Guilty Pleasures discussion
10 Things About You & Books
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1. What are you reading right now? I just, just started Pale Fire by Nabokov
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
I’ve got a pile to choose from, although I might go out and get something new nothing in the pile is really tempting me
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
None, I try and stay away from magazines, they’re expensive and shitty for the environment
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
I don’t know if I was forced, unless forcing yourself counts, but Homocore: the loud and raucous rise of queer rock is one of my all time most hated books
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
I shamefully never go to the library, the guy that runs the weird little used bookstore knows me though.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Nobody ever wants to read Roddy Doyle for some reason, why not, he’s so amazing!
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
Not in the bath, I hate when books get wet
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
I used to read while walking from one class to another in elementary school, but nobody bothered me about it
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Wide Sargasso Sea
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
No, I spend enough time staring at a computer
1. What are you reading right now? Several, but most intently: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
I have really got to try to finish this damn collection of Joseph Brodsky poems. I will never, EVER read a "complete collection" of a poet again--at least not a Russian male poet. *smirk*
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
I don't keep magazines in the bathroom. Is that unusual? I think that may be a man's question. Ladies, do y'all read on the toilet?
I don't really read magazines much anyway. I bought a subscription to Cooking Light, but they just collect dust. I buy Paste occasionally but only for the free cd. I did just buy a cool little literary journal, Ecotone, which I will probably subscribe to b/c it's just fabulous!
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Oh, hands down, the Bible.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
It's two actually: This Bridge Called My Back and its twenty-year follow-up, this bridge we call home. Go read them now, people!
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
I have enough books here at the house to keep me busy for the REST OF MY LIFE. Most of the books that are newer acquisitions are used from Amazon, yardsales, or thrift stores. If there is something I need from the library, I usually end up going to my university library where I jsut blend in with all the other thousands of students.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
I can't think of one. If people don't like the books I like, then there is obviously something wrong with them! *heeheehee*
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
No. I am too easily distracted. I can't write with other distractions either.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Nope.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
I've stayed up later than I should've several nights with the Malcolm X book, but as far as compulsive page-turners go, it was Lisa Scottoline's Dirty Blonde, and that wasn't really b/c it was so exciting (b/c it wasn't). It was just that I hadn't read any "fluff" in a really long time.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
OH MY GAWD, NOOOOOOO! I must have the sensory experience of reading. Holding the book in my hands, feeling the paper between my fingers, smelling the new book or old book smell, hugging it to me... I love books as objects as much as I love them for the stories or information they carry. Plus, I like to mark up my books--in pen, in my own hand (another reason why I don't like renting books from the library). After so many years in school, I almost can't read without underlining, especially scholarly articles, which I also have to print out from pdfs b/c I just can't stand to read them on the computer. It's like I'm not really having the experience if it's not "f2f."
:)
1. What are you reading right now?
WASHINGTON: THE INDISPENSABLE MAN, by James Thomas Flexner.
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
FELLOW TRAVELERS, by Thomas Mallon.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
None.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
A short story of mine, in front of a Creative writing class.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, by Roald Dahl.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
Only one of them does, but the others smile knowingly at me.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
LOVE AMONG THE CHICKENS, by P. G. Wodehouse.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
I try, at lunch, to read, but I can only do it before I actually start eating or just after. Interrupting my meal in order to read frustrates my senses.
I don't like trying to read while a movie is on, even during commercials.
I can read newspaper columns while music plays, but I cannot read fiction, poetry or poetic nonfiction with it on.
I have never tried to read a book while using the computer. I have sometimes referred to a computer manual when I was using a computer, but that doesn't really stay within the scope of this question. I'm surprised people read books for pleasure while on the computer.
I don't read while engaged in sexual activity. Literary phrases may pop into my head, however.
I don't read while driving. I occasionally read when I'm a passenger in a car and almost always when I'm a train passenger.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
When I wasn't precisely little; that is, when I was in eighth grade, two kids, on separate occasions, noticing I was carrying around Dostoevsky's THE IDIOT, came up to me and said, "Readin' about yourself, huh?"
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN, Thomas Mallon's novel about the hometown of the losing candidate in the 1948 presidential elction. It's about over-confidence.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
No, what I like about digital reading is its tendency to be interactive. If there's not a chance of someone on the other end answering what I type on the screen, the digital world holds no interest for me. Books are finite. A book on the internet has to be walked through as if one was in a tunnel. A book between two covers can be measured. You never know how long a book in a digital format is going to be.
