desertvixen | Entries tagged with 30 day book meme

Day 08 – Most overrated book
2010 Answer: Twilight

This is a tough one. I'm going to go with one that ended up in the "Bad Example" folder on my Kindle, The Missing Chapter by Robert Goldsborough. He's the author who did the continuation of the Nero Wolfe mysteries. The other books in the continuation, but this one was just not as good. It fell flat, the author got a little too clever. Basically, if I'd read this one first, I would never have read another one by him.

DV

( The Rest of the Meme )

Day 07 – Most underrated book
2010 Answer: Hard to pick

This one is still hard to answer, because I read what I want. I am a confirmed "negative review" reader, only because I find they're usually more informative.
Especially now that the Kindle lets you have access to so much more stuff, including self-published and older stuff.

So, instead of strictly "underrated", I'm going to go with one of the titles I'd never have found if it weren't for Kindle. It's a little mystery/parody called Death and the Lit Chick by G.M. Malliet. I don't think it was intended to be a strict parody, but it goes in that direction. Still the mystery isn't bad, but the book is mostly for the characters. A publisher is hosting a weekend party for its best writers, including the Lit Chick (who is a total bitch and you're not sad when she ends up as the victim). The authors are pretty recognizable jokes, although a few of them are crossed together. It was light, it was fun, it cost me ninety-nine cents.

DV

( The Rest of the Meme )

Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
2010 Answer: The First Four Years

So, as I said the first time, lots of books have parts that make me sad, and I try to avoid deliberately seeking out depressing stuff, because that's what we have reality for.

There are two major things that make me cry/make me sad.

The first is animal books where the animal dies - yes, Old Yeller. I've actually avoided reading any number of animal books, including Cleveland Amory's The Best Cat Ever, because I dread reading about the animal dying. Don't need it.

The second is when authors kill off characters I'm attached to. The most recent and wrenching is Lois McMaster Bujold's Cryoburn, in which she kills off Aral Vorkosigan, a character that I have loved for most all of my adult life. (Seriously, I picked an LMB book up in 1999 in Monterey, so I was 20.) Granted, we knew it was coming, but it was still wrenching. It left me quite down for a few days. I think probably the runner up in this category (it used to be first) was in David Weber's Honor Harrington novel At All Costs, where he killed off a character who'd been with us - and who I'd been a huge fangirl of since he first pulled himself out of the ship console he was working on and went to go meet his ridiculously young and perfect commanding officer. Not just that he killed him off, but that he toyed with us, let us believe he hadn't done it, then slammed us with it. Weber killed off some more characters that we've been close to in Mission of Honor, but it didn't hit me as hard.

Yes, I'm a geek, space opera makes me cry.

( The Rest of the Meme )

Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
2010 Answer: Saved By Scandal by Barbara Metzger

Now I feel like reading last year's answer on my Kindle, as it is part of my Desert Island file. These are the books that I feel I can't live without, and several of them already have ended up as answers to this meme. There will be more. It's hard to top Saved By Scandal because it just makes you feel better. Metzger is funny as all get out, and not stupid - her characters are a delight, even the people who are cardboard foils for the real characters. The mishaps are over the top in this one, the villains are deliciously bad, and it puts a smile on my face.

This year, I'll go with another Georgette Heyer title (get used to seeing her name, because her books are something else), The Nonesuch. This Heyer Regency has several elements that make me happy - a spoiled character who gets her comeuppance (not enough, sadly), the spinsterish governess Ancilla Trent falls in love with a handsome, smart, wealthy guy (Sir Waldo Hawkridge) who falls in love with her right back. The dialogue sparkles, the characters are well-drawn on both sides, and Heyer's deft touch with the Regency is all over the place. I'm fond of several of the supporting cast, including Mrs. Underwood, who is slightly mushroomy but a good soul at heart (despite her total inability to deal with Tiffany).

But he don’t look at her the way he looks at you – no, and he don’t talk to you as he does to her either! What’s more, if she ain’t in the room he don’t look up every time the door opens, hoping she’s going to come in!’ Her cool composure seriously disturbed, Ancilla said involuntarily: ‘Oh, Mrs Underhill, d-does he do so when – Oh, no! Surely not?’ ‘Lord bless you, my dear, of course he does!’ replied Mrs Underhill, with an indulgent laugh. ‘And if it is you – well, often and often I’ve thought to myself that if he was to smile at me the way he does at you I should be cast into a regular flutter, as old as I am!’

