25 Random Things About Me

This meme is going around Facebook like wildfire, and so I decided to cheat and use it as a blog post, since I'm already falling behind in my resolution to post more often. So, here goes:

1. I'm a morning person in that it doesn't take much for me to wake up and be alert, but I'm also a night person, because if I don't have to wake up at a certain time, I'll stay up forever doing nothing.

2. I don't believe in fate, but I do believe in love that can last a lifetime.

3. I'm an atheist. I've spent a lot of time (especially in college) thinking about religion and what I believe. I was raised Catholic, but I don't know if I ever truly believed. I did a stint at a Protestant church in college, but that didn't stick, either. I know I may change my mind in the future, but for now I've settled on secular humanism/atheism.

4. I love Karaoke. It's in my blood. Some of my stand-bys are Un-break My Heart, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Hello, Don't Speak, Suspicious Minds, A Whole New World (with TS), All Cried Out (with Tracy--I'm the boy's part), Against All Odds, and more. But I try not to do the same songs each time.

5. I wouldn't call myself clumsy, but I do have a knack for knocking things over. For example, I often tip my coffee mug (full of coffee) out on my desk at work (I had to buy a travel mug for work to lessen the spillage). My boyfriend calls me "The Alvina Monster" because of my tendency to knock things over in his apartment.

6. I almost never wear makeup. I never really learned how. When I do wear it on special occasions (weddings), I feel a little like a clown.

7. My first word was "hammer." My first sentence was "It's a bumpy, bumpy road!"

8. I've kept diaries fairly faithfully since I was 10 or so. I love reading them over. But it's always a little shocking to find how much my thinking hasn't changed.

9. My favorite picture book is A SNOWY DAY. My favorite novel is LITTLE WOMEN.

10. I'm more energized by cold weather than warm.

11. I'm a very fast reader. But unless I'm editing, I'm not a very careful reader.

12. Since moving into my current apartment about 4 years ago, I was determined to save money by walking to work every day (about a 40 minute walk to my old office, 35 minute walk to my current office). I'm proud to say that the only time I've ever taken public transportation between work and home is because I was carrying something too heavy to manage. And that's been, I think, a grand total of twice. Yes, I walk even when the weather is crappy. And yes, sometimes that sucks.

13. I'm a horrible speller. Spell check is my cruch. I mean crutch. I'm not great with grammar, either. Thank goodness for copyeditors and proofreaders.

14. I'm not an adrenalin junkie, but I do love having adventures and experiences. Like skydiving, traveling, eating bugs, running a marathon...

15. Over 6 years ago, after realizing that I ate way too much candy, I decided to give it up entirely as a New Year's Resolution. I've kept my resolution every year since then, but decided to just eat candy on my birthday (and last year added Halloween), because a life completely devoid of candy is a dismal life indeed.

16. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian. This lasted many years, until one day I read a book about a girl who also wanted to be a veterinarian--her father was one--and then one day, her dog got sick and her dad asked her to help care for the dog and help him give the dog a shot, and she realized that she didn't have the stomach for it. And so I decided I didn't want to be a veterinarian anymore. I always remember this as a reminder of how powerful children's books can be to a child reader.

17. I grew up watching and loving a lot of "boy" tv shows (prob. because I have two brothers). I loved the A-Team (can still recite the opening sequence), Airwolf, Knight Rider, Robotech, Transformers, Voltron, Battlestar Galactica, etc. My main girly show love was FAME. I had a huge crush on Rand from the Third Robotech War.

18. Some of my friends think of me as a human jukebox, because I have a song for everything, but I don't actually know the correct lyrics to most songs, I kinda wing it. I almost always have a song stuck in my head. I can sing most of the theme songs from the shows listed above. The music from the video game "Moon Patrol" is also forever imprinted in my brain. This one entry could have actually been 4 separate items.

