Answers to the book meme

[scripsi]

bearshorty: What’s the worst book you’ve ever read, and why?
50 Shades of Grey. Now, I have read plenty of books which hasn’t been great literature, but this book is a best seller, which is why I think it’s the worst. I find both the hero and heroine deeply unsympathetic. The view of BDSM as something you are drawn to because you are emotionally damaged deplorable. The actual BDSM scenes boring and clearly written by a person who has no clue about it whatsoever. And the language! I considered starting a drinking game every time Ana said “crap”.

bearshorty: A book you found overhyped, and why.
I’m boring here, but see question 2…

a_phoenixdragon: 5. Which genre(s) don’t you read? Why not?
I don’t have any genre that I absolutely won’t read, but certainly a couple I very rarely venture into. Romance, for example. A whole book which main purpose and plot is to set two people up, usually bores me. I’m terribly unromantic and have no patience reading about something I’m not interested in. I read very little contemporary books that isn’t Fantasy, SF, crime novels or horror. It’s not a conscious choice, merely that they usually fail to interest me. I don’t read True Crime, unless we are talking about a historical one. And I’m most likely to not read a bestseller because I get contrary when “everyone” says I must read it.

flo_nejla: 9. Fiction or non-fiction or both? In what ratio? Where do you draw the line between the two?
Both, and probably about 60% fiction. Most non-fiction I read arre history, biographies, literary analysis and costume books. ANd drawing the line? Well, between fact and fiction, I suppose. If I read a fictionalized novel about a historical person, I don’t see it as a nonfiction book, even if the research is impeccable.

flo_nejla: 10. The book(s) you bought because the cover was pretty, and whether it was worth it
[Unknown site tag]I don’t do that. I buy books to read them, not look at them. I may be put off by a very bad cover, though. I'd never start reading Lois McMaster Bujold, for example, on my own. I would have dismissed them as ye generic boring SH, because the covers are pretty awful. Luckily a friend sent me the first ten books to me with gushing recommendations.

debris4spike: 11. The worst book hangover you’ve ever had.
It’s an odd question, but I ca: t say I have ever felt particularly hangover-ish when done. I’ve read books which made me felt happy, or made me start a re-read at once, but if it means a book I don’t like, well, I don’t finish books I don’t like.

therck 16. The book that you don’t dare reread for fear it won’t be the same any more.
I don’t think I have one, actually. I re-read books I love on a more or less regular basis. I do have books where I have noticed how much my perception have changed and I have liked them less. Most notably a Norwegian fantasy series called Sagan om Isfolket. I started reading it in my early teens and though I knew it wasn’t particularly good books, I also found the, pretty exciting and the sex scenes very hot. I still maintain that Margit Sandemo had a brilliant imagination and the plot in many of the books are actually very good. It’s a story stretching through several centuries about a family of wizard and witches, some good, and some bad. But the language is awful- the author is Norwegian/Swedish and she mix the languages. The characterisation is repetitive and the dialogue stilted. I didn’t see that when I was 14, but boy do I now! I also re-read Bridget Jones’ Diary earlier this year, and I think I shouldn’t. I read it when it came and laughed a lot, but now Bridgett mostly annoyed me.

debris4spike: 17. Preferred bookshelf organisation scheme
Solely for space reason I separate hardcover from pocket books. Fiction is separated from non-fiction and sorted after author’s last name. Non-fiction is sorted after category, and was, originally, also sorted after author’s last name. Not so much now. I have a lot of books and my organisation scheme of choice is because that is the easiest way for me to find them. And yes, I have my DVD’s and CD’s alphabetized too.

frelling_tralk: 19. That book with a twist that felt like a blow to the chest. Tell me about it. (But warn for spoilers if necessary!)
Paula by Isabel Allende. I have never cried so much when reading a book as I did with this one.

evelyn_b & flo_nejla: 22. The book you finished even though you hated it, and the reasons why.
A couple of books I read when I had to read them at university. Most notably Madame Bovary by Flaubert. I detest that book and it’s insipid heroine! Also finished 50 Shades of Grey because I felt I needed to know what I was talking about when discussing the book.

evelyn_b: 23. The book you expected to hate, didn’t, and then got angry about not hating.
I don’t get angry over a thing like that! But I absolutely did not expect to love Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time as much as I did.

flo_nejla: 24. The book that you got into because of the movie/TV series/etc, and the relative merits of each version
Several books, but what springs to mind is Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. I saw a mini-series with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke in my early teens and I checked the book out of the library halfway through as I was dying to find out what happened. The mini-series is excellent, the only adaption of the book that actually contains almost everything in the book. Greta casting and costumes. The book- well, it’s one of my favourite books ever, so of course I think it has a lot of merits!

bearshorty: 27. The book you’re embarrassed to admit you’ve read.
No one.

snogged: ed 29. Your vacation reading habits
Reading more books? I read all the time and when I have my vacation I have more time to read, so I read more.

Comments

[flo_nelja]

Thank you!

For the books I don't always know how to classify between fiction and non-fiction, there are my main categories:
* Anthropology books alternating between transcription of legends and brief analysis of it.
* Poetry books with deep personal references
* Dream journals

I never know where to put them. That's why I asked.