13 June 2009

Weekly Geeks: Read but not Reviewed


The Topic: This week, I'm going back to a classic Dewey topic--#12 to be exact. I chose this for several reasons--one, it's one of my favorite weekly geeks topics--but more importantly I saw it would work well with two very important bloggy events going on this week.

1. In your blog, list any books you’ve read but haven’t reviewed yet. If you’re all caught up on reviews, maybe you could try this with whatever book(s) you hope to finish this week. (Be sure to leave a link to this post either in the comments of this post, or in the Mister Linky below.)

2. Ask your readers to ask you questions about any of the books they want. In your comments, not in their blogs. (Most likely, people who will ask you questions will be people who have read one of the books or know something about it because they want to read it.)

3. Later, take whichever questions you like from your comments and use them in a post about each book. Link to each blogger next to that blogger’s question(s).

4. Visit other Weekly Geeks and ask them some questions!

What are these other bloggy events? One is the
June Mini-Challenge for Dewey's Reading Challenge. Kailana is asking folks to list the books they've completed (but not reviewed) for either the Dewey Reading Challenge or Carl's Once Upon A Time III challenge. Her due date is Saturday, June 20th. All the details are on the post about the challenge. The second is Natasha'sBloggiesta. On June 19th and 20th, Natasha is encouraging bloggers to catch up on their blogs. Included in this is reviewing!

The number of books I have read, but not reviewed, is astronomical. And I'm only exaggerating a bit. We are talking about thousands of books. It is a depressing thought; I wish I would have started journaling/blogging about books earlier. Like when I was four. Alas, I didn't and now here I am with shelves of books and books lost to time which are not now and probably never will be blogged about.

What I thought I would do for this Weekly Geeks is to list the first books I have read, but not reviewed, that come to mind:

1. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. Naked by David Sedaris
4. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
5. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
6. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
7. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
8. Stiff by Mary Roach
9. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
10. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
11. The Medium is the Message by Marshall McLuhan
12. I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
13. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
14. 1984 by George Orwell
15. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Now, I turn the task to anyone reading this blog. Your job is to leave comments, asking me questions about any of the books I posted.

26 comments:

  1. Running with Scissors and White Oleander are both in my TBR pile. If I could only read one, which should it be and why?

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  2. White oleander is on my Mt. TBR as well... I've had recommendations as well as discouragements... It's a bookcrossing copy, so should I read it or pass it along unread?

    Also, Haruki Murakami just published a new book in Japan, called 1Q84 = 1984... A good excuse to review Orwell's 1984 first?

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  3. Btw I really liked Middlesex as well (it was a bookcrossing book ring) and there's a lot to say about that!

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  4. Oh, I could ask many questions but I'll start with "His Dark Materials". Did you enjoy it? If so, why? If not, why?

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  5. Oops, I forgot to check the follow-up box!

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  6. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

    Did you enjoy this one? Who would you recommend this one to? Do you think it would be a good place for sci-fi newbies to start? Have you read any of the sequels? Have you seen the movie? If you have, would you recommend them?

    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

    Did you enjoy this one? Did you think Mr. Rochester made for a good hero, a good romantic lead? Why or why not? What about Jane did you like best (or like least)? Would you recommend this one to others?

    Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

    Did you like this one? Who would you recommend it to? Did you feel it ever went too far? Have you read any of the sequels?

    Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

    Did you enjoy this trilogy? Who was your favorite character? Did you have a least favorite character? Did you skip the poetry by any chance? What is it about this one that you love most? (Or hate most in case you didn't like it) Have you read any other Tolkien Middle-Earth novels? Have you seen the movies? Did you think they did justice to the books?

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  7. When I read Jane Eyre in high school, a creative English teacher had us cast actors and actresses to play the main characters. Who would you cast?

    I need to select books for a Moms club book group. Do you think White Oleander is a good choice? Why or why not? How about Middlesex?

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  8. Love the questions you guys! Keep them coming!

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  9. I have read and enjoyed Middlesex. Did you enjoy Winesburg,Ohio? I tried twice to read it and then gave away my copy many years ago. I thought the writing was insipid and I'd expected something good because it's considered an American classic. Did it get more interesting after 20 pages or so? I didn't get very far in it. Is it worth trying again now that I'm 30 years older? Thank you.

