Reading Habits of the Stars - Last 24 Hours of Blog Party
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And now... something long :-) What are your reading habits? Courtesy of Michelle!
1. Favourite childhood book?
Turkish fairy tales and folk tales
2. What are you reading right now?
Lots of books on Ottoman History, rereading An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon, and just finished Lord Rochester’s Monkey by Graham Greene
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
Ah, none, but my Amazon wishlists are loooong (here and here)
4. Bad book habit?
I make notes in pen and pencil...
5. What do you currently have checked out from the library?
Well, I’ve got lots borrowed from friends, such as a few Philippa Gregory books
6. Do you have an e-reader?
Not yet...
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Many at once!
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Nope! Links and links...
9. Least favourite book you read this year?
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
10. Favourite book you’ve read this year?
Not counting rereads... Quite a few of them. L'Elegance du Herisson, all the Dorothy Sayers books, Looking for Alaska, and so on.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Every once in a while, on recommendations...
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Anything! But I don’t usually read paranormals, biographies (love autobiographies!), new SF, romance or chick lit
13. Can you read on the bus?
Bus, train, plane, anywhere, even if it makes me nauseated – driving home from Boston last year, reading An Echo in the Bone the week it came out, I kept having to pause and look out the window to settle my stomach, but simply could *not* stop reading.
14. Favourite place to read?
HMS Sofa
15. What is your policy on book lending?
I’ll lend anything as long as it’s not a rare edition or a signed copy, and if the borrower takes too long to return it, I’ll buy myself a new copy!
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Never. Never crack the spine either.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
All the time...
18. Not even with text books?
What do you mean not even? I always write in books!
19. What is your favourite language to read in?
English, Turkish, French, Welsh, doesn’t matter.
20. What makes you love a book?
Strong characters, historical detail, travel, etc. etc.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
There are so many I’d like to recommend but most of my friends don’t read the same type/genres...
22. Favourite genre?
Big Books
23. Genre you rarely read but wish you did?
What do you mean, wish? If I want to read it I’ll read it!
24. Favourite biography?
I’d rather read an autobiography any day (Lindbergh, Christie, Dahl, etc.) but I just read Lord Rochester’s Monkey by Graham Greene and rather enjoyed it.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
My mother has a copy of Colour Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson; I've skimmed it a few times...
26. Favourite cookbook?
Anything by Jamie Oliver!
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year?
I'm going to plug our forum house party story, hosted by ZanMarie! It got me writing like nobody's business - more words in the last month than I've written all year!
28. Favourite reading snack?
Latte, latte, latte!
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience?
Not so much hype as, making the mistake of reading reviews of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before reading the book. Everyone kept commenting on how angry Harry was and while I didn’t quite agree, it tainted my view of him for a little while.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Rarely. They never address what seem to be the salient points and spend way too much time summarising the book rather than reviewing it.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I’ll temper it with positive comments.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
At the moment, Spanish, Hebrew, Ladino and old Ottoman script, for research purposes
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
War and Peace and Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov (even though I love Notes from Underground, White Nights and The Double)
35. Favourite Poet?
Bukowski, cummings, Blake, Rochester, Tolkien, the Romantics, Parker, Eliot, Canadian poets from between the wars, etc. etc.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Er, not from the library, but well, you should see my bedside table...
37. How often have you returned books to the library unread?
Never. I'll skim, at least - non fiction at any rate.
38. Favourite fictional character?
Just one? Sheesh. There’s Sam Gamgee, Severus Snape, Earendil the Mariner, Charlotte the Spider, and lots from other YA books.
39. Favourite fictional villain?
Um, if they’re villains why would I like them? They might be very well portrayed, like Black Jack Randall and Stephen Bonnett or Sauron and so on, but they’re not a favourite of mine... I suppose I’ll say Snape, since, you know, he’s not quite a villain :-)
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation: YA and lots of it. Also poetry and The Lord of the Rings
41. The longest you've gone without reading: 2 seconds? I read everything, street signs, cereal boxes, train notices, ID info on my laptop, everything!
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish: There are a few. Atonement, by Ian McEwan, most recently. I reread Shane once just to see if I could figure out why I despised it so. Still not sure, but I doubt I’ll ever try again!
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Nothing!
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel: Funny Farm, perhaps. But I haven’t read the book!
45. Most disappointing film adaptation: The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Q&A by Vikras Swarup, the list goes on and on. On the reverse side, Crazy Heart the movie was much better than Crazy Heart the book.
46. The most money you’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
A few hundred dollars...
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Hardly ever. I like tables of contents though.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Historical inaccuracies, no convincing voice.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes! By genre and author.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I keep ‘em all – and buy extra copies of ones I like to give as gifts.
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
See bedside table reference...
52. What's a book that made you angry?
Gone With the Wind - I love the book but darn it, Scarlett takes so long to realise she loves Rhett...
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
The City in the Egg by Michel Tremblay
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Rereads of YAs I’ve read countless times.
Finally, in honour of question 27, here's Lord Rochester in the flesh - with periwig, of course:
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