BTT: Other Worlds

Are there any particular worlds in books where you’d like to live?

Or where you certainly would NOT want to live?

What about authors? If you were a character, who would you trust to write your life

I think I'd like to at least visit Harry Potter's world. Maybe Jane Austen's, but only if I got to be friends with Elizabeth Bennet or Emma Woodhouse. My real answer is Star Trek, but that didn't start out in books, so that's cheating a bit.

I certainly wouldn't want to live in 1984, or the Handmaid's Tale, or most any other dystopia. I like to read them, but I wouldn't want to stay there for long.

I would trust Connie Willis or Nancy Kress to write my life, though. It would be interesting, yet real.

BTT: Definition

Booking Through Thursday comes through to help my writer's block:

What, in your opinion, is the definition of a “reader.” A person who indiscriminately reads everything in sight? A person who reads BOOKS? A person who reads, period, no matter what it is? … Or, more specific? Like the specific person who’s reading something you wrote?

Well, even those of us who read "anything" do discriminate somewhat. I don't like westerns or mysteries, but will make an occaisional exception based on a friend's recommendation. I do think the definition is broad enough to include lots of things: websites, comic books, manga, etc. Of course, when an authors says "Faithful reader" in the text, they mean you - the person reading it. So in that sense it can be specific. But I think of it as broader - any text counts.

BTT: Flavor

Booking Through Thursday time again:

Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?

I have a lot of "favorite" authors, but I'll choose one for this purpose: David Gerrold, author of (among other things) The War Against the Chtorr series. I love that he creates real, flawed characters. Yes, sometimes they are just mouthpieces for some philosophy, but generally they are real people, with their own motivations and problems, just trying to survive. I love that he created a future earth, under attack from *somewhere* - and how he describes how the ecosystem changes, bit by bit. I love that he's also funny - real humor, but also puns and limericks and jokes. I love that he created a world that I still go back to to re-read, and still wait in hope for the next book (he's been promising it to us for ten years or so).

BTT: Clubbing

From Booking Through Thursday:

A combo of two suggestions by: Heidi and by litlove

Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (ot, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?

Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?

I have never been a member of a book club. One of my friends is a member, and she lets me in on her list of books to read, but even if she asked, I don't think I would join. It would be too much pressure to read and process the book, and I don't really like group settings like that anyway. Maybe if I was already friends with all of the members, but certainly not with people I don't already know. I do talk about books with that friend, and with others, but not in such a structured setting.

On a related note, I hate when a blurb for a book says "perfect for book clubs" or something like that. It sounds too much like an "Oprah" book (some of which have been good, but still) and it just makes my defenses go up. It translates to me as "this book is full of contrived situations or fake big ideas that you must talk about with all of your friends."

BTT: Trends

From Booking Through Thursday:

Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance?

I've written before that I tend to go on binges - reading everything about a particular topic, for example, then moving on to the next one. I don't think my overall taste has changed, though. I like an absorbing story, in an interesting setting, with real characters. That is a broad generalization, of course, because I also like informative nonfiction, and enjoy a good travel book now and again. My taste has probably matured some: I used to devour romance books in my youth, but now find them too simplistic. But give me a good sci-fi any day, and that has been true since I picked up I Robot in 5th grade.

BTT: Books vs. Movies

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?

I love movies. I love what can be done in a visual medium in seconds what can take pages of print to do. I want movies to entertain, to transport me to another time or place, and sometimes to be thought-provoking. I do like action movies: I like to see things blow up or crash into each other. I do prefer a plot to go along with it.

I do like seeing movies that have been adapted from books, as long as they have tried to stay faithful to the original. I do like to see "based on the book..." at the beginning of a movie, because it makes it more likely there will be a coherent plot. Books adapted from movies, on the other hand, are generally unreadable. I think "Star Wars" and the first Star Trek movie are the exceptions to this. What works on screen can seem wooden or fake on the page.

BTT: Manual Labor

From Booking through Thursday:

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

I have a couple of dictionaries, and I think I have a thesaurus around here somewhere. I very rarely use those. If I need to look up a word I'm more likely to use dictionary.com or something. I do have a Black's Law Dictionary, which I do use because legal terms do need to be more specific. I have a Bluebook for citations, of course, and two versions of the ALWD citation book (Association of Legal Writing Directors) which is trying to replace the Bluebook. I hate both of them. I had to use the ALWD for my legal writing class, and then had to switch to the Bluebook for Law Review. They are mostly the same, but arranged differently. I also have The Redbook, which is a handbook of legal style. This was also required for my legal writing class, but I hardly opened it. I used to have a Strunk and White, but I can't find it right now. I also have a couple of Spanish/English dictionaries, and I think I have a Latin/English dictionary around here somewhere.

BTT: Mayday

From Booking Through Thursday:

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??

And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….

When I had my old, unreliable car, I actually kept a book in the car in case of a sudden car repair emergency. I did not transfer the book (Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger) when I bought my new car, so I wouldn't have one in the car with me as I headed to the airport. Naturally, I would buy one at the shop in the airport; even our little airport has a shop with a few books. Or I might opt for a newspaper or magazines, because those are my usual choices if I'm under stress. I tend to want only bite-sized morsels to read, but I still want to read!

BTT: Springing

From Booking Through Thursday:

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

I don't think my reading habits change much. I might read more in the Summer when there are fewer new television shows on, but otherwise I think my pace is pretty steady. Maybe I read more travel books if I am planning a trip, and I do start choosing what books I will take on said trip far ahead. (Needs to be long enough to last for a plane ride, but light enough to carry in my bag.)

