A book meme remorselessly stolen from Thomas at My Porch:
1. Favourite childhood book?
Just one? Probably Anne of Green Gables or The Chronicles of Narnia, but the Ramona Quimby books would have given both some heavy competition. Or the Fury books (Fury, Stallion of Broken Wheel Ranch, etc).
2. What are you reading right now?
Drood by Dan Simmons
The Black Robe by Wilkie Collins
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay3. What books do you have on request at the library?
I don't have any requests at the library. I haven't had any requests in years . . . I tend to raid the shelves in a rather random manner.
4. Bad book habit?
I have a bad habit of never leaving a bookstore without buying a book. This means I have to be careful about how often I visit bookstores.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Not a thing.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
Like Thomas at My Porch, I love the look, smell, and feel of books. And if I love a book, I want the book not the e-reader edition. Unlike Thomas, however, I do have an e-reader. Why? 1. The plethora of copyright free 19th century tomes (rather thicker than not) that I can download for no cost whatsoever (and without worrying about when I have to get them back to a library or which muscles I'll strain carrying them around . . . yes, whimpy, whiny, etc) . 2. For contemporary reads that I know I'm not likely to read more than once, but reads that I am unlikely to want to pay full hardcover price for or be willing to wait, wait, wait til the local library gets a copy in.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Definitely several. I have breakfast books, bedtime books, take-a-break books, and listen-to-while-I-clean books. A book for every occasion!
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Without doubt. I think I read more fiction than I did before, and I intentionally read more books of poetry because poetry deserves more attention (well, the good stuff). I have a tendency to read more books per year as well (I keep trying to beat my previous year's total for some reason I've yet to figure out).
9. Least favourite book you read this year (so far?)
Isobel & Emile by Alan Reed
10. Favourite book you’ve read this year?
Hmm . . . this is a tough one because I've already read so many great books this year. I'll exclude classic lit, as that's just too obvious. Probably Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea, or Laurie R. King's Touchstone, or George Fetherling's Walt Whitman's Secret which was just positively brilliant and I've been working up a post about it, but am rather intimidated about how to express just how brilliant I thought it was.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Books are my comfort zone . . . so I'm not sure I ever read outside my comfort zone.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
See #11. But, more specifically, 19th century lit or mystery novels set in England between the mid-19th century and the first four or five decades of the 20th. Or, seemingly, any novel written by Laurie R. King. Literary fiction in general, too.
13. Can you read on the bus?
I don't make much use of public transport. I have often read in the car so I suppose I could on a bus.
14. Favourite place to read?
Anywhere I can get some quiet.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Sadly, yes, but usually only cheap paperbacks that are probably going to quickly disintegrate in a cloud of acidic dust anyway.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Not as an adult. As a child I thought this was a very intelligent way of reading books because I saw my much older sister marking up her textbooks in this manner.
18. Not even with text books?
Textbooks are a different species of book and, therefore, all bets are off.
19. What is your favourite language to read in?
English.
20. What makes you love a book?
A variety of ingredients must come together to make me love a book. Good writing, strong characterization, a story that draws me in. And there needs to be a point. I don't want to waste my time with a book that substitutes literary-wannabe-pyrotechnics and tricks for meaning. (that said, I do appreciate successful experimentation with form and language, but never for its own sake).
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If I love a book I tend to go on about it enthusiastically . . . which may or may not recommend it.
22. Favourite genre?
I'm not sure I have a favourite genre. And I kind of like books that defy genre . . .
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Travel memoir, perhaps . . . but only if well-written would I wish to read them more often.
24. Favourite biography?
I've enjoyed a number of biographies, but I'm not sure I have a favourite. One that stands out is Great Catherine by Carolly Erickson. Or Paul Murray Kendall's Richard the Third. Probably the latter.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
I've never really understood the category.
26. Favourite cookbook?
Since I read cookbooks less for the recipes than for the inspiration, I guess my favourite cookbook would be Nigella Bites . . . which I've just recently read and which I enjoyed for the conversational rambliness of the prose. But I've yet to try any recipes from it.
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction), so far?
This is a tough one because great books are inspiring . . . and it's hard to quantify inspiration. Perhaps Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton or Fetherling's Walt Whitman's Secret which is not at all like Sarton's journal, but it is inspirational for its mastery of voice and form.
28. Favourite reading snack?
Chocolate!!
