For those not following me on twitter, here is what I have been up to. Last month The Borough Press set a challenge of a book a day. Here is the complete list of my offerings for #bookaday for June – not an easy task.
1: Favourite book from childhood: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
2: Best bargain: Jules Verne: Around the World in 80 Days/ From Earth to the Moon/20000 Leagues under sea – free at bookswap party
3: One with a Blue Cover: Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett
4: Least fave book by favourite author: Honestly? I can’t isolate one fave author. Too many. No outstanding < faves in their lot. Fail.
5: Doesn’t belong to me: I covet my husband’s copy of Raising Steam. I can’tread it until he does. (He still has not read it)
6: One I always gift: There is no ‘one’. Speculative fiction usually. Terry Pratchett anything most commonly.
7: Forgot I owned it: The Jane Austin Bookclub by Karen Joy Fowler.
8: Have more than one copy: Blue Moon Rising by Simon R Green. Always a good rollick
9: Film or tv tie-in: I have a series of 1970s/80s Doctor Who Target novels based on 4th Doctor
10: Reminds me of someone I love. The Bible – reminds me of my grandma & her steadfast faith. I miss her wisdom & her cheekiness
11: Secondhand bookshop gem: Hardcover compendium of Jane Austin novels. $2!
12: I pretend to have read it. Clockwork Orange. Bit too bleak & violent for me. Tried to make it through the movie. Failed.
13: Makes Me Laugh: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy with its unexpected word play & absurdity. Life. Don’t talk to me about life.
14: An Old Favourite: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (cos I have already named Simon R Green’s Blue Moon Rising another day.)
15: Favourite fictional father: Honestly, not many. Mr Weasley (Harry Potter). Always there. Loves his kids. bit eccentric.
16: Can’t believe more people have not read: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher: Mystery,Crime,Good vs Evil, wizards & yellow VWs.
17: Future classic. So many variables/different definitions of classic. Harry Potter – having reminded many of reading pleasure?
18: Bought on recommendation: Gail Carriger’s Soulless. Love her (writing) voice. I now have all of her books.
20: Favourite cover: Handmade Renaissance & Medieval book covers. Works of art. eg. Thttp://tinyurl.com/kqusfp2 #21: Summer read: Princess Bride. Can’t resist pirates, swashbuckling and true love? PIC
22: Out of Print: Took me 7 years to get: The Italian Renaissance Interior,1400-1600 by Peter Thornton. Historical reenactor squee.
23: Made to read at School; Stig of the Dump by Clive King.
24: Hooked me into Reading: Lord of the Rings (and Agatha Christie) It was concurrent really.
25: Never Finished it: The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow. Was recommended to me. So sorry. I could not get past chapter 3. I tried. I failed.
26: Should have sold more copies: Any brilliant self-pub/indie author who has to sell without the marketing $ of big publishers .
27: Want to one of the characters: LOR/Narnia: unwavering loyalty and doing what is ‘right and good’ seems to a dying commodity these days.
28:Bought at my fave independent bookshop: I Medici riesumano i Medici from San Lorenzo Basilica bookshop Florence.
29: The one I have read most often: Blue Moon Rising by Simon R Green. Always cheers me up. Usually read until the early hours of the morning.
30: Would save if my house burned down: How can I choose between all of my children. A good argument for having ebooks on one device? Would have to be the manuscript for the book I am writing as it does not exist elsewhere.
I have now started an A-Z of music – something to make life a little more colourful. You can follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/kjcarlisle – or the widget on the right of my website.