Book memes
May. 17th, 2005 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slemslempikeI've combined the two book memes that seem to be going around at the moment.
1. What's the first book you remember reading that didn't have pictures? How did you discover it?
I have absolutely no idea - I don't remember ever not reading (because I don't remember that far back, not because I was reading particularly young), and I don't remember a clear line between picture and non picture books. My sister's two years younger than me, so when I wasn't reading my own picture books, I could read hers.
And how do you define no pictures anyway - my copies of, for example, The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe had the Pauline Baynes line drawings in. Sometimes the pictures in books were large and often, sometimes they were small and infrequent. I don't think I made the distinction when I was young.
2. What's the last book you re-read? (was it for a class?)
Um, Jean of the Fifth by Winifred Darch, which I read last month when I bought a replacement copy. But I didn't really remember the story from before, so maybe that doesn't count. Before that it was Autumn Term by Antonia Forest, which wasn't for a class, but was to get ideas for a paper I want to write.
3. Name a book in your Amazon cart or wishlist (or the equivalent) and tell us why you want it.
One I added ages ago is Booty - Girl Pirates on the High Seas, which I haven't bought yet because it's 4-6 weeks. I don't have a special reason, just that it looked like a good book to read, and I like to read about women who don't fit in with the strict contemporary ideas about what women behaved like in the olden days.
I also have, though not a book, Theory Trading Cards, because my theoretical knowledge is sadly lacking, and they seemed like they would be useful.
4. Do you choose books by author or by subject/topic?
Neither, really.
5. List three classics you read in school and whether you liked them at the time and what you think about the experience in retrospect.
These are all for A level.
The Miller's Tale
I was angry about doing this for A level, as it was our only poetry. One of the other options was an anthology of black women writers - I really pushed for us to be able to do this, as it would have been a mild antidote to the other dead white males that we had to study, but no. I also think that as poetry, Chaucer leaves very little scope for analysis. With an anthology, you can compare different poems, look at different styles and think about the choices made in how the words are presented to you. The main effect of rhyming in Chaucer is to make it easier to remember. We spent most of the analysis deciphering the English, and it sucked. I loved English, and I think I would have done better, along with many others, had we had the women's anthology. Oh look, I'm still angry. Um, it was okay.
1984
I liked this a lot more. We didn't write the exam on it, only a comparative piece with The Handmaid's Tale for coursework, and it was really interesting. I don't think I'd have picked it up by myself, but it was a good choice.
A Room With a View
Really hated this. Still not that keen. So very, very boring.
6. What book do you have in your bag or on your bedside table now?
In my bag is Mervyn Bragg's The History of English. At home, I'm reading Science of the Disworld 3, Time after Time by Molly Keane and something else I can't remember.
1) Total number of books owned
A bit over 1500, I think. I haven't got my catalogue here, so I don't know. I had a clear out last time I was home. It's about 1100 children's books, 350ish fiction, and then a bundle of other stuff.
2) The last book I bought
The books from Morecambe on Saturday. Before that, I bought two books that weren't for me, and before that, I bought the new Science of Discworld book, and "...then he ate my boy entrancers", the new Georgia Nicolson book. It's great!
3) The last book I read?
The last book I finished was Psmith Journalist. Rather underwhelmed. Possibly because I really hate it when writers put the character's accent into speech. I can add it in myself if I want to - otherwise it's just intrusive. Plus, it's often for the humorously foreign, or the deliciously lower-class, and reaffirms the misconception that the English southern middle-class don't have an accent.
4) Five books that mean a lot to me
I'm having a hard time distinguishing between mean a lot to me, and really like.
Namedropper - Emma Forrest
End of Term - Antonia Forest (in fact, all AF's books)
I suppose the Chalet series mean a lot to me.
There are too many!
Also, I have several people booked on my conference. Well, two. But they're external people who aren't obligated to do so in any way! And it's a good start, I think.
I remembered to bring my swimming things with me, and I'm going to try and start swimming twice a week again. Might stop me feeling so stressed about things. Might not.
I've decided, that though my laptop is hanging on bravely, that it won't last the next three years without major surgery. And, looking at this month's pleasantly surprising bank balance, and the likelihood of birthday money, I think that I will buy a new laptop now. With extended warranty, so that it lasts me right through a PhD. Does anyone have any suggestions about where to look? I don't want a superfast machine, and I don't want to spend very much money. I'm thinking about getting a rather basic cheap model, and buying an external DVD rewriter. That way I don't have to spend money on an internal one, I don't need so much memory, and if it goes wrong it's a lot easier to fix than an internal drive. Hmm.
