"Name three books" meme

[amanuensis1]

Thanks to everyone to helped clear up my confusion yesterday about the "turning dancer" illusion. Apparently a lot of you hadn't seen it yet and I had the joy of bringing a moment of "waaaa" to your lives, yay. And if you want to see the best take on it yet, go see what darthfi did with it here.

Meanwhile, book meme grabbed from thistlerose!


Name...

* Three books that have marked your childhood...
-Illustrated Poems For Children- When I say to someone, "this is just to say i have eaten the ben 'n' jerry's that was in the freezer and which you were probably craving at two a.m...." and they DON'T GET IT I am floored. I just assumed that everyone read this collection as a child, that it was standard for English-speaking parents to give this to their kids and you did not get out of childhood without knowing all of these.
-From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg- Did anyone read this and not start planning what they would take if they hid out at a museum for two weeks? I call it The Novel That Teaches You How To Pack.
-Junior Great Books Series Two: Stories, Tales, and Fables- By the time I read this I was old enough to know that not everyone would have read this along with me, but that only made me feel sorry for them. How can anyone exist without knowing the tale of Vassilisa the Beautiful, or The Cow-Tail Switch? *shakes head*

* ... and your teenagehood :
-Arrows of the Queen, Mercedes Lackey-First mainstream novel I'd read that demonstrated an innocent tolerance of sexual orientation. It made me a better person.
-Princess Daisy, Judith Krantz- That lesbian scene? Formative, baby.
-The Beauty Books, Anne Rice- I discovered that my kink was not unique and evil and dreadful, not if a mainstream author could write about it (even if under a pseudonym) and get it published.

(Yes, the teenage years are all about sex. Duh.)


* Your three favourite books (only 3, even if it's hard!):
Okay, favorite in the sense of "classic favorites in my heart," rather than "books I'm not tired of and would still choose as 'desert island' books," because these are no longer those books:
-The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (It's ONE book. It is.)
-The Princess Bride, William Goldman- The movie is a completely different animal. This book has two of the best plotwise fake-outs you'll ever come upon, not to mention its whole "tale within a tale" fake-out.
The Silver Metal Lover, Tanith Lee- My first Tanith Lee and so the first of hers in my heart. And I haven't quite read all of her books but I've read a lot.


* Three books you could read again and again without growing weary of it :
-Archangel, Sharon Shinn- Most things by Sharon Shinn, actually. Any book in that series, along with Heart of Gold and Summers at Castle Auburn.
-Komarr, Lois McMaster Bujold- I love so many of hers; this is one I am capable of reading and eating up without feeling like my heart has been taken from me and kept away for several days. I can actually go on with my day after I've put it down. Bujold also performs the monumental task of taking a beloved series with a beloved hero who still doesn't have a steady sweetie despite a number of interesting past girlfriends, and newly introducing the woman he'll fall for immediately and who'll become his wife one book later--and making the reader like her. Rowling, you still have a lot to learn from this woman.
-The Fresco, Sherri Tepper- There's something about Tepper's "let's make these radical misogynists get what they deserve" dystopias that I eat up. This one (along with The Gate to Women's Country) is one of my most frequent rereads.

* Three books you've read or are reading recently :
-Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War, Naomi Novik- I couldn't read these until the next one was released, because if I read them I would have no more of the series waiting for me to be read at any time. So as of September and the release of Empire of Ivory I decided to go ahead. And I have no idea how I'm managing to keep my hands off of Empire so far.
-Flora Segunda, Isabeau Wilce- Recommended by mistful, and I'm thrilled she did. A clever fantasy universe, AU-ish from our own and slightly steampunkian, with clever characters and especially fun slang. I've been calling my sandwiches "sandwies" since reading it.


* Three books that you'll read soon :
-Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik -The flesh is weak. I'll probably read it in November.
-Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West; Louis Meyer -Has anyone read this series? The Bloody Jack series? Omigod, so much fun. It's the old saw of "girl disguises self as boy to run off to sea" but so very very well done. A first-person narrative that's delightful, and the books get better with each, how about that.
-The Robe of Skulls, Vivian French- Picked this up at Waterstone's when I was in England. It really looks like fun.


* And one special, fetish book that you'd keep with yourself all the time :
Right now it's the first seventy-seven pages of His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. Unless you really mean fetish in which case it's Kushiel's Dart, by Jacqueline Carey.


