the book meme
This took up about half of my evening. :D
1. Favorite childhood book?
I really don't know - I loved anything and everything as a kid. Boxcar Children, Babysitter's Club, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew… Honestly, my favorite books to read in elementary school were Terry Brooks' Shannara series which I stole from my dad one day and promptly fell in love with.
2. What are you reading right now?
Little Dorrit - I bought it this weekend because (a) I'm secretly avoiding One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I really *ought* to read, particularly as a pristine copy is sitting on my couch right now, *waiting* for me; and (b) winter is the best season for Dickens, like summer is the season for Fitzgerald. (Possibly that sounds odd, but if you think about it for a moment I'm 80% certain you'll agree with me.)
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None. I've given up on libraries. I generally forget to return books on time, and by the time I realize they should go back I'm almost too ashamed to show my face in the door. I think I owe the Multnomah County library about 20 dollars - and if they're still charging interest, it's probably more like a couple thousand. ..The same is true of most libraries, sadly. Arlington county sent me a letter last year, stating that I owed them 10 dollars in late fees and if I didn't pay up they'd send collection agencies after me. It was at that point that I figured if I kept borrowing books, I'd probably end up getting knee-capped by some semi-retired mob enforcer contracted out to a collect library fines.
4. Bad book habit?
I have them all - dog ear pages, break the spine, read while eating, write in the margins, etc etc. I like my books to look well-lived.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
See #3
6. Do you have an e-reader?
On my phone, but I'm really not a fan. I love books you know? Regardless of the content I love the physical trappings: the smell, the smeared ink, the feel of cheap, grainy paperback pages - or alternatively, the silk-smooth paper of an expensive hardcover. The way the ink rubs off on the side of your thumb and you walk around with a permanent gray-black smudge... glorious
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Eh, it depends on how much time to read I have - generally I'll have one, maybe two. If I'm on vacation I'll add to that - up to four or so.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
My reading habits didn't change after starting a blog, they changed after I discovered fanfiction - I don't read nearly as much published stuff as I used to.
9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Haven't really read a lot this year - I suppose my least favorite would be some Knight Templar book by Jack Whyte.
10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I think it'll be Little Dorrit as soon as I finish it, but if we're only considering books I've *completed* -- probably Hard Times
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
I don't have much of a comfort zone - I'll read most everything.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
See above! I suppose I do love fantasy, sci-fi and historical.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Yeeeesss. Generally.
14. Favorite place to read?
Bed! Metro! During spring/summer I love the park next to Iwo Jima and Arlington Cemetery.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
Please! I want everyone to love the books I love. TAKE THEM, RETURN THEM (OR DON'T). Just remember to tell me that you've borrowed one - nothing worse than randomly realizing the sixth HP book has gone missing - I may not want to read it, but I'm a little anal retentive about my books and the fact that it's not in the proper place will drive me nuts.
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Yes, always. Doesn't matter if it's a fucking first edition. I don't subscribe to this notion that books are meant to be kept immaculate like untouchable paper virgins. Books are meant to be read! reveled in! slept with, bathed with, carried around like Linus' blanket, so on and so forth.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Clearly.
18. Not even with text books?
Haven't had a textbook in years, but yes, I wrote all over the things.
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English. My high school German hasn't stood the test of time - at this point the only language I can read *is* English (shame, shame!)
20. What makes you love a book?
I have no idea. I suppose it depends on what I'm looking for at the moment I'm reading it. Something that makes me reexamine my view of life? good language? sly, poking sense of humor? all of the above I suppose.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
Uh. If I think it's good, I'll recommend it - I'll even recommend books I don't think much of, if I think the person in question will enjoy them.
22. Favorite genre?
I really do not have one. I read a little bit of everything.
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Um. None?
24. Favorite biography?
Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. Full stop.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Nope. I find them irritating and preachy. I've never managed to get all the way through one - not even the one about the Dalai Lama and happiness which my cousin gave me. (I thought the narrator was a sanctimonious asshat. Clearly I didn't take the lessons to heart.)
ETA: To be clear here, the book was essentially composed of interviews with the Dalai Lama, and his advice on how to reach happiness, but it was written and narrated by some other dude. I'm not calling the Dalai Lama an asshat by any stretch of the imagination!
