30 Days of Books Meme - Day 3

[uberreiniger]

Day 03 - The best book you've read in the last 12 months.

I'd have to say my favorite thus far has been Trader by Charles De Lint. I've read "better" books in terms of literary value in that time, whatever that even means. But Trader is the one that's stuck with me the most. It's about a successful, yet lonely middle aged guitar builder whose body and identity get switched with that of a petty swindler who begins to hijack his life. I think the setting has a lot to do with it. He uses the fictional city of Newford in a lot of his novels and its neighborhoods seem either improbably wonderful or improbably evil for a contemporary North American city. Until you realize that it's actually a fantasy world that merely looks like a contemporary city. The action of Trader, at least the part that takes place in Newford, feels very epic even if it's only taking place in a radius of a few square miles. There are a ton of viewpoint characters for what is a very direct story about two different men, but the various subplots are just as absorbing as the main plot. My favorite character was Zeffy, the struggling folk singer thrown into the whole mess and struggling to figure it out. I think she's meant as the surrogate character for the reader, but she's just so memorable. The single mother coming to terms with her own lesbianism while searching for her runaway teenage daughter was also very compelling. It's a book with a lot going on and it's all beautiful.

Day 1 - A book series you wish had gone on longer, OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already
Day 02 - A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about
Day 03 - The best book you've read in the last 12 months
Day 04 - Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 - A book or series you hate
Day 06 - Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time
Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 - A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - A book or series of books you've read more than five times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 - Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 - Your comfort book
Day 16 - Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 - Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 - Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 - Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 - Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 - Most annoying character ever
Day 24 - Best quote from a novel
Day 25 - Any five books from your "to be read" stack
Day 26 - OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 - If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 - First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 - Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 - What book are you reading right now?

Comments

[persephone-20.livejournal.com]

Trader!!!

Oh my, I can just see that I'm going to be responding to each and every one of your book prompts at this rate! Trader was the first de Lint book I ever read, closely followed by Forests of the Heart so I often get the plot points confused between the two. That's not so bad though considering I love them both so much!

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

It was the second Newford book that I read. (I started with The Onion Girl and read a couple of his old high fantasy works in between) And I think it's definitely my favorite of his overall. Everything about that book felt just right.