Miss T's Mystery House of Yarn & Horrors

And the Answers, Some of Which May Surprise You...

If you were stumped by yesterday’s quiz (and I admit, I would be, too, for the most part, if I was taking it), here are the answers:

1)  Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison -- Perhaps my favorite book of all time.  And I’m in good company.

2)  Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- Love it.  Need to reread it.

3)  Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte -- I’ve read this more times than I can count.  Not as many times as Song of Solomon, but many.

4)  To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee -- Need I say anything?

5)  Erasure, by Percival Everett -- Absolutely brilliant.  His best work.  If you haven’t read it, you should be putting it in your Amazon cart right now.  It’ll surprise you.

6)  Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier -- Love it.  Love it.  Love it.  And yes, this one was the giveaway.  Who doesn’t know that opening line?

7)  Ghost Story, by Peter Straub -- Scary, wonderful, and nicely written.  Can’t read it too many times.

8)  The Cape Ann, by Faith Sullivan -- She’s such a dear, and this book will carry you away to a place you won’t want to leave.  If you haven’t read her, you should.  I have a signed copy.  Neener, neener.

9)  The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead -- Oddly charming and marvelous.  I love authors who dig into arcane subjects like elevators, and bandaids.

10)  A Christmas Memory, by Truman Capote -- One of the best stories ever.  By one of the best writers ever. 

11)  Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King -- Heh.  My hat goes off to Mr. King for tricking several people into thinking this first line came from Cormac McCarthy.  Don’t scoff -- his early work is better than you think it is (particularly his short stories) and this is one of the best spooky tales ever written.

Anybody kicking themselves?

First Lines Meme

I’m not big on memes, for the most part, but this one intrigued me.  Perhaps it’s simply because of my deep love of books; perhaps it’s because I’ve spent so much time lately considering what makes a good first line, a line that grabs you by the short hairs and compels you to read the rest of the book.  Whatever it is, I had to borrow this tougher-than-it-looks quiz from Amy.

The rules:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite books.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books! (I'll take guesses in the comments.)

Choosing ten favorite books?  Well, not so easy.  The trick actually proved to be finding them on my shelves.  I mean, where is my copy of Sula?  I have no idea.  You get a pass on Sula.  Some of my favorites are not here, but I definitely love all of these.  (Hint:  As you can see in the photo, my tastes are all over the place.)  And since number six is pretty much a giveaway, I’ve added one more... 

1)  The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance agent promised to fly from Mercy to the other side of Lake Superior at three o’clock.

2)  It was inevitable:  the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.

3)  There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

4)  When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

5)  My journal is a private affair, but as I cannot know the time of my coming death, and since I am not disposed, however unfortunately, to the serious consideration of self-termination, I am afraid that others will see these pages.

6)  Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.

7)  What was the worst thing you’ve ever done?  I won’t tell you that, but I’ll tell you the worst thing that ever happened to me...the most dreadful thing...

8)  “Next year at this time, I want carpenters working on our house,” Mama said.

9)  It’s a new elevator, freshly pressed to the rails, and it’s not built to fall this fast.

10)  Imagine a morning in late November.  A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago.

11)  Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.

Yeah.

Which creature of the night are you? Your Result: Sorceror   Control is the name of your game. You are a studied tactician and scientist and you seek a kingdom where things make sense, damn the morals, even if you have to create it. You are cold, calm and calculating.
Cthulu Spawn
Demon
Werewolf
Incubus/Succubus
Vampire
Ghost
Which creature of the night are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz