Book ask meme

[regshoe]

Today I made a start on digitising my yearly lists of books read, because the bits of paper were beginning to get unwieldy and I wanted a backup. I've been happily reminiscing about all the good books I read five years ago, and in this generally bookish frame of mind it seems like a good time to do a book meme! Happily, theseatheseatheopensea has just posted one, so I've stolen it :D

1. Which book would you consider the best book you’ve ever read and why?
2. Are you an Austen person or a Bronte person?
3. Are there any genres you will not read?
4. Are you a fast or slow reader?
5. What was your relationship with books like as a child?
6. Are you the type of person who will read a book to the end whether you like it or not, or will you put it down straight away if you’re not feeling into it?
7. Have you ever despised something you have read?
8. Do you prefer to read first person or third person?
9. Are you for or against multiple narrators in the same book?
10. Bookmarks, dog ears or leaving the novel open and face down to keep your spot?
11. Do you prefer to read at a certain time of day?
12. Do you need to finish a book before you can move on to the next one, or will you have multiple books going at once?
13. How do you chose which book to read next?
14. What is your favourite children’s book?
15. Do you agree that Jane Eyre should be considered a feminist novel?
16. What’s your favourite of Shakespeare’s plays?
17. Do you know any poetry by heart?
18. Did you enjoy the Hunger Games?
19. E-reader or traditional book?
20. Do you read in the bathroom?
21. Ideal reading position?
22. Hardcover or paperback?
23. Nicest edition or cheapest edition?
24. Do you prefer happy endings or sad endings?
25. Do you enjoy concepts in books to be concrete or abstract?
26. A book you studied in school and ended up loving?
27. Classics or modern literature?
28. Thoughts on adults reading YA?
29. Have you ever read a book in another language?
30. Have you ever written your own book?

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

How about 10 & 13?

[regshoe]

Thank you! :D

10. Bookmarks, dog ears or leaving the novel open and face down to keep your spot?

Usually bookmarks, unless I'm just taking a short break to get a snack or something, in which case I leave the book face down. Dog-ears are more permanent, so I use them for marking places that I want to keep a note of rather than marking my place while reading.

13. How do you chose which book to read next?

I have a vague cloud of 'to read' books in my head, including definite reading 'projects' on the go (like the D. K. Broster read-through, or the Malory Towers re-read), more books by authors whose stuff I've enjoyed in the past, reliable re-reads, new-to-me books that sound good, and so on. I pull stuff from here depending on what I feel like reading and/or what I have access to at the moment, or I just browse the shelves at the library to see what looks good!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Cool! Thank you!

[theseatheseatheopensea]

I am impressed by you keeping lists of read books, I'm sooo disorganised, so this is very inspiring! And thinking back on what you've read is really nice!

I choose 5, 11 and 26!

[regshoe]

It is—2015 was a pretty foundational reading year, and I'm fondly thinking back over when I first read stuff by several now-faves :D Thank you!

5. What was your relationship with books like as a child?

I've been reading books more or less for as long as I can remember, and I've always enjoyed reading. Once I found something I liked I would read everything else in the series or lots of the author's other books very quickly, and I did a lot of re-reading of particular favourites, not always a whole book at a time. I think I'm a bit steadier and more organised in my reading nowadays!

11. Do you prefer to read at a certain time of day?

Not particularly—I read whenever I can get the time, and make up different routines depending on what else I need to do. Recently I've been reading in the mornings before starting work—a few chapters of a good book set me up for the day nicely. :D

26. A book you studied in school and ended up loving?

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, my favourite of his books—it's got such a good creepy atmosphere, and I enjoyed the subversions of things that annoyed me about other Dickens books, lol. We had some analysis and discussion of the ambivalent ending, which I still think is a really good one!

[ohveda]

Ooh. Yes. "Great Expectations" is one of my favourite Dickens books (at least, out of the ones I've read). You can tell that it's one of his later books because he's really honed his craft by that point.

[luzula]

Okay, 2 and 17.

[regshoe]

Thank you :D

2. Are you an Austen person or a Bronte person?

Yes.

...OK, so with that one Charlotte Brontë quote where she criticises Austen for writing in confined settings and not including more landscape description, I'm on Brontë's side. But I also like Austen's books because they're very good at other things!

