Meme: A lifetime of reading in a month

[djonn]

alg has adapted the 30-day TV watchers' meme that's been bouncing around LiveJournal for those of us who are book-addicted -- and whereas I resisted the temptation to wade into the TV meme (I'm not quite that avid a watcher), the corresponding literary version is just too tempting for me not to play.

First, here's a link to alg's kickoff post, where you can expect to find many other folks' answers (and links to their launchpoint posts) in the comments.

And now, A Lifetime of Reading In A Month.  I have recast/rewritten the day-tags, but we should all still be on the same page....

Day 1 - A series that ended too soon
There have been a good many unfinished series I've liked over the past umpty-mumble years, but the one I really wish had survived for just a bit longer begins with Windmaster's Bane by the late Tom Deitz, involving a group of young people from rural Georgia who set events in motion that blurred boundaries between worlds, first linking modern Georgia with a realm of ancient Celtic faery lords, then adding a world out of Cherokee legend into the mix.  Deitz's hallmarks were impeccably accurate folklore and utterly matter-of-fact characterization, with very little of the angst-for-angst's sake that seems to populate much modern "paranormal" fantasy, and none of the pretentiousness that sometimes masquerades as "magic realism".  While the sequence as published doesn't leave one with a cliffhanger as such, it ends with perhaps two or three books' worth of plot yet to unfold on the way to a strongly implied series climax of worlds-changing proportions.  I wanted to see that climax, and we never did.


Day 1 - A series that ended too soon (and/or a series that should have ended sooner)
Day 2 - A book/series more people should be reading/talking about
Day 3 - The best book I've read in the past year
Day 4 - My all-time favorite literary series
Day 5 - A book/series I just can't stand
Day 6 - My all-time favorite stand-alone book
Day 7 - The plot device that most often derails books I'd otherwise enjoy
Day 8 - A book everyone really ought to read at least once
Day 9 - My all-time favorite single scene from a book
Day 10 - A book I didn't expect to like, but ended up really enjoying
Day 11 - A book that disappointed me
Day 12 - A book/series I've reread more than five times
Day 13 - A favorite childhood book (OR a current favorite YA/kids' book)
Day 14 - My all-time favorite literary character
Day 15 - The book I read when I need a teddy bear and/or a hug
Day 16 - A favorite poem/poetry collection
Day 17 - A favorite short story/collection of stories
Day 18 - A favorite opening scene
Day 19 - A favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 - A favorite literary kiss
Day 21 - A favorite literary romance/romantic/sexual relationship (any gender/role)
Day 22 - A favorite literary non-romantic/non-sexual relationship
Day 23 - The most annoying character I've ever encountered in a book
Day 24 - A favorite quote from a novel
Day 25 - Five books from my "to be read" shelf
Day 26 - "My mind very carefully boggled", aka "what WAS the author thinking?"
Day 27 - "All right, I have to read this": the plot element/idea/gimmick that gets me every time
Day 28 - The first book/series that really hooked me
Day 29 - "Alas, poor Yorick": my favorite death scene
Day 30 - A book I'm reading right now