I don't read while engaged in sexual activity. Literary phrases may pop into my head, however.Oooh, do share some with us!
:)
I said "Literary phrases may pop into my head.""May" is the key word here. I'm still waiting for a brilliant thought to occur at such a moment!
LOL. You guys are funny! Thanks for indulging my little questionnaire. :-)
This was a great questionnaire. I actually answered it on September 9th, but, just as i clicked "send" my computer announced that Goodreads was down for maintenance. I'd spent forty minutes writing my answers! So I tried again the next night, writing much more quickly and with much more brevity.
I can't believe we don't have more responses!Hello, all you 300+ other members, get in here and be group-y, dammit!
1. What are you reading right now?The Scarlet Letter
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Maybe some Henry James...
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
None.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Either The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd or A Girl Named Charlie Lester by Carissa Halston.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
No. I'm more of a bookstore girl.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
I'm always afraid of getting food on books, so I rarely read while eating.
Definitely not while bathing because water + books = soggy pages.
As long as the music doesn't have lyrics, I can listen while reading. Otherwise, I get distracted.
EDIT: I completely missed the TV/movies question. But still no. I have a one track mind when it comes to entertainment.
I read things on the computer, but not books.
No reading during sex as that could be considered rude, but maybe during foreplay...
I don't know how to drive.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
I remember being teased about nearing everything, so probably.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Outside the Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
Certainly not. I need the comforting texture of pages against my fingertips.
Belinda, I ADORED Sister Carrie!And how do you not know how to drive? That always fascinates me in the car-happy US. (Assuming you're in the US)
1. What are you reading right now?Lot of stuff, but most earnestly, Cannery Row.
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Probably Dear Mr. Henshaw since that's a library book and currently sitting in my pile. However, I may also finish one of the many math related books I'm reading.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
None. They stay in the living room. The ones I get are my teacher union magazine and the CMC math periodical. Others are around as well, but aren't my subscription.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Arrowsmith. Hated it. If you just look at a plot outline, it seems like it would be good. However, something happened between the outline and the actual book that took the goodness out of it.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Don't really have one. Perhaps, Les Miserables since it's my favorite.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
They might, except for the fact that I go to the Central library downtown which is huge and always seems to have different librarians on duty. I don't think I've ever been helped by the same one.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Not that I can think of, but I'm sure one exists.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
Eat - yes.
Bathe - no.
Movies & TV - no
Computer - no
Sex - no
Driving - no
I like to focus on what I'm reading and not be distracted from it.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No, they were just amazed at how many books I read.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
Not generally, but they are awesome for traveling. We load up the Palm Pilot with several. Much lighter. However, if I'm not in that situation, I far prefer the real thing.
In response to Frederick's post:Something like that happened to me that night too. I was about to post a comment on another group and when I clicked "post" it came up with the "maintenance" message. Alas, I didn't even try posting my message again, got distracted by something else and ended up abandoning and forgetting the thought altogether. Hehe.
Bravo for reposting your answers!
I'm kinda surprised to find out that none of the women who posted a response don't read books while taking a bath. It may sound silly but I'm curious now if reading in the bath is really more of a straight-woman-stereotype? Or is it just something that the film industry has made up for aesthetic reasons?
Mindy, I am in the US. I've always lived in cities. Mass transit has been kind to me. :)And hooray for another Dreiser fan! What other books do you love?
Too many to list, Belinda! You can check for shelves, though, to get some idea. :)Charmless, I think reading in the tub is a romantic myth. I've tried, but its really awkward, and I'm always worried about getting the book wet.
