I have most of a long weekend still ahead of me. Saturdays are a bit of a drag as I always have errands to run, but now that they are out of the way I have the rest of the weekend ahead of me to enjoy. I can't quite decide whether to choose one book to concentrate on or spend a little time with a few of them (which is what I've been doing). It's hard when I have so many good ones started. I'm only about 150 pages away from finishing Armadale. It's actually so good at this point that it is hard to put it down. I want to know how things turn out, but I'm sort of afraid also... But when I pick up Singled Out, it's such a fascinating read I don't want to put it down as well. The same can be said of several of my books. Needless to say that's a good problem to have. So, while I am contemplating that, I have a meme to share that I've borrowed from Books and Other Stuff.
1. What would you ask an author about his book or characters? Since I actually know a real life author (well, virtually anyway), I was curious when I was reading Kate Sutherland's book of short stories how much she drew on her own experiences? I could relate to so many of them, I was wondering how much was fact or if it was all fiction.
2. What interesting fact did you learn from a novel? In the Maisie Dobbs mystery series, Jacqueline Winspear does a very good job setting the scene. As they are set post-WWI she will write about the war very often. This time around I thought it was interesting what she wrote about the officers. They tended to come from wealthy families and could buy their way into the uppers ranks. I had never really thought about this before, but it was common that a wealthier member of society at that time was essentially better fed. Poor people didn't have as nutritionally balanced diets as their wealthier neighbors. I'm assuming this is true, but she wrote that many officers were killed as they were taller (better targets?) due to eating better. Poorer enlisted men were shorter. I hope I am getting what she wrote correct, but it stuck with me as it sounds as though even though obscene numbers of men were killed that the wealthier segment of society was hit particularly hard. I'll have to look into this and see if I can verify that.
3.If you could tell an author what to write about in the next work, what would you like to see? Okay, the other author I know...Litlove. Some time ago she wrote about when she lived and studied in France. I remember cracking up over her post, and I would love it if she wrote more about her time in France. Of course I'm happy reading anything she writes, but I've always remembered that post!
4. What recurring dreams or nightmares do you have about a book? I must read pretty tame fiction as I don't recall any recent dreams that related to what I was reading. Of course maybe that's why I've put off reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Just how descriptive is it, anyway?
5. Which book do you re-read and why? I don't do a lot of rereading, but I love Chocolat and I am getting ready to read it yet again (in anticipation of finally reading her new novel!). I don't know what it is about the book, but I just get such a kick out of it. And it is the perfect book for me to read in February right before Lent. I also love rereading a couple of novels by Clare Chambers as they are such nice happy comfort reads. Actually I have lots of books that I'd like to reread, but I don't always get around to them.
6. If you had $5000.00, what book related item(s), would you get? Now this is a totally fantasy question. I can't even imagine that much extra money that I could use for something related to my books! I would really love to have enough bookcases for all my books. That probably requires moving or making my book room bigger. But if this is a fantasy question, I would love to have a carpenter build me some nice built-in bookcases.
7. What literary even will you attend or would love to attend in 2008? Another fantasy question as we don't have literary events in Omaha. Sigh. I would love to go to the big one they have in New York City in the summer. I know each summer they put out a big New Yorker issue describing the events and I longingly look through that section. Or the one that is in Washington DC in August would be pretty nice, too! Maybe someday.
8. What literary treasure would you like to be unearthed? I wish they'd find a few more Jane Austen novels. Or maybe another one by Emily Bronte. Wishful thinking!
Feel free to play along and answer the questions, too!