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Competition Archive |
| Date: |
21.09.04 (114 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: I love reading, I like books, Its all about me
Disadvantages: I can bore for hours, Its all about me
****I didnt use Chuckleweb to sort the capital letters out....Dooyoo is just being......GRRRRR***
Living in London and spending a lot of time travelling on public transport gives me the pleasure of being able to switch myself off from the world and fulfil one of my favourite past times.... reading.
I spend hours of my time reading, on the bus, on the tube, in the bath and in bed. Anywhere I can catch a few minutes to read my latest book you can guarantee I will be doing. Ive always loved reading, from being a very small child and reading 'The Famous Five' series and throughout my school years into adult life; books have always been a part of my life.
So now, im going to attempt to do this challenge set by Malu on Books...
Question:
What is your favourite genre?
Answer:
Im one of those people who does not have a favourite genre, sad but true. I went to University and read English and History meaning I spent a lot of time reading a whole range of different genres. I have genres that I do not particularly like reading and tend to avoid.
Recently I have found myself reading Chick-lit as it is now labelled and Biographies along the lines of "Hannah's Gift" which is very emotive and about a young girl who has cancer and it is a story of her young and tragic life which had me crying my eyes out because it was so touching and so sad.
However, when it comes to choosing a book to read, sometimes I do judge a book by its cover and I am not ashamed to admit it. If it looks like it will bore the pants off me, then the chances are I will not buy it. They say in Politics that you have 30 seconds to grab sometimes attention and it is within those 30 seconds either someone will read what you have written or they will simply place it in the bin. I believe this is the same for books. So, for all budding authors out there, make the cover interesting or your destined for a long shelf life.
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Q:
Do you read the classics, i.e., the great authors of the 18th and 19th century?
A:
Yes I do read the classics, again being an 'English stoodent' all those many years ago, well four of them to be precise, I had a reading list longer than my arm and I spent many an hour in high street book stores buying the £1 classics. Everything from The Bronte sisters to Charles Dickens I have read.
Whether or not I enjoyed them is another story!
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Q:
Are you interested in thrillers?
A:
In short NO..... I would much rather just watch the accompanying film if I am total honest; well if it has one that is. If the film is good then I don't tend to want to read the book anyhow, I have never understood how people can read a book and then want to watch a film. I hated the film Bridget Jones Diary but I loved both of the books.
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Q:
What about horror stories?
A:
I do enjoy a good horror story yes. I have tried in vain to enjoy books written by Stephen King but he just does not do it for me. The film 'IT' was fantastic but I just cannot stand to read his books and have totally given up on them.
I have enjoyed books by James Herbert but it has been a long time since I have read a 'decent' horror books or read a review about one, which has made me, want to go and buy it. I much prefer horror movies with lots of blood and guts being spilled everywhere :o)
So if anyone knows of any decent horror books which will have me hooked then please let me know :o)
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Q:
Do you read science fiction?
A:
Well about as Sci Fi as I have every got is A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy which I loved. I took it on holiday with me to Ibiza and my then bloke and I spent a lot of time passing the book between ourselves because it was brilliant and he got bored of me constantly telling him what I was reading.
However, science fiction is not a genre I would automatically opt for reading, but again if something grabs my attention from a review I have read then I will go and buy the book.
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Q:
How many Harry Potter books have you read?
A:
All of them and ive reread them because I am that sad. When I was given the first Harry Potter Book by my best friend I was rather insulted that she had bought me kids book for Christmas, well that is until I read the note "Don't scowl it isn't what you expect" and it wasn't, from there on in I was well and truly hooked. I have now read them all and am waiting impatiently for JK Rowling to get a move on with the next one because I want to read it.
Im sorry people but I absolutely love Harry Potter books and I have got all the films on DVD and I have watched them many times over :o).
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Q:
Have you ever read and enjoyed biographies or autobiographies?
A:
I love reading about people's lives and I do spend a lot of my time reading biographies and autobiographies I have to admit.
I was really surprised by Victoria Beckham's 'Learning to Fly' that I found truly fascinating. Not only is she married to one of the most stunning men on earth, but also at the end of the day she is a wife and a mother of two children who tries to make life as normal as possible for them and to me that really came across in her book. Okay, so she probably got someone else to write it for her because many of the words were more than one syllable.
Ive also read Frank Skinners book, Billy Connelly, David Beckham and a whole host of 'famous people' but I also enjoy reading books about politicians and their lives, working in that field I am fascinated by their lives. I really enjoyed reading Alan Clarks diaries and as a huge Jeffrey Archer fan, I can recommend his diaries from being in Jail, which in my own opinion was fascinating.
Then we come onto books like the Dave Pelzer trilogy and the books about real people and how they have all suffered in life and it is these books that im currently drawn too.
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Q:
Do you remember any of the books you read and loved as a child?
A:
I still have many of the books from when I was younger at my parents' house in boxes in the attic. I used to love reading the Chronicles of Narnia, I spent hours rereading those along with Enid Blyton's 'The Famous Five'.
I also used to love books by Judy Blume, actually, I still do enjoy reading them and I always remember 'Forever' being banned from my school library because it contained 'sexual references' and if you wanted to read it, you had to have parental permission.
Then there was the books by Roald Dahl and 'The Twits' still remains one of my all time favourite books, simply because Mr Twit reminded me so much of my form tutor Mr Johnson who used to pick his nose and then wipe it in his beard and Mr Twit always had food stuff and whatever else in his beard.
As I got into my teens, my choice and taste in books shifted to the 'Point Horror' and 'Point Romance' series and I used to have every single book, which came out. Every time a new one came out from either series my Nan would buy a copy for me of one and my cousin Julie the new one of the series I didn't have and then I would spend hours reading it and then my cousin Julie and I would swap over.
