Booking Through Thursday: Manual Labour

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

One dictionary; one English-French dictionary for those annoying untranslated bits in older novels; one thesaurus that I found at the BookFest and thought was too good a bargain to pass up. I don’t look at them much - only when I need to, and then only when I remember. The dictionary got more of a work-out in years past, though - it was once my preferred choice of bedtime reading! (And, yes, I believe my mother does have photographic evidence somewhere!)

I have read writing guides, but I don’t actually own any, and I haven’t borrowed one in a while. My work-in-porgress has moved on to the plotting-and-researching stage, and I’m becoming more hopeful about the possibility of taking part in NaNoWriMo this year (Yay!!). As for grammar and punctuation guides - I don’t even read those and persist in thinking I know enough already.

Booking Through Thursday: Vocabulary

Suggested by Nithin:

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

I was in the habit of writing down unfamiliar words, usually on the back of library checkout slips; but the end result was a backlog of words that I’d never gotten round to looking up. So now I keep reading and either forget all about it, or look it up later. The dictionary is my reference of choice, but I like Google for words in historical novels that sound like they have more information to be discovered than a dictionary entry would contain.

But most of the time, I’m pretty lazy when it comes to new words: I try to infer meaning from context and read on.

Now reading: Antony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare (RRC, EC)
                                The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (EC)

Booking Through Thursday: Writing Challenge

Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
Turn to page 123.
What is the first sentence on the page?
The last sentence on the page?
Now . . . connect them together . . .
(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

Madame Bonacieux and the Duke entered the Louvre without difficulty; Madame Bonacieux was known to belong to the Queen, the Duke wore the uniform of the musketeers of M. de Tréville, who were, as we have said, that evening on guard. It was fortunate that the man at the gate did not inquire too closely into the identity of his supposed colleague, and was thus unable to raise the alarm, the Duke being that most unwelcome of creatures - an Englishman. He followed his guide through the corridors, which, though but dimly lit, were far less eerie than they would become centuries hence, when the royal family had been replaced with artefacts and their accompaniment of shadows. That is not to say that it was without the ability to affect the nerves of visitors, particularly those who came on the business of intrigue; for Monsieur le Cardinal was well-equipped with spies. Who knew but that one might get wind of the Duke’s presence, even secreted as he was by Madame Bonacieux in a locked chamber? Nevertheless, isolated as he was, we must say that the Duke of Buckingham did not experience an instant of fear: one of the salient sides of his character was the seeking of adventures and a love of the romantic.

This would have been a lot easier had the nearest book been less verbose! The first and last lines are from The Three Musketeers (I’ve got a few reviews in the works), and the middle portion is, for 11.30 pm, not a bad impersonation of the nineteenth-century style!

Now reading: Antony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare (RRC, EC)
                                The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (EC, HFC)

Booking Through Thursday: Cover-Up

While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?

Since I get almost all my books from the library or the Bookfest, I can’t afford to be picky about covers. I have a few that are awful (like a Georgette Heyer featuring the clothing and hairstyles of the 1970s); but when it’s a choice between taking a bad cover or not having the book, I’ll choose the bad cover. I’m sure I have been attracted to a book by its cover (although I can’t think of any examples right now), and I’m equally sure I’ve rejected perfectly good books because of atrocious design. And while I do love curling up with a beautiful book, I’m far more interested in what’s on the inside!

I almost always read softcovers for convenience, because they’re lighter and more portable; but I do like small hardbacks from about fifty years ago, with fancy gold embossing on the covers. They’re only a little bigger than a mass-market paperback, which is what I prefer for ease of holding and carrying. As for font - it only has to be readable! Fortunately my close-up vision is good so even small print is manageable.

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes (CC)
                                The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne (TBRC)
                                Imperium - Robert Harris (888C)

Ten Ways to Tell a Book was Written by Me

I’ve seen this one doing the rounds for a while now, and since I’ve put NaNoWriMo on my 101 Things list, I decided it was time to borrow it.

1. The protagonist will be female (or protagonists, in the event of there being more than one distinct plotline). I’m not familiar enough with the male of the species - or should that be the male species? - to feel confident being in the head of one for a large portion of the book.

