Booking Through Thursday: Meme of Reading Questions

This week Booking Through Thursday brings us a Meme of Reading Questions.

1. Favorite childhood book? Any of the Nancy Drew series. But seriously...do you really expect book lovers to be able to pick ONE?

2. What are you reading right now? Just finishing up Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert.

3. What books do you have on request at the libary? The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou; Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser; This Mortal Mountain (With Damnation Alley for my Birth Year Challenge) by Roger Zelazny; and Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

4. Bad book habit? Are there bad book habits? Far as I can see, all my book habits are good. But then I may be biased.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? The Big Bounce by Elmore Leonard (finished, just needs to go back); Dress Her in Indigo by John D MacDonald (finished, just needs to go back); The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton; Death Is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury; and Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (current read)

6. Do you have an e-reader? NO. I am an old-fashioned, crotchety, curmudgeon on this subject. There is nothing like holding a real book in your hands.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? I can do either. Just depends. If I have more than one going at a time, it's usually fiction and non-fiction/poetry.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? Kind of....the most change has been because of the reading challenges I've joined--particularly the Birth Year Challenge. I've read books I probably wouldn't have gotten to yet just because they were published in 1969.

9. Least favorite book you've read this year (so far)? The Big Bounce by Elmore Leonard (click on title for my review that will give you a taste of why).

10. Favorite book you've read this year? Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene or The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone? A few times a year. Probably more than that this year with some of my reading challenges....

12. What is your reading comfort zone? Golden Age British Mysteries. And classic British literature.

13. Can you read on the bus? Certainly. I can read just about anywhere. "I can read on the bus. I can read with no fuss. I can read in a boat. I can read on a goat. I can read here or there. I can read anywhere." (apologies to Dr. Seuss)

14. Favorite place to read? Curled up on the couch or snuggled under the covers in bed.

15. What is your policy on book lending? Way too lenient. I've had to replace several books that I've eagerly loaned.....

16. Do you ever dog-ear books? No! There's always some sort of piece of paper that can be used. I hate to see books dog-eared.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books? Rarely. And most of the writing was done when I was taking coursework in college.

18. Not even with text books? See #17.

19. What is your favorite language to read in? English (it's the only one I can really manage...I mangle French)

20. What makes you love a book? An author that makes me so involved with the story or the people that I forget where I am and when. Writing that makes me care what happens in this story and makes me disappointed when the story comes to an end. I think it is the author's job to leave us wanting more.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book? Any of the above. Also books that teach me something.

22. Favorite genre? Golden Age British Mysteries (and, really, mysteries in general)

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did)? Essays, fictional history.

24. Favorite biography? Kate Remembered (Katherine Hepburn) by A. Scott Berg

25. Have you ever read a self-help book? I'm sure I have. But it apparently wasn't as helpful as it should have been, because I can't come up with any titles and I'm not going to search my list of books read to find one.

26. Favorite cookbook? The one that has the recipe I want at the moment. I don't really have a favorite....

27. Most inspriational book you've read this year (fiction or non-ficiton)? for one more day by Mitch Albom (What would you do if you had one more day with someone who was gone?)

28. Favorite reading snack? Grapes or sunflower seeds.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience? Ummm. Considering my reading tastes (Golden Age British Mysteries)...can't really say that this happens. I'm not much for current lit (I do pick one up occasionally on friend recommendation), so hype doesn't really figure into the equation.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book? I don't really pay attention.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? I have absolutely no problem with it. If I'm willing to praise a book to the skies when it's good, then I'm willing to tell the world how badly one stinks when it does.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose? French

33. Most intimidating book you've ever read? Ulysses by James Joyce. No matter how long I let it simmer...I still don't get it.

34. Most intimidating book you're too nervous to begin? Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (It sits on my shelf and taunts me as it has done for years.)

35. Favorite Poet? Just one? Can't do it. Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Rainer Maria Rilke

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at a time? Anywhere from 5-10.

37. How often have you returned book to library unread? More than I used to. I used to diligently finish every book but I am more and more willing to stop a book I'm just hating...thinking that there are "too many books and too little time" and "why waste it on something I hate?"

38. Favorite fictional character? Oh geez. Again, just one? Lord Peter Wimsey. Anne Elliot from Persuasion. Sherlock Holmes. Phryne Fisher from Kerry Greenwood's awesome mystery series. There's more, there's always more.

39. Favorite fictional villain? I just don't know. I don't really collect villains.

40. Books I'm most likely to bring on vacation? Whatever I've got going at the time (probably mysteries)...I don't have specific "vacation" ("beach") reads.

41. The longest I've gone without reading? One week. Just this summer when I went on a high adventure trip with my son & his scout trip.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish. Break It Down by Lydia Davis. This author has been recommended to me several times. I just could not finish this book of short stories. Click on the title to see my review (and disappointment).

43. What distracts you easily when you're reading? Not much...if I'm into the book.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel? The Hound of the Baskervilles (Jeremy Brett version)...if I have to choose one. If you're interested in my top ten, click here.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation? any of the Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone where Holmes is NOT in period (and is instead fighting the Nazis). Rathbone was good as Holmes, but I'm a stickler for period when it comes to Holmes. And Watson as major ditz didn't thrill me.

46. The most money I've spent in the bookstore at one time? As one of my t-shirts says: "I'm an English major. You do the math." I'd say around $80--at a used bookstore. More bang for my buck.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it? Depends...if it's a new book (as in one someone has just told me about or I've just come across), then I'll skim it. If it's a book that's been on my list for a long time, then I'll probably just dive right in.

48. What would cause you stop reading a book half-way through? Feeling no connection to the characters, not caring in the least what happens next. When it feels too much like work (like ditch-digging, back-breaking, no-goal-in-sight work). A book can be difficult, but if the work is pleasurable that's not the same as mindless, why-am-I-doing-this work.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized? Of course. By genre and then by author within genre. Except for my TBR stacks...they're just there. The fact that they're not organized spurs me to read them faster so I can get them organized.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you've read them? Give them away? What is this thing you speak of? The only books that I purchase that leave my possession are the ones I hate.

51. Are there any books that you've been avoiding? Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. It's been on my TBR list forever...I just don't seem to be able to get around to it.

52. Name a book that made you angry. Hmmm. Gotta think about this one.


53. A book that you didn't expect to like but did? Dress Her in Indigo by John D MacDonald. I'm not an American private eye fan. But he hooked me on Travis McGee in this story. (Click on title for review)

54. A book that you expected to like but didn't? The Knowledge of Water by Sarah Smith. Billed as "lushly erotic"--it was one of my time periods (pre-World War II). It was supposed to be suspenseful and mysterious. It failed on both counts--and was neither lush nor erotic.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? Georgett Heyer's historical romances.