Booking Through Thursday

It has been so long since I have participated in Booking through Thursday's that I think it is about time to pull it back together and get my booty in gear. Since today is Veteran's Day today in the US this weeks question is related to the holiday.

Q: It is November 11th, known here in the U.S. as Veteran’s Day, formerly Armistice Day to remember the end of WWI but expanded to honor all veterans who have fought for their country, so …

Do you read war stories? Fictional ones? Histories?

A: No I do not read war stories. In college I read anything I could get my hands on about WWII and I can remember reading a comic book that are aimed at young adults to help them understand the emotional aspect of WWII. I do however remember being tragically moved by a non-fiction book that was compiled of WWII photo's of the the destruction of the war. I was shocked that in some of the pictures it showed the concentration camps and honestly it was pictures of humanities worst nightmares. I could not comprehend that people were treated that way and it shocked me to the point that even today over 15 years later I can close my eyes and see the horrid pictures crystal clear like it was yesterday.

Sadly my main reason for not reading anything set in America is that I am working on my own WWII set book and until I finish it I do not want to read something by someone else that might make its way into my own thought process.

A big thank you today for all of our brother and sisters who have given everything they had and more to bring us the freedom we sometimes take for granted. Thank you from the bottom of my heart with out you guys we would be all lost.

Gone but never forgotten

Amazon 

Booking Through Thursday: Speed

12.17.2009 Speed
Q:What do you think of speed-reading? Is it a good way to get through a lot of books, or does the speed-reader miss depth and nuance? Do you speed-read? Is some material better suited to speed-reading than others?

A:As far as speed reading goes it takes me back to college. I took a speed reading class because it was the last reading class that I had not taken that the college offered. I distinctly remember the beginning of the class that the professor was going through what the most valuable tools of speed reading are. The best use for speed reading is text books, mostly educational. For various reasons one being that most students minds would zone out after reading so much that the brain was not really absorbing all of the valuable information. The key to speed reading is training your mind to scan the page and take in the key points: first photos and the side notes. Then briefly read over the page taking note of dates and key sentences. The trick is that you have to train your mind into not reading the side of the pages and exclude words such as: and, at, the etc. The basic words many people over read which slows you down. My professor had us take a timed test, scan the page then read as fast as we could. Immediately we would take a quiz on what we just read. Then calculate the words per a minute from that we would identify what was slowing the words per a minute down. I found for myself that I was over reading and reading the white part of the paper, the side portion. An easy trick for that was cover it up with a darker piece of paper. It kept my eyes from wandering there and focusing on the written words. I did find the skills I learned helpful with my later years studying but....I NEVER do it for my pleasure reads.

What is the point of reading for pleasure if you do not enjoy every aspect of the book? If you speed read it you are retaining a skeleton of information not the actual full in depth details. I do feel though that what some might feel is their normal pace but is technically considered a "speed reader" is more than possible. My husband is one of "them" where he is a speed reader technically but if you can read that fast and comprehend to the fullest then I do not really see it as speed reading more like a speedy reader. Everyone one reads at different paces some novels I enjoy taking my time on because I will never be able to read it again for the first time. I want to enjoy and savor every word I read.

Booking Through Thursday: Biggest Catch Up Ever!

I know I have so fallen behind on this it is not even funny. With the move and all I had to cut back on a bunch of posts and this one I just did not have the time to get to until now. I have many weeks that I missed the questions on so here we go!

12.10.2009 Mark the Spot
What items have you ever used as a bookmark? What is the most unusual item you’ve ever used or seen used?
Cards that books come with have become a norm for me. But my favorite has become a "trading card" that was made for the release of "Royal Affairs: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures that Rocked the British Monarch". On one side it has the books details and the other it is king Charles II. The part I find interesting is the details: his nick name, birthday, death, vital statistics, and my favorite part that he Ennobled 17 of his illegitimate children. It makes me snicker to myself every time with out fail when I open my current read. He was such a bad boy I swear like a historical Hugh Hefner.

12.3.2009 But, What About Me?
But enough about you, what about ME?
Today’s question? What’s your favorite part of Booking Through Thursday? Why do you participate (or not)?
I find it enjoyable that it give me a way to reach out more to others in the reading community. Every once in awhile it draws it a new person or two that might choose a different genre because of a recommendation here. I just enjoy getting feedback as far as what others are reading and posting about the book responses. There is an abundance of variety in the group as a whole. Which is very enjoyable, thank you for hosting it!