2. The aforementioned female/s will be smart. Depending on the time period, not necessarily well-educated; but brainy enough to be a match for even the wiliest of villains.

3. And yes, there will be a villain - or villains. Because there will be a strong mystery element, even if the book is more than just a whodunnit. Who killed X? What is Y hiding? Who’s obstructing Z? Why is the house haunted? What really happened two hundred and something years ago? (Or in the case of my NaNoWriMo project, all of the above.)

4. Speaking of haunted houses . . . sooner or later, something strange will happen. No made-up worlds or mythologies, just a touch of the weird in the middle of the everyday.

5. The past will be important; either the setting will be wholly or partly historical, or a modern-day heroine will become entangled in something from the past (or even a bit of both). I love history, and a novel is the perfect excuse to do research. Probably European; I’ve never been fond of Australian history, partly from having suffered through too much of it in school, and partly because I prefer my history much older.

6. For my heroines, a nice happy ending heading off into the sunset with Mr. Right is unlikely - or at best, only going to be suggested as a possibility. I have little faith in my ability to create either a convincing love story, or a convincing couple to undergo it. Which leaves me in a NaNoWriMo quandary: I didn’t mean to create a perfectly-matched pair, but I appear to have inadvertently done just that.

7. On the non-romantic front, some at least of the relationships between characters will be complex and tangled, even to the point of trust and mistrust going together. It won’t always be as simple as A likes B, B loathes C.

8. The line between good and bad will be slightly blurred; a bad guy can commit his villainies as much for others as for himself, an essentially good character can scheme endlessly for revenge. (Is it just me, or is this NaNoWriMo project starting to sound a tiny bit . . . ambitious?)

9. Although there will be some dark situations (no examples this time - I’m not about to give away the ending!) there will also be plenty of humour. Perhaps not the kind to make you laugh out loud, or even giggle; but enough to lighten the gloom.

10. The title will come from a quotation of some kind. Shakespeare, say.

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)
                                The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman (CC)

Booking Through Thursday Friday: Hero

You should have seen this one coming … Who is your favorite Male lead character? And why?

You can blame the time difference for this: By the time WordPress belatedly got around to posting the question, it was well past midnight here and I was asleep! Not that having an extra day to ponder made the answering any easier. For some reason, it’s female characters that stick in my memory more than the men. There are plenty that I like, but favourites? After much deliberation (and reading of other people’s suggestions!) I came up with these:

To start with the glaringly obvious: Jamie Fraser from the Outlander series. Intelligent, sexy, able to make me laugh, devoted to Claire, lethal with a broadsword. (And a fellow lefty.) Even occasional bouts of pigheadedness can’t detract from his appeal.

Another Fraser is Charles from Daughter of the Game by Tracy Grant. Equally adept in grand houses and grimy alleyways, he knows how to handle a crisis, and to cope with a nasty series of surprises regarding his nearest and dearest.

Third on the list isn’t really a lead character . . . but I feel like cheating a little: Severus Snape from the Harry Potter books. Far from the most pleasant of magical beings, but compelling and, in the end, heartbreaking.

And no post on heroes would be complete without mention of Jane Austen, which presents the biggest dilemma: Which to choose? Mr. Darcy overcomes his pride, and goes to the rescue of Lydia. Mr. Knightley would leave his home rather than have Emma leave her father. Captain Wentworth writes what must be the most romantic letter in all of literature. Or even Colonel Brandon, who sits for hours in the garden reading to Marianne while she recovers from the ill-effects of her drenching.

Maybe I’ll just cheat again and nominate them all . . .

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)
                                The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman (CC)

Friday Fill-In #61

1. I'm looking forward to finishing the first of my Chunkster Challenge reads next week. (I hope.)

2. I don't handle other people very well.

3. Mango is something I could eat every day.

4. Warmth and sunlight have been lacking this summer.

5. Challenge overload here I come! (I’m seriously considering the Novella Challenge)

6. I am far too much of a coward ever to get a tattoo.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to launching my new template, tomorrow my plans include catching up on reviews (what else?) and Sunday, I want to do more of the same (I’ll need it)!

