Book Meme - five days and going strong
May. 7th, 2012 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lemonbellaDay 5 - A Book you can read again and again
I don't read a lot of books over and over again. I'm really not sure why. The big exception to this is any (and all) of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. These I read again and again and again, and listen to on my MP3. I get excited when I realise it's been six months since I last read them and can start again. Except, oddly the first two. These never feel quite like the world I know and love (although they're still fantastic tales), I suspect it's because they don't contain The Witches or The Watch.
Other than Discworld, An Act of Terror (as previously mentioned) could be included here, but in the interests of variety I'll also say "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggars. (This was a contender for favourite book as well). This is such a well-written and meandering memoir that it never fees old. I could read it again and again because it's the writing itself rather than the story I love. Not that I don't love the story - it's a history of family, survival, responsibility and growing older - so actually story is very much the wrong word. This is often the problem other people have with it, but characterisation is always more important to me than plot in books. HBWSG is chock full of characterisation and, because it's about life in general, there's very little semblance of plot.
I suppose I could also include the few books I dip in and out of, not because the stories are great, or because I love the writing, but because they have meaning in some other way. They're my 'soul books' I guess, and it's usually just passages I read and reread, whether for inspiration, affirmation, or general 'bucking up'. Terry Pratchett, Andre Brink and Dave Eggars' books also fall into this lot as well, but as for the others:
"Dear Stephen" - Anne Downey
"Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" - Richard Bach
"The Little Prince" - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
"Man's Search for Meaning" - Viktor Frankel
Okay, for someone who says they don't reread books, that's quite a lot.
Coming next:
Day 6 - A book you can only read once (no matter you love or hate it)
Day 7 - Book that reminds you of someone
Day 8 - Book that reminds you of a certain place
Day 9 - The first book you ever read
Day 10 - Book from your favourite author
Day 11 - Book you once loved and now hate
Day 12 - Book that a friend recommended
Day 13 - Book that makes you laugh
Day 14 - Book from your childhood
Day 15 - 4th book from the left on your shelf
Day 16 - 9th book from the right on your shelf
Day 17 - Close your eyes and get any book from your shelf
Day 18 - Book with the most beautiful cover
Day 19 - Book that you never wanted to read
Day 20 - Book that you read at school
Day 21 - Most stupid book you read at school
Day 22 - Book on your shelf with the most pages
Day 23 - Book on your shelf with the least pages
Day 24 - Book that nobody would expect you read/loved it
Day 25 - A book where the main character is almost like you
Day 26 - Book you would read to your children
Day 27 - A book where the main character is your idol
Day 28 - Thank God this book was made into a movie
Day 29 - Darn, why did they make this book into a movie?
Day 30 - First erotic book you ever read
Day 31 - Book series you are collecting
I don't read a lot of books over and over again. I'm really not sure why. The big exception to this is any (and all) of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. These I read again and again and again, and listen to on my MP3. I get excited when I realise it's been six months since I last read them and can start again. Except, oddly the first two. These never feel quite like the world I know and love (although they're still fantastic tales), I suspect it's because they don't contain The Witches or The Watch.
Other than Discworld, An Act of Terror (as previously mentioned) could be included here, but in the interests of variety I'll also say "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggars. (This was a contender for favourite book as well). This is such a well-written and meandering memoir that it never fees old. I could read it again and again because it's the writing itself rather than the story I love. Not that I don't love the story - it's a history of family, survival, responsibility and growing older - so actually story is very much the wrong word. This is often the problem other people have with it, but characterisation is always more important to me than plot in books. HBWSG is chock full of characterisation and, because it's about life in general, there's very little semblance of plot.
I suppose I could also include the few books I dip in and out of, not because the stories are great, or because I love the writing, but because they have meaning in some other way. They're my 'soul books' I guess, and it's usually just passages I read and reread, whether for inspiration, affirmation, or general 'bucking up'. Terry Pratchett, Andre Brink and Dave Eggars' books also fall into this lot as well, but as for the others:
"Dear Stephen" - Anne Downey
"Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" - Richard Bach
"The Little Prince" - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
"Man's Search for Meaning" - Viktor Frankel
Okay, for someone who says they don't reread books, that's quite a lot.
Coming next:
Day 6 - A book you can only read once (no matter you love or hate it)
Day 7 - Book that reminds you of someone
Day 8 - Book that reminds you of a certain place
Day 9 - The first book you ever read
Day 10 - Book from your favourite author
Day 11 - Book you once loved and now hate
Day 12 - Book that a friend recommended
Day 13 - Book that makes you laugh
Day 14 - Book from your childhood
Day 15 - 4th book from the left on your shelf
Day 16 - 9th book from the right on your shelf
Day 17 - Close your eyes and get any book from your shelf
Day 18 - Book with the most beautiful cover
Day 19 - Book that you never wanted to read
Day 20 - Book that you read at school
Day 21 - Most stupid book you read at school
Day 22 - Book on your shelf with the most pages
Day 23 - Book on your shelf with the least pages
Day 24 - Book that nobody would expect you read/loved it
Day 25 - A book where the main character is almost like you
Day 26 - Book you would read to your children
Day 27 - A book where the main character is your idol
Day 28 - Thank God this book was made into a movie
Day 29 - Darn, why did they make this book into a movie?
Day 30 - First erotic book you ever read
Day 31 - Book series you are collecting
