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!!!

Meme - 6 unimportant things about me.

Jill tagged me for this meme.

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six unimportant things about you
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blog.


1. I sometimes daydream about having a lady's maid. Someone who would keep my clothes nice and pick out what I would wear every day. Because I like to look nice, but I hate shopping and there are about a million things I'd rather do than fuss with clothes. As it is, I just can't be bothered and end up wearing jeans and a sweater every day.

2. I've started taking step aerobics classes and I love them. I'd never done it before and it always struck me as an odd, 1980s sort of thing. But it's actually really fun.

3. I have recently rediscovered pears. I decided as a child that I didn't like them (I don't know why), but now I think they're one of my favorite fruits. Even the canned kind is good.

4. I really need a haircut.

5. My brother and sister and I all have this habit (given to us by our father) of being reminded of show tune lyrics in the middle of conversations and proceeding to sing them. An example: Today I met Twin for lunch and I mentioned the Carolina basketball game tonight and how they were going to trounce NC State. She sang, "Pounce him! Trounce him! Pick him up and bounce him!" (From Oliver!) Don't worry, we don't do it in front of strangers.

6. My favorite TV show right now is Psych. It makes me laugh.

I can't remember who hasn't been tagged -- so whoever hasn't done this yet, you're it. :)

Desktop meme

Megan and Nath tagged me for this, so I'd better get on it.

Here's my desktop at work:


I'm not sure why I like this path-through-the-woods picture so much. Scope for the imagination?

At home Twin and I share a Mac, lovingly named MegaMac (as opposed to the ibook we had named MiniMac). My desktop at work is pretty neat, but poor MegaMac doesn't get the same treatment. He's so messy, I won't embarrass him by displaying his desktop. ;)

Meme, meme!

Devon tagged me for this one.

1. Total number of books I own: My collection's not really that big yet. I currently have 427 in my Librarything account--that's all fiction, books I've read and decided were keepers. I counted my TBR (EEK! Damn you, Devon! Cuz I didn't think it was this bad), and that total is 207. Plus I'm guessing around 100 books of nonfiction scattered around. So what's that, 725 or so?

2. Last book I bought: I was going to be very good and wait to get Agnes and the Hit Man from the library. But they're so slow, and it's been getting such good reviews. I was in Target tonight and I couldn't help myself. It was 30% off. I also bought Kidnapped! by Jo Leigh (even though I think that exclamation points in titles should be forbidden--SRSLY).

3. Last book I read: A Wild Pursuit, by Eloisa James. Review to come. :)

4. Five books that mean a lot to me:



Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Seuss - My parents read a lot to me as a kid. I can still remember a lot of those books, but like many, many other children, this is one that certainly made a big impression.

The Great Brain, John D. Fitzgerald - Another one read to me, but I think it's also one of the first chapter books I read multiple times on my own.

Desiree, Annemarie Selinko - IIRC, the first real "grown-up" book I read. Still love to re-read this one.

The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery - My ultimate comfort read. Sick, sad, whatever the problem, this is the remedy.

This Rough Magic, Mary Stewart - My favorite book by my favorite author.

I think most people have done this meme by now, but if you haven't, join in the fun! :)

Twin, Dad, and I are off tomorrow to the mountains for some camping. Woo hoo! I might have pictures to share when I get back. To all the Americans - happy long weekend!

2's and 4's Meme

Nath tagged me for this here meme.

Two names you go by:
1. Jennie (My real name is Jennifer, like about a zillion other girls in my generation, but no one ever calls me that.)
2. I'm sadly lacking in nicknames. Though Twin calls me all sorts of things: Pookie, Poopy, Squishy, Cherie-bear, Coo-coo pig. (Awww, aren't we cute.)

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. My "Virginia Is for Lovers" T-shirt
2. Red sneakers

Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship:
1. Mutual respect
2. Dude better have some money. (Okay, I'm kidding. I just feel tired today.)

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. Reading
2. Eating chocolate. (Both at once is best.)

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. A complete set of UK edition Harry Potter
2. Milano cookies

Two pets you had/have:
1. A wire-haired terrier named Jake was our childhood pet. He was a little monster.
2. We killed some goldfish once.