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)
                                The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman (CC)

Booking Through Thursday: Heroine

Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)

Where to start? In random order:

Thursday Next gets to dive right into all sorts of good books (hard not to be jealous of that!) and is capable of dealing with even the stickiest (or most outlandish) of situations. She’s definitely someone you’d want to have around in a book-related crisis.

Claire Randall from the Outlander series. She’s one of the most memorable characters I’ve ever encountered, and lives as vividly in memory as she does on the page. Anyone who can adapt to the harshness of eighteenth-century life and warfare would win my admiration; Claire’s courage, humour, quick thinking and love for Jamie have fixed her as one of my al-time favourites.

I’ve seen her mentioned a few times so far and have to agree: Jane Eyre. I love seeing the quiet, downtrodden child grow up and triumph, I love her adherence to her principles, and I love that Mr. Rochester loves her for her mind. I’m weird that way. I’d far rather be considered smart than pretty; and I’d rather not be thought pretty at all, than to have someone notice my looks without giving a thought to the brain behind them. To me, what Jane finds at the end of the book really is true love.

And finally and most predictably . . . Elizabeth Bennet. How can you not love a girl who’ll tell even the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh exactly what she thinks of her? That scene is one of my favourites . . . and that book is one I must re-read at the first opportunity!

They’re the ones that spring to mind at midnight-ish, and I’m sure that by tomorrow morning I’ll have thought of at least four more!

Or, by the time two minutes are up! How could I (almost) forget Hermione Granger? She shares my approach to problem-solving: When in doubt, find a book.

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)
                                The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman (CC)

123 Meme

Aarti tagged me for this quick little meme, which is just as easy as the name suggests.

The rules are:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages)
2. Open the book to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences
5. Tag five people

The nearest book was The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, which at the time of tagging I was reading for the Royalty Rules Challenge. Sentences five, six, and seven on page 123 are:

For the rest of the evening Grant pottered happily through the history books, collecting heirs.

There was no lack of them. Edward’s five, George’s boy and girl.

(The main character begins to realise just how many people stood between Richard of Gloucester and the throne.)

If there actually happens to be anyone not yet tagged for this . . . you are now!

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)
                                The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey (RRC)

MWAH!

Many thanks to Heather at The Library Ladder who has kindly given me one of these:

This is a quote from the original smoocheree:

"So, the point (and I do have one) to this post is motivated by my desire to hand some of that love and kindness back around to those who have been so very, very, very good to me in this bloggy world. My hope is that those who receive this award will pass it on to those who have been very, very, very good to them as well. It's a big kiss, of the chaste platonic kind, from me to you with the underlying 'thanks' message implied. I really do appreciate your support and your friendship and yes, your comments. ... Mwah!"

And now I get to pass it on! After much deliberation, the cyber smooch is going out to:

Bookfool at Bookfoolery and Babble for her consistent good humour.
Aarti at BookLust for writing thought-provoking reviews.
T Y at The Lit Connection for introducing me to the fun pasttime of selecting dream casts for hypothetical film adaptations.
Marg at Reading Adventures for always making me smile.
Simon at Stuck in a Book for making it fun to read about books outside my usual reading range. Just five of the many wonderful readers whose blogs I love.

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)

Friday Fill-In #58

1. I'm looking forward to seeing the new stage production of The Phantom of the Opera.
2. Venice is a place I always wanted to visit and haven't made it there yet.
3. I've fallen in love with books! Big surprise there.
4. Six of one, not enough of the other.
5. Addiction comes in two forms: Hardback and paperback.
6. The debates I have with my mother crack me up!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to braiding my hair, tomorrow my plans include see #1 above and Sunday, I want to start sewing on a borrowed machine!

Now reading: Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)

Booking Through Thursday: But, Enough About Books

Okay, even I can’t read ALL the time, so I’m guessing that you folks might voluntarily shut the covers from time to time as well… What else do you do with your leisure to pass the time? Walk the dog? Knit? Run marathons? Construct grandfather clocks? Collect eggshells?