19. I am incredibly adaptable, annoyingly optimistic, and generally capable.

20. I feel extremely lucky to have found my dream job on my first try. My second choice career after college was working in radio. Sometimes I wonder if I had decided to try for a career in radio first, if I would have decided that was my dream job. That's kinda how I am. If I weren't a children's book editor today, I'd want to work for NPR.

21. I have Temporomandibular Joint Syndrom (TMJ) and my jaw clicks when I chew. I have to wear a mouth guard when I sleep because I grind my teeth. It seems that everyone in publishing grinds their teeth, have you noticed?

22. I was born in Atlanta, GA, but only lived there for 9 months. I've also lived near Pittsburgh, in Edison, NJ, upstate NY, in LA County, in Berkeley, Taipei, Oakland, Somerville, East Boston, and NY. I've never lived anywhere for more than six years, until now. I never know how to answer the question, "Where did you grow up?" or "Where are you from?"

23. I believe that positive thinking, hard work, and perseverance can get you anywhere.

24. I used to be in introvert, but now I'm a fairly extreme extrovert.

25. I like making lists, but I can't believe I finally got around to making this one. And I think I cheated by combining many different random things into a single entry.


As I was writing this list, I remembered doing similar shorter lists on my blog a few years ago. I went back to find them, and was interested to find that the only item that overlapped with any of them was #22 above.

Six Weird Things
and
Eight Things About Me

I'm happy to see all of your lists!

meme of fives

Julie over at no want decaf! tagged me for this meme a while ago. Better late than never!

The rules of the meme get posted at the beginning. Each person answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the blogger then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
I was an associate editor at my same company, and had been living in NY for about one year.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
1. Review and decline manuscripts
2. go to pilates class
3. post at Blue Rose Girls
4. meet with an illustrator about a potential project
5. call an author about ALA plans

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. popcorn!
2. Pirate's Booty (just finished off a bag tonight)
3. fruit
4. string cheese
5. Baked Lays

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Get my pilot's license
2. Travel the world
3. Be a foster/adopted mother
4. Buy property with a tower
5. Donate more to causes I believe in

What are five of your bad habits?
1. Eating when I'm not hungry
2. Procrastinating by watching TV or surfing the Internet
3. Watching bad reality television (like the Bachelorette which is on now)
4. Mumbling
5. Adding "or not" to the end of suggestions

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Edison, NJ
2. Berkeley, CA
3. Somerville, MA
4. Taipei, Taiwan
5. Diamond Bar, CA

What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Mrs. Field's Cookies cashier
2. B&N bookseller
3. Lawrence Hall of Science front desk clerk
4. Fields+Hellman film production intern
5. English tutor/teacher

What five people do you want to tag?
Grace, Rita, Maria, Tanya, and Sara.

I can't see how this is right

Get a Cash Advance

But cool.

Thanks to Fuse #8 and Brooklyn Arden for the link.


I'm on VACATION!!!! Wonderful, delicious, lounging about and reading and watching tv and surfing the internet to my heart's content VACATION.

Zombies!

42%

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

via Fuse #8

Meme

Ah, to have time to do Memes. Just a random one I read today. Nothing too exciting, I'm afraid. Today I ran 8+ miles on the treadmill (gotta get training for the August half marathon), got a hair cut (shoulder length), went to lunch with my parents (tempura soba and salmon sushi), went with my dad to buy goldfish for the pond, and now am resting, about to read. Hurray for vacation!

