Question for you guys -
Who's your favorite author right now? The person who's books you gobble up, lose sleep over, and cannot put down?

One caveat - I'm limiting this to authors who are alive and currently putting out books. An older author you've just discovered (like Ray Bradbury) is fine, so long as, like Ray, the author is still putting out books.


Ok, part 2 - Who's your favorite dead author?

Mine? William Gibson and Dorothy Parker. As of today. Check with me tomorrow and it might be entirely different. The joy of being a bibliophile :)

(Bonus points if you expand upon why you love your authors, and or recommend some books)

Finally had a chance to get back to my original list, and now book #7 for the year is finished.

The Lovely Bones: A Novel - by Alice Sebold

I know I'm about 5 years behind the rest of the world in reading this, but it was worth the wait. I loved the narrator's voice, and the story, while disturbing, was very well told. A very interesting take on how a family evolves after tragedy.

Woohoo - #6 is done.

Day of Descent (Alien Nation 1) - by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
It's one that will probably only appeal to fans of the show, but it's really well paced, not at all clunky, and very true to the show. If you're a fan, I'd recommend it.

Not sure which TBR Challenge book will be next, but I started reading Great Expectations the other night (on a whim), and it's quite good, so I'll probably stick with that for now. I'm having fun clearing the oldest of the old off my Bookcrossing bookshelf, and I've got an unofficial goal to finish everything that's over 4 years old (that wasn't originally registered by me) before the end of the year. There's 39 books in that category, so plenty of time left to get to them before this year's out. We'll see...

I'm trying to weed through my backlog of TBR books, and I'm working from two lists (mainly bookcrossing books that people have sent me that I really need to get out of my house).
The problem? The last 3 I've read have been from the first person perspective. The next 5 on both my lists are also first person. I am SO sick of first person. I never realized how tedious it can get. I'm thoroughly saturated on the pronoun "I".

Argh.

Definitely going to be skipping around the lists a bit :P

OTOH, my current read, while a bit shocking, is quite good. Definitely not for the faint of heart, or people with issues w/ sexual liberation :P
(The Man Who Fell in Love w/ the Moon by Tom Spanbauer). Got about 50 pages left, and then I'm on to my next (hopefully NOT first person) read.

Book #4 is done.

Animal Farm - by George Orwell

Been reading quite a lot of literature and drama lately. Moving on to something a bit fluffier next:

Strip City : A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America

Finished book #3 today:

To Engineer Is Human : The Role of Failure in Successful Design - by Henry Petroski

Whee. It's barely February, and I'm done with 3 of 12.

More importantly (to me), I'm finally shifting some of the bookcrossing deadweight off my shelves :)

Book #2 finished


House of Sand and Fog - by Andre Dubus III


I *really* liked this one. Fast paced like a beach read, but literary in tone. Stayed up til 2am last night finishing it.

Finished my first book of year:

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) - by J.R.R. Tolkien

Only took me 15 years to get through it ;)

Next up:
House of Sand and Fog - by Andre Dubus III

I'm one book away from completing last year's challenge, so I'm signing up again this year. The premise is simple - pick 12 old To-Be-Read books from your stack at home, and post a list publicly. Over the next year, commit to read at least one book a month. You're allowed to make a list of alternates too.



http://tbrchallenge.blogspot.com/2007/12/round-2-in-2008-its-here.html

Since it worked so well last year, I'm going with 12 main choices and 12 alternates. These titles are culled from the first page of of my bookcrossing TBR page, sorted by "registered first".
The first choices:
The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) - by J.R.R. Tolkien

House of Sand and Fog - by Andre Dubus III

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir - by Frank McCourt

Tempted Champions (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - by Yvonne Navarro

The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon - by Tom Spanbauer

Animal Farm - by George Orwell

Day of Descent (Alien Nation 1) - by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

DarkHorizon (Alien Nation 2) - by K.W. Jeter

The Difference Engine - by William Gibson, Bruce Sterling

Nine Layers of Sky - by Liz Williams

Watership Down - by Richard Adams

The Lovely Bones: A Novel - by Alice Sebold


The alternates:
George Sheehan on Running to Win: How to Achieve the Physical, Mental & Spiritual Victories of Running - by George, M.D. Sheehan