1. What are you reading right now?No One Belongs Here More Than You, by Miranda July
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Maybe Sons and and Other Flammable Objects, by Porochista Khakpour, if I remember to get a copy by then. It's not as if I don't have a few shelves of books I've already bought.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
Yeah, uh, I don't do that.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
At the time (in high school), I thought Emily Dickinson's poetry was the worst thing ever. Later, I gave it another try and have since realized her poetry is one of the best things I've ever read.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
I know of no such book. For one thing, I'm too indecisive. And getting all the people I know to read a particular book would not be a good use of my time.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
Yes, but only because my office is in that building.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
No. There's usually some difference in response when I recommend books I love, but nothing that extreme.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
Overall, yes, I tend to multi-task while reading. I prefer books that will lie flat so I don't have to hold them while eating. This kind of book also comes in handy on the treadmill, where I need to read *and* listen to music to distract me from the fact that I'm not really going anywhere.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No. One of my best friends in elementary school was a voracious reader, but she didn't tease me about it. We were both in the top tier of our reading class, although she have been in the off-the-charts tier.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Technically, it would be Call Me by Your Name, but some nights it kept me up because the part I was reading was so good, but a lot of it was kind of underwhelming so I would try to get to the next really good part. Shortly before that, I read Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You; I had a lot of trouble putting that one down.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
Somewhat. I'm hoping it will soon be more affordable and that the technology will allow notetaking. If I can develop the habit to write digitally, I can become comfortable reading digitally.
Charmless:I have come up with a plan to beat the Goodreads glitch: If I REALLY am happy with an answer or review I'm ABOUT to post, I'll copy it and then try to post. If it can't be posted, I'll paste what I wrote in an email to myself and cut-and-paste it into a Goodreads space later.
Also, I notice I forgot to mention whether I read or not while bathing. I don't. I usually shower instead of soak in a tub, but even in the tub it's never occurred to me to read anything.
I notice very few of us read while answering nature's call. We are very good citizens!
1. What are you reading right now? Queer street
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
i have a pile of books lined up but im too busy to read them. or maybe im just too lazy..
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
we dont put magazines in the bathroom
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
bible yes! and the other one was actually not forced to me. it was recommended by a friend and i tried to read it.. unfortunately, until now im not yet finished.. i lost my interest. so.. thats it. oh, its "fountainhead" by ayn rand..?(not sure about the spelling)
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
tuesday's with morrie by mitch albom
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
i would love to go to libraries.. but it would take too much time if i'll go there. anyway, i have books here that still needs to be read.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
i dont know. sometimes im too lucky to meet people who liked the book i read. some people just dont read.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
no. i dont read while im doing something. i easily get distracted with things. i just read when i have a free time and when its quiet. i sometimes read with a music.
how do you read while driving anyway??lol
and whle having sex?? i dont think so. your partner will probably hit you with your book.lol
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
when i was a kid, i wasnt really interested with books. too lazy to read. so there are no teasing 'bout books. in highschool i became interested with it.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
it was a book by sydney sheldon that i borrowed from a friend who recommended the author. i was hooked with it. too bad i forgot the title.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
actually i started online reading before i started buying lots of books. it was actually fanfictions. i still do. nothings wrong with it. some of them are already published, so yes, i have read books online and still do. only problem is your eyes will be too exposed to the screen. but the thing is jyou get to read without spending too much buying. though sometimes when i liked the book so much, i wished to buy it. still its a different feeling when your holding the book cause you can read it anywhere you go.
Hmmmm . . . I don't think reading in the bathtub is a straight girl thing/myth. Both my P and I adore reading in the bathtub. It does, however, require a little planning and a well situated bathtub. But its cold and rainy outside and a bubble bath with my book and a fresh cup of coffee sounds divine. 1. What are you reading right now?
Where the Girls Are and So You Want to be a Lesbian (circa 1995 cultural survey which is semi-hilarious and WAY out of date).
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Ah! A novel I hope. I am in the midst of a project and am reading loads of feminista books. Perhaps The True and Amazing Adventures of the Hunt Sisters] for a book club, although I am really craving some Edith Wharton and would love to read [b:Summer.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
Yeah, I don't do that either. But my family room has stacks of Cooking Light and The New Yorker. The rest we read online
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Heart of Darkness. Pretty much anything by Conrad makes me feel murderous as a result of boredom and overwhelming misogyny.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Old New York by Edith Wharton.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
Pretty much, although mostly at my local charity shop.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
My Name is Asher Lev.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
While I'm having sex? Um, no. I don't even think in English then but certainly while I eat and bathe.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
All the freaking time.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
Not really. My eyes are already overwhelmed with all the work I do on my laptop and I SO PREFER the feel of a book in my hands
I don't even think in English thenNow that's good stuff!
Charmless,Reading in the bath requires taking baths. I hate them and only shower. Reading in the shower seems very awkward. =)
Adam:Hairstyles of the Damned sounds quite interesting. I kinda checked out the interwebs trolling for a little info about the book and ran into the NPR feature with a little excerpt the I found quite amusing.
