CJ over at My Year of Reading Seriously did this meme, which she snagged elsewhere, as one does. I liked it, so I’m snagging it as well. If YOU want to play along (and I encourage this), the questions are listed without answers interspersed below the fold.

Hardcover or paperback? Why?
Hardcovers last longer; paperbacks are easier to tuck in a purse, but my favorite size and shape is the trade paperback because they’re lighter than the first, and not as thick as a standard paperback - I have small hands, so this is an issue.

If I were to own a book shop I would call it…
You know, I’ve never named a book shop, only a coffee shop. Ex Libris would be one option though it might seem a little too toney. Maybe just Stacks.

My favorite quote from a book (name it) is…
Oh, this changes, often, but for the moment: I’d gotten better lately at simply refusing to let my imagination run away with me. Maybe it had something to do with being a sociopath; if so, let’s hear it for dementia. From Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton.

The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be…
Madeleine L’Engle or Mark Twain.

If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except from the SAS survival guide, it would be…
Oh, I want to pick something lofty like The Complete Shakespeare, but the reality is that I’d bring along The Eight by Katherine Neville, and not just because it’s 825 pages long, either.

I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that
…would allow me to read in the tub - actually READ, not listen to an audio book - without any chance of the book getting wet.

The smell of an old book reminds me of…
Poking around old bookshops in the Haight on a rainy day, and then curling up in front of a fireplace with espresso, quilt, and dog, to read.

If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be…
I wanted to be Harriet from Harriet the Spy when I was little, and then Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables when I was older. I like the Anita Blake series, but I wouldn’t want to BE Anita - it’s exhausting. The lead character from Madeleine L’Engle’s Certain Women appeals to me even though her name escapes me, or the researcher in the Pink Carnation series. It all changes depending on my mood and the weather and what I’ve read recently.

The most overestimated book of all time is…
The DaVinci Code. It was a nice couple hours of entertaining reading, but folks, it was just a novel, and similar stories have been told far more artfully (*cough*Foucault’s Pendulum*cough*).

I hate it when a book…
Ends prematurely. When you’ve been sucked into the story and you’re invested in the characters, and then it just sort of fizzles out. It’s so disappointing.

Read more »

I first saw her quirky goth image on stationery and desk do-dads on the first shelf as you walk into the Lone Star Comics in Arlington (the one at I-20 and Green Oaks, not the big one). I don’t usually like cutesy things, but something about this little inked girl spoke to the part of my soul that likes vampires and coffee houses.Her name is Emily the Strange and while she was originally created to call attention to a line of skate gear and apparel designed by Rob Reger, she’s become her own fictional person, featuring in graphic novels by Chronicle Books and Dark Horse (which also publishes the Buffy comics), and soon to have her very own movie.

I picked up volume three of the Dark Horse books, “The Dark Book.” It warns you that the subject matter is dark, that the attitudes are dark, and even that book itself is dark, “we use a lot of black ink.” It’s a quirky, sort of surreal story about Emily having a battle of wits with a hell goddess, and includes wonderfully twisted attacks on humanity like raining coffee over the world.

Emily herself is a sort of modern, and much more twisted, version of Wednesday Addams, with a caffeine addiction and four cats. Perpetually thirteen, she dances through her gothic life to the beat of her own private club mix, and while she should be disturbing, somehow, she is not.

Or maybe she is, and I’m just twisted enough to appreciate her. She says it herself, after all, “We’re all strange here.”

Buy a Friend a Book Week is October 1-7 (as well as the first weeks of January, April, and July). During this week, you’re encouraged to buy a friend a book for no good reason. Not for their birthday, not because it’s a holiday, not to cheer them up–just because it’s a book.

What book would you choose to give to a friend and why?

The book I’d choose to fling at a friend would depend on the friend. A shabby-chic decorating guide might go to a friend with a new apartment, a vampire story to a friend who loves them as much as I do. For other friends, I’d probably pick something from their wishlists at places like Amazon.com.

One book that I recommend to everyone is The Eight by Katherine Neville. It’s not new. In fact, I first read it during spring break of my freshman year in college (April, 1989), but it’s thick, compelling, and fun - and every so often I love to revisit it.

Another favorite is Alexandra Stoddard’s Gift of a Letter a tiny little book that really makes you appreciate snailmail.

Either of those would be good random gift books, I think.

Like many readers, I like to read in places where I can stretch out and be comfortable, like my bathtub, and my bed. Like many froufrou fashionistas, my bedroom is an extension of my wardrobe, and therefore has to be interesting, welcoming, and a little bit funky. My husband’s family never believes me when I ask for sheets and quilts at Christmas, but I love having options.