1. What's the first book you remember reading that didn't have pictures? How did you discover it?
I have absolutely no idea - I don't remember ever not reading (because I don't remember that far back, not because I was reading particularly young), and I don't remember a clear line between picture and non picture books. My sister's two years younger than me, so when I wasn't reading my own picture books, I could read hers.
And how do you define no pictures anyway - my copies of, for example, The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe had the Pauline Baynes line drawings in. Sometimes the pictures in books were large and often, sometimes they were small and infrequent. I don't think I made the distinction when I was young.
2. What's the last book you re-read? (was it for a class?)
Um, Jean of the Fifth by Winifred Darch, which I read last month when I bought a replacement copy. But I didn't really remember the story from before, so maybe that doesn't count. Before that it was Autumn Term by Antonia Forest, which wasn't for a class, but was to get ideas for a paper I want to write.
3. Name a book in your Amazon cart or wishlist (or the equivalent) and tell us why you want it.
One I added ages ago is Booty - Girl Pirates on the High Seas, which I haven't bought yet because it's 4-6 weeks. I don't have a special reason, just that it looked like a good book to read, and I like to read about women who don't fit in with the strict contemporary ideas about what women behaved like in the olden days.
I also have, though not a book, Theory Trading Cards, because my theoretical knowledge is sadly lacking, and they seemed like they would be useful.
4. Do you choose books by author or by subject/topic?
Neither, really.
5. List three classics you read in school and whether you liked them at the time and what you think about the experience in retrospect.
These are all for A level.
The Miller's Tale
I was angry about doing this for A level, as it was our only poetry. One of the other options was an anthology of black women writers - I really pushed for us to be able to do this, as it would have been a mild antidote to the other dead white males that we had to study, but no. I also think that as poetry, Chaucer leaves very little scope for analysis. With an anthology, you can compare different poems, look at different styles and think about the choices made in how the words are presented to you. The main effect of rhyming in Chaucer is to make it easier to remember. We spent most of the analysis deciphering the English, and it sucked. I loved English, and I think I would have done better, along with many others, had we had the women's anthology. Oh look, I'm still angry. Um, it was okay.
1984
I liked this a lot more. We didn't write the exam on it, only a comparative piece with The Handmaid's Tale for coursework, and it was really interesting. I don't think I'd have picked it up by myself, but it was a good choice.
A Room With a View
Really hated this. Still not that keen. So very, very boring.
6. What book do you have in your bag or on your bedside table now?
In my bag is Mervyn Bragg's The History of English. At home, I'm reading Science of the Disworld 3, Time after Time by Molly Keane and something else I can't remember.
1) Total number of books owned
A bit over 1500, I think. I haven't got my catalogue here, so I don't know. I had a clear out last time I was home. It's about 1100 children's books, 350ish fiction, and then a bundle of other stuff.
2) The last book I bought
The books from Morecambe on Saturday. Before that, I bought two books that weren't for me, and before that, I bought the new Science of Discworld book, and "...then he ate my boy entrancers", the new Georgia Nicolson book. It's great!
3) The last book I read?
The last book I finished was Psmith Journalist. Rather underwhelmed. Possibly because I really hate it when writers put the character's accent into speech. I can add it in myself if I want to - otherwise it's just intrusive. Plus, it's often for the humorously foreign, or the deliciously lower-class, and reaffirms the misconception that the English southern middle-class don't have an accent.
4) Five books that mean a lot to me
I'm having a hard time distinguishing between mean a lot to me, and really like.
Namedropper - Emma Forrest
End of Term - Antonia Forest (in fact, all AF's books)
I suppose the Chalet series mean a lot to me.
There are too many!
Also, I have several people booked on my conference. Well, two. But they're external people who aren't obligated to do so in any way! And it's a good start, I think.
I remembered to bring my swimming things with me, and I'm going to try and start swimming twice a week again. Might stop me feeling so stressed about things. Might not.
I've decided, that though my laptop is hanging on bravely, that it won't last the next three years without major surgery. And, looking at this month's pleasantly surprising bank balance, and the likelihood of birthday money, I think that I will buy a new laptop now. With extended warranty, so that it lasts me right through a PhD. Does anyone have any suggestions about where to look? I don't want a superfast machine, and I don't want to spend very much money. I'm thinking about getting a rather basic cheap model, and buying an external DVD rewriter. That way I don't have to spend money on an internal one, I don't need so much memory, and if it goes wrong it's a lot easier to fix than an internal drive. Hmm.
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Date: 2005-05-17 05:55 am (UTC)