Book Meme

I have been tagged by Alice to do a meme about books and reading and all things bookish!

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

Nope, it would appear from all recollection that I was born with a book in my hand! I really cannot remember a time when I didn't read!

What are some books you read as a child?

The Famous Five definitely made an appearance and although I did read others, it's these that immediately come to mind when I think of my childhood reading, as does The Magic Faraway Tree - also by Enid Blyton!

What is your favourite genre?

Romance! I do have a soft spot for Fantasy, but my feet will always take me to the Romance section of Borders before allowing me to go anywhere else!

Do you have a favourite novel?

Heck, I have too many favourites to pick out one!

Where do you usually read?

Anywhere I possibly can, but at weekends you can usually find me ensconced in my red oversized armchair with a cup of tea and some biscuits, often with the cat sitting alongside me!

When do you usually read?

When do I not read!! I always read before I turn the light off last thing at night, I used to read during lunch hours at work, but now I still read, only I am reading the umpteen blogs that updated since yesterday! (thank goodness for Bloglines! Except when it messes up and tries to give me hundreds to read that I have already read!! Get that bug sorted out Bloglines!!)

More to the point, if there's anything like housework to be done - that's when I read most!! ;-)

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Not usually no, but it does happen!

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

Not a difference place no, but a different way yes - I tend to read fiction all in one go, whereas I read nonfiction much more slowly as by the nature of the reading I can't just whiz through a book!!

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

It varies, at the moment I am buying books (either from the usual places or from charity shops), I used to use the library a lot, but they think that I have a large fine and have kept a book (so not true) so I am avoiding them at the moment!!

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

If I have bought them from a charity shop then they usually go back to the shop when I am done with them, otherwise I may pass them on to Mum or a friend if I don't particularly want to keep it myself, otherwise yet another book gets added to my ever-groaning bookshelves!! (must show you all a photo one day!!)

If you have children, what are some of the favourite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?

Don't have children, but would be very likely to get them reading things The Magic Faraway Tree or The Enormous Turnip - apparently I really liked this book when I was very little!

What are you reading now?

Surprisingly enough I am reading two books (when I said that I don't usually have more than one book on the go, but these are all nonfiction) - The Gospel according to Harry Potter by Connie Neal and Reaching for the invisible God by Philip Yancey. I do have some other unfinished books, but can't really count those as I am not reading them at this moment.

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?

No, I do have a TBR pile (or scatter) in the house, but don't actually record them to remind myself to read them later!!

What's next?

Don't know, would have to go and have a look at the scatter! I do have a book about the history of the Union Jack (British flag in case you didn't know!) that I picked up on sale from Borders a few weeks ago - that is probably next.

What books would you like to reread?

Heck, I reread most of my books eventually!! I could not possibly pick a set of books that I would like to reread, but my most reread books are my Nora Roberts ones.

Who are your favourite authors?

Nora Roberts is my number one and then there are several other romance novelists that I keep an eye out for, like Debbie Macomber, Lisa Kleypas, Sherilyn Kenyon or Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

And there you have it - it's too late for me to think of who I want to tag for this, so if you fancy telling me all about your reading habits, now's the time!!

Books versus Films

A few of the blogs that I read take part in a regular posting theme called Booking Through Thursday, which offers up a question for everybody to answer, and usually on some variation on the subject of books (naturally!) and until now I have never taken part.

This week's question caught my eye though and so I have decided to answer!

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

The main reason that this question caught my eye is because a few weeks ago I bought four films that were based on four books written by Nora Roberts, so this is a relatively fresh experience that I can bring to mind. As you may already know, I am a serious Nora Roberts fan and devour each and every book she publishes as well as reading them again and again and again!

So, when I heard that four films were being made, I was both pleased and anxious. Pleased because I could then have a visual representation of the books, anxious because I just knew that the films would be different to the books and would perhaps put me right off ever watching a "film from a book" again. (By the way, those films were Angels Fall, Montana Sky, Blue Smoke, and Carolina Moon.)

When I watched the films over the course of a weekend as I just couldn't wait, I ended up with very mixed feelings! Although I can't remember which was which now but two of the films were slightly disappointing and the other two were about right, having said that, all of the films made me want to reread and enjoy those very books again!

The two that were disappointing were so because they strayed just a little too far from the books or didn't quite convey the complex relationships in Nora's books! A common element of all films was that the producers had to edit and change or exclude bits here and there in order to make 90 minute films rather than three hour films! Now, I can understand that but it does mean that the films will never be as good as the books, they just can't be!

The two that were about right did follow the books a little more closely or were at least more true to the ethos of the books even if bits were edited out. At the end of the weekend though, I did enjoy all four films, particularly on the understanding that they just would not be the same as the books, and I think that this the point - Books and Films are two very different mediums so we shouldn't really expect the same results from them.

