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myalchod
Prose or Poetry?
I don't read a great deal of poetry because I'm a plot girl-- I love descriptions, but I really like to see things build up, and modern poetry doesn't have that epic length that I enjoy. I think that might be why when I do read poetry, it's usually from before the Victorian era. Tiny haiku/modern poetry just isn't as satisfying to me.
Book(s) you're reading now:
1. Deathkit by Susan Sontag
2. Common Culture by Michael Petracca & Madeleine Sorapure
3. Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn by Kris Radish
4. Self-Editing For Fiction Writers By Renni Browne and Davev King
5. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
6. The Essential Mystics By Andrew Harvey
7. Slightly Settled by Wendy Markham
8. Mysticism: Holiness East and West By The Carmodies XD
9. Preventing Violence in Relationships By Paul A. Schewe
10. Reconstructing Gender By Estelle Disch
11. Engendering Psychology By Florence Denmark & Co
12. The teachings of Rumi re-created and edited by Andrew Harvey
13. Rumi: The hidden treasure by Shems Friedlander
14. Blue Windows by Barbara Wilson
15. The Religious History of America by Gustaud Schmidt
16. Divine Secret Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
17. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams
18. How to Write a Dirty Story by Susie Bright
All the Mysticism are for a class; right now I'm focused mostly on DNatEoD and Deathkit. I was so frustrated with Slightly Settled that I've pretty much given up on the book-- the main character is terrible, and the author's style has just really turned to annoying as she continues to stress that her character COULD NOT BE LOVED WHEN SHE WAS FAT.
Last book you've read:
Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia by Dennis Covington. I really enjoyed this book-- the author has a down-to-earth writing style and you felt connected to him as an individual as he was drawn into the Snake-Handling sect. I absolutely loved the ending, but it was very painful to read, because it did remind me of the sexism that creeps into so many facets and the people who chose to ignore it instead of standing up and preaching against it.
I guess this book really touched me, even if it was a "class" book.
Next book you're going to buy/read:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, for Snarkfest's May reading group.
Book you've read the most times:
I've re-read Dune over 10 times, Iris Johansen's "The Ugly Duckling" about 6 or 7 times, and "The Fairy Godmother" by Mercedes Lackey close to 5 times-- and I read THAT book for the first time last year XD. I think all of the Rowan/Talent and Hive books I've read over 10 times, though. I re-read books a lot, so it's really hard to remember which one I've read the most.
Longest book you've read:
There was a 10,000 page book I read once, but I forgot the name of it. Technically LOTR is a single book (well, it was the author's intention XD), so I could go for that... but I have read every page in my Step Mother's massively huge dictionary (it was a summer project one year), and it's one of those massive edditions that takes three people to weild it... so I'd have to pick that. XD
Book you've read in the shortest time (relative to the number of pages):
I've read Dune in under an hour, but I generally read fast-- I was blessed with speed reading naturally and the only books I pause over are textbooks or anything that requires deliberation.
One book you wanted to read that disappointed you:
The De Vinci Code. Everyone told me is was so fantastic. I watched the programs that were put out talking about the "secrets," I gossiped with people about the subject, I think I even dreamed a little of it before I sat down to read it. And good LORD the MARY SUE OF ALL MARY SUEDOM. Totally ruined the book for me. I HATED the main character, I hated the author's voice, and I found the entire set up to be contrived. The subject matter would have done better as a text rather than novel, imo.
Have you read books in a language different from yours?
I once read a book in spanish, but it was a forgetable childs book. I have read Dante's Inferno in Italian, but that was with the english beside it, and I barely understood 10 words on a page XD. Must try my hand at a swedish book XD.
Writer you've read the most books from:
Anne McCaffrey, hands down. I've read every single one of her books except for 5. This is insane. I realize that. But when I was a teenager I was obsessed.
For series, it would have been Star Wars-- until the first book of the New Jedi Order, I BOUGHT EVERY SINGLE SW BOOK. After NJO's first book, I never bought another Star Wars book, and I never will again. But I still will go back and re-read the X-wing series, because I adore all the characters and have a secret love for that kind of space travel ;)
Some books you like (not necessarily your faves):
Dante's Divine Comedy-- not my favorite, but I really enjoyed them.