1. Your name spelled backwards: anivlA
2. Where were your parents born? Both were born in Taiwan, in the Tainan area
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? probably music
4. What's your favorite restaurant? I haven't been there in a while, but possibly Cafe Mogador. Oh, am loving Le Pain Quotidiens lately.
5. Last time you swam in a pool? I think it was in a hotel in Taiwan
6. Have you ever been in a school play? Yes, in junior high.
7. How many kids do you want? 1-4
8. Type of music you dislike most? I don't know if I hate any kind of music with a passion, but I probably listen the least to country and rap.
9. Are you registered to vote? Yes.
10. Do you have cable? Yes.
11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? Yes--owned one in Taiwan.
12. Ever prank call anybody? Yes, in high school.
13. Ever get a parking ticket? Yup.
14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Both. But at this point, I guess I'd try the former since I've done the latter.
15. Furthest place you ever traveled? Australia
16. Do you have a garden? Nope, but I've been enjoying my parents' garden since being home
17. What's your favorite comic strip? Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, Mutts
18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Yes.
19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? I take showers, usually in the morning
20. Best movie you've seen in the past month? I guess Knocked Up. Waitress was good, too.
21. Favorite pizza topping? Black olives
22. Chips or popcorn? POPCORN!!!!
23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? I don't really wear lipstick, but I guess maybe a neutral shade when I do? Or coral?
24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? Wow, that's a weird question. Is that what the young 'uns are doing these days? No.
25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? No, thank goodness.
26. Orange Juice or apple? Orange, I guess.
27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you dine? Had dinner with my mother, younger brother Ben, and his girlfriend Susan last night at some Taiwanese restaurant in Hacienda Heights, don't know the name.
28. Favorite type chocolate bar? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (looking forward to eating on on the 16th)
29. When was the last time you voted at the polls? Ummm...I think I voted within the last 4 years, but don't have a strong memory of what it was for or who/what I voted for.
30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? No idea.
31. Have you ever won a trophy? Umm...I actually don't think so. I've won medals and plaques, though.
32. Are you a good cook? I'm decent.
33. Do you know how to pump your own gas? Yes.
34. Ever order an article from an infomercial? Yes--I ordered the Egg Wave! (lets you microwave eggs--not a good purchase)
35. Sprite or 7-up? 7-Up, I guess. I don't really drink soda, and if I do, then it's usually Ginger Ale.
36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work? I had a red and white striped polo shirt and apron when I worked at Mrs. Field's Cookies.
37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? Pepcid AC. ;)
38. Ever throw up in public? I must have, but not recently.
39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love? True love with a millionaire. Just kidding. True love.
40. Do you believe in love at first sight? Not really. Like at first sight, though.
41. Can exes be friends? Yes, but not easily.
42. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? Tanya when Leesie was born.
43. Did you have a lot of hair when you were a baby? Yes!
44. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character? Wayne
45. What was the name of your first pet? Pippy (parakeet)
46. What is in your purse? Wallet, iPod, camera, book, sunglasses, pen...
47. Favorite thing to do before bedtime? watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
48. What is one thing you are grateful for today? Being with family, enjoying my parents' house

via Amy, dig?

8 THINGS ABOUT ME MEME

I've resolved to post at least once a week, even if it's just a stupid short little thing. This was actually one of my New Year's Resolutions, and as it seems it has fallen to the wayside like a few others (including my limit on sweet baked goods a week--damn those cupcakes!), I've decided to strengthen my resolve again.

Both Elaine and 7 Imp tagged me for this meme a while ago, and I'm finally getting around to it. Here are the rules:

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

This feels similar to the 6 Weird Things Meme, but I'll try to think of different things. Let's see. Habits?

1. The first thing I do when I wake up is turn on my computer

2. I often narrate my life in my head as if I were a character in a book (I suspect that a lot of book people do this--am I right?).

3. For the last month or so, for no explicable reason, I've gotten the song "Red River Valley" stuck in my head as soon as I enter the bathroom in the morning, and often find myself singing it in the shower.

4. I always keep my fridge/freezer stocked with Hot Pockets, Tater Tots, tofu, and spinach.

5. Unless I'm carrying something heavy or wearing very uncomfortable shoes, I'll take the stairs up and down from my 6th floor apartment, even though I have an elevator.

