It’s Monday, What are you Reading?
It’s Monday, What are you Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by J. Kaye’s Book Blog to discuss what we are reading this week, as well as books completed the previous week.
Books I Completed Last Week:
Invitation Only by Kate Brian: I started this series two weeks ago, and I can’t seem to stop. I am obsessed.
Untouchable by Kate Brian: See above.
Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin: I love her, and while the book wasn’t as laugh-out loud funny as I was expecting, it was sweet and honest and fun to read.
Books I’m Reading This Week:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy: I’ve had this book forever, and I’m slowly making my way through it.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Okay, yes, seeing the movie made me want to reread the series. But I’m not linking to the book. That’s me being subversive.
So what are you reading this week?
Goals for 2009, Vol. I
On this early chilly morning I’d like to talk about addiction.
I don’t have a lot of vices. I like to engage in some alcohol now and then, but I don’t drink regularly. I smoke cigarettes when I’m drinking, but not any other time. I don’t buy magazines or DVDs, and I’m too poor to have any sort of obsession with buying shoes or handbags.
But when it comes to buying and collecting books? It’s like my crack, y’all.
It started a few years ago with my renewed obsession with Sweet Valley High. When I discovered that I could buy these books in bulk on eBay, it became my best and most reliable time-waster.
The collection grew from just SVH to Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley University. I started collecting the Alice McKinley books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and the Anastasia books by Lois Lowry. Gossip Girl got thrown in there somewhere. The Princess Diaries, too. Then I started collecting the Baby-Sitter’s Club. That in itself is a huge undertaking.
It’s something like three years later, and my collection is ridiculous. None of them are complete, but they just keep growing. In addition to collecting these series, I started scouring the Half Price Books clearance section for other cheap finds.
I bought over 320 books this year, y’all. A few of them came from publishers and were free, and a lot of them came from eBay in bulk, and nearly none of them were more than $1, but still.
That is a shit-ton of books. It’s quite ridiculous, actually.
So here is the first set of goals for 2009, relating to Books:
- I will buy only used books.
- I will participate in at least 3 reading challenges.
- At least 50% of what I read in 2009 will come from the library.
- I will sell off my Baby-Sitter’s Club collection.
- I will keep a list of all the books I buy and read in 2009.
I’m really looking forward to a fresh start when it comes to reading and collecting. The sooner I clear off some shelf space and make a little money, the sooner I can attempt to complete the most important collections.
Reading Meme
What was the last book you bought?
I bought Strangers in Paradise (book 1) the other day. I also picked up a copy of Inkheart. Half Price Books is my crack-cocaine.
Name a book you have read MORE than once
I’ve read Summer Sisters by Judy Blume at least 3 times. I’ve also read Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty at least 4 times each, easy. There are a lot of books that I’ve read more than once, actually. I tend to find comfort in my favorite books. Oooh! Bridget Jones’s Diary. Princess Furball. Etc. etc.
Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
I don’t think I have an answer for this. Jenny Downham’s Before I Die was incredibly powerful and moving, but did it alter the way I see life? I don’t know. Probably not.
How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews
It tends to be a combination of all those things. It used to be that I’d select books based on cover design, but these days, it tends to be summary, recommendations, and reviews. I read a lot of book blogs, and I do a lot of reading about books, so my list of to-be-read is astronomical. I’ll never get to all of them. I realize this. But the list keeps growing.
Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
I generally prefer fiction. But I do have favorite topics of non-fiction. I like things having to do with body image and eating disorders, I like media studies, I like books about books, and I love, love, love memoirs.
What’s more important in a novel – beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
I can ignore mediocre writing if the plot is good enough. But I have to feel a connection to the characters, so if the plot is fast-paced but everything else about the book sucks, I won’t stay invested.
Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Marcus Flutie from the Jessica Darling series. I still believe that he’s my future husband.
Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
Silver by Norma Fox Mazer, Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore
What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
It’s been a while since I’ve finished a book, to be honest. It’s kind of embarrassing, actually. I keep starting things and getting distracted. I’ll finish Silver in a few days. Does that count?
Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
All. The. Time.
Rambings in the basement of a house in Southwest Minneapolis
I saw Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist this afternoon. Going in with very low expectations allowed me to enjoy it more than I thought it would. I’ve started reading the book to see how it compares. I’m not very far into it, but I can see that the book is much edgier, sharper, and more real than the movie. But I love me some Michael Cera, and Kat Dennings is my new girl crush.
Speaking of books-to-movies, I’m eagerly awaiting the adaptation of The Time-Traveler’s Wife. By eagerly, of course, I mean that I’m wringing my hands in nervous anticipation. I so loved the book (and am so embarrassed by this fact) and I so want to love the movie that it’s causing me a great deal of stress. Every few days, I check to see if a trailer has been posted online, so that I might get a glimpse into the wonder that might be. It hasn’t happened yet, but I read a brief article the other day that’s gotten me a bit nervous about it. In it, Rachel McAdams (my girl!) says that people have to approach the book and the movie in different ways, because they’ve taken a 500-plus page book and condensed it into a 90-minute movie. That seems like a really nice way of saying that we’re going to be served shit come this winter. Oh, I think I’m getting an ulcer.
Currently, I’m babysitting for a 3-year-old named Walt (one of my favorite things to do is yell, “WALT! THEY TOOK MY SON!” Oh, second season of LOST, how I miss you). His parents should be home any minute, and I’d like that minute to be now, because I’m heading over to The Boy’s apartment for a little late-night hanging out. I’d like at least a good 45 minutes before he passes out and I’m left wide awake with nothing to do (no cable, no internet means that I’m pretty bored). He promised to cook me something delicious, but I know that he was going to meet some friends for a drink tonight so I figure I’ll be lucky if he’s home when I get there. Oh, ye of little faith.
This upcoming week will be the halfway point for student teaching. I’m actually surviving it, and that doesn’t suck at all. I’m tired of writing lesson plans, and I’m tired of saying things like, “I will wait for you to be quiet.”
Ugh.
Banned Books Week
In case you didn’t know, this week is the ALA’s annual Banned Books Week.
Here is a list of the 10 most frequently challenged books of 2007.
If you go here, you can see a list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000.
Tell people you know. Stand up for books. Read.