I have to admit . . . not a great deal. I’d like to be able to say learning to make my own clothes, but the sewing machine died on Tuesday. I’ve been known to dabble in all sorts of creative endeavours - painting, drawing, embroidery, knitting, crochet, jewellery-making, etc, but not much lately. (Although I must remember to hunt up some shawl patterns before it starts turning cool.) I do (or try to do) the puzzles in the Courier-Mail every day. I do watch television, but I usually read while doing so; and starting tonight (technically now last night) I make the occasional valiant attempt to make sense of Lost. And I’m starting my preparations for this year’s NaNoWriMo.

Now reading: The Tomb of Agamemnon - Cathy Gere
                                Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes (CC)

Eva's Book Meme

Eva at A Striped Armchair has devised the following bookish meme, and after being tagged by Aarti I have finally posted my answers:

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
I would have said Atonement, if I hadn’t seen it panned recently! (Annoyingly, I can’t recall where.) So I’ll have to say . . . Matthew Reilly. I know his books are hugely popular and successful, but I can’t shake the notion that they’re just the paperback versions of brainless action movies.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?
Eva mentioned Henry Tilney, which gave me the following idea: Conjure up Henry, Mr Darcy, and Captain Wentworth and whisk them off to a Regency ball. I would wear out my slippers and doubtless cause a fine scandal by dancing with each of the aforemention gentlemen far more times than is proper. I’d just have to hope that Mr Darcy was in an obliging mood - or perhaps take along Colonel Brandon or Mr Knightley instead.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?
Probably a really tedious textbook on political science or economics or something equally dull. If you’re talking fiction, The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey. I’m not one for quitting on a book but I only lasted a handful of pages.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?
This is one book-related thing I haven’t done.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?
While checking off those of Angus & Robertson’s Top 100 I’d read, I ticked The Other Boleyn Girl, only to realise later that it was the one book of the series I hadn’t read.

You’ve been appointed Book Advisor to a VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP)
Probably a book of short stories, so there’s not too much to read in one go.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?
In the hope that reading comprehension would lead to everything else, Italian. I am deplorably monolingual but would love to know another language, and Italian would be a much easier accent to manage than French or German.

A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?
Can I have all Jane Austen’s novels in a single volume and count that as one?

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art - anything)?
Ahh, cover art. That on even recently-published books that I read rarely match those on Amazon, and I eventually realised why: Most of the books we get down here are British editions. You’d think the number of textbooks I have with THIS EDITION NOT FOR SALE IN THE US emblazoned on them would have tipped me off sooner, but no.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead - let your imagination run free.
My dream library is a single room that spans two floors, like you see in English country houses (I wouldn’t mind having the rest of the country house too :-). On each level three of the walls are lined with wooden shelves, which go up only as high as I can reach (I wouldn’t want to be forever up and down ladders, especially if I was wearing a long skirt) and are recessed into the walls, so the tops don’t get dusty and they can go all the way to the corners. Above the shelves the walls are done in light green wallpaper. The ground floor has a fireplace, comfy chairs and ottomans, and a chaise longue so I can put my feet up. There’s tables dotted about, lamps with stained glass shades, and Oriental carpets on the polished wooden floor. One section of shelf stops short of the floor to make room for a custom-made writing desk (drawers on the left); the shelf immediately above is divided into pigeonholes and the higher ones used for reference works and books relevant to whatever I’m writing. Up a spiral staircase is the first floor, ringed by a gallery with a wrought iron balustrade, and with suitably spaced chairs and lamps. Non-fiction is stored on the ground floor, along with my TBR books which are no longer packed into a box, but stacked haphazardly on specially-reserved shelves. Classic and general fiction are arranged alphabetically by author on the first- and then the remaining ground-floor shelves, with plenty of spaces for new additions. The books are much the same as what I have now: A mix of paperback and hardcover, old and new. The fourth wall of each floor has floor-to-ceiling windows with French doors; the lower pair leading out onto a rose-lined terrace and the upper to a private balcony - both with chairs to relax and read in. At night the green velvet curtains are drawn to create a cosy hideaway for me and two cats. And the finishing touch: One of those bookcases conceals a secret doorway!

