STOP! It's meme time!
Was too tired and lazy to do the meme yesterday, so here, have two days in one!
Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Can't pick one, so you get a list.
OK, this one is easy. Everyone, read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I think this is one of those books people know is a modern classic but are hesitant to read because of the disturbing subject matter. Read it anyway.
Now, don't get me wrong, it is terribly distressing at times without being graphic, but I can't stress to you enough how beautiful and haunting this book is. Nabokov just steals my breath away with his writing. His sense of character is second to none - how else do you explain the charisma that exudes from the narrator (the pompously and geniusly named, Humbert Humbert), the fact that at times you almost like him and have to constantly remind yourself that he's a sick man, that he doesn't make perfect sense, that what he's doing is vile. This is Nabokov's genius, the fact that he can make us doubt ourselves and believe in the characters, we allow them to charm us so eloquently. Sometime the scariest villains (and yes, I'd call Humbert Humbert a villain) are the ones that appear calm and speak rationally, they seem so much like us, are so charismatic that you can't help but begin to fall under their allure. It's mesmerizing, being sucked in so fully by a character like that. Honestly a work of genius that everyone should witness. A book (an author!) for your bucket list.
A similar feeling happens when I read Capote's In Cold Blood - that has the added chill factor of being a (fictional) true story. Another book everyone should read once, another masterpiece.
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 - Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 - Your "comfort" book
Day 16 - Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 - Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 - Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 - Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 - Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 - Most annoying character ever
Day 24 - Best quote from a novel
Day 25 - Any five books from your "to be read" stack
Day 26 - OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 - If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 - First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 - Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 - What book are you reading right now?
Also! Rememeber, if you'd like a Christmas card just let me know over at THIS post.
Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Can't pick one, so you get a list.
- Badly written romance for the sake of romance and very little else, where the characters have about as much chemistry as Bradley James and Angel Coulby.
- When the good guy you've been routing for turns out to be the bad buy/mole or whatever. I feels so SO cheated - probably the point but still, most writers aren't Agatha Christie. >:(
- The Chosen One. Legit Mary Sues. This is really only a fantasy genre thing. It must STOP.
OK, this one is easy. Everyone, read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I think this is one of those books people know is a modern classic but are hesitant to read because of the disturbing subject matter. Read it anyway.
Now, don't get me wrong, it is terribly distressing at times without being graphic, but I can't stress to you enough how beautiful and haunting this book is. Nabokov just steals my breath away with his writing. His sense of character is second to none - how else do you explain the charisma that exudes from the narrator (the pompously and geniusly named, Humbert Humbert), the fact that at times you almost like him and have to constantly remind yourself that he's a sick man, that he doesn't make perfect sense, that what he's doing is vile. This is Nabokov's genius, the fact that he can make us doubt ourselves and believe in the characters, we allow them to charm us so eloquently. Sometime the scariest villains (and yes, I'd call Humbert Humbert a villain) are the ones that appear calm and speak rationally, they seem so much like us, are so charismatic that you can't help but begin to fall under their allure. It's mesmerizing, being sucked in so fully by a character like that. Honestly a work of genius that everyone should witness. A book (an author!) for your bucket list.
A similar feeling happens when I read Capote's In Cold Blood - that has the added chill factor of being a (fictional) true story. Another book everyone should read once, another masterpiece.
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 - Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 - Your "comfort" book
Day 16 - Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 - Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 - Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 - Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 - Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 - Most annoying character ever
Day 24 - Best quote from a novel
Day 25 - Any five books from your "to be read" stack
Day 26 - OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 - If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 - First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 - Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 - What book are you reading right now?
Also! Rememeber, if you'd like a Christmas card just let me know over at THIS post.