11.26.2009 Thankful Thursday
It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S.A. today, so I know at least some of you are going to be as busy with turkey and family as I will be, so this week’s question is a simple one: What books and authors are you particularly thankful for this year?
I am thank full that our family was able to purchase our first home this year. We love our new home and it has changed our lives. Living in our old home we were very unhappy with the situation. So much so that it began to affect our daily lives. I just thank goodness that I do not have to wake up every morning to the stupid old neighbor behind us, her 4 dogs 3 being basset hounds would howl all day long because she left them outside. Starting at 7 am everyday for years. I think that was enough to stress out any normal human being. In the first week of the new house every morning my husband would say to me laying in bed, "Do you hear that.....nothing.....silence....no dogs". No more barking dogs or howling dogs here.

11.19.2009 Posterity
Today’s question was suggested by Barbara: Do you think any current author is of the same caliber as Dickens, Austen, Bronte, or any of the classic authors? If so, who, and why do you think so? If not, why not? What books from this era might be read 100 years from now?
Well I am unsure I think if I had to pick any author that was of that caliber it would have to be Jean Plaidy. Just because she has written so many novels and every single one of them I have read they not only are logical but historically logical. I still have not finished Pride and Prejudice, I am having issues with finishing it. My brain just can not comprehend what they are saying, it is like my dyslexia kicks into over drive with her.

11.12.2009 Too Short?
Suggested by JM: “Life is too short to read bad books.” I’d always heard that, but I still read books through until the end no matter how bad they were because I had this sense of obligation.That is, until this week when I tried (really tried) to read a book that is utterly boring and unrealistic. I had to stop reading. Do you read everything all the way through or do you feel life really is too short to read bad books?
I give up on them because after reading other people responses to worst book ever I will never again force myself to finish a novel. If it is that bad then i just call it a wash and move on there are way too many other books I want to read that I do not have time to waste on bad ones.

11.5.2009 It's All About Me
Which do you prefer? Biographies written about someone? Or Autobiographies written by the actual person?
Depends on how good it is I would have to say biographies because if I wanted to read it from their point of view I would rather read a fiction one because then it gives the emotion behind the actions.

10.29.2009 Blurb
Suggested by Jennysbooks: Something I’ve been thinking about lately: “What words/phrases in a blurb make a book irresistible? What words/phrases will make you put the book back down immediately?”
I know but I am going to have to do it! There is just one word that I just can not stand in a book that always really pushes me away instantly. You say what is the word? Well it is crude and can be considered a bad word even to date. The more modern version of this word is very explicit. So I will try to lay it out with out being too nasty. It starts with a C next is U then two N's and you can guess the last letter. I have just found that authors that feel a need to use this word are just not to my taste. I think it is a waste of a word.

Booking Through Thursday: One Question

Q: If you could ask your favorite author (alive or dead) one question … who would you ask, and what would the question be?

A: Jean Plaidy hands down. I did not even have to think twice about that one. I would love to hear in her own words what was her inspiration for writing so many prolific historical fiction novels. A one of a kind author of the millennium. She has written over 200 novels just under her pen name Jean Plaidy but she has many more novels under numerous pen names, Victoria Holt is one of them too. But there are others. My life goal is to own every book she has ever published.

If I was given a chance I would also have to slip in: Where can I get my hands on a copy of Rochester The Mad Earl under your pen name Kathleen Kellow?

"This is the true story of John Wilmott, Earl of Rochester, a poet and libertine who lived at the time of King Charles II."

The Jean Plaidy Reading group leader Arleigh inspired me to join this wild goose chase.

Booking Through Thursday: Weeding

"We’re moving in a couple weeks (the first time since I was 9 years old), and I’ve been going through my library of 3000+ books, choosing the books that I could bear to part with and NOT have to pack to move. Which made me wonder…

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?"

A: I am moving in a couple of weeks too and I have been weeding though them also. I recently posted about my trades on paperback swap, which I love. I have pretty much narrowed it down to what I am keeping. I do have to admit that I have one whole bookshelf dedicated to historical fiction. I am one of those people, a hoarder, with the life goal of whoever dies with the most books wins! I love every one I own and treat them like my personal jewels. No one is allowed to touch them Period, all mine and I know I am greedy.