(And now it’s back to reality and the need to rearrange the shelves in the spare room to make way for the overflow from the shelves in the family room, and the certain knowledge that before too much longer I will be forced to . . . cull.)

And the final portion of this assignment is to tag four others:

In Spring it is the Dawn
My life in Books . . .
Nose in a Book
Slipping in the Rain

*And, for extra credit, if you leave a comment letting Eva know you’ve done the meme with a link to the post, she will give you some link love via a big list of who’s participated. Additionally, if you link back to her original post, she will enter you in a drawing to win The House at Riverton. If you’re an American, this is especially exciting since it isn’t going to published until April. ;) To be in the drawing, you must have posted the meme (and commented) by February 5th, which is when she is holding the drawing.

Now reading: The Quiet American - Graham Greene (888C)
                                The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Better Late Than Never . . .

You know you need to get yout blog reading organised when it takes you more than a month to realise you’ve been tagged for a meme!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1. Getting ready to start my second year of high school.

And probably . . .

2. Hoping I could get braces soon (seriously).
3. Sweltering.
4. Being annoyed by my fringe, which I was six months into growing out.
5. Reading!

5 things on my to-do list today
1. Putting out the garbage.
2. Ironing.
3. Doing a test run in cheap cotton of my first attempt at drafting my own sewing patterns.
4. Writing reviews.
5. Reading!

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire
1. Pay off my HECS debt (student loans).
2. Pay for all the improvements needed around the house.
3. Travel around Europe.
4. Invest!
5. Go to the RSPCA and adopt a cat or two.

5 things I'll never wear again
1. School uniform.
2. Short dresses/skirts/shorts (I am no longer that thin!).
3. High-waisted jeans.
4. Tie-dye anything.
5. Scrunchies.

5 favourite toys
1. My computer!
2. The sewing machine.
3. My portable CD player.
4. Fine-nosed pliers (in conjunction with wire, beads etc.).
5. My library card!

If there’s actually anyone out there who hasn’t done this, consider yourself tagged.

Now reading: The Messenger - Markus Zusak
                                The Collectors - David Baldacci
                                The Quiet American - Graham Greene (888C)

Booking Through Thursday: Huh?

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

Here it where it would help to have completed my LibraryThing catalogue - and to have all my favourites in my possession! After poring over my records for the last few years, I’ve concluded that I have a tendency to be quite un-obscure in my reading. It took quite a hunt to find something that might qualify as both ‘favourite’ and ‘unheard-of’, but I finally hit on an answer - a series of them, in fact, of which I haven’t been able to lay hands on for some time: the Jonathan Argyll series by Iain Pears. And Italian setting, art history, and fun mysteries with an unlikely sleuth who has a knack for getting himself into pickles. (Mental note to self: when at the library, start looking under ‘P’ more often.)

Now reading: The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende (TBRC)
                                A Season for the Dead - David Hewson
                                The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield (888C)

Booking Through Thursday: Let's Review

This week’s question is suggested by Puss Reboots:
How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading? If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it? If you see a good review of a book you’re sure you won’t like, do you change your mind and give the book a try?

Reviews, particularly online ones by other bloggers, have done a lot to expand my Wanted list, but more by alerting me to the existence of interesting-sounding books than by making up my mind as to whether to read a certain book. The vast majority of these I’ve yet to stumble across and read; and when I do, I don’t remember specific reviews, I just have an idea that I read somewhere that that’s quite a good book. Offhand and after midnight, I can think of three books I grabbed on sight because I’d read good things about them: The Alienist and Doomsday Book (bloggers’ reviews) and The Book of Lost Things (newspaper). And in every case, the reviewers were right.

Beyond that, reviews don’t influence me a great deal as my primary criterion is that a book sounds interesting. A bad review of a book I’ve already decided I want to read won’t change my mind, partly because I know from reading so many reviews that people’s tastes vary, and partly because I’m just stubborn. And if I’m convinced I won’t like it, no-one’s opinion is likely to change my mind. But if I’m undecided about a book, a review might make me more likely to read it or pass on it.

