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Books! Books! Books!
May. 22nd, 2022 06:53 pmBook you’ve reread the most times?
It's got to be a Discworld book, right? I'm going to guess Guards! Guards!, which was the first Pratchett book I read, and the one that got me hooked on the series. I still hold that it's a great place to start, and then work through the rest of the Watch sub-series.
Top 5 books of all time?
Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov (If you want to read some Ukrainian literary fiction this is a great place to start, also there is a penguin in it.)
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie (the best Christie, and probably the best 'locked room' mystery of all time.)
Children of Time - Adrain Tchaikovsky (a humans v. spiders sci-fi novel that makes you root for the spiders from one of the future all time great science fiction writers.)
The Radium Girls - Kate Moore (corporations are bastards who will not only kill you, but will tie you up in court for years while you die in agony, and if they're allowed to continue unregulated will do the same to a whole other generation of workers. Bastards.)
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (the book that makes me wish I could erase my memory and read it again for the first time; also, it has lesbians in it.)
What is your favourite genre?
Sci-fi. Non-fiction. Fantasy. Thrillers. Romance. Literary fiction. Mmm, genres, nom.
What sections of a bookstore do you browse?
New fiction, new non-fiction, special offers, crime/thriller, world fiction, sci-f/fantasy (that is not one genre, btw, stop shelving it like it is), graphic novels.
That is not so much in order of preference, as the way Sauchiehall St. Waterstones is laid out.
Where do you buy books?
Libraries ftw!
What books have you read in the last month?
Iron Widow. Holy overrated trashfire, Batman!
Is there a series/book that got you into reading?
The Lord of Rings! My dad read them to me when I was properly tiny - my dad didn't always have the best instincts as to what was appropriate for a wee yin, which was why he sat me down to watch Predator with him when I was six - but it did instil a lifelong love of reading and genre fiction in me.
What is the first book you remember reading yourself?
The Hobbit it was the first 'big kid' book I read without a grown-up helping me.
When do you tend to read most?
In bed, either before going to sleep or after waking up early.
What non-fiction books do you like if any?
If any? Who wrote these questions? Non-fiction is awesome. I'm reading a really good one at the moment actually: A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Substances and the Killers Who Used them.
Did you enjoy any compulsory high school readings?
I did Macbeth for Standard Grade and Frankenstein for Higher and both were cool. I did Thomas Hardy for Sixth Year Studies and wanted to die.
Do you have a GoodReads?
I do.
Do you ever mark/dog ear books you own?
No, but I do enjoy other peoples scribbling/doodling/underlining in books I've borrowed or bought second hand.
How many books have you read this year?
Eleven, my target is twenty-four and I'm pretty confident of hitting it. There were years upon years were I read nearly a hundred books, and then these last few years I've read, like, one. And that was a blow to my identity as "a reader." Scare quotes intentional. But, you know what, quantity is less important that getting joy from those books I do read.
Top 5 children’s books?
Anything Julia Donaldson. I was on a super early morning flight from Dublin to Glasgow and across the isle from me were a young family, and the little tiny one had been doing so well but halfway through the flight started having a meltdown, so her dad brought out an iPad and stuck on the animated The Gruffalo, about five minutes in he realised that I (aged 35) was leaning over to watch it too, and he angled the screen so that I had a better view.
Also, Narnia. Whatever you think of C.S. Lewis 'There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it' is one of the best opening lines in history.
Do you like historical books?
Yes, but do you mean historical fiction (The Fair Fight - Anna Freeman), historical non-fiction (Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - Anna Funder), historical romance (Proper English - KJ Charles), alternate history (Small Change trilogy - Jo Walton.)
Like, yes to all, but that's a broad question.
Most disliked popular books?
There's a new Time Traveller's Wife series just started, and I was ahead of the curve on finding that relationship creepy and gross and weird.
What are things you look for in a book?
Lesbians
That I enjoy reading it. Also, lesbians.
It's got to be a Discworld book, right? I'm going to guess Guards! Guards!, which was the first Pratchett book I read, and the one that got me hooked on the series. I still hold that it's a great place to start, and then work through the rest of the Watch sub-series.
Top 5 books of all time?
Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov (If you want to read some Ukrainian literary fiction this is a great place to start, also there is a penguin in it.)
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie (the best Christie, and probably the best 'locked room' mystery of all time.)
Children of Time - Adrain Tchaikovsky (a humans v. spiders sci-fi novel that makes you root for the spiders from one of the future all time great science fiction writers.)
The Radium Girls - Kate Moore (corporations are bastards who will not only kill you, but will tie you up in court for years while you die in agony, and if they're allowed to continue unregulated will do the same to a whole other generation of workers. Bastards.)
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (the book that makes me wish I could erase my memory and read it again for the first time; also, it has lesbians in it.)
What is your favourite genre?
Sci-fi. Non-fiction. Fantasy. Thrillers. Romance. Literary fiction. Mmm, genres, nom.
What sections of a bookstore do you browse?
New fiction, new non-fiction, special offers, crime/thriller, world fiction, sci-f/fantasy (that is not one genre, btw, stop shelving it like it is), graphic novels.
That is not so much in order of preference, as the way Sauchiehall St. Waterstones is laid out.
Where do you buy books?
Libraries ftw!
What books have you read in the last month?
Iron Widow. Holy overrated trashfire, Batman!
Is there a series/book that got you into reading?
The Lord of Rings! My dad read them to me when I was properly tiny - my dad didn't always have the best instincts as to what was appropriate for a wee yin, which was why he sat me down to watch Predator with him when I was six - but it did instil a lifelong love of reading and genre fiction in me.
What is the first book you remember reading yourself?
The Hobbit it was the first 'big kid' book I read without a grown-up helping me.
When do you tend to read most?
In bed, either before going to sleep or after waking up early.
What non-fiction books do you like if any?
If any? Who wrote these questions? Non-fiction is awesome. I'm reading a really good one at the moment actually: A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Substances and the Killers Who Used them.
Did you enjoy any compulsory high school readings?
I did Macbeth for Standard Grade and Frankenstein for Higher and both were cool. I did Thomas Hardy for Sixth Year Studies and wanted to die.
Do you have a GoodReads?
I do.
Do you ever mark/dog ear books you own?
No, but I do enjoy other peoples scribbling/doodling/underlining in books I've borrowed or bought second hand.
How many books have you read this year?
Eleven, my target is twenty-four and I'm pretty confident of hitting it. There were years upon years were I read nearly a hundred books, and then these last few years I've read, like, one. And that was a blow to my identity as "a reader." Scare quotes intentional. But, you know what, quantity is less important that getting joy from those books I do read.
Top 5 children’s books?
Anything Julia Donaldson. I was on a super early morning flight from Dublin to Glasgow and across the isle from me were a young family, and the little tiny one had been doing so well but halfway through the flight started having a meltdown, so her dad brought out an iPad and stuck on the animated The Gruffalo, about five minutes in he realised that I (aged 35) was leaning over to watch it too, and he angled the screen so that I had a better view.
Also, Narnia. Whatever you think of C.S. Lewis 'There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it' is one of the best opening lines in history.
Do you like historical books?
Yes, but do you mean historical fiction (The Fair Fight - Anna Freeman), historical non-fiction (Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - Anna Funder), historical romance (Proper English - KJ Charles), alternate history (Small Change trilogy - Jo Walton.)
Like, yes to all, but that's a broad question.
Most disliked popular books?
There's a new Time Traveller's Wife series just started, and I was ahead of the curve on finding that relationship creepy and gross and weird.
What are things you look for in a book?
That I enjoy reading it. Also, lesbians.