Monstrous Regiment(Terry Pratchett)-- There are no words beyond <3
Anne of Green Gables/Anne of the Island(Lucy Maud Montgomery)-- <3
A lot of Iris Johansen and Catherine Coulter's FBI series
Women, Church, and State by Matilda Joslyn Gage (you can find it online)
I could go on... ;)
3 books you don't like:
Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities. See Charis's lj for my rant.
Vector Prime by R.A. SALVATORE. I threw it against the wall SO HARD and it RUINED new star wars books for me. RUINED. My entire faith in writing was SHATTERED by this book. You have no idea how much this book affected me-- it was like a personal attack. I've NEVER taken a book so seriously as an attack and I never will again-- but this book still brings the firey hatred. It's irrational, but... WTF. Give me back my Chewie *cries* I know I'm a fangirl but... gah, terrible book.
"The Grace in Dying: How We Are Transformed Spiritually as We Die" Kathleen D. Singh. What I said about not being offended personally by a book? I lied, this book was even worse. Singh was talking out of her ass the entire book. She practices a bizarre subsect of psychology that reads more of a religion than a science and bases her entire subject on her work IN A FRIGGEN HIPPY COMMUNE AND SUDDENTLY A HIPPIE COMMUNE'S WAY OF DYING IS EXACTLY HOW EVERY OTHER PERSON IN EVERY SINGLE OTHER RELIGION AND CULTURE GOES ABOUT DYING. Terrible writing style, aggrevating bias and arrogance, and I cannot stress how bad the psychological reasoning in this book is. It made absolutely no sense-- and this is coming from someone who is a psychology major AND was able to get the cybernetic approach to mysticism (which is psychology + mysticism) on the first try.
The author clearly had a bad case of purple prose and took FIFTEEN PAGES JUST TO GET A SIMPLE POINT ACROSS. Honestly, it was psycho-spiritual drivel at the worst it can get and I LOATH THIS BOOK. I hate how she tries to stick things together she clearly has no idea what they are, clearly has an agenda, and everyone seems to love the book and herald it as great. It's terrible! She has no concept at all about Sufism and honestly just takes the Kubler-Ross psychological studies and data and morphs it into a horribly written rant for 200 pages.
Baton goes to:
I pick... um.. YOU! XD
myalchod Prose or Poetry?
I don't read a great deal of poetry because I'm a plot girl-- I love descriptions, but I really like to see things build up, and modern poetry doesn't have that epic length that I enjoy. I think that might be why when I do read poetry, it's usually from before the Victorian era. Tiny haiku/modern poetry just isn't as satisfying to me.
Book(s) you're reading now:
1. Deathkit by Susan Sontag
2. Common Culture by Michael Petracca & Madeleine Sorapure
3. Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn by Kris Radish
4. Self-Editing For Fiction Writers By Renni Browne and Davev King
5. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
6. The Essential Mystics By Andrew Harvey
7. Slightly Settled by Wendy Markham
8. Mysticism: Holiness East and West By The Carmodies XD
9. Preventing Violence in Relationships By Paul A. Schewe
10. Reconstructing Gender By Estelle Disch
11. Engendering Psychology By Florence Denmark & Co
12. The teachings of Rumi re-created and edited by Andrew Harvey
13. Rumi: The hidden treasure by Shems Friedlander
14. Blue Windows by Barbara Wilson
15. The Religious History of America by Gustaud Schmidt
16. Divine Secret Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
17. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams
18. How to Write a Dirty Story by Susie Bright
All the Mysticism are for a class; right now I'm focused mostly on DNatEoD and Deathkit. I was so frustrated with Slightly Settled that I've pretty much given up on the book-- the main character is terrible, and the author's style has just really turned to annoying as she continues to stress that her character COULD NOT BE LOVED WHEN SHE WAS FAT.
Last book you've read:
Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia by Dennis Covington. I really enjoyed this book-- the author has a down-to-earth writing style and you felt connected to him as an individual as he was drawn into the Snake-Handling sect. I absolutely loved the ending, but it was very painful to read, because it did remind me of the sexism that creeps into so many facets and the people who chose to ignore it instead of standing up and preaching against it.
I guess this book really touched me, even if it was a "class" book.
Next book you're going to buy/read:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, for Snarkfest's May reading group.
