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It's a Book Meme!
Jan. 30th, 2003 02:05 pmStolen from Seanan, and probalby shorter than her version...
Most anticipated book of the last year:
Robert Caro's third volume in his massive biography of Lyndon Johnson, "Master of the Senate." 12 years in the making, worth the wait, and Caro still hasn't touched the meatiest part of LBJ's life, aka his time in the White House.
Most surprising book of the last year:
Caveat: I'm rarely up to date on books. I'll read things when I find them in the library or cheap or in paperback. So it shouldn't be a surprise that I found the years-old "Bridge of Birds" by Barry Hughart a revelation. How did I go so many years without even hearing of this wonderful fairy tale?
Most disappointing book of the last year:
Nothing I read last year was really not worth reading, but Katharine Graham's memoir, "Personal History," ground to a halt in my hands in December as she proved incapable of remaining unbiased in his description of her years as publisher of the Washington Post. What started out well became unreadable, and sits unfinished.
Best recent literary discovery:
OK, it's only one book I've read so far, but Michael Chabon might be the rarest of writers, one who is not a SF/fantasy writer and yet whose works are infused with the fantastic. Here is a writer to watch, and I must get my hands on his other novels.
Best completely random find:
I'm not much on random reading of late. and I haven't had much luck in that realm, either. Any suggestions? :)
Book you keep meaning to read that keeps getting bumped down the list by new purchases:
Well, I was waiting with bated breath for the recent biography of John Adams, and it sat on my shelf for over a month, but I finally started it. Don't know why I didn't start it right away.
Book you put down halfway and never got back to:
I have a long list of not-so-good books I put down at various points, and had not interest in trying them again. But the only good one I didn't finish was "Galileo's Daughter" by Dava Sobel. It was due badck at the library, and I couldn't renew it as someone had reserved that copy. I've seen it many times since, but cannot get interested again. A shame, as it was a good book.
Book you love and can never convince anyone else to read:
I rarely make recommendations, as either everyone is on the same page, or just isn't there at all. The cloest I come? Telling poepl about the works of Donald Westlake, and getting a collective sigh. Fen don't seem to care much for caper books.
Book you can come back to over and over again:
I'm not much of a re-reader. The books I re-read the most used to the first two Hitchhiker's Books, but they've faded a bit with time. I do find, however, that Peter David's Trek novels and his fairly obscure Hulk novel are quite re-readable. I'd rather move onto new works, though.
Book you'll never read no matter how many people tell you you should:
Probably "The Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis. The song was creepy enough, thank you.
Book you are most guilty of over-selling:
I don't think I've ever managed to oversell anything besides the collected comic book work of Mark Waid.
Book you were most surprised by liking:
Don't laugh. The William Shatner/Reeves-Stevens Star Trek novels. They're not literature in any way, shpae or form, but they are fun and true to most of the characters.
First book you fell in love with:
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and its first sequel. For years, I said "I want to write just like that."
First book that was entirely too old for you:
"The Grapes of Wrath," when I was in high school, and hated it. Four years later, I read it in college and loved it. I don't think it's a good book to give to callow 15 year olds.
Children's book that no one remembers but you:
"Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang," which turns out to be written by Canada's second most famous author (after Robertson Davies), Mordecai Richler. I loved tihs weird adventure as a child, but I never hear anyone talk about it.
Children's book everyone seems to know that you've never read/heard of:
Well, I've never read the Harry Potter books, but is there anyone outside of perhaps North Korea and Amish country who hasn't heard of these?
Children's book you recommend without reserve:
The Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. And for the younger ones, "Goodnight Moon" and "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel."
Terrific book, terrible movie:
"2001: A Space Odyssey." Believe it or not, the book makes sense.
Loved the movie, hated the book:
Can't say I've ever seen a movie that I read a book that I didn't like. It's been a rule of thumb that if I don't like one first, the other never gets the chance.
The book and the movie deserve each other:
"Fellowship of the Ring," but that's obvious. "2010," a much better book and film that most people think.
Book you loved on first reading which on subsequent readings, wow, not so much:
"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency." I couldn't make it through my last effort at re-reading it.
Book you disliked on first reading which has grown on you:
"The Grapes of Wrath," as noted above.
Most over-rated or over-hyped book, in your opinion:
Over-hyped? Harry Potter, of course. All the hype that almost every other author doesn't get now, these books get. They say "a rising tide floats all boats," but has the success of the HP books really helped other children's authors, or fantasy authors in lieu of a good marketing campaign?
Over-rated? Nearly any novel that wins the Pulitzer or National Book Award. For every "Kavalier and Clay," there are a dozen works like "Cold Mountain," which was the dullest novel I've read in the past six years.
Most under-rated or misunderstood book, in your opinion:
This is a hard one. So we go with an odd choice, "Stolen Away" by Max Allan Collins. Collins has written a good number of "true crime novels" that are fun but rarely exceed potboiler status. This one, abut the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping case and trial, exceeds that status and offers an important alternative voice in a controversial murder case.
Most over-rated or over-hyped author, in your opinion:
John Grisham. There are dozens of crime and suspense writers more talented and less opinionated than him, but somehow he gets to be a star.
Most under-rated or misunderstood author, in your opinion:
Donald Westlake, the master of the caper novel, should be as big as star as Elmore Leonard. He's a better writer, and a funnier one. And yet it took him 30 years to get a best-seller, the filmed adaptations of works are reportedly butcher jobs, and most of his works are out of print. Crime writers have it as tough as SF/fantasy writers. No one expects them to address the human condition. Yet they do, and the best do it as well as any writer of "literature." And Westlake is the best.