My biggest pet peeve is when you lend out a book and never get it back, which is the same difference of getting rid of it. Because of that reason I have lost some very good books and I will not lend them out anymore unless I know I can really trust a person to return it. I lost "Memoirs of a Geisha" that way, never lend your crappy boss at work a book you love. I wish I could say I have 3000+ books. I think I am in the ball park of 500, not including educational books, that is a whole different bookcase. My husband on the other hand owns almost every Star Wars novel ever written including the reference books. He would never part with a single one and I think it is about 400 novels.

Booking Through Thursday: Discuss

"I was wanting to try a certain author and wished I knew someone who had read her works so I could get a recommendation when it occurred to me that having a “YOU ask the question” Booking Through Thursday might be fun. Each participant could ask a question they’ve wanted to discuss with other readers. Perhaps, like me, you’d like a recommendation of a certain author’s best work, or perhaps you LOVE a certain genre or series but no one else you know does and you’d just like to discuss it with someone. Or perhaps you want to try a new genre and would like recommendations from seasoned readers."

Hum I am not sure how to approach this weeks discussion but I decided to feature a book that I have noticed that not too many people have read or even heard of. My all time favorite novel by Robin Maxwell "To The Tower Born". The reason I bring this novel to light is I read this quite some time ago (early last year) and to this day I still find myself thinking about it. It was an intriguing story of Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth York, and the prince's in the tower. I find that any novel I read set with in this time frame I compare to "The Tower Born" and so far nothing has even come close to beating it in my book.

"The disappearance of the young York princes, Edward and Richard, from the Tower of London in 1483 has been debated for more than five centuries. It has stirred the imaginations of numerous writers from Shakespeare to Josephine Tey and posited the question: Was Richard III the boys' murderer, or was he not?

"In a novel rich in mystery, color, and historical lore, Robin Maxwell offers a new, controversial perspective on this tantalizing enigma. The events are witnessed through the eyes of quick-witted Nell Caxton, only daughter of the first English printer, William Caxton, and Nell's dearest friend, "Bessie," daughter of the King of England, sister to the little princes, and founding ancestress of the Tudor dynasty. With great bravery and heart, the two friends navigate this dark and dangerous medieval landscape in which the king's death sets off a battle among the most scheming, ambitious, and murderous men and women of their age, who will stop at nothing to possess the throne of England."

As far as series are concerned I have had my eye on a few. One being Laurien Willig's Carnation Series, and the other The Guenevere novels by Rosalind Miles. I have heard wonderful things about Guenevere but not so much on the carnation series.

Booking Through Thursday: Would you Lie?

Suggested by Monibo: Saw this article (from March) and thought it would make a good BTT confessional question:

Q: Two-thirds of Brits have lied about reading books they haven’t. Have you? Why? What book?

A: No I have not though I have considered it once for one book because I did not want to finish it but it ended really good so I am glad I stuck with my conscience.

Booking Through Thursday: Saddest

Q: What’s the saddest book you’ve read recently?

A: I am going to have to go back to a previous BTT question because this book still stands out to me as the saddest book I have recently read. I listed it before as a "most serious" recent read.

"Katherine of Valois was born a princess, the daughter of King Charles VI of France. But by the time Katherine was old enough to know him, her father had come to be called “Charles the Mad,” given to unpredictable fits of insanity. The young princess lived a secluded life, awaiting her father’s sane moments and suffering through the mad ones, as her mother took up with her uncle and their futures became more and more uncertain. Katherine’s fortunes appeared to be changing when, at nineteen, she was married to King Henry V of England. Within two years, she gave birth to an heir—but her happiness was fleeting. Soon after the birth of her son, she lost her husband to an illness.

With Joan of Arc inciting the French to overthrow English rule, Katherine’s loyalty to her adopted homeland of England became a matter of intense suspicion. Katherine had brought her dowry and borne her heir; what use was she to England? It was decreed that she would live out her remaining years alone, far from the seat of power. But no one, not even Katherine herself, could have anticipated that she would fall in love with and secretly marry one of her guardians, Owen Tudor—or that a generation later, their grandson would become the first king of the great Tudor dynasty."

Booking Through Thursday: Enjoyable

What’s the most enjoyable, most fun, most just-darn-entertaining book you’ve read recently?

A: I chose "Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots" by Carolly Erickson because the story was so far fetched that it was entertaining. Laughable at some points, imagine if Bothwell did not leave her because they had a CHILD! I enjoyed the read but at times found it so far from the truth that I could not accept the story line. I did however enjoy the what if factor of the novel.

