Complete in Thee: Reading Tag :-)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Reading Tag :-)

Here's a fun tag I came across and thought I'd share. :-)

(1) Top 3 Authors:

1.GEORGE MACDONALD!!!
2. Jane Austen
3.Charles Dickens

(2) Top 3 male characters:

Malcolm (The Fisherman's Lady and The Marquis' Secret by George MacDonald)

Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen)

Arthur Clennam (Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens)

(3) Top 3 female characters:

Fanny Price (Mansfield Park by Jane Austen)
Millie Keith (A Life of Faith series)
Danielle DeBarbarac (Ever After; I know that's a book, not a movie, but still, she's a favorite female character...)

(4) Top 20 fictional books:

Malcolm (George MacDonald)
Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen)
Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)
What's Mine's Mine (George MacDonald)
For One Moment (Christmas Carol Kauffman)
Christy (Catherine Marshall)
North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)
The Curate's Awakening (George MacDonald)
Bleak House (Charles Dickens)
Our Mutual Friend (Charles Dickens)
Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Little Women (Louisa Mae Alcott)
Little House series (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Calico Captive (Elizabeth George Speare)
A Life of Faith: Millie Keith series
Prisoners of the Sea (Florence M. Kingsley)
Four Girls at Chautauqua (Isabella Alden)
Emma (Jane Austen)
Facets of Fantasy (a collection of short novels by Sarah Scheele)

(5) Top 3 books most recently read:

What's Mine's Mine/The Highlander's Last Song (George MacDonald)
Eric Liddell: Pure Gold (David McCasland)
Halogen Crossing (Sarah Scheele)

(6) Worst 3 books ever read:

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK!!! (I couldn't even make it through it!!)
The Scottish Chiefs (Jane Porter) (the overly flowery language and massacres every other chapter were a little too much for me :-) )
The Rivers of Judah series (probably the worst-written series of books I have ever read!!)

(7) Top 5 scenes from any books:

Oh my-- that's not fair! Top FIVE scenes? How am I supposed to decide??

The riot scene in North and South :-D :-D :-D
The final confrontation between Malcolm, Florimel, and Lord Liftore in Malcolm/The Marquis' Secret
When Henri Baillot escapes from the castle in Prisoners of the Sea-- hilarious and exciting at the same time! :-)
Dark Island... This scene has "come back to me" many a time when I've found myself on my own "Dark Island, and it is so beautiful and comforting and encouraging. :) "Courage, dear heart!" <3>
FAVORITEST: In Our Mutual Friend, the scene in which Mr. Boffin fires Rokesmith, and Bella comes to the point of realizing that she loves Rokesmith; that she was a foolish, worldly girl; and that money means nothing in light of the truly important things in life. Reading/watching her come to the decision to leave the Boffins and the wealth she could have there to live a life of poverty with her family, and then with her love, brings tears to my eyes! I love that scene. Oh, and of course, when Rokesmith appears: "My dear girl! My gallant, courageous and noble Bella. You are my love?" "Well I suppose I am if you think me worth taking." The sweetest thing ever!!! Love that scene. Love that story. :-D

(8) The book(s) that made me cry the most:

Definitely Kathleen's Enduring Faith.... WAAAAHHH!!!! I was nearly sobbing towards the end of that. Though I was sobbing near the end of Bleak House too.

(9) The books that made me laugh the most:

Hm....my goodness, I don't know. Possibly the Methuselah Chronicles. I don't read comedy too often.

(10) The books that made me feel good the most at the end:

Well, "feel good" isn't exactly a term I think in when I finished a book. How about the books that leave me feeling inspired? :-)

The Curate's Awakening (George MacDonald)
Mountain Rain (biography of J. O. Fraser)
Green Leaf in Drought (Isobel Kuhn)
Christy (Catherine Marshall)
Eric Liddell: Pure Gold (David McCasland)

(11) Contemporary or Historical?

HISTORICAL, DUH! (Hasn't this quiz been reading the titles I've been putting down? The only contemporary book I listed was in my "dislikes" section!!)

(12) Science fiction, Fantasy or Horror?

fantasy (though I don't read much of it). Definitely not horror (I don't think I've ever read or watched anything of that genre, for which I am grateful), and I don't care much for Sci Fi except the mild kind that doesn't involve robots or aliens taking over the world :-P

(13) Hardback, Trade Paperback, or Mass Market Paperback?

Nice paperback or hardback is fine.

(14) Barnes and Noble or amazon?

I've never ordered from Amazon... and I have a Barnes and Noble gift certificate to use... so I'd have to say Barnes and Noble for right now

(15) Bookmark or Dog ear?

Bookmark, definitely! I like to keep my books looking like new, if possible. :-)

(16) Alphabetize by Author, Alphabetize by title or no organization whatsoever?

By author. Always. And size, if "author" doesn't apply. :-)

(17) Keep, Throw Away, or Sell?

Keep!! Why would I buy a book to throw away or sell? Except I did throw away The Diary of Anne Frank...good riddance...

(18) Little Women or Anne of Green Gables?

Little Women

(19) Short Story or Novel?

Novel

(20) Stop Reading when tired or chapter breaks?

Depends on the book. I like to finish at a chapter break, but if my attention span is particularly limited that particularly day, I might stop in the middle of a chapter.

(21) "It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?

"It was a dark, and stormy night"... makes me think of Snoopy, actually ;-) Anyway, it's more adventurous feeling. Though "once upon a time" is nice too.

(22) buy or borrow?

Buy, if possible

(23) Standalone or series?

I think I prefer stand-alones best, though I do like some series. Trilogies are pretty cool. :-)

(24) Tidy Ending or Cliff Hanger?

Tidy ending, of course. Unless there's a sequel.

I tag......

all my literary friends! :-)

3 comments:

Bethany said...: Oh man, I LOVE this tag!!! I'm gonna have to do it! :D; September 10, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Sarah Scheele said...: Hi Melanie...hard to believe, but I JUST FOUND this post! Yes, I haven't been keeping up with online things as much these days...:P

1: THANK YOU so much for putting my book on a list of ones you liked! That means a lot to me. :)

2: YES--another person who hates The Diary of Anne Frank. I read the censored version long ago as a teen and found her a boring person and unsympathetic most of the time. There is a new version with some additional stuff that was taken out years ago. My sisters just read it and didn't like it at all.; October 21, 2010 at 3:04 PM
Melanie said...: You're welcome. :-) I love "Facets of Fantasy"!!

And yes--The Diary of Anne Frank made me sick. Her attitude towards any authority--actually, anyBODY-- was revolting and some of the stuff she talked about I just wasn't interested in hearing. :-P I can understand that it would be easy to get irritable being shut up in one place with the same people all the time, and that one would need something, even just a journal, to vent to, but that doesn't mean I want to read that person's vents. :-); October 21, 2010 at 4:12 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."