Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the fourth day of the month is "Information."
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I have started to dip my toe into some podcasts about books and one I have found somewhat listenable to is Sarah's Bookshelves Live based on Lisa's recommendation. I don't like the episodes with authors, but I like the ones she does when she talks with her pseudo-cohosts about upcoming books they're excited to read or they circle back to talk about books they've already read. Anyway, in one of the episodes, she did a mini-AMA about her book life and I stole some of the questions to answer them here.
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| This is the bag I take back and forth to the library. Do you have a library bag? |
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1) What are your three favorite books?
I sort of did this exercise in 2014. Is it too shocking for you to learn that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was my number one pick? Is it shocking for you to learn that I was talking about my ATGIB tattoo even then? Well, okay, that was almost ten years ago. Let me think about my list again. This is a very hard question.
My Brilliant Friend by Elana Ferrante
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
2) What books have you reread the most?
My comfort reading tends to be me hanging out with my old friends when I'm stressed out. I've reread the Harry Potter series countless times, a lot of the alphabet books from Sue Grafton too many times to count, and my paperback copies of the early In Death books are coming apart at the seams.
For standalone books I've reread the most, shoutouts to Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Hearts in Darkness by Laura Kaye, and Perfect by Judith McNaught.
3) What is a book you felt differently about after rereading it?
Look, I'm sorry, but Anne of Green Gables and Little Women did not hold up for me. So much morality and preachiness and I don't need Marmee blathering at me. LOL. For this reason, I am very scared to revisit Black Beauty and the entire Frances Hodgson Burnett catalog, especially The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. Thank goodness A Tree Grows in Brooklyn held up or I would have to change my entire reading personality.
4) What is a book that changed your perspective or taught you something important?
I think reading How to Be a Victorian and Birth in relatively close proximity to one another really did a number on me in terms of perspective. Whenever things are overwhelming me, I just remind myself that at least I'm not giving myself a caesarean section or freezing to death wearing cardboard clothes in an English winter.
5) What is a favorite book of yours in a genre you don't usually read?
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty. Reading a western was on the Read Harder Challenge in 2018 and I was hesitant, but I did my research and this was the book that came up over and over again as one of the top westerns and it was very good. It wasn't perfect, but it was very interesting and I'd definitely read more McMurty again.
A close second might be Kanye West Owes me $300 & Other True Stories from a White Rapper Who Almost Made It Big by Jensen Karp, though. I also read that for the 2018 Read Harder Challenge for a celebrity memoir and I enjoyed it immensely. Generally memoir doesn't do it for me, but this one hit me at just the right spot.
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What are your favorite books?
Interesting questions. Your answers seem in line with who I think you are. I'm with you about Lonesome Dove. Never thought I'd read a Western then when I read it, I liked it. Never say never & all that...
ReplyDeleteLonesome Dove probably set the bar too high, though, so I haven't really tried another western since.
DeleteI feel the same way you do now about Little Women, and I used to adore that book. Now I find I want to smack a few of the characters in it. Makes me scared to reread Jane Eyre, another book I loved forever, but for me, the Victorian novels will always be wonderful. I appreciate the deep and unabashed misery.
ReplyDeleteI have lots of Favourite Books, and some of them are books I've taught. They became favourites because I got to know them so very intimately, all their themes, symbolism, style hallmarks, etc. I developed a profound appreciation for them: The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Old Man and the Sea, and my Favourite Book Of All Time, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Hamnet is also up there, a more recent addition. Gore Vidal's Lincoln is another one.
English teachers around the world love The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird. I haven't read either since college, but I remember feeling annoyed by Holden and meh about Scout. Maybe I should revisit them, though.
DeleteBut your love of Hamnet makes me suspicious. :)
In my youth, I loved Alfred Hitchcock anthologies, Agatha Christie (especially And Then There Where None), and the Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series... I remember going through a time where I was obsessed with Katherine Neville's The Eight in my late teens. My reading now is so different (especially the post-grad school rebellion from classics and criticism), but I really think I enjoy it more! (Wow, that was a whole lot to avoid picking a favorite book, HAHA!)
ReplyDeletePicking a favorite book is hard! I immediately regretted my choices as soon as I hit publish, so I can see why you might not want to participate in that exercise at all.
DeleteA Tree Grows in Brooklyn has long been my answer for my favorite book. And yet I had only read it once! But I generally do not re-read books. I felt the same way about Anne of Green Gables.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are enjoying Sarah's content. I love her author interviews, though. I think she comes up with great and interesting questions. But in the past she's said those are some of less listened to episodes so I am in the minority in loving them. I love her co-hosts.
A book that was eye opening for me was Just Mercy. That book is so excellent, IMO, and so heart breaking.
It's no one's fault, but it just seems like everyone is tiptoeing around and being super nice during author's interviews. So many just won't answer a book they hate, for example. I get that you might not want to talk badly about a current author, but hey, let's all admit that A Separate Peace was a terrible book and John Knowles can't feel bad about it because he's been dead for twenty years. I don't know - I just like it when the hosts are more honest.
