Thursday, December 20, 2018

The Last Ten Books Tag

I saw this meme first on Simon's blog at Stuck in a Book and thought it looked like fun. The original tag was created by Mark Nash on BookTube.  There are ten questions about the last book that....

1. The last book I gave up on
I rarely DNF books. But I did abandon Kushil's Dart by Jaqueline Carey which I picked up in a Little Free Library in my neighborhood a couple of years ago.  I have been wanting to read more Fantasy and had heard good things about this title from other sources. But reading the back cover, the first few pages and in particular the goodreads reviews, I realized there is an erotic component with sado/masochistic tendencies to the story and while I don’t think I am a prude (maybe I am?), that isn’t something I really want to read about in any genre.
2. The last book I re-read
I recently finished listening to Our Mutual Friend on audio as narrated by David Troughton (excellent job he did!).  I first read this title with my eyes a few years ago. It isn’t my favorite Dickens in particular because I have real trouble accepting how the Bella Wilfer story-line is handled, but listening to it did make me appreciate just how funny Dickens can be and also how I wish he had had the opportunity to at least finish The Mystery of Edwin Drood because Our Mutual Friend also has some excellent crime/mystery elements and it would have been fascinating to see Dickens develop more in that direction..
3. The last book I bought
The last book I bought was Smoke City by Keith Rosson. I was thinking it would be longlisted for the 2019 Tournament of Books (it wasn’t) and the description totally intrigued me - from goodreads:
Marvin Deitz has some serious problems. His mob-connected landlord is strong-arming him out of his storefront. His therapist has concerns about his stability. He’s compelled to volunteer at the local Children’s Hospital even though it breaks his heart every week.
Oh, and he’s also the guilt-ridden reincarnation of Geoffroy Thérage, the French executioner who lit Joan of Arc’s pyre in 1431. He’s just seen a woman on a Los Angeles talk show claiming to be Joan, and absolution seems closer than it’s ever been... but how will he find her?
That just sounds so amazingly weird and I was ordering presents for others online and…well, you know how that happens! 
4. The last book I said I read but actually didn’t
I don’t know that I have ever done that?  I wasn’t an English major so never felt any pressure in that regard. Nobody cared if I had read Moby Dick or not. LOL I do recall as a 12 year old lying about watching the movie Saturday Night Fever (I wasn’t allowed to watch R-rated movies) and using scenes from the movie-to-book adaptation of which I obtained a contraband copy to support my “proof” that I had seen it.  Kids are weird!
 5. The last book I wrote in the margins of
I rarely write in a book or highlight passages. However, I am currently reading Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann in German and am occasionally writing a note or translation in the margins to help cement it in my brain.   
6. The last book I had signed
I‘ve purchased second hand books that turned out to have been signed, but I have never myself requested that an author sign a book.  
7. The last book I lost
I don’t lose books often. I did leave a copy of Daphne Du Maurier’s The Parasites on a plane in 1986 (I never went back to it) and I also left a copy of Saul Bellows' The Adventures of Augie March on a train in the mid 1990s. This was unfortunately a library copy so I had to replace it and to add insult to injury, I kinda hated it. But I did eventually finish it.
8. The last book I had to replace
I accidentally ordered the U.S. version of Becky Chambers’  Record of a Spaceborn Few earlier this year and had to replace it with the much classier UK hard cover edition.
9. The last book I argued over
Like may bookbloggers, I don’t know many people IRL who read books with the intensity that I do. So even if I wanted to argue there is no one to counter-argue. The closest I come to lively book discussion is on the Tournament of Books group site The Rooster on goodreads.

10. The last book you couldn’t find
I think what is meant by this is a book that you want to read but cannot find in any store or library. I don’t know that there is any book that I have wanted to buy that I could not find!

14 comments:

  1. Fun tag. I've only ever had one book signed by an author...and that happened this last summer. And I don't know many people IRL to argue books with either. My sisters read a lot, but we never argue about books. :D

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    1. Thanks for the comment Lark! My sister reads but much less now than she used to. And we never argue about books either! But it is fun talking to her about them. :D

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  2. I abandoned Kushiel's Dart, too! Not at all my thing. I had a children's book signed by James Joyce when he visited an NEA workshop and the only other signed book is one of the Tawny Man trilogy books by Robin Hobb. I do write in margins on nonfiction books, but never in fiction. I don't lose books, but sometimes have a hard time finding them.

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    1. Thanks for the comment jenclair! I am glad I am not alone with Kushiel's Dart.

      James Joyce? Are you sure? Do you mean William Joyce maybe:D

      I know what you mean about not losing books but having trouble finding them...There are books I know I own in my house SOMEWHERE...

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    2. Duh! Yes, William. He lives in Shreveport and has always been generous with his time. :)

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  3. Fun! Have you deliberately avoided getting books signed by authors, or has it never come up? And how annoying about the Saul Bellow! I've only read one book by him, but I did like it.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Simon. Re: getting books signed, it has never come up. I am too lazy to seek out authors or to go to readings. :)

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  4. Hi Ruthiella, The last book I reread Of Mice and Men. I was going to say I've never pretended to read a book I haven't read but then a memory came to me, The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass which our professor assigned us in college and which I could not get past the first chapter or two. In fact I should revisit that book just to see if it really was that unfathomable as I remember.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Kathy! I read The Tin Drum earlier this year. It was difficult in parts but a worthy read I think. But I probably would have felt differently about it had I read it in college.

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    2. Thanks Ruthiella. Maybe I should give it a try. College was a long time ago I might be ready for it now.

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  5. What a great meme! I've been woefully remiss on blogging this month, so maybe I'll do this after Xmas as a way of getting back in the groove.

    I think I liked Our Mutual Friend more than you did, but I agree that Dickens was moving toward crime/mystery fiction when he died. It's really a shame that he died so young--I think he had many more stories to tell.

    For some reason, I don't care for signed books either. I haven't sorted out why though.

    Best wishes for a warm, safe, and peaceful holiday season.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Jane. I would love it if you do this tag as well. I want to know your answers! :D

      Happy Holidays to you too and the best in 2019!

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  6. Hey, I like this! Interesting, your comment on Our Mutual Friend. I always think that if we are able to find the humor in books -as in Dickens, Austen, then we can truly enjoy them, and conversely, I never started resonating with Austen until I unlocked that humor she has. To me, as you relate here, some authors, when listening to good audios, come to life and make me like their books better, or catch on things I couldn't get. Audios help me put a voice, and I can continue sometimes reading the same or different book by the author with a voice and tone, etc.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Silvia! I think I prefer, if possible, to first read a book with my eyes but to use audio to re-experience it. As you point out, good audio can really enhance a book!

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