To Engineer Is Human : The Role of Failure in Successful Design - by Henry Petroski

A Walk Across America - Peter Jenkins

Underworld : Book 1 - by Greg Cox

The Body Farm - by Patricia Daniels Cornwell

Almost Adam : A Novel - by Petru Popescu

The Mocking Program - by Alan Dean Foster

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love - by Dava Sobel

A Walk in the Woods : Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail - by Bill Bryson

A Far Valley: Four Years in a Japanese Village - by Brian Moeran

The Lost Worlds of 2001: The Ultimate Log of the Ultimate Trip - by Arthur C Clarke

Body and Soul (Alien Nation 3) - by Peter David

I've been tagged! Here goes...

1. Total number of Books I Own

Oi. If I go by the "books in my possession" guess-timate at bookcrossing, I'd say it's somewhere in the range of 700. Probably less than 150 of those are keepers - the rest will find their way back into circulation once I've read them.

2. The Last Book I Bought

Two, actually. A Farscape RPG (near mint condition @ bookman's - I couldn't resist) and another book in Jane Lindskold's Wolf series (Wolf Captured).

3. The Last Book I Read

The last book I finished, or the last one I actually spent time reading? Last finished is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Currently reading? The Ginger Tree (owed in a swap) and Green Lantern: Rebirth. I'm more oggling the artwork than "reading" that one, but still...
I'm also attempting, YET AGAIN, to read Fellowship of the Ring. I *will* finish this time. 4th time's the charm, right?

4. Five Books That Mean A Lot To Me

This is a tortorous question. The better question is 5 books in a genre because there are so many groupings of five I could make. Fine...I'll take a stab at *just* five.
1. The Patchwork Cat - a children's book. Incredible artwork and a story all about a tabby cat. My copy was destroyed in a flood and I've been trying to track down a hardcover version since then. If anyone's got a lead on it, please let me know. I think the author/artist is Nicola Bailey? I'm pretty sure the book comes out of Britain, and is extremely hard to find in the states.

2. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - another children's book. I never had my own copy of this, but it was the first one I'd grab every time we went to the doctor's office. I was chronically sick as a kid - earaches, strep throat - anything between the collarbones and the crown of my head was in a state of near constant illness. As a result, we spent a LOT of time at the pediatrician's office. I'd read Sylvester w/ mom every time we went. When mom wanted to get me something special for high school graduation, I requested Sylvester.

3. Birth of the Firebringer by Meredith Ann Pierce. I had a brilliant junior high librarian who turned me on to both Clare Bell and Meredith Ann Pierce. Pierce, in particular, wrote the stories that provided the backdrop to my teenage years. I read and re-read everything I could get my hands on by her, and she's a large part of why I enjoy writing so much today.

4. Changer - Jane Lindskold. Changer is an urban fantasy tale that I picked up on a whim from the library. Within 5 pages, I was hooked. It's unique, challenging, entertaining, and the most inspirational book I've ever read. No, it's not perfect, and most of my friends have struggled to get through it, but it was the *one* book that made me stop and say "I want to write like this". Most writers I know have that one book that made them think they could write, or made them want to write like that author. Changer is my book.

5. All Tomorrow's Parties - William Gibson. By far, my favorite of his books. It speaks to me on so many levels, and this is my #2 "I want to write like this" book. I can't get enough of Gibson's prose - I devour it like a starving person - and, for some reason, Parties stands out above all the rest. This may change once I've read Spook Country :)

I believe I'm supossed to tag people, but I'm not sure how many. Howzabout not_wayfarer, erinrainflower, and jediwonderboy. I'd love to see everyone else's results, but those are the first names that came to mind.

Here's that last meme - with BOOKS. C'mon - you know you can't resist filling it out with your favorites :) Some questions have addenda to make them more book appropriate, plus a couple of unique questions...