I'll probably be all "No, wait! I want to change my answer!" in two hours, but I'll let these stand. I tag everyone else! I want to hear all about the books in your lives!

Comments

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

It's so funny...apart from the teenage books, you and I share almost identical tastes (and god, The Silver Metal Lover: I thought I was the only person who'd read that book *G*)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I had a hard time choosing between it and Red As Blood, because, god, dark takes on Fairy Tales? You think I'm not exactly the audience for that book? But I had to go with TSML because it was my first. ^_^

[wikdsushi.livejournal.com]

If you ever get a chance to meet Sharon Shinn, do it. I ran into her at a con a few years ago. She's probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

She looks it, I swear. Just from her author pictures, she looks it! ^_^

[elsajeni.livejournal.com]

I keep trying to start the Bloody Jack series and they never have the first one at the bookstore! Never! Ever! Barnes & Noble, why must you fill me with rage?!?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Library library! That's what I did! :D

[mybrokenlocket.livejournal.com]

I pulled up the spinning woman for my roommate, and we spent a good ten minutes staring that the screen yelling, "They're both going clockwise!" "What are you talking about, that one's going counter!" "Wait nevermind, on just switched!" Eventually she gave up and said "I don't know what kind of sick website this is, but I don't want any part of it." As you can tell, I obviously haven't told her about my obsession with kinky porn yet.

As for the books, I'm totally with you on The Princess Bride. I love the movie, but it doesn't have nearly enough to do with the book. In high school, a friend who was reading it said she wanted to read "the original" when she was finished. I laughed until I cried.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*giggles at the "sick website" concept*

Goldman COMPLETELY took me in with S. Morganstern. I actually did write to him and ask him for the "reunion scene that he claimed to have inserted, and then removed and was supplying by request. I got a reply, too! If you write and ask him for that scene he sends you a mailing about how Morganstern's lawyers are threatening him, so he can't send it out any longer, he's sorry. ^_^

[beckaandzac.livejournal.com]

Wait. When you say "Illustrated Poems for Children," do you mean the big blue book with the pretty swirly illustrations? The one I picked poems out of whenever we had to recite things at school? (I still remember large pieces of "Verse for a Certain Dog" and "Custard the Dragon" because of that book.) Please tell me that's the book you're talking about because it totally did have the poem about the plums in it, and it was the best book ever. If it's not, you can ignore this comment.

...They were delicious.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

That is THE ONE. With the picture of two children on the dustjacket, a boy and a girl? I think it's still at my mom's house.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Mixed Up Files! Oh! I must have read that ten million times. I never empty our wastebaskets but what I think of that book. It made me believe that all I had to do was get on a train to New York and everything would be all right - which, actually, was pretty much what happened in my life.

I never did get to bathe in the fountain at the Met, though.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Shoot, I've never got to the Met.

[scarletscarlet.livejournal.com]

Bloody Jack! So much yay. A friend insisted I read them, forcing the first one into my hands, and then I was round at her place as quickly as humanly possible, demanding the rest :D.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I had a delightful freak-out when I saw the latest was out! Thank goodness Meyer's a fast writer. ^_^

[drgaellon]

I don't think you friended me back, so I wanted to let you know I took up your gauntlet here.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*runs to see*

[kissed-by-fate.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh dear. The only books on your entire list I've read are the Beauty Trilogy...

*headdesk*headdesk*headdesk*

Truly pathetic am I.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

You're not pathetic! ^_^ Some of the books on the list aren't ones I'd push on people anyway.

[slashpine.livejournal.com]

The Mixed-Up Files! Yay, loved that. I was too old for it when it came out and I still loved it!

And The Silver Metal Lover - awesome. All her stuff but especially this.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I love Tanith Lee; I've read close to all of her books. Close though not all.

[eeyore9990.livejournal.com]

Please tell me I don't have to know the authors? Meep.

Okay, so... I am not a deep person at all, even reading choices, so these may not reflect well on me. :P

Childhood books:

1. From early early childhood: The Monster at the End of the Book(Story?) by Grover, the Muppet. A Little Golden book that my mom used to read to me. I remember being breathless by the last page, thinking that somehow this time would be different and Grover would have been gobbled up.
2. Middle early childhood: Bunnicula by (James?) and Deborah Howe. Wow, just wow. I can't begin to explain how much I still love this book to this day. The image of Chester the cat throwing a sirloin steak over a poor, hapless bunny and beating it with his paw while Harold the dog looks on... *has tears of laughter in eyes* I found this book recently at my bookstore while looking for birthday presents for Beelzebub, my seven year old, and actually squeed when I found out there is a WHOLE SERIES!!! Yay!!!! I have them all now. We're past Bunnicula and into Howliday Inn.
3. Later early childhood: The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes. It's an absolutely gorgeous story and one that I wish I still had. I might see if I can find it next time I go to the store, actually. Very beautifully told with wonderfully entwined morals about judging people based on their appearance.

