America's Favorite Books

From Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing -- the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey.

It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut.

"While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book," Harris said in a statement announcing the results.

Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.

But the second choice for 18- to 31-year-olds was J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, while 32- to 43-year-olds named Stephen King's "The Stand" and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons".

Picks for second-favorite book also varied according to region. "Gone With the Wind" was number two in the southern and midwestern United States while easterners chose "The Lord of the Rings" and westerners opted for "The Stand".

Whites and Hispanics picked "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book after the Bible, while African-Americans preferred "Angels and Demons".

"Finally, they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code", "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger rounded out the top 10 favorites.


Personally, I'm rather astounded about Dan Brown books making the list.  Seriously, America?  Seriously?

 I've defended "The Da Vinci Code" in the past inasmuch as I think it's a reasonably effective chase thriller, but your standard old school Robert Ludlum  novel does it just as well or better.  It's not exactly a story that should stick with you for the long haul.  It's a generic thriller of the Grisham ilk.  Nothing more and it's really only when viewed in 'chase thriller' light that it's much good at all.

America's Favorite Books

From Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing -- the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey.

It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut.

"While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book," Harris said in a statement announcing the results.

Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.

But the second choice for 18- to 31-year-olds was J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, while 32- to 43-year-olds named Stephen King's "The Stand" and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons".

Picks for second-favorite book also varied according to region. "Gone With the Wind" was number two in the southern and midwestern United States while easterners chose "The Lord of the Rings" and westerners opted for "The Stand".

Whites and Hispanics picked "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book after the Bible, while African-Americans preferred "Angels and Demons".

"Finally, they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code", "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger rounded out the top 10 favorites.


Personally, I'm rather astounded about Dan Brown books making the list.  Seriously, America?  Seriously?

 I've defended "The Da Vinci Code" in the past inasmuch as I think it's a reasonably effective chase thriller, but your standard old school Robert Ludlum  novel does it just as well or better.  It's not exactly a story that should stick with you for the long haul.  It's a generic thriller of the Grisham ilk.  Nothing more and it's really only when viewed in 'chase thriller' light that it's much good at all.

America's Favorite Books

From Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing -- the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey.

It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut.

"While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book," Harris said in a statement announcing the results.

Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.

But the second choice for 18- to 31-year-olds was J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, while 32- to 43-year-olds named Stephen King's "The Stand" and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons".

Picks for second-favorite book also varied according to region. "Gone With the Wind" was number two in the southern and midwestern United States while easterners chose "The Lord of the Rings" and westerners opted for "The Stand".

Whites and Hispanics picked "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book after the Bible, while African-Americans preferred "Angels and Demons".

"Finally, they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code", "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger rounded out the top 10 favorites.


Personally, I'm rather astounded about Dan Brown books making the list.  Seriously, America?  Seriously?

 I've defended "The Da Vinci Code" in the past inasmuch as I think it's a reasonably effective chase thriller, but your standard old school Robert Ludlum  novel does it just as well or better.  It's not exactly a story that should stick with you for the long haul.  It's a generic thriller of the Grisham ilk.  Nothing more and it's really only when viewed in 'chase thriller' light that it's much good at all.

Awesome Women Meme

Awesome Women Meme gakked from sdwolfpup : 

1)    Aeryn Sun, Farscape
2)    Dana Scully, X-Files
3)    Juliet Burke, Lost
4)    Cordelia Chase, BtVS/AtS
5)    Thelma Bates, Hex
6)    Laura Roslin, BSG
7)    Attia, Rome
8)    Anya Jenkins, BtVS
9)    Tyra Collette, Friday Night Lights
10)  Calamity Jane, Deadwood   

Awesome Women Meme

Awesome Women Meme gakked from sdwolfpup : 

