Discovered that I had done this meme a year ago
- What did you last read?
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke. - What are you reading now?
Berlin, City of Stones, by Jason Lutes; Crime and Punishment, by Dostoyevsky; Radiant Seas, by Catherine Asaro; England Swings SF, ed. Judith Merril. - What do you plan to read next?
My answer this time last year was The English by Jeremy Paxman, and I still haven’t read it. As noted in earlier entries, on my immediate list are Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge. And I suppose The English by Jeremy Paxman! - What would you like to read, but haven’t? See previous entries! Last year I answered “Crime and PunishmentMaus.” Well, this year I’ve read Maus and am halfway through Crime and Punishment.
- What (that you read in 2004) would you recommend for others to read?
Overall best book is almost the first one I read this year, Claire Tomalin’s Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self, a brilliant insight into the 17th century. Best sf book (and perhaps the most accessible for non-sf readers) was The Locus Awards: Thirty Years of the Best in Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. Charles N. Brown and Jonathan Strahan. Best other book was Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry. - What book last made you laugh? The Uncyclopedia, by Gideon Haigh.
- What book last made you weep?
Making Sense of the Troubles, by David McKittrick and David McVea, certainly brought tears to the eye.- What book last made you angry?
Certainly The 9/11 Commission report – not just that one feels for those like the FBI agent who “said he was ‘trying to keep someone from taking a plane and crashing into the World Trade Center.’ The headquarters agent replied that this was not going to happen” – but also that despite doing all that fantastic research and narrative writing they then come up with completely the wrong recommendations.- What book did you try to read, perhaps several times, and never managed to finish?
Easy answer: The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson. - What book last made you weep?
Aubrey/Maturin? And if you haven’t read them, start at once.