Launch Week, day two. In order to introduce myself to the blogging world, I will be answering Annie Hawthorne's tag questions for her launch party. Off we go!
The Bookish Tag, as started by fellow blogger Curious Wren
1. What was the last book you read, and would you recommend it?
Ah. The Warden and the Wolf King, by Andrew Peterson. I definitely recommend this book! It's the last of a quartet, The Wingfeather Saga, that I gave my siblings for Christmas. We still haven't finished reading it aloud. Peterson wrote a beautiful fantasy series with a surprising depth of theology and spirituality for children. I hope to be reviewing all the books soon.
2. Describe the perfect reading spot.
Somewhere quiet and warm and clean, preferably with chocolate near at hand, and simple, unenroaching music in the background. This place is definitely not at my house.
3. Favorite book beverage? Tea? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Tears of your readers?
Water, thank you. I have a migraine disorder, and am always sipping to keep myself hydrated and headache-free. I prefer tea if it's cold outside (black mint, or lemon ginger), or hot chocolate if I have sweet tooth; I love the smell and flavor of coffee, but my body reacts terribly in the presence of caffine.
4. Share favorite quotes from four books.
I'm going to bend the rules just a tiny bit here, and share quotes from four authors.
"Long ago I yearned to be a hero without knowing, in truth, what a hero was. Now, perhaps, I understand it a little better. A grower of turnips or a shaper of clay, a Commot farmer or a king --- every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone. Once you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding. So, too, must the striving count more than the gain." ~ The High King, Lloyd Alexander
"When you grow up to be an author and write books, you'll think you're making the books up, but they'll all really be true, somewhere." ~Diana Wynne Jones
"Tantrums are seldom about the thing that they appear to be about." ~Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
"All power corrupts, but we need electricity." ~Diana Wynne Jones
"A safe faerieland is untrue to all worlds." ~J.R.R. Tolkien
"Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world; small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere." ~The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." ~The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
"Someone else always has to carry the story." ~The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
"Roads go ever on and on,
Under cloud and under star
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar." ~The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
"There is nothing like looking if you want to find something." ~The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
"When you run out of hope, everything is backwards. Your heart wants the opposite of what it needs." ~The Warden and the Wolf King, Andrew Peterson
5. What is your most loved fantasy read? Dystopia? Contemporary? Sci-fi? Classic?
For fantasy, I'm going to reach down in my roots and pull out the novel that set me on my first adventure in the wild, untamed lands: The Hobbit. It will always hold a special place in my heart.
For dystopia, it'll have to be The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Everything else in this genre is slightly horrifying (yes, even lookin' at you, Hunger Games) and cannot compare to the emotional genius that she touches on in her series.
Sci-fi...I honestly haven't read much in the way of solid Science Fiction. At least, that was palatable. Marissa Meyer's Cinder is beautifully written, with such fantastic world-building...though I will admit, it's a little mushier than most books I would review here.
Classic? Just one? Oh, dear. We could go with Henty, or Alcott, or Austen; but I suppose it has to be a Dickens, and A Tale of Two Cities is the one that tugged on my soul the most.
6. List three authors you’ve collected the most books from.
Hmm. From a quick look at my shelf, they would seem to be:
Anne Elisabeth Stengl, Bryan Davis, and C.S. Lewis. Tolkien, Dickens, and Edith Nesbit are close behind.
7. What are your thoughts on magic in literature?
I don't mind it, as long as it's clean, straightforward, and has a distinction between good and evil. Consorting with the dead and demonic forces is something that is actually very real and clearly condemned in Scripture, so I like to avoid that, thank you very much. Most magic doesn't bother me.
8. What types of book covers capture your imagination most strongly? Feel free to include images.
I tend to gravitate toward the detailed, fancy-smancy covers, usually with something that will give me an inkling as to what the book is about. Whatever people say, we do judge books by their covers.
9. Mention the first book character that comes to mind. Elaborate on this.
Eanrin, from Stengl's Goldstone Wood Series. Augh. He's always slinking there, that sly cat-man. He's arrogant and savvy and awful and probably not someone I could stand to be around in real life, but he is a favorite. Despite his faults, he is loyal to his Master, and brave and true.
10. Do you lend out your books? Or is that the equivalent to giving away your babies?
Oh. Well, it depends on whom I am lending them to. Some stories are just so wonderful that I can't stand that my friends haven't read them, and so I scribble my name inside the covers and send them off with my heart a-rattling in my chest, hopeful that they will return to me safe one day. But I wouldn't lend them out to any old body.
