I love books. Romance novels particularly, but really anything with a happy ending will do. I have loved to read since before I knew how to read, and books remain - and will likely always be - one of the greatest pleasures of my life.
I read during my commute to work, my commute home, and often times while walking to and from the train station. My favorite thing to do when I get home from work on Friday afternoon is to curl up with a blanket on the couch in my reading room with my current book of choice, and then head straight back there when I wake up on Saturday morning. I often feel like losing myself in a book can fix whatever problem ails me. Books have been my constant companions during every part of my life, good and bad, and seeing them all lined up on my shelves fills me with happiness and love.
So, when I saw this little self-interview about books and reading on Lindsey Mead's blog a couple of months ago, I knew I had to post it here too.
So, here, in 28 questions, is my life in books. Heavy on romance novels, light on sadness, and always, always with a happy ending.
Author You’ve Read the Most Books From
Nora Roberts, without a doubt
I read during my commute to work, my commute home, and often times while walking to and from the train station. My favorite thing to do when I get home from work on Friday afternoon is to curl up with a blanket on the couch in my reading room with my current book of choice, and then head straight back there when I wake up on Saturday morning. I often feel like losing myself in a book can fix whatever problem ails me. Books have been my constant companions during every part of my life, good and bad, and seeing them all lined up on my shelves fills me with happiness and love.
So, when I saw this little self-interview about books and reading on Lindsey Mead's blog a couple of months ago, I knew I had to post it here too.
So, here, in 28 questions, is my life in books. Heavy on romance novels, light on sadness, and always, always with a happy ending.
Author You’ve Read the Most Books From
Nora Roberts, without a doubt
Best Sequel Ever:
Books two, three and four in Nora Roberts' Bride's Quartet. Especially books three and four.
Honorable Mention - Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Second Honorable Mention - Books 2-7 of the Harry Potter series. Can't just pick one.
Currently Reading:
Allegiant, the third book in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy
Honorable Mention - Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Second Honorable Mention - Books 2-7 of the Harry Potter series. Can't just pick one.
Currently Reading:
Allegiant, the third book in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy
Drink of Choice While Reading:
Lemonade in the summer, hot chocolate in the winter, always coffee on Saturday mornings.
Lemonade in the summer, hot chocolate in the winter, always coffee on Saturday mornings.
E-Reader or Physical Book?
Physical book, always and forever
Physical book, always and forever
Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated
In High School:
Ron Weasley from Harry Potter.
Ron Weasley from Harry Potter.
Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:
Plum Island, by Nelson DeMille. My parents were both after me to give this one a try for a long time, but for some reason, I resisted. I'm glad I finally gave in and read it - and the other five in the series - because John Corey is now one of my favorite literature heroes of all time.
Honorable Mention - The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green. The premise - kids with cancer - offended my "only happy endings" sensibilities, but really, the book is a beautiful testament to life, love, and the people who join us on our journey. It's sad, yes, but ultimately uplifting.
Plum Island, by Nelson DeMille. My parents were both after me to give this one a try for a long time, but for some reason, I resisted. I'm glad I finally gave in and read it - and the other five in the series - because John Corey is now one of my favorite literature heroes of all time.
Honorable Mention - The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green. The premise - kids with cancer - offended my "only happy endings" sensibilities, but really, the book is a beautiful testament to life, love, and the people who join us on our journey. It's sad, yes, but ultimately uplifting.
Hidden Gem Book:
Sisterhood Everlasting, by Ann Brashares, the fifth book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. It's ten years later, the girls are about to turn 30, and a reunion is on the horizon. It's a little sad, but the ending is a whole lot of happy. I loved the first four books in the Traveling Pants series, so when this one came out I cleared my schedule, sat down, and read it from start to finish in one day. I wasn't disappointed.
Sisterhood Everlasting, by Ann Brashares, the fifth book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. It's ten years later, the girls are about to turn 30, and a reunion is on the horizon. It's a little sad, but the ending is a whole lot of happy. I loved the first four books in the Traveling Pants series, so when this one came out I cleared my schedule, sat down, and read it from start to finish in one day. I wasn't disappointed.
