30 Days of Kink - Day 6

Describe your weirdest/most interesting sexual fantasy.

Ummm...no. There are things about that fantasy I can't disclose here. However, the one that takes second place involves creating My own personal Borg collective. I'll let you use your imagination to figure out where that's going.

30 Days of Books - Day 28

A book everyone should read at least once

Everyone should read Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card at least once. It's one of those books that will change your life. But, in order to understand what's going on in this novel, you have to read Ender's Game first. So, read them both, and consider them a single book in two parts.

30 Days of Books - Day 25

Any five books from your “to be read” stack

In no particular order:

• A Shiver of Light - Laurell K. Hamilton
• Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
• The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri
• The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole
• Betrayer - C. J. Cherryh

What's in your "waiting to be read" pile?

30 Days of Books - Day 18

Favorite book turned into a movie

I've been struggling with this post for days. Some of My favorite movies are based on books - The Princess Bride, Mrs. Doubtfire and Stage Beauty to name a few - but I haven't read the books from which they're adapted. I have no idea how true to the book the adaptations are.

Then there are the books I adored...and the movie version was abysmal. Take, for example, Hideaway. Awesome Dean Koontz novel; four out of five stars, if we're giving ratings. But the Jeff Goldblum movie based on it? Epic. Fail.

There doesn't seem to be any in-between here. Either I loved the movie but haven't read the book or I loved the book and hated the movie. I don't want to talk about a book I love that's been turned into a movie unless I enjoyed the adaptation too because I don't want to promote a movie I loathe.

With that in mind, I guess the book-movie combo I enjoyed most is K-PAX by Gene Brewer. This is one of the few times I liked the movie better than the book. But then, the movie adaptation stars Kevin Spacey, who is always awesome in everything.

What's your favorite book-turned-movie?

30 Days of Books - Day 15

Favorite female character

Anita Blake (from Kiriel's copy of The First Death Pt. 1 comic)

I first discovered Laurell K. Hamilton when I had a subscription to a sci-fi and fantasy book club. They had a compendium of the first three Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels. I bought it on the recommendation of an ex-boyfriend who had already read them and I loved it. Anita is the perfect combination of sarcastic wit and kick-ass fighting. Granted, she has a lot of personal issues (who am I kidding, the girl has subscriptions), but I love her anyway.

Who's your favorite female character? Is the book part of a series or a stand-alone novel?

30 Days of Books - Day 10

A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

As a general rule, I don't start reading books that I think I won't like. I experience varying levels of interest or possibly different types of interest, depending on the subject matter. As I've said before, I read some books for research and some for entertainment. The books I read for research are often dry or deal with a subject that I'm not passionate about, but I need to learn about for a specific reason.

However, there have been some books I enjoyed much more than I expected. I make a point of reading classic literature and banned or challenged books. One of My favorite books I read because I wanted to be able to say, "yes, I've read that," rather than because I had a burning desire to read it, was Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

I'm not a huge fan of absurdist fiction but I literally laughed out loud while I was reading Slaughterhouse-Five. I may not be a fan of absurdist literature as a whole, but I'm definitely a fan of Vonnegut.

30 Days of Books - Day 4

Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time

Kiriel's well-loved copy of Exile's Gate by C. J. Cherryh

Today's post was hard to write. Asking Me to choose My favorite book is like asking Me to choose My favorite air molecule. READ ALL THE THINGS!!!

I finally settled on Exile's Gate since this is the book that introduced Me to My favorite author, C. J. Cherryh. I was in high school and attending some sort of summer camp/leadership seminar that was supposed to prepare Me for college or something like that. The conference was one of those utterly useless and entirely forgettable things that middle-class parents ship their kids off to so they can "build character" or some BS, I don't even know.

The point is that I was bored out of My mind and decided to walk down to the corner drug store to find a book. Exile's Gate happened to be sitting on the rack. Although I'd never heard of the author, the cover art by Michael Whelan intrigued me. After reading the blurb on the back, I decided to buy the book.

Best. Decision. Ever.

What's your favorite book?