I got this from my good friend Ted.
What are you reading right now?
Bleak House
It is making me laugh out loud.
Do you have any idea what youâll read when youâre done with that?
I’m not sure. I’ve been meaning to read Villette
What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
None. I do have Wired: The Short Life & Fast Times of John Belushi
Whatâs the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Billy Bud
in high school. My entire soul rebelled against that book. I hated it.
I just re-read it a month ago and actually enjoyed it – although there are parts of it I still find unbelievably trite. Naturally, my favorite character is the “bad guy”. He’s far more interesting than Billy Budd.
Whatâs the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
It depends who I’m talking to. My favorite books – Possession
Allison and I are huge on sharing book recs, too – we share mainly biographies.
Kate and I also have very similar tastes … we’ve shared lots of titles with each other. I love talking with her about books.
Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, donât they?
Nope. I’m a book buyer, not a book renter.
Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and donât like it at all?
I’ve recommended Possession to a couple of people who couldn’t finish it. And Hopeful Monsters too – which is, perhaps, my favorite book ever. Ted read it – and loves it – so at least I have SOMEONE to talk to about it.
Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While youâre on the computer? While youâre having sex? While youâre driving?
Yes, to all of the above, except for the sex part and the driving part.
When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No. Most of my friends were readers, too. Weirdly, it was when I got to college – and lived in an all-girl’s dorm my freshman year – that I started getting teased about my intellectual interests. Those girls were ruthless. Mean girls, all of them. Sorry, chickadees, I don’t want to be date-raped by some drunken frat boy and call it love. I’d rather read. They would mock me behind my back (I caught them at it a couple of times.) Bitches.
Whatâs the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldnât put it down?
.
In ‘Bleak House’, when you meet Bucket, if you haven’t yet, see if you agree with me that Peter Falk, whenever he put on that old raincoat, was channeling Bucket.
steve – ha! I will!!
I love Dickens, in general – but have never read Bleak House. Loving it.
Avast – tagged with a book meme! I’ll get right on it.
what are you reading?
I nabbed this book questionnaire over at The Sheila Variations.What are you reading right now? I’m sort of half-heartedly making my way through Shadow of the Wind. I keep waiting for this book to grab me, and it hasn’t yet.
I did mine:
ricki’s version
-God is Dead-Ron Currie Jr. (my friends first published book..its extraordinary..bleak and smart and funny and sad)
-i believe i’ll continue reading Edmund White..not sure which one? any suggestions?
-Vanity Fair-Details
-Beouwulf-uuuggghhhhhh
-The Amazing Adventures of Kavaleir and Klay( Mr. O’Malley?? did u finish it yet?)
-im with Sheila..except i dont keep them after i read them..i give them to somebody else
-The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All–i cant seem to get people to believe what a marvelous book it is
-when i eat yes, i read..but usually no other stimuli
-no teasing about reading..just blank stares from the ‘rents.
-Winter’s Tale by mark Helprin was mesmerizing to me…lost a whole night at one point..has anyone read it??
Sheila – did you catch the recent airing of Bleak House with Denis Lawson and Gillian Anderson? I was in awe! I miss having those kinds of shows available. I wish they would dramatize all the Dickens books.
Sharon – I haven’t seen it – but my parents said it was just incredible!! I’ll have to put it on my queue – I’ll definitely have finished the book by the time it arrives.
I promise this post will not have a stupid photo
Borrowed from Sheila What are you reading right now? The Last Romantic by Hannah Pakula. Do you have any idea what youâll read when youâre done with that? I need to read this since the 50th anniversary is coming up.
Mitch -Winter’s Tale – yes!! I still have pictures in my mind of the young woman in her tower bedroom open to the winter air to cure her tuberculosis.
Sheila – I’ve got to re-read Hopeful Monsters then maybe we can launch an all out campaign, after you have rehabilitated Dean Stockwell, that is.
My rehabilitation campaign is going QUITE well, ted. I even received an email from a FRIEND of Mr. Stockwell, telling me how much she enjoyed my posts – about her DEAR FRIEND Mr. Stockwell. Yeah. I’m cool. I know.
Mitchell – I still haven’t read confederate widow – despite your raves about it. I ADORED Plays Well with Others, as you know (seeing as my doppelganger appears in the book!!) … but somehow never picked up his first. what is my problem??
I will eventually read winter’s tale – the book is daunting to me for some reason – I feel like I need to be ready for it.
Oh, and yes – my dad finished Kavalier and Clay on vaca and loved it.
Oh, well, a FRIEND of Mr. S, you are moving in the right circles now!
Try as I might, I was unable to resist the power of this meme.