Reading Questions – a meme!

Corra recently posted all these loverly reading questions and so I thought, having not done a meme in a goodly long time, that I would also take part.

1. Favorite childhood book? Matilda by Roald Dahl.  Sure, I grew up with some others, but it was Matilda that began me on the path of loving reading.

2.  What are you reading right now? Ubik by Philip K. Dick

3.  What books do you have on request at the library? None.  I now have about five books friends and neighbors have lent me so I feel mightily obligated to work on that pile before taking any more out from my library.  [Really this is because the book about Islam I wanted to take out my library doesn’t have.  *frump*]

4.  Bad book habit? I don’t really have any.  I try to take care of them as they take care of me.

5.  What do you currently have checked out at the library? The Lacuna.  Doubt I’ll finish it, however.

6.  Do you have an e-Reader? Nope, nor am I feeling inclined toward one right now.

7.  Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once? If the book is heavy or might take me a while then I’ll read more than once, otherwise I prefer one at a time.

8.  Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? Not particularly.

9.  Least favorite book you’ve read this year? Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

10.  Favorite book you’ve read this year? We the Living and Duke of Shadows

11.  How often do you read out of your comfort zone? I like books that make me uncomfortable as it’s not because I can’t understand why/how/who was bought off for the book to be published.  Hard for me to define what outside of my comfort zone would look like, though.  I don’t generally read YA, but have done so on several occasions…  Does that count?

12.  What is your reading comfort zone? I’ll read just about anything as long as it’s good.  Favorites are historical romance, literary fiction, historical fiction, some classics as well as fantasy/sci-fi.

13.  Can you read on a bus? Used to, but haven’t tried to read when in a moving vehicle in quite a while.  I hear they frown upon doing so while driving.

14.  Favorite place to read? On the couch, in bed; in a box, with a fox.  I’m easy.

15.  What is your policy on book lending? Person must be very well trusted before I hand over a book I own.  Some books are easier than others while still others do not leave the premise or only wander down to other units in the same building.

16.  Do you ever dog-ear books? NO!

17.  Do you ever write in the margins of your books? Nope.

18.  Not even with text books? Still no.  I would highlight them, but if I made notes about them it would be on paper in a separate outline of the reading material.

19.What is your favorite language to read in? English.  Used to love reading Chinese, but I’ve forgotten a lot and I was never very good at it.

20.  What makes you love a book? Good writing, fully fleshed out characters and an interesting plot that pulls at my intellect and/or heart.

21.  What will inspire you to recommend a book? All of the above.

22.  What’s your favorite genre to read? When I read genre it would be historical romance or romantic suspense, otherwise I like literary or some of the classics.

23.  Genre you rarely read, but wish you read more often? I read sci-fi least frequently than all else, but I try and gobble up a few of those a year anyway.  Fallen way behind on that though, I’m afraid.

24.  Favorite biography? Wild Swans and Brahms

25.  Have you ever read a self-help book? Pretty sure.

26.  Favorite cookbook? Williams-Sonoma Classic Cooking (or something like that).  The pictures are awesome and the recipes always turn out excellent.  The chocolate orange cheesecake is AWESOME and worth every minute of prep time (and believe you me, there are many, many, MANY minutes involved in that one).

27.  Most inspirational book you’ve read this year? I can’t think of one right now.  Honestly.  Read some good stuff, but overwhelmingly I’ve been disappointed with the recent works I’ve read.

28.  Favorite reading snack? I don’t munch and read at the same time.  Too difficult to stuff my face while holding a book.

29.  Name an instance where hype ruined your reading experience. Hard to say.  Much hype granted to books I’ve read I’ve found completely undeserving (Time Traveler’s Wife, Twilight) but the hype didn’t ruin the experience – the bad writing did.

30.  How often do you agree with critics about a book? I don’t pay attention to critics.  Like many large industries publishing and those involved in it have become heavily politicized.  As a result I don’t trust many other people’s opinions beyond my own as to whether or not I’ll read or like a work.

31.  How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? I don’t enjoy writing them, but I think that’s partly due to not liking that I read a book that wasn’t enjoyable, etc.

