Thursday, October 09, 2008

Booking Through Thursday--Inquiring Minds Want to Know!


What was the last book you bought?
I'm in the middle of a book-buying moratorium. However, the last book I received from Paperback Swap (yesterday) was Nancy Pickard's The Virgin of Small Plains.

Name a book you have read MORE than once.
Re-reading is something I haven't done for years other than a stray page or paragraph or two here and there. The last books I remember re-reading are Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you view life? If yes, what was it?
Yes! It was a case of reading the perfect book for that particular time in my life. It was East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

How do you choose a book? e.g. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews
It's been a couple of months since I actually stepped foot in a bookstore and even then I was armed with a list of specific books for which I was looking. A lot of times when I'm looking through books at Paperback Swap, the covers aren't shown. I'm just not a cover-driven reader. I would say that the way I choose my books is by summary and recommendations.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Both are frigates that often take me lands away.

What's more important in a novel--beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
Plot and characterization are the cake. Beautiful writing is the icing.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)?
The ones that just landed in my mind firmly on both hob-nailed, booted feet are Barkis ("Barkis is willin'!") and Mr Micawber from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. That book is loaded to the gunnels with marvelous characters!

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
None. I'm one of these dead boring readers who read one book at a time, and it follows me wherever I go. So, Kindred by Octavia E. Butler is sitting here on the desk.

What was the last book you've read, and when was it?
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I finished it two days ago.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
Land o' mercy, YES! I used to be obsessive about finishing every book I started to read. That bad idea went away years ago. Now I have a fast-and-loose 50-page rule. If a book hasn't grabbed me by then, I usually stop right then and there. There are exceptions, though. Sometimes I hit that page 50 mark and just have a feeling that things are going to pick up. Sometimes I hit page 10 and say, "No more!"


10 comments:

  1. I also never used to give up on a book until I realised what a waste of time it was when I could have been reading a book I really liked.

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  2. Too Funny! I love your 'Bill of Rights" and your dream home, lol.

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  3. Right! I used to plow through a poorly written or little liked book to the bitter end, but now I have decided to treat my reading time as a precious commodity.

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  4. Virgin of Small Plains was really good. Hope you enjoy it

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  5. Hm, I suppose your cake and icing analogy is correct, but sometimes I enjoy eating the icing by itself =]

    ps. I thought that painting on the top-left corner of your blog was a photograph, and I was fervently admiring your reading space when I saw the caption! Hahah!

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  6. This question pretty much sums up many of the past ones.

    I mostly read fiction, although once in a while a non-fiction, like history or a biography will interest me.

    My favorite genres are historical fiction, foreign literature, and classics.

    My complete answer.

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  7. I think I'm going to have to start going by the 50 page rule. I'm into a book right now that I just don't want to pick back up. It's Terry Pratchett, who I usually adore, so I'm really not wanting to give up on it, but I am just not enjoying it at all. Perhaps I should give it another 25 pages and then chuck it if it's still not grabbing me.

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  8. I try not to give up on the book too quickly but if the book doesn't grab me by after 2nd try, then I give up :)

    Thanks for visiting my blog, have a good Thursday!

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  9. Wish I could make myself stick to the "one book at a time" rule. I’ve always got at least three or four going all at once, which can really get chaotic sometimes.

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  10. I used to hate giving up on a book but I've started to see that it is a waste to force myself through something. But if a book had any quality I did like, I may put it aside for a future try at reading.

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