What's one of your most favorite books you've ever read?
What's one of your least favorite books?
The Bible is a given, so we'll assume that's in first place and just write down your second.
As for me, everyone already knows Jane Eyre is my top pick, so I suppose I'll have to branch out a bit. Wow. This is harder than I thought.
I'm going to stretch really far, hoping to avoid a pinging sound in my lower back muscles, and yank a book from the annals of time. Okay, so it's not that old, late seventies, but The King's Brat by Constance Gluyas was one of the first historical romances that really, truly floored me. It put me front and center in the court of Charles II, totally consuming me with the rags to riches story of Angel Dawson.
One of my least favorite (and I see that rotten tomato you're waiting to lob so put it down) is The Great Gatsby. Stop groaning. Yes, I can choose a classic. Gatsby was just depressing no matter how great Fitzgerald writes. End of story.
Okay, your turn. Good luck. It's harder than it looks. And don't forget to challenge someone else to give it a whirl. Here's a Tweetable:
We're talking favorite and least favorite books over at http://writerofftheleash.blogspot.com/ Leave a comment to win a prize! #giveaway
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19 comments:
Favorite book? That's easy--Jane Eyre. I'm re-reading it right now for the umpteenth time.
Least favorite? That would have to be Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. Like Gatsby, it's very depressing.
Yes! Bronte fans of the world unite! Never read Main Street....and just might not. I'm barely making it through Lewis's The Jungle.
I just am not good at spur of the moment thinking. I need hours/days to think of answers for these questions. So what you get is off the top of my head. ;) As for favorite book - (hmmm, deja vu? I feel I just answered this somewhere today....Brenda???!) - the Dee Henderson O'Malley series and her hero's series are stuck in my craw like nothing else. I still go back to those for a good read. (and now I'm stuck on Ronie Kendig's books)
As for that one that was unpleasant to read, I first thought of Where the Red Fern Grows that we had to read in high school. I mean, come on, someone falls on an ax and DIES. I remember being much worse off for reading it. lol I do know there were books I never finished b/c it was so bad, but the titles don't stick in my head like that one.
Great questions!
Oh no! I love Gatsby. Depressing or not, I love the writing. But I wouldn't call it my favorite. My most recent favorite is Redeeming Love.
My least favorite is probably The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. It just might be the dumbest book I've ever read.
I'm working on Jane Eyre right now--I have an audio copy, and that's what I listen to when I run :)
I've participated the other days, so I feel as if I should comment on this one too. Problem is, I don't have a favorite anything -- no favorite color, food, Bible verse, or book. Too many good ones altogether, and sometimes "favorite" depends on my mood. I don't like to think I'm wishy-washy, because I do have opinions; I just enjoy and appreciate a lot of things and can't decide which I like best.
Unfavorites? Similarly, there are a lot of things I don't like, but I can't put them in any sort of order.
So I'll speak in generalities: my favorite books are those with depth and layers of meaning, written with an eye toward beauty of language. Examples: The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Least favorite: anything flat and insipid, or that portrays action/violence/titillation graphically and/or for the purpose of exciting the reader rather than as necessary to propel the story. Or that shows only the evil in the world but not the hope. For instance, awhile ago I started reading Elmore Leonard's novel Bandits but quit reading it because I didn't like living in the world his characters lived in.
As I recall I liked Jane Eyre, but I don't remember much about it so it probably doesn't belong on my list of favorites. I did not like The Great Gatsby, though I haven't read it since I was in 10th grade.
I would have to go back to childhood and say my favorites have been Anne of Green Gables and ALL of L.M. Montgomery's books. I can remember holding a set of these books received at Christmas-- which started not only my lifetime love of reading but also helped me embrace my redheadedness.
As far as least favorite: the only book I've thrown across a room. The Dangerous Woman by Mary McGarry Morris. I was on a kick, reading all her books. I enjoyed reading about this disturbed, ill woman-- then the ending stabbed me, making me realize it had stolen hours of my life.
Going to shake off that memory now :0) Back to work!
This is really hard.....thinking.....straining brain.....I guess I would have to say that one of my most favorite books is This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti....only because it was that book that got me into reading Christian Fiction...I got rapt up in Frank Peretti, then Dee Henderson, Ted Dekker, Thomas Kinkade and then I found MaryLu Tyndall. Through MaryLu, I was introduced to many, many Historical Fiction authors and I've been a huge fan ever since.