DeleteYes very very few authors answers that question and if they do, they use a very old work where the author is dead. Sarah definitely does not have any problems saying she didn't like a book, though. For example, she just abandoned Tom Lake by Anne Patchett and is very vocal about not liking it at all! I like hot takes more than tiptoeing around others feelings. You can say you didn't like something in a respectful, non-disparaging way!
DeleteYes, what I like about the circle back episodes in particular is that they have to admit that they DNFed so many books and why. Sometimes it's not even about the book - there's something else getting in the way and they're not mean about it. It makes me feel better that I DNF so much, to be honest. Not every book is for every reader at every time.
DeleteHa! I "invited" myself on Sarah's podcast a few years ago and wrote a "three old books I love/three new books I love" post.
ReplyDeleteA lot of my lifetime favorite books have failed to hold up over time, so it is a big responsibility to answer that question. However, my #1 for favorite and rereads is the Dover series by Joyce Porter. It's a spoof on all of the great British detectives that was written between the 60s to the early 80s. I read the first book when I was 12 and now that you mention it, I'm probably due for a reread.
I think the Little House books kind of messed me up as a kid. I do however love Rose Wilder Lane's Let the Hurricane Roar (a very short and powerful novel about Laura Wilder's parents as newlyweds) and Diverging Roads (semi autobiographical novel about a divorced woman having to bootstrap her way up from nothing).
Kanye West owes me $300 sounds like a great candidate for an audiobook for one of my road trips!
Closing thought, as we're closing in on the halfway point, can I just say how satisfying ATGIB has been? I only remembered it as being generically good. Now that we're in it, every single sentence is killer good.
My fifth grade teacher was always pushing Little House books on us, but I wasn't into historical fiction much, even as a child, so I passed. I feel like a lot of my friends were very into them, though. I'll have to ask them if they think those books messed them up!
DeleteLook, I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I'm so HAPPY ATGIB stood up to this thorough of a reread. It could have been an epic disaster. I am just imagining me not having any questions or notated any lines and literally having NO discussion about it at all. Yay Betty Smith!
Love these questions and your answers! Choosing favorites is SO hard. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez is one of mine, and maybe All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is up there too. The Namesake? The Count of Monte Cristo??? The Time Traveler's Wife??? Fahrenheit 451?????? There are just so many good books!!!!
ReplyDeleteEverything Is Illuminated used to be one my all-time favorites but then I heard the author speak in person and it... ruined his books for me. Maybe I will be able to reclaim the writing, separate from his personality (which could have been affected by so many factors! maybe he is lovely!), after the memory of his presentation fades.
Ack. I think Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire might have actually been in my Top Three if not for JK Rowling's nonsense. She's SUCH a complicated figure, isn't she? Her charities do so much work for women and children, but some of her beliefs are just so mean. Ugh. So, I get it. Sometimes it's impossible to separate the art from the artist.
DeleteSuzanne, I think we might be anti-book twins! I loved Time Traveler's Wife but did not like Fahrenheit 451 and I abandoned The Friend pretty early on! I felt very very meh about Count of Monte Cristo. And you know we felt very differently about The Marriage Portraint! But it's good to find anti-book twins!
DeleteI just go blank when I try to name favorite books, but I have to say that yes, I have a library bag! Mostly because I want there to be One Place where books to go back belong. If there are no books in it, I have nothing ready to go back. It also corrals them in the car, so they aren't sliding off the seat and hiding underneath. Mine is actually a Barnes & Noble bag, with a knitting book theme to it. It has sentimental as well as practical value to me.
ReplyDeleteI actually have an entire shelf devoted to library books because I always have so many checked out at one time. LOL. But as soon as I'm done reading one, I put it in the bag to take back. I think this system really works for me and I honestly don't know how other people keep track of their books if they don't have a system like this. (I suspect maybe they don't have eighteen books checked out at once.)
DeleteMy favourite books are The Blind Assassin, everything Alice Munro has ever written (does that count as one book? I'm counting it.), Diary of a Provincial Lady. I disagree with you about Anne and Little Women, and I recently reread A Little Princess which was one of my favourites growing up. I thought it held up pretty well, considering the whole colonialism thing. But in general I can see why I loved it. I did NOT love The Secret Garden, in fact, I have never been able to get through the first two chapters. Lord, I tried. But no. I am a rabid re-reader so I cannot even think what I've read the most; probably all the above, plus Mists of Avalon.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of The Blind Assassin. How is this possible? I have put a hold on it because OF COURSE I NEED TO READ IT RIGHT NOW. I know a lot of people disagree with me about Anne and Little Women. I want them to hold up.
DeleteI remember struggling with the first few chapters of The Secret Garden even as a child because Mary Lennox was so terrible, but that book holds many strong emotions for me and Mary is redeemed a million times over. Shall I dare a revisit? Hm.
Mists of Avalon. Such a page turner. Too bad the author was so terrible. I did enjoy every second of that book, though.
I loved the Blind Assassin too! I don't always love Margaret Atwood, but the Blind Assassin was such a well crafted novel.
DeleteIt was a revelation to me that Burnett wasn't British... I love the Secret Garden and A Little Princess despite the colonial overtones. I think it's decently done.
DeleteI just learned right now that Burnett wasn't British. LOL.
