The original text regarding this meme directed me to answer one question per day for a month. I felt like doing them all at once, so, there. I expect that everyone in the universe will answer at least one of these questions with the series, Twilight. I certainly will. 
–
1. A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!):
The list of book series I didn’t wish to go on longer is shorter. I love series, because it means that there was so much more in the author’s head after the first book was written that they couldn’t stop, or they planned it that way, but regardless, it’s neat to reconnect with an existing set of characters, a familiar setting, and to see what happens after the last chapter of the previous book.
I really enjoyed reading a long series about this one place with telepathic dragons, a distant world that spanned thousands of years in book-time. I must say, though, that that particular author has been writing said books for over 40 years, and in her waning years, the quality of her work regarding this series (and most others) has slid steadily downhill. Moderation, even in enthusiasm, is a good thing.
2. A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about:
3. The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months:
I’ve been enjoying a lot of fluff written by Louisa May Alcott (authoress of Little Women, among many others) and downloaded to my iPod to be read on long bus rides. I have a thing for the turn-of-the-century era (mental image of Little House on the Prairie rather than Titanic, but both apply), the fashionable costumes of the day, the mannerisms, and this author’s particular sensibilities regarding the value of human compassion and one’s altruistic sacrifices over material wealth and easy, selfish, dishonest ways. It was because of Little Women that I sought her other books; it is because of her other books that I much like this author. Two of my favorites include Eight Cousins and An Old-Fashioned Girl, who was old-fashioned even then but these days includes mannerisms that are unheard of in this present world but which I am drawn to innately.
4. Your favorite book or series ever:
As a child, I particularly enjoyed a couple of obscure favorites that happened to be stocked in the high school’s library, The Pit Dragon Chronicles by Jane Yolen, and a series of non-chronicled books based in the universe of Jean Karl‘s The Turning Place. And Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey was my very first remembered foray into science fiction, and I purchased every Pern book she published well into my adulthood.
5. A book or series you hate:
I’m scouring my mind for the title to this horribly written and long-winded science fiction novel, something with the word “Witch” in the title, relating the tale of a human woman who was sent to this planet to get the low-down on this alien race who had six fingers on each hand. It was at the tale end of this dreary tale that we learn that the sixth digit with its uniquely hooked fingernail was used to rip the amniotic sac of its offspring during its birth. It was a very odd book and I kept hoping it would get better. I was 13 at the time and 600 pages in, I gave up hope it would be good but had to finish it lest I regret the one plot twist that would have made this thing readable. I got to the end, looked at the back cover, and said to myself caustically, “Really?” It was obviously very forgettable. I found it completely by chance in a used bookstore a decade later. I think I threw it away a second decade later without getting past the first chapter.
6. Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time:
For sentimental reasons (mentioned previously), I’ll pick Dragonsinger. I’ve since given all my Pern books away but given the chance, I’d probably read it again, and enjoy it just as immensely.
7. Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise:
Oh gosh, let’s see how many I can list:
- orphan
- precocious orphan
- precocious orphan who just happens to become one of the most wonderful or powerful people in the universe
- a woman eventually figuring out that her beau is a douche
- a guy who grows a pair
- the author doing the equivalent of “rocks fall, everyone dies” to close out a beloved series they don’t wish to revisit by killing off the principle protagonists/antagonists
- “It was a dark and stormy night”
- Mary (and Gary) Sues who happen to be most wonderful or powerful person in the universe
- the overly flawed principle character who still happens to be the most wonderful or powerful person in the universe
- authors who write the same principle person into every series they write (I’m looking at you, Annie Mac)
- opportunistic weather (lightning flashes just at the right moment, the rain pours oppressively just as someone says something dreary, ad nauseum)
- the surprise “I am your father” angle
Eh, that’s enough for now.
8. A book everyone should read at least once:
Apparently Twilight is becoming the most cited example for how not to write, or, how to write badly and still make millions of bucks. It seems you have to read it at least once, to know what everyone is talking about before you can defend your choice to bash/make fun of it. Watching the movie is like Cliff Notes–you don’t get the true horror of it, though the acting and directing does help.
9. Best scene ever:
How about one that made me chortle? Some raunchy adult novel my great-grandmother handed to me behind my mom’s back, set in 1920s Egypt, regarding an American woman who falls in love with this Arabian dude who ships her to his palace under some pretense or another, they get going at it, fall in love, and all the rest of it. At one point, the author is attempting to describe the woman disrobing the man’s garments. She goes into great detail about the intricately embroidered silk shirt, talks languidly about removing his trews, and then says something about slipping his underpants off. Underpants? I had to stop reading and give a “wtf” look to no one in particular. Of all the words to describe a man’s undergarments, the author had to pick underpants?? For some reason this gave me a ridiculous mental image of him wearing Underoos, which of course killed the mood of what I was reading. I reread the novel years later, and I must say that the writing style of Roberta Latow makes Stephenie Meyer look MUCH better.
–
You know what? I’m half-finished with this entry and it’s dreadfully long already. I shall revisit this entry later and finish it. Actually, I’ll copy and paste this original to an all-new entry, and continue with the questions, and post it whole. But here’s what I got for now.
Here’re the rest of the questions, left undone for now:
10. A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving:
11. A book that disappointed you:
12. A book or series of books you’ve watched more than five times:
13. Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!):
14. Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender):
15. Your “comfort” book:
16. Favorite poem or collection of poetry:
17. Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.):
18. Favorite beginning scene in a book:
19. Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!):
20. Favorite kiss:
21. Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships):
22. Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships):
23. Most annoying character ever:
24. Best quote from a novel:
25. Any five books from your “to be read” stack:
26. OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending:
27. If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it):
28. First favorite book or series obsession:
29. Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!):
30. What book are you reading right now?
) bit of fluff is all thanks to [
I like this particular meme, as it invites the participant to identify and articulate something that needs to be done, be it a