Two things you did last night:
1. Proofread
2. Uploaded content onto the FABULOUS NEW WEBSITE: ROMANTIC ADVANCES

Two things you ate today:
1. Turkey sandwich.
2. Kashi's Tasty Little Crackers in cheddar flavor. I just discovered them and I LOVE them. They're even better than Goldfish and I didn't think that was possible.

Two people you last talked to:
1. Boss
2. Man at the deli

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. Sleeping A LOT.
2. Going to a book sale.

Two longest car rides:
1. My parent's house in SE Virginia to Chicago. On a family camping trip when I was 10 or so. We got to Chicago at 2 AM and the pop-up trailer wouldn't pop up so we had to sleep in the van. That was fun.
2. SE Virginia to Daytona Beach. On a bus with my high school band. Yes, I was a band dork and proud of it.

Two favorite holidays:
1.Christmas (by far and away my favorite holiday)
2. My birthday. Because I get to be all special.

Two favorite beverages:
1. Diet Coke. Loooves the diet coke.
2. Crystal Light lemonade mixed half and half with green tea. Hmmm. So summery.


Four things About ME!

Things you may not have known about me:
1. Summer is my favorite season.
2. I am so happy it's finally warm.
3. Anything below 80 degrees is TOO COLD.
4. If I never get married and have kids, I'm going to retire at the age of 50 and travel the world.

***And I've answered the rest of these before. So you can see my real answers here. Following is what I WISH I could answer.***

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Travel writer
2. Owner of an independent bookstore. Like this fabulous one in Corolla, NC. (It's so cute, and I would kill to live on the Outer Banks.)
3. Artist of some sort (if only I had the talent)
4. Professional book reader. (This would be someone paying me to just read books--no review to write, no editing to worry about. Just read whatever I want.)

Four places I have lived:
1. Southern Italy
2. Charleston, SC
3. P.E.I., Canada (but only in the summer)
4. Caribbean island

A meme experiment.

Megan tagged me with the Thinking Blogger Award. Thanks, Megan! This got me thinking (appropriate, eh?), where do memes like this start? Who does it? And then I decided I wanted to start one myself and see what happened. So I can harass my blogging buddies. :D

The Little-Known Favorites Meme
Rules: List and describe three of your favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. Then tag five people. See, easy!

Books I love that you might not have heard of:

The Thin Woman, by Dorothy Cannell - The funniest mystery ever, imo. British humor. Ellie Simons doesn't want to show up at a family reunion alone, so she hires Bentley T. Haskell from an escort agency. Ellie's eccentric uncle takes a liking to Ben, and when the uncle dies suddenly a couple months later, Ellie finds out that the uncle has left everything to her and Ben. With the stipulation that they live together at his house, Merlin Court, for a year. She must lose 4 stone (she's overweight) and he must actually finish writing a book (he's a struggling writer).

I have loved this book so hard the binding has come loose and the text block has fallen into three pieces. I need to buy a new copy.

Desiree, Annemarie Selinko - Fabulous historical fiction! Desiree Clary is the youngest daughter of a French silk merchant. Her sister Julie becomes engaged to a young man named Joseph Bonaparte. Desiree meets Joseph's charismatic brother Napoleon and promptly falls in love with him. Napoleon is a lowly general currently much out of favor in the military. He has great ambition though, which eventually leads him to jilt poor Desiree in his haste to move up the political and social ladder. But don't worry, Desiree meets someone else who's much better. ;)

This book is like a history lesson, only interesting and fun. LOL. It taught me who all of Napoleon's siblings were and which conquered countries he made them regents of. But really, it is a fascinating look at the rise and fall of Napoleon. It was also made into a movie with Marlon Brando, but I've never been able to find a copy.

Celia Garth, Gwen Bristow - More historical fiction. Celia is a young lady living in Charleston during the American Revolution. Once Charleston falls to the British, she helps the patriot cause by becoming part of a spy network---listening for gossip among the occupying forces, and then passing it along to the American side. And there's a wonderful love story. I've tried other Bristows and not been impressed, but this is an old favorite. Look at that funny cover!

I tag:
Megan (HA! Not too happy you tagged me now, are you? Mwahaha!)
JMC
Rosario
Cindy S.
Dance Chica