1)    Aeryn Sun, Farscape
2)    Dana Scully, X-Files
3)    Juliet Burke, Lost
4)    Cordelia Chase, BtVS/AtS
5)    Thelma Bates, Hex
6)    Laura Roslin, BSG
7)    Attia, Rome
8)    Anya Jenkins, BtVS
9)    Tyra Collette, Friday Night Lights
10)  Calamity Jane, Deadwood   

Awesome Women Meme

Awesome Women Meme gakked from sdwolfpup : 

1)    Aeryn Sun, Farscape
2)    Dana Scully, X-Files
3)    Juliet Burke, Lost
4)    Cordelia Chase, BtVS/AtS
5)    Thelma Bates, Hex
6)    Laura Roslin, BSG
7)    Attia, Rome
8)    Anya Jenkins, BtVS
9)    Tyra Collette, Friday Night Lights
10)  Calamity Jane, Deadwood   

Worried

I'm a bit worried about my cat. She has been acting strangely all evening. When I came home she had thrown up in the living room. When I cleaned it up, I noticed that she was being all 'creepy' and by that I mean she's not her usual rush to greet you self but like a little-old-lady cat looking like she was being careful not to move too fast or in the wrong direction and her tail is down.

I tried to feed her -- TURKEY! -- and she ignored it. Turkey is her second favorite. I tried to offer her some melted ice cream (her favorite) and after a sniff she didn't seem interested. I picked her up and ( TMI Warning )

She alternates between listless, nearly normal, and slightly possessed. She did eventually drink some water from her bowl and she hasn't taken to hiding in the closet (which is what she did when she was really sick last summer). But she's acting oddly enough to have me rather worried.

I've turned on the ceiling fan in the bedroom (which she doesn't appreciate under the best of circumstances) so she's now retreated to laying on a blanket in my study instead of climbing in bed with me as she normally does at bedtime. I'm not sure whether it's due to the fan or to her strange ailment tonight. Hopefully this is just a hairball or something and she'll perk up by morning. Vets are expensive. But if she's behaving this oddly in the morning, I think I'll have to take her. Something is definitely not right.

Update: It's close to midnight but she's made her way back to the kitchen and now seems interested in the turkey and the water and her tail isn't as tucked as before, so maybe she's feeling a bit better. Fingers crossed.

Update II: She seemed to have a pretty good night. She obviously returned to the kitchen during the night and had eaten, and she has visited her water bowl several times. She did climb into bed eventually, and she seemed eager to be fed this morning (and her tail went up). I'm hoping that whatever it was worked its way through her system. I raised the blind in the bedroom window so if we get any sun today she can sun herself and my mother said she'd drive by the house later this morning and check on her to see if she was still acting in her usual manner. She seemed bright eyed this morning and grooming herself in addition to wanting to be fed so she did appear to be feeling better. Hopefully whatever-it-was was temporary. I had changed her food earlier this week (back from a food she didn't like to a food she did. I've had her on an expensive organic food since the whole plastic from China in the pet food thing last year, and swapped her to a different (less expensive) organic last week. Cats can have problems with feed changes, so maybe that contributed to it. Maybe it was constipation or something. I'm going to pick up another bag of her old food and mix it with the new so that she still has some of the old, and I'm going to keep a close eye on her. She at least appeared to be feeling better this morning.

Worried

I'm a bit worried about my cat. She has been acting strangely all evening. When I came home she had thrown up in the living room. When I cleaned it up, I noticed that she was being all 'creepy' and by that I mean she's not her usual rush to greet you self but like a little-old-lady cat looking like she was being careful not to move too fast or in the wrong direction and her tail is down.

I tried to feed her -- TURKEY! -- and she ignored it. Turkey is her second favorite. I tried to offer her some melted ice cream (her favorite) and after a sniff she didn't seem interested. I picked her up and ( TMI Warning )

She alternates between listless, nearly normal, and slightly possessed. She did eventually drink some water from her bowl and she hasn't taken to hiding in the closet (which is what she did when she was really sick last summer). But she's acting oddly enough to have me rather worried.