(edited to add that this is tough! So many books...so little memory)

Name a book...

that makes you sad: Bridge to Terebithia - Katerine Patternson
that makes you laugh your ass off: The first Calvin & Hobbes collection had me in tears, but most recently, it was the Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison (Angus, Thongs, etc...)
that was way better than you thought it would be: The devil wears prada - Lauren Weisberger
that brings out the romantic in you: can't think of one right now
that has awesome extra features (coffee table books, etc...): Delicate Creatures by JMS or Skinwalker by Nunzio Defilippis
that is totally underrated: Mister Posterior and the Genius Child - Emily Jenkins (starting a bookray for this right now)
that you can recite every line of dialogue to (or have memorized large chunks): anything by Dorothy Parker
that words cannot describe: Focault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco (I felt like I had read something significant, but couldn't begin to tell you what it was about :) )
that is super sexy: Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters
that would have a great soundtrack: To Be Someone - Louise Voss (it kind of has a soundtrack already)
that you really want to read: Tea from an empty cup - Pat Cadigan
that you have no interest in reading: anything by John Grisham and most mysteries
that you geek out over: Dune
that puts you in an emotional, melancholy state of mind: Stranger in a Strange Land
that scares the hell outta you: the zombie stuff in The Lunatic Cafe (Laurell K Hamilton) had me jumping at shadows for a week, but the Handmaid's Tale is a lot more timely
that makes you feel like a kid again: Birth of the Firebringer - Meredith Ann Pierce
that inspires you: All Tomorrow's Parties - William Gibson
that proves all remakes don't suck (think of updated twists on classics like Pygmalion): drawing a blank here...
that wasn't as funny as you thought it'd be: Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
that deserves a sequel: Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls - Jane Lindskold
that should never have happened: 4 Blondes - Candace Bushnell
that has kick ass cover art: The California Book of the Dead: A Novel - Tim Farrington
that is one of your guilty pleasures: Vixen 03 - Clive Cussler
that changed the way you think about "old" books (classics): The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
that translated to the movie screen perfectly: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
that needs to be made into a movie (we'll just assume it'll translate perfectly): Idoru - William Gibson

Just got a weird PM -
Hello midwinter,

You wrote that a review was coming soon. This was back in April 2005.
Have you read it? If so, where is the review? I'm not chastising you; it's
just you have this book listed as available and I'm wondering if you're
willing to let it go. If so, please PM me. If not, then I'd appreciate hearing
from you anyway. No big deal either way.

Enjoy your day! :D
*****

Hmm...No offer of a trade, no nuthin' but a critique of my bookeeping skills. We are not amused. I've been getting a lot of critiques on my journal entries - or lack thereof - lately. Geez. busybodies! People are so concerned with what I choose to write or not write. Even had one woman cut and paste my PM to her into a journal entry, along with a snippy comment about "I don't know why she hasn't journaled the book yet, but here's an update". Umm... geez. Lighten up, eh?
I'm waffling between ignoring the PM and replying. She doesn't have anything I want on her bookshelf, and she appears to be a bit of a book hoarder. Not that I generally mind, but she also said she wants hardbacks, and the book she requested is a very battered paperback library discard. Wouldn't want to offend her highness. (Yeah, she's got Queen in her name).
Hrm... will mull this over a bit.

*****
In other news, I've got the blessed caffiene of Mountain Dew lifting the sleepy fog. This is a good thing. Am being moderately productive here, too. (After a mostly worthless day yesterday). I'm still on my book reading binge, and flew through yet another manga last night. Mars #3 this time. It's a good series. Almost the entire book was one big long 8-hour motorcycle endurance race, but it made for good reading. I like the art and perspective used. The story is melodramatic, but not stiffling. May have to add books 4 & 5 to my next comic subs order. I'm also reading Me Talk Pretty One Day (david sedaris) and just started the Piers Anthony Incarnations series. I have a sneaky suspicion I may be borrowing heavily from this one for NaNo - it's very much in-keeping w/ my style right now.
I keep waffling between giving in and doing fanfic, or writing in an established world, and struggling to work in my own place this year. Hrm. Couple more months to decide, but I've got NO ideas speaking to me. Bleh. I don't want to have to fight for my nano this year. Last year really took it out of me.
Wendy - what ever happened w/ your re-write? edda - are you in this year? I think the boards offiicially open in October, so I've got a few more weeks to gather my wits and prepare for the onslaught :) Oh, and if anyone has a copy of "A Writer's Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life" that you'd be willing to part with, I'd REALLY appreciate it.

