30 Days of Book Blogging - Fiction - Day 6
Sep. 6th, 2010 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
venetia_sassyDay 06 - Your favorite writer
Didn't I just mention my stance on 'favourite' anythings? But in this case, I can narrow it down to a few writers who have written multiple books that I enjoy.
Nora Roberts - she amazes me. She's written more than a hundred books and I've read most of them. You might think that several decades of writing 'Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Eventually they live happily ever after,' would have led to burn-out, repetition, crappy writing, but no. Okay, read enough enough of her books (as I have) and you'll notice some similarities and a few plots that have been reworked over the years (and she's improved over the years but she still listens to her editor.) But La Nora still manages to make each book fresh. Fresh and fun and something to read and relax with. I admire her tremendously.
Georgette Heyer - the Regency Romance writer. She pretty much created the genre. Every book had distinct and lively characters (even if she did largely stick to two hero types.) She could write an absurd and hilarious plot and keep the story moving along so well that it's only when you finish the book that you go "... wait a minute." She wrote dozens of books, largely for financial reasons and she wrote them very well. Again, as with La Nora, you do see some of the same plot elements cropping up but Heyer also manged the trick of keeping them fresh.
Between them, Roberts and Heyer kept me sane during a year when my brain fog was so bad I couldn't read anything new or anything complicated. I read their books over and over and over again. And I still enjoy them.
Terry Pratchett - I don't know how he does it but he takes ideas and objects that most people don't think twice about, turns them upside down and inside out and reinvents them for the Discworld. He writes scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny and then drops a ethical conundrum on the reader. His breadth of knowledge is extraordinary.
Barbara Kingsolver - okay, this is a bit odd because I haven't read that many of her books; some I've tried to read but they just didn't grab me. But her writing is beautiful. Mostly, I read books for the story not the writing. I consider good writing to be writing that doesn't distract from the plot. If that makes sense. But Kingsolver's writing makes me slow down and savour. I love The Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer. Not cheerful books but powerful and haunting and beautiful. I also enjoyed her essay collection Small Wonders and local eating memoir Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
Day 01 - Your favorite series of books (with more than 3 in the series)
Day 02 - A book that you wish more people had read
Day 03 - Your favorite recent book
Day 04 - Your favorite book ever
Day 05 - A book you hate
Day 07 - A writer you don't like
Day 08 - Your favorite work in translation
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - An book you’ve read more than twice
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure book
Day 17 - Favorite trilogy or tetralogy
Day 18 - Favorite book cover
Day 19 - Best ensemble of characters in a book
Day 20 - Favorite kiss or love scene
Day 21 - Favorite fictional romantic relationship
Day 22 - Favorite ending/climax
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading
Day 26 - OMG WTF? plot
Day 27 - Favorite non-mainstream writer
Day 28 - First book obsession
Day 29 - Current book obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death
Didn't I just mention my stance on 'favourite' anythings? But in this case, I can narrow it down to a few writers who have written multiple books that I enjoy.
Nora Roberts - she amazes me. She's written more than a hundred books and I've read most of them. You might think that several decades of writing 'Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Eventually they live happily ever after,' would have led to burn-out, repetition, crappy writing, but no. Okay, read enough enough of her books (as I have) and you'll notice some similarities and a few plots that have been reworked over the years (and she's improved over the years but she still listens to her editor.) But La Nora still manages to make each book fresh. Fresh and fun and something to read and relax with. I admire her tremendously.
Georgette Heyer - the Regency Romance writer. She pretty much created the genre. Every book had distinct and lively characters (even if she did largely stick to two hero types.) She could write an absurd and hilarious plot and keep the story moving along so well that it's only when you finish the book that you go "... wait a minute." She wrote dozens of books, largely for financial reasons and she wrote them very well. Again, as with La Nora, you do see some of the same plot elements cropping up but Heyer also manged the trick of keeping them fresh.
Between them, Roberts and Heyer kept me sane during a year when my brain fog was so bad I couldn't read anything new or anything complicated. I read their books over and over and over again. And I still enjoy them.
Terry Pratchett - I don't know how he does it but he takes ideas and objects that most people don't think twice about, turns them upside down and inside out and reinvents them for the Discworld. He writes scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny and then drops a ethical conundrum on the reader. His breadth of knowledge is extraordinary.
Barbara Kingsolver - okay, this is a bit odd because I haven't read that many of her books; some I've tried to read but they just didn't grab me. But her writing is beautiful. Mostly, I read books for the story not the writing. I consider good writing to be writing that doesn't distract from the plot. If that makes sense. But Kingsolver's writing makes me slow down and savour. I love The Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer. Not cheerful books but powerful and haunting and beautiful. I also enjoyed her essay collection Small Wonders and local eating memoir Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
Day 01 - Your favorite series of books (with more than 3 in the series)
Day 02 - A book that you wish more people had read
Day 03 - Your favorite recent book
Day 04 - Your favorite book ever
Day 05 - A book you hate
Day 07 - A writer you don't like
Day 08 - Your favorite work in translation
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - An book you’ve read more than twice
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure book
Day 17 - Favorite trilogy or tetralogy
Day 18 - Favorite book cover
Day 19 - Best ensemble of characters in a book
Day 20 - Favorite kiss or love scene
Day 21 - Favorite fictional romantic relationship
Day 22 - Favorite ending/climax
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading
Day 26 - OMG WTF? plot
Day 27 - Favorite non-mainstream writer
Day 28 - First book obsession
Day 29 - Current book obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death
