Because there's nothing like procrastinating when you're running out of time. . .

1. List the first line(s) of 10 books you really like.
2. And then you all can guess.

Note: The selection of books was limited to what I had on hand here at Kate's. Had I been at home, a different list might well have resulted. I also tried to pick stuff that wasn't too obvious.

1. It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful. Matilda by Roald Dahl, guessed by ashavah. My favorite Dahl. Much better than the movie, promise.

2. Mrs. Wetherby was delighted to recieve a morning call from her only surviving brother, but for the first half hour of his visit she was granted no opportunity to do more than exchange a few commonplaces with him over the heads of her vociferous offspring. Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer, guessed by angua9, who very much disappointed me in thinking it was Regency Buck at first. :P

3. A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and the ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengance and of hate. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, guessed by MA, sannalim, and (kind of) xray2000. Highly enjoyable book, if a bit overwrought in places. ;)

4. The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings, guessed by ashtur and angua9. (I'm not sure if Pawn of Prophecy is my favorite of The Belgariad, but it certainly is the one that started it all. :) )

5. That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me. She meant to bestow a gift. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, guessed by angua9. If you've only seen the movie and have been scared off of reading the book, let me say this: There's a curse in the book. The names are the same. There, the similarity ends. Read it.

6. I was the youngest of three daughters. Our literal-minded mother named us Grace, Hope, and Honour, but few people except perhaps the minister who had baptized all three of us remembered my given name. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley, guessed by hymnia (I completely wore out two paperback copies of this book before I found it in hardcover).

7. The sunshine of a day in early spring, honey pale and honey sweet, was showering over the red brick buildings of Queenslea College and the grounds about them, throwing through the bare, budding maples and elms, delicate, evasive etchings of gold and brown on the paths, and coaxing into life the daffodils that were peering greenly and perkily up under the windows of the co-eds' dressing room. Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery, (finally) guessed by susy_gwen. This is my absolute favorite L.M. Montgomery novel. I don't care if the hero is Gary Stu and the heroine is Mary Sue; I don't care if the plot is melodramatic and predictable; I love it anyway. It's a beautifully written book-- the imagery just grabs you, as this opening sentence shows. I like to think of it as a modern fairy tale.

8. Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there an unwelcome sensations arising from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed. Persuasion by Jane Austen, also guessed by hymnia and angua9. My second-favorite Austen.

9. "And by the way," said Mr. Hankin, arresting Miss Rossiter as she rose to go, "there is a new copy-writer coming in today." Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy L. Sayers, guessed by delamancha and angua9. I'm hoping we'll get to read Sayers in my British Mystery Writers class this fall. :)

10. Miles returned to consciousness with his eyes still closed. His brain seemed to smolder with the confused embers of some fiery dream, formless and fading. Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold, guessed by lydalcunas and angua9. My favorite Bujold, probably because it's the deepest. Always makes me introspective, that one.

ETA: All have been guessed. Good job, people!

Because there's nothing like procrastinating when you're running out of time. . .

1. List the first line(s) of 10 books you really like.
2. And then you all can guess.

Note: The selection of books was limited to what I had on hand here at Kate's. Had I been at home, a different list might well have resulted. I also tried to pick stuff that wasn't too obvious.

1. It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful. Matilda by Roald Dahl, guessed by ashavah. My favorite Dahl. Much better than the movie, promise.

2. Mrs. Wetherby was delighted to recieve a morning call from her only surviving brother, but for the first half hour of his visit she was granted no opportunity to do more than exchange a few commonplaces with him over the heads of her vociferous offspring. Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer, guessed by angua9, who very much disappointed me in thinking it was Regency Buck at first. :P

3. A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and the ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengance and of hate. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, guessed by MA, sannalim, and (kind of) xray2000. Highly enjoyable book, if a bit overwrought in places. ;)

4. The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings, guessed by ashtur and angua9. (I'm not sure if Pawn of Prophecy is my favorite of The Belgariad, but it certainly is the one that started it all. :) )

5. That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me. She meant to bestow a gift. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, guessed by angua9. If you've only seen the movie and have been scared off of reading the book, let me say this: There's a curse in the book. The names are the same. There, the similarity ends. Read it.

6. I was the youngest of three daughters. Our literal-minded mother named us Grace, Hope, and Honour, but few people except perhaps the minister who had baptized all three of us remembered my given name. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley, guessed by hymnia (I completely wore out two paperback copies of this book before I found it in hardcover).

