Book Survey IX

1. A book that made you cry:
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. I was reading it in class, and because I read faster than all my class mates they couldn’t understand why I was bawling my eyes out. I was 13 at the time and it hit me pretty hard.

2. A book that scared you:
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. I was about 9 at the time, and that book scared the bejesus out of me! The suspense and concepts in that book were probably a bit heavy for a nine year old (it is nothing like the movie!) but I had run out of things to read, so I was dipping into the family bookshelf again.

3. A book that made you laugh:
Piers Antony and Terry Pratchett novels always make me chortle.

4. A book that disgusted you:
The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner. While I could appreciate it’s literary merit, I haven’t been able to reread it. Also, that scene with Miss Havisham in Great Expectations with the wedding cake and the ruins of her wedding dress still freaks me out. I picture the ravaged finery being infested by spiders and smelling of dust and mildew *shudders*

5. A book you loved in elementary school:
The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I loved the concept of the lands at the top of the tree, and I loved the crazy characters like The Saucepan Man and Moonface. One day I am definitely going to a costume party as the Saucepan Man LOL

6. A book you loved in middle school:
Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta. Yes, I read it as a new release! I was so addicted to that book that I reread it over and over and over. I also loved See How They Run by David McRobbie and A Bridge To Wiseman’s Cove by James Moloney.

7. A book you loved in high school:
The Dancing Bear by Peter Dickinson. My school was throwing them out and I nabbed a copy. It is being held together with a rubber band, but I still really love this book. It is about a slave boy and his bear on a quest to save the girl he loves (and his mistress) who has been stolen by raiders. It is set in the Byzantine Empire, and absolutely fascinating! I also loved Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park which is about a girl being lost in time and ending up in Victorian times in Sydney.

8. A book you hated in high school:
I can’t think of any books I hated in high school. I didn’t finish reading Wuthering Heights, but that is because I got bored half way through and needed to have a classic read for my major English assignment. I convinced my teacher that Lord of the Rings was a classic, and did my assessment on it instead.

9. A book you loved in college:
Just one? The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I will never look at processed meat the same! I feel sorry that the author’s dream was shattered and people focussed more on the hygiene standards of the meat works rather than the living conditions of the poor in Chicago.

10. A book that challenged your identity or your faith:
I can’t think of any. I could name any number which challenged my (limited) faith in humanity. The biggest one, while an interesting read, was absolutely abhorrent. It was Sacrifice As Terror by Christopher C Taylor, and was about the cultural facets of the Rwandan genocide. Some of the content was extremely graphic, disturbing and horrifying, and I would rather pretend that people couldn’t do that to each other. However, on an intellectual level, it was absolutely fascinating! A lot of the atrocities were cultural in how they were perpetrated, and mimicked fertility rites and the like. Disturbing, yet it was fascinating the motivations for specific acts. I don’t recommend anyone reads it unless they are an anthropology or sociology major and focusing on violence and culture. Brilliant book, abhorrent subject.

11. A series that you love:
Just one?! *whimpers* Charles de Lint’s Newford stories. They aren’t a serial, but are more of a collection.

12. Your favourite horror book:
Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I also really loved Stephen King’s Night Shift.

13. Your favourite science-fiction book:
Dune by Frank Herbert.

14. Your favourite fantasy book:
*eyes pop out of my head* JUST ONE??!! I have been reading fantasy for so long that I haven’t just one favourite novel in this genre, but many. Magician by Raymond E Fiest is probably the most obvious answer I could give. Or JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. So I won’t be obvious. But how can I choose! *wails* I will just list a few: Someplace To Be Flying by Charles de Lint, The Painted Man by Peter V Brett, Bitten by Kelley Armstrong, Waylander (or Iron Hand’s Daughter, Druss The Legend, The Swords of Night and Day etc) by David Gemmell, Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey – I have more… many many many MANY more….