26. Favorite cookbook?
I do not own a single cookbook, mainly because I hate to cook. I love to look at cooking blogs though - the pictures are so enticing I start thinking I should try to cook----and then I call for delivery.
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
This year? None of them particularly inspired me, but I haven't read much.
28. Favorite reading snack?
Any kind of food.
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Katherine Neville's follow-up to the Eight.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I so rarely read book reviews that I couldn't say.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
Feel free.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
Any. Italian maybe?
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
I don't think I've ever read an intimidating book. I'm too intimidated.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Oh, Ulysses absolutely. I have it, I've started it, but I keep putting it down in favor of something easier that doesn't require constant googling to figure out what fourteen references Joyce just made with two words.
35. Favorite Poet?
I'm not - generally - a poetry-reading person. I suppose e.e. cummings, because when he's funny he's *hilarious*, but if I'm going to be honest it's probably Kenneth Fearing. I own four books of poetry - Cummings, Dickenson, Rilke and Fearing. The only one I brought when I moved to DC was Fearing, the rest are in storage. That's probably a clear indication.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Many. Or none. Depends on who you ask and how far back the records go.
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Never. I usually just keep it.
38. Favorite fictional character?
Wow. Not a clue. Sidney Carton was probably my first literary crush and I still love him. Eliza from Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, all of the Shaftoes (America Shaftoe was clearly a BAMF and if I grow up to be her, all my dreams will be fulfilled.) Cassandra Mortmain, Cal Trask, Mahfouz's Kamal (if you haven't read the Cairo Trilogy I can't recommend it enough), the list goes on and on.
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Not entirely sure I have one. I love the Artful Dodger and I suppose he *might* qualify as having a few villainous qualities.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
I like to bring trashy airplane novels on vacation - Nora Roberts, Dan Brown and the like.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Oh lord, high school probably. I spent much of high school grounded and the first thing my mother did after announcing that I was grounded "for the foreseeable future" was to take all my books.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Ulysses. Someday, I swear!
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
The internet.
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Television count? If so, the Inspector Lewis series - which is actually a spin off of a tv show based on Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse series. Otherwise --- probably the Lord of the Rings which managed to get more things right than wrong.
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
I hear they're doing a 3D film of The Great Gatsby and I'll preemptively strike out that as unlikely to succeed.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
a little over a hundred maybe?
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I don't really skim books before reading. I have a very specific process for choosing books before buying: I read the first two chapters and then decide if it's worth buying that day, if I should just finish reading it in the bookstore and not bother buying it, or if I should mark it down as a possible buy some other day when I can't find anything else.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If it's really, really, really bad. I think - other than Ulysses (which isn't bad, just difficult for me) - this has only happened once when I bought some supernatural romance at the airport with the intention of reading it during a red-eye flight to DC. It was so awful I couldn't finish it - the man was an asshole, the woman was useless, the villain was idiotic and the plot was non-existent.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes. Not alphabetical, not by color or genre, but in a very specific order that makes sense in my head. I even have books that do not get shelved. Seriously - is this odd? I've always wondered - my books have stayed in the same order from bookcase to bookcase and house to house, and there are some books that do not get shelved. There are books that stay on the living room coffee table, books that belong under my nightstand, on my nightstand and so forth. While the order has no real underlying meaning, I do know where every book I own is at any given time. Even the ones I put in "storage" at my parents house. (By storage I mean that half of them ended up in the closet of my bedroom (now the guest room). That's not as odd as it sounds - it's a walk in closet and three walls are shelves from top to bottom, so it's been turned into miniature library.)
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Keep them, always. I couldn't even stand to sell back my textbooks. I did give a few away when I moved to DC, just because my family had their own copies and I had some friends who could use them.
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
One Hundred Years of Solitude
52. Name a book that made you angry.
I don't know that a book has ever made me angry unless it was *supposed* to make me angry. Other than, you know, answer 48.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
I never expected to like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell but I did.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
I expected to love Tender is the Night because I love just about anything Fitzgerald ever wrote, but I never really got into it.
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra - always fun
1. Favorite childhood book?
I really don't know - I loved anything and everything as a kid. Boxcar Children, Babysitter's Club, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew… Honestly, my favorite books to read in elementary school were Terry Brooks' Shannara series which I stole from my dad one day and promptly fell in love with.
2. What are you reading right now?
Little Dorrit - I bought it this weekend because (a) I'm secretly avoiding One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I really *ought* to read, particularly as a pristine copy is sitting on my couch right now, *waiting* for me; and (b) winter is the best season for Dickens, like summer is the season for Fitzgerald. (Possibly that sounds odd, but if you think about it for a moment I'm 80% certain you'll agree with me.)
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None. I've given up on libraries. I generally forget to return books on time, and by the time I realize they should go back I'm almost too ashamed to show my face in the door. I think I owe the Multnomah County library about 20 dollars - and if they're still charging interest, it's probably more like a couple thousand. ..The same is true of most libraries, sadly. Arlington county sent me a letter last year, stating that I owed them 10 dollars in late fees and if I didn't pay up they'd send collection agencies after me. It was at that point that I figured if I kept borrowing books, I'd probably end up getting knee-capped by some semi-retired mob enforcer contracted out to a collect library fines.
4. Bad book habit?
I have them all - dog ear pages, break the spine, read while eating, write in the margins, etc etc. I like my books to look well-lived.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
See #3
6. Do you have an e-reader?
On my phone, but I'm really not a fan. I love books you know? Regardless of the content I love the physical trappings: the smell, the smeared ink, the feel of cheap, grainy paperback pages - or alternatively, the silk-smooth paper of an expensive hardcover. The way the ink rubs off on the side of your thumb and you walk around with a permanent gray-black smudge... glorious
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Eh, it depends on how much time to read I have - generally I'll have one, maybe two. If I'm on vacation I'll add to that - up to four or so.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
My reading habits didn't change after starting a blog, they changed after I discovered fanfiction - I don't read nearly as much published stuff as I used to.
9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Haven't really read a lot this year - I suppose my least favorite would be some Knight Templar book by Jack Whyte.
10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I think it'll be Little Dorrit as soon as I finish it, but if we're only considering books I've *completed* -- probably Hard Times
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
I don't have much of a comfort zone - I'll read most everything.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
See above! I suppose I do love fantasy, sci-fi and historical.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Yeeeesss. Generally.
14. Favorite place to read?
Bed! Metro! During spring/summer I love the park next to Iwo Jima and Arlington Cemetery.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
Please! I want everyone to love the books I love. TAKE THEM, RETURN THEM (OR DON'T). Just remember to tell me that you've borrowed one - nothing worse than randomly realizing the sixth HP book has gone missing - I may not want to read it, but I'm a little anal retentive about my books and the fact that it's not in the proper place will drive me nuts.
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Yes, always. Doesn't matter if it's a fucking first edition. I don't subscribe to this notion that books are meant to be kept immaculate like untouchable paper virgins. Books are meant to be read! reveled in! slept with, bathed with, carried around like Linus' blanket, so on and so forth.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Clearly.
18. Not even with text books?
Haven't had a textbook in years, but yes, I wrote all over the things.
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English. My high school German hasn't stood the test of time - at this point the only language I can read *is* English (shame, shame!)
20. What makes you love a book?
I have no idea. I suppose it depends on what I'm looking for at the moment I'm reading it. Something that makes me reexamine my view of life? good language? sly, poking sense of humor? all of the above I suppose.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
Uh. If I think it's good, I'll recommend it - I'll even recommend books I don't think much of, if I think the person in question will enjoy them.
22. Favorite genre?
I really do not have one. I read a little bit of everything.
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Um. None?
24. Favorite biography?
Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. Full stop.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Nope. I find them irritating and preachy. I've never managed to get all the way through one - not even the one about the Dalai Lama and happiness which my cousin gave me. (I thought the narrator was a sanctimonious asshat. Clearly I didn't take the lessons to heart.)
ETA: To be clear here, the book was essentially composed of interviews with the Dalai Lama, and his advice on how to reach happiness, but it was written and narrated by some other dude. I'm not calling the Dalai Lama an asshat by any stretch of the imagination!