32.  If you could read in a foreign language what would you choose? All of them.  Really.  So much can not be explained well/fully in a language other than the one that was used in the original telling of a tale.  The top languages I would like to read in, however, are:  Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish and German.

33.  Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? Witch of Cologne by Tobsha Learner; I was looking up words in the dictionary just about every page.  Of course when I finish the book I find out there’s a glossary in the back…  Note to publishing industry:  When you have a cast of characters in the beginning of the book, make a note saying there’s a glossary of relevant terms.  Seriously.

34.  Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin? Ana Karenina by Tolstoy.  The translation I have is a bit wonky so I keep avoiding it.

35.  Favorite poet? I’m not hugely into poetry, but I like John Donne a lot.

36.  How many books do you have checked out of the library at any given time? One to three; depends on my interests at the time.

37.  How often have you returned a book to the library without having read it? Lately I’m three for three.  Although The Lacuna still might be read, I’m just not sure yet.

38.  Favorite fictional character(s)? Hank Rearden and Francisco D’anconia (Atlas Shrugged), Rhett Butler, Michael Valentine Smith and Jubal Harshaw (Stranger in a Strange Land), Jane Eyre, Una (Ahab’s Wife)

39.  Favorite fictional villain? Elsworth Toohey (The Fountainhead)

40.  Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation? Either what I’m currently reading or a book from ye old fluffy and comforting romance pile

41.  The longest I’ve gone without reading? A week or two.

42.  Name a book you could/would not finish. The Passage

43.  What distracts you easily when you’re reading? My son.  Ever try and read something that requires complete attention while talking/corralling/trying to stop destruction from a two year old?  Yeah…

44.  Favorite film adaptation of a novel? Last of the Mohicans followed closely by Lord of the Rings.  Only reason Mohicans gets it is because that book was so abysmal (I have yet to finish the darned thing after several attempts) I am in awe such a wonderful bit of film could come from it.  For very faithful adaptations, excepting where it simply made more sense in the difference of the mediums, Lord of the Rings will always take it.  Brilliant film making.

45.  Most disappointing film adaptation? Harry Potter – hard to say which one, although Goblet of Fire probably irritated me the most.  Although, come to think of it, The DaVinci Code irritated the hell out of me in ways that left me saying I couldn’t be dragged or paid to see Angels and Demons.  What idiot thought Tom Hanks should be cast as Langdon?  Seriously.

46.  The most money I’ve spent at a bookstore at one time? I have no idea.  Probably not too much because, well, I really try and limit myself.

47.  How often do you skim a book before reading it? Almost always now.  Although that skimming is more me reading the first page or two to see if the prose will engage me.

48.  What would cause you to stop reading a book halfway through? Bad writing and a poor execution of the story.  Stopped reading Twilight several times for all of these reasons, but then the vampire sparkled and I laughed out loud.  Figuring it would be good for comic relief I continued on.  That I continued on until the end of Breaking Dawn is not owed to the sparkly vampires, but my inner teenager that wanted to relive some angst in a productive way.

49.  Do you like to keep your books organized? Yes.  Sadly, they are not right now.

50.  Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them? If I liked it, then I keep it.  If I didn’t, then I don’t.  Shelf space at my home is at a premium.

51.  Are there any books you’ve been avoiding? A Brave New World – mostly because I don’t want to inadvertently start writing similarly to that story.

52.  Name a book(s) that made you angry. The Witch of Cologne because the ending was depressing as all hell and left me thinking there was no good in the world.  Why leave a reader with that amount of suckage? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because Rowling just seemed to lose it.  And that epilogue?  Absolutely wretched.  The Time Traveler’s Wife because it was ridiculous.  Plot holes, piled on top of plot holes, on top of plot holes and EVERYTHING was over the top.  Ex.  The mother of Henry was killed in a car accident because she was DECAPITATED.  Many other irritations, but you can see my review linked earlier in this post to get the full expanse of my irritation on that one.

53.  Name a book you didn’t expect to like, but did. Atlas Shrugged – that book had me so depressed I couldn’t imagine it ending well.

54.  A book you expected to like, but didn’t. Catch-22

55.  Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? Historical romance.  This could be old school Heyer or more recent works by Duran or Balogh; but that’s my drug of choice.