Above all, I expect to be entertained whether reading a book or watching a film and if neither can do that then they have failed in their purpose; not forgetting that it takes different things to entertain different people so what I like someone else may loathe and vice versa!

So, despite my mixed feelings about books made into films, I am glad to hear that four more of Nora's books are to be made into films, using the same production company and I look forward to watching them! First, for watching them for the pleasure of a nice film and then for the pleasure of reading them all over again!!! ;-)

By the way, I should add that I will only go to the cinema if I have read the book first and that is because I am deaf and so few screenings will have subtitles, so I ensure that I get maximum understanding and therefore pleasure by knowing the story well!! In fact the only films that I have been to see at the cinema in the past few years is Harry Potter!! Of course, I know that there will be differences between the book and film, but it is good enough for me and means that I can enjoy the big screen effect!!

bookcases!

I love bookcases in all sizes, big, small, quirky, whatever the size or shape, I just adore them. Usually more for the books rather than the shelves themselves, but the Caffeinated Librarian has just alerted me to some rather amazing bookshelves - and these ones I want!!

Can you just imagine that - a set of stairs that double as very effective bookcases! Wow - just - Wow!

888 book reviews

I have now read a couple more of my Triple Eight challenge books and they were both very strange!! The first one that I finished was 30 Days in Sydney: the writer and the city by Peter Carey.

The premise of the book is that a Sydneysider returns to Sydney from New York for thirty (!) days and then writes about his experiences. It is a small book so you'd think that I finish it fairly soon, but I started it, put it down, and didn't pick it up again for ages as I just couldn't really get into it!

But then I thought that I had really better finish it since I am off to Sydney soon. Anyway - a strange book, more about Peter Carey's friends and what they got up to rather than about Sydney itself. Despite the fact that there were some interesting bits I didn't think that there was much structure to the book, it just didn't flow or seem to have any clarity! Then again, that's just me, I am sure that other people enjoyed the book, but I very much doubt that I'd try and read it again!

The other book was Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin and although I have put it in the romance section it is not your typical romance, in fact, it is not your typical novel! At first I wondered what I was letting myself in for by the time I had read a few chapters as it is quite a peculiar book with it's own language (much like fantasy books though so I should be used to it!). What was intriguing was the way the author would start a new chapter with new characters and events without making any connection between characters, so the whole books is a bit more like a collection of short stories that in the end all merge to form the one story.

My biggest criticism of Winter's Tale is that the blurb at the back of the book is misleading in that it suggests that the lead character deliberately sets out to travel through time to bring back the woman he loves after she dies. This is not actually the case, Peter Lake does not set out to do this, he does mourn her, but doesn't intend to go back in time to bring her back.

Nevertheless this is an intriguing story that took me a while to get into and even when I closed the book at the end, I was still puzzling over quite what it was all about! I think that the in the end the reader simply has to put his or her own interpretation on the story and what it all means.

And now I am reading the biography of Alistair Cooke - so far so good, it is interesting reading and is thus far well written! I shall be back at some point to tell you about that one!

imagination

Some people simply have more than others!

I came across this little website that promotes the author's book. It a simple, innovative and funny website, just don't expect it to look like the usual sites you have seen before!

All I know now is that I want to buy her book, so from my perspective, she has done what she set out to do and that is to get me to buy her book! I wonder how many others will buy on the strength of this website?

Go on, have a look - you know you want to!

Quick reads

I am now making an official start on my Triple Eight book challenge and am reading the quick and easy ones!! By quick and easy, I mean my re-reads and my romantic novels - they may not be short, but either I am familiar with the books or am happy to devour them in one go rather than spread them over a week or so (like I am with Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin as it is a bit heavy going - not your typical romance!!).

A couple of the books in the reread and romance category actually tie up; for instance, I reread The Shop on Blossom Street and then bought the follow-up - A Good Yarn. Both of which I liked very much, they are to be found in the romance section of your local bookshop, but I actually think that they are more just simple romances as both books focus on more than one pair of lead characters. The first book looks at a knitting class in a newly opened shop and follows a year (or so) in the life of the shop owner plus the three people that joined the knitting class. The second book (A Good Yarn) is still in the same place with the shop owner, but looks at another class and we see those people live their lives. This is actually quite typical of Debbie Macomber as she has written other series that focus on a particular town - like Cedar Cove - and we get to see familiar faces popping in and out of each book, and I think that this is a lovely way to see how people and their relationships develop without trying to cram all the detail into one book.

I have also now read Without a Trace by Nora roberts - I had been looking for this one for a while as it is the fourth book in a series about the O'Hurley triplets and their brother. Unfortunately, I was not as taken with this book as I was the other O'Hurley books (or other Nora Roberts books for that matter), I don't know why - perhaps I have just read too many of Nora's books lately and am getting a bit fatigued by them!