Teenagehood books: This is more difficult to pick.

1. The Stand, by Stephen King. I still love rereading this one. It's just... pretty damn awesome, actually. :D
2. 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. Because I love scaring the crap out of myself. When life got too boring, I'd read this and sleep with the light on for about two weeks straight.
3. Hearts Aflame, by Johanna Lindsey. A kickass heroine and lots of smut. I loved it. Still do. I'm one of those knuckle-dragging romance book readers, lol.

Three favourites:

1. This might be cliche, due to fandom or whatnot, but Goblet of Fire. It's my favourite of the series, and I reread it all the time just for fun. The rest I reread to make sure I'm not missing a plot line, or to find a certain bit of dialogue or whatnot. This one's just for fun.
2. A new favourite (having just read it for the first time): Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. OMG, why haven't they written more books together?! This was hilariously fantastic. Just what I love in a book.
3. Romancing Mr Bridgerton, by Julia Quinn. I've had to replace this book a few times due to wearing out the spine. It's my favourite re-read of any romance novel on my shelf. A truly likeable hero and a heroine I can relate to in a big way. I love this author's writing.

Three books could read again and again:

Umm, that would be my three favourites, but if I get to choose three more? Okay, then!

Actually, this is difficult. So many books that I read are part of a series that choosing just three to stand alone may not be possible.

*going to cheat and give series*

1. Harry Potter series. For the magic and wonder of it all.
2. Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. For the humour!!
3. The Undead Series by Mary Janice Davidson. Again, for the humour. They're lighthearted, quick reads and sometimes that's what I really want.

Three books currently reading:

1. The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchet. Rereading, actually.
2. HP:OOTP, with Lucifer (my three year old) during the day and Howliday Inn by Howe to both children (Lucifer AND Beelzebub) at night before bedtime.
3. Ummm, the latest Rachel Morgan book. *head desk* It's on my nightstand or I'd tell you the name of it.

Three books will read soon:

1 & 2. The last two Undead books *don't have them, yet*
3. The Celery Stalks at Midnight by Howe for the kids.

Special, fetish book:

Oh, any of the Dirk Pitt books. Heh. That's my secret fetish, I suppose.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, I had the Grover book! I was scared to death the first time I read it! :D

When I was a girl, I started reading Johanna Lindsey, but I was shy about it because kids would grab them away from me and start reading the sex scenes out loud, laughing. So I went off to this three-day camp thing and brought books, a JL one among them, and I kind of kept it hidden under my purse, and then these other girls came in and asked me to go to lunch with them and I picked up my purse, forgetting that would reveal the book, and one of the girls cried, "Johanna Lindsey! Oh, I love her!" And we bonded like crazy for that three days! :D

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

My favorite Misty books are still the Vanyel trilogy. It has all the best elements of fanfic while being obviously written by a pro. Awesome.

I also love Bujold -- Komarr is definitely one of my favorites of hers. I think I'd have a hard time picking just one. Her plots, her characters, her narrative -- she's so great at everything, but I think I particularly admire her worldbuilding because it's something so few people do really brilliantly and she does it so well.

And another Sherri Tepper fan! Woot! My favorite is The Gate to Women's Country, because it's the first time I read a blatantly feminist book where all the women weren't wise and intelligent and wonderful and all the men weren't snarky and cruel and ignorant and misogynistic. The stupid twit females and awesomely cool guys made that book for me. My other favorite is Raising the Stones. Great idea, and I really liked how she played out the "Ack!" factor over the next few books. I wish our world had Hobbsland Gods, though. :/

Angie

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I have a love-hate relationship with Lackey--I'll never forget her for her early stuff, and for mainstreaming homosexual fantasy fiction, but her later books are terrible--it's as if she decided to give her readers everything they think they want, all wrapped up with a bow and spoon-fed. *mixes metaphors*

Bujold can do no wrong, I swear. Every new storyverse she invents is wonderful--I love the Chalion books as much as I love the Miles books, and even the Sharing Knife books have me clamoring for more, rather than making me wail for her to return to the more familiar series. The Curse of Chalion is my other "read and reread" of hers. How I love Cazaril.

