Skip to main content

Questions about reading meme

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.17.2008

I stole this cool meme from The Surrendered Scribe (thanks, Julie!).

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

Both my parents love to read fiction, and so I came by my love of reading honestly. I remember sitting in the living room with my dad, the two of us just reading from our respective books.

Also, whenever Mom went to the hairdresser in town, Dad would take me and my brother to Ala Moana shopping center and we’d go to the bookstore! I always got to choose one book Dad would buy for me.

2. What are some books you read as a child?

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Dragonsong and Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

3. What is your favorite genre?

Romance! But really, I read pretty much anything. I love a wide range of stories.

The only genre I have a hard time with is the really angsty women’s fiction stories, because they’re too emotionally painful for me to get through. I might enjoy the stories, but I’ll cry buckets and be depressed for several days after reading the book.

4. Do you have a favorite novel?

Persuasion by Jane Austen

5. Where do you usually read?

In my office in my ergonomic chair. I used to read in bed but it hurt my back.

6. When do you usually read?

Typically late at night, although if I’m reading for work (my writing), I’ll read during the day, too.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Yup! Although usually not more than 3. And if it’s a good book, I’ll stick with it until it’s done, to the exclusion of all the other books I’m reading.

8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

I usually enjoy “reading” nonfiction via audiobook. For some reason, it’s just more enjoyable to me and I get more out of it if I listen to a nonfiction book while I’m walking the dog or doing something else rather mindless.

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

I buy most of them. In fact, lately I’ve been buying them on ebook whenever possible because I can then knit and read at the same time—all I have to do is hit a button to turn the page.

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

Even the books I like, I will usually give away (except the ebooks, which I can’t give away) because I like to “spread the love.” There are very few books I keep.

Some exceptions are classics in nice bindings, my Betty Neels and Grace Livingston Hill novels, my Harry Potter books, and a few Regency romances and other books I loved so much I would read them again.

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them?

No children, but I have given Christian fiction to the kids at my church to read. Unfortunately, not many of them are fiction readers, but several like speculative fiction and fantasy, and some suspense.

I enjoy introducing them to new authors and new stories to challenge their thinking and imaginations.

12. What are you reading now?

Steeple Hill Love Inspired romances from the last 2 years, because I’m researching the Love Inspired line.

I want to write a proposal for Steeple Hill, and since they target a very specific readership, I want to make sure I thoroughly understand the types of heroes and heroines, plots, villains, and endings they’ve published recently.

I also want to get a “feel” for the general atmosphere of the line and the writing.

13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?

I’m ashamed to admit it’s in the thousands. They’re mostly Regency romances I picked up at GoodWill or yard sales (I mean, who can resist books for a buck or 25 cents?) and a few writing craft books I’ve been meaning to get around to.

14. What’s next?

After the Love Inspired stories, I’ll probably try to get into some books I need to read for review, like It’s All About Us by Shelley Adina, Calico Canyon by Mary Connealy, After the Kiss by Suzanne Enoch, Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs, Sunset by Karen Kingsbury, Demon by Tosca Lee, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Washington’s Lady by Nancy Moser,
Shade by John Olson, and The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.

15. What books would you like to reread?

I reread Jane Austen quite regularly, especially via audiobook. Ditto for Harry Potter.

16. Who are your favorite authors?

Jane Austen, naturally!

I have so many authors on my auto-buy list, it’s too long to list. But I’ll list a few of the newer authors in case it piques someone’s interest who’s looking to try a new voice:

Shelley Adina
Robin Caroll
Mary Connealy
Janet Dean (her debut novel comes out in September)
Meredith Efken
Debby Giusti
Tosca Lee
Julie Lessman
Cara Putman
Missy Tippens
M.L. Tyndall
Cheryl Wyatt

Your turn! Do this meme on your blog and leave a link in the comments!

Comments

I love hearing how others got into reading and also people's "To Be Read" list - I look of the books and if they sound interesting, add them to my list. ha. So here is my "reading" survey!

http://musesandramblings.blogspot.com/
Cara Putman said…
I'm up here: http://carasmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/lets-talk-books.html
Crystal Laine said…
Ok, I did this meme! It turned out to be two blogs because I had so much to say. Ugh.

Go here!
http://christianbookscout.blogspot.com/2008/07/to-be-read-or-not-to-be-read-that-is.html

and then here
http://christianbookscout.blogspot.com/2008/07/part-2-to-be-read-or-not-to-be-read.html

LOL!
Kara S. said…
After reading the meme here and at Cara's, I had to answer the questions!!!
http://ramblings-n-writings.blogspot.com/2008/07/let-talk-books.html
Julie Arduini said…
I'm so late responding to this (I've been reading!) but thanks for using the meme and linking to me. I love reading what others enjoy.

Can't wait to see what happens with your proposal. I enjoy that line as well.

Popular Posts

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

Excerpt - A HUNDRED YEARS OF HAPPINESS by Nicole Seitz

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.05.2009 Update: Sorry, this giveaway is closed. A Hundred Years of Happiness by Nicole Seitz A beautiful young woman. An American soldier. A war-torn country. Nearly forty years of silence. Now, two daughters search for the truth they hope will set them free and the elusive peace their parents have never found. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, a young mother named Katherine Ann is struggling to help her tempestuous father, by plunging into a world of secrets he never talks about. A fry cook named Lisa is trying desperately to reach her grieving Vietnamese mother, who has never fully adjusted to life in the States. And somewhere far away, a lost soul named Ernest is drifting, treading water, searching for what he lost on a long-ago mountain. They're all longing for connection. For the war that touched them to finally end. For their hundred years of happiness at long last to begin. From the beloved author of The Spirit of Sweetgrass...

Z Sales Meeting

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My trip to Grand Rapids: My trip went so great! I’m hoping I remembered people’s names correctly. I arrived in Grand Rapids around 3 in the afternoon, and Joyce Ondersma (Author Relations) picked me up at the airport. I’d met Joyce last year at ICRS and she’s a wonderful person. She has glorious red hair that I totally envy. We had dinner with Sue Brower (Senior Editor) and Sherry Guzy (Marketing Director). I also met Marla Bliss and Karwyn Bursma (Marketing Director for Fiction Inspiration) and Joe Questel, who’s part of the Sales department. We had these Bang-Bang shrimp appetizers that were a blast! (heheh) They were really spicy but really good. I fought Joe for them. The day at Zondervan was fabulous. First I was shown to a separate “author lounge.” Now isn’t that just way cool? They actually had my name on the door—well, underneath John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian church (I had gone to Menlo Park Pres a few times when I was in college) ...

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

I GOT A 3-BOOK CONTRACT WITH ZONDERVAN!

Captain's Log, Supplemental My agent called me today with the great news! Zondervan has contracted me for another three books! Right now, they’re all stand alone books—not a series. The first book is slated to release May 2010 and is tentatively titled The Year of the Dog (they’ll probably change it). It’s a women’s contemporary novel. Here’s the back cover blurb from my proposal: Tessa Ota, a professional dog trainer, is having a bad year. While moving ahead with renovation plans for her new dog kenneling and training facility, Tessa needs to move in with her disapproving mother and her antagonist sister. She convinces her ex-boyfriend to take her dog for a few months … but discovers that his brother is the irate engineer whose car she rammed a few weeks earlier. Charles Bretton has enough problems. His mama has just shown up on his doorstep all the way from Louisiana, and his brother has to move in with him after being kicked out of his apartment—with a dog in tow. And guess who...