(no subject)
For me, wrapping up a paper is the hardest part by far. I've been on the computer for two hours now and written a grand total of one sentence. Of course, part of that is because I was perusing my friends page and ogling Jeremy Irons, but a good deal of it can be attributed to the fact that concluding paragraphs are evil. Luckily, we have an extension until the end of the week. If I write one sentence a day between now and then, I should finish it on time. Meanwhile...
Book meme, stolen from manveri:
1) Total number of books in your house:
Gosh, I don't even want to guess at this. A couple hundred to be sure, but that is what happens when you live in a family of packrats. Fifty of those are probably copies of the Bible; we have an entire shelf dedicated to religious books alone. We still have a ton of kids books, too, simply because my parents have a hard time getting rid of stuff.
2) The last book you bought was:
The latest book I got was "Brideshead Revisited," but I had ordered it online a few weeks ago. The latest book I bought was, um... Okay, it's a tie between "Men at Arms" and "Commodore Hornblower," because I bought both of them the last time I went to the bookstore.
3) What was the last book you read before reading this?
I just finished rereading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" the night before last.
4) Write down 5 books you often read or that mean a lot to you.
1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I first read this book when I went to France in fifth grade, and it was the one bit of English that I was able to read for two weeks. I absolutely fell in love with it the first time I read it, and since then I have read it at least once a year. This was probably my first transition from children's books to adult literature, so it has become something of a standard by which I measure pretty much everything else I read.
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. This is the first Dumas I ever read, and it is probably still my favourite. I read it over the summer a few years ago and spent the better part of a week locked up in my room working on it. I don't even know how to describe that experience, but I could already tell that it was something that would have a huge influence on my life. The way Dumas relates his characters in most of his stories makes it pretty clear who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. In this book, though, there is a lot of ambiguity and I like that because, especially at the end, the reader is able to feel sympathetic for pretty much everybody. Obviously the Count has a powerful presence, and yet without the minor characters the story wouldn't be half of what it is.
3. Lieutenant Hornblower by C. S. Forester. I did read "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower" first, but this is far and away the absolute best book out of the series (from what I have read so far, anyway; I still have three books left). I hadn't seen "Mutiny" or "Retribution" before reading the book, so I wasn't spoiled for any of the events in it. I have never been a big fan of reading books with a lot of action or suspense, but this book proved to be an exception. It also introduced the character of Mr. Bush, who I absolutely love to pieces. Forester really shows of the range of his skills in this book as well, making the final game of whist just as exciting as any of the battles that occur earlier on. This won the award for my favourite book of last year.
4. There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. I think most people have something, be it a book, movie, TV show, whatever, that they enjoy immensely as a child, forget about for many years, and then go back an revisit, only to be moved in a completely different manner. I just did that this past week while watching "Labyrinth," and a couple of years ago while rereading this book. I read it first when I was in about second grade, and then I didn't read it again until maybe two years ago when I found it while cleaning out my room. I decided to read it again and was surprised to find myself crying through pretty much the whole thing. This is one of the very few books that has made me reevaluate myself and the way I treat other people. It's easy to justify being mean to people who are always negative to others, but especially since reading this I always try not to judge people too harshly.
5. Okay. I'm cheating. I knew when I first started this that I had to include Harry Potter, but I couldn't think of which one to put. I was going to save it for last in hopes of picking one along the way, but I couldn't, so I'm just going to consider them as a collective. I've gotten so attached to these stories over the past five years that I can't seem to remember what life was like before. I don't know if I should even bother explaining it here; I'm sure you all know the impact it has had in my life, considering the fact that I probably wouldn't even be involved in LiveJournal or the internet in general if it hadn't been for Harry Potter. Of course I love the books by themselves, but they mean more to me than just the story and the characters. It introduced me to more than just the world of magic; it was the first time I ever got involved in the fandom. I am one hundred percent sure that my life would be vastly different if I didn't have Harry Potter.
5) Who are you going to pass the stick to (to three people) and why?
rainbowjehan, katwm80, and queeniefox, simply because I am curious to know what their answers would be.
Book meme, stolen from manveri:
1) Total number of books in your house:
Gosh, I don't even want to guess at this. A couple hundred to be sure, but that is what happens when you live in a family of packrats. Fifty of those are probably copies of the Bible; we have an entire shelf dedicated to religious books alone. We still have a ton of kids books, too, simply because my parents have a hard time getting rid of stuff.
2) The last book you bought was:
The latest book I got was "Brideshead Revisited," but I had ordered it online a few weeks ago. The latest book I bought was, um... Okay, it's a tie between "Men at Arms" and "Commodore Hornblower," because I bought both of them the last time I went to the bookstore.
3) What was the last book you read before reading this?
I just finished rereading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" the night before last.
4) Write down 5 books you often read or that mean a lot to you.
1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I first read this book when I went to France in fifth grade, and it was the one bit of English that I was able to read for two weeks. I absolutely fell in love with it the first time I read it, and since then I have read it at least once a year. This was probably my first transition from children's books to adult literature, so it has become something of a standard by which I measure pretty much everything else I read.
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. This is the first Dumas I ever read, and it is probably still my favourite. I read it over the summer a few years ago and spent the better part of a week locked up in my room working on it. I don't even know how to describe that experience, but I could already tell that it was something that would have a huge influence on my life. The way Dumas relates his characters in most of his stories makes it pretty clear who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. In this book, though, there is a lot of ambiguity and I like that because, especially at the end, the reader is able to feel sympathetic for pretty much everybody. Obviously the Count has a powerful presence, and yet without the minor characters the story wouldn't be half of what it is.
3. Lieutenant Hornblower by C. S. Forester. I did read "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower" first, but this is far and away the absolute best book out of the series (from what I have read so far, anyway; I still have three books left). I hadn't seen "Mutiny" or "Retribution" before reading the book, so I wasn't spoiled for any of the events in it. I have never been a big fan of reading books with a lot of action or suspense, but this book proved to be an exception. It also introduced the character of Mr. Bush, who I absolutely love to pieces. Forester really shows of the range of his skills in this book as well, making the final game of whist just as exciting as any of the battles that occur earlier on. This won the award for my favourite book of last year.
4. There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. I think most people have something, be it a book, movie, TV show, whatever, that they enjoy immensely as a child, forget about for many years, and then go back an revisit, only to be moved in a completely different manner. I just did that this past week while watching "Labyrinth," and a couple of years ago while rereading this book. I read it first when I was in about second grade, and then I didn't read it again until maybe two years ago when I found it while cleaning out my room. I decided to read it again and was surprised to find myself crying through pretty much the whole thing. This is one of the very few books that has made me reevaluate myself and the way I treat other people. It's easy to justify being mean to people who are always negative to others, but especially since reading this I always try not to judge people too harshly.
5. Okay. I'm cheating. I knew when I first started this that I had to include Harry Potter, but I couldn't think of which one to put. I was going to save it for last in hopes of picking one along the way, but I couldn't, so I'm just going to consider them as a collective. I've gotten so attached to these stories over the past five years that I can't seem to remember what life was like before. I don't know if I should even bother explaining it here; I'm sure you all know the impact it has had in my life, considering the fact that I probably wouldn't even be involved in LiveJournal or the internet in general if it hadn't been for Harry Potter. Of course I love the books by themselves, but they mean more to me than just the story and the characters. It introduced me to more than just the world of magic; it was the first time I ever got involved in the fandom. I am one hundred percent sure that my life would be vastly different if I didn't have Harry Potter.
5) Who are you going to pass the stick to (to three people) and why?
rainbowjehan, katwm80, and queeniefox, simply because I am curious to know what their answers would be.