I've turned on the ceiling fan in the bedroom (which she doesn't appreciate under the best of circumstances) so she's now retreated to laying on a blanket in my study instead of climbing in bed with me as she normally does at bedtime. I'm not sure whether it's due to the fan or to her strange ailment tonight. Hopefully this is just a hairball or something and she'll perk up by morning. Vets are expensive. But if she's behaving this oddly in the morning, I think I'll have to take her. Something is definitely not right.

Update: It's close to midnight but she's made her way back to the kitchen and now seems interested in the turkey and the water and her tail isn't as tucked as before, so maybe she's feeling a bit better. Fingers crossed.

Update II: She seemed to have a pretty good night. She obviously returned to the kitchen during the night and had eaten, and she has visited her water bowl several times. She did climb into bed eventually, and she seemed eager to be fed this morning (and her tail went up). I'm hoping that whatever it was worked its way through her system. I raised the blind in the bedroom window so if we get any sun today she can sun herself and my mother said she'd drive by the house later this morning and check on her to see if she was still acting in her usual manner. She seemed bright eyed this morning and grooming herself in addition to wanting to be fed so she did appear to be feeling better. Hopefully whatever-it-was was temporary. I had changed her food earlier this week (back from a food she didn't like to a food she did. I've had her on an expensive organic food since the whole plastic from China in the pet food thing last year, and swapped her to a different (less expensive) organic last week. Cats can have problems with feed changes, so maybe that contributed to it. Maybe it was constipation or something. I'm going to pick up another bag of her old food and mix it with the new so that she still has some of the old, and I'm going to keep a close eye on her. She at least appeared to be feeling better this morning.

Worried

I'm a bit worried about my cat. She has been acting strangely all evening. When I came home she had thrown up in the living room. When I cleaned it up, I noticed that she was being all 'creepy' and by that I mean she's not her usual rush to greet you self but like a little-old-lady cat looking like she was being careful not to move too fast or in the wrong direction and her tail is down.

I tried to feed her -- TURKEY! -- and she ignored it. Turkey is her second favorite. I tried to offer her some melted ice cream (her favorite) and after a sniff she didn't seem interested. I picked her up and ( TMI Warning )

She alternates between listless, nearly normal, and slightly possessed. She did eventually drink some water from her bowl and she hasn't taken to hiding in the closet (which is what she did when she was really sick last summer). But she's acting oddly enough to have me rather worried.

I've turned on the ceiling fan in the bedroom (which she doesn't appreciate under the best of circumstances) so she's now retreated to laying on a blanket in my study instead of climbing in bed with me as she normally does at bedtime. I'm not sure whether it's due to the fan or to her strange ailment tonight. Hopefully this is just a hairball or something and she'll perk up by morning. Vets are expensive. But if she's behaving this oddly in the morning, I think I'll have to take her. Something is definitely not right.

Update: It's close to midnight but she's made her way back to the kitchen and now seems interested in the turkey and the water and her tail isn't as tucked as before, so maybe she's feeling a bit better. Fingers crossed.

Update II: She seemed to have a pretty good night. She obviously returned to the kitchen during the night and had eaten, and she has visited her water bowl several times. She did climb into bed eventually, and she seemed eager to be fed this morning (and her tail went up). I'm hoping that whatever it was worked its way through her system. I raised the blind in the bedroom window so if we get any sun today she can sun herself and my mother said she'd drive by the house later this morning and check on her to see if she was still acting in her usual manner. She seemed bright eyed this morning and grooming herself in addition to wanting to be fed so she did appear to be feeling better. Hopefully whatever-it-was was temporary. I had changed her food earlier this week (back from a food she didn't like to a food she did. I've had her on an expensive organic food since the whole plastic from China in the pet food thing last year, and swapped her to a different (less expensive) organic last week. Cats can have problems with feed changes, so maybe that contributed to it. Maybe it was constipation or something. I'm going to pick up another bag of her old food and mix it with the new so that she still has some of the old, and I'm going to keep a close eye on her. She at least appeared to be feeling better this morning.