10.21.2010

Thursday Book Questions: Part 6

Five questions a week. Eleven weeks. Post your answers in the comments (or on your own blog if you prefer, just link back in the comments) and I'll do the same thing.

Last week, we discovered that we'll recommend books that are memorable, thought-provoking, uplifting, beautiful, or otherwise clearly worthwhile. A bunch of us of fantasy buffs (with a variety of subgenres, e.g. YA, dystopian, fairy tale), several of whom don't read enough science fiction. A surprising number of us confessed to not reading a lot of biography, but not all, and most but not all of us have read some self-help. As Farmer's City Wife put it, "they're helpful." At least some of the time.

This week's questions:

26. Favorite cookbook?
(answer here)
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
(answer here)
28. Favorite reading snack?
(answer here)
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
(answer here)
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
(answer here)

Wait... favorite cookbook? What has that got to do with reading? Ah well. As a proud participant in Tasty Tuesdays, I hope you'll answer. :)

8 comments:

  1. 26. Favorite cookbook?
    Fannie Farmer, I think. I use that one a lot.

    27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
    Ooh. Dante's Paradise, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, possibly Ender's Shadow... Little inspires me like a good hopeful, encouraging story.

    28. Favorite reading snack?
    Cookies and milk. That's probably just my favorite snack.

    29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
    Hmm. I'm almost positive this has happened. It happens with movies (usually when someone quotes all the best parts before I see it); it happens with music (taste in music is such a personal thing), but I can't think of a book right now. If I come up with one anytime soon, I'll try and post it.

    30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
    Depends on who the critics are and why they disliked it. As a long-time Potterhead and Twihard, I'm used to taking critiques with a grain of salt. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 26: Don't really have one. Anything with good pasta salad recipes I guess.

    27: Fiction (Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis) Non-Fiction (The Gospel According to Tolkien by Ralph Wood)

    28: In the shell sunflower seeds

    29: I really can't remember anything off hand.

    30: Not often. I tend to pay more attention to what the reviewers on Amazon say than to professional critics.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay :-D. I've been anxiously awaiting this post all day.

    26. Favorite cookbook?
    That's like picking a favorite sibling (okay, okay, not quite that bad). Wow. Um... I love all of the Cooks Illustrated compilations, but the dark horse favorite is the Mixer Bible, 2nd Edition. I rarely open it that I don't find a winning recipe.

    27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
    Um, non-fictional was No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy, the autobiography of Fr. Donald Calloway.

    28. Favorite reading snack?
    I was tempted to say "I don't eat when I read because I don't want to stain the pages," but... er... well... cookies make everything better.

    29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
    I was told that A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen was the most amazing play ever written. I was expecting it to be thus. It wasn't awful, but I think my expectations were too high.

    Another was definitely Fr. Dwight Longenecker's Gargoyle Code. It was hyped to be a modern classic; a witty modern adaptation of the Screwtape Letters. Ugh, it was awful! (although it would have been awful even without the hype, but that made the letdown greater)

    30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
    Um. I tend to ignore literary critics, by and large (although I'll second George, I semi-respect Amazon reviewers).

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're both so right about Amazon reviews vs. critics. The former is much more likely to tell me whether a book is worth my while.

    George, Ralph Wood's book sounds interesting. And you know how I feel about Till We Have Faces.

    FCW, your answer to 29 made me laugh. "...it would have been awful even without the hype, but that made the letdown greater" Haha.

    I had heard really good things about Michael O'Brien's Father Elijah before my book club read it this past year. I didn't care much for it. But it's very hard to quantify how much of my distaste was its failure to live up to hype and how much was knowing, going in, that O'Brien is a Potter hater. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. A few days late, but better late than never!

    http://donnarosemary.blogspot.com/2010/10/thursday-book-questions-pt-6-ny-style.html

    Also, I agree with the good assessment of the reviews on Amazon. Gotta love that user-generated reviews are more reliable than those of so-called "experts" who get paid to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I enjoy reading these posts so much I thought I would join in this time...

    26. This is hard because there are so many different kinds of cooking but I would have to say The Joy of Cooking is like my bible in the kitchen.

    27. (Jenna you might hate this answer) but I loved Micheal O'Brien's new book Island of the World.

    28. Hot tea and popcorn, not favorite snack that one goes to chocolate cake but for reading popcorn is easier to manage.

    29. I should have known just by the fact that it was an Oprah book club book but I had heard great things about Ken Folletts Pillars of the Earth. I thought it was way too long and just didn't even come close to the hype.

    30. Not to be a copycat but I agree with everyone else that amazon is the place to go for REAL reviews.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sarah, yay! You joined in! And I can totally understand why people would love Michael O'Brien's work. :) Part of my problem with Father Elijah was just that I don't like apocalyptic fiction very much. It's hard for me to buy into the setup, especially when the timeline is dated.

    I might poke a little fun at Mr. O'Brien for proclaiming that the books which helped keep me Christian are full of witchcraft and evil, but apart from that, he seems to write good things that encourage faith. I'm all in favor of that!

    Also--haha. I have the same reaction to the
    "Oprah book club book" label that you do. :)

    Between you and Donna, two more votes for Amazon reviews! I wonder if anyone who reads this blog listens to professional reviewers. Wait--I read First Things book reviews sometimes, and have always respected those. I guess that counts.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 26. Favorite cookbook?
    Hmmmmm...one that doesn't require me to cook...just kidding, kind of. I like any cookbook with cupcake recipes, and lots of pictures!

    27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year I will have to think about that one. I'm really not sure.
    (answer here)
    28. Favorite reading snack?
    Right now, pretzel m&m's...yummm, the most evilly delicious candy ever invented.
    29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
    THere was a book caled, I think, "Running With Scissors." I should have never read that book. I had heard lots of people talking about it as such a wonderful book and decided to read it without really knowing what it was about...lesson learned. However, this usually happens to me with movies (the hyped up and subsequent ruining) not books.
    30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
    I haven't ever really read critics' book reviews.

    ReplyDelete

All comments are currently moderated. Friendly comments are welcomed with fairy music, magic wishes, and possible unicorn sightings. Troll comments will be Transfigured into decent-looking rocks or Vanished. Spam comments will be shot down with blasters.