Brer Rabbit's A Rascal by Enid Blyton and Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. My dad used to read them to me when I was a baby, and they were some of the first books I learnt to read from. I also have a couple of books that my parents had as children, such as Robinson Crusoe which has my dad's name signed all through it from when he was learning to write. I need to get my own copy, because it is a keepsake and too fragile to read.
2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you'll read next?
Currently reading Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler, I finished reading Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts last night. Next I have to choose between Jack Keurouc, Kylie Chan and Ilona Andrews - hard choice!
3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
I tried reading a Dan Brown novel once. The guy I had a flirtation with at the time was always going on and on about it, and wanted me to read it to. I gave it away. I read about three pages and just couldn't read any more!
4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
5. Which book are you saving for "retirement"?
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy?
6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
I always read my books in order.
7. Acknowledgments: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
I find them fascinating.
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
I have no idea. I love reading Jane Austen, but I wouldn't like to be in the stories. Women back then had no options. Their life consisted of making the perfect marriage and popping out children - neither of which I am interested in. Also, the men are very bland. So let us move onto Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance shall we? Because all classical literature will have the same limitations for women. I am too much of a modern woman to be content raising children, being subservient and loving to a husband society deems as correct for social standing. If I went back in time, i would probably have been the local herb woman, living in the forest with lots of animals LOL So, modern book characters? Strong female characters, accepted by their menfolk as being equal, with a loving family and an interesting career, possibly with interesting talents or characteristics? I know - Emma from Kylie Chan's Dark Heaven series!
Normal every day Aussie girl, moves to Hong Kong in her late 20s, takes up a nanny position for a sweet little girl, whilst secretly doing her PhD, takes up martial arts as a beginner, becomes a prodigy, her employer just happens to be the god of martial arts, and so there is the whole Chinese mythology facet. Her friends are fascinating, so is her lover (the black turtle-snake god of martial arts) and she learns to not only become a brilliant martial artist, but to use energy, discovers she is some sort of unknown shapeshifter and ascends to immortal status eventually (I am just about to start reading that book). But it is basically a fair-dinkum Aussie chick who finds her place in the world without loosing her identity, or the things that make her tick. All this amazing stuff happens to her, yet she is still this daggy girl from Brisbane! I would dress better though!
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
Many of them.
10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
My mummy got The Oxford Dictionary for my 21st birthday.
I went to Amanda Palmer's Ninja Gig at the stairs of the Sydney Opera House, and at the book swap she arranged I picked up a copy of The Little Prince and got it signed by Amanda Palmer.
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
I give books as birthday presents all the time.
12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
Merlin's Keep by Madeline Brent.
13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?
I liked everything I had to read for school.
14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?
I can't remember - I am always leaving things in mine, as I use what ever comes to hand as bookmarks: stickers from metal gigs (I just found one in my copy of The Painted Man LOL), postcards, letters, receipts, tags from clothes, slips of paper, gum leaves (they don't stain like flowers) and of course, some of my bookmarks.
15. Used or brand new?
Both! I love buying brand new, because I can keep up with my favourite series. But used books are just as valuable, and damn, but some of them smell great! I recently picked up two leather bound Bronte (Anne and Charlotte) and god they smell GOOD!
16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
Both! When you are a fan of the genre and actually sit down and read his books, you can see why he has such a following. I have to admit I have only read about five or six of his novels, but he is definitely one to admire! Particular favourite books of his are The Talisman and Carrie. I really love some of his short stories, such as "Jerusalem's Lot" from Night Shift.
17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Yes. I know I have. I remember making a really big deal about it. But I can't, for the life of me, remember what it was!
18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
Hundreds of them!
19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
All the time! It is worse when the main character is a chef, but even if the characters are just throwing together some pasta it makes me wish I could magically cook a similar meal, without leaving my book (i.e. I need a slave).
20. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?
Sofia. Not only does she know me really well, like a lot of the same books as me, but she also works at Galaxy, a speculative fiction bookstore, which means she always knows about new books, series and authors.
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