Now reading: To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis (888C)
                                The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende (TBRC)

Friday Fill-In #54

1. My favorite reading week of 2007 was polishing off a towering stack of Harry Potters.

2. I'm most tempted by the chance to slack off and read.

3. Today I want to know where I can find high heels that fit my tiny feet.

4. The last thing I took a picture of was the new and improved backyard.

5. You and I have memories we wish we didn’t.

6. The most recent movie I’ve seen that I really enjoyed was Stardust. (Which is the most recent movie I’ve seen, period.)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to starting to catalogue my books on LibraryThing, tomorrow my plans include catching up on reviews . . . again . . . and Sunday, I want to devise a 100% guaranteed foolproof, Chancellor-proof phonetic pronounciation guide to my name so that I can register for my upcoming graduation ceremony!

Now reading: Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell (TBRC)
                                Britain A.D. - Francis Pryor

Booking Through Thursday: May I Introduce . . .

1. How did you come across your favorite author(s)? Recommended by a friend? Stumbled across at a bookstore? A book given to you as a gift?

2. Was it love at first sight? Or did the love affair evolve over a long acquaintance?

This is a challenging question to answer, since when it comes to events I have a mind like a sieve. I do remember that my mother gave me my first Nancy Drew for my eighth? ninth? birthday (see what I mean?), which event I blame for my ongoing mystery novel/tv crime show addiction. I think she introduced me to Agatha Christie and Jane Austen, too. I got hooked on Janet Evanovich after a recommendation from a classmate in high school and finally discovered Tolkien after seeing the first film adaptation. (I think Ben Elton was a recommendation too.) Beyond that I think most of my favourites have been stumbled across at the library, the Bookfest, or other people’s blogs. And for the most part, the affection was quick to develop.

Now reading: The Man Who Knew Too Much - G. K. Chesterton
                                Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell (TBRC)

Booking Through Thursday: Anticipation

Last week we talked about the books you liked best from 2007. So this week, what with it being a new year, and all, we’re looking forward….

What new books are you looking forward to most in 2008? Something new being published this year? Something you got as a gift for the holidays? Anything in particular that you’re planning to read in 2008 that you’re looking forward to? A classic, or maybe a best-seller from 2007 that you’re waiting to appear in paperback?

I don’t keep track of what books are due for release, but I hear there’s another Stephanie Plum on the way, so I’ll be looking forward to that. And after the cliffhanger ending of the last one, I hope there’s another Thursday Next en route, too.

The TBR Challenge list in the sidebar is about as far as my reading plans go, since the books I got for Christmas have already been polished off (reviews forthcoming). And the handful of other books I have lying around too; but I believe my TBR pile is now below two dozen. But not for long - week after next is the BOOKFEST!!! My annual buy-as-many-books-as-I-can-carry expedition, with the good excuse of its all being for charity. The 888 Challenge selection is just the start of my wish list of books to stumble across in 2008.

And I plan on re-reading Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and maybe one or two others.

Now reading: The Man Who Knew Too Much - G. K. Chesterton
                                Marley & Me - John Grogan
                                Rescuing Rose - Isabel Wolff

Booking Through Thursday: Highlights

It’s an old question, but a good one . . . What were your favorite books this year?

List as many as you like … fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, science-fiction, business, travel, cookbooks … whatever the category. But, really, we’re all dying to know. What books were the highlight of your reading year in 2007?

The highlight would have to be finishing the Harry Potter series at last. I exceeded expectations by getting to the end only a few months after the release of #7, and the books made a perfect post-exams treat. Also on the list:

Cross Stitch and Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon
The Alienist - Caleb Carr
Daughter of the Game - Tracy Grant
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
The French Lieutenant’s Woman - John Fowles
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
Persuasion - Jane Austen
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
Dracula - Bram Stoker
I Knit Water - Craig Bolland
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
Buried Treasure: Travels Through the Jewel Box - Victoria Finlay

And that’s just the really good ones of the ones I’ve read so far. See . . . I knew my list-keeping would prove useful someday!

Now reading: Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
                                The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory