Reading: a meme

 The Reading Meme

Today I came across a really cool meme that three of my favorite bloggers had done, and I’m going to borrow the idea – what’s that old saying “Imitation is the sincerest of flattery!” Check out the bloggers that I grabbed this meme from: Kailana and Chris and Maree.

1. What author do you own the most books by?
The two authors I own the most books by are Stephen King (54) and Richard Laymon (33)

2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Shakespeare – I have 3 different copies each of Othello, Hamlet, King Lear and MacBeth.

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not really, if we always spoke using perfect grammar the English language would sound weird!

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Hah! None – although I had a slight book-crush on Bigby from Fables :P

5. What book have you read the most times in your life?
The one I’ve read the most would be Where The Wild Things Are. But the non-picture book I’ve read the most would be Geek Love or House of Leaves.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Either Flowers In The Attic by VC Andrews or Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.

7. What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
Worst story would be The Shack, but worst quality of writing would be Breaking Dawn.

8. What is the best book you've read in the past year?
That’s such a hard question! I loved Audrey Niffenegger’s Time Travelers Wife, but Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True was also amazing and The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson completely blew me away.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, it’s unbelievable touching.

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
It would make no difference to me really. This is one award that I am completely uninterested in.

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Maybe King’s The Dark Tower series, anything by Palahniuk, Secret History by Donna Tartt, Huxley’s Brave New World. Oh and The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Same as above - King’s The Dark Tower series, anything by Palahniuk, Secret History by Donna Tartt, Huxley’s Brave New World. Oh and The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
One night I fell asleep reading the bio page at the back of Angel Dust Apocalypse by Jeremy Robert Johnson and I dreamt that I was sitting beside him on a park bench. We were in a small park, facing a swan pond, we weren’t talking or anything, but there was an old fashioned popcorn box sitting between us filled with worms that we were throwing towards the swans for them to eat. What made it really weird was that as I looked around I could see that the park was circular and about 15 feet in diameter. Outside of that we were surrounded by a never-ending desert?! It didn’t seem weird at the time though, but I remember so vividly looking at the popcorn tub of worms squiggling and then turning toward Jeremy Robert Johnson and seeing that he had tattoos that were moving across his skin – it was fascinating!

14. What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
That depends on your definition of lowbrow. I have two ways of thinking - “lowbrow-camp” meant to be uncultured and “lowbrow-trash” trying to be legit but failing miserably – I enjoy the camp not the trash and I’d have to say that the Twilight series was the most uncultured thing I’ve read.

15. What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Does the bible count?!

16. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Honestly I have no idea.

17. Roth or Updike?
I’ve enjoyed reading both, but if forced to choose I’d go with Philip Roth, I loved Portnoy’s Complaint.

18. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
I can’t compare the two – they are both excellent.

19. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare for sure.

20. Austen or Eliot?
Have to say Austen – although I’ve never read anything by Eliot.

21. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
A mix of classics and prominent science-fiction/fantasy.

22. What is your favorite novel?
Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, no book has effected me or left such a lasting impression as much as this one did.

23. Play?
Really silly, but in grade school we went on a class trip to see a stage production of Alice In Wonderland – I’ve never forgotten how much I loved that. And for musical it would be The Rocky Horror Picture Show! For a more traditional play I’d say A Streetcar Named Desire.

24. Short story?
Hmm, first that came to mind were Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. But I love all sorts of short stories.

25. Epic Poem?
The Divine Comedy by Dante.

26. Short(er) poem?
Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath, If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda, I Did Not Die by Melinda Sue Pacho, there’s so many.

27. Work of non-fiction?
Anything by Hunter S Thompson.

28. Who is your favorite writer?
I really can’t say, there are hundreds of writers that I love each for their own particular style.

29. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Gonna have to go with Stephenie Meyer on this one. And sometimes I feel that Stephen King is overrated also. I’ve just always wondered if his fame would make anything he writes a bestseller despite the quality.

