Fifteen Things about Books Meme
Published by Deanna Hoak December 11th, 2005 in blog1. The author I’ve read the most of is Andre Norton. My high school library had a huge collection of her work, and I devoured every bit of it.
2. The first book I ever bought with my own money was one of Alan Dean Foster’s Flinx books.
3. I spent many long hours in junior high fantasizing that I was a dragon rider on Pern.
4. My dad loved SF, too, and we used to play a game where we quizzed each other on little trivia from the books we’d both read. The first one to stump the other with accurate info from memory won that round. (I still remember winning a round once by asking what caused the scar on the face of Dune character Gurney Halleck. :-)) I’d get him on eye color a lot, too. I was able to tell him before he died that he’d trained me phenomenally well to have this job he was so proud of.
5. I started reading Jordan because I was a broke college student with a hellaciously expensive book habit in a town with a public library that carried no SF/F. The books were really thick, yet cost the same as a normal-sized paperback; I reasoned there was a lot of reading there for the money. :-D
6. I keep paperbacks in absolutely pristine collection, with no creases on the spine, no dog-eared pages, nothing.
7. I only buy paperbacks these days if I have no other choice–and I buy those rarely.
8. I never, ever set a book down open-face to keep my place, and I can’t bear to loan a book to someone I know will do that. (I would even refuse to loan my dad books until he’d promise not to do that, which says a lot. :-))
9. Several years ago, I donated my entire collection of paperbacks–several hundred SF/F books in immaculate condition–to a sale benefiting Planned Parenthood, because I didn’t have room to put them on shelves anyway.
10. I got written up in fourth grade for “reading during class.”
11. When I first started reading, I would get travel-sick from reading in the car, but I bulled through it and it doesn’t faze me nowadays.
12. When I was a kid, my parents would have to tell me it was rude to read when I had friends over, because otherwise I would read instead of playing.
13. I rarely read solely for pleasure these days, because I get pleasure out of most of the books I’m paid to read.
14. My dream house will have a library in it. With lots of gorgeous solid wood and a big fireplace and an overstuffed armchair and a comfy oxblood leather couch I can lie down on. Lots of lamps, some side tables, maybe a bar. Pretty artwork on the walls. A big window to let in light, overlooking beautiful scenery. Yeah…I can picture it. :-)
15. I never reread books unless I’m copyediting them. The feeling I had upon first reading a book, then, is the one that remains with me as I age. I don’t always find subsequent books by the same author, even in the same series, to be at all to my liking, much to my surprise. :-)
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I'm a freelance copyeditor specializing in fantasy and science fiction. SF/F novels I have copyedited have been finalists for (and have sometimes won) the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke, Golden Spur, John W. Campbell Memorial, Quill, Locus, Philip K. Dick, British Science Fiction, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy awards. In 2007 I was short-listed for a World Fantasy Award for my copyediting.
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I want that dream library too! Lots of dark wood, and it will be two stories, with a winding spiral staircase to get to the second story shelves.
Oh, I love those additions! And a skylight letting sunshine beam down through that space! :-)
And rich velvet curtains pulled away from the windows, which should be two stories high. I was thinking of a nice rich red for them, but my tastes can tend toward the extravagent.
I’ll never ask to borrow a book from you. :) I dog-ear paperbacks, lay books on their face, crease their spine, yes.
(If it’s signed, out of print, or old, I’m much more careful with it.)
And don’t forget the stairs-on-wheels to get at the higher shelves!
*sigh*
The first book I bought was Once and Future King when was 12. I was terrified I’d be punished for spending my babysitting money on myself, for my dad had made it clear in the past that my earnings were to be spent on the family for gifts. But when I didn’t get caught for six whole months, my next purchase was the paperback of LOTR. After that, there was no stopping me, selfish horror that I am.
I do, finally, have the library of my dreams. It’s only one story–a loft off my room–but I glory in it every single day.
And that little door off an upper level walkway that leads nowhere. Or into L-Space, depending on what you believe.
*sigh*
Was this in response to a series of questions, or just 15 random thoughts on books?
I never saw any questions associated with it in other people’s journals, so I just went with fifteen random thoughts. :-)
When I was a kid, the worst punishement my mom could dole out was taking away my books. Worse yet, actually, was when she would pull them out of my hand while I was reading and close them without marking the place! That used to steam me.
I’ve heard about people who re-read books, especially ones who re-read a specific book every year or two, but I’ve never understood that. On occasion, I’ll pick up a book only to find a few pages in that I’ve read it before, and then I’ll put it down in frustration and search my shelves for something new.