Reader under the Microscope

A reader under the microscope meme.

1. Which book has been on your shelf the longest?

A collection of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, in German.

2.What is your current read, your last and next?

Current: 'Book of Negroes' by Lawrence Hill (excellent literary fiction; voted the book Canadians should read in 2009 if they could only choose 1)
& 'What a Scoundrel Wants' by Carrie Lofty (excellent historical romance)

Last: 'Magic to the Bone' by Devon Monk (excellent urban fantasy)

Next: 'For Pete's Sake' by Julia Harper (hopefully excellent contemporary comedy)

3. What book did everyone like and you hated?

Not hated (liked, actually) but not as powerfully as buzz led me to expect: 'The Raven Prince' by Elizabeth Hoyt. There was a disconnect for me between tone of the first chapter (& very funny teaser hero interview) and the rest of the book. I did enjoy another in the series, 'The Serpent Prince' much more, though. Haven't had a chance to read the second.

4. Which book do you keep telling youself you'll read?

Anything by Nora Roberts. Still haven't dived in even though I've come to respect the author's online persona. Maybe I'm afraid I'll drown in the backlist?

5. Which book coming out in 2009 is a top priority?

- 'Corambis', the conclusion to the 'Doctrine of Labyrinths' series by Sarah Monette
- Meredith Duran, Sherry Thomas and Loretta Chase's next

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?

Leave it till last if I like the book, read it if it looks like the book will be a DNF.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink or interesting?

Must read. They say so much about the author.

8. Which book character would you swith places with?

Helena Justina. She gets to go back and forth between the worlds of her love, Falco, and her senatorial family, plus she travels to all corners of the Roman Empire. Her story starts in 'The Silver Pigs' by Lindsey Davis.

9. Which authors do you want to read that you haven't yet?

The Brontes, George Eliot, Bill Bryson, Neil Gaiman.

10. Which books are still on your shelf from when you were in school?

Dictionaries: English straight up, English/German, English/French, German/French

11. Which book has been with you to the most places?

Atlas.

12. Any required reading in high school you hated but that's not so bad ten years later?

Classics of German literature like Schiller and Goethe's 'The Sorrows of Young Werther'.

13. Stephen King or Anne Rice?

Have never read either.

14. Used or brand new?

It's all good! But how telling that it wasn't phrased as 'used or new or e-ink'!

15. Movie that you liked better than the book?

'Lord of the Rings' trilogy (ducks rotten tomatos). I know, I know, but the style just didn't speak to me. I read it for the story rather than Tolkien's prose.

16. Who is the person whose book advice you always take?

Always: no one. Pay attention to: reviewers at 'Dear Author' and 'Booksmugglers', my neighborhood Book Club, and my writer friends Abby Godwin and Wylie Kinson.

17. Which one book or series you recommend?

Cannot possibly do just one:
Funny first-person sleuthing in Imperial Rome: 'Falco' series by Lindsey Davis
Funny first-person sleuthing in Victorian Egypt: 'Amelia Peabody' series by Elizabeth Peters
Funny third-person alternate reality in literature and nursery rhymes: 'Thursday Next' and 'Nursery Crimes' series by Jasper Fforde
Funny historical romance: almost any title by Loretta Chase, especially 'Mr. Impossible'
Funny Young Adult: 'Alice' trilogy by Susan Juby
Funny Social Satire: early Wendy Holden

THERE YOU GO. AGREE? DISAGREE? PLAY ALONG?