Currently, I’m telling all of them about the unique gifts at Vision Bedding. They can scan a photo (or several) and use it to screen print your comforter. Now, in all honesty, I wouldn’t want photos of me, but, can’t you just imagine how cool it might be to scan the covers from favorite books? You could nap with Nathanial Hawthorne, sleep with Stephen King, or just relax with Rebecca Wells. How cool would that be?

Vision Bedding does most of their work over the ‘net, so check out their website. As for me? I’ll be dreaming of a pillow with my own soon-to-be written book’s cover splashed across it.

by Madeleine L’Engle

It seems fitting, with her death still so very recent, that my next book for the 11 Decades challenge is Madeleine L’Engle’s first published novel.

It takes place in a slightly romanticized New York, and traces the story of Katherine, a brilliant pianist, and Sarah, and aspiring actress, friends of a sort, though the latter is painted rather unsympathetically.

L’Engle delves in to all sorts of subjects: sex, religion, love, growing up, and the artistic personality - as she shares with us Katherine’s journey from teen to young adult.

The story does not end with all romances happily tied up, but it does continue in the sequel, A Severed Wasp, which holds resolutions that are satisfying, if not perfectly tidy.

Fuzzy and I were turned on to the Days of Wonder games by some friends, who mentioned a “train game” while we were playing something completely different. I love trains, so when we saw the game - Ticket to Ride - in our local comic book store, we took home a copy.

The object of the game is to claim railroad routes across the country, making the longest route, or stopping in the most cities (not necessarily the same thing) or scoring the most point for completing the most point-to-point connections. There’s a 1916 expansion pack that adds some cards and routes, and then there’s a special Marklin version that adds human characters. As well, there’s a version using a European map instead of the US map.

Geography purists should be cautioned: the maps are not accurate, and are intended as representations and modified for ease of play.

Still, the game is fun.
And I’m not just saying that because I usually win.

(For 2-5 players)

I have a fondness for cozy mysteries. You know, the ones in which ladies sit around in
conservatories and draw, paint, gossip and sip tea. These novels are invariably British, or at least take place in England or Scotland, and at some point there will be a wild storm, with a tree crashing through the glass roof, and all the suspects (and the killer) being trapped until the mystery is solved.

Home improvements are never talked about in such novels, but if they were, I’m quite sure the company doing them would be Anglian Home Improvements. Not only do they specialize in designing conservatories and re-fitting garages, but in their thirty-plus years of doing business, they’ve developed a reputation as the experts in double-glazed windows.

As well, Anglian Home Improvements offers a ten-year guarantee on their work, which is more than the average remaining lifespan of the perpetrator in one of the mysteries I love so much.

Anglian Home Improvements: there’s no mystery about what company to choose.

by Jen Lancaster

I was a fan of Jen Lancaster’s blog, Jennsylvania before she published her first book, Bitter is the New Black, though I’ve drifted away from regular reading, as happens when there are day jobs and weekend activities, and one’s OWN blog to maintain. Still when I finally got around to reading her second offering, Bright Lights, Big Ass I was happily dropped right back into Jen’s world, in which, like mine, work really does take place while wearing comfy pajamas, but only after reading email, drinking coffee, playing with dogs, etc.

In this book, Jen discusses house hunting, horrible neighbors, weight gain, weight loss, and why she is not among the contestants on Biggest Loser, even though she tried.

As always, her writing is a blend of joyous snark and candid vulnerability, wrapped in pink and orange tissue, and tied with a bow. She even manages to make me forget her Republican tendencies, and just enjoy the ride.

Which really, is as it should be.

You’ve probably noticed a few posts tagged “sponsored” here on the book blog - not a lot, because I’m trying to only take assignments that are related to books, but some. I’m doing this because books are expensive, but I have to have them in order to review them.

One of the sites offering me assignments so I can get paid to blog is Smorty.com. I’m not certain where they’re based but many of their posts refer to sites in the UK and Australia, and that’s fine with me. After all, the former is the land of Shakespeare, Jasper Fforde, and Marian Keyes, while the latter has also produced some amazing fiction.

I like Smorty more than other paid blogging sites because they pay weekly and are fairly low key. No blinking badge ads or special code are required - they just review your blog and your traffic and if they like it, all is well. Also, their terms are clear. For example, if you submit a review, and the advertiser doesn’t respond within a week to tell them otherwise, it’s automatically approved and you get paid.

The decision to blog for money is never easy, but Smorty is one of the few that offer quality assignments without making you feel like you’ve sold your soul.

There are three blog advertising sites that I would recommend over all the others. (Ask me, and I’ll tell you the other two.) Smorty is one of them.