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  10. That's quite a list you have there!

    Ok, so, questions...

    1. His Dark Materials - Who was your favorite character? Would you be tempted to read Lyra's Oxford after reading the trilogy? Oh, and, which was your favorite book of the trilogy?

    2. Harry Potter - Was there any character that you were convinced was 'bad', when in fact they were 'good'? How about vice versa?

    3. 1984 (conditional) - Have you read other 'dystopian' novels? If yes, where does 1984 rank amidst them?

    I really want to read LOTR and Running With Scissors, as well...

    Happy Weekly Geeks.

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  11. I found Wicked good, but a little hard-going. How did you find it?

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  12. I'll go with 1984 - the idea of Big Brother seemed so far removed at the time, now with cameras everywhere and social sites like facebook do you think big brother is watching?

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  13. Okay, here's a few for you.

    Hitchhikers: 1) Do you know where your towel is? 2) Who was your favourite character?

    His Dark Materials: 1)What impressed you the most about the books? 2) The books ending, specifically Lyra and Will's futures, what are your thoughts?

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  14. A lot of these have been turned into film versions. How do they compare?

    Here's my Weekly Geeks post: http://undercoverbooklover.blogspot.com/2009/06/weekly-geeks.html

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  15. What exactly IS the Hitchhikers Book to the Galaxy about? In a few words?

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  16. Sequels aside, have any of these books prompted you to read other books, perhaps books that were mentioned in the book or books that have been written about the book, or do further research on a given topic that you might not otherwise have done?

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  17. I'm really loving the questions you guys. I have them rounded up to this point, but I'm going to wait a bit and see if anyone else stops by before starting the individual book review posts. Feel free to keep asking.

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  18. I'm going to read Jane Eyre soon, since I've been putting it off for years. What prompted you to read it? What did you most enjoy or find surprising about it?

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  19. Have you read other Bronte books? How do you compare Jane Eyre to them?

    Did the ending of 1984 disappoint you? Or did it feel 'right' for the book?

    What was your favourite part of Stiff?

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  20. Wicked: Have you read his other books? Do you think he's gone too far with the whole rewriting of Oz and other tales? What genre would you classify his books?

    Stiff: Were there any chapters you had to skip (for example, I couldn't bear to read the chapter on plane crashes)?

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  21. Oooh. His Dark Materials trilogy -- I loved the books and I was planning to reread them this year.

    Which was your favourite book? And how do you feel about the ending? (I was all torn up about Lyra and Will, though I felt like the intensity of the books tapered off towards the end.)

    If you've seen the movie of The Golden Compass, what did you think
    of it? I was pretty impressed by Lyra. :)


    Also curious to see your thoughts on Wicked -- no questions for that one though. I've had it on my shelf for soooo long and I still don't feel like reading it.

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  22. I Love You, Beth Cooper was really a love letter to teen movies and now it IS a teen movie! Are you going to see it? What are your hopes and fears for the film?

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  23. What was your favourite crazy sci-fi detail from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?

    How do you feel about the proposed ‘new’ Hitchhiker book being written by Eoin Coiffer?

    How did you feel about Jeffrey Eugenides portrayal of a transgender character? Did you think he ever exoticises transgendered bodies or does he keep his feet on the ground?

    I would also like to know which was your favourite book from the Dark Materials trilogy.

    Finally many of these books have been made into films (Wicked is a musical), which of these have you seen and which did you enjoy the most?

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  24. Again, thank you everyone for the questions. I've posted answers for Jane Eyre and the rest will be coming over the next week.

    Feel free to keep asking if you have more questions.

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  25. What did you think of His Dark Materials Trilogy? What book was your favorite and why? Was there any themes or imagery that stood out for you the most? Were you bothered by the anti-religion theme? What do you think dust is?

    What did you think of Stiff? Was this your first book by Mary Roach? Was any parts difficult to read? The part on how bullets get tested and the "corpse" farm almost made me lose my lunch a few times.

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  26. It has taken me a long time but I finally reviewed The End of Mr. Y, the book you asked about in my Weekly Geeks 'Catching up on reviews' post. You can find it at Graasland!

    I feel really dumb but I couldn't answer your question :((

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