5 Favourite Books - Book Meme
May 20, 2005 at 4:39 PM
by Ashleigh
1. Total number of books I've owned. Loads. Can't remember how many, but I give lots away even though one of the biggest components of shipping our stuff from country to country has been books!
2. Last book I bought. It was Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage (if we mean ones that I went into a shop and bought) and it was John Connolly's Nocturnes (if we mean ones that came in the post).Of course, ones that come in the post are not real purchases at all, they just arrive somehow, don't they?
3. The last book I read.
I am reading (almost finished) Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. I like it a lot! I saw the BBC adaptation years ago and enjoyed it immensely and I've been happy to find out that it was completely true to the book. Its a lovely story, made even more fascinating if you have visited London. (I hadn't when I saw the series on tv).
4. 5 books that mean a lot to me.
Ok, I can't really answer this one! They all mean a lot to me but here are some that stick out:
Earthsea series by Ursula le Guin - pure fantasy and so well written. I like all Ursula le Guin's work, including the Left Hand of Darkness, but I think the Earthsea novels are more accessible.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt - I read this in one sitting, the way she writes is very exciting. Maybe it was also apt at the time, I'll need to reread it to see if the impact remains. I haven't read her new book yet.
Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller - this made me cry. It reminded me so much of growing up in Zimbabwe myself even though my life was very different to Alexandra Fuller's it was also very much the same.
The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing - my mom told me that she read this book when she was about 20 and about to go and live in solitude on a farm with my father in the heart of Africa during a civil war. She told me that her heart sank and she refused to go after reading about Doris Lessing's experiences. I read it much later when I was leaving my first husband and it was just as painful an experience for me to read this book as it was for my mom all those years before.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - a lifetime's difference from the previous two on my list, I was recommended this book by a friend and enjoyed it immensely.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Not the future but now! Atwood's prose is a little like Marillion's lyrics, you read her work 10 years later and realise we have moved toward, not away from the future she lays out before us.
I cheated and did 6 ;)
5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?
Gary, (cos I don't think he reads at all!), Renee, Annemiek, Amy from Cooking with Amy (cook books please please!!), and I've run out, so I'll tag the DH (KnightOrc) even though I am pretty sure he won't do it.