Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the library. (There’s no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with my book habit when I was 10.) So … What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library? – BTT

I use to spend childhood summers in the library, and my dad took me. Nothing funny or odd other than the incalculable amount of time I spent there and still do. I go every week, and my library check out and reserves lists are both large. I love libraries, especially public ones. It’s a great way to occupy the time of children and to get lost yourself. Not all libraries are created equally, and I will miss my own public library system when I move next month. I will have lots of fond memories of it, and it is honestly, one of the things I will miss the most of living in my hometown.

You, um, may have noticed that the Olympics are going on right now, so that’s the genesis of this week’s question, in two parts:

First:

• Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general?
• Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both?

And, Second:

• Do you consider yourself a sports fan?
• Because, of course, if you’re a rabid fan and read about sports constantly, there’s a logic there; if you hate sports and never read anything sports-related, that, too … but you don’t have to love sports to enjoy a good sports story.
• (Or a good sports movie, for that matter. Feel free to expand this into a discussion about “Friday Night Lights” or “The Natural” or whatever…) – BTT

I have never read any books about the Olympics, and I do not read a lot of books on sports in general. The one I can remember off the top of my head and that I liked quite a bit is Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. I do consider myself a sports fan in the sense that I like spectating sports, but I do not have any strong loyalty to any teams or countries. To some, but not to the level that most fans of. I would also like to read Friday Night Lights and have been meaning to since the television show began as I hear it is a good sports story. I rather like nonfictional sports books it seems.

As for the Olympics, I have been watching it and keeping up with it for many years.

Are there any particular worlds in books where you’d like to live?
Or where you certainly would NOT want to live?
What about authors? If you were a character, who would you trust to write your life?
(This came to me when reviewing a Jonathan Carroll book – I’m not sure I’d like to live in the worlds of his books.) – BTT

Worlds I would like to live include Philip Pullman’s parallel world where daemons exist, Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series (oh to be a jurisfiction agent), Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet, and of course, JKR’s Harry Potter, and probably quite a few more. When I was a child, I was constantly looking for closets that go into Narnia; I wanted to be Lucy. I also really wanted to be Wendy Peter Pan.

I definitely would not want to live in any dystopia books such as 1984, Brave New World, Blindness, or Fahrenheit 451. There are also a few classic authors whose works I would not want to live in such as Thomas Hardy, Dosteoyevsky, Edith Wharton, E. M. Forster, sometimes Dickens, and sometimes Shakespeare (tragedies only)

Authors I would trust for my life: Jane Austen, Philip Pullman, Shakespeare (comedies only), and Neil Gaiman (because it would be really cool).

What are your favourite final sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its last sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the last line? – BTT

Having guessed this may be the theme this week, I remembered I had a PDF file from American Book Review for the 100 Best Last Lines from Novels (pdf). Once again, here are some I like only books I have read:

“…all human wisdom is contained in two words- “wait” and “hope.”” – Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

“Before reaching the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth. –Gabriel Garci?a Ma?rquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

“Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood; and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago; and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.” –Lewis Carroll,
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

“Are there any questions?” –Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

“He knelt by the bed and bent over her, draining their last moment to its lees; and in the silence there passed between them the word which made all clear.” –Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth

“But that is the beginning of a new story—the story of the gradual renewal of an, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended.” –Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

The following three quotations are all really similar:

“I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so, the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her.” – Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“He smiled and took her hand and pressed it. They got up and walked out of the gallery. They stood for a moment at the balustrade and looked at Trafalgar Square. Cabs and omnibuses hurried to and fro, and crowds passed, hastening in every direction, and the sun was shining.” – William Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage

“The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way.”
– John Milton, Paradise Lost

I seem to have forgotten about Shakespeare last week:

“The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most; we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.”
– William Shakespeare, King Lear

“Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.”
– William Shakespeare, The Tempest

“A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain;
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.”
– William Shakespeare,
Twelfth Night, or, What You Will

What are your favourite first sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its first sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the first line? – BTT

I don’t know if I have liked some books specifically because of their first line. Though, like most readers, I like a good first line. Looking back on some first lines, I like the lines more in memory of the fact I liked the books. I pretty

Here are some that I like :

“Happy families are all alike, and every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“My father had a face that could stop a clock. I don’t mean that he was ugly or anything; it was a phrase the ChronoGuard used to describe someone who had the power to reduce time to an ultraslow trickle.” – Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” – Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” – Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca.

“All this happened, more or less.” – Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

To be fair, I only added books I have read. I would add Tale of Two Cities but I have yet to get to it.

Do you buy books while on vacation/holiday?

Do you have favorite bookstores that you only get to visit while away on a trip?

