Hmm...that's a toss up between Trixie Belden, Sherlock Holmes and Jack London's dog/wolf stories. Loved them all.
2. Your current favourite
Wow. These are harder than I thought they'd be! I can't choose just one. The Immortal Brotherhood series by Lisa Hendrix has be waiting rather impatiently for the next one, and that's paranormal romance (viking shifters - whew!). "Night of Wolves" (fantasy) by David Dalglish recently surprised me as really being quite fabulous (I don't read much fantasy), and this time of year my top pick for literary fiction is "Comfort and Joy", a short story by Craig Lancaster (new last year). Oh! And my favorite horror read this year was/is Cupid's Maze by Mark Souza. It's another short story, but amazing (and seriously freaky!).
3. Your top five authors
Of all time? Restraining myself to fiction: Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arther Conan Doyle, Grace Livingston Hill, Issac Asimov. Well, today, anyways. I mean, there are so many....
As far as modern authors go...I suppose I'd pick: James Rollins, Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child (as a team), Michelle Davidson Argyle, Samantha Hunter & Vivian Arend.
4. Book(s) you’re reading now
"The Donzerly Light" by Ryne Douglas Pearson (seriously intriguing and kinda freaky)
"A Walk in the Snark" by Rachel Thompson (okay, but not really my thing)
"The Big Sky, By and By" by Ed Kemmick (local journalist, true stories from Montana, fascinating people)
5. Book(s) you’ve pretended to read
Half or more of the books I was assigned in college, fiction and non-fiction. Who has the time to read, study *and* work full time? I skimmed them all, and still managed to get decent grades...
6. Book(s) you’ve bought for the cover
You're seriously going to make me admit this? Fine.
"When You Dare" by Lori Foster is one - for the cover and the trailer. Because I adore half-naked men. Well, most men, actually, but...I should really just stop there....
To redeem myself, I also bought "Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance" by Sara Poole for the cover. I still haven't read it, but I love how it looks on my nightstand...and I do want to read it eventually - sounds really good (historical thriller).
7. Book you’re a champion for
"Society of the Mind" by Eric L. Harry. It's a hardcore cyber-thriller two inches thick, but buried in the freaky AI-based plot is a lot of deep philosophizing that will just blow you away. Or it did me, anyways.
8. Book that changed your life
Well that's a tough one. Books have been quite literally shaping my life since I could read...so maybe we'll go with the McGuffy Readers, which are some of the first books I read for actual "school time" when I was home schooled at an early age. I still have them around somewhere, and they are veritable smorgasboards of literature, poetry and bits of wisdom, all bound up in unassuming volumes.
Cliche as it sounds, the Bible had a profound impact on me as well...both philosophically and as far as prose and story-telling goes.
9. Book you most want to read again for the first time
"Gone with the Wind", perhaps. Or "Call of the Wild" by Jack London. I often re-read cheap romance novels, but I'd love to experience those two again as if reading for the first time.
Then again, it wouldn't be the same experience now, would it? Would my adult perceptions hinder that first-time enthusiasm, I wonder?
10. Book you turn to for comfort
Hmm...I think I mostly need escape more than comfort from books. When I'm stressed or need a serious mental break, I'll mainline romance novels - preferably Harlequin Blaze, one after the other for *days* on end. I think because the core of a romance novel is hope, and the promise that everything will work out okay in the end.
11. Favourite line from a book
"Jo never, never would learn to be proper, for when he said that as they stood upon the steps, she just put both hands into his, whispering tenderly. "Not empty now," and stooping down, kissed her Friedrich under the umbrella." - Jo March, Little Women *sigh*
Thanks Dolly - this was fun!
Great installment. Interesting getting a look in your bookcase, Jamie ;o) Lovely stuff!
ReplyDeleteWow, I remember reading Trixie Belden. And I really loved both White Fang and Call of the Wild by Jack London. :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved this peak into your bookcase Jamie!
Great interview, Jamie, and thanks for the call out and for Blaze, too :) I hear you on escape and mainlining ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd I also loved Trixie Belden :)
Sam
Thanks ladies! I do love Trixie - and I have some hard-bound 1st editions that will have to be pried out of my dead hands... ;-) Call of the Wild - sigh. Those were the days.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I've long since finished "The Donzerly Light" - fascinating book that I'd highly recommend, and I've officially given up on the "snark" - just not my thing at all. I'm currently reading "Making Waves" by Tawna Fenske, and OMG is it hilarious! Awesome book. Sam's "Once Burned" is up pretty soon on my TBR list too... ;-)
Great post! :)
ReplyDeleteAdam
Yes, I can totally see the appeal of these covers :-) Especially the first one. I would also like to re-read Gone With the Wind. I have only read it once.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post, Jamie.