Yes, that makes me happy, in part because that's a very apt part of being in love. This bit makes me happy as well, but for different reasons:

‘I said, Quiet !’ Tiffany was so much startled by this peremptory reminder that she gasped, and stood staring up at the Nonesuch as though she could not believe that he was speaking not to his cousin, but actually to her. She drew in her breath audibly, and clenched her hands. Miss Trent cast a look of entreaty at Sir Waldo, but he ignored it. He strolled up to the infuriated beauty, and pushed up her chin. ‘Now, you may listen to me, my child!’ he said sternly. ‘You are becoming a dead bore, and I don’t tolerate bores. Neither do I tolerate noisy tantrums. Unless you want to be soundly smacked, enact me no ill-bred scenes!’ There was a moment’s astonished silence. Laurence broke it, seizing his cousin’s hand, and fervently shaking it. ‘I knew you was a right one!’ he declared. ‘A great gun, Waldo! Damme, a Trojan !’

DV
( The Rest of the Meme )

Day 04 – Favorite book of your favorite series
2010 answer: Visions in Death (runners up Witness in Death and Haunted in Death)

So, thinking about this, and it's really hard to pick just one book in this series. Visions in Death does have one of the hands-down best Peabody moments of the series.

Thinking about it, however, I think I'd want to go with Divided in Death. This is where the series went hardback, and it features a mystery that hits a lot closer to home than some. I'd pick this one, though, because I think it has one of the pivotal moments in the series - when Eve tells Roarke that he can't get vengeance for what happened to her when she was a kid, because if he does what he wants to do, it's murder committed in her name. (

desert_sdwndr, guess which In Death title we'll be listening to?)

There's some honorable mentions, however. Memory in Death features another crime for Christmas, and has a bad guy you actually kind of sympathize with. New York to Dallas brings a lot of things full circle in a way that was true to the series that I really enjoyed. Celebrity in Death played off several of the others, including Origin in Death and Witness in Death, and was quite enjoyable.

Haunted in Death is still the best short story. The short stories incorporate too many paranormal slants for me to really enjoy, but Haunted in Death is a well-done ghost story and murder. It's a staple of car trips.

I've seen several In Death books over here, and everytime I do, I pick it up and look through it. It's like meeting an old friend and curling up for a chat.

( The Rest of The Meme )

Decided to cut the previous days, they can be found by hitting the tag "30 day book meme".

Day 03 – Your favorite series
2010 Answer: In Death series by J.D. Robb

I still read and collect a lot of series. I like series because I like walking into a place and meeting old friends, and I like seeing how people change things up, how characters grow and change. I'm a big fan of TV series as well, for that very reason. Looking back, I see some of the series have dropped off the radar, but others are still hanging strong on the bookshelf. I will say it's much harder doing this meme without access to my actual bookshelves.

That being said, the In Death series is still my favorite. Yes, it's popcorn for the brain, and several of the last ones have been solid but not exciting, but largely a bad day with J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) is better than some authors' best days. I think she shows adept handling of a long-running series with a large cast, bringing characters in when those characters help the story, and still giving us that little bit of fan service. She's still an automatic buy in HC - I haven't bought the latest one, but that was more due to an error by BN.com rather than my lack of desire to read it (although I hear it was a little flat). Eve and Roarke are just fun. The characters grow and change and develop, and it's fun to watch. The audiobooks are also done very well (with a few voices I don't care for) to the point that I now hear the reader in my head when Eve talks on the page. You can curl up with an In Death novel and have a good afternoon or evening, and honestly sometimes that's all I want.

The first time I did this, I thought about including a YA series. However, many of the YA series I enjoy (Nancy Drew, etc) are static, and I think the best part of the In Death series is watching the changes.

I'm wondering what the next few books will bring, after a development in one of the last books, where Eve refused something that I honestly thought Robb had been trying to hint at and show she was ready for. I do like the expanded team of police in the books now. Robb/Roberts has said the series will end before Eve and Roarke have children, which I think is good - although I do laugh when I read a review that says Eve needs to get over not wanting kids. In short, In Death is always about escape for me, when I'm not in the mood for a purely romantic escape.

