That book thingy
Jun. 25th, 2009 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963I can never resist a meme that involves films, music or books...
So without further ado -
I have to confess to feeling somewhat intimidated by some of the lists displayed by some on my flist. My reading taste doesn't tend to be as eclectic as my taste in music!
1. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
2. The Barchester Books - Anthony Trollope
3. The Way We Live Now - Anthony Trollope
4. The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
5. Emma - Jane Austen
6. Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
7. The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
8. Evelina - Fanny Burney
9. L.A Confidential - James Ellroy
10. The Lymond Series - Dorothy Dunnett
11. The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman
12. The Quincunx - Charles Palliser
13. The Forsyte Saga (the first 3 books in the series) - John Galsworthy
14. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
15. Venetia - Georgette Heyer
Looking at that list, it's a very odd bunch. James Ellroy and Anthony Trollope? Okay, so maybe that's more eclectic than I thought, but I guess what I really meant is that my bookshelves are groaning under the weight of Austen, Collins, Dickens, Trollope et al, while I don't generally go for much in the way of 20th Century fiction - or rather, fiction that's set in "modern times".
All those are books I love and which have made an impression on me. And don't laugh at the inclusion of Georgette Heyer! I happily admit to enjoying the odd sloppy romance, but the point is - hers aren't sloppy. They're incredibly well researched and well written, and I'm sure that if Jane Austen had been writing in the 1930s and 40s, that's the sort of thing she'd have turned out. And the one I chose is quite beautiful.
I love good historical fiction - and Dorothy Dunnett is undoubtedly one of the best. Well researched, well written; the plots are amazing and the characterisation is amazing. Unlike Dunnett, who uses "real people" in her novels usually as background characters, Penman's novels put them front and centre, and I've always been a sucker for novels about "kings and queens"!
An ex-colleague gave me a copy of LA Confidential as a Christmas present one year - before the movie came out, I think. I'm not a great fan of crime novels, but the person who gave it me was someone whose taste was generally good, so I gave it a go and couldn't put it down. I've since read quite a few more of Ellroy's books.
Anything else you wanna know? Just ask :-)
So without further ado -
Don’t take too long to think about it.
Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you.
First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
Copy the instructions into your own post.
I have to confess to feeling somewhat intimidated by some of the lists displayed by some on my flist. My reading taste doesn't tend to be as eclectic as my taste in music!
1. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
2. The Barchester Books - Anthony Trollope
3. The Way We Live Now - Anthony Trollope
4. The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
5. Emma - Jane Austen
6. Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
7. The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
8. Evelina - Fanny Burney
9. L.A Confidential - James Ellroy
10. The Lymond Series - Dorothy Dunnett
11. The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman
12. The Quincunx - Charles Palliser
13. The Forsyte Saga (the first 3 books in the series) - John Galsworthy
14. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
15. Venetia - Georgette Heyer
Looking at that list, it's a very odd bunch. James Ellroy and Anthony Trollope? Okay, so maybe that's more eclectic than I thought, but I guess what I really meant is that my bookshelves are groaning under the weight of Austen, Collins, Dickens, Trollope et al, while I don't generally go for much in the way of 20th Century fiction - or rather, fiction that's set in "modern times".
All those are books I love and which have made an impression on me. And don't laugh at the inclusion of Georgette Heyer! I happily admit to enjoying the odd sloppy romance, but the point is - hers aren't sloppy. They're incredibly well researched and well written, and I'm sure that if Jane Austen had been writing in the 1930s and 40s, that's the sort of thing she'd have turned out. And the one I chose is quite beautiful.
I love good historical fiction - and Dorothy Dunnett is undoubtedly one of the best. Well researched, well written; the plots are amazing and the characterisation is amazing. Unlike Dunnett, who uses "real people" in her novels usually as background characters, Penman's novels put them front and centre, and I've always been a sucker for novels about "kings and queens"!
An ex-colleague gave me a copy of LA Confidential as a Christmas present one year - before the movie came out, I think. I'm not a great fan of crime novels, but the person who gave it me was someone whose taste was generally good, so I gave it a go and couldn't put it down. I've since read quite a few more of Ellroy's books.
Anything else you wanna know? Just ask :-)
