#book meme

lovely, thank you! <3

book you’ve reread the most times?

Honestly, it's The Lord of The Rings. I have been listening to that book on repeat for like the last 20 years. I fall asleep listening to the Rob Inglis audiobook almost every night. And when I read the end, I just start it over.

7. is there a series/book that got you into reading?

There were three series I remember reading at different stages when I was a kid:

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar, which I used to also read out loud to my younger sister

The Babysitters Club by Ann M Martin, but particularly the mysteries OR the double books, like when they would go to summer camp, or winter ski camp

Fear Street by R.L. Stine, which is funny because I never read Goosebumps. I just jumped straight to these when I hit about 13 or 14.

15. recommend and review a book.

Hmm. You are a horror fan, right? Have you ever read The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons? Last year, I was reading a haunted house book each month, and in the process of that I also decided to read Danse Macabre by Stephen King, and this was one of the books he talked about when it comes to haunted house stories. It's a hungry house book (in the grand tradition of The Shining, Burnt Offerings, Hill House), but Stephen King also posits that it's more of a werewolf story.

What is particularly interesting to me about it is that it takes place in the American South in the late 1970s, and the house in question is modern: in fact it gets built during the course of the book. The way the novel ties in the elements of horror when the expectations of southern hospitality is such an interesting element, as well.

Woot thank you! <3

2. top 5 books of all time?

Oh, just starting with an easy one, are we? Ugh this is hard. These are in no particular order, and are picked based on my feelings right now, and the amount I have re-read these.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reed

8. what is the first book you remember reading yourself?

A babysitters club book, maybe? I also remember my mom had old Nancy Drew books around the house. I don't know what order I would have read them in.

11. what non-fiction books do you like if any?

Yes, I love a non-fiction. I sometimes pick them based on the topic (such as Monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art By Bad People? by Claire Dederer), and sometimes based on the author (such as Everything is Tuberculous by John Green, or Football by Chuck Klosterman). I also love memoirs, and I especially love listening to them narrated by the authors: Mel Brooks, Kelly Bishop, Suzie Eddie Izzard, and Bruce Springsteen are particular highlights.

18. do you like historical books? which time period?

Yay thanks, friend!

4. what sections of a bookstore do you browse?

Depends on the bookstore, but if I'm in an independent book store, I will usually spend more time on the featured books, or staff recommended ones. But in every bookstore, I will go check out the horror section and see what weird, unusual things I can find there. They are, unfortunately, usually smaller than other sections, so easier to explore.

9. when do you tend to read most?

I guess it depends on how you define read... I read mostly before bed, or you know, while I'm in a waiting room or whatever. But I listen to audiobooks in my car all most of the time, and when I run, because I'm a crazy person.

17. top 5 children’s books?

Oh gosh, how are we defining children's book???? Fuck it, I'm going with my gut at this moment, and in no particular order:

The Hobbit

Watership Down

Sideways Stories from Wayside School (series)

Percy Jackson (series)

If this isn't them, I don't know what is. I make a point throughout the book to point out Cornelius' chaos, and Watt's refuge in routine. They're two sides of the same coin.

Neurodivergent. That's the coin.

Character and cover art by @thistlearts

The Voice of Wild Places is queer historical fiction following two former childhood friends as they search for lost legend Percy Fawcett, and the city he was looking for.

No. No, he is not. He's an impulsive, homicidal loser in love with his childhood friend which is a horrible combination.

Tagged by my girl @misscrawfords💕 this has taken me a whole entire month and it is a crime

The last book I read: I finished The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh a few days ago, which I enjoyed but I definitely feel it could have benefitted from having a couple hundred extra pages to flesh out the worldbuilding and characters arcs.

A book I’d recommend: Oooh, I mean it depends exactly what you want from a book but let's go for The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies and its sequel The Ladies' Road Guide to Utter Ruin. Regency set historical fiction with adult women in their forties as the heroes. They're primarily mysteries, though there is romance in there, and I bought the first one thinking it would be quite light-hearted fun, and while it is fun it is actually a good bit darker than the titles might suggest. But I've thoroughly enjoyed reading both and I'm interested to check out more of Alison Goodman's writing.

A book I couldn’t put down: Let's go for an an old favourite here with Crosstalk by Connie Willis. A sci-fi romance in which the heroine gets an implant to let her communicate psychically with her boyfriend, only to find something's gone wrong and she's mentally connected to the wrong man. I absolutely devoured it both times I read it.

A book I’ve read twice or more: So many. If I really enjoy a boy I will inevitably revisit it more than once. Persuasion is one I reread a lot, as is The Last Unicorn and The Lord of the Rings.

A book on my TBR: My TBR is at least as tall as I am at this point. I've been making my way through T. Kingfisher's Paladin series, and I've got the third and fourth books, Paladin's Faith and Paladin's Hope on my shelf to read.

A book I’ve put down: I have technically never finished The Wise Man's Fear. I've never been as into the Kingkiller Chronicles as a lot of people seem to be but I thought they were alright and I like Pat Rothfuss as an individual so I kept reading despite finding myself increasingly losing interest ... but then I got to Kvothe's magical sex interlude in the fey realm and I just couldn't do it any more. So. I put it down and have never picked it back up.

A book on my wish list: I recently added The Poet Empress by Shen Tao onto my wish list to get, mostly because I think it sounds like an interesting premise and I'm always keen to read more non-European-inspired fantasy settings, but also because there was discourse on Twitter and Goodreads that was annoying me so I want to read it out of spite too :)

A favourite book from childhood: The Wind Singer by William Nicholson. I read it when I was about ten and it still lives rent-free in my brain twenty-six years later. Also The Ghost of Grania O'Malley by Michael Morpurgo - I reread that out of curiosity not long ago and it holds up so well!

A book I’d give to a friend: I trust very few people with my books these days, lol, but I did lend a friend my copy of Anne of Green Gables because I think everyone should read that once. I also really need to get it back from her ....

A book of poetry or lyrics that I own: Quite a few, particularly from when I did my literature degree! I have a lovely big complete collection of William Blake's poetry and illustrations that's one of my favourites.

A non-fiction book that I own: I work on non-fiction books so I have a lot of them. I think the last one I bought instead of bringing home from work was Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley.

What I’m currently reading: I am making my way through Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke as my bedside read and I just started Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett as my train read.

What I’m planning on reading next: Not a clue! I'll have a look at the many many books on my shelf and see what I'm vibing with at the time. Maybe Godkiller by Hannah Kaner or The Shadow Casket by Christ Wooding. Or maybe something completely different!