Thanks for the recommendation. I've now marked it as one of my "to-read" books.
Belinda:
I felt like giving you a hug when I read this part of your questionnaire: "I remember being teased about nearly(?) everything."
Mindy:
I drive but most of the time, when my destination isn't too far I prefer to walk or take the little shuttle around my neighborhood when I'm not in a hurry. In all honesty, with the gas prices that we have now, there are times when I wish I didn't have a car.
James:
I had similar experience with Dickinson. I found her poetry rather strange when I first came across it.
It was only later on, when I was a little older and had a little bit of life experience that I understood what they meant and embraced the resonance. (And the odd thing is, um, Dickinson seldom ventured outside the comfort of her bedroom. So much wisdom in spite of her isolation! Quite impressive, don't ya think?)
Frederick:
That's definitely a good idea! Especially when you've already typed a long response and pouf! the connection drops it. That would be quite frustrating.
Jenny:
"Your partner will probably hit you with your book. lol."
Now that's funny! LOL.
Courtney:
Good point! Reading in the bathtub does require planning and a well-situated bathtub. Had my tub been separate from my shower, I'd probably try it. Candles, salts and all! ;-)
Nicole:
I don't know if this is relevant but back in college (a hundred years ago!!! hehe), I used to tape lyrics of a new song on the outer side of the shower glass door so I can read, sing and master them while showering. LOL.
1. What are you reading right now?"The Epicure's Lament" Kate Christensen
"Here Be Dragons" Sharon Kay Penman
"Next Season" Michael Blakemore
"The Emerging Professional Counselor" Jeffrey Kottler, Richard Hazler
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Probably Phillip Roth's "The Dying Animal" and John Cheever's "Falconer". And "Jeremy Thrane" by Kate Christensen. I always have several books going at once: the bus book, the bath book, the curled up on the sofa book, the book I'm reading to do research for a book I'm writing, the book I'm test driving to read after I finish one I'm currently reading etc.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
I don't read magazines, but I do have books in there because I read in the bath.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Hmmm, forced to read? I think there were a number of things I was assigned to read in school way too early that I have since reread and had a very different take of. For example, we read "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" when I was in the 9th grade and I hated it. I read it again in my forties and felt devastated by it. I also felt the same way about Falkner's "Light in August" - if he can have run-on sentences, why can't I????? That sort of thing.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
It's not one book, it's a series of six - "The Lymond Chronicles" by Dorothy Dunnett. An amazing series I discovered by accident. There are two reference texts that are companion books to this and her other series as her main characters are multilingual. I've never read such an erudite author's works. I consider myself to be well read, but I had a dictionary on my lap while I read them. And, given how that sounds, she has whopping good plot lines with an astounding range of fascinating characters with great depth. Truly amazing.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
I hate to say I don't use the library, but I don't.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Often people around me haven't read or heard of the books I read, so it doesn't really come up. It's more that others absolutely love something and I have no interest in that book, or don't get it at all. I couldn't finish "The Da Vinci Code" if you paid me a lot of money. So I've kept my mouth shut about that one;-)
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
I read while I eat, absolutely. In fact I will choose books that will stay open without assistance, or conversely will not choose certain foods or meals in a restaurant because it would require too much cutting things up or using both hands. I won't eat a sandwich unless I can eat it one-handed because I need that other hand to hold the book. Also no messy food that might sully the pages.
I read on the computer (I read a lot of fiction online).
Not while I'm having sex. Not fair to the other person. And not while I'm driving because I don't drive. And again, not fair to the other person. I mean, I love "Crime and Punishment", I just don't want that to be the story of what happens to me when I crash the car, kill several people and end up in prison.
I always read in the bath, it's how I unwind at the end of the day. How often I have to add hot water to the bath is a good indicator of how into the book I am.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Yeah. I could never make myself read the "in" books the cool kids read. When we did book reports, all the popular kids did reports on the same books. No one had ever heard of the books I reported on. My favorite two days in the entire school year were when the Scholastic Books order forms were passed out and when the boxes of books would arrive and get passed out in class. It was heaven, true heaven.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
I'm very fond of sleep and don't read in bed. And besides, I'd already spent an hour and a half in the bathtub reading! I would say that a comparable situation would be those Dorothy Dunnett books. I was writing my dissertation at the time that I read the first one and was trying a reward system. If I did a certain amount of work, I could get the next book in the series. Then I could read a few chapters etc. I blew that agreement with myself over and over again. I felt like an addict, I just couldn't stop. I hadn't felt like that since I read Dostoevsky and read in elevators between stops and walked into sign posts because I couldn't put it down.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
I've never read anything on a Kindle or something like that. I like the heft of a book and turning real pages.
