Another book meme

[dreamflower]

This was swiped from engarian and the_winterwitch:

Pick a letter and I promise some rambling about it. Then do it yourself if you like!

A. Author You’ve Read The Most Books From
B. Best Sequel Ever
C. Currently Reading
D. Drink of Choice While Reading
E. E-Reader or Physical Books
F. Fictional Character You Would Have Dated In High School
G. Glad You Gave This Book A Chance
H. Hidden Gem Book
I. Important Moments of Your Reading Life
J. Just Finished
K. Kinds of Books You Won’t Read
L. Longest Book You’ve Read
M. Major Book Hangover Because Of
N. Number of Bookcases You Own
O. One Book That You Have Read Multiple Times
P. Preferred Place to Read
Q. Quote From A Book That Inspires You/Gives You Feels
R. Reading Regret
S. Series You Started and Need to Finish
T. Three Of Your All-Time Favorite Books
U. Unapologetic Fangirl For
W. Worst Bookish Habit
V. Very Excited For This Release More Than Any Other
X. Marks The Spot (Start On Your Bookshelf And Count to the 27th Book)
Y. Your Latest Book Purchase
Z. ZZZ-Snatcher (last book that kept you up WAY late)

Comments

[ysilme]

A!

[dreamflower]

Kenneth Robeson.

Actually, his real name was Lester Dent, and he wrote hundreds of pulp novels back in the 1930s-40s. The "Kenneth Robeson" name belonged to a publisher, and other writers occasionally used the name as well.

He was most famous for his Doc Savage novels, all of which were reprinted back in the 60s and early 70s. I went through a Doc Savage phase back in high school, and was lucky enough to collect most of them (There were over a 150, all but a small handful written by Dent). They were short, and by no means great literature. I could read one in an afternoon easily. But they were loads of fun--like a prose super-hero comic!

I had to get rid of most of them when we moved, but I kept about a dozen of my favorites.

[ysilme]

Wow, that is a huge number! :o)

[dreamflower]

He churned them out according to a formula he created, and published about one a month for many years!

[maglor-20.livejournal.com]

L. :)

[dreamflower]

Probably The Lord of the Rings, which if I recall correctly clocks in at about a half-million words, not counting the Appendices.

I've read a lot of rather hefty books, though. So one or two of them may have been longer--but I don't know for sure about their word-count.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

V. Very Excited For This Release More Than Any Other

- Erulisse (one L)

[dreamflower]

That would go back many years, to 1977 when The Silmarillion first came out. The DH and I went out to get it as soon as we possibly could. Of course, back then no one expected that there would be any other material made available, since JRRT had died in '73.

TBH, once I got it home, I was a tad disappointed--it wasn't what I expected, I suppose, and no hobbits. It took me a couple of tries to get all the way through the first time, and a few years to warm up to it. But I am very glad to have read it, and to have grown to enjoy and understand it more.

We did get a little excited over the HP books as they came out, and a couple of times went to the midnight releases at our local B&N, which was fun.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

I went to all of the midnight release parties for Harry Potter. In fact, for Half-blood Prince, I was at my Barnes & Noble and Chickie was in Montana on vacation. We were talking back and forth on our cells while I had a chance to gloat for an hour before she could get her copy. I was very evil to rub that time difference in like that - LOL.

I remember one of the sales associates at the release party for the final volume. She was in the ladies restroom talking with another of the staff about the black 'wizard' gowns they were both wearing and she said she was pretty comfortable wearing hers because she had grown up in Syria where she was required to wear it. She said she would be relieved to put it back into storage after the night's festivities were finished. I found that very interesting and rather telling about the abbregation of choice that had faced her before her arrival in the US.

- Erulisse (one L)

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

K. - AND G. (because they kind of go together!)

[dreamflower]

K--Well, smut mainly, and usually horror. I also have a tendency to avoid those books promoted as "chick lit" like the plague.

G--The Devil Wears Prada which turned out to be very funny and better than I expected. I read a short fanfic about it during Yuletide one year because of what someone said in a rec. Oddly enough, I've never seen the whole movie--just some clips from it occasionally, and a couple of times caught the ending. But I enjoyed the book, though probably would not re-read it.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

oh gosh, I can't stand chick lit! Especially the ones that are supposed to be kind of funny, too. I never really seem to get that humor, lol. I do like horror, but only certain kinds. I don't like gore or in-your-face-slashers, but I like a good creepy or ghost story! Or even something just completely bizarre and frightening like The Ruins (about creepy intelligent plants).

I remember feeling the same about Devil Wears Prada - I liked it more than I thought I would, but I didn't have a desire to reread...

[dreamflower]

I would never have read it at all if it had not been for that wickedly clever fanfic that made me curious. One of the few times I've read a fanfic without knowing the source--all I knew about it was from the publicity clips from the movie, which gave me a teeny bit of context, but the fic was good enough to make me give it a try.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

How about R?

[dreamflower]

The first time I ever read a book that I wish I had not was Black Easter by James Blish. I had read some of his Star Trek novels, so I gave that one a try. A total horrifying downer of a book.

[shirebound]

"P"!

[dreamflower]

In my recliner, kicked back with water or tea close at hand, and soft music playing is my first choice.

Second choice is at night in bed, just before going to sleep.

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

I :)

[dreamflower]

Well, let's reach far back to first grade. I'd caught on very quickly to Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Fluff, so the teacher would direct me to the bookshelf she kept of old readers for free time. There was a book, "Little Lost Bobo" about a cute baby deer who got lost from his mother. It was the first time I realized I could read silently, so that I wouldn't bother my classmates! At the end of the year, my teacher gave it to me; I still have it.

In fifth grade, there was Howard Pyle's version of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (the Unabridged version, with Pyle's own delightful illustrations). I loved the archaic language, and delighted in the "thees" and "thous". I checked out and re-read that one so frequently that at one point the school librarian told me I could not check it back out for a couple of weeks, so that someone else could have a chance at it. Of course, two weeks later when I checked it out I could tell from the check-out card no-one else had done so. In my smug know-it-all-ness, I think I even pointed that out to the librarian. But that book wakened my love for all things medieval.

And most of all, was that moment in tenth grade when I spied a classmate's copy of The Hobbit on the corner of her desk, asked to borrow it, and was introduced to my lifelong love of Tolkien.

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

W!

[dreamflower]

Ummm...*blushes*hangs head in shame*

I've been known to dog-ear pages?

But I don't do that very often anymore...

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

I am a proud dog earer! Also a spine cracker! Good thing I'm almost completely switched to e-books now :-)

[dreamflower]

LOL! I miss my Nook! I have GOT to replace my e-reader soon!

(I confess that cracking spines doesn't bother me either, but they do the DH, so any books that both of us read, I try to be very careful of.)

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

H!

I like this way of doing the meme. Maybe I'll try it too. :-)

[dreamflower]

I hope you do!

"Hidden gem?" Boxen, an adorable book co-written by CS Lewis and his brother Warren when they were 8 and 11. They are charming stories, and published just the way they were written, misspellings and all. ("Polease" for "Police", for example.)

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Those were PUBLISHED? Oh my, I must look them up! I had heard of them but didn't know they were published. (I should've guessed, though -- pretty much everything Lewis wrote has been published by now, short of his grocery lists. :-) )

[dreamflower]

LOL! Kind of like his fellow Inkling, Tolkien.

They really are very sweet stories and of course make about as much sense as anything written by children that age! But it's easy to see the antecedents of Reepicheep in "Sir Peter Mouse, Kinight [sic] in waiting on King".