I've been traveling since Thursday and only just got back (a day later than planned) so this'll be a quickie.

1. How did you come across your favorite author(s)? Recommended by a friend? Stumbled across at a bookstore? A book given to you as a gift?
2. Was it love at first sight? Or did the love affair evolve over a long acquaintance?

Booking Through Thursday

1. How did you come across your favorite author(s)? Recommended by a friend? Stumbled across at a bookstore? A book given to you as a gift?
2. Was it love at first sight? Or did the love affair evolve over a long acquaintance?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

What new books are you looking forward to most in 2008? Something new being published this year? Something you got as a gift for the holidays? Anything in particular that you’re planning to read in 2008 that you’re looking forward to? A classic, or maybe a best-seller from 2007 that you’re waiting to appear in paperback?

1. The drive is often the best thing about traveling.
2. I love a good snuggle with my husband when I'm cold.
3. I often use pasta when I am cooking.
4. I'm reading Little Women right now; I love it.

Last week we talked about the books you liked best from 2007. So this week, what with it being a new year, and all, we’re looking forward….

What new books are you looking forward to most in 2008?

Ummm.....all of them. See the picture below. Seriously? Okay....read on.

Something new being published this year?

What fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007?
(Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don’t count.)
Hmmm...I would have to say:

The Blood of Flowers - Anita Amirrezvani
A Thousand Splendid Suns- Khaled Hosseini
Rises the Night - Colleen Gleason

That's a pretty eclectic mix but they were all excellent books.

What non-fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007?

1. My favorite song of 2007 was "The Face of Love" by Sanctus Real.
2. I'm most tempted not to do housework by reading a book.
3. Today I want to stay home and relax.
4. The last thing I took a picture of was my daughter.

Do you have a favourite book, now out of print, that you would like to see become available again?

I have had several favorites that were OOP. Fortunately, so far, I have been able to obtain a reasonably-priced, used copy.Hopefully my luck will continue. :)

Today’s suggestion is from Cereal Box Reader

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I would enjoy reading a meme about people’s abandoned books. The books that you start but don’t finish say as much about you as the ones you actually read, sometimes because of the books themselves or because of the circumstances that prevent you from finishing. So . . . what books have you abandoned and why?

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How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading?

It honestly depends on who is doing the reviewing. If it is a person that I know shares similar tastes with me then I tend to pay more attention to their reviews.

If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it?

Okay, even I can’t read ALL the time, so I’m guessing that you folks might voluntarily shut the covers from time to time as well… What else do you do with your leisure to pass the time? Walk the dog? Knit? Run marathons? Construct grandfather clocks? Collect eggshells?

I never seem to find enough free time but when I do, I try to read. I recently started listening to audiobooks on my iPod so that I am "reading" even when I am doing things.

I enjoy listening to music quite a bit and I love to watch movies. I DVR some TV shows and I enjoy watching those. I love web-surfing and blog-hopping and I would love to eventually get into web design.

I love to play games. Not video games(except Tetris) but board games and card games.

I like to cook(but only when I feel like it), try new restaurants, go for walks, browse malls and bookshops, and go for drives.

Friday Fill-In #49
1. I love the nostalgia surrounding Christmas.
2. Blue is/are my favorite color(s) for the Christmas tree lights.
3. The non-existent candles in the window have non-existent bulbs.
4. A Christmas Story (You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!) is one of my most favorite Christmas movies.
5. My favorite Christmas lyric(s) is/are

1. The last compliment I got was from my husband; he/she said I was doing great on a project I have undertaken.
2. I'm reading The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer.
3. I woke up today and thought T.G.I.F!!!!!!!

Since it's the beginning of November, I think it's a good time to see how I'm progressing with my reading challenges.

• RIP 2 Challenge. 4/4. Done. Hurray!
• The Something About Me Challenge. 4/10. This challenge ends December 31. Epp! I better get on that.
• The TBR Challenge. 8/12 (2/5 Alternates). I don't think I'm going to finish this one. It ends December 31 as well.
  

All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?

• Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
• Turn to page 123.
• What is the first sentence on the page?
• The last sentence on the page?
• Now . . . connect them together….
  (And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

I am currently reading My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Inspired by what Dorothy at Of Books And Bicycles did with her Nov.7th posting, I am going to do a meme-thing involving the letters of my blogname.
Here is the criteria, the rationale, the raison d’etre:

I'm late with the memes this week...sorry!

1. When my blog is broken, I know it will probably drive me nuts fixing it.

2. I saw the most amazing crowd at the mall this morning!

3. National Treasure: Book of Secrets is the new movie I’m most looking forward to seeing.

4. Work: Necessary and fulfilling at times.

You’ve just reached the end of a book . . . what do you do now? Savor and muse over the book? Dive right into the next one? Go take the dog for a walk, the kids to the park, before even thinking about the next book you’re going to read? What?

As with most reading bloggers, I think, we all feel so elated after finishing it. Then a bit sad, if it was a really good book. I close the book and savour the book in my mind. Nowadays, I get into writing a review right away as instant recall works best for me. Next is, looking for another book to read. I read two-three books per week. So I do not keep much gaps between the books I read. I try to keep the genres different between reading. However, as most readers do, I too am reading at least three different books at any given point of time. So the end of a book does not affect me that much. And we must not forget all those reading challenges! So where is the time to give a gap?

And being single with no kids and neither pets helps me read as much as I want at any time!!

Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their work since? Could they ever lure you back?

I can name many authors. I used to read a lot of Ludlums. But I have not done it for a long time now. His latter books seems boring and repetitive. Same is the case with Alistair Maclean. Grisham too I cannot read now. In classics, I cannot read Jane Austen now. I fall asleep although I have committed to read at least two Austens for a challenge!

Instead of authors, I would say I can't read certain genres like run of the mills mysteries bore me. Romances without stories too cannot hold my interest. I cannot read too much of sex scenes with vampires, werewolves, monsters. That puts me off completely.

I thing it depends a lot on mood and time too. What we loved in our younger days might bore us to death now. And vice versa. In a way , one can suppose that our reading changes with age.

Jill at The Magic Lasso tagged me for this meme, so here goes!

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

Moby Dick. Honestly, the whole whale thing just holds no interest for me and several people have told me its just booooooring.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Harry, Ron and Hermione and of course, we would be involved in some rip-roaring adventure.

Well, here I am on the final leg of my holidays.
Still visiting. Still having fun. Still eating.
But come Monday, it is back to the coal mines for me. Tomorrow I will be boarding a plane and flying back home. Back to my meowing Jack, and the snowbanks I left behind in Ottawa.
At the end of each year I like to reflect upon the books I have read over the past 12 months. I reminisce about each one and see which come to the forefront as being especially memorable and worthwhile.

A Meme:

Both Gautami & Marg tagged me for the 123 Meme.

1). Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages)
2). Open the book to page 123
3). Find the fifth sentence
4). Post the next three sentences
5). Tag five people

From Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie:

"No,"said Poirot. "Two people who saw nothing and heard nothing."
"Shall we see the Italian?"

Intriguing.

I just bought this from the used bookstore and found a small card with 'To Nanny I Love You Holly' inside. Aww. Hope Nanny liked it.

Now who do I tag:

John
Raidergirl
Teddy
Charity