I can see critics saying of Sheri Tepper, "She's kind of got an agenda, doesn't she?" But she does it so well I don't care. Even her non-feminist works such as the True Game and the Marianne books have me returning to them again and again.

[capri-chan.livejournal.com]

not to mention its whole "tale within a tale" fake-out.

You mean the one about how there is no S. Morgenstern, which I described as "worse than finding out there is no Santa" when I discovered this fact? *isn't bitter, no, not at all* Though, for some reason, I LOVED the Green Recluse part when I read it. I knew in the back of my mind that they wouldn't die because, duh, movie. But I couldn't figure out how they would get past it, then Fezzik saves them! :D

Anyway, mine is here (http://capri-chan.livejournal.com/300607.html).

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I didn't guess about S. Morganstern right off either! I was completely taken in. :D

[mizstorge.livejournal.com]

This could also be considered the Novel That Teaches You How to Plan Adventures. I always wondered that I successfully managed a one-day visit to both Disney and Epcot!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

But did you have a train ticket plucked from a litter of lipstick kisses? :D

[valis2.livejournal.com]

The Great Books series was awesome. There was something so mystic and thrilling about Ivan's little donkey testing the waters and sprinkling Ivan...I loved that story. And Vassilisa was such a wonderful story...I could picture the morsels of food...I loved those stories.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

You READ those stories!! Oh, do you remember the one about Fate, where the unlucky man goes to seek out Fate and find out why his life is unlucky, and all those he meets on his travels ask him to ask Fate their questions too? And Fate shows him how he can have a better life by having his lucky niece Militsa live in his house?

[fer-de-lance.livejournal.com]

Komarr, Lois McMaster Bujold- I love so many of hers

For me it's Cordelia's Honor (with obligatory shuddapit'sonebook! defence). I can read CH straight through and then go right back to the beginning. My copy looks like it has been through a war. I loan it to everyone I can make glance at it. :D I get antsy if it's on loan for several weeks and I can't just reread it at whim. Cordelia is love.

I'm enjoying Temeraire also; just re-read Throne of Jade the other day, actually! I was so excited when you pointed out Empire, though I'm probably going to have to wait for the paperback release. :P

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

In the U.S. it IS the paperback release! :D

And Barrayar, the second part of Cordelia's Honor, is what I was talking about when I said I couldn't read certain of her books without feeling m'heart's been ripped out. ^_^ Barrayar is unquestionably my favorite book of hers but it stops my world for a few days when I read it.

[lycoris.livejournal.com]

Oooh, Silver Metal Lover. I've just started reading that. *happily coos over Tanith Lee* I bet it'll be good.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Tell me if you like it! I would love to know!

[sh4rds.livejournal.com]

Right, here goes. But I totally agree with the whole 'wait, no! I mean this other great book!' -_-'

* Three books that have marked your childhood...
-Heidi, Johanna Spyri - Oh, man, I have no real explanation for this one. Let it just be said that as a child I was apparently a sucker for stories with cool grandparents (I sort of lived with mine). Especially where the girl totally saves the day. Sort of.
- Fairly tales by Hans Christian Andersen - I lived and breathed those stories, I did. You know, it was only later that I learned that fairy tales were supposed to be cute and cuddly, because these most certainly are not. These people are in a world of hurt about 80% of the time and that seemed logical to me - prince charming or whatever does not fall in to your lap after you sing a few notes. That is not how it works and that is what these stories taught me.
-Russian fairy tales and don't try to make me remeber who they are by- I'll go see my grandmother and steal them all again, she still keeps them for me. Only, I suppose it is different for me as I read them in Serbian, not English. Well, that goes for everything on the childhood list, doesn't it.

* ... and your teenagehood :
-Rebecca, Dame Daphne du Maurier - I must have read that book about a million times. At the time I thought it was 'damn awesome how you could mould people'. Yes, that's a direct quote from one of my bookreports, haha.
-Turks Fruit (turkish delight) by Jan Wolkers - Um, all about the sex, really.
-De donkere kamer van Damokles (the dark room of Damocles), Willem Frederik Hermans- This is perhaps a bit complicated to explain. Mostly it got me because of the sheer chaos of the world of the main character (who is a hopeless loser) and the helplessness he experiences. And then, there's the possible schitzophrenia, which is quite fun ;)


* Your three favourite books (only 3, even if it's hard!)
-Lady Chatterly's Lover, DH Lawrence - There are not enough words to describe how much I adore this book. And yes, am totally looking forward to seeing the movie.
-A Song of Ice and Fire, George RR Martin- Yes, I know it's not finished but it still manages to be here. And damn it, it's one story. So one book :P
-Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami- It is just beautiful. It's surreal and quite weird at times, but every time I read it it makes me notice bits and pieces. Just gorgeous.


