Sunday, October 07, 2007

It's about books today

Wanda at Fiberjoy has tagged me for a book meme. I've done a few of these from time to time, but I really like this one. Books, books, and more books!!

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why?

Generally I prefer hardcover books. I plan to keep every book that I buy, and I'd much rather have a library of hardcover books than paperbacks. However, paperbacks definitely have their place--when reading in the bathtub or when traveling, for example.

2. If I were to own a book shop, I would call it…

Tracy's Books?

3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is…
...difficult to decide! One of my many favorites comes from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The opening line is "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." It is a line delivered plainly--for it was largely true in Austen's day--and yet, there is a touch of irony in it, once you get into the book and learn more about Elizabeth Bennet's character.

4. The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be…
Crazy Aunt Purl (Laurie Perry)! I've been reading her blog for ages and am now reading her book and enjoying every page of it. Plus, I think she'd be a real hoot to have lunch with!

5. If I were going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be…
my journal, so I could write down my thoughts.

6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that…

would hold a book above me and turn the pages while I read in the tub, on or the beach, or on the couch...

7. The smell of an old book reminds me of…

so many places! Hot, dusty secondhand bookstores in north Texas. The stacks of Davis Library at the University of North Carolina. The pounding of my heart in the archives of the Fawcett Library in London, when I first laid my hands on the papers of Teresa Billington-Greig, the British suffragette I wrote my senior thesis about.

8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be…
none of them! I love to escape into someone else's life in a book, but I'm quite happy to return to my own when I'm finished reading.

9. The most overestimated book of all times is…

(in my world) everything that one of our competitors publish. I work in educational publishing, and as each new competitor's book is published, there's always a flurry of nervousness about how the competitors are going to take the market. But I've been in the business long enough to know that there is no revolution in this business. There is incremental change, certainly, but a single book never radically changes the market.

10. I hate it when a book…
...is poorly edited. As an editor myself, I have little patience for companies that don't take the time to make books properly.

5 comments:

Knitting Linguist said...

I love getting the editor's take on this meme! I am absolutely with you on the poorly edited comment -- there's nothing worse than being distracted from reading by the writing itself. :)

Knitting Linguist said...

Hi!
I just got your comment on my blog -- now THAT is a hideous story! What *was* that teacher thinking?! (Clearly, neither teaching nor thinking are words which accurately apply to that person.) It makes me feel lucky that, for all my years at parochial school, I didn't experience anything like that, which is probably why I'm the secular humanist I am today :)

Anonymous said...

Dearest Tracy, glad you all are settled in and hanging out in an Amish Paradise (and Happy Belated Birthday to Portia!). Be honest, don't you sometimes like to pronounce "Pride and Prejudice" as "Preed-ay y Prejudees-ay"? I seem to remember some drunken night when we thought that was the funniest thing ever...okay, maybe it was just me. (I will e-mail update you soon, girlfriend.)

Jo at Celtic Memory Yarns said...

Love what you said about your heart pounding when you laid your hands on original papers for your thesis. Been there, felt that, sister!

Knitting Linguist said...

Hi! I just read your story about the Frog King in my comments -- it made me laugh out loud. Don't you love the things they come up with? I'm so glad it's not just me and mine... :)