7. The sunshine of a day in early spring, honey pale and honey sweet, was showering over the red brick buildings of Queenslea College and the grounds about them, throwing through the bare, budding maples and elms, delicate, evasive etchings of gold and brown on the paths, and coaxing into life the daffodils that were peering greenly and perkily up under the windows of the co-eds' dressing room. Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery, (finally) guessed by susy_gwen. This is my absolute favorite L.M. Montgomery novel. I don't care if the hero is Gary Stu and the heroine is Mary Sue; I don't care if the plot is melodramatic and predictable; I love it anyway. It's a beautifully written book-- the imagery just grabs you, as this opening sentence shows. I like to think of it as a modern fairy tale.

8. Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there an unwelcome sensations arising from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed. Persuasion by Jane Austen, also guessed by hymnia and angua9. My second-favorite Austen.

9. "And by the way," said Mr. Hankin, arresting Miss Rossiter as she rose to go, "there is a new copy-writer coming in today." Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy L. Sayers, guessed by delamancha and angua9. I'm hoping we'll get to read Sayers in my British Mystery Writers class this fall. :)

10. Miles returned to consciousness with his eyes still closed. His brain seemed to smolder with the confused embers of some fiery dream, formless and fading. Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold, guessed by lydalcunas and angua9. My favorite Bujold, probably because it's the deepest. Always makes me introspective, that one.

ETA: All have been guessed. Good job, people!

Because there's nothing like procrastinating when you're running out of time. . .

1. List the first line(s) of 10 books you really like.
2. And then you all can guess.

Note: The selection of books was limited to what I had on hand here at Kate's. Had I been at home, a different list might well have resulted. I also tried to pick stuff that wasn't too obvious.

1. It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful. Matilda by Roald Dahl, guessed by ashavah. My favorite Dahl. Much better than the movie, promise.

2. Mrs. Wetherby was delighted to recieve a morning call from her only surviving brother, but for the first half hour of his visit she was granted no opportunity to do more than exchange a few commonplaces with him over the heads of her vociferous offspring. Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer, guessed by angua9, who very much disappointed me in thinking it was Regency Buck at first. :P

3. A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and the ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengance and of hate. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, guessed by MA, sannalim, and (kind of) xray2000. Highly enjoyable book, if a bit overwrought in places. ;)

4. The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings, guessed by ashtur and angua9. (I'm not sure if Pawn of Prophecy is my favorite of The Belgariad, but it certainly is the one that started it all. :) )

5. That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me. She meant to bestow a gift. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, guessed by angua9. If you've only seen the movie and have been scared off of reading the book, let me say this: There's a curse in the book. The names are the same. There, the similarity ends. Read it.

6. I was the youngest of three daughters. Our literal-minded mother named us Grace, Hope, and Honour, but few people except perhaps the minister who had baptized all three of us remembered my given name. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley, guessed by hymnia (I completely wore out two paperback copies of this book before I found it in hardcover).

7. The sunshine of a day in early spring, honey pale and honey sweet, was showering over the red brick buildings of Queenslea College and the grounds about them, throwing through the bare, budding maples and elms, delicate, evasive etchings of gold and brown on the paths, and coaxing into life the daffodils that were peering greenly and perkily up under the windows of the co-eds' dressing room. Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery, (finally) guessed by susy_gwen. This is my absolute favorite L.M. Montgomery novel. I don't care if the hero is Gary Stu and the heroine is Mary Sue; I don't care if the plot is melodramatic and predictable; I love it anyway. It's a beautifully written book-- the imagery just grabs you, as this opening sentence shows. I like to think of it as a modern fairy tale.

8. Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there an unwelcome sensations arising from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed. Persuasion by Jane Austen, also guessed by hymnia and angua9. My second-favorite Austen.

9. "And by the way," said Mr. Hankin, arresting Miss Rossiter as she rose to go, "there is a new copy-writer coming in today." Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy L. Sayers, guessed by delamancha and angua9. I'm hoping we'll get to read Sayers in my British Mystery Writers class this fall. :)

10. Miles returned to consciousness with his eyes still closed. His brain seemed to smolder with the confused embers of some fiery dream, formless and fading. Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold, guessed by lydalcunas and angua9. My favorite Bujold, probably because it's the deepest. Always makes me introspective, that one.

ETA: All have been guessed. Good job, people!