Deleteoooh.. favorite books are hard. I don't know if I can just pick three favorites, so here are three among my favorites:
ReplyDeleteJane Eyre had a huge impact on me when I read it when I was 13 or 14. I still love it, even though yes, I realize that Mr. Rochester is probably not the romantic hero I once thought he was.
Howards End was also a book that just stayed with me when I read it in high school. I think a lot of the commentary on social class went over my head, but something in that book about how everyone is trying their very best to do the right thing, but failing miserably really struck me.
More recently, The Great Believers is one of my all time favorite books that I've read as an adult.
I've always liked The Secret Garden more than A Little Princess because I thought Mary a much more interesting character than I-can't-even-remember-her-name. She's so horrid and miserable at first, and then she bit by bit gets over herself. I really liked that journey she goes on.
Sara Crewe! I find it crazy that you can't remember her name because that book had such an impact on me. I just remember crying and crying and crying when I read it. Mary is definitely a more interesting character, though, with a lot more of a growth arc.
DeleteI loved The Trolley Car Family and Swiss Family Robinson so much as a child so those books are still some of my absolute favourites in the whole world!
ReplyDeleteThe Harry Potter series holds huge memories for me. But I don't think I could narrow down to current "favourite" books - I feel like I'd be betraying so many books I love.
I could never get into The Secret Garden. It felt depressing and sad to me as a kid, even though I read it several times. I should revisit as an adult.
I've never even heard of the Trolley Car Family. I'm starting to think, based on these posts, that my reading as a child was very limited!
DeleteFavorite books- 11-22-63 by Stephen King, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, To Say Nothing of the Dog-Connie Willis, the Shipping New by E. Annie Proulx...and I could continue. Oh yes, I love Harry Potter too, and several mystery series-not just single books. This is a good question.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a HARD question and I feel like I immediately want to redo my list. LOL. I think the question about what book(s) you've reread is also a pretty good one.
DeleteI love these kind of posts.
ReplyDeleteMy Favorite books:
A Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
Wizards first Rule by Terry Goodkind
Just realizing these are all by men. Maybe I should make a list for woman too. Ve to think about it though
As you know I read ATGIB right now for the first time. But I am afraid it will not be on top of my list. I didn’t like your second one and even DNFed it. Your third I haven’t read. I will check it.
As for the book that changed me or my perspective the most and which I also read the most times is probably The Diary of Anne Frank and all the literature revolving around it. Like the helpers and their side of the story.
I think I did write a post back in the day about 25 things about me as. A reader: https://www.craftaliciousme.com/25-things-about-me-as-a-reader/
Pillars of the Earth was such a surprising read to me! I didn't expect it to be as compelling as it was! I didn't intentionally pick books by women authors, but I'm super happy it turned out that all of mine were women authors. I've been trying to read mostly female authors for the last two years and I think it's really paying off.
DeleteUgh, Little Women. I reread that as an adult and HATED it. It just didn't feel well-written at all?! But I have reread Anne of Green Gables as an adult and still love that book. But I understand why some people don't love it!
ReplyDeleteLet's see... favorite books is so hard! This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel is one of my all-time favorites, as is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Of course, Anne and ATGIB make the list, too!
Favorite books IS hard. I don't know why I just added it there at the end like it wouldn't send all my readers into an existential crisis!
DeleteOooh! I JUST READ Piranesi and loved it! I should probably check out your other favorite, My Brilliant Friend.
ReplyDeleteI loved Jane Austin in my youth, and I still love her upon re-reading. But I guess my favorite books are Harry Potter. My favorite author is definitely J.K. Rowling, because as you know I also love her Cormoran Strike books. On the subject of books, I'm off to finish my ATGIB chapters for tomorrow's book club!
My Brilliant Friend is much more character-driven and in the mode of ATGIB, rather than Piranesi. I'd be interested in what you think about it - it's a polarizing book.
DeleteYes, I also love JKR's writings. To my everlasting shame.
I'll have to check out your favorite books. Thanks for the recommendations.
ReplyDeleteWell, you know by now I love the Outlander series. In general, I love long books (because they don't end so quickly), well-thought out storylines without loose ends, and character development.
I wish I had loved the first Outlander book because those books would be a great addition to my reading world! I love that you are reading all of them.
DeleteI don't think I can pick a favorite. I started a list of Books That I Love, and it's getting ridiculously long. There are certainly books I don't love, but they are far fewer (likely because I, well, tend to pick books that I know aren't going to be hard for me to finish... Limited reading time = careful curation of reading list). But in terms of books that had a huge influence/impact on me? ATGIB, Anne of Green Gables (sorry it did not hold up for you...), Harry Potter (sigh), Bridge to Terabithia, Dark is Rising sequence, Chronicles of Narnia (note: as a child, I did not notice or really care about the Christian imagery; now, of course, it's so obvious to me that it has influenced my enjoyment of my rereads...), Wrinkle in Time sequence (including later books), Cherry Ames books. And, wow, this comment is long. I will shut up now. :)
ReplyDeleteI really should have known that asking my readers for their favorite book(s) would send them into spirals! It's a HARD question!
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