* rThree books you could read again and again without growing weary of it :
-My Uncle Oswald, Roald Dahl- Along with Switch Bitch and Kiss Kiss. Because damn that man for being so funny.
-The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde- This neve fails to unsettle me, and I can read it forever and ever, and imagine.
-The Elenium & The Tamuli, David Eddings- Yes, two, but, really, it's Like Harry Potter, which also counts as one. And has not made it in to my list. omg. Anyway, it's a feelgood amusing fantasy series which is simple, follows a pattern, none of the 'people dropping left and right', and is simply fun.

* Three books you've read or are reading recently :
-Orcs, Stan Nicholls- foisted upon me by the boyfriend, but they amused me, they did. Oh come one, they're orcs, and they slay things. Incessantly :D)
-Morte D'Arthur, Thomas Mallory- Well, I am doing a course in mildly evil literature, also I just do so like my Knight Light ;)
-Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie- I was being a child, and this was perfect for the occasion.


* Three books that you'll read soon :
-Adam Bede, George Eliot-I bought it ages ago, and it is staring at me. STARING.
-Otherland, Tad Williams - Somehow, I never managed to read the last part of this amazing series, so I'll be getting around to that ASAP.
-The Bourne Series, Ludlum- I seem to own them o_O, so I might as well, even though Matt Damon has been ruined for me by Team America.


* And one special, fetish book that you'd keep with yourself all the time :
I'd like to say I have one, but I think I'll get back to yee on that.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Never let books stare at you and make you feel guilty! There are classics of literature that bore the marbles out of me and I put them down and turn my back. ^_^

[x-knockout-x.livejournal.com]

(http://www.livejournal.com/community/empireslj)

[millie-monster.livejournal.com]

The Beauty Books...what are those callaed? A friend told me about those and I've wanted to read them but I can never remember the name she did them under...

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

She wrote under the name of A.N. Roquelaure, but you can find them under Anne Rice in recent publications! These are the titles:

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
Beauty's Punishment
Beauty's Release

Enjoy! ^_^

[ktoth04.livejournal.com]

just wanted to drop you a note and let you know that i'm defriending you here, but still watching over on IJ...

(so you don't go omg why did that chick defriend me?)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

OMG WHY DID THAT CHICK DEFRIEND ME

[auntbijou.livejournal.com]

Junior Great Books Series Two: Stories, Tales, and Fables

So, if I said, "I love you more than fresh meat loves salt," you'd know exactly what I was talking about!! Ahh, Cap'o'Rushes, the Light Princess, Molly Whuppee... I still have those books, and my kids are reading them now!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh! I'm pretty sure those are in a different volume or series or something because I definitely know what you're talking about but I'm sure they came from different reading sources for me! I never read The Light Princess until I was an adult (and was very glad I finally caught up). But I do remember Molly Whuppee and Lear-esque "I love you as much as salt" tale!

[sor-bet.livejournal.com]

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Geez, I've been trying to remember the name of that book since April, when I went to New York and went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. THANK you!!!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

If I misspelled "Frankweiler" it's because I didn't even have to look at the book cover/spine to remember it. It's too unique for me to forget. :D

[lagreyeyes.livejournal.com]

-The Beauty Books, Anne Rice- I discovered that my kink was not unique and evil and dreadful, not if a mainstream author could write about it (even if under a pseudonym) and get it published.

Yep, thank god for the "Beauty" books. I felt exactly the same way you did, thus was relieved beyond measure to discover these in my late teens.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I remember--I'm not making this up--there was a series of romance novels, not that great, but they featured multiple "heroine raped by the villains" scenes in each, and I loved 'em. Except I was ashamed of loving them. I wondered what that said about me. I actually wrote in my diary one day, "That woman is sick!!" as camouflage in case anyone read both the books on the shelf and my diary, so they wouldn't think *I* was sick. Yup, I was unhappy and scared enough to lie and hide, even to myself.