Booking Through Thursday: Best or Favorite?

I haven't played with BTT for a while, but this week's question caught my interest:

"Are 'best' and 'favorite' the same thing? If someone asked you 'What’s the best book you ever read?' would the answer be the same as for 'What’s your favorite?' "

And I guess I found it interesting mainly because I can't imagine being able to come up with a single "favorite" or a single "best" book.  If you asked me to name a favorite, we'd be here for hours.

Also, what's meant by best?  Best plot?  Best writing?  Most valuable lessons taught?  I can certainly recognize that many of my favorite books are not the most well-written books or the most morally uplifting -- in fact, many of them are really kinda trashy.  But I still love 'em.

While the "best book I ever read" would, I suppose, necessarily have to be a favorite, my favorite books are many and varied, and they do seem to change over time.  OK, that's clear as mud, right?  I guess my answer would be that to me, best and favorite are pretty much the same thing where books are concerned, but impossible to name. 

Teaser Tuesdays: The Small Hand

This week my teaser lines come from The Small Hand, a novella by Susan Hill.  It's been published in the same volume with another of her short works, Dolly. She writes such lovely, spooky tales and I always enjoy them.  But this snippet isn't scary -- just the narrator ruminating on his book buying habits.  Something I could really identify with.

My resolution every New Year is to halve the number of books I have and every year I fail to keep it.  For every dozen I sell or give away, I buy twenty more. (Chapter 2/Loc.183)

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Monday Reading Update

"Nasturtiums" by Emanuel Phillips Fox (1912)

I had great reading plans for last week, but you know what they say about the best-laid plans.  Didn't manage to finish any books.  Didn't start any new ones.  But now that fall is actually here, I've realized I better get a move on if I'm going to finish up any of the reading challenges I signed up for this year.  Especially RIP/VIII -- this is such a perfect time of year for reading mysteries, thrillers, ghost stories and dark fantasy.  So here's what I'm thinking of for this week (well, one of them anyway):

The Asylum, by John Harwood.  I'm actually already reading this one, but haven't gotten very far.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, by Alan Bradley.  I enjoyed the first Flavia de Luce novel, but haven't read any of the others in the series.

This House is Haunted, by John Boyne. I love the classic Victorian ghost story, and this is supposed to be in that style.

The Small Hand and Dolly, by Susan Hill.  Since I'm a doll collector, I generally try to stay away from stories about spooky dolls.  But I always enjoy Susan Hill, so....

I like my list. Now I just need to settle on one book (which would you choose?) and find some time to do a little actual reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you want to let the world know what books you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

Teaser Tuesdays: Time Will Tell

This week my teaser lines come from Time Will Tell, by Donald Greig.  Just started this one yesterday.  Don't know exactly how things will develop, but in this passage we find the main character Andrew Eiger remembering the birth of his son John, and holding the baby for the first time:

He felt an emotion he'd never experienced before and for which he had no name: a thick bubble of anxious love that burst inside him.  And then he'd dropped the baby. (p.9)

Doesn't really sound like father and son are off to a great start, does it?

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Monday Reading Update

"Reading on the Terrace" by Paul Gustave Fischer
(Danish, 1860-1934)

I haven't been posting Monday updates for the last few weeks.  Actually, I haven't been doing any blog posts at all for a while now, mainly because I haven't been getting much reading done.  This summer has been a really bad one for allergies around here (at least it's been a bitch for MY allergies), and I've been filling myself full of antihistamines and decongestants, which of course means LOTS of napping, and not much reading or anything else.  Never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I really wish it would RAIN and wash some of this pollen or mold or whatever it is OUTTA HERE!

So, anyway.  That's my excuse for not being around lately.  But last week, I did manage to finish a couple of books:

The Book of Secrets, by Elizabeth Joy Arnold.  Took me a while to get through this one, but not because it wasn't a good read.  I actually liked parts of it quite a bit.  Hope to have a review up this week.

Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe.  One of the classic children's books I planned to read this year.  And now I'm wondering why it took me so long to get to this great little book.

And this week I'm reading:

Time Will Tell, by Donald Greig.  An Early Reviewer book from Library Thing, so I need to get it finished asap.

Also reading:

The Asylum, by John Harwood.  A little something for the RIP/VIII reading event/challenge.

And that's it.  Good to be back, at least for the moment.  Happy reading, everyone!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you want to let the world know what books you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.