Reading Meme, Part I

Several of my on-line friends are doing a daily reading meme this month and have encouraged me to join. Me, being me, I'm waiting until the 21st to post any of my answers, and plan to do it in probably three hunks. With any luck, I'll finish with my answers before the end of the year:)

Day 1 - What was your favorite read from last year?
I had a slower than usual year last year, what with the various tragedies in my life and a crazy job, so it should have been easy to pick? Not so much. I've narrowed it down to two: The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and The Guinea Pig Diaries by A. Jacobs. In the end, I'm voting for The Guinea Pig Diaries. Every month, A. J. conducts an experiment--outsourcing his life to India, following George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior, and practicing radical honesty. Like his other books, very funny and entertaining.

Day 2 - Name a book that you have read more than three times.
I am not one who rereads a lot of books, but I think I have read Krakauer's Into the Wild three times, although I only have it documented twice. I've read Midwives by Chris Bohjalian and Next of Kin by Roger Fouts twice and will likely reread them both at some time. And if I decide to read the Discworld series in order, then I will have read The Color of Magic thrice. :)

Day 3 - What is your favorite series?
Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. So fun, so quirky. Fabulous characters. I also enjoy the Midnight Louie mysteries by Carole Nelson Douglas and Lilian Jackson Braun's Cat Who books.

Day 4 - What is your favorite book from your favorite series?
Mort. You just have to love Mort.

Day 5 - A book that makes you happy.
This is a really hard one for me. I enjoy books, I love books, and they give me pleasure, but I don't really think of them as making my happy. I know that some people have books that they come back to whenever they need a pick-me-up. So I'm just going to go with all of the Calvin and Hobbes anthologies. Nothing like naked Calvin butt to make me smile. Of course, given recent events in my life, I don't know if I could read them the same way right now, but they do make me smile.

Day 6 - A book that makes or made you sad.
So, pretty much every 'based on a real story' animal book I've ever read. Dewey, Marley and Me, etc. Face it. We all know how all of these books are eventually going to end, but we read them anyway.

Day 7 - Name a book that you think is underrated.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. It had it's brief moment in the sun, but is a fabulous book.

Day 8 - What, in your opinion is the most overrated book?
Ok, I could start a flame was and say the Twilight series, but I won't. I do think that they are overrated, but they are not the most overrated. I'm going to go with The Celestine Prophecy on this one. Seriously, the man didn't say anything that dozens of other new age folk hadn't said before. I'd also like to give an honorable mention to The Secret.

Day 9 - A book you thought you wouldn't like, but ended up loving
This is another hard one, as I don't usually pick up books that I don't think I'll like. Let's go old-school on this one. In school, I had heard horror stories about Johnny Tremain and how awful it was and how I'd hate it. I didn't. I actually really enjoyed it.

Day 10 - Favorite classic book
Dracula. Anyone surprised by this? Come to think of it, I've read this one at least twice, too. Might be time for a third go:)

More soon. Or soonish. Probably.