15. Your favorite mystery book:
One written by Dick Francis. He is greatly missed!

16. Your favourite biography:
I don’t read those.

17. Your favourite coming-of-age book:
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

18. Your favourite book not on this list:
I haven’t mentioned The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Pride and Prejudice or Persuasions by Jane Austen, or Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Book Survey III

1. What author do you own the most books by?

Nora Roberts. I buy her books at second hand stores and chain stores. I can't get my books from normal stores.... I am too much of a nerd. Which is why I love speciality stores. I own over 100 NR books, and buy a new one every month or so. I also have about 30-50 Dick Francis books.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?

Pride & Prejudice. I own the vintage one I had as a kid, I used it for uni, so it is full of pencil marks. But that is okay because it is my own old copy, I am never gibing it away, and it is comparable in this instance to a text book. I got 100% on my major essay for P&P. John Gray was going to give me 99.5% for an incorrect quote until I showed him my copy. I am keeping it for prosperity only. Hideous cover by some random low-end publisher. Stephanie at work gave me a complete Jane Austen collection, which is terrific, but it is really heavy and it hurts my hands to read. So I bought a Vintage Classic edition of all her books for ease of access. I am keeping the complete works for when I travel overseas. I've had more in the past. But I think 3 is enough LOL

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

Subconsciously.

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

Secretly? I never keep it secret. If I like a character, the world (even if it is just my little slice of it) will know about it.

5. What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Madeline Brent’s Merlin’s Keep
Raymond E Fiest’s Magician
JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
David Gemmell’s Waylander and Iron Hand’s Daughter
Charles de Lint’s Ivory and the Horn, Mulengro, Someplace to be Flying, Yarrow.

6. What was your favourite book when you were ten years old?

Either something by Enid Blyton, Tamora Pierce or Isabelle Carmody, or a book in the Dragon Lance or Magic: The Gathering franchises.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?

I started reading The Gone-Away world, but ended up giving it to my brother. He loved it, so it wasn’t a waste. It was a freebie from the publisher.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.


10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

11. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - because they could get it SO wrong...

12. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.

There have been some crazy ones… But I can't remember them. I rarely do.

13. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?

Are you serious? Have you seen some of the trashy paperbacks I read these days? Some of them are quite lowbrow LOL

14. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?

The Sacrifice as Terror - it is a book about the sociology of the Rwandan genocide. Fascinating but brutal.

15. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?

I've only seen Macbeth, but that was in a warehouse. The witches were made up of 2 people each - the second was on the shoulders of the other. These came apart and cavorted as demons, covered in red body paint, and one kept pawing my leg. It was fabulous, as it was very informal, as in we were in and part of the set. I had a place at court LOL Lady MacBeth had this gorgeous red dress that had laces on the back, sort of a cross between an evening dress, a sundress and a medieval gown.

16. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?

I haven't read any Russian authors.

17. Roth or Updike?

I've not read either author.

18. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?

I've not read either author.


19. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?

Hard one!! I love Shakespeare, Milton is fascinating, but I have to say Chaucer has a place in my heart. I love Middle English. I still need to refer back to a ME dictionary for some words though, so it isn't the sort of thing I can read on the train unless I take a bag of references with me LOL

20. Austen or Eliot?

Austen. I have an obsession. However, I just bought Middlemarch, so I will finally start reading Eliot.

21. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?

1984.

22. What is your favourite novel?

Just one? Refer above to question 5.

23. Play?

Macbeth, Peer Gynt or Doll's House.

24. Poem?

Oh, hard question! Either Henry Kendall's Bell Birds or Last of his Tribe, most by William Blake, La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats or Robert Browning's My Last Duchess. There are just so many! I also have a fascination with haiku and eastern poetry.

25. Essay?

Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal.

26. Work of nonfiction?

Anything on archaeology which was written by an academic author (i.e. not the mush published by non-academic publishers)

27. Who is your favourite writer?

Charles de Lint, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jane Austen, Raymond E Fiest, David Gemmell, Dick Francis, Charlotte Bronte, Madeline Brent, Victoria Holt, etc


28. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?

Dan Brown.

29. What is your desert island book?

Complete Works of Shakespeare or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or Langland's Piers Plowman. They are the sort of books I can mull over for years.

