Another books meme.

One more paper to clean up and I'm officially done with my semester. And halfway to my Masters degree! Phew. Good thing I have the summer to recharge. And read lots of fun books!!

So to ease myself back into blogging, a meme:

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Mary Stewart -- I own all her romantic suspense and historical fiction books. Two copies of most of them -- they take up at least two shelves.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
L.M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle. Two mass market copies that are falling apart from being read so many times. And I bought myself a hardcover 1920 edition off eBay a few months ago. Pretty! Loves it sooo much.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
NO. That is the stupidest grammar rule ever. “This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.” --Winston Churchill

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Sir Peter Wimsey. He's funny and brilliant.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
Hands down, The Blue Castle. It's my comfort book. Second place is probably Persuasion, by Jane Austen.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
I don't really remember. Was this the age I was reading The Baby-Sitters Club books? There was a Super Edition where all the girls went on a Disney cruise. That was definitely a favorite for a long time.

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
I stopped keeping my reading spreadsheet this year, mostly because I wasn't reading much to put on there. And when I had time to read, I generally read sure-thing good books. But if I had to choose, I'd say either The Conquest, by Elizabeth Chadwick (yawn) or Rachel's Holiday, by Marian Keyes. Neither were horrible, just sort of meh.

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Sharon Shinn's Archangel series. OR The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall. OR The Sharing Knife: Horizon. I can't decide.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
I'll go with The Penderwicks, because it'll make you young again.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
I have no idea. I rarely read the sort of thing that wins the Noble Prize for Literature.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
The Blue Castle!! Or a Georgette Heyer book.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Twilight.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I hardly ever remember my dreams, but I definitely had a couple bad dreams last night about bat-malices (see question #32).

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
LOL. So many to choose from. Though this one probably takes the cake.

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization, by Elaine Svenonius. We read this book for my organization of information class and it gave me so many headaches.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I've been to a lot, but not any obscure ones. (And can any of Shakespeare's plays really be considered obscure?)

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Wha?

18) Roth or Updike?
Never read either! Oh dear.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Sedaris, I think.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
I haven't read any of them since high school. I really should try them as an adult.

21) Austen or Eliot?
I don't think I've ever read Eliot, but there's no way she's going to beat Austen.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Umm, "real" literature, obviously.

23) What is your favorite novel?
This Rought Magic, by Mary Stewart.

24) Play?
I haven't read too many plays, though I've seen lots. I LOVE musicals. The old-school big ones with lots of cheesy singing and choreographed dancing. The Music Man, Guys & Dolls, South Pacific.

25) Poem?
No thanks.

26) Essay?
I'm not really sure it counts as an essay, but I've loved "Caring for Your Introvert" by Jonathan Rauch ever since I discovered it years ago.

27) Short story?
I'm not much of a short story reader.

28) Work of nonfiction?
I don't read much nonficiton either! But I'm sure I can come up with something. Hmmmm. Martin's Hundred, by Ivor Noel Hume. Web Design in a Nutshell, by Jennifer Robbins. How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman.

29) Who is your favorite writer?
One? No way. Mary Stewart, L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Eva Ibbotson, Jennifer Crusie, Sara Donati, Lois McMaster Bujold, Sharon Shinn

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Dan Brown

31) What is your desert island book?
Are you tired of hearing about The Blue Castle yet?

32) And... what are you reading right now?
The Sharing Knife: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's fabulous!!!