I was tagged by Kelly (Writers Words) and Mary Louisa (Yes, I do Mind) for a Book Meme. You list 15 facts, personal preferences, and quirks about books. Not easy! Here goes:
1. I think a book should be made to last--acid-free paper, sewn (not glued), hard cover, etc. Only a book made with care has the right feel to me.
2. Once I start a book, I feel compelled to finish, no matter how awful it might be. I've put down only a few books in my life.
3. Case in point re #2, Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I was prepared to be blown away by his creation of a back story for the Wizard of Oz. Instead, I was disturbed by how badly his story meshed with Dorothy's journey to see the Wizard. The part which should've been the focus seemed an afterthought.
4. I'll use just about anything as a bookmark rather than dog-ear the pages. However, I routinely dog-eared pages when I was younger.
5. When I was nine, I starting reading (er, trying to read) "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe. I think I was inspired by a film strip (for anyone under the age of 20, a film strip was a celluloid series of pictures fed through a projector, one picture at a time. Sound, if available, was provided by a separate cassette tape). ;)
6. My cousin tried to scare me one night when I was 10 by telling me about Jodi the red-eyed pig in The Amityville Horror. Intrigued, I read the book when I was 11 (how did I get my mother to buy that???).
7. I was mesmerized by the Flowers in the Attic series by V.C. Andrews (when she was still a person instead of a corpse animated by a ghost writer) when I was 12. (Note to self: don't die without next of kin. Your extended family will have no shame exploiting you).
8. Dust jackets come off my books before I read them. It might take years before I put them back on.
9. I read A Christmas Carol to my young children, unabridged.
10. My friends and I wrote a sequel to "The Jabberwocky" called "Revenge of the Bandersnatch."
11. I have 5 to go? I think in the future this should be the 10 book things meme.
12. I have a few handmade books made by The Roycrofters. I used to live in East Aurora, where the Roycroft campus was located.
13. Many books are my favorites. I don't think I could choose one above the others.
14. In college, I took a bunch of 18th century literature courses. Consequently, I read nearly nothing of the modern "greats," e.g., James Joyce.
15. When those scholastic order forms for books would come in elementary school, I would always snatch up any ghost/paranormal/mystery stories. Hmmm. I guess it started young.
There we are! Now I tag Coyote Beta, Bunneh, and Kara. Have fun!
15 comments:
I don't think I ever dog-eared pages, which is funny because I actually don't care in what state my books return to me when I lend them. But dog-earing? Hell no. :)
jason- Ah, those scholastic order forms in elementary school. I used to sign up for the spooky/paranormal stuff myself. :)
Cool list! And for the record, I LOVE Poe and was nodding when reading your notes about his books! I can relate.
Jason, I love your list. V.C. Andrews, Flowers In The Attic was a great book. It held me captive and forced me to continue to read her work.
Alright Jason, I'll get right on this. This is a tough one though...it may take a little bit of time.
Odd about the dog-earing. I did the same when I was younger; now I book mark.
Although I will dog-ear when I want to refer back to something. And I underline. But only certain authors.
You're not the only one - I've only ever not finished 2 books that I've started.
And I still haven't gotten round to reading the Flowers in the Attic books.
Anne, dog-earing is very untidy. ;)
Jeff, I still have some of them!
Robin, I love Victorian English. Match that with Poe's themes, and you've got some serious stuff.
Joanne, I once read a theory about the popularity of Flowers in the Attic. V.C. Andrews was in a wheelchair from a young age (always?) and never married. Her view of love/relationships was frozen in an adolescent-like state, making her especially popular among teenagers. Plus, you can't beat the weirdness of imprisonment in the attic!
Kara, it's tough. Sorry to drop it you. ;)
Chemical Billy, ooh, I have a confession. I dog-eared my favorite line in Anne Frasier's Sleep Tight. It's a paperback though....
Terri, give V.C Andrews a try! Don't read anything past the mid 1980's though. She died of cancer then. Everything since is ghost-written.
"Once I start a book, I feel compelled to finish, no matter how awful it might be. I've put down only a few books in my life"
I can't say the same. I've actually got a wall-banger's box. Many a book have landed there. :-)
Tanya
Thanks for playing, Jason!! And I always take the jacket covers off the hardbacks too. Very annoying, those. =D
Hey Jason, this is a great list you've got there man. Cool :)
Tanya, your approach is much healthier!
Farzad, care to join in with the meme?
well done, jason, well done indeed
there's so much here to talk about - i don't know where to start...
i read anything that keeps my attention for more than 50 pages (no made how bad) - so there are only a few books i've ditched as well. i think i was the same age or so when i read the pit and the pendulum - still one of my faves... i concur about dog-earing, i only dog-ear a book if there's a neat statement on that page.
i'd love to read the "Revenge of the Bandersnatch"
I found your blog via Terri's. I always finish a book no matter how bad it is. I read Amityville Horror around the age of 11-13. The red-eyed pig Jody scared the crap out of me. My brother and twin sister always loved scaring me about it. In later years they gave me a candle that looked just like a red-eyed pig. :)
Myfit, another young Poe reader! Interesting. You mention a sad subject. We wrote Revenge of the Bandersnatch back in 1982 or so. Around a year later, I moved, and in the confusion of moving, I lost the thing. My friend and I both checked our stuff for it, but we never did find it. :(
BeadinggalinMS, welcome to The Clarity of Night! A candle that looks like Jodi--oh my God, that's great! Probably the freakiest thing in that book was Jodi. Didn't she rock in the girl's rocking chair? The idea of an empty rocking chair moving is very unnerving to me!
Hope to see you back.
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