Tag: Seven Deadly Sins of Reading

This was fun! I was tagged by Lauren at romance4thebeach to participate in this questionnaire. Thanks Lauren!

Defined as: An intense and selfish desire for something.

What is your most expensive book?

 2010 Guide to Literary Agents.

Defined as: Extreme anger.

What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Gillian Flynn. I hated the characters in Gone Girl but I couldn’t put the book down. It was so well written and suspenseful, but I hated the ending. I loved the book. No, I hated the book. See?

 

Defined as: Intense over-indulgence.

What book have you devoured over and over with no shame?

I wish I could say I’ve read books more than once. I don’t think I have. However, I will be re-reading The Bronze Horseman at some point. That book (the whole trilogy) just wrung me dry. So emotional. I loved it.

Defined as: a reluctance to work or make an effort.

What book have you neglected to read due to laziness?

I’d have to say The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. This is the only book I stopped reading before finishing. For me, it was slow and I just couldn’t get through it. I also bought Anna Karenina years ago and it still sits, untouched, on my shelf. Taunting me.

Defined as: satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

What book do you talk about most in order to sound like an intellectual reader?

I read what makes me happy and I’m proud of any book that does that. I guess if I were to try to impress someone, I’d tell them I read The Goldfinch. But I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. The book I talk about most lately, has to be Outlander and prior to that, Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. Fantastic books.

Defined as: a strong sexual desire.

What attributes do you find attractive in male characters?

 I like male characters who are strong, protective, slightly jealous and romantic. Perfect examples: Alexander Belov (Bronze Horseman) and Jamie Fraser (Outlander).

Defined as: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.

What book would you most like to receive as a gift?

Definitely Ken Follett’s The Century Trilogy. The whole trilogy. I guess this kind of ties in with Greed, too.

I’m tagging

Gina Ardito

Harry Hauca

MyNovelOpinion

TurnThePageReviews

If you don’t want to participate, no worries! If you would like to be added, just let me know!

To Russia, With Love

Hi there. It’s me.

Let’s talk books.

If I love a book, I shout it from the rooftop (figuratively speaking): I mention it to everyone I know, blog it’s wonderfulness, email the author, rate it on Goodreads,  tweet my rating, and (try to) get all of my friends to read it.

I’ve read a few books this year, and until now, have not had the desire to shout about any . So, I thought I’d give a quick synopsis of what I’ve read the past month, what I’m reading now, and how I feel about them.

Just in case you were wondering.

I read Labor Day by Joyce Maynard for my Wine Not Read book club. It’s about a lonely boy and his lonely mother who take an injured escaped convict home from a store and spend five days with him at their house. With the movie out, all the press, the author being interviewed by Matt Lauer, I figured it would be great. It wasn’t. It never grabbed me emotionally and I was disappointed. Perhaps if the story was told from the woman’s point of view instead of from a thirteen-year-old boy, I might have enjoyed it more. Perhaps not. This one is not worth shouting.

I also read The Girl You Left Behind, by JoJo Moyes, a dual timeframe story set in WWI and modern day. I loved the beginning of this book: the story about Sophie and Edouard during WWI, and the decision Sophie’s forced to make while waiting for her beloved Edouard to return safely from war. It was really well done and hooked me immediately. However, I didn’t connect with the modern day story of Liv and Paul and that changed my feeling for the book from “love” to “like.”

I admire this author, who blew my mind last year with Me Before You. Moyes’ The Last Letter From Your Lover was also truly enjoyable.  The Girl You Left Behind does not hold a candle to either of those. It was good. Not great. But good. No shouting. No rooftops. Okay, maybe a fourth third floor balcony.

I am in the middle of The GoldFinch, by Donna Tartt, a 771 page story about a young boy in NYC who survives an accident that kills his mother. The writing is beautiful, but the details are exhausting and I need to take  breaks, which is something I don’t ordinarily do. I never cheat on one book with another. Each story gets my full attention until completion. I just can’t do it with this one. I will finish it. Eventually. But I need a few moments to breathe.

This leads me to the other book I’m currently reading, and the reason for this message.  I’m talking about Six Days in Leningrad, written by none other than my most favorite author, Paullina Simons. In this memoir of her first visit back to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 25 years, Simons describes beautifully how she feels returning to her childhood home, in order to do research for her book The Bronze Horseman. Yep, that’s right. This is the story of how she got the information and inspiration to write THE story.

Reading Simon’s poignant account of her visit with her father, I realize just how much of herself and her own Russian life she put into her beloved trilogy. This one is a keeper.

I’m heading for the roof.

Enjoy!