regshoe

I'm finding this a fun game with other people's lists, so I decided to make my own!

https://www.listchallenges.com/regshoes-100-books

The rules I used to make the list:

• Memoirs, diaries and letter collections count, but not other non-fiction.
• Maximum of three books per author, so the list isn't 41% Discworld.
• Novellas and standalone short stories count. Plays count if I've read them as a book, not if I've only seen them on stage/as a film.

In choosing the books I've tried to strike a balance between 'I like this a lot', 'I think this is very good' and 'this has been a major influence on my tastes/values/opinions/id', and pick a range of things from different times of my life, though I think it's ended up biassed towards the last few years.

Observations:

I'm gratified by how few books I had to add manually, but displeased that all the Hornungs were among them.

I do not have a second favourite Robert Louis Stevenson book! I've included a couple I like, but they rank a long way below Kidnapped in my mind. Eager to see whether this changes when I've read Treasure Island and/or re-read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which I decided I didn't remember well enough to include now.

Highly entertained by the editions of A Month in the Country and South Riding having the same cover image. I don't know exactly where that is but I'm pretty sure it's not the right part of Yorkshire for either of them.

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?