc), the Chalet School books by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, LIW's Little House books, LMM's Anne series and others (Emily etc), Caddie Woodlawn, The Witch of Blackbird Pond and oh, so much more.

What is your favourite genre?

Historical fiction of any flavour and stripe - mainstream, romance, mystery, suspense. If it's historical, I'll generally give it a try! But I also enjoy Women's Fiction of most shapes and forms, especially anything by Marian Keyes, Cathy Kelly and Catherine Alliot

Do you have a favourite novel?

It all depends on when you ask me. Anything by Elizabeth Chadwick, Sharon Kay Penman or Sandra Gulland comes to mind, but then again, I'm also a HUGE fan of Susan Howatch's masterful The Wheel of Fortune.

Where do you usually read?

In the living room, my little library, the deck - often with a cat on my lap! (though not out on the deck - too many predators out there for them to be safe if they decide to go exploring).

When do you usually read?

In the evening. If I try to read any other time of day, I get sucked in and don't accomplish much else :) Except when I'm on vacation, then the book comes out at lunch and rarely leaves me hand.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Yep - not unusual for me at all. My husband doesn't understand that.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

It depends on what it is. If it's non-fiction for research, then yeah, I've very slow and deliberate and skip around in the text. But if it's for pleasure, I just read like I normally would.

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

At one point I bought a lot of books, but now I borrow a ton from the library. It's so easy and the ILL librarian at the Sechelt Library is fantastic - she can get me pretty much anything!

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

Not any more. I used to, though. Now I give away the ones that aren't absolute keepers.

If you have children, what are some of the favourite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?

No children, but I'm hoping to share my favourite books with my nephews and nieces. My older niece has already read Heidi and the Little House books - hopefully I'll share more with her in the coming years.

What are you reading now?

Right now, nothing. Wait, no, that's a lie - I am rereading SH's The Wheel of Fortune, but had put it aside when some other books came into the library for me. But they're all done now, so I'm back to that. Unless something else catches my fancy - possibly March by Geraldine Brooks or Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay - they're in the living room.

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?

More like a TBR bookshelf (or two)

What's next?

Robyn Harding's The Journal of Mortifying Moments - when it arrives at the library, which should be soon.

What books would you like to reread?
Some of my Elizabeth Chadwick collection, Susan Howatch's Penmarric and Cashelmara - oh, so many others.

Who are your favourite authors?

Elizabeth Chadwick, Tracy Chevalier, Susan Howatch, Jo Beverley, Mary Jo Putney, Sandra Gulland, Marian Keyes, Catherine Alliot,Sharon Kay Penman, Barbara Erskine, Cathy Kelly, Anya Seton, Edith Pargeter/Ellis Peters, Kathryn Smith - oh so many others I can't even call to mind right now.

Anyone else want to play along?

Teresa
Currently Reading: The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch

2 comments:

Sam said...

Hiya - thanks for stealing this from my blog - the more people the merrier!!

I think that you commented on my blog how similar we are - you are right!

I love Guy Gavriel Kay, have March on my TBR pile, adored Malory Towers - I am thinking that I should pick up The Wheel of Fortune as I have never read it, but if you like it them I must surely!

Tess said...

Sam - yes, DEFINITELY re TWOF. It's absolutely fantastic. Mirrors the life of Edward, the Black Prince, Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V - but set in the late 19th and early-mid 20th centuries. Her tour de force, IMHO.