Book meme
I believe this was supposed to be answered, Advent-calendar style, one question per day from Dec 1 until Christmas. However, since that ship has sailed, and it's easier to answer all at once, I'm ignoring that suggestion. Meme gacked from hamsterwoman.
1. Iconic first line "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." (P&P)
"Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs." (Little House in the Big Woods)
2. Last read Think of England - m/m historical fiction.
3. On my Christmas list - See my Amazon wishlist. :-P I seem to have feast or famine going - on my last birthday I got almost nothing BUT books, and for Christmas, so far I've only received one - which wasn't on my Amazon list, but rather was a gift/rec from a friend.
4. For chilly nights - I don't have any seasonal-specific books, really, but it should be something engrossing, that you can just curl up in bed or on the sofa under a blanket, either a new favorite or an old one.
5. Quintessentially British - Harry Potter or Jane Austen.
6. Everyone should read - As hamsterwoman said, there probably isn't an "everyone" book out there, given different tastes and such. I mean, *I* love "The Phantom Tollbooth" and "The False Prince" and the HP series and "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and "The Scarlett Pimpernel" and "Mirror of Her Dreams" and a lot of PTerry and the Gentlemen Bastards and and and, but if you don't like classics or sf/f or puns and have an aversion to rape, then those books aren't going to work for you.
7. Childhood favorite - "Dreams of Victory" "Seven Days to a Brand New Me" (both by Ellen Conford), "Mine for Keeps" (Jean Little), "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret" (Judy Blume), a lot of Paula Danziger ... how much more do you want me to go on? And this doesn't even begin to cover favorite picture books.
8. It's a mystery! The Aunt Dimity series.
9. I judged this by its cover Any book I picked up on my own? At least, as far as judging whether or not I picked it up in the first place.
10. Latest purchase Bloodline (Whyborne & Griffin #5, which I bought about 10 seconds after #4.)
11. Christmas classic "Hogfather" by PTerry. Oh, c'mon - close enough!
12. Book of poems "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. I confess I'm generally not much of a poetry reader, but Silverstein's silliness works for me.
13. Stocking filler Back when I was younger, this would probably be the "Sweet Dreams" teen series of books - they were paperback and could easily fit in a stocking.
14. Read at school - Do you want "read at school" or "read at school and LIKED"? I mean, I read "Moby Dick" and "Lord of the Flies," both of which I hated, but I also read - and liked - "Animal Farm" and "A Separate Peace."
15. Favorite colour cover Detailed. (I've decided that's a "color". :-P)
16. For someone I love - Well, I got my husband, my mother and my kids hooked on Harry Potter. *g*
17. Funny read "Dave Barry's Guide to Guys" and Bad Kitty Gets a Bath.
18. Massive tome "The Sun in Splendor," "John Adams," "Name of the Wind/Wise Man's Fear," any of the ASOIAF books.
19. Travelling home -- reading this Don't have any specific book I read while homeward bound.
20. Set where I live The Bubbles mystery series by Sarah Strohmeyer. I never finished the first book because I actually found it kind of weird to have it set in my current hometown, but it looked like a reasonable series, if you like murder mysteries with a wacky heroine.
If you want - sort of - something set where I used to live, that would be Flora Segunda. And parts of Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero.
21. To be read Where to start? My to-read pile next to my bed may fall over soon, and we won't go into the number of unread books on my Kindle (although, admittedly, some I acquired as low priority reads). I still haven't finished all the books I got for my birthday (although I confess I've read plenty of non-birthday books in the interim).
22. Favorite festive scene Harry's first Christmas at Hogwarts, although I've enjoyed various midwinter festival scenes from other fantasy books.
23. The best present: Received or given to someone else? I'm going to assume "received". I could name quite a lot of books from hamsterwoman and sometimes my friend Jen in Boston as being among those - they've got excellent taste. But hamsterwoman really has my reading tastes pretty well nailed by now. The first Gentleman Bastard book, the first Flora Segunda (both as examples of introducing me to series I loved), broadening my exposure to PTerry, etc etc.
24. For Father Christmas "Babar and Father Christmas" so he knows the land of elephants wants him to visit, too. :D
25. Under the tree - this is rather like #23, isn't it? Again, it begs the question - for me or for someone else? Or is it asking about a book I actually DID find under the tree? In that case, this year it was Cassie's "The Bane Chronicles" and Neil Patrick Harris' "Choose Your Own Autobiography."
I feel like, given the number of books I've read and enjoyed in my life, that I should have had some better answers here. Feel free to ask me for more details or ... something. Maybe my brain will function better later.