I'm going to add another bonus question or two:
A. What book are you embarrassed to admit you haven't ever read? (This one came from an agent's blog I read, Nathan Bransford.
"Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. Although I really like his grandson's music;-)
B. What "classic" couldn't you finish reading or finished but didn't like?
"Catcher in the Rye"
if he can have run-on sentences, why can't I?????bwwaahhhahahahah!
And oh, how I loved those Scholastic book days!!!
A. There are just so many classics, but I try not to worry about them too much. Being embarrassed would imply that people who have read them are somehow "better" than me, and I definitely don't need any assistance with my low self-esteem. *wink* Having said that, I was quite impressed with myself after I finished War & Peace, and not just b/c it was such a monumental effort. It carries cultural credentials, of course.
B. I don't consider this a classic, but the only book I ever purposefully did not finish (in fact, I threw it in the garbage so its poison wouldn't spread any further) was Atlas Shrugged.
1. What are you reading right now? Plays by Terrence McNally because he'll be on the campus where I teach in November.
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Finish The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz is also coming to my campus).
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
TITLE 9 catalogues & The New Yorker
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Tax codes.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
LOVE, DEATH & THE CHANGING OF THE SEASONS by Marilyn Hacker (Oh, and my new novel, FOR THE MAY QUEEN).
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
No. My library is too big & impersonal for that.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
MOBY DICK.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
Well, BEFORE & AFTER sex. Better than a cigarette.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No. They admired me.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
Haven't tried it.
Courtney, I'm sending you a virtual high five to commiserate over our mutual hatred for Joseph Conrad.Lisa, are you enjoying The Epicure's Lament? I adored it.
Kate, Terrence McNally rules. I'm envious that you get to meet him.
Charmless, I'm sheepish over my typo, but will gladly accept your hug all the same.
Charmless:Hairstyles of the Damned is one of my favourites for sure, I highly recommend it. Going to the Perpetual Motion Roadshow when Joe Meno was on the tour was one of my best experiences seeing an author.
Lisa:
Moby Dick is my “haven’t read” book as well, I tried a couple of times but just couldn’t get into it.
another bonus question....!!A. What book are you embarrassed to admit you haven't ever read?
"wuthering heights, and a couple of other classics."
B. What "classic" couldn't you finish reading or finished but didn't like?
"fountainhead by ayn rand"
Hey Mindy - I've read War and Peace as well (don't know too many folks who have as it indicates a fair amount of time available and perseverance) - it took 4 or 5 tries to do it as I'd get to page 118 or thereabouts, some time would pass, and I'd forget who everyone was. But I was glad to have read it as I got really involved in the various storylines. I was very taken with Russian writers when I was about 18 or 19.
I hated Atlas Shrugged too! And I thought it was really badly written to boot, very stilted and awkward. Yuck.
Belinda, I'm almost at the end of The Epicure's Lament, and yes, I've really enjoyed it. Have you read any other's of hers, like Jeremy Thrane? I'm hoping to find out who her agent is so I can query that person for my novel. There's a similar sort of tone to Hugo's character.Oh, and I like that this is the sort of place where one can high five another member over a mutual hatred of Joseph Conrad LOL. Only wish there'd been such a group when I was in school!
1. What are you reading right now? "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks, and "Maiden Voyage" by Tania Aebi.