DV

( The Rest of the Meme )

( Day 1 )

Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
2010 answer: Murder on the Orient Express, Cards on the Table, and After The Funeral

Still wondering who this meme is geared to, because "books I have read more than 3 times" is a pretty broad category. I reread a fair amount

A triple feature answer (since today's question is brought to us by the number three):

1. A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer - One of her best, although not what many would consider a romantic novel today. It's more pragmatic, the heiress isn't beautiful, and she's more concerned with making her husband comfortable than having him make a passionate declaration of undying love. (Of course, she wants him to be comfortable, because she does love him.) It's also got one of Heyer's top 5 most annoying characters, Julia Oversley, the girl who the hero had an attachment to before everything got out of whack, and she's a melodramatic pampered drama queen. The hero's mother is a bit of an homage to Mrs. Bennett, but not as annoying - maybe because A Civil Contract hasn't been made into a miniseries. Too bad - I would watch.

2. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - Yes, a repeat from last time. There's just something soothing about reading the mystery, having everyone trapped on the train, and watching Poirot do what he does. Especially since he serves justice, rather than strict legality. It's also got an excellent movie version.

3. Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon - I picked this one because I found a paperback copy of it here, and it was like finding an old friend to open it up and get lost in the pages. It's the first book of the Serrano series, and sort of throws you into the middle of everything. I love how the characters just suck me in, between Heris and Cecelia and the rest of the cast. It's pretty light, until we get thrown right into The Most Dangerous Game. Also, as you go through the series, I love how she ties things up in the final book, despite some of the plot twists that fall into the "sudden and inevitable betrayal" category.

DV

( The Rest of the Meme )

Books. If you've been reading this journal for any length of time, you know I love them. Whether they're paper or on the Kindle, or the iPad, or the computer - where they're brand new collector's hardbacks or battered copies from the used book store - I love them. I own somewhere between 2000-3000, counting electronic format.

The last time I did this was before

desert_sdwndr was in my life as much as he is now - 2010. Some answers will have changed (I am going to try to not use the same answers), but one thing that doesn't: I love books.

Day 01 – Best book you read within the last year
2010: Mission of Honor, by David Weber

After giving this one some thought, I have to go with Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, by Lois McMaster Bujold. (Get used to that name, you'll be seeing it a few times over the next 30 days.)
Despite my great love for LMB, after I read Cryoburn, I found it hard to really read her for awhile. After I managed to hook

desert_sdwndr on the Vorkosigan Saga and got myself assigned a fanfic challenge involving LMB's work, I ended up working through the whole series again, and ended up with CVA. In series chronology, it happens before Cryoburn. To me, it feels like LMB's farewell to the Vorkosigan Saga, and it's a hell of a farewell. It has all the things I love about LMB - dialogue and characters and scenery. And it's a happy, satisfying book. It's Ivan's book, and I couldn't have asked for more. He's grown over the course of the series, and LMB gives him a lady worthy of his character. The end... oh the end makes me happy and makes me want more books. There likely won't be more, which makes me a little sad. But this was the best book of the year, because I got to experience the joy of reading a new Bujold book.

Some choice lines:

Maybe only love gave you more than what you’d dealt for. Oh. So that’s what this is. Oh . . . So . . . if you spurned a miracle because it seemed to come too easily, would you ever get another? She suspected not. Hang on to this one, then. Hang on for all you’re worth.

Tej seemed such a sunny personality, much of the time—these flashes of dark were like a crack in the sky, shocking and wrong. Reminding him that the daylight was the illusion, the scattering of light by the atmosphere, and the endless night was the permanent default behind it all.

“I would follow you to the ends of the bunker,” he promised.

DV

( The Rest of The Meme )

So, for those who are not on FB with me, I got accepted to NIU (National Intelligence University). This is a pretty big deal.

For one, it means I do not have 60-some days left in AFG. I have 30-some days. I feel a little bad about running out early, but everyone here would make the same choice if they had the chance. I'll be in CO to welcome everyone home, and that works too.

Tomorrow, I go into planning mode.

Also, tomorrow,

desert_sdwndr and I will embark on our first joint blogging venture, as well a kickstarter to get him posting more often. We're going to do the 30 days of books meme that I did back in 2010. It will be interesting to see what has changed for me, and to see what his answers turn out to be.

