Post 4 of Meme Week
Not all question and answer memes are as bad as the one I did yesterday. They can be done well. Helpful features include having a theme, having one question lead into another, and keeping it short. Since this meme (which I found at Dave's) is about books which is one of my most frequent topics, it's a good fit for my blog.A good meme also inspires thought. There are several of these questions that would merit a blogpost of their own. Enjoy.
THE BOOK MEME!
- Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? Science fiction or fantasy. Never horror.
- Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback? Depends on the quality of the writer.
- Amazon or Brick and Mortar? Nothing like the ambiance of a bookstore.
- Barnes & Noble or Borders? It depends on the location. In our area, BigBoxOfBooks has a better selection and carries music and movies.
- Hitchhiker or Discworld? Gotta go with Hitchhiker. There is just too much Discworld.
- Bookmark or Dogear? NEVER dogear. That is just wrong.
- Magazine: Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction? I had a F&SF subsription all through junior high and high school. Asimov's was just a johnny-come-lately back then and I couldn't stand how self-important Analog was. Besides, this was back when Harlan Ellison used to do reviews.
- Alphabetize by author, Alphabetize by title, or random? Organize by genre, then by author.
- Keep, Throw Away or Sell? Keep mostly. Occassionally sell.
- Keep dust-jacket or toss it? The books lose all their collectible value without the dust jacket.
- Read with dustjacket or remove it? My son taught me the remove dustjacket trick. I had never thought of it before.
- Short story or novel? Novel.
- Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter has to be better than Lemony.
- Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? I try to make it to a chapter break, if I can.
- "It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time?" I like twisted fairy tales.
- Buy or Borrow? Buy mostly.
- Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse? Browse and some reviews.
- Lewis or Tolkien? Tolkein. Lewis is a pendantic hack.
- Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)? Usually collections.
- Tidy ending or Cliffhanger? Tidy ending. Cliff hangers are just cruel.
- Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading? More at nighttime.
- Standalone or Series? Standalone. Series are too big of a commitment. I pity Robert Jordan fans. You could read 50 better books in the time it takes to plow through that series.
- New or used? Good used bookstores are vanishing, which is a shame.
- Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Bogmail by Patrick McGinley. Amazon only has one used copy of this twisted Irish murder mystery.
- Top 5 favorite genre books of all time?
- Classic Science fiction: Dune
- Modern Science Fiction: Startide Rising by David Brin
- Classic Fantasy: Lord Of The Rings
- Modern Fantasy: City On Fire by Walter Jon Williams
- Mystery: The Kinsey Millhone Series by Sue Grafton
- Thriller: Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard
- Favorite genre series? The Travis McGee books.
- Currently Reading? Way too much. Come back on the first of each month for BooksFirst.
5 comments:
I'm pretty sure it's against the law to not follow the rules. You didn't answer the "Favorite book" question and you posted 6 answers to the "Top 5 favorite genre" question.
No soup for you!
Wow - I agree with you wholeheartedly on Startide Rising and Travis McGee (among many other things). I know you don't like series, but have you read the George RR Martin "Song of Ice and Fire" books? Highly recommended (and soon to be an HBO series). They're pretty much the only fantasy books I'll read these days.
udcclgt! udcclgt!
H-man,
I went and added the favorite obscure book. I also put six books into the favorites just to see if anyone was paying attention.
flasshe,
"Sandkings" is my favorite short story, so I might give that Martin series a try.
Sandkings is great. I'm not sure if I ever read the original text story (I think I did), but I know for sure I read the graphic novel adaptation and saw the (Showtime) Outer Limits episode based on it.
srqfty! srqfty!
Michele sent me.
When my daughter was in high school, I accidentally found The Giver by Lois Lowry. It isn't very long but it is a gem. About half way through, it finally dawns on you... reminds me of Hitchcock.
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