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
"The Last Town on Earth" by Thomas Mullen is the next library book on my list.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
Booklist, Entertainment Weekly, BUST, assorted catalogs from REI and Eddie Bauer... yes, I like to read magazines while, um, passing time in the bathroom.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
"The Scarlet Letter" in junior high. I think the reading level might have been too difficult or cryptic for me at that age, but finishing it was like pulling teeth.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
"Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson, one of the most gorgeous yet accessible books ever written, in my opinon. I keep loaning out my copy, never getting it back, then having to buy it again. More recently, "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, which is beautifully written, engaging, and made me sob at the end.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
I share my bed with a sexy librarian, so, oh yes, she knows me on a first name basis! ;)
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
"Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell. I'm so besotted with this book that I've been afraid to read it a second time in case it isn't as good as it was when I was 16. I've recommended it to many people who either scoff and dismiss me, or read it and shrug.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
I'll say yes on the eating and bathing (though I haven't figured out how people read in the tub without the book getting wet... is there a secret?). And I always read while on the bus. I have read while walking down the street, though I've seen others almost get hit by cars doing the same thing, so this is a risky premise.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
If they did, I didn't notice, because I was too busy reading. :)
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
"Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You" by Peter Cameron. OK, the novel wasn't huge, so I didn't really need to stay up half the night... but it was the last one that I read that I wished was twice as long. I didn't want it to end, it was so fabulously well-written, funny, and sad.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
Ugh, no. I sit at the computer long enough every day, at work and at home. I consider reading a physical book a treat, a sort of solitude of solace.
Hi James, I LOVED "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You" as well... I just posted my answers to the survey, then have been scrolling around to read everyone else's... glad to see that someone else put down the same book for that question! :)Cheers, Linda/coffeeboss
Finished "The Epicure's Lament" last night! Mmmmm, very satifying:-)
Coffeeboss, I LOVED "Gone With The Wind". I first read it at riding camp when I was about 12 or 13. They had a copy lying around so I appropriated it. I was engrossed. And then horrified, in that fascinated adolescent way to discover that Mitchell hadn't written anything else and had been killed in a car accident. I bought another copy a few years ago which I love because although it's not a first or anything, it looks very old and worthy of it's place on the bookshelf.
Coffeeboss, I wish I shared my bed with a sexy librarian! ;-) Alas, none of my neighborhood librarians are really boink-material. Hehe.. . . Btw, GWTW is also one of my faves. I first read it when I was 15. I was so engrossed by it that I practically read the entire book in one sitting. And I was as disappointed as Lisa when I couldn't find any other books written by Mitchell. (Yeah, she was hit by a speeding car while crossing the street. She was only 48 years old when she died.)
1. What are you reading right now?Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti. It's the kind of book I'd give to someone who says feminism is dead or maybe a teenage girl.
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Um. Perhaps something a bit fluffy. I've been reading heavy stuff lately.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
The Advocate and Curve.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Crime & Punishment in High School. I never did finish it. Not that it's a bad book, I just couldn't read it at the time.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
No, but they know me as the video store girl and I know them as the librarians.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison!
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
Sometimes I'll play a little jazz or blues while I read but otherwise, no.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Not really but my girlfriend teases me now. I ignore her when I read! She hates it.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Wow, it's been quite some time since I did that. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides perhaps.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
I've never read a digital book and I don't think I'd like it.
Full Frontal FeminismOooh, that sounds awesome! I'm going to add that to my overflowing to-read shelf now!
And I, too, loved GWTW, though I had seen the film upmty-million times, so the characters in my mind as I read inevitably looked like the ones in the film (which I also adore).
Mindy, I hate to admit it because it's supposed to be one of the greatest films of all time, but I have never seen GWTW, the movie. I've seen the famous clip with Vivienne Leigh being told the "I don't a give a damn!" line by Clark Gable, but I've never seen the entire film. They have revival screenings of GWTW here in Los Angeles but a part of me, I think, is afraid that my appreciation of the book would be slightly diminished if I go check out the movie. (And I hear, the film's a bit long. Although, when I read the book, I didn't even feel weighed down by the number of pages because of the clarity and accessibility of Margaret Mitchell's writing.)
I do think of checking it out someday though, and when that day comes, "as God is my witness, I'll never be" clueless about Gone With the Wind, the film, again! ;-)
1. What are you reading right now? The Gargoyle
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Whatever is on top of the stack.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
I collect magazines so I would NEVER leave one in the bathroom.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Anne of Green Gables
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
The Satanic Bible
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
No, but Borders workers do.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
The New Dictionary of Thoughts A Cyclopedia of Quotations
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
While I'm watching TV and listening to music.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
That would have been too far down on the list of things to mock me about.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
A Deep Kiss of Winter
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
Love it when it comes to pirates or indie books
1. What are you reading right now? Saturn's Children By. Charles Stross
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Yes, I do. I will be reading the third and final book in the John Twelve Hawks trilogy, The Golden City.