30. And… what are you reading right now?

Way too many books!!!!!! About ten, including books by Lillith Saintcrow, Lora Leigh, Susanna Clarke, Rachel Caine, Amber Benson, JRR Tolkien, Simon R Green, Anne Rice, and Emily Bronte.

RIP Dick Francis

Oh Noes!!!!! *sob* No new Dick Francis novels!! :'( He was one of my favourite writers from a young age, out of my collection, only his rivals my Nora Roberts novels in number. He died peacefully on Sunday (?time zone?) at his home in the Cayman Islands. He had such a fabulous career, first as a jockey to the Queen Mum and the Queen, and later as a mystery author. His books tended to be centred around the racing industry, and you could always tell he "knew his stuff". As a girl raised surrounded horses, whenever I would read one of his novels I would be transported away, I could feel the heat to the horses, smell their sweet breath and hear the powerful lungs breathing. I would get caught up in his tales of suspense, intrigue and greed, whilst at the same time be homesick for the farm and my own horses. I love his novels, and I will really miss Dick Francis. He was an amazing man, and amazing author, and holds a strong place in both the racing scene and the world of fiction.

 Oh, I just found out Sherrilyn Kenyon is a fan to :'( Its just so bloody sad...

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Source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/books/2010/02/15/1266082230224.html

Dick Francis, thriller writer and ex-jockey, dead at 89

Dick Francis, the best-selling British thriller writer and former champion jockey, has died in his home in the Cayman Islands. He was 89.

A successful steeplechase jockey, Francis turned to writing after he retired from racing in 1957. He penned 42 novels, many of which featured racing as a theme. His books were translated into more than 20 languages, and in 2000 Queen Elizabeth II - whose mother was among his many readers - honoured Francis by appointing him a Commander of the British Empire.

His son Felix said he and his brother, Merrick, were "devastated" by their father's death, but "rejoice in having been the sons of such an extraordinary man".

"We share in the joy that he brought to so many over such a long life," Felix said in a statement. Francis' spokeswoman Ruth Cairns said the writer had died on Sunday from natural causes, but did not elaborate.

During his writing career, Francis won three Edgar Allen Poe awards given by The Mystery Writers of America for his novels, Forfeit (1968), Whip Hand (1979) and Come to Grief (1995).

He also was awarded a Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers' Association for his outstanding contribution to the genre. The association made him a Grand Master in 1996 for a lifetime's achievement.

Aside from novels, Francis also authored a volume of short stories, as well as a biography of British jockey Lester Piggot.

In recent years Francis wrote novels jointly with son Felix, including Silks (2008) and Even Money (2009). A new novel by the two, Crossfire, will be published later this year.

"It is an honour for me to be able to continue his remarkable legacy through the new novels," Felix said in his statement.

Richard Francis was born on October 31, 1920, as the younger son of a horse breeder in Tenby, South Wales. During World War II he joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and was stationed in the Egyptian desert before being commissioned as a bomber pilot in 1943, flying Spitfires, Wellingtons and Lancasters.

A few years later he returned to his father's stables and became a steeplechase trainer's assistant. Later, as a professional jockey, he won 345 of the more than 2,300 races he rode in between 1948 and 1957, taking the title of Champion Jockey for the 1953-54 season.

His most famous moment in racing came just a few months before he retired, when, riding for Queen Elizabeth, his horse collapsed inexplicably within sight of certain victory in the 1956 Grand National.

Despite his many successes, he had expressed regret at never winning the prestigious Grand National.

"The first one I rode in I was second, and the last one I rode in I won everywhere except the last 25 yards. I would love the opportunity of having another go, but it's a young man's job," he said once during an interview with the BBC.

Francis' first book, published in 1957, was his autobiography, The Sport of Queens. His first novel, Dead Cert, came out in 1962 and was followed by a new title every year since.

He also worked for years as a racing correspondent for Britain's Sunday Express, and retired in the British Caribbean territory of the Cayman Islands.

Francis is survived by his two sons as well as five grandchildren and one great-grandson, Cairns said. A small funeral will be held at Francis' home on Grand Cayman, followed by a memorial service in London, she said, but could not say when they would be held.