Most anticipated book of the last year:
Robert Caro's third volume in his massive biography of Lyndon Johnson, "Master of the Senate." 12 years in the making, worth the wait, and Caro still hasn't touched the meatiest part of LBJ's life, aka his time in the White House.
Most surprising book of the last year:
Caveat: I'm rarely up to date on books. I'll read things when I find them in the library or cheap or in paperback. So it shouldn't be a surprise that I found the years-old "Bridge of Birds" by Barry Hughart a revelation. How did I go so many years without even hearing of this wonderful fairy tale?
Most disappointing book of the last year:
Nothing I read last year was really not worth reading, but Katharine Graham's memoir, "Personal History," ground to a halt in my hands in December as she proved incapable of remaining unbiased in his description of her years as publisher of the Washington Post. What started out well became unreadable, and sits unfinished.
Best recent literary discovery:
OK, it's only one book I've read so far, but Michael Chabon might be the rarest of writers, one who is not a SF/fantasy writer and yet whose works are infused with the fantastic. Here is a writer to watch, and I must get my hands on his other novels.
Best completely random find:
I'm not much on random reading of late. and I haven't had much luck in that realm, either. Any suggestions? :)
Book you keep meaning to read that keeps getting bumped down the list by new purchases:
Well, I was waiting with bated breath for the recent biography of John Adams, and it sat on my shelf for over a month, but I finally started it. Don't know why I didn't start it right away.
Book you put down halfway and never got back to:
I have a long list of not-so-good books I put down at various points, and had not interest in trying them again. But the only good one I didn't finish was "Galileo's Daughter" by Dava Sobel. It was due badck at the library, and I couldn't renew it as someone had reserved that copy. I've seen it many times since, but cannot get interested again. A shame, as it was a good book.
Book you love and can never convince anyone else to read:
I rarely make recommendations, as either everyone is on the same page, or just isn't there at all. The cloest I come? Telling poepl about the works of Donald Westlake, and getting a collective sigh. Fen don't seem to care much for caper books.
Book you can come back to over and over again:
I'm not much of a re-reader. The books I re-read the most used to the first two Hitchhiker's Books, but they've faded a bit with time. I do find, however, that Peter David's Trek novels and his fairly obscure Hulk novel are quite re-readable. I'd rather move onto new works, though.
Book you'll never read no matter how many people tell you you should:
Probably "The Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis. The song was creepy enough, thank you.
Book you are most guilty of over-selling:
I don't think I've ever managed to oversell anything besides the collected comic book work of Mark Waid.
Book you were most surprised by liking:
Don't laugh. The William Shatner/Reeves-Stevens Star Trek novels. They're not literature in any way, shpae or form, but they are fun and true to most of the characters.
First book you fell in love with:
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and its first sequel. For years, I said "I want to write just like that."
First book that was entirely too old for you:
"The Grapes of Wrath," when I was in high school, and hated it. Four years later, I read it in college and loved it. I don't think it's a good book to give to callow 15 year olds.
Children's book that no one remembers but you:
"Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang," which turns out to be written by Canada's second most famous author (after Robertson Davies), Mordecai Richler. I loved tihs weird adventure as a child, but I never hear anyone talk about it.
Children's book everyone seems to know that you've never read/heard of:
Well, I've never read the Harry Potter books, but is there anyone outside of perhaps North Korea and Amish country who hasn't heard of these?
Children's book you recommend without reserve:
The Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. And for the younger ones, "Goodnight Moon" and "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel."
Terrific book, terrible movie:
"2001: A Space Odyssey." Believe it or not, the book makes sense.
Loved the movie, hated the book:
Can't say I've ever seen a movie that I read a book that I didn't like. It's been a rule of thumb that if I don't like one first, the other never gets the chance.
The book and the movie deserve each other:
"Fellowship of the Ring," but that's obvious. "2010," a much better book and film that most people think.
Book you loved on first reading which on subsequent readings, wow, not so much:
"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency." I couldn't make it through my last effort at re-reading it.
Book you disliked on first reading which has grown on you:
"The Grapes of Wrath," as noted above.
Most over-rated or over-hyped book, in your opinion:
Over-hyped? Harry Potter, of course. All the hype that almost every other author doesn't get now, these books get. They say "a rising tide floats all boats," but has the success of the HP books really helped other children's authors, or fantasy authors in lieu of a good marketing campaign?
Over-rated? Nearly any novel that wins the Pulitzer or National Book Award. For every "Kavalier and Clay," there are a dozen works like "Cold Mountain," which was the dullest novel I've read in the past six years.
Most under-rated or misunderstood book, in your opinion:
This is a hard one. So we go with an odd choice, "Stolen Away" by Max Allan Collins. Collins has written a good number of "true crime novels" that are fun but rarely exceed potboiler status. This one, abut the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping case and trial, exceeds that status and offers an important alternative voice in a controversial murder case.
Most over-rated or over-hyped author, in your opinion:
John Grisham. There are dozens of crime and suspense writers more talented and less opinionated than him, but somehow he gets to be a star.
Most under-rated or misunderstood author, in your opinion:
Donald Westlake, the master of the caper novel, should be as big as star as Elmore Leonard. He's a better writer, and a funnier one. And yet it took him 30 years to get a best-seller, the filmed adaptations of works are reportedly butcher jobs, and most of his works are out of print. Crime writers have it as tough as SF/fantasy writers. No one expects them to address the human condition. Yet they do, and the best do it as well as any writer of "literature." And Westlake is the best.