Important Moment in your Reading Life:
The day I read my first Nora Roberts book. I was 16 and in my junior year of high school, the book was The Stanislaski Sisters, and nothing would ever be the same again.
The day I read my first Nora Roberts book. I was 16 and in my junior year of high school, the book was The Stanislaski Sisters, and nothing would ever be the same again.
Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:
Obviously, I love romance novels, but I absolutely will not crack any book by Nicholas Sparks. I require my romances with a side of happy, and his romances come with a heaping dose of the death, disease and peril, which is absolutely unacceptable to me. For more on my utter hatred for this author and my love of a happy ending, read this.
Obviously, I love romance novels, but I absolutely will not crack any book by Nicholas Sparks. I require my romances with a side of happy, and his romances come with a heaping dose of the death, disease and peril, which is absolutely unacceptable to me. For more on my utter hatred for this author and my love of a happy ending, read this.
Longest Book You’ve Read:
I don't know for sure, but if you count all three volumes of Dante's Divine Comedy as a single book, I think it would probably be that. And I've read the whole thing twice. And loved it. Both times.
It could also be the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs. It was long, but I devoured every single word of it during a non-fiction bender I went on a couple of years ago.
I don't know for sure, but if you count all three volumes of Dante's Divine Comedy as a single book, I think it would probably be that. And I've read the whole thing twice. And loved it. Both times.
It could also be the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs. It was long, but I devoured every single word of it during a non-fiction bender I went on a couple of years ago.
Major Book Hangover Because Of:
Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series. I love post-9/11 CIA spy novels almost as much as I love romance novels. I started reading the Mitch Rapp series years ago and then stopped for awhile. Recently, I started again from the beginning and read all 14 books straight through in about a month. By the end, I was practically cross-eyed.
The cliffhanger ending of the 14th book was brilliant but ultimately sad. Vince Flynn passed away this past June at the incredibly young age of 47 after a long battle with prostate cancer, so we will never know what became of his Mitch Rapp.
Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series. I love post-9/11 CIA spy novels almost as much as I love romance novels. I started reading the Mitch Rapp series years ago and then stopped for awhile. Recently, I started again from the beginning and read all 14 books straight through in about a month. By the end, I was practically cross-eyed.
The cliffhanger ending of the 14th book was brilliant but ultimately sad. Vince Flynn passed away this past June at the incredibly young age of 47 after a long battle with prostate cancer, so we will never know what became of his Mitch Rapp.
Number of Bookcases You Own:
I have floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves along 2 walls in my living room and 2 walls of my sun room. They were what sold me on my house when we first looked at it. My books cover one of the walls, but will soon start creeping over onto the others.
I have floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves along 2 walls in my living room and 2 walls of my sun room. They were what sold me on my house when we first looked at it. My books cover one of the walls, but will soon start creeping over onto the others.
One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:
Birthright, by Nora Roberts. I'd be hard pressed to say what my absolute favorite Nora Roberts book is, but this one would definitely be in the running.
Birthright, by Nora Roberts. I'd be hard pressed to say what my absolute favorite Nora Roberts book is, but this one would definitely be in the running.