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. I expected a lot. It delivered a little.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Not often. I rarely read critics before I read a book (when I do it usually leads to disappoinment. See #29). Sometimes I'll check afterward . . . to see what others have thought. But that's rare, too. No, I tend to stick with certain bloggers. Or a few readerly friends whose opinions I respect.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I prefer not writing about a book I haven't enjoyed. It's tiresome to send more negativity after bad. Plus, my dad used to say that only by concentrating on the good can we hope to achieve it.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Well, I'd like to read better in French than I do now. But I've long wanted to read Russian.
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
I can't think of an intimidating book offhand. Anything by Tolstoy can be daunting because of the necessary attention he deserves from one's sometimes weary cerebrum. And Joyce is intimidating in a way because I keep feeling guilty for disliking his novels so much. But I'm always ready to enjoy a book.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
See #33
35. Favourite Poet?
Now this IS a difficult question. I can't just pick one . . . it's hard enough narrowing it to two: Emily Dickinson and William Shakespeare.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
I usually find three at a time a reasonable number. I don't overindulge in library-book-lugging as a general rule. Overindulging in book-buying, well, that's another (rather sad) story.
37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread?
Maybe a third of the time? Or somewhere between a third and half. For some reason, I have no problem with not finishing a library book. Whereas not finishing a book purchased or given feels like a waste. I'm not sure why that is . . .
38. Favourite fictional character?
Well now. This is probably the hardest question to answer. Horatio, perhaps, from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Or Hamlet himself. Oh, there are so many . . . Konstantin Levin from Anna Karenina, Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, Anne Elliot from Persuasion, P.G. Wodehouse's Psmith, Mary Russell from Laurie R. King's Russell and Holmes series, Dr. Aziz from A Passage To India, Phineas G. Nanson from Byatt's A Biographer's Tale . . . I could go on . . .
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Richard III.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
It depends on where I'm going. To St. Andrews I take beautiful reads to match the landscape and to further encourage an atmosphere of away-from-it-all, to England a few English classics aid and abet the mood, etc.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Have I ever gone without reading? I can't really remember . . . presumably between the ages of 0 to 2 or 3?
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Easiest question here . . . the answer is Joyce's Ulysses. At least, I don't think I managed to finish it . . . I've tried to wipe away all memory of the experience.
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Noise. The sound of Mr. Inkslinger chewing, or talking, is a frequent distraction in the mornings.
44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel?
Either A Room With A View (the Merchant/Ivory production) or A Passage To India (the David Lean film). What makes Forster novels so amenable to adaptation?
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
I'm not sure. Most film adaptations are disappointing in one way or another. I guess the film adaptation of Possession . . . it just felt too hasty. And the choice of actors was puzzling. Though I do enjoy the film when I remember to divorce it from the brilliant novel.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
I don't remember. I don't usually keep track (which may be a problem, now that I think of it).
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I don't like to skim before I start in. I just start at the beginning and keep going until I get to the end. :)
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
The conviction that my time was being wasted.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes, and I have been known to get just a tad irritated when someone comes in and haphazardly rearranges them. I have a complex system based on period and country of origin (the author's). Now that I'm sorting and packing for the move, however, I'll indulge in some library reorganization.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
It depends on whether I liked the book in question. Usually keep.
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Avoiding books? What does this mean? I avoid books I don't want to read, I suppose.
52. Name a book that made you angry.
Any book that privileges literary trends/experimentation over substance will make me angry. Especially if it has received grants in order to exist.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Kim by Rudyard Kipling.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.
55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
How can reading have anything to do with guilt?(well, I suppose I can think of a few examples . .). And reading itself is kind of a pleasure.
4 scribble(s) in the margin:
The Whitman book sounds fascinating. But I think you may owe us a review. I wasn't able to find more than just a mention of as part of a post about the Zadie Smith book...
I do owe a review!! I've been ruminating and ruminating . . . perhaps once we've finished packing and cleaning I'll have come up with something worthy to say. Or I should just take a break one of these days and indulge in a little booktalk.
Really enjoyed catching up with you via this meme. And I hope we will hear more about the move, the unpacking and shelving of books.
I am perhaps the only person in my small book group who actually read Possession. I thought it was a difficult read but I thought the movie was quite good. I felt the secondary level of relationships could be sacrificed etc. for the story line. I liked the Victorian couple much more than the present day couple — meaning the actors and their acting skills. Best thing about Paltrow was the textiles on the walls in her flat!
Yes, those textiles are great!
More about the moving will (most likely) be inevitable!! :)
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