It’s been raining all morning, which made swift work of cancelling most of my plans for the morning. While I let the kids indulge in a little Phineas and Ferb time, I thought I’d take a stab at this A to Z book meme that I saw at Romance Novels for the Beach. Wanna play along? Send us a link to your answers or just tell us some in the comments section below!
A: Author You’ve Read the Most Books From
I think it’s got to be Ann M. Martin just given the sheer amount of Baby Sitters Club books I’ve read but Janet Evanovich would be a close second.
B: Best sequel ever
How do I even answer that? Truthfully, book two in a series is rarely the best one. It seems to me that books 1 and 3 tend to be the best. (true of The Hunger Games, Divergent, Matched, Harry Potter, etc.) I would say Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery was very good.
C: Currently reading
I think I’m going to finally start Paper Towns by John Green tonight.
D: Drink of choice while reading
I don’t really drink anything while I’m reading because usually I’m already in bed for the night but I suppose reading on the beach with a glass of iced tea or tucked into a corner of a coffee shop with a caramel machiatto would not be the worst thing.
E: E-reader or physical book
Definitely both. I love physical books and still read them often but I am a big advocate for e-readers. Being able to carry all those books on a tiny device is amazing – I would have loved to have all e-book textbooks when I was in school and as my library gets bigger but my bookshelves do not, e-books keep my house from literally exploding.
F: Fictional character you probably would’ve dated in high school
Gilbert Blythe, YES. I think we’d all like to be Anne Shirley if only for Gilbert. Josh Sanderson from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Ron Weasley :O)
G: Glad you gave this book a chance
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I don’t know why but I almost didn’t read it at all. The premise of a cyborg cinderella story didn’t really sound all that promising and I weirdly sort of assumed it was going to be poorly written trite but I was SOOOO wrong and I’m so glad that Jean kept insisting I read it immediately because it’s one of the best series I’ve read in awhile.
H: A hidden gem book
Daddylonglegs by Jean Webster which I never would have stumbled on without reading The Mother Daughter Book Club series. I’m still so amazed at how fresh and current it was to read for a book written 100 years ago. It should seriously be required reading and it’s a great introduction to epistolary novels (books written in letter form). Also it’s free for the kindle. GO READ IT NOW.
I: Important moment in your reading life
Getting my first library card was pretty momentous, but I feel like meeting my husband at the bookstore where we both worked kind of has to be the most important moment.
J: Just finished
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han which has been getting plenty of social media attention but I’ll go ahead and throw my hat in the ring and say YES. Read it. It’s SO good. Please buy me book two. Please?
K: Kinds of books you won’t read
I really don’t enjoy horror novels, especially ones that seem realistic. I can deal with some scary fantasy novels, etc. but Stephen King books, etc. mostly hold no appeal.
L: Longest book you’ve ever read
I think Gone With the Wind is probably the longest at 1472 pages in the Mass Market Paperback version (which is the version I read) and 960 pages in the trade paperback. Also the book I tend to call out as “favorite book” by the way.
M: Major book hangover because of
The Lunar Chronicles for sure. Also The Series of Unfortunate Events books left me in a pretty bad way.
N: Number of bookcases you own
At least 6 of varying sizes holding actual books but only two of those shelves are for MY books which doesn’t really seem fair. My dream in life is to have a veritable library in my home.
O: One book you’ve read multiple times
I don’t do a lot of rereading these days – too many books, too little time. The books I read multiple times now are the books I’m reading to the kids like Ladybug Girl by Jackie Davis or We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.
P: Preferred place to read
In bed, before going to sleep
Q: Quote that inspires you or gives you all the feels
“Tomorrow is another day.” Gone with the Wind
R: Reading regret
Getting so hopelessly lost in series books like The Babysitters Club when I was growing up because it meant missing out on a lot of the classics that I could have read when I was young and have had to seek out now as an adult. Anne of Green Gables as a kid would have rocked my world. A Wrinkle in Time would have blown my mind. You get the idea.
S: Series that you’ve started and needed to finish
I kind of left the Stephanie Plum novels hanging a few years ago and I keep meaning to get caught back up. I’m somewhere around the 16 / 17th book I think.
T: Three of your all time favorite books
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell which I read at exactly the right time when I really needed to get to know Scarlet O’Hara.
Lamb by Christopher Moore which was both fantastically funny and clever and heart wrenching AND taught me an awful lot about the history of Jesus that I actually didn’t know yet.
Harry Potter (the whole series) by Janet Evanovich which is kind of a family favorite. My husband and I really first bonded over Harry Potter and I read it during that stretch of time between still kind of a kid and suddenly basically a grown up so it’s had a large and lasting impression on me.
U: Unapologetic fan girl for
Rainbow Rowell books ; john Green books ; Marissa Meyer books and YA books in general. Some of my most recent absolutely favorite books have been in the YA category and I’m not alone. There are some amazing fantastic writers who are catering to that demographic and putting out some excellent stuff.
V: Very excited for this release
Winter by Marissa Meyer, the fourth book in the Lunar Chronicles comes out in November. I know quite a few of us are impatiently awaiting that release!
W: Worst bookish habit
Not looking for books at the library as often as I should. I’m definitely an impulse book buyer.
X: X marks the spot pick the 27 book on your shelf
Which shelf? The 27th book on my kindle is Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire is the 27th book on my office book shelf. The 27th book on my bedroom bookcase is I Regret Nothing by Jen Lancaster.
Y: Your latest book purchase
I just ordered Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya Von Bremzen which my book club will be discussing in July. It’s a memoir about the author’s life growing up in a communal Moscow apartment where 18 families shared one kitchen. She eventually moves to the US with her mother and becomes a James Beard award winning food writer. “Anya and her mother decide to eat and cook their way through every decade of the Soviet experience. Through these meals, and through the tales of three generations of her family, Anya tells the intimate yet epic story of life in the USSR. Wildly inventive and slyly witty, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking is that rare book that stirs our souls and our senses.”
Z: ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late)
I stayed up pretty late Sunday night finishing To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han – definitely one of those obsessive tendency books that made me want to pick it up and keep reading any spare minute I could.
Critic & Fangirl 