Quote That Inspires You/Gives You All the Feels From a Book You’ve Read:
"Whatever setbacks he had faced in his life, he said, however daunting or dispiriting the unfolding of events, he always knew he would make it through, as long as when he woke in the morning he was looking forward to his first cup of coffee...Uncompromising purpose and the search for eternal truth have an unquestionable sex appeal for the young and high-minded; but when a person loses the ability to take pleasure in the mundane...she has probably put herself in unnecessary danger...One must be prepared to fight for one's simple pleasures and to defend them against elegance and erudition and all manner of glamorous enticements. In retrospect, my cup of coffee has been the works of Charles Dickens...I've come to realize that however blue my circumstances, if after finished a chapter of a Dickens novel I feel a miss-my-stop-on-the-train sort of compulsion to read on, then everything is probably going to be just fine"
-Amor Towles
Rules of Civility
"Whatever setbacks he had faced in his life, he said, however daunting or dispiriting the unfolding of events, he always knew he would make it through, as long as when he woke in the morning he was looking forward to his first cup of coffee...Uncompromising purpose and the search for eternal truth have an unquestionable sex appeal for the young and high-minded; but when a person loses the ability to take pleasure in the mundane...she has probably put herself in unnecessary danger...One must be prepared to fight for one's simple pleasures and to defend them against elegance and erudition and all manner of glamorous enticements. In retrospect, my cup of coffee has been the works of Charles Dickens...I've come to realize that however blue my circumstances, if after finished a chapter of a Dickens novel I feel a miss-my-stop-on-the-train sort of compulsion to read on, then everything is probably going to be just fine"
-Amor Towles
Rules of Civility
Reading Regret:
That it took me so long to jump on the YA bandwagon. Hunger Games and Divergent? I could have started loving you years ago. Better late than never, I say.
That it took me so long to jump on the YA bandwagon. Hunger Games and Divergent? I could have started loving you years ago. Better late than never, I say.
Series You Started And Need To Finish (all books are out
in series):
I may have a little bit of a one track mind, but I'm racing through the third book in the Divergent trilogy. I'm torn because I absolutely can't wait to see how it ends, but also kind of want it to last forever and ever.
I may have a little bit of a one track mind, but I'm racing through the third book in the Divergent trilogy. I'm torn because I absolutely can't wait to see how it ends, but also kind of want it to last forever and ever.
Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:
Just As Long As We're Together, Judy Blume (and the sequel, Here's To You Rachel Robinson)
This Heart of Mine, Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Birthright, Nora Roberts
Just As Long As We're Together, Judy Blume (and the sequel, Here's To You Rachel Robinson)
This Heart of Mine, Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Birthright, Nora Roberts
Unapologetic Fangirl For:
Anything by Judy Blume. From her incredible Just As Long As We're Together, all the way to the slightly disturbing but positively addicting Summer Sisters, I love them all.
Anything by Judy Blume. From her incredible Just As Long As We're Together, all the way to the slightly disturbing but positively addicting Summer Sisters, I love them all.
Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:
Nora Roberts' newest mystery, out this spring
Nora Roberts' newest mystery, out this spring
Worst Bookish Habit:
Reading as I walk from Grand Central Station to my office on 52nd Street and 7th Avenue. I know. But sometimes my train pulls into the station while I'm in the middle of a chapter.
Reading as I walk from Grand Central Station to my office on 52nd Street and 7th Avenue. I know. But sometimes my train pulls into the station while I'm in the middle of a chapter.
X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and
pick the 27th book:
I'm not exactly sure because I'm not at home right now, but I know for a fact it's a romance.
I'm not exactly sure because I'm not at home right now, but I know for a fact it's a romance.
Your latest book purchase:
Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings. I've heard fun things about this one, and I can't wait to get it in the mail.
Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings. I've heard fun things about this one, and I can't wait to get it in the mail.
ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):
I don't generally read before bed for this exact reason. Any book I start will keep me up late, so right before bed is usually TV time. But the last book that kept me up WAY later than would ever be normal or acceptable for a school night was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I was equally disturbed and fascinated by it, and even though I wasn't at all sure I liked it, I couldn't put it down. I was about one-third of the way through at 10:00 one night last summer when I settled into bed with it.
I don't generally read before bed for this exact reason. Any book I start will keep me up late, so right before bed is usually TV time. But the last book that kept me up WAY later than would ever be normal or acceptable for a school night was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I was equally disturbed and fascinated by it, and even though I wasn't at all sure I liked it, I couldn't put it down. I was about one-third of the way through at 10:00 one night last summer when I settled into bed with it.
I love books and people who love books. So happy you did this.
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I'm the only one in my family that would rather read than watch tv. Night Fall was so awesome. I love Nelson Demille. The Ken Follet sagas are SO good but really long. Pillars of the Earth might be my favorite book ever!
ReplyDelete