and you're lost quite classically (with your nose in a book)

[faeriemaiden]

So, book meme. The sort of meme that doesn't leave a great deal of room for asides, nor does it give you lot very much to comment about, which is where you come in: ask me questions about these books. Ask me questions about books that aren't here. Give me new categories to fill out. Ask me why I included such-and-such a book, what I might have also

Comments

[builtofsorrow]

BOOK MEME; OMG. I must do this now.

Also: if I were going to read one of these books, which one do you recommend most? (Of the ones I've not read, which are all but the Montgomery, Lewis, Tolkien, Alcott, and Milne.

You also need to give me your recipe for gingerbread. -bothers-

[faeriemaiden]

Recipe for gingerbread? Right here. When it says shortening, I use margarine, because shortening is pretty much nasty. I've never made it with the butterscotch sauce mentioned (and indeed don't have the recipe, though it's probably on the website somewhere), but I either sprinkle the finished product generously with powdered sugar, or I make a basic frosting with cream cheese (very basic, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, sometimes a tiny bit of margarine, and lots of cream cheese), heat that until it's liquid, and dip. (Okay. I sound entirely too passive. I CANNOT POSSIBLY TELL YOU HOW WONDERFUL THAT IS and also how fattening but never mind.)

Recommend most? DRAT YOUUU. I somewhat think Two-Part Invention, because it is a beautiful, beautiful book and changed my life (quite literally), and Madeleine L'Engle writes all about her fascinating early life in theatre, and her romance with her husband, and their life together, and then about the summer he was dying of cancer, and it's just -- heartbreakingly good. If you like the way Donald

[bonny_kathryn]

Book meme!

[faeriemaiden]

I love to read Sunshine because it's so compulsively readable, and the writing is incredibly comfortable; it's like putting on a favourite sweater. McKinley can do the snarky narration without losing any of the soul of the story, which isn't something everyone can (I've read books with cleverly written dialogue and observations that were nothing but -- just a lot of witty comebacks and no real humanity or communication), and, as I said, there's something innately comfortable about it. I love the characters and I love the fact that a lot of it takes place in a coffee shop (last October I made cinnamon rolls to eat while I read it) and it reminds me of why I love first person when it's done well. Not to mention it's one of the few vampire books I've read that wasn't stupid. I keep a running list. :D I love vampire mythology, but most vampire books are just rubbish.

[anthon1]

Ooh! I haven't done a meme for ages. But this is tempting...

The Prestige is indeed awesome. I saw it, ironically in two parts; the first time round I had to leave just before the film's prestige, which I thought was particularly poetic. I love how unsympathetic all of the character are - whilst Carter Beats the Devil (which you should read if you haven't, incidentally) is at heart a playful mystery romp with real special effects and a little bit of darkness, The Prestige is simply nasty. Even magicians, who charm us every night, are nothing more than bitter charlatans governed by dark obsessions and terrible secrets. Or maybe it's just me... :P

[faeriemaiden]

My favourite thing about The Prestige was that the entire film played out like a magic trick -- including the bit where everything was actually out in the open and the film disguised the important bits so you wouldn't think to consider them. Well, the non-linear-ness was my other favourite. (Also, mad science!) I have visions of me getting very obsessed with stage magic in the near future. It was really only waiting to happen anyway. (safebox recommended Carter Beats the Devil, too, so now I really ought to read it. It's at my library, but the day I found it I was feeling rather rubbishly and it's a large hardcover, and then I forgot about it. I have a bad habit of taking out too many hardcovers at once and then having to bicycle lopsidedly home.)

Even magicians, who charm us every night, are nothing more than bitter charlatans governed by dark obsessions and terrible secrets.Well, what else would you expect? There weren't any rock stars around at the turn of the century to fill that particular slot. ;D (Remind me to talk about the black

[take_a_sadsong]

Ahh! This is genius. :D

[faeriemaiden]

Part of the reason The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is such a staple of my childhood is because it's one of the first novels I remember really falling in love with, and it's one that I still love today, possibly even more than I did when I first read it, because I keep finding new things in it. My mother read all of the Narnia books to me out loud when I was six, so they've got that special emotional thing going on. :D

I think my favourite character is Lucy, because of her utter wonder and joy (and stubbornness), but after the film I found myself empathising a lot with Susan, because she seems to always go about the right things in the wrong way, and she's stubborn and bossy and confused but opens up to wonder and beauty just the same.

And secondly, isn't it sad? I've never read Winnie the Pooh.That's terrible! You should remedy this! Because Winnie the Pooh is still fun when you're older. I know; our hardcover omnibus of both Pooh books was the first book I dug out of a box when we moved. :D