And the Survey Says (I prefer to hear that in Richard Dawson’s voice)
On the Baker’s Mark site in July, I posted a blog in homage to Shelf Awareness’s wonderful Book Brahmin feature. In honor of the fact that I actually have different answers to these questions at this point, and to the fact that I’m crunched for time with deadlines, I have updated it here. I’m going to see if I can get Henry to answer these sometime in the future as well, so my reading tastes aren’t all you get to hear about.
On your nightstand now
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (because it was recommended at Powell’s on Hawthorne and I couldn’t resist), Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis by Cara Black, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow (both of those because I kept seeing ads on Shelf Awareness for them…and I couldn’t resist), The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (for book club), and Great Maria by Ceclia Holland (because I’m proofreading a new edition and I need the older to compare breaks, italics, etc.).
Favorite book when you were a child
Last time I answered this I mentioned Roald Dahl, E.L. Konigsburg, Nancy Drew, and The Bernstein Bears, and I feel remiss that I forgot the ever-present—in my house at least—Shel Silverstein (my brother’s favorite was A Light on in the Attic while mine was Where the Sidewalk Ends) and, of course, The Babysitter’s Club. I am ridiculously excited that the series is returning.
Your top five authors
At the moment, I’m seriously loving Gail Carriger, Orson Scott Card, Richelle Mead, Suzanne Collins, and P.G. Wodehouse.
Book you’ve faked reading
I didn’t prop it up with a comic secretly stashed inside, nor did I claim to have read it, but after tackling James Joyce’s Ulysses in grad school, I walked around with Finnegan’s Wake long enough for a lot of people to think I read it. As it turned out, I was actually struggling with that first page for months and eventually gave up.
Book you’re an evangelist for
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and The Master and Margarita by Mikal Bulgakov. Vastly different novels that I push on to anyone who comes into my home.
Book you’ve bought for the cover
Lauren Willig’s The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. It’s got this gorgeous 18th century-type painting of a woman in a light pink dress on the front, and then the title with a hot pink “seal” embossed on the cover. I literally did a double-take, picked it up, and went straight up to by it. (For the record, I love this whole series and still buy her books.)
Book that changed your life
The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. I had an amazing English teacher when I was in high school who recommended it to me, and I remember just being blown away at the richness of the characters and the certain amount of pride I felt that my teacher would recommend such a dark, poignant, and complex novel to me.
Favorite line from a book
“Why didn’t I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.” ~Jonathan Safran Foer
Book you most want to read again for the first time
Right now, I wish I could go back and read Hunger Games and Catching Fire again for the first time. Henry just finished Hunger Games and is on to Catching Fire, and I’m so jealous of his first-time reader’s enthusiasm and speculation of what’s going to happen.
What are you currently working on
(Since I work with words, I’ve added my own category as well)
At the moment, I’m finishing up a copyediting job for Sourcebooks Landmark (by the amazing Jill Mansell), beginning a copyediting job for an individual author, proofreading Great Maria, and reading a friend’s second draft for fun and possibly feedback.
You can also follow me on Twitter or my Goodreads page.
~Gretchen