6. I'm horrible with simple math (additions, multiplication, percentages). I still use my fingers to count sometimes, and never fully learned my times table. But I still got As in math, even AP Calculus in high school.

7. I take Pepsid AC when I drink alcohol to ward off the "Asian flush" (I think I have this on both my friendster and myspace profile, so I feel like I'm cheating...)

8. I'm really bad with faces and names, so don't feel bad if I don't remember you. It's me, not you. For some reason, it's hard for me to remember what people look like until I've taken a physical picture of them--even after meeting them several times. Even when I try to recall a loved one's face, I need to conjure up a photograph of them in my head.

Okay. Shoot, now I have to tag people...I'll go tag Libby, Linda, Amy, Tanya, Sara, Phoebe, Steve, and Jenny.

Oh, and if you're an author and you haven't weighed in yet, check out my poll over on the Blue Rose Girls (and don't forget that I post there every Monday--if I can post there once a week, why can't I do that here?). It's also a post about all the panels I've been on lately, and thus why I've been too busy to post.

And on a personal note, I just played in my first kickball game last night! (Yes, I joined a kickball league. Apparently two little kids who were walking by thought it was hilarious to see adults playing kickball and laughed at us). I didn't strike out as I was afraid I'd do (that would have been supremely embarrassing), but I did pop up once, and did drop a pop up. But I caught another, and got several "hits" (are they called "kicks" in kickball?), and even an RBI. Not bad for not playing since junior high! Which, when I actually thought about how long ago that would be, turns out to be 20+ years ago. And it was a TON of fun, even though the team we played was ultra-serious and competitive and didn't belong in the "just for fun" league. And beat us something like 17 to 4.

I was asked to help organize a softball game at our company picnic next week, and although I love softball and miss playing, I may suggest that we play kickball instead.

What Poetry Form Are You?

I've never participated in Poetry Fridays, so in honor of the day:

I am the sonnet, never quickly thrilled; Not prone to overstated gushing praise Nor yet to seething rants and anger, filled With overstretched opinions to rephrase; But on the other hand, not fond of fools, And thus, not fond of people, on the whole; And holding to the sound and useful rules, Not those that seek unjustified control. I'm balanced, measured, sensible (at least, I think I am, and usually I'm right); And when more ostentatious types have ceased, I'm still around, and doing, still, alright. In short, I'm calm and rational and stable - Or, well, I am, as much as I am able. What Poetry Form Are You?

Thanks to Fuse#8 for the link!

What will your obituary say?

Actually, I think this is more an epitaph, isn't it?

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I shall miss the prince as well.


This remind me of my high school English class--we were told to write our epitaphs. This was roughly mine. I still have it somewhat memorized:

She had traveled around the country, but had never traveled the world
That was how it was throughout her life.
Always the average of the above-average,
Never first, never striving to be.
And then she died, too early,
And she wasn't even first at that.

Depressing, isn't it? I have, of course, now traveled much of the world. But I have to say that some of the way I thought of myself back then still holds true now. I'm fairly competitive, but I don't always play to win--I generally play to not lose. I remember playing Hearts in college with friends--we played ALL THE TIME for a certain period--you know how that is. And yet, I think I only shot the moon one time. I was more concerned about never getting the Queen of Spades (and I apologize for those of you who don't know how to play Hearts), and trying to prevent others from shooting the moon. To be sure, this strategy sometimes resulted in me winning, but more often than not, it landed me safely in the middle of the pack, where I enjoyed being.

I did, and do, want to be special--afterall, I said I wanted to be the average of the above-average, not just average. But there's something about being the best that is scary to me, and I generally don't strive for that. Of course, I've grown, become more confident, and heck, would I like to be the best editor who ever lived? Sure. I want my books to be considered people's favorite books of all times. I do strive for first, sometimes, now.



Thanks for Fuse#8 for the link.

