Showing posts with label questions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label questions. Show all posts

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Tag! I'm IT!!!

I got a tag from Bettina to answer some questions about books! This is the first time I've been tagged for something, so tell me if I'm doing something wrong... or right.

Tell me about the book that has been on your shelf the longest...
On my dad's shelves, of which we've got four huge full ones (he had to give a bunch away when we moved to Seattle), I have no idea. We have hundreds of really old ones. He just told me that he thinks that he's had some old copies of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit for the longest.

On my shelves, I have a few books of my dad's that are really old, but of mine, I think that they are either The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, the Young Wizard series, or some old Harry Potters. I remember reading Ga'Hoole in 3rd Grade, Young Wzards in 4th Grade, and the Harry Potters are just pretty old, and I'm not sure how long we've had them. Oh, and we've got some old Spiderwick books from when I was in 4th grade too.

Tell me about a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (i.e. a person, a place, a time, etc.)...
Hmm... This is a tough one. I'll go by the examples...

Person: I'm gonna trave back to the Young Wizard series by Diane Duane from the last question. For those who don't know what it is, the first book is called So You Want To Be A Wizard, and it is about a girl who, running into the library to escape from bullies, finds a book called So You Want To Be A Wizard. You know how there are those guide books for little kids, like So You Want To Be A Doctor, or stuff like that? Well, that was the kind of book Nita found. She takes it home, does what it says, and of course, she's learning how to be a wizard. I remember that this book got me into that same habit a long time ago. For maybe a year or two afterwards, whenever I found a guide book about wizardry or stuff like that, I would always get it and try to follow the instructions, hoping that somehow, against all odds, I'd become a wizard. It never worked, of course, but that main character reminds me a lot of myself, and how gullible I am a lot. Of course, it's not gullible if it's true. So, I guess it's only me. ^_^

Place: The Spine, in Eragon. Of course, where I went, it was sort of the opposite. Instead of mountains, it was a ravine. Close to Kathryn's house, if you go down her road, there is a huge ravine, covered in ivy, thorns, and loose dirt. One day, we decided to try to go down there, and it was hard to get there, but once we got there, it was almost like a sanctuary. No people, tons of wildlife, and pure quiet, other than a trickleing stream. That is how I always pictured the Spine. As a place where no one would venture because of the possibility of danger, but upon arival, there isn't much danger at all.

I'll skip time. I can't think of anything for that one.

Tell me about a book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used book store, prize, etc.)...
I have a lot of books, and it's very difficult to remember the story of each one. There are a lot I got from my dad, one of his old ones, like the Belgariad, Ender's Game, and Calvin and Hobbes, there are a lot I got as birthday presents, some I had to get for school, and some I just happened to come into possesion of, but I think the coolest way I got a book was the ARC from J Scott Savage for Farworld: Water Keep. I was going crazy over it! I read it three times in a month, and wouldn't put it down. I was just eexcited to know an author.

Whoa!!! There was one other one I forgot! For my Bar-Mitzvah, my friend Alex tried to send out for a signed copy of Warriors from Erin Hunter. He sent her a letter, and thought she'd just passed it off or didn't get it. In fact, she didn't get it until two months later, when she sent back a signed copy of Eclipse (Warriors, not Twilight), and a letter back. He gave me both, the letter which is on my wall with the rest of my book related posters, and the book, which said, "Happy Bar-Mitzvah, Brian! Erin Hunter". I was freaking out over that one. I'm such a bibliophile, or I guess a better way to say it would be to say book fanatic, or book freak. Or Bookworm.

Tell me about the most recent addition to your shelves...
The most recent edition... I haven't been to a bookstore in a while, cause I've been rereading a lot of books lately. It was either Hunt for the Dark Infinity by James Dashner or The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan. Both were terrific, but DarkIn was more story like. It was terrific, by the way, if I haven't already posted about it. (Wow! I haven't!!!)

Tell me about a book that has been with you to the most places...
Like Bettina, I haven't been many place. I'd have to say that Eragon has been the most places. It's been to camp a few times, it's been to NY, Savannah, Atlanta, Seattle, Florida. Being my favorite book, I carry it around a lot. It's never been out of the country though.

Tell me about a bonus book that doesn't fit any of the above questions...
Hmm... I could do my favorite book, which would be Eragon, I could do the book I'm anticipating most right not, which would be Warriors: Sunset (5 days) or The Last Olympian (May 5, I think), I could do most read book, which could be Eragon, Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, or Lost Years of Merlin, there are a lot of possiblilites. I'll just go with all of that for now.

Oh, and I tag:

Anna, (and if they happen to read this, J Scott Savage and James Dashner) ^_^ Everyone else has already been picked!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Types of Magic

In fantasy books, there are a lot of different types of magic. Some have names, and some are just called magic. In the Harry Potter world, there are a lot of types of magic. There's potion-making, transfiguration, charms, curses, hexes, divination, apparition, and magical creatures/plants. (If I'm missing any, feel free to tell me.) Some other kinds of magic (with names) that I know of are necromancy, scrying, sorcery, summoning, and, of course, alchemy. Then, there are other types of magic without names, just called magic. There are those dealing with elements, the "will and the word", magical items, concentration/imagination, and science. (If I'm missing any, please tell me. I'm sure I am.)

I want to find out how each of them are different, what they do, and how they work. I need as much help as I can get so if you find any information on one, please email me at briantillinger @ cs.com. I'll post on a type of magic whenever I get new information on one, so please help out. (Wikipedia is actually a usable source when it comes to this kind of stuff, because none of this is really fact.)

A few that I'm most interested in learning about are necromancy, which I think is the reanimation of corpses, alchemy, and summoning. However, I want any info on any one of them.

Also, I'll post a list of the types of magic on the sidebar.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Vizu Poll

I have decided to take J Scott Savage's example and use Vizu to make a poll. It may have been a little more complicated, but it turns out much better than the Blogger polls. I did my first Vizu poll on James Dashner's "The 13th Reality." (If your making a Vizu poll, avoid using the " sign. I doesn't turn out well. I had to redo my poll to fix it.) I highly suggest using Vizu polls instead of Blogger polls. They work and look much better.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Lables

I am putting labels on my posts. Now, a questions for my fellow blog readers (and fellow bookworms), what is the point of a label? If you have any clue, post a comment trying to clear this up for me.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

My Shelf

Anna-
I hope you don't mind that I used that one of your ideas too. There are just so many books that I want to read, and this is the perfect place to show them. How did you find that website anyway?
-Brian

I have just installed a shelf on the sidebar of my blog. It shows books that I am either reading or want to read.