musing mondays

Musing Mondays is a bookish meme hosted at MizB’s Should Be Reading. This week’s question is:

What are you most excited about reading, right now? (can be a book you’re currently enjoying, or a book that’s yet to be published, etc.)

This question could not have showed up at a better time. The book I’m most excited about? The upcoming sequel to my first and favourite Stephen King novel, The Shining.

I’m serious. It’s a book titled Dr. Sleep, and King is currently working on it. It is the story of the very same Danny Torrance, only forty years old this time. He works in a hospice, helping patients, until he comes across a tribe of psychic vampires who feed on people’s energies… or something like that. It sounds awesome, right? I did love King’s vampires in Salem’s Lot, and I can’t wait to read what became of little Danny; I did always wonder…

While the release date is far from out, it is confirmed, as of September 26th, that King is working on this book. If you’re as excited as I am, you can listen to this video of him discussing the idea behind the book!

What makes a book a “must-read”?

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted at MizB’s Should Be Reading. This week’s musing is:

What is the one (or maybe two) qualities a book must have for you to pass it along to your best friend as a “must-read”?

Of course, the book depends on the person I am recommending it to. If it were my sister, I’d recommend every book I love; because she’ll also love almost all of them! But that’s not the same with my friends. I tend to read rather genre-specific books these days – mostly fantasy or science fiction. And they tend not to like them. So, for my friends to like the book, the first requirement is that the book does not belong to either of those genres!

Usually, what I tell my friends to be a”must-read ” has a different or new or unique plot. Not like your usual mysteries, crime stories, classics, romances or horror stories. The last book I really forced my best friend to read was Life of Pi by Yann Martel. (Isn’t this cover absolutely beautiful?) And the next book I am going to make her read is The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester.

Musing Mondays

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted at MizB’s Should Be Reading. This week’s musing is… a book meme!

What was the last book you…

1. borrowed from a library? Stories and Short Pieces by Franz Kafka

2. bought? Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Although I just ordered Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and it’s on it’s way!

3. cried over? Make that almost cried, and it would be The Book Thief by Markus Zusak!

4. disliked and couldn’t finish? Actually: Didn’t like much and couldn’t finish because it wasn’t mine and I had to return it – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

5. read and loved? Blaze by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) – it is fun to read something other than horror by Stephen King!

6. got for review/got in the mail? I haven’t been doing any reviewing lately, and since the last time was too long ago, I can’t remember which!

7. gave to someone else? Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, I lent it to a friend!

8. stayed up too late reading? Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare – actually, I didn’t sleep the entire night!

Characters or Plot?

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted at MizB’s Should Be Reading. This week’s musing asks:

Do you prefer character-driven stories or plot-driven stories?

I always get more involved in a book that has good, engaging characters. But I also don’t like books where you can’t make head or tail of what’s going on, or worse, when nothing really happens. Honestly, neither extreme is desirable. But if I had to give a preference, I’d give it to the characters. A bad story line can’t spoil the book as much as bad characters can.

It would be hard for me to name my favourite book plots, but I can easily name favourite book characters! One of my favourite authors (and I have mentioned him too many times in this context) is Stephen King – I know very few authors, who write can characters like him.

When I can relate to the characters, or when they seem real – the plot doesn’t matter so much. Which is also why I have come to enjoy reading short stories this much.