DV

( Days 1-29 )

Day 30 – Your favorite book of all time - I actually went ahead and reread it this week so I'd be ready for this. It's Memory, by Lois McMaster Bujold. I know, that name's been all over this meme, but that's because her writing is so good. For one, she writes sci-fi where most of the sci-fi parts are biological (the uterine replicator, Betan birth control, cloning, etc) and that interests me more than one of David Weber's ship battles. Her books can be read as standalones, but they're so much richer when read in chronological order - and Memory is no exception. Also, for those of us who are passionate Simon Illyan fans, this is HIS book. It has the immortal line from Ivan ("Simon Illyan is sleeping with my mother, and its all your fault!"), Gregor's romance, the relationship between Simon Illyan and Alys Vorpatril, It's also the book in which Miles makes a life-changing error, and a few life-changing decisions, most importantly the decision to be Lord Vorkosigan, not Admiral Naismith. It's just really, really good. There's political treachery, treason, romance, and Barrayar at its best.

( Days 1-28 )

Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked - I don't know if everyone hates them, but I'm pretty sure my father did after awhile - Two-Minute Mysteries, More Two-Minute Mysteries, and Still More Two-Minute Mysteries by Donal J. Sobol. When I was in middle school, we used to read them in the car. Basically, it's a collection of short mystery stories that requires you to get the clue either from something that should or should not be on the scene, or some arcane "Everyone knows" that neither of us knew. It would have helped had we realized the books were published in 1971. They drove us crazy, but they're entertaining.

A more recent example, not from one of the books:
http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/ccdb/2mmclub/archive-story.php?id_story=194

( The Final Question )

( Days 1-27 )

Day 28 – Favorite title - So titles. Everyone who has ever beta read some of my fanfic will tell you, titles are not my strong point. They always cause headaches. I hate coming up with a catchy but not stupid title. And I read a lot of genre stuff so there's a lot of "formula" titles. I think I'd have to go with yet another Bujold title, A Civil Campaign. It has love and politics and treachery and revenge and comedy, my favorite Vor lord, The Dinner Party, and all around general Barrayar as I love to read about it. It's really several campaigns, but they all remain relatively civil.

( Days 29-30 )

( Days 1-25 )
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something - So this one was challenging, because most of the non-fiction stuff I read is not intended to change my opinion. I decided to go with How The Pro-Choice Movement Saved America by Cristina Page - not because it changed my mind, necessarily, but helped me to understand the opposition to the pro-choice movement a little better. It's a little out of date (2004) but there still seem to be plenty of viable points in it.

Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending - I'm really horrible at remembering this stuff. I already talked a little in my review about Mission of Honor and how Weber turned the plot on its head, as well as the ending of LMB's Cryoburn, but both of those are under spoiler, so I'm not going with them. I decided to go with a classic example, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. I know it's been done since, but the narrator-is-the-murderer was pretty shocking the first time around. As she pointed out, she never had him lie, but the idea that we might not be able to trust the person telling the story (especially if you're used to reading Poirots that feature Hastings) was pretty well executed, IMO.

( Days 28-30 )

( Days 1-24 )

Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most - Yet another one where it's hard to just pick one. I have to go with Delia Peabody (from the "In Death" series), with Ancilla Trent from The Nonesuch following closely behind. Peabody is the sidekick, the smoother-over, the accomplisher of administration, although she manages to get enough smart-ass remarks in that she holds her own. Especially as the only female in my job (where I am), I feel like I'm in this role a lot. Eve also sticks her with a lot of the touchy-feely-girly stuff, and I end up doing a lot of it myself. Ancilla is a bluestocking - smart, independent, and good with dealing with difficult people, which I hear a lot myself.

( Days 26-30 )

( Days 1-23 )

Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read - Not only do I wish more people would read it, I've helped ensure other people (including my ex-husband) have read this book. It's the book that got me into reading Lois McMaster Bujold almost eleven years ago - Cordelia's Honor. It's a convenient omnibus edition (mass market paperback size) of the first 2 books in chronological order, Shards of Honor and Barrayar. One of the reasons it's such a good idea is that (to me, anyway) Shards is not that compelling. It introduces the characters, the places, the romance between Cordelia and Aral, but Barrayar really sucked me in and made me an LMB fan. I love the relqtionship between Cordelia and Aral, the richness, the snap - but I also love all the political manuevering and civil warfare, and yes, shopping. The focus of the series is their son Miles, but he doesn't draw me the way they do. There are entire Miles books I could skip (and do, on rereads) because these two do not appear. It may seem a little weird, but for me, the series is more about everyone else, not Miles. And I really, really, really wish LMB would write us another good Barrayaran book full of politics and Barrayarans and more than cameos by the characters we love, especially after Cryoburn... but that's another rant for after the book officially comes out in October. Just go pick up Cordelia's Honor if you haven't, even if you think you don't like sci fi. You might just be surprised.