30. What is your desert island book?
Only getting to choose one book would be such a nightmare! Some of my ideas would be the original and complete collection of Grimms Fairy Tales, War and Peace (otherwise I will never read this) or maybe just the dictionary.

31. And ... what are you reading right now?
Got a few on the go, I’m almost done Enclave by Kit Reed and Wings by Aprilynne Pike. Just getting into The Man Who Forgot How To Read by Howard Engel and Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper.



© 2008-2010 Joanne Mosher of The Book Zombie. All rights reserved.

12 comments:

Kailana said...

Okay, I am totally making the guy read this. He said there was no way I was reading V.C. Andrews when I was ten! I actually think I went through my Stephen King period around then, too. It died soon afterwards...

And, wow, on not thinking of musicals for the play question. I was having a moment, I guess! Now I want to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show! I seriously LOVE that movie. I tell people if they ever talk me into singing karaoke it would be 'The Time Warp' because you don't have to be a good singer for that song!

I love that your three favourite books of the last year are some of my favourite books ever. I have never read Geek Love, though, and the library does not have!

Grimms Fairy Tales is a good desert island book. I never thought of that one!

Maree said...

I agree with you about Stephen King.
Dude, I have mad love for him, but he's been pitchy lately (pop quiz: what have I been watching?) and Just After Sunset was ... ordinary.
I was a scared kid, so came to V C Andrews a bit later than 10. And Stephen King _ I still won't read him at night if I can help it.
You're one of my favourite bloggers too. :)

Ladytink_534 said...

Stephen King is one of the authors I own the most books of too. Love Bigby too! Hubby adores The Dark Tower series and he's always hoping for a movie adaptation.

Vasilly said...

I love your answers! I totally forgot about Bigby!

Eileen said...

Great meme! I totally agree with you on Stephen King and Stephenie Meyer being overrated, although King is definitely the better of the two.

I love Dante!

Kathleen said...

Cool, it was good to get to know you better. I'd do it too but there are a lot of questions there I could never answer. Like the which authors is better ones (i.e. Roth or Updike) because the only author out of those questions I've read is Sedaris.

Michelle Olsen Sasak said...

I definitely agree with you on #29. I love Stephen King - I own every one of his books and have enjoyed all but one. Lisey's Story was so awful that it took me five months of reading it in small spurts to get through it. That book was probably only a bestseller because of King's name (in my opinion). Nowadays, Dean Koontz books are driving me nuts (overly descriptive sentences, five dollar words, moralizing, heroic dogs, etc) and all of his books go bestseller - probably because of name recognition. Great meme :)

Shannon C. said...

I subscribed to your blog feed during the readathon, and I'm so glad I have, if only for the Geek Love love. Obviously, you are a woman of great taste, because that's one of my favorite books as well. I recommend it to just about everyone.

I also agree with your comments about low brow literature. I have a soft spot for camp, too--that's why I read romance novels, and there definitely is a lot of the other type of book you mentioned as lowbrow trying to be legit as well. I agree with your comments about King, too. I love his early works, but the last thing I tried to read by him--Cell--was so bad I couldn't finish it. I also agree with your thoughts on Stephenie Meyer, though I think bashing her is kind of a meme in and of itself among a certain section of readers--myself included--who did not adore Twilight and its sequels.

Anyway, yeah Geek Love and great answers!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I loved reading your answers. I really want to re-read House of Leaves on day. I'm really annoyed that my ex "stole" it from me. Grrrr!! :) Love Rocky Horror Picture Show, although I'm not sure it is my favorite musical. Probably Les Mis for that one. Fun Fun Fun!

Zibilee said...

Geek Love is one of my favorites as well. It's a great book, and you've reminded me that I need to re-read it.

The Bookworm said...

fun meme :O) I think it's a toss up between S.K. and Dean Koontz for me. I can't seem to resist buying thier books. But J.K. Rowling comes in third.
Where The Wild Things Are is awesome, they're making a film version.

http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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