Booking Through Thursday: Informative

Q:What’s the most informative book you’ve read recently?


A: I would have to tie this to last weeks question of the biggest read because this is the biggest and most informative book I have read in a long time. The best part is that it is funny also. Royal Affairs by Leslie Carroll is my top pick for most informative.

Booking Through Thursday: Biggest

Q: What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently? (Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)

A: I would have to say the book I am reading now is the biggest for one reason, that it is a nonfiction, and it is through the whole span of the British monarchs. It is "Royal Affairs", a lusty romp through the extramarital adventures that rocked the British Monarchy by sweetheart author Leslie Carroll. The reason it is big is it covers almost anything and everything that I ever had questions about. From Henry II and Rosamund de Clifford to present day Prince of Wales Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. I love this book for the fact that it is fact and that it is broken down by sections of royal houses. It is a great read for an ADD reader like myself. Even though I am not finished it is the biggest read because it covers all the dirty affairs through out history.

"Insatiable kings, lecherous queens, kissing cousins, and wanton consorts—history has never been so much fun.
Royal unions have always been the stuff of scintillating gossip, from the passionate Plantagenets to Henry VIII’s alarming head count of wives and mistresses, to the Sapphic crushes of Mary and Anne Stuart right on up through the scandal-blighted coupling of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Thrown into loveless, arranged marriages for political and economic gain, many royals were driven to indulge their pleasures outside the marital bed, engaging in delicious flirtations, lurid love letters, and rampant sex with voluptuous and willing partners."

"This nearly pathological lust made for some of the most titillating scandals in Great Britain’s history. Hardly harmless, these affairs have disrupted dynastic alliances, endangered lives, and most of all, fed the salacious curiosity of the public for centuries. Royal Affairs will satiate that curiosity by bringing this arousing history alive."

Booking through Thursday: Fluffy

Q: What's the lightest, most "fluff" kind of book you've read recently?
A: It defiantly has to be The White Queen by Philippa Gregory because I know it was a fluffy version of Elizabeth Woodville. I think she probably was a lot meaner than Philippa portrayed her as. I am not saying that I did not like it, it was a really good read . I felt that Philippa had made it seem like Elizabeth's magic was to blame not herself for the nasty things she did. Which was okay with me because it was interesting to think that Elizabeth was a witch. I think she probably was a witch just not the magical type.

Booking through Thursday: Best

Booking through Thursday: What’s the best book you’ve read recently?


A: I would have to say that the best book I have recently read is "The First Princess of Wales" by Karen Harper. I loved this book even if it was a chukster. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Joan of Kent, she is now one of my favorite leading ladies. I think the best for me was her relationship with "The black Prince" she could love him one minute and HATE him the next. It started out as a love hate relationship and turned to only love in the end. A added bonus is it has one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen, completely my style of art.

Booking through Thursday: Worst, Serious, Funny

As usual I am behind so it is time to get caught up. Here are my answers to the last 3 weeks of questions.


August 13Th 2009, Recent Worst
Q: What’s the worst book you’ve read recently?
A: The one book I was really disappointed with was "Abundance" by Sena Jeter Naslund. Which I am still upset about. It had too many details but not enough emotion.

August 6Th 2009, Recent Serious
Q:What’s the most serious book you’ve read recently?(I figure it’s easier than asking your most serious book ever, because, well, it’s recent!)
A:The Queens Secret by Jean Plaidy, utterly heartbreaking all the way across the board, It was a good read.

July 30Th 2009, Recent Funny
Q:What’s the funniest book you’ve read recently?
A: The Devils Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis for the fact that when Catherine De Medici was presented to her new husband in France it was uncomfortable and the Dauphin Farted to ease the tension, or his personal tension. he he I am still reading it, The White Queen over rode it.

Booking through Thursday: Preferences

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–we’ll do more detail at some later date)

• Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Both
  
• Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperback
  
• Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Fiction
  
• Poetry? Or Prose? Poetry
  
• Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Biographies
  
• History? Or Historical Fiction? Both
  
• Series? Or Stand-alones? Both
  
• Classics? Or best-sellers? Both
  
• Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Lurid
  
• Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Both
  
• Long books? Or Short? Short
  
• Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Both if lucky
  
• Borrowed? Or Owned? Borrowed
  
• New? Or Used? Both it depends on how bad I want it
  

Booking through Thursday: Unread and TBR Catch Up

Well I am quite a bit behind, I thought it time about time I got caught up. It is two in one, and it is defiantly late. I know duh! Right, I will get it together eventually.