( Days 25-30 )

( Days 1-21 )

Day 22 – Favorite book you own - Picture me looking at my bookshelves and trying to figure out an answer to this one. I've already discussed my beloved Anne of Green Gables collection, and since I don't really collect "rare" books, I'm going to go with the Applewood reissues of Nancy Drew. I own 14 of them at last count, and I greatly enjoy them. I like the whole concept of reprinting the books as they originally were, with the covers and advertisements and interior illustrations...and the now-outdated classist/racist/sexist attitudes within the books. I think it's definitely acceptable to let people see that things have changed in the way things are done. I love the art, in most cases. And, I secretly LOVE the original Nancy. She has moxie and independence, and gets to do stuff that the modern Nancy doesn't. In the original Secret of Shadow Ranch, she gets to carry a pistol (which is sensible, since she's riding in the desert) and she gets to use it, whereas the Nancy of the Files and Super Mysteries doesn't even get to touch a weapon - it's in the series bible (despite the fact that the Hardy Boys get to fire machine guns). Not to mention The Message in the Hollow Oak where she gets to use dynamite! There's definitely classism, because Nancy knows that she's important, and not everyone is, but in a lot of ways, the original Nancy rocks.

Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t - My to-read pile is pretty big, so there are any number of answers to this one. Some things stay on the shelf just because thye get preempted by other reading, or because their size makes digging into them a little intimidating. One of these books is Equal: Women Reshape American law by Fred Streiburg. I probably will get to it while I am in the class I'm taking, because it may be useful. Those of you who know me know that this is a subject I am passionate on, being a woman and the mother of a daughter, but the book is about the size of The Bear and the Dragon, or other Clancy books of the way-overwritten era. So it's not been on the top of my list.

( Days 24-30 )

( Days 1-21 )

Day 21 – Favorite book from your childhood - I have to go with 2 here.

One is from the Baby-sitters Club - #4, Mary Anne Saves The Day. Mary Anne is one of my favorites, and this one lets her grow quite a bit. There's a realistically stupid pre-teen girl fight, a situation that would be scary if you were a twelve year old babysitter, and a problem she (and the others) have to solve.

The second is The Velveteen Rabbit. I have yet to manage reading it without crying. It makes me sad, but in a good sort of way, although I was quite scared when I was little that they would have to burn one of my favorite stuffed animals.

My parents didn't read TO me as much as they probably should have, but I read so much to myself that they may have thought they didn't need to. I love to read to the Mini-Vixen, and she is well on her way to being a book addict, just like me. Plus, there are so many cool kids' books. Some of my reading-to-the-MV favorites are:

The Tawny Scrawny Lion
Alice: A Story of Friendship (http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/alice.php) about a rattlesnake who makes a new friend. It's beautifully done, bilingual, and has a nice story.
Bad Kitty It's an alphabetically silly romp, especially enjoyed by cat owners. There's two smaller books, Bad Kitty Takes A Bath and Happy Birthday Bad Kitty. The bath one is especially funny, and for anyone who has ever bathed a cat, true.

( Days 22-30 )

Current Mood: contemplative

( Days 1-19 )

Day 20 – Favorite romance book - After some thought, I'm going with Cotillion by Georgette Heyer. It's a light-hearted romp, with a heroine who does stuff for herself to improve her situation, even if she doesn't quite think everything through. The hero isn't exactly dashing and daring, but he comes through in the end because he does think. She starts out in love with a guy she thinks is much better than he actually is, and ends up with quite a catch. It's also another one of Heyer's dysfunctional families, which I love.

( Days 21-30 )

Current Mood: contemplative

( Days 1-16 )

Day 17 – Favorite quote from your favorite book - One of the most quotable authors I read is Lois McMaster Bujold. There's so many pieces of truth in what she writes that they stick with you. For quotes, it's hard to beat Barrayar, and it's my second favorite Vorkosigan book. (The most favorite gets discussed on Day 30.)