One of my least favorite books? I hope there aren't any Beverly Lewis fans here that will want to make me walk the plank....I can never get past the first 2 chapters of her books. She uses way too much detail for my taste. *cringes* sorry Beverly. But, my daughter is a huge fan!
So hard to pick just one but I'll narrow them down to the classics genre...My favorite among classics is Jane Eyre, I realized that when I read it in a 7th grade study hall that was SUPER loud but all I heard were the words of the story in my head. My least favorites (a tie!) are Doctor Zhivago and Madame Bovary. Something about the adultery themes just made me not like the main characters very much.
Sarah ~ No Old Man & The Sea, eh? I've never read it, but I've wanted to. Maybe now I don't???
Y ~ Check...I will avoid writing anything flat or insipid to retain you as my bff crit partner.
Christina ~ While I know the Anne of Green Gables story inside and out from theater and cinema, dare I admit I've never read it?
Chaplain ~ Hah! No Amish for you, eh? That's because you're such a piratey scalawag!
Lis ~ I remember trying to watch the famed Doctor Zhivago movie, but never could get into it. I don't think I'll try the book now, either.
Thanks for everyone's contribution!
Oops...forgot to answer Susan P...I totally agree with Where the Red Fern Grows. That one's not ranking high on my lovable list either!
LOL to the photos posted this week, you know how to keep things fresh here Michelle :) I can't just list one fave book and when I have a favorite I read it more than once.....these are the ones that qualify: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Guy I'm Not Dating by Trish Perry, and Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (i also have frank peretti on this list but forget which title). LEAST favorite? Oh boy, lets see....i promise not to throw tomatoes at you, Michelle, or anyone else for their choices in this category :) Off the top of my head, Romeo and Juliet. They're remaking this movie again, but the ending is always the same. A great love story should NEVER end that way. I agree with Chaplain Debbie, I have not been able to connect with Beverly's work either.
First off, happy blogoversary, Michelle!!! Your place is such a fun one to visit. ;)
So...I've been checking out the questions (i.e.: lurking), and I've finally decided to respond to a pair, LOL.
The book I marked as my favorite of 2012 - one that I hope to re-read sometime soon-ish, and I'm guessing I'll love it again! - is Entwined by Heather Dixon. The writing, the atmosphere, the story - it's wonderful! I've read a lot of awesome books over the years, so I hesitate to say this one is my favorite EVER, but if it isn't, I'm sure it's got to be way up there on the list. ;) I also remember being enamored of The Redemption by MaryLu Tyndall...and of course I love your stories, especially the time travel ones. :) (Oh, and don't forget to read The Dark Unwinding - that one and it's sequel, A Spark Unseen are soooooo good, and I know you'd love them!)
As for least favorite, can I count one that I never actually read all the way through? I'm not a fan of Moby Dick. Some interesting stuff from the little bit I read, what we discussed in American Lit class, and what I Sparknoted (yeah, I know), but sooooooo long and detailed and, frankly, boring!
I have to give this giveaway thing a go, you know, because I let someone borrow my copy of Gallimore in college and never got it back. :( (I think the person just kept forgetting - she was really sweet, so I'm not angry, but bummed I don't have it anymore!) So, I'd love a chance to get another copy. ;)
~Amber
Not only it this blogaversary thing a wingding of a time, I'm getting a LOT of great book suggestions. Thanks for some new titles, Amber!
Kara ~ I think I'll pick me up a copy of Skipping Christmas this Christmas! Sounds like a festive thing to do.
Hard to pick just one favorite book - I love any book by Julie Lessman, Joanne Bischof, or Liz Curtis Higgs. Least favorite book - can think of any offhand, as I don't usually read any book without checking out the reviews to see if it is one that I would enjoy.
Thanks for the giveaway opportunity, Michelle!
bonnieroof60(at)yahoo(dot)com
Oh.. I read a book a few months ago that I could hardly get through - it was "Home Front".. But then I got my hands on another book and I read it twice "All Fall Down" Several months ago I read "The Kitchen House" it too was very good. I'm keeping a list of the books the others have listed just for future reference.
Bonton ~ I've never read any Joanne Bischof. I'll have to give her a whirl.
RD ~ Good idea to keep a list because we are getting some great ideas, eh?
Oh my goodness! You haven't read Joanne Bischof's books? Well, may I suggest that you have a box of tissues handy while reading the second book in her Cadence of Grace series, Though My Heart Is Torn.....I went through half a box before I was halfway through the book. I should have mentioned her as one of my favorites as well.
Wowzer...now I'll really have to check out that chick!
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