Book Q & A Rules
- Post these rules
- Post a photo of your favourite book cover
- Answer the questions below
- Tag a few people to answer them too
- Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you’ve tagged them
- Make sure you tell the person who tagged you that you’ve taken part!
Favourite book cover:
This one is treasured by me because of me and my mom. We’ve both always loved this book.
Little Women– Louisa May Alcott
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What are you reading now?
The Princess Diarist- Carrie Fisher
The Light We Carry- Michelle Obama
Ordinary Life- Elizabeth Berg
Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
The Audacity of Hope– Barack Obama
once upon a time, there was you- Elizabeth Berg
What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
I have wanted to read for a while:
- Too Much and Never Enough- Mary Trump
- The Frog in the Pot– Angela E. Weiler
- Never Let Me Go– Kazuo Ishiguro
- Girlhood– Melissa Febos
- Not Disqualified– Sheri Martin
What magazines do you have in your bathroom/lounge right now?
Though I have issues handling magazines now, I saved every single issue of Saveur I have ever receieved, and will probably keep them forever. The editor changed a few years back and it isn’t the same anymore, but it used to be absolutely wonderful- a mix of travel and cooking, with slow-paced articles and photography about families and individuals around the world and their specific, unique stories and recipes.
I also really used to enjoy a very unique “magazine” I would highly recommend, called Daphne’s Diary that comes with poetry, arts and crafts projects and stickers physically built into the magazine, and personal reflections and pull-out art, like a scrapbook.
I’ve also saved magazines that have had anything at all to do with the re-emergence of Star Trek, especially anything to do with Spock, and also Taylor Swift of course.
What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?
The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck, which I was required to read one year, is the most boring book I have ever held in my hand in my life, and it’s supposed to be this great work of literature, and all I remember about it is that apparently there was a lot of dust, misery, and death, with one sex scene, and then it went back to dust, misery, and death and every day being the same, and maybe that was the point? And I never need to read it again! And neither does anyone else
What book seems really popular, but you didn’t like it?
The Great Gatsby. I did not like it. It felt like toxic sludge.
What are your three favourite poems?
One of my favorite poets is my dear friend Emily Ruth Hazel. Here is a link to one of her poems that I love, Holding Space.
I really don’t know how to limit myself to three.
Edit: Ok fine here are a few others.
Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day– Delmore Schwartz (link), paired with Star Trek Generations and the vision of the Nexus it inspired, and the resulting conversation/ Picard’s conclusion
Amor de mi Alma – Garcilaso de la Vega (16th century Spanish poet) (link), paired with Randall Stroope’s choral work based on it
[the entirety of Ferris Beuller’s Day Off]
Where do you usually get your books?
Right now I get them all on Kindle. Before, I used to go to used bookstores. There’s this one specific outdoor used bookstore in Ojai called “Bart’s Books”- it’s just open air and has no roof. It’s a really special spot. I also used to really like finding old sheet music and music books at places like this.
Once I found a childrens’ choral music book in a used bookstore in Buenos Aires that had “The Beautiful Blue Danube,” but no, it was now a choral piece, and yes, the lyrics were in Spanish, and they had a melody with the little chiming echo above it with the meaning of “the blue! danube!” (danubio azul!) over and over again and it was the funniest thing I’d seen in like a long time. Like the melody was saying whatever and then the echo was just that the whole song.
When you were little, did you have any particular reading habits?
Mysteries. I went to the library and read all their Boxcar Children pretty much until the ones that were ghost-written, and also Nancy Drew. I actually have some of the original Nancy Drew books passed down from my mom somewhere, which I think are so special.
I tend to be all or nothing about reading, and that was true when I was a kid, too. Like, I just read a bunch and it takes over for a few days, or not that much. I devoured Harry Potter and we were always about the same age, he and I, so that was always exciting (and took over my life) when a new one would come out. I actually stopped reading when Harry got brooding and depressed on book 7 or so and I need to finish the end. I’m not sure what happened. I couldn’t take it for some reason at that time.
What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was too good to put down?
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine- Gail Honeyman
Have you ever “faked” reading a book?
I’m not sure what it’s called when you sit under a tree to read a book and then definitely cannot focus on the book, but whatever that is, yes, and it’s still so fun. Same thing at the beach, it’s a joke for me to attempt, but fun to do anyway
Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the cover?
I bought The Book of Surprises, by Rudolph Flesch at Bart’s Books and it’s a delight, definitely surprising, along with Dictionary of Thoughts, by Tryon Edwards. Both of them I just saw and knew, and have been two of my favorites since I got them.
What was your favourite book when you were a child?
A Wrinkle in Time– Madeleine L’Engle
Bridge to Terabithia- Katherine Paterson
What book changed your life?
What Happened- Hillary Clinton
When she discussed her religion and how it tied into trying to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and how that led her to politics, it totally changed how I thought from being trees to forest.
Tightrope by Nicholas Kristof really influenced me, also..
Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions: Reviving Victorian Celebrations of Comfort and Joy- Sarah Ban Breathnach
I looked to this book throughout the year for most of my early years as a mom, to try to learn from women of the past.
Lord of the Flies (William Golding) was very impactful as a teen.
The Yes Anxiety (Blaine Smith) is a book that I still haven’t finished reading. Just a chapter or two was enough to make me buy multiple copies to give away, and it rescued me in ways too big to try to explain.
What is your favourite passage from a book?
“The day was beautiful and the way was beautiful. Anne was almost sorry when they reached Hester Gray’s garden, and sat down on the old bench. But it was beautiful there, too- as beautiful as it had been on the faraway day of the Golden Picnic, when Ieana and Jane and Priscilla and she had found it..” to the end of Love Takes Up the Glass of Time, Anne of the Island
“Life is short, make it sweet.” –The Story of Arthur Truluv
Who are your top five favourite authors?
- Elizabth Berg
- L. M. Montgomery
- Nicholas Kristof
- Barack & Michelle Obama
- J. K. Rowling* (I disagree with everything she stands for politically, but if men can separate their work from their personal life, so can women)
What book has no one heard of but should read?
poemcrazy by Susan Woolridge is awesome (and once led me to cover my bedroom with words on pieces of paper…), but it’s for a niche audience.
What books are you an ‘evangelist’ for?
There are some books I read once, that were super impactful, and I never need to read them again, but I think they’ll change anyone: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly- Jean-Dominique Bauby, When Breath Becomes Air– Pauli Kalanith(both very heavy).
The Flavor Bible– Andrew Dornenburg. This book is groundbreaking, honestly, for anyone who loves thinking about food.
The Story of Arthur Truluv, Anne of Green Gables
I used to give Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover to my graduating seniors. Now I see him more controversially.
Treat Your Own Back, by Robin McKenzie was recommended to me by a spine surgeon and totally changed my life. I share about it to people I meet who have back problems.
What are your favourite books by a first time author?
Frankenstein– Mary Shelley
What is your favourite classic book
*story: A Christmas Carol– Charles Dickens
*book: Little Women– Louisa May Alcott
Five other notable mentions?
- 1984
- Brave New World
Tagging:
