Thursday, May 17, 2012

questions about books

I can’t resist talking about books so since Sarah tagged me in this today, I had to do it.

The rules…
1. Post these rules
2. Post a photo of your favorite book cover
3. Answer the questions below
4. Tag a few people to pass the Q&A on to: Karm at Love & Football (because I know what a bookworm she is!) and anyone else who feels like it. If you end up blogging your answers, let me know because, like Sarah, I really love book recommendations!

Favorite book cover:

Prince

What are you reading right now?

Minsky’s Burlesque.

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

What 5 books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
1. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

2. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig.

4. Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis

5. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

What magazines do you have in your bathroom/lounge right now?
Better Homes & Gardens, Glamour, and Mojo.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?
Dude. There are some contenders. The thing is, if a book is terrible, I usually don’t get very far. I did read a really stupid book called…sigh…The Manny by Holly Peterson. What a waste of time and paper. But to be fair, I got what I deserved reading a book called The Manny.

What book seemed really popular but you actually hated?

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels – a love story. Weak sauce. Bad writing. Shallow rambling. And ridiculous phrases like “parched ovaries.” She’s an awesome blogger but this was really awful.

What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I just find Jacob Jankowski so endearing a narrator. The movie’s okay but the book is enthralling.

What are your 3 favorite poems?
”On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins“This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself, as I walk through the universe in my sneakers…”

“B” by Sarah Kay“I’m going to the paint the solar systems on the backs of her hands…”

“Love in the Asylum” by Dylan Thomas“And taken by light in her arms at long and dear last I may without fail suffer the first vision that set fire to the stars…”

Where do you usually get your books?
Half-Price Books usually because I prefer to buy second-hand. There’s a really cool local seller I like (Karen Wickliff Books) but it’s not a super convenient location to visit. I also like the used books feature on Amazon. If I’m really desperate for a new title, I go to Barnes & Noble.

Where do you usually read your books?
I love to read on the bus. I know that’s weird. I also like to read in bed and by the pool.

When you were little, did you have any particular reading habits?
I used to BEG to go to the library. And then Mom would have to drag me out of the library after a few hours because I could have stayed there forever. Also, I used to hide books and flashlights under the covers so I could read after I was supposed to be asleep.

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

I honestly can’t remember. I do that a lot.

Have you ever “faked” reading a book?
Yes. I have.

Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the cover?
Century Girl:100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies.

What was your favorite book when you were a child?
Too many. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald. Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars by Ellen MacGregor. Dana Girls Mysteries. Mr. Meddle’s Mischief by Enid Blyton. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

What book changed your life?
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I was 14.

What is your favorite passage from a book?
Toss up between this":

“I don’t even know what I was running for—I guess I just felt like it. After I got across the road, I felt like I was sort of disappearing. It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road.”The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

and this:

“I cannot express it; but surely you and every body have a notion that there is, or should be, an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is myself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn to a mighty stranger. I should not seem a part of it. […] my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath – a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff – he’s always, always in my mind – not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself – but as my own being…” – Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Who are your top five favorite authors?
C.S. Lewis, John Green, L.M. Montgomery, Emily Brontë, and Jessica Valenti.

What book has no one heard about but should read?

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. Probably some people have heard of this but if you haven’t…it’s a modern day take on Sleeping Beauty that involves time travel and monster-fighting. And it also has one of the best love stories ever.

What are your favorite books by a first-time author?

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “I know myself but that is all…”

What 3 books are you an “evangelist” for?

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, Yes Means Yes!: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape by Jessica Valenti, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

What is your favorite classic book?

Well, I read a lot of classics but I really love Our Town by Thornton Wilder.

5 other notable mentions?
1. Vixen (The Flapper Series) by Jillian Larkin 2. The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton

3. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. 4. Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery.

5. The Hunger Games trilogy.

love, elizabeth

5 comments:

Sarah said...

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance- good stuff! My husband read it a long time ago and then I did some years back...it partly led to my change of majors during my sophomore year in undergrad. It's one of those books I read for pleasure, but had little tabs and notes all over it by the end. A lot to think about!

Suget said...

oh my!! I am in the middle of jotting down these titles, because your taste is books is astonishing.
haha Oh and it will take me at least 3-4 days for narrow down certain books... or maybe I could just type whatever comes to mind huh? Thanks for sharing and tagging me.
This post is like a bookworm's dream post haha (:

courtney - larking. said...

Love this. Saving it for a future post and will definitely link back! Totally intrigued by a lot of the books you listed here because I haven't read them...but with you 100% on the incredible power of Encyclopedia Brown. ;)

Liz Brown said...

I might do this too. :D

I also might read a few of these that I haven't yet.

Have you ever read any Elizabeth Goudge or Rosemary Sutcliff? Those are my current favorites.

Shoshanah said...

I LOVE Rilla of Ingleside. I feel like so many people never got past the first few Anne books (which I didn't either the first time I read them), but I think it's such a shame, because Rilla of Ingleside is probably my favorite out of the whole series. And I'm glad to find someone else whose actually made it to it!

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