Six Weird Things About Me

Grace tagged me with this meme a while ago, and I've never answered it. So finally, on Day 4 of my sickness, when I've only left the apartment once to go to the doctor's office, I'm finally getting to it! Here are the instructions:

Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

Okay. Six weird things about me.

1. (I saw this on Bookseller Chick's blog, and since I can do it, too, I'm stealing it) I can fold my tongue so that the tip of my tongue rests on the rest of my tongue, facing the back of my throat.

2. I am grossed out by random clusters of little dots/things. For example, the inside of a bell pepper, with its cluster of seeds makes me squirm. Poppyseeds in a muffin or on a bagel makes me feel weird, although I'll still eat both. Groups of ants. But not caviar. The weird thing is, I can't control what I'll react to and what I won't.


3. I was born "parachuting" or feet first, which I know is really dangerous, but it worked out okay.


4. I'm allergic to mango. Also to nickel, dustmites, cats, and resin.


5. I've probably had 50+ cavities in my lifetime. I don't think I have a tooth in my mouth without a filling. I have a gold cap, non-gold caps, and an implant (fake tooth). I'm so comfortable going to the dentist that I fall asleep almost every time I'm in the dentist chair, even when (or especially when) I'm getting a tooth drilled. I also use prescription toothpaste. And I'm finally flossing.


6. I've never lived in one place for over 6 years. The longest I've ever lived was near Pittsburgh, PA when I was 9 months old through age 6 1/2. In July I will have lived in NYC for 5 years, tying with the second-longest I've ever lived anywhere, which was in Diamond Bar, CA from 8th grade through high school..


Oh, who to tag. How about Felix, Sara, Rita, TS, Eveline, Jarrett, and Pete.

86!!

Okay, T.S. found this list of the 100 best children's book on the National Education Association's page (from 1999, I think). Same rules as last time. I put a star if I liked it as a kid, even if I may not like the book today:

*Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
*The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
*Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
*The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
*Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
-Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch (creepy, toilet on cover...)
*The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
*The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
*Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (this is the book that made me cry the hardest as a kid)
*The Mitten by Jan Brett
?Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
*Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
*Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein
*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
*Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
*Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
*Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola
*Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
*Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
*The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
*A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
*How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
*The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
?Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault
*Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
*The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
*The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
*The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
*Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
*Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
*Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
*Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The BFG by Roald Dahl (one of the few Roald Dahl books I haven't read)
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
?If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
*James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
*Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
?Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (to be honest, I can't remember 100% if I've read this...)
*The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
*The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
*Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
*Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (probably my all-time favorite book)
?The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
*Corduroy by Don Freeman
*Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
*Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
*Matilda by Roald Dahl
-Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
*Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
*The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
*Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman
*The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (read all 7--many times)
*Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
*One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
*The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
*The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (my favorite picture book from childhood)
*The Napping House by Audrey Wood
*Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (another childhood favorite)
*The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
*Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
* The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
*Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
*Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
?Basil of Baker Street, by Eve Titus
*The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
*Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
*Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown (only some)
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (this has been on my to read list for a very long time)
*Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
*Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
*The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
?The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
?Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish (these books annoyed me when I was a kid)
*Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
*A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
?Stuart Little by E. B. White (when I was a kid, I hated the open-ended ending)
*Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
*The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
*Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
*Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
*Heidi by Johanna Spyri
*Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
?Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
*The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch

86%, baybee! I was kinda hoping for 100%, but oh well.

23

Just saw this on KT Buffy's blog, and thought I'd go through the exercise as well.

In 2005, Time magazine picked the 100 best English-language novels (1923-present). Mark the selections you have read in bold. If you liked it, add a star (*) in front of the title, if you didn't, give it a minus (-). Then, put the total number of books you've read in the subject line.

(I'm also adding a question mark (?) to indicate indifference or mixed feelings.)