BTT: Vocabulary

From Booking Through Thursday:

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

I can remember being in about 6th grade and first encountering the word "bourgeoisie." I had no idea how to say it, much less what it meant, so I looked it up. But then, as now I usually just tried to figure out an unfamiliar word based on the context. If I can't do that, and it seems like an important word, or I am curious, then I will look it up. Naturally, if it were a school book or something then I would just look it up right away. This issue seldom comes up in other books, though.

BTT: Writing Challenge

Booking Through Thursday time again:

#
Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
#
Turn to page 123.
#
What is the first sentence on the page?
#
The last sentence on the page?
#
Now . . . connect them together….
(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

Okay, my book is "Recovery Man" - by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (the latest in the Retrieval Artist series).

This part of the ship was dark and filthy. He must have turned off onto one of the side corridors, which all had shimmery barriers like the ones on the airlock doors.

See what I did there? I didn't connect them, because I think they connect pretty well by themselves. Which makes me wonder if the book isn't a bit long winded, but that's another story for another day.

BTT: Cover Up

This week's Booking Through Thursday:

While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?

If I'm in a bookstore, the cover might entice me to pick up the book and at least read the synopsis on the back. Now that I shop for most of my books online, the cover is less likely to be a factor. I generally prefer trade paperbacks, because mass market ones seem to feel "cheap" - flimsy covers, stiff pages that fall out when you open the book too far.

BTT: The End

From Booking Through Thursday:

You’ve just reached the end of a book . . . what do you do now? Savor and muse over the book? Dive right into the next one? Go take the dog for a walk, the kids to the park, before even thinking about the next book you’re going to read? What?

(Obviously, there can be more than one answer, here–a book with a cliff-hanger is going to engender different reactions than a serene, stand-alone, but you get the idea!)

It does depend on the book to some extent. If it was a "heavy" book, I might wait until the next day to start something new. Of course, I usually have more than one book going at once, so it would be unusual for me to finish everything all at once. I do tend to take a break before reading more of the same genre, unless it is a series that I am anxious to find out what happens next.

BTT: Playing Editor

Booking Through Thursday time again:

How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:

__________ would have been a much better book if ______________________.


"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" would have been a much better book if it had not had the epilogue at the end. I know this is sacrelige to say that there is anything wrong with the HP books. However, I think the final book would have been better without the little peek into the future offered at the end. I would have preferred if JK Rowling had left it to us to imagine what might happen to all of our beloved friends, rather than wrapping it all up for us quite so neatly. The cynic in me thinks she was trying to control the fan fiction versions of the future, but I suspect really she didn't want to let them all go yet, and wanted to put us at ease that everything turns out right in the end. I can understand that; I want an easy life for our Harry as well. Life isn't really like that, and his personality and talent for finding trouble would suggest his adult life would be as interesting as his childhood was, Voldemort or no.

BTT: Hero

From Booking Through Thursday:

You should have seen this one coming … Who is your favorite Male lead character? And why?

As with last week's BTT, I have a few: Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, Mr. Darcy (of course), Corwin (From Nine Princes in Amber), Stu Redman from "The Stand" (although perhaps more because Gary Sinise did such a great job in the miniseries). But if I had to pick just one, it would be Harry Potter, for being brave, and true to himself, and turning into a wonderful young man despite his relatives' best efforts.

BTT: Heroine

From Booking Through Thursday:

Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)

I can think of so many that are my favorite in different ways. The usual suspects: Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennet, Laura Ingalls, and Meg Murphy (A Wrinkle in Time). I think my current favorite is Hermione Granger, because she is smart and not afraid to show it, brave, loyal to her friends, and sensitive to the injustices of the world.

(Oh, and tomorrow is our "free day" for Blog 365, so no posting. Enjoy your Leap Day!)

BTT: Format

Booking through Thursday time again:

All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?

All things being equal? Trade-size paperback. They still have the heft of a good hardback, without the weight of the hard covers. They seem to have better quality paper than the mass-market paperbacks, and don't have the jagged edges of the hardcovers. I hate those uneven edges - they look unfinished to me.

BTT: Quirky

From Booking Through Thursday:

Sometimes I find eccentric characters quirky and fun, other times I find them too unbelievable and annoying. What are some of the more outrageous characters you’ve read, and how do you feel about them?

I generally don't care for characters that have something odd about them just for the sake of something odd. On the other hand, I do like eccentricities and things that make a character seem real and different. I can't think of a particular character at the moment though. I guess Dumbledore (from Harry Potter) counts as an eccentric, and I LOVE him.

BTT: Huh?

This week's Booking through Thursday:

"What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

Most of my favorite books are unknown to people who don't read science fiction: "Bellwether" by Connie Willis and "Beggars in Spain" by Nancy Kress come to mind. I managed to get my sister to read Bellwether, even though she "doesn't like sci-fi."

In other news, this blog might now have been "outed" to my mother - I got a book in the mail today addressed to "Janiejane" (not my real name, of course) and she asked about it. I told her it was a name I used on the internets. So, if she googles the name and finds this: "Hi mom!"

BTT: Let's Review

From Booking Through Thursday:

How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading? If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it? If you see a good review of a book you’re sure you won’t like, do you change your mind and give the book a try?

I do like to read reviews, and sometimes I am influenced by them. If I read a good review, it does inspire me to put the book on my list of books to read (at least) or to pick up a copy at the first opportunity. I found "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card through a review in the campus newspaper. I probably would not have even given it a second glance otherwise. And I do sometimes decide not to read a book based on a review, although I do look carefully to see what it was the reviewer didn't like and decide if that is something that is important to me or not. I use that for movie reviews as well.