Author I've Read The
Most Books From: I think this has to be Pratchett, there seem
to be 39 Discworld books (read 38) plus the three Tiffany Aching books, plus
half of Good Omens (he wrote it with Neil Gaiman), plus The Amazing
Maurice, plus the graphic versions… followed by Angela Thirkell (30-odd)
and Georgette Heyer. Oh no, I’ve just counted, Heyer wins hands down! Ask me
again in ten years time and the winner might be Carola Dunn though.
Best Sequel Ever:
Ooh, this one’s tough and it’s only B! I could think of lots of contenders, but
then I decided it had to be something that I’ve gone back to more than once and
loved as much as ever. In which case, I think it is Cathedral Wednesday
by William Mayne. Closely followed by Lawrence Durrell’s Balthazar,
third in the Alexandria Quartet, which I adored because it was in that
book that I finally began to work out what was going on in this long roman à
fleuve.
Currently Reading: Glimpses of the Moon by Edmund
Crispin and Servants by Lucy Lethbridge.
Drink of Choice While Reading: Tea, I guess – but
if I could make proper lattes at home, they would win.
E-Reader
or Physical Book: I love books with my all my heart and soul, but e-reader
is beginning to win the argument, not only because I can take an enormous
library with me everywhere I go but because I often find holding books very
painful now. If I can read on my tablet and save my hands for
typing/drawing/sewing/whatever, then I’ll forgo the pleasure of “real” books.
Fictional
Character You Probably Would Have Dated in High School: No doubt at all,
Francis Lymond of Crawford. He would
have scared me out of my wits, but oh, irresistible… Lord Titus Groan, 77th
Earl of Gormenghast, would have run him a very close second, but he wasn’t as
well-read.
Glad You Gave This
Book A Chance: So many books
that I picked up in the wrong sort of mood and later discovered were wonderful.
Perhaps the one I am gladdest I went back to is William Gibson’s Neuromancer.
First time round I must have been reading with only a quarter of my brain
working – how could I not have seen how superb it was?
Hidden Gem
Book: Diary Without Dates by Enid Bagnold, which I found on
Project Gutenberg. I’m happy to say it’s not just me who admires Bagnold’s
writing – Persephone Books are about to reissue her novel The Squire
later this month. Look out for a review here very soon.
Important
Moment in Your Reading Life: Starting my blog: as I’ve said here
before, I had started to feel very isolated because I had no-one to talk books
with. I didn’t have a lot of time to spend browsing in the library and I simply
wasn’t finding the books I wanted to read. Once I started blogging and sharing
books with other people I discovered loads of authors I had missed out on
during the years of child-rearing.
Just
Finished: Pomfret Towers by
Angela Thirkell. Well, not quite finished actually, as I have to write a
summary of Chapter 7 for a group read, so I’m re-reading bits.
Kind
of Books I Won't Read: I can’t bear steamy romance, it makes me
cringe.
Longest
Book I've Read: Really not at all sure – OH used to joke that I gauged the
readability of a book by whether you could use it as a doorstop – but Amazon
tells me that Charles Palliser’s The Quincunx has 1248 pages, so that
may be it. Good book and very useful in
a gale.
Major Book
Hangover Because: The number of
out-of-print books I want to read that are too difficult/expensive to find. The
ones I mind most about are those that are still in copyright in the UK so can’t
be found on Project Gutenberg. The upside is the number of books I despaired of
that are now being reprinted by Persephone, Greyladies, Girls Gone By , to name
but a few.
Number of Bookcases I own: Hard to count because some are entire walls –
19 or 20, I suppose. But on most of them the books are double-stacked. Those of you who know me on LibraryThing, my
library there really only represents the books in my room.
One Book I have
Read Multiple Times: In my case it
would almost be harder to name a book I haven’t read multiple times – as
far as I’m concerned a good book always rewards re-reading. Which makes it hard
to part with them.
Preferred
Place to Read: Bed. If not in it, on it. Preferably with at least one dog.
Quote That Inspires
You/Gives You All the Feels From a Book You've Read: I felt very stuck
on this one – I guess I’ll find something perfect as soon is this post goes
live, but I just couldn’t think of anything which quite meets the requirement.
What I do remember, and maybe this is as good a reason to include it as
any, is a fragment of poetry which thrilled me when I first read it, means
something different to me depending on my mood when I encounter it, and
conjures up the most vivid of pictures – in short, just sums of the wonder and
mystery of poetry. It’s from Ash Wednesday, by T.S. Eliot: “Lady, three white
leopards sat under a juniper tree in the cool of the day, having fed to satiety.”
Reading Regret:
Not having discovered Angela Thirkell earlier.
Series You Started and Need To Finish (All the books are out in the
series): The Hilary Tamar books by Sarah Caudwell. This is one of
those situations where I own all four of the books but have only read the first
because I can’t bear to use them all up.
Three
of Your All-Time Favourite Books: The list goes on for ever (I’m a
very loyal reader) so I’ll see if I can come up with three that I haven’t
singled out before! Um… Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge. Pashazade
by Jon Courtenay Grimwood (first of the Arabesk Trilogy). Appleby’s End
by Michael Innes.
Unapologetic
Fangirl For: Oh dear – Neil Gaiman. And Angela Thirkell.
Very Excited For This
Release More Than All The Others: The third in Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller
Chronicles, still on listed on Amazon UK as “Untitled Rothfuss 3 of 3” – but
I’ve seen it elsewhere as The Doors of Stone. Its release date is given
there as August 2015. Agony. If it doesn’t come out until then I will have to
re-read the first two. Well, I'll probably do that anyway.
Worst
Bookish Habit: Starting a new book before I’ve finished the last, and
then not going back to the first.
X Marks The Spot:
Start at the Top Left of Your Shelf and pick the 27th Book: E.F.
Benson, Lucia Rising.
Your Latest Book Purchase:
The Bookshop by Deborah Meyler – because a fellow Thirkellite
recommended it on FaceBook.
ZZZ-Snatcher Book-
Book That Kept You Up WAY Too Late: Any book I’m enjoying, about once
a fortnight – actually more likely to be something frivolous than a serious
read. The last still-going-after-2am that I can remember was City of Dragons
by Robin Hobb. I usually find her books pretty hard to put down.