What/Where are they? – BTT

I actually do not go on travel vacations a lot. My last big holiday and travel was four years ago, and I did buy four books during that three weeks I was in China. If only I did have favourite book stores on my travel spots, but the economics prevents that. I bought books that last trip because I didn’t bring any with me, and I was getting a tad bored in those times when we weren’t going everywhere. That’s when I read Dumas’s The Three Musketeers and where I got Beloved. Just with any place, I buy books when they are usually below a certain price so I like book sales, used book stores, or in this case, where my purchasing power is a bit stronger than in Western book stores.

What, in your opinion, is the definition of a “reader.” A person who indiscriminately reads everything in sight? A person who reads BOOKS? A person who reads, period, no matter what it is? … Or, more specific? Like the specific person who’s reading something you wrote? – BTT

When someone proclaims that they are a reader, I infer that the person reads a lot of books or periodicals frequently and enjoy it. I tend to relate it to a hobby so people who use the term mean they enjoy it. I guess some people can say that a reader is just someone reads whatever, but most of us in the Western world are literate, and those who enjoy it or do so often enough can be considered readers. My definition of it is a bit broad.

Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not? – BTT

It would be too long to list all the books that I like, but in general, I do like style, prose and those who can be literary and wise. As a result, I like a lot of classics. I also like stories which I can be involved and swept away. I am an escapist and read books that take myself away from the setting or distorts reality (yes, I am one of those people who likes magical realism). I like reading fantasy and travel books as well as books that reflect the “nitty-gritty”.

It’s true that I often like the characters. For a lot of my favourite books, there are characters I would like as friends, but there are equally characters I like because I am deeply fascinated by or I can see myself reflected in them. Though, I don’t always feel for the characters. Sometimes the writing is so excellent, I love the prose, story, and the themes more than the characters.

I like introspection from authors where they do talk about society and life. Authors who are on the poetic side also enchant me. The best books are the ones in which I can see myself rereading because not only is the author excellent, but the words are beautiful and they speak volumes about important things in life. It’s usually a mix of all the above or most of the elements that I can reread again. I like books that are funny and amusing as well as candid and true.

Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (or, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?
Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience? – BTT

No, I have never been apart of a formal book club per se. I have discussed books with friends of things we recently read whether by coincidence or by choice. I really do not know how a group would choose. I guess it is good to have a theme or like minded tastes. Then it’s a matter of brainstorming and narrowing it down in one session. I think someone who may have read the book before or studied it (or read many of the selected author’s works) could lead the discussion. Or maybe it is a matter of taking turns, drawing straws, etc.

Though I do not speak from personal experience, I think it would be very interesting to read a group and discuss it with others. I do not think I’d appreciate it less; I would like to see others opinions on interpretation of characters, story, prose, and themes. I would very much like to be in a book club with only a few members, getting together to actually talk about books. I find that being bookish can be solitary and sometimes, I’d like the option for it to be social as you can learn from others and their perspectives. Though, I would not want to join the first book club I see. Books are still personal to me in a way, and I would want to make sure the club has people who genuinely love books and literature. I’d want it to be pleasant experience with people I know. It really comes down to the fact that presently I do not know many bibliophiles especially ones open to being in a real book club.

Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance? – BTT

Well, if I compare it to ten years ago, then yes of course. I use to read more teen/young adult fiction, but now I don’t. I read more classics, challenging and darker books, but I still read a lot of fluffy books. In some ways, it seems I have changed, but in a lot of ways I have not; I still seem to like both easy and challenging books, fluffy and serious. I read far more nonfiction now than I did years ago. I probably also read less fantasy than I did as a kid, but I still read quite a bit of it. Most of my preferences have not changed drastically; I still like a lot of the same things that I did. Most of my tastes have expanded rather than reduced and the books account for it.

What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks — which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be “reading” — why? If something isn’t reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don’t consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance. – BTT

Up until recently, I did not consider audiobooks as actual books that I read, but I realized that I “read” a lot of audiobooks last year, and they now count as reading to me. I even spend more time with audiobooks than I do with books because I read text faster. Now that I do listen to more audiobooks, listening to the stories and the information is reading in a way. For a long time, I considered reading solely things I read with my eyes in text. I consider e-books reading though I do not read them often. I also constitute graphic novels, comics, and manga reading because you are involved in a engaged in a story or learning something. I have a fairly broad definition of reading it seems. Outside of this broad definition, I guess other things aren’t reading. Though, I won’t go around telling people that reading the ingredient list off food products is “reading” (though I do this a lot as I read everything). It does not matter. I don’t think it is the definition of what reading is that limits my choices for material so much as my personal preferences for material. I know what kind of books I like to read from audiobooks to novels to graphic novels/ comics, and the different types within those frames.