book meme

From book_memes :

Choose ten random books from your shelves and tell us in a post what they say about you.

Alright then. Well, technically I don't have a bookshelf here, in fact, I don't even have all of my books with me. But I'll choose ten of my favorite books from memory, anyway.

Just... well, I really ought to be reading poetry and plays and writing papers and a pitch. But this couldn't wait. ... *guilty*

OK, in no particular order, here we go:

1. The Amber Spyglass (and all of HDM) by Philip Pulman

What this book says about me: Wendy believes in God while at the same time whole-heartedly supporting the eradication of The Authority. I reread the passages where Will and Lyra are leading the ghosts out of the land of the dead and I am in full agreement with the end of the chapter when Lyra tells Pan something along the lines of (and this is not an exact quote), 'We must be all sorts of difficult things, like cheerful and patient, etc.' Also, I am someday getting the phrase 'Tell them stories' tattoo'd somewhere on my body.

2. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray

What this book says about me: I am desperate to understand myself (like Gemma). I give into the temptation to belittle myself and wallow in self-pity waaay too often (like Anne). I believe that I am pretty, and while I do enjoy the power of deliberately luring men in, I also know what it's like to have my looks/femininity used against me (like Pippa). I am desperate for freedom, sometimes to the point of recklessness, and will not tolerate people attempting to control me (like Felicity). Basically, I identify absurdly well at points with the four main characters of this trilogy, and the friendship they find in each other is very familiar to me. I know what it's like to have friends who are friends of convenience one moment, then friends you loathe, and then on top of it all friends whom you love more than absolutely anything.

3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

What this book says about me: I am in love with the craft of story-telling. I am in love with how Gaiman reveals things about himself and other storytellers the same way that one magician I watched on TV when I was little told me how he cut a woman in half without killing her. Tell them stories and always trust the story but not the story-teller. I can't say enough about this book.

4. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel

What this book says about me: For each and every sentient being in the universe, there is a perspective that is different from any other. I whole-heartedly believe this and have a hard time identifying ANYONE as purely evil. Also, I have felt like Emilio before. His utter faith and devotion to God are as familiar to me as his collapse and ensuing despair.

5. Watership Down by Richard Adams

What this book says about me: OK, maybe all Watership Down says about me is that I'm a bad feminist, because as long as bunnies are involved, mysoginism doesn't bother me a wit.

6. Harry Potter

What this book says about me: That I am a fandom girl. I have been since I was eleven. I do not really follow any fandom other than Harry Potter, but it is still my downfall and half of the reason I am online WAAAAY too often. I still write for fandom, too. You can tell because if you pick up my books you will see strange comments and marks that have nothing to do with academic analysis and everything to do with canon consistency and plot ideas. What can I say? The Harry Potter world is far too rich to escape. As multiple HP fans have said before, You never truly leave the Harry Potter fandom, no matter how hard you try.

7. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

What this book says about me: Wendy views irreverence as a form of reverence. She also views it as freaking hilarious.

8. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

What this book says about me: Wendy is a masochist and enjoys having her heart torn to shreds by ink written on reams of bound paper.

9. The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

What this trilogy says about me: Human beings are genetically engineered by nature to be attractive to other human beings. Nature very rarely ACTUALLY fucks up on that, even though culture would like to have us believe otherwise. Thank you, Westerfeld, for understanding.

10. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

What this book says about me: I love non-fiction. I love reading about the brain. I need an author who can explain it in the simplest terms possible so that I don't get lost, and the book must have lots of examples and stories to tell me to reiterate a point. I am not a bio person. I just love brainzzzzzz.