26. Favorite cookbook?
I do not own a single cookbook, mainly because I hate to cook. I love to look at cooking blogs though - the pictures are so enticing I start thinking I should try to cook----and then I call for delivery.
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
This year? None of them particularly inspired me, but I haven't read much.
28. Favorite reading snack?
Any kind of food.
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Katherine Neville's follow-up to the Eight.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I so rarely read book reviews that I couldn't say.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
Feel free.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
Any. Italian maybe?
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
I don't think I've ever read an intimidating book. I'm too intimidated.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Oh, Ulysses absolutely. I have it, I've started it, but I keep putting it down in favor of something easier that doesn't require constant googling to figure out what fourteen references Joyce just made with two words.
35. Favorite Poet?
I'm not - generally - a poetry-reading person. I suppose e.e. cummings, because when he's funny he's *hilarious*, but if I'm going to be honest it's probably Kenneth Fearing. I own four books of poetry - Cummings, Dickenson, Rilke and Fearing. The only one I brought when I moved to DC was Fearing, the rest are in storage. That's probably a clear indication.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Many. Or none. Depends on who you ask and how far back the records go.
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Never. I usually just keep it.
38. Favorite fictional character?
Wow. Not a clue. Sidney Carton was probably my first literary crush and I still love him. Eliza from Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, all of the Shaftoes (America Shaftoe was clearly a BAMF and if I grow up to be her, all my dreams will be fulfilled.) Cassandra Mortmain, Cal Trask, Mahfouz's Kamal (if you haven't read the Cairo Trilogy I can't recommend it enough), the list goes on and on.
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Not entirely sure I have one. I love the Artful Dodger and I suppose he *might* qualify as having a few villainous qualities.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
I like to bring trashy airplane novels on vacation - Nora Roberts, Dan Brown and the like.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Oh lord, high school probably. I spent much of high school grounded and the first thing my mother did after announcing that I was grounded "for the foreseeable future" was to take all my books.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Ulysses. Someday, I swear!
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
The internet.
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Television count? If so, the Inspector Lewis series - which is actually a spin off of a tv show based on Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse series. Otherwise --- probably the Lord of the Rings which managed to get more things right than wrong.
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
I hear they're doing a 3D film of The Great Gatsby and I'll preemptively strike out that as unlikely to succeed.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
a little over a hundred maybe?
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I don't really skim books before reading. I have a very specific process for choosing books before buying: I read the first two chapters and then decide if it's worth buying that day, if I should just finish reading it in the bookstore and not bother buying it, or if I should mark it down as a possible buy some other day when I can't find anything else.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If it's really, really, really bad. I think - other than Ulysses (which isn't bad, just difficult for me) - this has only happened once when I bought some supernatural romance at the airport with the intention of reading it during a red-eye flight to DC. It was so awful I couldn't finish it - the man was an asshole, the woman was useless, the villain was idiotic and the plot was non-existent.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes. Not alphabetical, not by color or genre, but in a very specific order that makes sense in my head. I even have books that do not get shelved. Seriously - is this odd? I've always wondered - my books have stayed in the same order from bookcase to bookcase and house to house, and there are some books that do not get shelved. There are books that stay on the living room coffee table, books that belong under my nightstand, on my nightstand and so forth. While the order has no real underlying meaning, I do know where every book I own is at any given time. Even the ones I put in "storage" at my parents house. (By storage I mean that half of them ended up in the closet of my bedroom (now the guest room). That's not as odd as it sounds - it's a walk in closet and three walls are shelves from top to bottom, so it's been turned into miniature library.)
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Keep them, always. I couldn't even stand to sell back my textbooks. I did give a few away when I moved to DC, just because my family had their own copies and I had some friends who could use them.
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
One Hundred Years of Solitude
52. Name a book that made you angry.
I don't know that a book has ever made me angry unless it was *supposed* to make me angry. Other than, you know, answer 48.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
I never expected to like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell but I did.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
I expected to love Tender is the Night because I love just about anything Fitzgerald ever wrote, but I never really got into it.
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra - always fun