This is inspired by the Big Read meme going around that prompts people to select 'classic' books from a list that they have read. With that in mind, I'd like you to list the ten books that have had the most influence on YOU, personally. It doesn't matter whether or not they're classics, adult books or YA. This meme is not asking you to be a literary critic. These are the books that have made an impression on you, that stay in your mind, that have had an impact on your life. The books that taught you how to write, that molded your ideas about life and love. The books that you *always* have a copy of on your bookshelf, and invariably read until the binding is falling apart.

1) The Fire Rose, Mercedes Lackey
Lackey has a way with language that always strikes me, even when she's writing about certain Mary Sues I could name (Vanyel, anyone?). She's splendid with description, and even when her plots fall flat, which this one doesn't, the language carries the day. I also love Beauty and the Beast, and this reinterpretation of the legend has the benefit of being impeccably-researched historical fiction as well.

2) Persuasion, Jane Austen
Guh. Just guh. One of the best love stories ever, and a wonderful, wonderful book. Jane Austen makes some of the most memorable characters I have ever read. A pitch-perfect romance.

3) Proven Guilty, Jim Butcher
Plot! Jim Butcher teaches me about Plot! Proven Guilty has the added benefit of just being fun.

4) American Gods, Neil Gaiman
Likewise plot. Neil Gaiman weaves everything together skillfully and near-seamlessly. I will admit to having problems buying the climax, but I'm just too in love with his concept and execution that I simply can't care.

5) His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
WOW. Amazing language, great plot, a climax that never fails to make me tear up, wonderful characters, just wow. Seamlessly weaves dragons into British history. This is precisely how the Napoleonic wars would have gone had Napoleon in fact had dragons to deploy.

6) Magic and Malice, Patricia C. Wrede
See above. Wow. Also has a wonderful love story that His Majesty's Dragon doesn't. Both take place in the Regency; a coincidence? I THINK NOT. So does Persuasion. I'm terribly fond of the Regency, so having so many of my favorite novels take place there is a bonus.

7) Crown Duel, Sherwood Smith
Some of the best damned worldbuilding since Tolkein. Tolkein and I don't really get along for various wordy-related reasons, but Crown Duel is so wonderfully written and just right with the world.

8) Matilda, Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl is a master storyteller, and Matilda is my favorite story of his. A bright little girl and the people who believe her, the people who don't, and her revenge on the idiots of the world. Clearly Roald Dahl was at some point a bright little kid, because this book resonates with me so much. Hands up, who else tried to move chalk with their eyes after seeing this?

9) A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett
I don't know. I love Sara, I love Becky, I love the coincidences, I love Miss Minchen and Amelia Minchen, I love the whole book. It's just so well done and such a childhood memory. Maybe that's it. Either way, the binding on mine is kind of dead.

10) The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara
Oh, Michael Shaara. A heartbreaking story of Gettysburg. The language is exactly right for the time. The men he's writing about are so right for their time and yes. Amazing story.

Go here and refresh until you get five quotes that resonate with you, then put them up in your journal.

It really doesn't matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want to move on.
Real Live Preacher, RealLivePreacher.com Weblog, July 7, 2003

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

'Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and have her nonsense respected.
Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)

One kernel is felt in a hogshead; one drop of water helps to swell the ocean; a spark of fire help to give light to the world. None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of service. Think of this and act.
Hannah More

We have enough religion to hate each other, but not enough to love each other.
Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745)

ETA: And another! Nicked off eponymous_rose who nicked it off someone else.

I feel like writing meta, but I'm entirely too tired lazy to pick a single subject and coherently analyse it.

SO. Throw a fannish topic at me, and I will ramble about it! Hopefully in an entertaining way.

Comment here, and I shall...

a) Tell you why I friended you.
b) Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a color, a photo, etc
c) Tell you something I like about you.
d) Tell you a memory I have of you.
e) Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
f) Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
g) In return, you must post this in your LJ. (If you want. I won't hold you to it.)

So I was adding some new interests to my LJ profile (because I, uh... have some new interests. Yes.) and found myself feeling defensive every time I typed a female name, thinking, basically, FUCK YOU, SHE'S AWESOME, because I felt as if someone somewhere was going to be criticizing my love for them.

So, anyway, then I made a list of women who make me want to say FUCK YOU, SHE'S AWESOME. They are far from the only women who are awesome, or the only women people need to be told to step off of, but they are the top ten I feel that way about, right now, off the top of my head.

If you want to argue with me about the awesomeness of any of these women, I am afraid I will simply be referring you to the subject line. THAT IS ALL.


1. Detective-Sergeant Karrin Murphy (yes, people have argued with me)
2. Kaylee Frye (why do people underestimate her? She has a wrench!)
3. Special Agent Dana Scully (people've argued with me about her too)
4. Sarah Jane Smith (Torchwood, you are doing it wrong. Seriously. Take a lesson from her)
5. Emma Thompson (\o/)
6. Molly Carpenter (She can end you)
7. Susan Rodriguez (TV SHOW I AM LOOKING AT YOU)
8. Barbara Wright Chesterton (*eyes certain NewWho fans narrowly, including RTD*)
9. One word: ACE. (*eyes RTD again*)
10. Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell (scary woman when she wants to be)

And one more, because I simply couldn't cut her out...

11. Elizabeth I. ROSALIND MILES I AM LOOKING AT YOU. Anyone who treated Elizabeth like you have Robin Dudley treating her would've lost his head in about a nanosecond.

When you see this, post a little weensy excerpt from as many random works-in-progress as you can find lying around. Who knows? Maybe inspiration will burst forth and do something, um, inspiration-y.

Here's...um...a lot of stories. A lot a lot. Guess the fandom. Also, let me know if any of these intrigue. Some of them are perilously close to being abandoned.
( I really need to get some of these finished. )

1. Pick 10 of your favourite moviess.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions. Totally cheating, you dirty cheaters.

( Movies! )

Instructions: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey, no matter how embarrassing the responses might be.

How many songs total: 1918
How many hours or days of music: 4.6 days

Most recently played: I'm Gonna Be, the Proclaimers
Most played: Shallott, Emilie Autumn
Most recently added: Song for a Winter's Night, Jewel and Sarah McLachlan

Sort by song title
First Song: A-E-I-O-U, the Caterpiller's Song from Alice in Wonderland.
Last Song: The 1812, Bond

Sort by time
Shortest Song: The first file is a spoken intro by John Barrowman at 10 seconds, the first actual song is The Intermission, from Spamalot, at 22 seconds.
Longest Song: The Hot Fuzz Suite, David Arnold, at 23:02 (the longest file claims to be Harvest of Sorrow, by Blind Guardian, at 25:25, but this is a lie as it only plays about three minutes)

Sort by album
First album: Abbey Road
Last album: 1776 soundtrack

First song that comes up on Shuffle: Pachabel's Canon in D

Search the following and state how many songs come up:

Death: 8
Life: 46
Love: An embarrassing 83
Hate: 2 (mind you, I'm not sure why the Diva's Lament comes up here)
You: 175
Sex: 0

Comment with the name of one of my fics. I'll give you three songs I think should wind up on the soundtrack to that story. Then post this meme in your journal and send music to the people who comment to you.

Since GreatestJournal went and self-destructed on me, I'm going to copy-paste and save stuff. For Posterity.

( A meme I feel like doing again )

( Three Men and a Baby )

( Storytime with Kat and Boy regarding Greek Mythology! )