Erm... Hmm. Had more to say, but it seems to have evaporated. I'm *sure* I've got something interesting to say but... bleh.

Once you've been as active as I have in BC for at least a couple of years, all those books you received in the early days aren't nearly as appealing as the new loot rolling in via your mailbox.

I'm thinking it's time to do a big purge of ye ol' bookshelves - especially with the Friends of the Library fall booksale coming fairly soon.

I mean, really...stuff like Morgan Llewelyn's Druids that have been lurking in my underbed tubs for 3+ years? It's Time To Let It Go! If I really, desperately want to read it later in life, I'm *sure* I can find another copy via bookrelay or paperbackswap.com. Heavens, I think I could probaby purge an entire underbed tub and not blink over the loss. Sure, it means a lot of people are going to get sucky journal entries like "I'm never going to get to this - setting it free again", but...eh... Isn't that what BC is all about?
And no, that's not an invitation to get scrappy over the One True Meaning of Bookcrossing *grins*

So...it's Tuesday, eh? My mom's birthday, too, which means I break another decade in two weeks. *gulp* This whole decade thing hasn't bugged me for years, but suddenly it's making me blanch and frown in consternation. Another decade begins...so what? I don't know why this is bugging me. Well, ok - I do. Same reason EVERY birthday bugs me. It's yet another year I've been living at home. *sighs* 'cept now, rather than being a 20-something pathetic loser living at home, I'll be a 30-something. bah. At least the social stigmas are shifting. I'm no longer seen as a crazy cat lady, a spinster, or a closet child molester for still living with mom. Still...it feels rotten.

Oh well. Nothing I need to worry about just yet. I've got 2 full weeks of 29-ness left ;)

This made me giggle a little this afternoon. There's a string of journal entries for The Red Tent at http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2554752

This is one of those books that attempts to make a readable bit of fiction out of Biblical stories. I've heard mixed reviews on it, but generally positive. This journal entry just cracked me up though -

"Thank you for providing the St. Charles First Baptist Reading Club with The Red Tent, it was a very interesting read. Although I wonder about how much research she really put into the book. It was a very interesting version on the story in the bible, but so factually incorrect."

Erm... how exactly does one prove or disprove research related to the Bible? I mean...c'mon. Is Genesis so factual that you can take issue with a modern author's take on it? Do these people have the faintest clue how many times the Bible as we know it has been translated, and how many countless verbal interations preceeded the written version(s)? Honestly. They're all worried about this "secular" take on a Bible story, but do they honestly believe their English translation bibles are the One True Story? *snerks*

I can perfectly understand their issues with the author's creative liberties, but I think a little biblical scholarship is in order if they want to question her "facts".

That's my snark for the day...Unless something jucier presents itself ;)

Just in case you've been away from the forums and such, there's a new companion site to BC that might interest some of you -
http://www.rabck.com/

It's just a site that keeps an address database of bookcrossers - if someone wants to send you an RABCK, they can search for your mailing info here. If you want to send an RABCK, you might be able to find someone's address here.

I know most people don't want their info bouncing around in cyberspace, but the site *is* password protected (for the small protections that offers).

This is my conclusion this morning. I feel like I've been sitting in the Gelfling draining chair in The Dark Crystal, and all I did last night was a short walk (with an even shorter, maybe 400 meter, jog) around the block last night. My eyes are all scratchy, my joints hurt, and I'm skirting the edge of a headache. Oh, and I slept through my alarm. Why? Because I made my body do forward motion when it really wanted to lay in bed and watch a DVD.

*sighs*

Things are really going to get rough when the schedule starts ramping up.

Tonight's listed as "walk or XT" - no distance or time specified. I might just chalk up an intensive two hour cleaning/organizing session as cross training and leave it at that. My body is crying for a night off (and only two days into this). When did I become so pathetic? Geez. I didn't *feel* particularly out of shape. And the things I've been doing haven't felt particularly strenuous.

Weird.

So, tonight I predict I will unearth floor space in my room, maybe re-hang the little privacy curtain in the living room (I set the mounts about an inch too low), and keep devouring books that are owed to other people.

For those who are interested, my current reading rotation is Eddings's The Belgariad (book 3) and a really overblown "fanboy with a point to drive home" Batman book called "The Ultimate Evil". On the plus side, it's a super-quick read. On the minus, the guy is so inflamed with passion for his cause that the storytelling suffers. Would Batman really get this riled about foreign child prostitution rings? Isn't he supossed to be bringing down the Gotham fat cats and petty criminals? If you remove Batman from the story and insert Vigilante dot star, it'd work wonderfully. But for a Batman story? Nuh-uh.
After these two books, I move on to Brothel (a non-fic book about the Mustang Ranch in Nevada), Three Men in a Boat, to say nothing of the dog! (gettin' my Jerome K Jerome on), and The Eyre Affair. I'm afraid Eyre is going to be over my head with literary references (some English major I turned out to be!), but it looks engaging nonetheless.

I've also got fun stuff in my NetFlix queue that's clamoring for my attention. Maybe I'll squeeze a couple episodes of Angel inbetween "cleaning" tonight. We'll see :)

Off to go caffinate and attempt to be a productive worker...

Only four more of these days until a weekend. I think I can, I think I can...

Last night was the official kick off of the new workout program. I did...ok. Who knew walking could hurt so much? Geez. Just over a half hour and my joints decided to all simultaneously seize. It was like muscular arthritis. Owies. Much stretching and drinking of water ensued. Tonight I'm slated to run a tiny bit. We'll see how that goes.

I watched absolutely no TV last night (well, except for Lance Armstrong on Letterman), but did finally finish book 2 of Eddings's Belgariad series. Great stuff, but ye gods it's painful to read in a "three books in one volume" format. It just takes FOREVER. It's a bookring book, so I've been horribly negligent in my duty to pass it on. This morning I went through and marked every 50 pages with Page Points (these little silver book clips the bf got me hooked on - http://tinyurl.com/a97ua). I figure I can force myself through 50 pages a day, and at that rate the book'll be out of here by Saturday morning. It's a worthy goal.

A big wave of fatigue just slammed into me, so I better quit writing while I can still string words together coherently. Off to caffinate...

I know this has been batted about quite a bit on the BC and relay forums, but I figured it couldn't hurt to post it here, too.

Click the icon here to see more:


It's a lot more anonymous than BookCrossing - very limited contact w/ other members, and no obligations to journal books. You just list books you want to trade and wait for someone to request them, or request books from others and sit back and wait for them to arrive in your mailbox.
It's free to participate and very easy - they've got neat pre-addressed shipping labels - just wrap the book in the label sheet, attach stamps, and drop in the mailbox. No need to make a special trip to the post office anymore. The label lists the web site's mailing address as the return address, so you get an extra level of anonimity.
It's all based on a credit system. Each time you ship a book to someone, you get a credit. Every time you request a book, you "spend" a credit. List 9 books into the system and they give you 3 free credits to work with. They've got a great wish list feature where you get an email any time someone lists one of the books in your wish list. It's all first in, first out, so if you want a popular book, you might have to wait your turn, but they tend to come in pretty quickly. And the more people there are listing books, the better the chances of finding the ones you really want (so spread the word).

Sadly, it's USA only right now, but there's rumblings that they'll be changing that soon.

Go - get something you REALLY want to read :)

Got my first wild catch EVER *and* a new member. *does the happy dance*

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2758292/

from n8an

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

5. Don't search around and look for the "coolest" book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

"She going to come add a name? Going to show up making noises just a dog hears, and no light down here. She-"
Let's All Kill Constance - Ray Bradbury

(ok, yeah - that's more than one sentence, but it's one bit of conversation I couldn't stand to break up)

More substantive posting coming soon...I think :)