The LibraryThing Tag

This was making the rounds at Librarything over at the Green Dragon, the one group I hang out at on LT. Figured it was worth a shot as I haven’t done a tag in a bit. A shoutout to Karlstar (Jim) and YouKneek for both doing this and getting me motivated.

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1. Name any book you read at any time that was published in the year you turned 18:

The Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip.

2. Name a book you have on your TBR pile that is over 500 pages long:

Out of the 180 books in my TBR list on Calibre, a measly 16 are over 500 pages. And 5 of those are omnibus editions or “Collected Works”, so I feel like I’m really slipping in the Tome department.

I do have the Best Science Fiction of the Year, Vol 5 on my shelf though. Edited by Neil Clarke, its weighing in at a modest 610 pages.

3. What is the last book you read with a mostly blue cover?

Shakespeare’s King John. THAT was a blue cover!

4. What is the last book you didn’t finish (and why didn’t you finish it?)

Blackwing by Ed McDonald is my latest DNF. I didn’t finish it because of some of the subject matter.

6. Name the book that you read either this year or last year that takes place geographically closest to where you live? How close would you estimate it was?

I read Passion & Purity this year and in it Elizabeth Elliot goes to New Hampshire. I don’t remember what town she mentioned though. So, an hour or two at most?

7.What were the topics of the last two nonfiction books you read?

The Bible
Freemasonry

8. Name a recent book you read which could be considered a popular book?

Crap. I had to really think about this. I don’t tend to read “popular” books. The idea that my tastes might align with those of the hoi poloi is highly distasteful to me.

I guess Dark Matter by Blake Crouch was pretty popular? Everyone I knew seemed to enjoy it.

9. What was the last book you gave a rating of 5-stars to? And when did you read it?

I’m not going to count the Yotsuba manga, so I guess it is Dombey & Son by Dickens. Surprise!

10. Name a book you read that led you to specifically to read another book (and what was the other book, and what was the connection)

Come on, I’m supposed to remember stuff like that? Ok, after some Calibre research, I came up with To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. I read that in 2003. 16 YEARS later that led me to try Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog). I might be slow but I’m dogged (hahahaha. Mrs B appreciates the word plays anyway!)

11. Name the author you have most recently become infatuated with.

If you include “being a fanboy of” as part of “infatuated” then it’s Charles Dickens. If you don’t, then I’m not. My official “reviewing stance” is that authors aren’t people. They are names on books that I read. Once they become people is when all that messy stuff occurs. I prefer to avoid that as much as possible.

12. What is the setting of the first novel you read this year?

The Infinity Engine, a Polity novel by Neal Asher was the first book I read in 2020. So I guess the setting was outerspace?

13. What is the last book you read, fiction or nonfiction, that featured a war in some way (and what war was it)?

The Armour of Contempt takes place in the Warhammer 40,000 Universe and it’s byline is “In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.”

14. What was the last book you acquired or borrowed based on an LTer’s review or casual recommendation?

War in Heaven by Charles Williams.

15. What the last book you read that involved the future in some way?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that whoever created this Tag wasn’t a big non-fiction or SFF reader. Too many of these questions are more like “name the latest book you read” in regards to the subject matter that I read. But taking off my Grumpy Pants for a minute (and don’t worry, my Bookstooge Boxers provide complete modesty for the viewing audience), I’d go with Turning Point by Anspach and Cole.

16. Name the last book you read that featured a body of water, river, marsh, or significant rainfall?

Ha! I’m going to be clever with this one.

Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers. They find a BODY in a BATHTUB, ie a BODY of WATER!
Oh my, I am just so clever. Feel free to send me money to keep up that quality of humor on the blog.

17. What is last book you read by an author from the Southern Hemisphere?

Without Warning by John Birmingham. He’s australian, mate, so you don’t get much more Southern Hemisphere than that. Unless Crocodile Dundee ever happens to write a book anyway.

18. What is the last book you read that you thought had a terrible cover?

The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan. I showcased the new bland as poop covers for the series with this book. Why the publishers did that is beyond me. NOBODY is going to want to read a 14 books series where ALL the covers look like that.

19. Who was the most recent dead author you read? And what year did they die?

See my earlier response about authors as people. I don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. The one that sticks in my mind is Robert Jordan, because he died part way through writing the Wheel of Time series in 2007.

20. What was the last children’s book (not YA) you read?

The Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy. Good stuff!

21. What was the name of the detective or crime-solver in the most recent crime novel you read?

Lord Peter Wimsey in Whose Body?

22. What was the shortest book of any kind you’ve read so far this year?

The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell was only 21 pages.

23. Name the last book that you struggled with (and what do you think was behind the struggle?)

Master and Margarita by Bulgakov. Without the historical context of living through that period in that specific place (ie, Moscow), or without having read a bajillion history books, this made zero sense to me and I didn’t enjoy it at all.

24. What is the most recent book you added to your library here on LT?

Full Assault Mode by Dalton Fury.

25. Name a book you read this year that had a visual component (i.e. illustrations, photos, art, comics)

You mean like any of the Manga I read this year? Kare Kano: His & Her Circumstances #2 was the first volume of manga I read in 2020

BONUS QUESTION!
26. What is the title and year of the oldest book in your physical library that you have reviewed on LT?

Mrs B has reminded me that there are 3 ways to look at this question:

• 1) The Oldest Book by when it was written
• 2) The Oldest Book by when I bought it
• 3) The Oldest Book edition that I own

I am going with Door #3. That would be an 1899 edition of the Pickwick Papers by Dickens. I have quite a few other old Dickens’ books as well, but none of them have dates and their binding styles lead me to believe they were published after the 19Teens.

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