The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
?All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren (HS)
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
*Animal Farm - George Orwell (listened to audiobook)
Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara
*Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
The Assistant - Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds - Flann O'Brien
-Atonement - Ian McEwan (didn't HATE it, but didn't really enjoy it, and struggled to finish it)
?Beloved - Toni Morrison (HS)
The Berlin Stories - Christopher Isherwood
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (I started this, but never got past the first chapter)
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
Call It Sleep - Henry Roth
*Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
*The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (HS)
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
A Dance to the Music of Time - Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather
A Death in the Family - James Agee
The Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance - James Dickey
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
Falconer - John Cheever
The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin
*Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
*The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
*The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (HS)
A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
Herzog - Saul Bellow
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul
?I, Claudius - Robert Graves (HS)
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Light in August - William Faulkner
*The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
*Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
*Lord of the Flies - William Golding (HS)
*The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Loving - Henry Green
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children - Christina Stead
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Money - Martin Amis
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
*Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Native Son - Richard Wright
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
1984 - George Orwell
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
*A Passage to India - E.M. Forster
*Play It As It Lays - Joan Didion (college)
Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run - John Updike
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
The Recognitions - William Gaddis
Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Sot-Weed Factor - John Barth
The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John Le Carre
*The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway (HS)
*Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
*To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (one of my all-time favorite books)
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
Under the Net - Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry
Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
*White Noise - Don DeLillo (college class)
*White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys

I don't think I did too badly--almost 25%. Give me the 100 best children's books, and I'll bet I'd get over 80%. What scared me, though, is that there are a lot on this list that I've never even heard of.

If any of you absolutely loved a book on this list that I haven't read, let me know and I'll add it to my extremely large "to read" list.

The Nearest Book

This book meme was on Fuse#8 and Big A, Little A, and others.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig around for that "cool" or "intellectual" book on your shelves. (I know you were thinking about it.) Just pick up whatever is closest.

Here's mine:

He taught me structure, he was meticulous in the way he laid out structure bits, he taught me the discipline of writing for television.

Lily Tomlin, Host:
I enjoyed hosting. At least I think I did. I do remember that after the show got to be such a big hit, I hosted it again.

This is from Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live

The first bit is Dan Aykroyd talking about one of the writers on the show. What I find interesting is how the authors decided to shape the sentences of the people they're interviewing (this is an oral history). Since I was paying attention to sentences while doing this, I wondered why they ran Dan's (we're on a first-name basis) thoughts into one long sentence, while they chopped up Lily's (she's a pal, too) response into short little sentences. I'm sure it has to do with how the words are delivered. Dan, perhaps, speaks quickly and perhaps his phrases run together, while Lily more deliberately, perhaps more space between thoughts. Anyway, for you authors out there, this could be a good resource in developing "voice," especially of different characters.

I've only finished half of the book a few years ago. Perhaps I'll pick it up again and pay more attention to this.

Is it me?

I felt like I was contradicting myself during this quiz. What can I say, I'm an enigma. Ha. No, actually, I think I'm in a transition stage. Then again, I'm constantly changing and growing, and I expect and hope I will for the rest of my life. I took one of these at the beginning of college, and I was an introvert, and by the end of college I was an extravert. I wouldn't be surprised if I switched back again someday. Anyway, I'd love to know what you guys are!

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends.You are also unconventional, irreverant, and unimpressed by authority and rules.Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives.You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist.

What's" Your Personality Type?

Another book quiz...

This one was more difficult than the last, but still pretty short. I haven't read this book, have any of you? I lifted this from an old post from this blog that I've visited a few times, and no, I don't know who E for Editrix is.

Which literature classic are you?

Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose. You are a mystery novel dealing with theology, especially with catholic vs liberal issues. You search wisdom and knowledge endlessly, feeling that learning is essential in life.
Take this quiz!








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Yeah, I'm still at the library and it's pretty quiet, hence the multiple posts and web surfing. This was a REALLY short quiz.

You're Catch-22!

by Joseph Heller

Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you
see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense
of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an
ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You
could coin a phrase that replaces the word "paradox" for millions of
people.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.