"My home is not a place, sir. It is a person...People" - Aral Vorkosigan

"Yes, Admiral Vorkosigan will certainly want to see that...Put it down as a Winterfair gift for Admiral Vorkosigan from his wife." - Lt. Koudelka, referring to Vordarian's head in a shopping bag

and, of course, the favorite one word quote from LMB - "Shopping."

Day 18 – A book that disappointed you - I had to flip back through my "book report" tag, but I decided to nominate Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy - Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan. My review of the book is here.

Now I know there are some people who think there are no good Pride and Prejudice sequels, but they don't all suck. This one sucked. It's bad. I think this bit from my review sums it up:

Essentially, it’s Darcy and Elizabeth crackfic, that got published. It was such a train wreck that I had to finish it, just to see what would happen, so I could share it with you.

Had I actually read the foreword of the book, I could have saved myself the trouble, because I would have read something that probably would have stopped me cold. The author, you see, had never read Pride and Prejudice, until she saw the 2005 movie. In short, she thinks the 2005 movie adaptation is the best. I must, respectfully, disagree. One actually did a good job of translating the book, using the dialogue, bringing Miss Austen’s work to life – and one just looked pretty. (Also, one has dripping-wet Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, and one does not. I leave to you to decide the effect on quality.)

Let's put it this way - it was so bad, I was afraid to leave it on a shelf.

Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie - I've already mentioned the two Agatha Christie books that made really smashing movies (Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, for the curious), so on this one, I'm going to go with Pride and Prejudice. The two BBC productions, the 1980 one with David Rintoul and the 1995 A&E production with Colin Firth, are both well worth watching, all I think the 1995 one wins by a little bit.

( Days 20-30 )

Current Mood: contemplative

( Days 1-15 )

Day 16 – Favorite female character - Much like I couldn't just list one, I bring you a top 16 list - because female characters are awesome, and don't get enough love, IMO.

#16 - Cherry Ames (Cherry Ames series) - I prefer the Cherry-during-the-war stories, because after that, they were a little on the silly side sometimes. Cherry is a nursing student when we meet her, and dabbles in detective work. She's fearless and cheerful and not super goody-goody. She's fun, and I like that the books have been reissued.

#15 - Charlotte (Charlotte's Web) - I know she's not a human female, but she gets stuff done. And she's smart, and uses her words.

#14 - Elizabeth Shelby (Star Trek: New Frontier) - Peter David's brought her a long way from the two TNG episodes she appears in - he's given her humor, back story, and a willingness to go along with the crazy, because it just might work. She gets to be authoritative without being considered a bitch.

#13 - Kristy Thomas and Mary Anne Spier (Baby-sitters' Club) - Yes, I'm serious. I love the "best friends who are opposites" thing, and I like that the relationship between the two of them feels real.

#12 - Amelia Peabody Emerson (Amelia Peabody series) - I enjoy reading about her, although maybe I wouldn't want to be in her path when she's on a mission. (Plus, every time I read the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys novel that's set in Egypt, I wonder if she's the reason the tour guide is named Mrs. Peabody. It gives me a giggle.)

#11 - Elizabeth Bennet and Fanny Price (Jane Austen) - These characters couldn't be less alike. Yet they both make their respective books worth reading.

#10 - Ariadne Oliver and Jane Marple (Agatha Christie) - They each have their own style, but I like them. Mrs. Oliver, a mystery novelist (sort of a self-insert of Christie) insists that if we had a woman at the Yard, crimes would get solved. Miss Jane Marple of Mary St. Mead solves all her crimes through knowing human nature - and knitting.

#9 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Quiner Ingalls (Little House) - When I was a kid, I really liked Laura, and identified with her (especially as I had dark hair, dark eyes, and vivid imagination). As I get older, I find I like Caroline more and more - and admire the courage both characters show. (They're also the only "real" characters to make the list)

#8 - Parker Brown (Nora Roberts, Savor The Moment) - She's the sister of Delaney in yesterday's question, and "her book" is coming out in November, so I am quite excited. She's organized and cool under pressure, and she gets stuff done.