TBR
July 16Th, 2009
Follow-up to last week’s question:
Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

Organization is the key, everything of mine is separated. One book case of Educational, math, computers, languages, and business. Second bookcase, art, painting books, and art supplies. Third and fourth bookcases are fiction, historical Reference, Egyptology, Archeology, and Sci Fi. My husband has literally almost has every book in paper back of the Star Wars series and Robert Jordan's books. So many that he has a whole gigantic box of books in the garage because we do not have enough room. Which reminds me I still need another book case.

UNREAD
July 9Th, 2009
“So here today I present to you an Unread Books Challenge. Give me the list or take a picture of all the books you have stacked on your bedside table, hidden under the bed or standing in your shelf – the books you have not read, but keep meaning to. The books that begin to weigh on your mind. The books that make you cover your ears in conversation and say, ‘No! Don’t give me another book to read! I can’t finish the ones I have!’ “

I have a system of on my desk is my book I am reading "The First Princess of Wales" by Karen Harper. Then I have a bookshelf behind me and it has three books on it "Flint" by Margaret Redfern, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, and "The lady and the Unicorn" by Tracy Chevalier. All in my computer room are next. Then onto the bookshelf's in the living room of the house: all of my books have been read except for one top half shelf of unread books which "have to be read next" for awhile now. I even have them in order of which one is next. But I never quite make it to the half shelf with at least 10 books to read.

Booking through Thursday: Celebrity Memoir

"Do you read celebrity memoirs? Which ones have you read or do you want to read? Which nonexistent celebrity memoirs would you like to see?"

No I do not read celebrity memoirs because every time I see one I think of a celebrity paying a writer to write the story of their lives. Or I picture bits written by the celeb and paying someone else to piece it together as a whole. I just do not find them appealing so I have never read one, sorry to all the lovers of celebrity memoirs.

Booking Through Thursday: Sorted Book Project

"Browsing through my blog, I found a link to this post about the “Sorted Book Project.” Go read it. I’ll wait. The idea is to take a few books and physically sort them in such a way that the titles make some kind of sense … something that I’ve never quite gotten around to doing and photographing, but which fascinates me.

What title/combinations can you come up with? (Bonus points if you actually assemble the books and photograph them, like in the original post.)"

I have always had an OCD love affair with my library, but this one I have never heard of. So here it is: To Hold the Crown In the Shadow of the Sun King, A Secret Alchemy Forbidden Knowledge, The Last Plantagnets In Cold Blood Polishing The Diamond Enlightening The Mind. Whoo, that was a hard one but I only used the titles and it made me realize how truely lacking my library is.

Booking through Thursday: Sci Fi

June 23 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day! What might you do on the 23rd to celebrate? Do you even read fantasy/sci-fi? Why? Why not?

I currently do not read any Sci Fi or Fantasy novels. I did how ever read only fantasy when I was a young adult. My favorite first author was Piers Anthony and later in college was Anne Rice. I have tried to go back and it just is not the same for me anymore I need realism.

Anne Rice helped me evolve my taste in reading in the Vampire Chronicles, I found that I more enjoyed the history aspect of living forever, watching the rise and fall of civilizations, society give way to invention, and even industrialization. To live to see all history and thrive on it was fascinating to me. I enjoyed the fantasy of living forever to wander time. Evolution is part of who we are and even our taste in books evolve. I still to this day own every book written by Anne Rice associated or in the Vampire Chronicles. You never forget your first love right?

Booking through Thursday: Niche

There are certain types of books that I more or less assume all readers read. (Novels, for example.)

But then there are books that only YOU read. Instructional manuals for fly-fishing. How-to books for spinning yarn. How to cook the perfect souffle. Rebuilding car engines in three easy steps. Dog training for dummies. Rewiring your house without electrocuting yourself. Tips on how to build a NASCAR course in your backyard. Stuff like that.

What niche books do YOU read?

My number one niche area of books that have followed me ever since I started my hobby is guides to saltwater aquariums and fish. Since we have two salt water reef tanks, sometimes it is good to have them as a reference. I also enjoy anything to do with plants, gardening, and landscaping.