It's a rainy, grey winter's day in Sydney today. The family has just settled down to an afternoon of disaster movies and just between you and me, I'm in a bit of a mood!
Blame it on the dreary weather, June blues or hormones but everything looks a bit blah right now. Reading - blah; blogging - blah, blah; being motivated to do anything at all - blah, blah, blah!
I'm hoping a Book Tag will take my mind off the blah, however thanks to my mood I'm not going to do the whole 19 questions (why 19? What happened to an even 20?) that are on the current tag. Ten is all I've got in me right now.
1. What book has been on your shelf the longest?
I still have my childhood Dr Seuss books - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Ten Apples Up on Top.
I taught myself to read with these books.
2. What is your current read, last read and the book you plan to read next?
I have several current reads - Beyond the Rock, The Two Towers, First Love just to name a few.
My last read (which I finished on Thursday) was Time Without Clocks by Joan Lindsay.
My next book will depend on my mood...the way I'm feeling now, it will probably be a comfort read.
3. What book do you tell yourself you'll read, but probably wont?
Ulysses by James Joyce.
4. What book are you saving for retirement?
Ulysses by James Joyce!
5. Which book character would you switch places with?
Right now, today, I wish I was Piglet strolling through the Hundred Acre Woods with my pal Pooh.
6. What book reminds you a specific place/time/person?
I have so many of these, so I will narrow it down to three.
Forever Amber will always remind me of my first time in the UK.
I was nannying and travelling and I loved reading chunksters.
Kathleen Winsor's Restoration pot-boiler was the perfect read as I wandered around the historic cobblestone streets of London.
Midnight's Children by Salmon Rushdie reminds me of Western Australia.
In 1999 I had a driving tour around the southwestern areas of the state.
Midnight's Children kept me company the whole way.
On my second trip to the UK, I picked up a second hand copy of Daphne Du Maurier's Mary Anne in a B&B.
It was my first Du Maurier (but not my last).
It was a messy mix of fiction and biography, but it was also very, very English.
7. Which book has been with you most places?
Herodotus' The Histories has been with the most places by virtue of the fact that it was with me for my backpacking trip around Europe in 1991 - England, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.
8. What book outside your comfort zone did you end up loving?
Lord of the Rings and Stephen King's It.
Horror and fantasy were not my usual fare, until a young Mr Books convinced me to try both 30 years ago.
9. Which book have you reread the most?
That's easy - Pride and Prejudice - since 2012 though, I've only had one more reread.
10. Three bookish confessions?
I underline and highlight sections of my books.
I read several books at once.
I often choose (or not choose) books by their covers.
There you go - I feel better already.
I just needed to watch the end of the world whilst blogging!
1. What book has been on your shelf the longest?
2. What is your current read, last read and the book you plan to read next?
3. What book do you tell yourself you'll read, but probably wont?
4. What book are you saving for retirement?
5. Which book character would you switch places with?
6. What book reminds you a specific place/time/person?
7. Which book has been with you most places?
8. What book outside your comfort zone did you end up loving?
9. Which book have you reread the most?
10. Three bookish confessions?
Feel free to leave your book tag post in a hyperlink below by using the code <a href="URL">word</a>
Thanks for your thoughts despite a very 'blah day.
ReplyDeleteLast night I went to bed and said 'Never writing a review, ever!"
That was my mood after 14 hours of rain and 'microbursts'.
Your list is a great read and I will have to re-read it againg with 2nd cuppa tea.
I will copy your handy list and try to think my books....
but first grocery run!
I love this quote ...
The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea'
— Karen Blixen
I see your quote and add red wine :-D
DeleteHere is my book tag!
ReplyDeleteBook Tag
I adore Forever Amber. SO EXCELLENT tat you read it while actually in London! xx
ReplyDelete* that
DeleteAnd I love that Forever Amber is loved by so many!
DeleteOh, I have never read Forever Amber! I really ought to. I love the three bookish confessions, that one didn't seem to show up on my list. I'm so glad to see you did this too :)
ReplyDeleteYes I was in a real mood yesterday and only put in the questions I wanted to answer and that only made nine, so I made up another one :-)
DeleteAnd I really think you should read Forever Amber one day soon!
Good questions and very interesting answers. I never think I can do anything like this, but I may try. It was interesting to see that both you and Nancy included Forever Amber. I read that when I was very young because everyone else was reading it. But I remember nothing about it.
ReplyDeleteI think, like so many books, it comes down to the time and place that you read something as to how significant it is or the impact it has on you.
DeleteI hope you do try, memes like this can be a lot of fun...but no pressure, only if you want too :-)
It's always fun to read the answers to questions like this. I'm a P&P rereader too, though I haven't actually reread it in awhile. Piglet and Pooh :)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Mary Anne and I thought I knew all of DMM's titles!