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Q:
Have you reread these books as a grown-up?
A:
Yes when I went home for Christmas, I went into my room, I re-read a Point Horror book whilst laying in bed one morning, and it was rather scary I have to admit. It was called The Girlfriend by R L Stine. The basic plot of the story is Scott has this girlfriend called Lora who is a bit of a bunny boiler and wont let him move on with his life and she goes to the extent of threatening his life to make him stay with her. I can't remember reading this book the first time round, however it was rather scary and was full of lots of twists and turns plot wise and I really enjoyed rereading it.
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Q:
Is there a book of which you can say it has influenced you?
A:
No, I can't say there is in all honesty. The one book I have read which affected me the most was 'Hannah's Gift' by Maria Housden and that is simply because it was sad to read about a little girl who has cancer at such a young age and the way she dealt with it was quite simply amazing. Once I started reading the book I couldn't put it down, even when I was really upset, I just had to keep on reading to the end.
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Q:
Which are your favourite authors?
A:
Susan Lewis is my all time favourite author, I came across one of her books free with a magazine many moons ago and since then I have bought every book she has written and have thoroughly enjoyed them. I also like Sarah Harvey, Martina Cole, Sheila O'Flanagan and Lesley Pearce, all of whom write 'chick-lit' themed novels.
I tend to choose female authors over male ones when it comes to reading fiction, but when im reading biographies and autobiographies the majority of them are written by men.
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Q:
Which book would you take with you on a desert island?
A:
Depending on how long im going to be there then I would probably take The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy because I have not read them for ages and to be honest the films did not do them justice, so it is high time I re-read those. Otherwise, it would have to be the last Harry Potter book 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' and by that time, hopefully J.K Rowling will have pulled her finger out and finished the latest one, which I am impatiently waiting for.
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Q:
What is your attitude towards translations?
A:
Well I have never read anything in a foreign language other than my French and Spanish textbooks when I was at school and on recent holidays to Spain and Greece the menu's in the restaurants :o) So I probably would be able to read translations and I probably wouldn't ever want to read them anyway, but if it floats your boat then whatever.
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Q:
Do you buy your books/ get them from the library/borrow them from friends/steal them?
A:
Ah, im caught out here. I am a total obsessive when it comes to books; I just have to buy them new. I cannot bare the thought that someone else has read MY book before me. So whenever im in Tesco or a High Street bookshop and there is something that I fancy reading I simply buy it without a second thought.
Now I suppose I should really be using a library in this day and age when they struggle against local councils to stay open due to the competition they face from supermarkets, the internet and high street bookstores, but they simply aren't convenient for me and that is the only reason, well other than the fact I hate other people reading a book before me, I don't use them. The one at the bottom of my road is shut one day a week and only open half days on Saturdays and I don't consider getting out of bed before lunchtime an option.
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Q:
When you buy books, do you prefer hardcover editions or pocket books?
A:
I prefer paperbacks. They are easier to carry around and read when im travelling on a day-to-day basis, they fit in my bag and I can sit in the bath quite easily and read until the water goes cold. With a hardback, they weigh a tonne and are difficult to carry around and manoeuvre yourself around with them.
However, if they are on offer in a shop and a paperback is not available I will purchase it for that sole purpose.
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Q:
Have you ever tried Audio Books?
A:
Yes, I have tried an Audio Book by Jeffrey Archer on my way upto Party Conference with a work colleague and I was bored to tears. Id rather pick up a book and read it myself and read until I have had enough or until ive run out of time and have to get on with other things.
Audio books remind me too much of story time at school when I was made to sit on the uncomfortable story time mat and listen to some boring teacher who really didn't want to read the story anyway. Therefore, Sorry Audio Books are out for me.
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Q:
Last, book you bought/read?
A: Adele Parks "Still thinking of you" was the last book I bought and read and it was totally absorbing and it took me just over 3 days to read it from start to finish.
Description on the back of the book reads:
"Tash and Rich are newly engaged and wild about each other. They can't wait to celebrate their wedding with their closest friends, all of whom have known each other since university, where they enjoyed a hedonistic whirl of parties, popularity, sex and success.
But is fun really as easy-come-easy-go in your thirties as it was in your twenties? How do relationships change once you leave college and have to cope with real life? And what if the love of that life were to reappear now?
As old, long buried passions are reawakened, the group realise that a lot can change in twelve years. And a lot can happen in seven days..."
After reading that I had to buy the book and find out what happened. Im now reading "Olivia Joules and the overactive imagination" by Helen Fielding.
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And finally a word from our sponsor:
"This challenge was originally set by MALU, please join in, read other people's entries and pass the challenge on to another bookworm!
Thanks for reading and rating this opinion. "
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MrsXopher - 10.10.04 What a pleasant review all about you! I find it interesting that whilst you like osme of Kings films, you cant stand to read his books, and yet I am the opposite. I do LIKE the movies of his books, but I find them a bit more frightening than is to my taste. I dont like to be frightened that much, but I LOVE to read his books. The only exception to this movie vs book thing, is Shawshank Redemption! THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL movie, and I can not help but to cry at the ending no matter HOW many times I watch it, and I dont usually watch ANY movie more than once. In fact, the only two I have watched more than once, both starred Morgan Freeman (an exceptional actor and man in my view). Shawshank Redemption was one such movie, as mentioned, and Driving Miss Daisy was the other. I have watched both of these movies about 8 times...I LOVE THEM BOTH and would watch EITHER again! Lovely review about yourself, anyway, as I seem to have gotten side tracked! Really nice thought put into that and revealled to us.
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