Diana Gabaldon's Cross Stitch (or Outlander) series contains some of my favourite books, so I thought that I would reread those - Cross Stitch is done and I am now part way through Dragonfly in Amber. If you are not familiar with these books - they are about Claire and Jamie - Claire is a 20th Century English woman, whilst Jamie is an 18th Century Scotsman! The story seems a little implausible in that Claire travels into the past through the standing stones at Craigh na Dun, but Diana Gabaldon makes it all seem very possible and the books are hefty tomes full of detail and are hard to put down, particularly at the end of a lunch break at work! ;-)

Oh! The excitment!

My Secret Santa book arrived today!!!!

I was beginning to get a bit worried and had contacted LibraryThing to find out what had happened and what happenned was that the book was out of stock at Amazon and so they had reorder the book before they could send it to me.

And the book is.....Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin, which apparently fits my request for anything in the way of "romance, history or fantasy" as the book is a historical romance that also transcends time and and space - or so I am told!

I look forward to reading the book and letting you all know what I think of it, particularly as all the reviews that I have come across are so very mixed.

Cheap books!

If there was ever an argument for Charity Shops....it's the books! Some people wont go near Charity Shops and I can see how they might feel, but they are missing out on some very good bargains.

I got a really good deal on Saturday, I was so chuffed!! I got four of the books in Diana Gabaldon's Cross Stitch/Outlander series for £1.90 - I don't think that I have made a better bargain anywhere else!

I read these books years ago, but the copies were Mum's and have since been somewhat battered by the umpteen lendings and readings, not to mention the slight damp in the corner of the room where they are!! So, I am really pleased to get copies of my own, now I just need to watch out for the other books in the series as there are more than four books!

I also managed to find a couple of my Triple Eight Challenge books - Silas Marner and Schindler's Ark and picked up another biography - this one about Alistair Cooke.

Book Challenge - A Wedding in December

This the last of my five From The Stack book selection - all chosen from that ever growing pile of books that I have yet to read!

A Wedding in December is a rather interesting book, it weaves a number of stories together and although it does take a bit of work to remember which story belongs to who, it does all work together very well. There is even a story within a story as one of the characters, Agnes, is writing a story and this story-within-a-story is a good one too, I wanted to read more of this one!

There are plenty of surprises and revelations in this story, but I wont reveal any. What I will say is that it is an intriguing read with an appropriate ending (I sometimes feel that book endings don't quite work and can leave me dissatisfied) and I would recommend this book to anyone.

posts for the 888

All my categories for the Triple Eight Challenge are now below!! They are also in a tidy little clickable list somewhere on the left of this page if you are interested in following along with what I am reading! (or attempting to read!)

Of course, any suggestions, recommendations, even of the"don't touch with a barge-pole" variety are more than welcome!

Australia

Given that I am visiting Australia this year, I thought that this would be a particularly apt choice! This section includes both fiction(F) and nonfiction(NF) and I think that I will leave a few spaces for some books actually bought in Australia!

• 30 days in Sydney: the writer and the city* (NF) by Peter Carey
• The dig tree: the extraordinary story of the ill-fated expedition* (NF) by Sarah Murgatroyd
• The explorers* (NF) by Tim Flannery
• Beneath the Southern Cross (F) by Judy Nunn
• Silver Bay (F) by Jojo Moyes
• Black kettle and full moon: daily life in a vanished Australia (NF) by Geoffrey Blainey
• Convict women (NF) by Kay Daniels
• Silver in the sun (F) by Tony Parsons

*already sitting on my shelves!

Award winners

If these books have won awards, then they must be good - surely!?

• American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Hugo Award)
• A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (Carnegie Medal)
• Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize)
• Rough Crossings: Britain, the slaves and the American revolution* by Simon Schama (National Book Critics Circle Award - USA)
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC

*already sitting on my shelves!

Biographies

Anyone who knows me would, I think, generally agree that I am nosy! Biographies are one way to be politely nosy!! ;-)

• Samuel Pepys: the unequalled self by Claire Tomalin
• Spilling the beans by Clarrisa Dickson Wright
• Shakespeare: the world as a stage by Bill Bryson
• The two of us: my life with John Thaw* by Sheila Hancock
• Diana: story of a princess* by Tim Clayton
• The first American: the life and times of Benjamin Franklin by H.W. Brands
• Alistair Cooke: the biography by Nick Clarke
• The story of the Trapp family singers* by Maria Augusta Trapp

*already sitting on my shelves!

