Stolen from the ever entertaining Amanda!
1. First book to leave a lasting impression? Wow, this is hard. There are so many books that have left an impression on me and it’s difficult to remember which one was first. I’m going to go waaaay back though and say Curious George. I say that because I made my grandmother read it to me so many times that I eventually memorized it and could “read” it to myself when I was only 3. It was also the book that I “read” that the words first POPPED out at me and made me go, hey, I know that work! So really, it was the first book I ever read.
2. Which author would you most like to be? This is equally hard. There are so many I would like to be, but I think I’ll pick JK Rowling because I want to know how it all ends already!!!!!
3. Name the book that has most made you want to visit a place? There are so many! Gabaldon’s Outlander made me want to go to Scotland. The Historian made me want to visit all those European countries they traversed through. The Shadow of the Wind made me want to visit Barcelona. And Frank Delaney’s Ireland made me want to go there as well. 4. Which contemporary author will still be read in 100 years? I have a hunch JK Rowling may be. Also the greats; Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, John Irving. And I’d say Stephen King as well.5. Which book would you recommend to a teenager reluctant to try ‘literature’? As a teenager I read a wide variety of books. I went through a classics phase. I read all that stuff required in school. But I also adored Christopher Pike and the (shhhhh!) Sweet Valley High books. To someone reluctant to try actual LITERATURE, I would recommend Dumas for adventure, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for suspence and Jane Austen for romantic comedy.
6. Name your best recent literary discovery. Jane Austen. I can’t believe I never read her before this year, but I’m so glad I discovered her!
7. Which author’s fictional world would you most like to live in? Howarts!
8. Name your favorite poet? I’m not much of a poetry reader, but out of all that stuff I had to read in high school and college I most liked John Donne, J. Alfred Prufrock, and Langston Hughes. Oh, and I’ve always rather liked If by Rudyard Kipling.
9. What’s the best non-fiction title you’ve read this year? Have I read any nonfiction this year? Let me check…oh, not much. Need to remedy that. All the nonfiction I’ve read has been graphic novels and Maus I and II were excellent. Can NOT recommend them highly enough.
10. Which author do you think is much better than his/her’s reputation? I often hear that JK Rowling is a rip-off. While this may be true, I think she deserves more credit for writing something original and so entertaining that it got millions of children to read and actually ENJOY the experience. And she deserves more credit for writing something that adults love as well, creating something they can read with and discuss with their children.
Amen and right on re: J.K. Rowling. Love her love her love her all day long. Good choices, chica!
I agree that J.K. Rowling is probably better than her detractors say…at the same time is probably not the author that her most rabid fans think she is either. She hasn't helped her cause with her occasional ludicrous statements about fantasy and her writing but I would imagine at least some of her detractors speak out of jealousy rather than anything else.
Glad you are liking Austen, she was an amazing author.
Maus is great and should be recommended…even taught in school in my opinion.
Thanks Andish!
I agree on all counts Carl. Especially on Maus. It really puts a human face on the Holocaust, something sorely lacking in history books. I will make sure my kids read it when they are studying WWII.
I've only read one Jane Austen book! And, I'll add that I too was hooked on Sweet Valley High books.hee.
Am I the only one that finds the SVH books so… perfect… They were like the book version of most television shows. I own some, but I like SVU better. They got more, practical. No offense, of course. I know they were big for a while, just not for me.
Not to mention, I don't like Rowling either. I'm weird.
I think a lot of people who trash Rowling are doing it as a backlash against her popularity, and thinking it's somehow cool to be 'above' liking HP. (same with Dan Brown for that matter – although I wouldn't put him anywhere near the same level as Rowling)