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
I don't have any magazines in my bathroom, but my girlfriend has the book she is reading right now, Diary of a teenage girl By. Melody Carlson in the bathroom. The last magazine I read though was family circle, there was an article on aneroxia in it that was very informative.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
I really didn't like the book Heart of Darkness... I just couldn't get into it and I had to write a paper on it for an AP English class...I think I got a C on it because I just didn't finish the book.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks. I think that it has something for everyone in it.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
The librarians at the library in my "home town" all know me by name, but that could be because I worked there for a year. The librarians in the town I live in now, I think they recogonize me...but I don't think that they know me by name...they just don't care enough to learn anyone's names.
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Books by Francesca Lia Block. I love them. But most of my friends don't get her, my parents thought that she was some sort of lesbian or something because she wrote a story about a girl having two moms and I think she is for the most part underappreciated although those that like her usually love her.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
I read in the car (if I'm not driving) I have been known to read while eating, while watching tv, even while using the internet. I definetely read while using the bathroom. Who doesn't read and listen to music at the same time? That is, unless the book is so great that music would ruin it.
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No, kids didn't tease me about my reading habits. I went to a private elementary school where most of the kids like to read and play chess along with all the things that a normal kid would want to do. Also, because I went to private school, the kids I went to school with didn't live near me, so I rarely had contact with kids outside of school unless I was really close friends with them and I never seemed to be close to more than two, maybe three kids at a time.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Just two or three nights ago actually, when I was staying up to finish Hunger, the second Gone novel.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
I don't usually read digital versions of books. I do however, love reading the look inside pages of a book before I decide whether or not to buy it, or more likely, borrow it from the library.
1. What are you reading right now? The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that? Not a clue! I'm sure I'll find something. :D
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now? A bunch of old Seventeen magazines... lmfao...
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read? The Twilight Series. I had to read them in order to write a detailed literary deconstruction of the series. :D
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they? No. I don't go to the library a whole lot. But the entire english department at my high school know me pretty well. I borrow all my books from them instead. >>
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all? Mm, not really. I'm just getting to know people who actually know how to read, but I'm sure there will be something.
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Sex is icky, and I don't drive. :DD
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits? Hm. Not sure if people even knew what a book WAS. ><
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down? A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books? Only if I can't find it on paper. I really don't like reading books online. It's not the same. I can't be anywhere and read it, like I can with a book. :D
Guilty Pleasures
Books mentioned in this topic
The New Dictionary of Thoughts: A Cyclopedia of Quotations (other topics)The Gargoyle (other topics)
The Satanic Bible (other topics)
Anne of Green Gables (other topics)
Deep Kiss of Winter (other topics)
More...
1. What are you reading right now?
THE MARRIED MAN by Edmund White
2. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
Yes, I do. I always have at least five books lined up on a monthly basis. Up next is THE COMING OF THE NIGHT by John Rechy
3. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
Eww! I don't keep magazines in the bathroom. . . Um, the last magazine I read?. . . Um, I think, yesterday I was reading the new issue of GQ with James Franco on the cover.
4. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
I wouldn't say it was the worst thing but coming from a Catholic family, I was forced to read the Bible growing up.
5. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE by Dale Carnegie. (It has its flaws but it provides the basics of how not to be socially retarded.)
6. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
They never call me by my first name but I see a look of recognition on their faces every time they see me. (I'm not sure if it's a good or bad look each time. LOL.)
7. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Yes, there is: THE METAMORPHOSIS by Franz Kafka (Actually, most people find Kafka morbid in general, but I've completely understood and appreciated his work even back in the sixth grade, when I first read his literary masterpieces.)
8. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
Um, let's just say I read when I'm not whoring around.
:-D
9. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No, they didn't because they rarely saw me read in public; I did most of my reading at home. But I absolutely teased those who couldn't read or read badly. Being illiterate was just completely disgusting to me. (I know better not to make fun of them now, of course.)
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
I don't really stay up half the night reading anymore. Heehee. Um, I think the last time I did that over a book was when I randomly bought a copy of "OBSESSION: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein" by Steven Gaines. I just couldn't put it down---I was stunned by how familiar his whorish ways seemed to me. (Hush! It was the early 90's and I didn't know I was a twink! LOL. . .)
BONUS QUESTION: Do you like reading digital versions of books?
No, I don't. I'm kinda old skool; I prefer the tactile nature of turning the page and using an actual physical bookmark.