A Reading Meme

I am appropriating this meme today from Dani at A Work in Progress ...

Do you remember how you developed a love of reading?
I don't remember because I was reading before my memory starts. The way my mom tells it, I was read to a lot when I was very little and then when she had my brother, when I was just over 2 years old, she had less and less time to read to me and eventually realized that I was reading to myself. Sometime when I was three, I could read. I have just kept going from there.

What are some books you loved as a child?
The Wizard of Oz books were the first series I read (when I was four). I also loved the Raggedy Ann stories -- they introduced me to my favorite word of all time, grotto. I also really liked Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Pippi Longstocking and many many others.

What is your favorite genre?
Right now it's historical fiction (preferably Victorian), Victorian pot-boilers, and some fantasy.

Do you have a favorite novel?
I have a couple of novels that I go back to over and over but no single favorite.

Where do you usually read?
Everywhere ... on the couch, on the floor, in bed, in the front yard, at the dentist ... anywhere I can take a book.

When do you usually read?
Any time I find free.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Not usually. I prefer to really immerse myself in a book so I like to do one at a time. I also read pretty quickly so I usually don't have time to start one book while already reading another.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
It just takes me a longer time to read non-fiction. I'm also likely to read a fiction at the same time.

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out from the library?
I buy most of them because I usually want to read them again at some point.

Do you keep most of the books you buy?
Yes. If I totally dislike a book and know that I would never read it again, I have a pile and, when it's large enough, I take them in to the used bookstore.

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them?
I have been slowly building Z's bookshelf with books that he is ready for. The first book that I absolutely did not want him to miss was Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak. I loved it when I was a kid! It has the best rhythm and it made soup seem so exotic. I also made sure that Z has a good Dr. Seuss selection. Oh yeah, and The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. I love that one too ... it is so precious that Ferdinand doesn't want to fight, he just wants to sit and smell the flowers. I see on Amazon that I bought it for Z when he was 7 months old. And Tikki Tikki Tembo! Shall I keep going? Maybe my next post will just be about Z's bookshelves.

What are you reading now?
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. It has been on my shelf for years but I never read it for some reason.

Do you keep a To Be Read List?
I have a pile of books that I have bought by my bed and then I have my Amazon list that I constantly add to. I also made a re-read pile recently of books that I can't quite remember if I liked the first time I read them.

What’s next?
Probably Volume III of The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Dianna Wynne Jones.

What books would you like to re-read?
The ones I re-read most often are The Ground Beneath Her Feet (Salman Rushdie), The Eyre Affair series (Jasper Fforde), David Copperfield and Great Expectations (Dickens). As I've said before, I'm a big re-reader. I have been thinking that it's about time to grab The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) again soon.

Who are your favorite authors?
Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Jane Austen, Josephine Tey, Agatha Christie, Salman Rushdie, Arturo Perez-Reverte, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde and Elizabeth Peters.

Well, that was pretty fun ... see you next time.
K