Book you've read the most times:
I've re-read Dune over 10 times, Iris Johansen's "The Ugly Duckling" about 6 or 7 times, and "The Fairy Godmother" by Mercedes Lackey close to 5 times-- and I read THAT book for the first time last year XD. I think all of the Rowan/Talent and Hive books I've read over 10 times, though. I re-read books a lot, so it's really hard to remember which one I've read the most.
Longest book you've read:
There was a 10,000 page book I read once, but I forgot the name of it. Technically LOTR is a single book (well, it was the author's intention XD), so I could go for that... but I have read every page in my Step Mother's massively huge dictionary (it was a summer project one year), and it's one of those massive edditions that takes three people to weild it... so I'd have to pick that. XD
Book you've read in the shortest time (relative to the number of pages):
I've read Dune in under an hour, but I generally read fast-- I was blessed with speed reading naturally and the only books I pause over are textbooks or anything that requires deliberation.
One book you wanted to read that disappointed you:
The De Vinci Code. Everyone told me is was so fantastic. I watched the programs that were put out talking about the "secrets," I gossiped with people about the subject, I think I even dreamed a little of it before I sat down to read it. And good LORD the MARY SUE OF ALL MARY SUEDOM. Totally ruined the book for me. I HATED the main character, I hated the author's voice, and I found the entire set up to be contrived. The subject matter would have done better as a text rather than novel, imo.
Have you read books in a language different from yours?
I once read a book in spanish, but it was a forgetable childs book. I have read Dante's Inferno in Italian, but that was with the english beside it, and I barely understood 10 words on a page XD. Must try my hand at a swedish book XD.
Writer you've read the most books from:
Anne McCaffrey, hands down. I've read every single one of her books except for 5. This is insane. I realize that. But when I was a teenager I was obsessed.
For series, it would have been Star Wars-- until the first book of the New Jedi Order, I BOUGHT EVERY SINGLE SW BOOK. After NJO's first book, I never bought another Star Wars book, and I never will again. But I still will go back and re-read the X-wing series, because I adore all the characters and have a secret love for that kind of space travel ;)
Some books you like (not necessarily your faves):
Dante's Divine Comedy-- not my favorite, but I really enjoyed them.
Monstrous Regiment(Terry Pratchett)-- There are no words beyond <3
Anne of Green Gables/Anne of the Island(Lucy Maud Montgomery)-- <3
A lot of Iris Johansen and Catherine Coulter's FBI series
Women, Church, and State by Matilda Joslyn Gage (you can find it online)
I could go on... ;)
3 books you don't like:
Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities. See Charis's lj for my rant.
Vector Prime by R.A. SALVATORE. I threw it against the wall SO HARD and it RUINED new star wars books for me. RUINED. My entire faith in writing was SHATTERED by this book. You have no idea how much this book affected me-- it was like a personal attack. I've NEVER taken a book so seriously as an attack and I never will again-- but this book still brings the firey hatred. It's irrational, but... WTF. Give me back my Chewie *cries* I know I'm a fangirl but... gah, terrible book.
"The Grace in Dying: How We Are Transformed Spiritually as We Die" Kathleen D. Singh. What I said about not being offended personally by a book? I lied, this book was even worse. Singh was talking out of her ass the entire book. She practices a bizarre subsect of psychology that reads more of a religion than a science and bases her entire subject on her work IN A FRIGGEN HIPPY COMMUNE AND SUDDENTLY A HIPPIE COMMUNE'S WAY OF DYING IS EXACTLY HOW EVERY OTHER PERSON IN EVERY SINGLE OTHER RELIGION AND CULTURE GOES ABOUT DYING. Terrible writing style, aggrevating bias and arrogance, and I cannot stress how bad the psychological reasoning in this book is. It made absolutely no sense-- and this is coming from someone who is a psychology major AND was able to get the cybernetic approach to mysticism (which is psychology + mysticism) on the first try.
The author clearly had a bad case of purple prose and took FIFTEEN PAGES JUST TO GET A SIMPLE POINT ACROSS. Honestly, it was psycho-spiritual drivel at the worst it can get and I LOATH THIS BOOK. I hate how she tries to stick things together she clearly has no idea what they are, clearly has an agenda, and everyone seems to love the book and herald it as great. It's terrible! She has no concept at all about Sufism and honestly just takes the Kubler-Ross psychological studies and data and morphs it into a horribly written rant for 200 pages.
Baton goes to:
I pick... um.. YOU! XD