#7 - Jenny Chawleigh Lynton, Lydia Lynton, Kitty Charing, Ancilla Trent, Anthea Daracott (Georgette Heyer Regencies) - There's several wonderful female characters in the books, but these five are at the top of my list. Jenny is from A Civil Contract, which isn't very romantic and dashing, but is touching and real. Lydia is her young sister-in-law who consistently steals the scene. Kitty is the heroine of Cotillion - she seizes hold of an opportunity to change her life, and she's smart enough to realize that she's found a better man than the one she had dreams about - and she helps out the people around her. Ancilla Trent is a governess, and the heroine of The Nonesuch, in which it's nice to see the bluestocking get her man and the spoiled brat man-trap to get no one. Anthea Darracott is one of the dysfunctional Darracotts in The Unknown Ajax, and deserves an award for not killing any of her relations.

#6 - Prudence Merryweather, Emily Faringdon, Lucinda Bromley, and Venetia Jones (Amanda Quick romances) - Prudence is one of my favorites because she's a peacemaker and problem solver, and drives a hard bargain. Emily was really the first romance novel heroine who made me think that she was worth reading about - and I sympathized with her habit of withdrawing into fantasy to get away from the reality of her family. Lucinda and Venetia belong to the Arcane Society novels (with Caleb and Gabriel from yesterday, respectively). They get things done and keep me entertained.

#5 - Eve Dallas, Delia Peabody, Nadine Furst, Louise Dimatto, Mavis Freestone, and Charlotte Mira (JD Robb "In Death" series) - These are the core female members of the series, and I love them. More importantly, I love the way they work together and play off each other, and everything does NOT have to revolve around men (unless they're a criminal). They have work lives and personal lives and they act like real people. Eve is prickly and pragmatic, Peabody soothes all the people Eve irritates, Nadine wants her next media accomplishment as much as she wants to breathe, Louise is the crusader, Mavis keeps an eye on everyone's mental health, and Dr. Mira provides the insight. I can't wait to see what they're up to next.

#4 - Judy Bolton (Judy Bolton series) - She's considered to be more feminist than Nancy Drew, and she actually grows and changes. I enjoy reading her, although I don't like the later books as much. In one, she really impressed me when comparing her two suitors, noting that one wants to do things for her, and one wants to do things with her. She's smart enough to pick the second one. She also has a temper, and sometimes acts without thinking. She's worth reading.

#3 - Anne Shirley Blythe (Anne of Green Gables) - I already talked at length about the Anne of Green Gables books, so let me just say: She's delightful. She gets lost in daydreams, loses her temper, and never loses hope. She also doesn't give up, and while she might be accused of having rose colored glasses, she really doesn't - at least, she knows when to take them off.

#2 - Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan and Alys Vorpatril (LMB's Vorkosigan Saga) - I love Aral Vorkosigan, but I don't think he would be as interesting without Cordelia. The two of them together make a formidable team, and they share a talent for cutting through to the heart of things, so to speak. Alys handles all of the social things (which on Barrayar is much needed) and ensures everything is done Properly - or people suffer.

#1 - Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew series) - Yes, I am serious. I love her, in her various incarnations. She has provided me with many a break for a tired-out brain that can't take one more serious book. From the original Nancy in the 1930s (yes, there are class/race issues in the books, but Original Nancy takes charge and has adventures) to the revised "yellow spine" Nancy Drew, in which the books were updated (i.e., let's get rid of the lazy Irish stereotype and bad dialect for anyone NOT white) in which she lost some of her moxie and got more correct, to the 80s and 90s, when she got back into action and flirted with Frank Hardy, to the newest update, which I'm not liking so much. And yes, I write Nancy Drew fanfic, because she's fun to read about, and fun to play with.

( Days 17-30 )

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Entries tagged with 30 day book meme

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 8

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 7

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 6

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 5

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 4

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 3

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 2

30 Day Book Meme (2014 version) - Day 1

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30 Day Book Meme - Day 30

30 Day Book Meme - Day 29

30 Day Book Meme - Day 28

30 Day Book Meme - Days 26 and 27

30 Day Book Meme - Day 25

30 Day Book Meme - Day 24

30 Day Book Meme - Days 22 and 23

30 Day Book Meme - Day 21

30 Day Book Meme - Days 20

30 Day Book Meme - Days 17, 18, 19

30 Day Book Meme - Day 16