Crafty stuff

The sharp eyed among you will notice that this one has changed from Children/Young Adults to Crafty Stuff - this is because I have a number of craft books (mostly card making) that I want to actually make the proper effort to read a bit more! (I am also thinking that craft will cover all manner of things from card making to knitting (which I want to try and learn one day) to cooking and baking (two entirely separate things I think you'll agree!)

• Quick and clever handmade cards* by Julie Hickey
• The complete guide to card making* by Sarah Beaman
• How to be a domestic goddess* by Nigella Lawson
• The ultimate cookie book* by Catherine Atkinson
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC

*already on my shelves

Classics

I've always felt that I don't read enough of the classics and as I already have some on my shelves (*) I thought that I would take advantage of this and read them!!

By the way - should anyone quibble about what constitutes a classic, I have decided to go with the list of classics as mentioned in LibraryThing - clearly if the majority of readers have decided that it is a classic, then who am I to argue!

• Robinson Crusoe* by Daniel Defoe
• Robin Hood* by Howard Pyle
• Around the world in 80 days* by Jules Verne
• Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
• The once and future king by T.H.White
• The age of innocence by Edith Wharton
• The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Silas Marner by George Eliot

History

This section includes both non-fiction (NF) and fiction (F) so that I don't get too fed up with the non-fiction!

• Alchemist's Daughter by Katherine McMahon (F)
• Craze: Gin & debauchery in an age of reason by Jessica Warner (NF)
• Sex with kings: 500 years of adultery, power, rivalry and revenge by Eleanor Herman (NF)
• Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell (F)
• March by Geraldine Brooks (F)
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC

Re-reads

I do like to re-read books, mostly because I loved them so much in the first place that I want to read it again Occasionally I will even read a book again because I have forgotten that I have already read it - this is annoying as by time I have read a few chapters I begin to realise that this is all very familiar and I twig that I have read it before!

Anyway, my selection for this category is as follows:

• The Belgariad, Vol. 1 by David Eddings
• The shop on Blossom Street* by Debbie Macomber
• Sahara* by Clive Cussler
• Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
• Draonfly in Amber* by Diana Gabaldon
• Voyager* by Diana Gabaldon
• Drums of Autumn* by Diana Gabaldon
• The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

*already on my bookshelves! By the way, this section clearly looks like an excuse to reread the Cross Stitch series (also known as Outlander) by Diana Gabaldon, but then I have not read them for so long that I am really keen to read them again.

Romance

Of course, I had to include this section (despite what my brothers think of romance reading!!)

• The Hollow by Nora Roberts (pub. May 2008)
• The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts (pub. Dec 2008)
• Captivated by Nora Roberts
• Entranced by Nora Roberts
• A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber
• A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans
• Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
• Without a Trace by Nora Roberts

Hmmmm - I clearly love Nora Roberts' novels!! I have most of them on my shelves I think, but not those above!

Settling...

...on books for the Triple Eight challenge is not easy!! Although I am now beginning to identify the books that I want to read, some of which I even have at home already but have not yet read (or they are obviously in my re-reads category!).

So, I am now going to set up various links and postings each relating to one of the eight categories, so do excuse me if my blog suddenly goes a bit funny or keeps changing on you!
Just to let you know - each section wont be complete yet as I am still looking and pondering on my selection! Fortunately the rules of this challenge also allows participants to change their minds, so don't be too surprised if you find that my choices change!

I have to admit that it is rather fun choosing books and being picky about everything. It has actually opened my eyes a bit more as to what sheer variety is out there. I already knew that, but somehow it had never really registered with me, particularly when I stand in bookshops and bewail the fact that 'there's nothing to read'! Which is patently untrue, it was just that either I was bewildered by sheer choice, not in the mood for a book, or just being far too selective!

Still thinking....

....about this book challenge!! I need to go and sit in Borders and make a good list of what I want to read, or I can simply sit at my computer and rummage around LibraryThing! The trouble is that I like to know what a book is about before I commit to it and need to read the blurb on the back, so LibraryThing may not be the place to look!

Anyway, I am slowly coming up with possible categories that I feel that I can get to grips with!

How about the following:

• Australia (any book about or from Australia)
• Award winners (from the Booker to the Pulitzer!)
• Biographies (I am just nosy!)
• Romance (gotta have that in there somewhere!)
• Children and Young Adults books
• Classics that I should have read years ago!
• History (including historical novels!)
• Re-reads cos I love them so much!

I could keep going, but those are the categories that are getting (and holding!) my attention at the moment. Now, I need to fill those categories with eight books each - I am trying not to have any overlap! Can I really commit myself to 64 books, I know that I can certainly read that many, but still, the thought of saying I will read this book and that book and that one too...still makes me hesitate!!

I think that the list above is quite a nice one - I will let you all know what I am going to put in each section as soon as I know!!