Also, it's unfair to treat the Brontës as though they're all the same—I think Anne Brontë in particular is good at some of the same things as Jane Austen, whereas I like Emily's writing for completely different reasons.

17. Do you know any poetry by heart?

I have several of the poems from The Lord of the Rings off by heart (as well as the alliterative-verse Oath of Fëanor from one of the HoME books :D). That's all I can think of at the moment, although there may be a few other bits and pieces.

[luzula]

Of course you're right that the Brontës shouldn't be lumped. : ) I remember trying to read Wuthering Heights and not getting through it at all (though it was ages ago), whereas I enjoyed Jane Eyre. I do enjoy almost all of Austen, though.

I too know a lot of Tolkien by heart, mostly because I've set it to music. I also used to know all of Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott--I don't know if I still do.

[regshoe]

My favourite book by any of the Brontës is Shirley, and I also love The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but again for very different reasons :D

Setting Tolkien's poetry to music—that sounds fun!

[luzula]

Oh, Shirley, I've been meaning to read that, but haven't gotten around to it. And yes, I enjoyed The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, from what I remember.

[regshoe]

Highly recommend Shirley, especially if you like Jane Eyre—it's a really fun book in some ways, and the writing style is very good whether light-hearted, poetically descriptive or serious. And it has an interesting setting and political background, and lots of femslash potential. (The ending is not great, but that's what AU fanfiction is for :P)

[ohveda]

9 and 12!

[regshoe]

Thank you!

9. Are you for or against multiple narrators in the same book?

Like many things, it's a choice that can be good when it's used effectively and annoying when it's thrown in as a gimmick! In general, I prefer more narrative distance in writing styles (prose that feels more like telling a story and less like narrating a character's thoughts), so my favourite way of using multiple narrators is in epistolary fiction where different characters give their view of events in letters and diaries (Lady Susan is a great example :D). I'm less fond of 'head-hopping', but I don't like that kind of close perspective as much when there's only one narrator, either.

12. Do you need to finish a book before you can move on to the next one, or will you have multiple books going at once?

I can have one fiction and one non-fiction book on the go at the same time, as long as I've actually got enough time to devote to both of them. I get confused if I try to read more than one fiction book at a time.

[ohveda]

Ooh. Epistolary fiction is a lot of fun, and it does make multiple narrators much less confusing.

Thanks for answering!

[theseatheseatheopensea]

I can't help myself--I'm going to ask about 1! :D

[iberiandoctor]

I want to ask about 1 too!

[regshoe]

1. Which book would you consider the best book you’ve ever read and why?

Oh, there's no contest here. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell :D

As to the 'why': the worldbuilding, which is not only done really well but is of a particularly distinctive and interesting type—cultural-historical worldbuilding that grafts a fictional history onto the real world and lets it live there—is probably the main reason. Then there's the narrative style—the prose is gorgeous on its own, and the way Clarke uses everything down to incidental landscape descriptions to contribute to the worldbuilding and add to the depth of meaning in the setting is absolutely genius. The Raven King, of course, is a creation like no other—the best bit of fictional mythology since the Silmarillion, and the mood and style of the bits featuring him is beautiful. And then there's everything else: the depth and detail of real-world history, the intricately constructed plot and in particular the perfect, beautiful ending, the spot-on characterisation, the correct view that the north of England is the most magical place in the world, etc. etc....

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Aww, perfect! <3 If i didn't love it so much already, I'd want to read it because of this description! :D

[regshoe]

:D

[garonne]

When "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" was first published I remember thinking it sounded like something I would certainly enjoy, but then I forgot all about it. Your description has made me want to read it again! I've only read the first few pages so far (I should stick to my resolution to finish some other books first!), but it's a very promising start. I love the narrative style.

[regshoe]

Oh, good, I'm very glad you're enjoying it so far! I really can highly recommend it :D

[luzula]

I did read this when it first came out, and from what I remember, I admired the style and worldbuilding, but I think I never quite connected emotionally with the characters enough for it to become a favorite book that I returned to. But it was fifteen years ago now, so my memories might not be reliable. : )

[regshoe]

I think for me the style and worldbuilding were what I connected to emotionally, rather than the characters (it feels like a very different kind of fannishness from, e.g., Flight of the Heron, where it's all about the main characters and their relationship). But then again, perhaps those are really the same thing where John Uskglass is concerned :D